Cryptocurrency
US gov’t messed up my $250K Bitcoin price prediction: Tim Draper, Hall of Flame

Tim Draper is a prominent venture capitalist, the founder of Draper University and the creator of the Meet The Drapers television series. He invested early in Tesla, SpaceX and Coinbase and has 254,000 followers on X.
“Let me get my second prediction to actually happen, and then we’ll move on to other predictions,” Tim Draper tells Hall of Flame, refusing to be drawn on price predictions for XRP and Ethereum.
This makes sense, given it’s been six years since he forecast that Bitcoin would reach $250,000 by 2022.
Spoiler alert: It didn’t.
Which is not to say it won’t happen eventually, as Draper has been pretty far-sighted in the past.
Back in 2014, Draper scooped up around 30,000 Bitcoin for $19 million after the U.S. Marshals took down Silk Road. Fast forward to today, and those Bitcoin have increased 4,165% in value to be worth a whopping $810.5 million.
Around the same time, he made a prediction that Bitcoin would reach $10,000 in three years, and lo and behold, it hit that mark in 2017.
Draper explains that he only dropped the $250,000 prediction because people kept asking after he totally nailed his first Bitcoin price guess.
“The only reason I’ve given the second prediction was that the first one was so good. I had a lot of pressure to put another one out there,” Draper declares.
He has politely requested a deadline extension on Bitcoin reaching a quarter of a million, with a timeline that would give a university lecturer a heart attack.
“Give me until the end of June next year,” he says.
Draper accuses the U.S. government of messing up his price prediction. He had expected the growth of blockchain to be reminiscent of the internet era, similar to when he made his earlier investments in companies like Hotmail and Skype.
He emphasizes the significant benefit that the United States reaped by maintaining a hands-off approach to overregulating the internet.
“I expected a much more light touch, the way Bill Clinton was with the internet; they said, hey, we got the internet! We regulated the internet, and Bill Clinton smartly left it alone, and it was fantastic for the whole world.”
Investing Alpha
Despite the media coverage, Draper doesn’t spend his days making predictions; in fact, his schedule is quite packed.
At 65 years old, he remains highly active, renowned as a serial investor who chucked cash early in companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Coinbase, and, well … Theranos.
He enjoys playing basketball because it energizes him and puts him in an investment mindset.
“When I play basketball, I’m thinking about how I can get the defender to move one way, and then I’ll move another,” he explains.
Draper claims he possesses alpha instincts both on the basketball court and in the investment world.
“I’m very aggressive; if I see something I like, I go right after it,” he says.
“I guess as an investor, I invest like a chess move because I’m always evaluating not just the entrepreneur or the idea. But what happens if it’s successful? how great could it be? What does the world look like then?”
Read also
What led to Twitter Fame?
Draper started with a very modest Twitter following.
“I think I had one Twitter follower, and it was my mother,” he jokes.
While you might assume that one of Draper’s investments or media appearances helped his following to skyrocket, he describes his growth as very natural, attributing it to the content he has been consistently posting over the years, which has kept people coming back for more.
He is proud of how “truly organic” his following is.
“I think I have the most steady increase of Twitter followers of any influencer,” he declares.
What type of content can people expect?
Draper isn’t here to clutter up his followers’ feeds with nonsense.
He’s all about adding a little sprinkle of value to their lives, and he sticks to only posting about three times a week.
“I tend to post where it’s something I feel like people should see or where one of my startups has done something extraordinary, and I want to promote them,” he explains.
What content does Tim Draper like?
Within the 2,400 accounts he follows on Twitter, he relies on a select group of trusted people to keep him informed about the crypto industry.
Among his trusted crew are Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and Silicon Valley investors Brad and Bart Stephens.
Tim Draper predictions
Draper is backing his 250,000 Bitcoin prediction so hard that if it doesn’t hit, he’ll bow out of predictions altogether.
“If it’s not $250,000 or higher, then don’t listen to me ever again on that kind of prediction,” he laughs.
When questioned about the chances of a Bitcoin ETF getting approved, he doesn’t sound hopeful.
“It might have to wait for [Republican candidate] Nikki Haley to be president,” he declares.
“Maybe it’s the cushy relationship they have with banks, maybe it’s the fact that they have uncertainty about it. Maybe a lot of our government is pretty old, maybe they’re just out of touch. But they’re missing something very, very important for the good of society, and I’m hoping they all come around.”
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Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin Price Analysis: Is BTC Out of the Woods After 8% Correction?

Bitcoin has faced notable selling pressure at the $111K range, leading to a bearish rejection. Nevertheless, the price lacks sufficient bullish momentum and a deeper correction seems plausible in the mid-term.
Technical Analysis
The Daily Chart
Following its breakout above the previous all-time high at $109K and printing a new peak at $111K, Bitcoin met strong resistance that has sparked notable selling pressure. The failure to sustain momentum above this key psychological level has resulted in a bearish rejection, pushing the asset back below the $109K threshold.
This price action coincided with the sweep of buy-side liquidity resting above the previous swing high, allowing smart money to execute sell orders efficiently. As a result, the market has entered a corrective phase, now approaching the daily fair value gap (FVG) between $97K and $100K. This zone likely holds substantial demand, potentially acting as a support zone that could trigger a bullish reaction.
Should the price stabilize within this FVG, a rebound toward the $111K resistance becomes likely. Conversely, failure to hold this level could pave the way for further downside, with the next key support residing near the $95K region.
The 4-Hour Chart
On the 4-hour timeframe, intensified selling pressure at the $111K resistance has caused BTC to break below its previously maintained ascending price channel. The subsequent pullback toward the broken channel boundary near $108K has confirmed the bearish breakout and suggests weakening momentum.
Currently, the price is consolidating within a critical support-resistance band spanning from $100K to $108K. As long as Bitcoin remains within this range, short-term volatility is expected. However, a decisive breakout, either above $108K or below $100K, will likely set the tone for the next significant move, with either a bullish recovery or an extended correction unfolding based on the breakout direction.
On-chain Analysis
The Realized Price of mid-term holders has consistently functioned as a pivotal support or resistance zone, making it a valuable indicator for gauging broader market sentiment. This metric, representing the average on-chain acquisition cost of UTXOs held by long-term investors, often aligns with key turning points in Bitcoin’s price cycle.
Currently, Bitcoin remains positioned above the Realized Price of the 3–6 month holder cohort, a signal that this group remains in profit and has not faced significant stress. However, recent selling pressure and a rejection from the $111K level have dragged the price closer to the Realized Price of the 3–6 month holder range, which resides around the $98K zone.
This places the $98K–$100K area in the spotlight as a crucial support region. A firm reaction from this zone would confirm continued confidence from mid-term holders and may act as the launchpad for a renewed bullish leg, potentially propelling Bitcoin to fresh all-time highs. Failure to hold this support, however, could shift market sentiment and open the door to deeper corrections.
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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.
Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.
Cryptocurrency
$200M Crypto Scam: OFAC Sanctions Funnull as Experts Find Ties to Huione Pay, Triad Nexus

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Funnull Technology Inc., a technology firm headquartered in the Philippines, and its administrator, Liu Lizhi.
The company has been implicated in running a “pig butchering” scam.
$200M Scam Uncovered
According to the official press release, Funnull has stolen over $200 million from American investors. OFAC has also placed two of Funnull’s cryptocurrency addresses on its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List to restrict their access to financial systems.
In response, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued a public advisory, outlining key technical indicators, such as infrastructure components and IP addresses tied to Funnull’s scam operations.
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender, in an official statement, said
“Today’s action underscores our focus on disrupting the criminal enterprises, like Funnull, that enable these cyber scams and deprive Americans of their hard-earned savings. The United States is strongly committed to ensuring the continued growth of a legitimate, safe, and secure digital asset ecosystem, including the use of virtual currencies and similar technologies.”
Connection to Triad Nexus and Huione Pay
According to the findings by blockchain intelligence Chainalysis, Funnull Technology Inc. enabled cybercriminals by purchasing IP addresses in bulk from major cloud service providers and selling them to operators of fraudulent investment platforms. This infrastructure allowed scammers to host malicious websites that mimicked legitimate investment platforms, thereby deceiving victims into investing in non-existent opportunities.
Funnull was a central player in a network dubbed by security researchers as “Triad Nexus,” which includes more than 200,000 unique hostnames, many of which are associated with investment scams, fake trading apps, and suspect gambling networks. OFAC identified two crypto addresses linked to Funnull Technology Inc., used for receiving cybercriminal payments.
These addresses are tied to scam-related infrastructure and show connections to Huione Pay, which was recently flagged by FinCEN as a major money laundering concern.
Further investigation by blockchain security firm Elliptic revealed that the two addresses in question received more than $4 million in total.
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Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin to $150K or Back to $92K? Traders Divided as Market Cools Off

Bitcoin (BTC) smashed a fresh all-time high (ATH) of $111,814 on May 22, but the party may be over, at least for now.
After rallying by more than $15,000 over the month, the king crypto has shed $9,000 in the last week alone, slipping to the $103,000 level, putting traders on edge and sparking new debate: Is this a healthy cooldown or the start of a deeper plunge?
Technical Red Flags Flashing
Volatility is back with a vengeance. In the last 24 hours, BTC has swung between $103,300 and $105,000, reflecting growing market uncertainty. Zooming out, it’s still up 9.1% in the last 30 days and 52.1% over the past year, but the momentum seems to be fading.
According to data shared by analyst Axel Adler Jr., Bitcoin just triggered four consecutive sell signals on CryptoQuant’s Net UTXO Supply ratio. “This is a typical pattern for an overheated market phase, where profit-taking occurs and demand begins to lag supply,” he warned, highlighting the red flag that often comes before short-term tops.
Further, the market watcher pointed to two possible scenarios for the asset: a sideways purgatory, with BTC drifting sideways between $95,000 and $105,000 for weeks, or a mid pullback that could see it plunge toward $92,000 in a bid to “relieve overbought conditions.”
Betting Big on Bitcoin
However, others are more optimistic, or delusional, depending on who you ask. According to BetIdeas in an email to CryptoPotato, there’s an 80% chance of BTC hitting $120,000 in 2025, and a 40% shot at $150,000.
“The volatile nature of crypto is what will always grab the headlines but with the upwards trend in May with Bitcoin being increasingly positive, it looks as though a big run for Bitcoin holders is coming,” wrote spokesman Steve McQuillan.
He stated that traders on the platform had placed a 22% chance on a run toward $200,000 before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, popular analyst Daan Crypto Trades has pointed to the zone between $97,000 and $99,000 as a key level to watch for a potential bounce, citing Fibonacci retracement levels and the 200-day moving average.
Elsewhere, Michaël van de Poppe doesn’t seem too fazed by the current goings on in the market, terming it “consolidation and correction,” which, in his opinion, is “very healthy and normal.”
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