The team behind Infected, a speculative pandemic-simulation game that recently gained viral traction, announced its decision to migrate from Ethereum’s Layer-2 network Base to the Solana blockchain.

The announcement was made via the game’s official X account. It cited Base’s inability to handle transaction volume during the game’s launch and broader concerns about the scalability of EVM-based chains.

Infected Ditches Ethereum’s Layer 2 for Solana

“Infected crashed Base,” the team stated, referencing the game’s launch, which attracted 130,000 sign-ups within 48 hours. The sudden demand led to a spike in gas prices and failed transactions, especially in the first 30 minutes.

This issue, according to the developers, significantly impacted the game’s momentum and user experience. Describing the incident, they noted that many users were unable to participate and subsequently abandoned the game, which runs on a 7-day cycle reliant on real-time interaction.

While the developers acknowledged that the issue was not unique to Base, they framed it as part of a larger, ongoing limitation across all EVM-compatible chains. Despite previously believing Layer 2 solutions were the future of Ethereum scalability, the team said that it now views these bottlenecks as structural and unresolved in the near term.

The shift to Solana was also driven by what the team identified as two key advantages: culture and user base. They drew a contrast between Ethereum’s technically advanced but builder-focused ecosystem and Solana’s more user-oriented approach. According to the post, Solana’s developer community is more closely aligned with current consumer behavior, as seen in the success of other Solana-native applications such as Pump.fun and DAOs.fun.

Additionally, user feedback played a role in the decision. The Infected team said many players requested a version of the game built on Solana to avoid the need to bridge assets. The post read,

“If they are on XRP, we’d go to XRP. If that was Bitcoin mainnet, we’d go there. But today’s users are on Solana.”

The team also highlighted that their future games will also launch on Solana, aligning with what they see as the best available infrastructure for high-volume, consumer-facing applications.

Response

Head of Base and Coinbase Wallet Jesse Pollak responded to Infected’s announcement, saying that while he respected teams building on any platform, he felt compelled to clarify what he described as factual inaccuracies.

“Base did not crash – the chain hummed along, just as it should.”

He wrote that the technical issues experienced during Infected’s launch were related to frontend problems, which the game’s team had previously acknowledged and discussed with Base. The Infected team, however, denied this claim.

Meanwhile, Pollak added that the team behind the Coinbase-incubated network had reached out to Infected immediately after their migration announcement, but had not received a response.

The first quarter of 2025 turned out to be the worst Q1 bitcoin (BTC) has seen in seven years. The leading digital asset lost at least 12% of its value between January and March despite heavy accumulation from corporate entities.

The market analytics platform CryptoQuant explained that long-term holders’ on-chain activity is why BTC plummeted significantly despite major corporate buying.

Corporate Entities Accumulate Heavily

Public companies that have embraced Bitcoin acquired a total of 91,781 BTC in Q1 2025. The business intelligence firm Strategy (formerly known as MicroStrategy) made the highest purchases, totaling 81,785 BTC worth about $8 billion. The entity now holds 528,185 BTC worth $45.64 billion at press time.

CryptoQuant said the 8,888 BTC acquisition by the stablecoin issuer Tether was surprising. The purchase brought the company’s BTC stash to 92,646 BTC, valued at approximately $7.96 billion at bitcoin’s current price.

Besides Strategy and Tether, other companies that bought BTC include the venture capital firm Metaplanet, healthcare technology provider Semler Scientific, and The Blockchain Group, which develops blockchain technologies for business sectors. Between January and March, Metaplanet topped its bitcoin stash with 2,285 BTC, Semler Scientific acquired 1,108 BTC, while The Blockchain Group purchased 605 BTC.

In addition to the acquisitions, a few more companies have revealed plans to acquire BTC in the new quarter. One of them is the leading Bitcoin mining entity Marathon Digital, which unveiled a $2 billion stock sale geared toward buying BTC. Also, the electronics retail company GameStop has proposed a $1.5 billion convertible notes offering to buy BTC after adopting a Bitcoin reserve strategy.

Long-term Holders Sold

Amid all these acquisitions and BTC purchase announcements, BTC closed Q1 2025 with a negative return of 12%. CryptoQuant attributed the decline to selling activity by long-term holders. The supply of this cohort of investors dropped by 178,000 BTC, adding selling pressure to the cryptocurrency and offsetting the bullish momentum from corporate buys.

Moreover, the selling pressure was intensified by outflows from spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – investors withdrew at least $4.8 billion from these funds in the first quarter.

As the second quarter begins, CryptoQuant sees an impending battle between fresh purchases stemming from corporate demand and selling pressure from existing holders cashing out. It remains to be seen if BTC will end Q2 on a positive note.

TL;DR

• Ripple’s cross-border token is currently trading around a crucial level that can determine whether it shoots up by double digits or slumps hard.
• The worst-case scenario, though, sees the asset dropping to $1.3.

The renowned crypto analyst Ali Martinez has outlined multiple times the importance of the $2 support for XRP’s future price movements. The asset tested it on a couple of occasions in the past month, dipping below it twice since March 11.

However, it ultimately withstood the pressure and helped XRP remain among the top performers since the US elections in early November. Moreover, Ripple’s token bounced off quite impressively after the March 11 crash and shot up to $2.6 within the next week.

That price surge transpired after Brad Garlinghouse, the company’s CEO, announced that the lawsuit against the SEC had effectively ended.

Since then, though, XPR has failed to recapture its momentum and slipped below $2 earlier this week, charting a 24% decline amid the escalating Trade War.

As mentioned above, the $2 support remained strong, and XRP now trades at $2.15. Martinez believes holding that level could serve as a propeller for the next leg up, which could push its price north by 30%.

If $XRP can stay above the key $2 level, a 30% move toward the channel’s upper boundary at $2.60 could be next! pic.twitter.com/tBXV0Y28De

— Ali (@ali_charts) April 5, 2025

However, he also highlighted a bearish scenario in which $2 is broken to the downside. In this case, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap risks dropping all the way down to $1.3 as there’s not much support between these two levels given XRP’s explosive surge in November and December last year.

$XRP is breaking out of a head-and-shoulders pattern, setting the stage for a potential move to $1.30! pic.twitter.com/L5rlE4eXIc

— Ali (@ali_charts) April 4, 2025

Nevertheless, Martinez is overall predominantly bullish on XRP, as the TD Sequential also recently flashed a buy signal on the daily chart.