Bitcoin’s struggles, Saudi Arabia, stablecoins and interest rates occupied Web3 minds this week.
Bitcoin struggles to hit $80K
“As markets head into a week dominated by central bank interest rate decisions, Bitcoin is struggling to break through the psychological barrier of $80,000. It is battling against strong resistance, with key on-chain levels including the true market mean and the average ETF cost basis sitting right above this price. Whether it wins this battle will determine if it can push on toward $90,000 or reverses lower, paving the way for a final complete capitulation that will fully reset the market.
“Right now, Bitcoin is stuck in a tug-of-war. This morning saw a flash crash that wiped out over $68 million in long positions in just one hour. However, there’s a massive CME gap between $79,000 and $84,000 that is drawing the price higher.
“These opposing forces set the stage for heightened volatility this week, especially as Jerome Powell’s last FOMC meeting as Fed Chair approaches. Once again, the ‘hold’ decision is already priced in. But, given the approaching changing of the guard, markets will likely be extra jittery.
“If Kevin Warsh’s Fed Chair hearing is anything to go by, change is definitely coming to the Fed, and change makes markets nervous. During the hearing, Warsh indicated a plan to put an end to public rate forecasting by Fed officials. That’s a change investors may not be prepared for, and it could make future FOMC meetings more consequential for markets.
“For Bitcoin, April has been a good month so far, and it’s still posting higher highs and higher lows, with strong support around $74,000. However, this latest rally most likely marks the calm before the storm. I still expect to see a drop to the bear market range between $55,700 and $58,200 in the coming months, driven by a broader corporate sell-off by miners and digital asset treasuries. Without this final flushout, it’s hard to see a clear path to a fresh Bitcoin bull phase.”
– Nic Puckrin, macro analyst and CEO of Coin Bureau
“The Fed is likely to stay on hold at 3.5-3.75% through Warsh’s confirmation (expected mid-May), as neither Powell in his final meetings nor Warsh upon taking the helm will want to make an abrupt policy shift amid elevated energy-driven inflation uncertainty. That continuity bias could extend into Q3 before any serious cut discussion resurfaces, keeping rate-sensitive risk assets, including crypto, in a holding pattern.
“Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s failure to sustain above $78K and the subsequent drift back toward $75K suggests the market is digesting the ‘higher-for-longer’ signal. Absent a liquidity catalyst, it appears range-bound rather than setting up for a breakout, with macro headwinds capping near-term upside despite broadly flat performance over 14 days (+0.7%).
“The key risk to this setup is energy. Elevated energy prices are a direct pass-through to core goods inflation, and any further escalation in the Gulf would force the Fed to stay restrictive longer, compounding the liquidity headwinds for risk assets like crypto.”
– Jake Kennis, research analyst at Nansen
“Money Inflows into funds investing in cryptocurrencies continue with highly concentrated capital flows. Most of the liquidity is still flowing into Bitcoin. The main cryptocurrency is trying to grow again.
“However, the market on which growth heavily depends – and the S&P 500 index – is at historical highs. Only 55% of the stocks in the index are trading above their 200 moving average price.
“Bitcoin continues to trade with the dynamics of a risky asset. And if the growth of the S&P 500 index loses its momentum, then the price of BTC will follow. And will fall along with the S&P 500.
“Recently, the price of Bitcoin reached $79,000. However, the price failed to break through the psychologically important level of $80,000. This indicates that there is still fear among Bitcoin holders.
“If another growth phase and the renewal of the 2026 price high starts, we recommend waiting a couple of days to make sure that the price trades above the new high. So far, the price has been extremely unstable. And each new price high is sold by traders, which pushes the price down again.
“We believe that the recent attempts to increase the price of Bitcoin were caused by a short squeeze, which led to panic buying and an increase in the price. It is too early to say that there is a strong demand for spot in the market. Rather, the market is still fragile and vulnerable to a downward price trend.
“So far, the price of Bitcoin has already had two consecutive quarters of decline, which is extremely rare. The crypto winter is still holding strong, but it cannot last forever. After any crypto winter, there is a very strong recovery.
“But we may be facing another negative quarter. Every time a new leader replaces the old one at the Federal Reserve, the price of Bitcoin begins to decline. We have already seen this happen three times in a row. We are now approaching a new change in leadership at the Federal Reserve.
“It is important to remember that after eight out of nine Fed meetings, Bitcoin declined over the next week. If this pattern repeats, the price of Bitcoin could easily fall below $70,000 per BTC. We believe that the main risk now is not the Fed’s decision but the price’s reaction to the rhetoric and hints.”
– Sergei Gorev, head of risk, YouHodler
Saudi Arabia’s open for business?
“In periods of geopolitical instability, investors start looking for markets where domestic capital is still being put to work with intent, and where the state is visibly committed to making markets function.
“Saudi Arabia is making that case clearly right now. The significance of the PIF strategy is not simply that more money will be put to work at home, but that the state is signalling a more structured approach to value creation, private sector participation, and sector-building.
“The Tadawul opening and the simplified fund rules matter for the same reason. They suggest Saudi is not just widening access in principle, but reducing some of the friction that has historically limited foreign participation.
“The more important question now is whether the underlying infrastructure can keep pace with that policy direction. Access reform is one step, but capital only scales when ownership transfer, settlement, compliance, and reporting operate with the speed and certainty institutional investors require. That is why the Saudi story is becoming more interesting at the market-structure level.
“The real test is not wrapping existing assets in digital layers, but building the market foundation that makes them investable at source.”
– Faisal Al Monai, CEO of droppRWA
Cross-border B2B stablecoin payments to reach $5T by 2035
“A forecast of $5 trillion in a decade is a really striking figure, but it’s less surprising when you understand what’s behind it. Businesses are paying billions of dollars a year in cross-border fees, waiting days for settlement, and losing critical margin to opaque FX spreads.
“Businesses are adopting stablecoin payments because the existing system has failed them, and stablecoin payments are the best alternative to a broken cross-border payments system. Stablecoins settle in seconds – they operate around the clock, not on banking schedules. They offer programmable payment terms and transparent pricing. And the results are already visible: 81% of corporates now say it is critical or important that their existing bank supports stablecoin payments, according to EY-Parthenon research.
“The nearly 400x projected growth in cross-border B2B stablecoin transactions by 2030 from Juniper reflects genuine enterprise demand, and it was already building before the regulatory environment caught up. In Europe, MiCA is live and authorizations are being issued. In the US, the GENIUS Act has passed, and the CLARITY Act is advancing – and both are moving stablecoin and digital asset regulation from ambiguity toward a workable framework. This means that demand can now be met by regulated, accountable infrastructure. That’s the condition that was missing, and it’s not missing any more.”
– Anna Štrébl, CEO of Confirmo Group
Bank of Canada holds interest rates
“The Bank of Canada hold reflects a central bank caught between weakening domestic conditions and renewed inflation risk driven by the conflict in Iran, oil supply concerns, and rising energy costs. While many Canadians were hoping for clearer signs of rate relief, the Bank cannot move too quickly while fuel, transportation, and broader inflation pressures are resurfacing.
“For the mortgage market, this means fixed rates may remain volatile because they are tied closely to bond yields and inflation expectations. The bigger story remains the upcoming renewal cycle, where millions of Canadians will be renewing into a very different payment environment. This is where advice matters most. Borrowers will need to look beyond rate alone and focus on payment management, debt consolidation, amortization options, and overall household cash flow. gradually favor lower borrowing costs rather than higher ones.”
– Shubha Dasgupta, CEO of Pineapple Financial
IBM’s quantum bet
“IBM’s new quantum-focused innovation center in Chicago demonstrates how frontier computing is becoming a regional economic strategy, not just a research ambition. The initiative is expected to create hundreds of high-skilled jobs and anchor workforce development pipelines tied to quantum and AI systems.
What’s really notable is how this intersects with emerging crypto and Web3 debates. Quantum computing poses long-term risks to existing cryptographic standards, but also creates demand for quantum-resistant infrastructure and new security primitives.”
– Nathaniel Szerezla, chief growth officer of Naoris Protocol
Amazon hiring with agentic software
“The year is 2026, and Amazon has decided the way to handle hiring at scale is to let one AI read the applications written by another AI. The trust layer underneath has collapsed, and nobody is pretending otherwise. 78% of US millennials now use AI to apply for jobs.
“95% of executives say they do not trust the data they get on candidates. One in four applications is suspected to be fabricated. When the signal coming in is noise, employers throw machines at it. Amazon is just the largest company to admit it.
“The fix is not smarter filters on top of broken inputs. The layer underneath has to change. Agents need cryptographically verified, machine-readable signals they can evaluate without human judgment: proof of human, proof of education, proof of work, proof of skill, proof of reputation.
“That is the trust layer we are building across Web3Career, Remote3, and Bondex. When an employer agent queries a profile, what comes back should be proof, not a claim. Otherwise, we are scaling the noise, not surfacing the talent.”
– Ignacio Palomera, CEO of Bondex