Plus: What if Bitcoin becomes part of your mortgage?

GM. Summer may have closed the beach bar, but crypto’s still open 24/7 with unlimited juice refills.

Here's what we're serving today:

🍍 Where does Bitcoin stand now?

🔮 A vision for Bitcoin's future.

🍋 Court's verdict over Bitcoin extortion, the Trump Corruption Coin + more

🍍 Market flavor today

Crypto Market Cap: $3.80T -0.04% (24H)
Name		Price	24H	7D
	Bitcoin BTC	$108,624.22	0.58%	-2.96%
	Ethereum ETH	$4,369.39	-1.67%	-5.34%
	XRP XRP	$2.76	-1.52%	-6.87%
	BNB BNB	$849.08	-0.97%	-1.85%
	Solana SOL	$198.94	-1.87%	1.17%

The Fear and Greed Index is in a weird middle ground, leaning slightly negative. 😐.

The big cryptos aren't giving us anything to flex about. 😐 x2.

And the 😐 x3? Bitcoin might not have even hit its lowest point yet - at least according to Santiment's Brian Quinlivan and Maksim Balashevich.

Why the bearish take? Here's what they're seein':

1/ Attention's moving to altcoins

Ethereum, Solana, and other altcoins are stealing Bitcoin's thunder.

You can see it in Bitcoin dominance: it decreased from 60%+ last month to ~56% now.

When Bitcoin loses the spotlight, markets tend to become unstable, since rallies start running more on hype than on new adoption.

2/ On-chain data doesn't match the price

Healthy rallies usually come with signs of growth: an increase in active addresses, higher network activity, and rising social dominance.

But last time Bitcoin pumped, those metrics stayed flat.

Balashevich called it a latecomers' push - like a second wind driven by FOMO from existing traders, not real growth.

It can look exciting on the chart, but it almost always ends in a correction.

3/ Sentiment's still too optimistic

Even after an 8% total crypto market cap drop, social media's full of "buy the dip" talk.

Real bottoms form when confidence is gone, and traders hesitate to enter.

So, as long as everyone’s calling the dip, the market probably has more room to fall.

4/ Macro isn't helping

Gold - the go-to hedge - ripped 5% in ten days to a new high, and Bitcoin… decreased. That tells us investors still don't see BTC as a safe haven.

On top of that, the last rally leaned on hopes of a Fed interest rate cut. If those cuts don’t happen, the bullish narrative loses its backbone.

5/ Long-term holder behavior

Long-term holders have recently started moving old coins back into circulation.

Mind you, these are the so-called "diamond hands" who usually hoard their coins for years.

So, when they start moving 'em, it often means two things: supply pressure is building, and volatility is coming.

Put it all together, and the market looks fragile.

Until fear really takes over and new demand shows up, the big moves we’re seeing are more about crowd psychology than long-term conviction.

🥝 Memecoin harvest

Logic is optional, vibes are everything 🤪

Data as of 06:30 AM EST.

Check out these memecoins and plenty more here.

🔮 Bitcoin's future outlook

Now, let's look at the bigger picture for a sec.

Sure, Bitcoin's been stalling lately, but:

👉 It's still smashing past all-time highs;

👉 We have so much more institutional adoption;

👉 We're getting regulatory clarity;

👉 BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says Bitcoin could hit $700K;

👉 Bridgewater Associates CEO Ray Dalio recommends a 15% allocation, and some major advisors are going as high as 40%.

And yet... compared to 2021, this run feels way more low-key. Many people in finance still call Bitcoin a scam, complain about energy use, or say it's useless.

Basically, the disconnect between what’s actually happening and how people are reacting is real.

Which is exactly what investing journalist Natalie Brunell and Luke Broyles from The Bitcoin Adviser talked about on a recent podcast.

Luke admitted he expected retail mania to start at $70K. Well, look at us now - Bitcoin's almost twice that, but the reaction's still giving crickets + tumbleweed.

And he thinks that even if Bitcoin hits $5M, many people will still argue it can’t go higher.

Because mass adoption isn’t an overnight switch - it's a long grind.

But where could the real growth come from? Luke's answer: debt.

The fiat system runs on borrowing - governments, companies, and regular people all use loans to keep the economy moving. And he thinks the real shift will happen when Bitcoin gets tied into those loan systems.

That means things like:

👉 using Bitcoin in mortgages,

👉 borrowing against home equity to get Bitcoin,

👉 or companies taking out loans with Bitcoin as part of their balance sheet strategy.

Basically, Bitcoin wouldn’t just be something you buy - it would become something the credit system itself relies on.

Luke sees this as the real Trojan horse: Bitcoin gradually becoming collateral in global lending, much like Michael Saylor has already started doing at the corporate level.

And Luke takes it a step further: he thinks Bitcoin could actually do a better job than the assets debt usually goes into.

When new borrowing flows into housing, energy, or stocks, it makes prices climb and everyday people end up paying more. But if that borrowing is directed into Bitcoin instead, it creates demand without raising living costs.

Natalie summed it up by calling Bitcoin a kind of inflation shock absorber - something governments and businesses could use to manage debt pressures.

If that vision plays out, the next phase of Bitcoin's rise may be less about hype cycles and more about becoming the backbone of global finance.

🍋 News drops you can't miss

😳 An Indian court has handed life sentences to 14 people over a Bitcoin extortion scheme. The wild part? Most of them were cops + an ex-lawmaker from the BJP.

👀 California Governor Gavin Newsom says he wants to launch a memecoin - the Trump Corruption Coin. The token’s proceeds would fund voter engagement programs and redistricting efforts.

⚖️ Eliza Labs, the company that built ElizaOS, is suing Elon Musk’s X. They say X copied their AI tools, took their technical know-how, and then blocked their access to xAI.

💸 Eric Trump says Bitcoin is changing how people use money. His take: it’s the first time financial opportunities aren’t limited by wealth or social status.

🍌 Juicy memes