Key points:

Bitcoin investors are making the most of the highest price levels in several months by cashing out profits.

These are averaging $1 billion per day, leading to concerns that the market comeback may stall or even reverse.

Institutional participation has not led to a change in mindset, CryptoQuant says.

Bitcoin (BTC) risks a “local top or sharp correction” if current levels of profit-taking continue, new research warns.

In a “Quicktake” blog post on May 8, onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant flagged elevated realized profits among BTC investors.

BTC profit-taking spikes to January highs

Bitcoin realized profits have spiked to multimonth highs this week as BTC/USD reached close to $98,000.

For CryptoQuant, the market is becoming comparable to late 2024, when the pair broke through old all-time highs and hit $100,000 for the first time.

“Even after positive price action after March-April drop in 2025, profit taking is still aggressive. Maybe not like November-December 2024 but still high,” contributor Kripto Mevsimi wrote.

“This is historically consistent with late-stage bull market behavior — where profit-taking dominates, even as price continues to rise.”Bitcoin net realized profit and loss. Source: CryptoQuant

CryptoQuant data puts the current 7-day moving average realized profit across the hodler spectrum at approximately $1 billion per day.

“If we look back at similar cycles (e.g. 2021), this phase often preceded a local top or sharp correction, especially when profit-taking stayed high and continuous,” it continued.

No hiding from Bitcoin “investor psychology”

As Cointelegraph reported, some market commentators have argued that the Bitcoin investment landscape has fundamentally changed thanks to increased institutional participation.

Related: Bitcoin pushes for $98K as 2025 Fed rate cut odds flip ‘pessimistic’

Chief among the new players are the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the largest of which, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), has seen net inflows every day for more than two weeks.

Despite this, Kripto Mevsimi contends that underlying reactions to BTC price changes remain the same.

“Since spot ETFs launched in January 2024, market structure has changed — but investor psychology hasn’t,” he summarized.

Source: Farside Investors

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

At least some of the top holders of Donald Trump’s memecoin who apply to attend a private dinner with the president could be based outside the United States.

According to a May 7 Bloomberg report based on an analysis of the top TRUMP tokenholders, 19 of the top 25 wallets on the leaderboard used foreign exchanges that exclude US-based customers, suggesting either foreign nationals or Americans living abroad. In addition, more than half of the top 220 holders — the group eligible to apply for a dinner with the president — also used exchanges in other countries.

Top 10 TRUMP memecoin holders as of May. 7. Source: Trump meme

As of May 7, the identities of the top tokenholders and those who might choose to apply for the May 22 Trump dinner and “special VIP tour” were unknown. However, the project stated that anyone who applied could not bring guests, had to pass a background check, and “can not be from a [Know Your Customer] watchlist country.” 

The implications of having dozens or hundreds of memecoin holders potentially tied to foreign governments and interest groups have raised ethics concerns from some US lawmakers, claiming that Trump was engaging in “pay-to-play” corruption. At least one senator has called for the president’s impeachment, saying Trump was “selling access for what are effectively payments directly to him.”

Memecoin concerns are slowing crypto legislation

Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives and Senate have already been pushing back against considering any crypto-related legislation until Republicans address concerns around “Trump’s crypto corruption.” The Senate is expected to vote on a bill regulating stablecoins on May 8, and House Republicans recently introduced a discussion draft of a digital asset market structure bill.

Related: Trump-backed USD1 is now the seventh-largest stablecoin worldwide

Then-president-elect Trump launched the memecoin on Jan. 17 — three days before taking office — followed by the first lady introducing her own token. Two companies connected to Trump control roughly 80% of the memecoin’s supply.

The launch of the memecoin and its potential influence over the president and his agenda has already prompted some companies to get on board. On April 30, a trucking logistics management company announced a $20 million investment in the TRUMP token, suggesting influencing Trump’s trade war between the US and Mexico, where the firm conducts much of its business.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Key takeaways:

XRP price is up 2% on May 7, buoyed by US-China trade talk optimism, with key support at $2.08 critical for sustained recovery.

Whale accumulation signals XRP price strength.

XRP price must hold above $1.83–$2.00 support to continue upside, analysts say.

XRP (XRP) price displayed strength on May 7, rising 2% over the last 24 hours after news of possible US-China trade talks flipped investor sentiment. 

XRP price remains above $2.00 at the time of writing, as several analysts highlight the key support levels the asset should hold for a sustainable recovery to new all-time highs.

Whale accumulation supports bullish XRP view

Certain indicators show that XRP’s ongoing price rise may not be just a short-term reaction to the positive macroeconomic news. 

For instance, Santiment’s Supply Distribution metric shows a steady rise in the supply held by entities with a 1 million –10 million token balance. These addresses now own 9.44% of the total XRP supply, a 1.2% increase since Jan. 1. 

Percentage of addresses holding between 1M and 100M XRP. Source: Santiment

This suggests that whales did not sell on the recent drop to $1.60 but accumulated XRP, suggesting most are positioning themselves for further gains.

By purchasing during downturns, these large entities can reduce selling pressure and create a floor for the price, encouraging smaller retail investors to follow suit. 

Meanwhile, XRP open interest (OI) has seen a modest 0.32% rise to $3.65 billion over the last day, signaling a slight increase in trader confidence and liquidity. However, the 17% drop in trading volume to $3.9 billion is a cause for concern, suggesting low conviction as traders wait for the XRP price to establish a clear directional bias.

XRP derivatives data. Source: CoinGlass

XRP price to $4 all-time highs?

Traders believe XRP can revisit its seven-year highs above $3.40 and beyond, but its potential to continue its gains depends on holding above key support levels. 

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that XRP price bounced off the 200-day SMA at $2.08 on May 6, rising as much as 4.5% to today’s intraday high of $2.17, which is also the 50-day SMA.

Related: Why is XRP price down today?

The 200-day SMA coincides with the election volume-weighted average price (VWAP) and the monthly rVWAP, as shown in the chart below.

“This is an area that we want to see continue to get defended,” said trader and analyst Dom in a May 6 post on X, adding that failure to hold above this level could see XRP drop toward $1.90.

“To see an immediate trend reversal, we need to see the price regain $2.12.”XRP/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Fellow analyst Egrag Crypto said XRP price “should not and cannot close below $1.83.”

Meanwhile, pseudonymous analyst XForceGlobal believes “XRP is still well within bullish territory” as long as it stays above the multimonth low at $1.60 reached on April 7.

“New all-time highs look imminent.”XRP/USD four-hour chart. Source: XForceGlobal

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.