Some things I've learned after hodling bitcoin since early 2017
1. Never believe anyone's price predictions. 2. Don't "diversify" into other cryptos; none of them are actually decentralized, everything except bitcoin is a shitcoin (yes, really), and it's all gambling. The point of bitcoin is not gambling, but to end modern day slavery (fiat currency). 3. When everyone you know is talking about bitcoin, you're at the top of a bull market. You'll likely be too exuberant to realize it though. It will be obvious in hindsight. 4. Don't "trade some altcoins on the side to get more bitcoin". You are not that smart, and the overwhelming probability is that you will get wrecked. 5. DCA into bitcoin. Ignore your emotions. Don't try to time the market. Just stack what you can every paycheck. 6. Don't be too excited about bitcoin; people will feel like you're scamming them even though you're just trying help. 7. Go to meetups & conferences. Don't be isolated. Bitcoiners are generally very awesome people. 8. When people ask you about how to buy bitcoin, send them to a BITCOIN-ONLY company. Example for why: My cousin bought bitcoin (on Coinbase) during the bull market, then sold it for shiba on the same platform and now she pretty much lost everything. Bitcoin-only companies are the safest option to keep newbies from doing newbie things. 9. Be on #bitcoin twitter and nostr. Obviously if you're reading this, you're already here...but I didn't get on twitter until 2020 and can tell you that it's a lot less lonely hodling bitcoin when you see a bunch of other people on this platform experiencing the same things you are. 10. Be skeptical of influencers. Even me (I'm not a huge account, but still). Some are good, some are bad. Even if they have good intentions, their judgement can be clouded by bad incentives. 11. Stop trying to convince everyone you know that bitcoin will make everything better (even though it will). Instead, be a good resource for the people who eventually reach out to you about it. Be known as "the bitcoin guy" and let people come to you when they're ready. Have good content prepared for them to read/watch when they do. That is all. It's been a great ride so far and I'm happy to know you guys. #bitcoin #dyor #crypto2023
Banking giant sets date when Ethereum will trade at $30,000
Standard Chartered has released a fresh bullish outlook on Ethereum (ETH), projecting that the cryptocurrency will climb sharply this decade. According to its outlook, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization could potentially rally to $30,000 by 2029 while outperforming Bitcoin (BTC) through 2026. The target implies a roughly 790% gain from ETH’s press-time value of $3,371. At that level, Ethereum would command a market capitalization of about $3.6 trillion, positioning it as the world’s largest digital asset, assuming Bitcoin records minimal growth over the same period. ETH one-week price chart. Source: Finbold The forecast reinforces the bank’s long-standing optimism on ETH, even as it acknowledges that previous targets have not always aligned with market outcomes. The multinational bank’s latest outlook sees Ethereum reaching $7,500 by the end of 2026, with a longer-term trajectory that places the asset at $30,000 within the next three years. The analysis is led by the bank’s digital assets research team and is built around Ethereum’s structural role in the crypto economy rather than short-term market momentum. Ethereum’s dominance Standard Chartered argued that Ethereum’s strength lies in its dominance across key blockchain use cases. The network remains the primary settlement layer for stablecoins, hosts a large share of tokenized real-world assets, and continues to underpin most decentralized finance activity. According to the bank, these factors give Ethereum the potential to decouple from periods of Bitcoin weakness and sustain independent growth. The report also reiterated a recurring theme in Standard Chartered’s research: Ethereum’s ability to outperform Bitcoin during phases when blockchain utility and adoption matter more than pure store-of-value narratives. In this view, ETH’s role as programmable financial infrastructure positions it to benefit from institutional adoption, particularly as traditional assets increasingly move on-chain. At the same time, the bank’s latest projections reflect a more tempered stance than some of its past calls. The $7,500 target for late 2026 is lower than the $8,000 level the bank once expected Ethereum to reach by the end of 2024. Despite that recalibration, Standard Chartered remains one of the most bullish major banks on #Ethereum . $ETH
If you invested $1,000 in Bitcoin at the start of 2026, you’d now have this much
After spending much of late 2025 consolidating below six-figure territory, Bitcoin (BTC) has started 2026 with renewed momentum. In just two weeks, the world’s largest cryptocurrency has delivered a double-digit gain, pushing back toward the psychologically important $100,000 level and rewarding investors who entered the year with fresh exposure. According to price data as of January 15, 2026, Bitcoin is trading at approximately $96,885, up sharply from $87,412 on January 1, the first trading day of the year. That move represents a year-to-date gain of 10.84%, making Bitcoin one of the strongest major assets so far in 2026. Bitcoin year-to-date (YTD) price chart. Source: Google Finance/Finbold A $1k investment in Bitcoin at the start of 2026 For an investor who allocated $1,000 into Bitcoin at the start of the year, the rally has already translated into meaningful profits. At a January 1 price of roughly $87,412 per coin, a $1,000 investment would have purchased about 0.01144 BTC. At today’s price near $96,885, that same holding is now worth approximately $1,108, turning a four-figure stake into a $108 gain in just 15 days. The speed of the move highlights how quickly Bitcoin sentiment has shifted. Early January saw a brief pullback toward the low-$90,000 range, but buyers stepped back in aggressively, driving a sharp rebound that erased the dip and pushed prices to new 2026 highs within days. The rally has been supported by a combination of factors. Spot Bitcoin ETF flows have remained positive, institutional participation continues to grow, and macroeconomic expectations around interest rate cuts later in the year have renewed appetite for risk assets. At the same time, Bitcoin’s fixed supply narrative has regained traction as investors look for assets that can outperform in an environment of persistent global debt and currency debasement.What makes the current run particularly notable is how it compares to traditional markets. A 10.8% return in just two weeks would typically take months or even years to achieve in equities or bonds. For Bitcoin, however, this type of volatility remains part of its core appeal, delivering outsized upside for investors willing to tolerate sharp swings. #BTC100kNext? #BTC $BTC
0.1 BTC is a lot of Bitcoin 0.3 BTC is a lot of Bitcoin 0.5 BTC is a lot of Bitcoin 0.7 BTC is a lot of Bitcoin 0.9 BTC is a lot of Bitcoin 1 BTC is a lot of Bitcoin 1.5 BTC is a lot of Bitcoin
Don't let the fiat-brained convince you otherwise. #MarketRebound $BTC
Over 600,000 new cryptocurrencies have been created in 2026
The cryptocurrency market has entered 2026 with an acceleration in token creation, continuing the pace seen over the past year. As of January 12, 2026, the total number of #cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap stood at 29.91 million. At the start of the year, on January 1, CoinMarketCap tracked 29.29 million cryptocurrencies, indicating that about 620,000 new assets were created in just the first days of 2026. Total tracked cryptocurrencies by CoinMarketCap: Source: CMC At the same time, over the past 30 days, more than 1.57 million new cryptocurrencies were created, with 357,773 added in the last seven days alone. In the past 24 hours, the market saw roughly 66,740 newly created tokens. Total tracked cryptocurrencies by CoinMarketCap: Source: CMC It’s worth noting that the surge highlights how easy it has become to create a cryptocurrency. Modern blockchain ecosystems allow users to launch tokens with minimal technical expertise through standardized templates on Ethereum (ETH)-compatible networks and other smart contract platforms. No-code tools and low deployment costs mean new assets can be launched in minutes, often requiring little more than a wallet and a small transaction fee. Drivers of increased tokens created This accessibility has been reinforced by speculative activity, meme coin culture, and experimentation across decentralized finance, gaming, and community-driven projects. Many tokens are created to test ideas or capture short-term attention rather than build long-term infrastructure, pushing overall token counts higher even as adoption remains limited. However, the rapid increase in numbers has not translated into lasting success for most assets. The majority experience sharp price declines shortly after launch or fail due to limited liquidity, weak utility, or fading interest. Many are also created in attempts to emulate established networks such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum, often reusing familiar narratives or mechanics without meaningful innovation. As a result, the market has become increasingly crowded, with only a small share of cryptocurrencies gaining traction while most fade quickly.
Dash price soars 125% amid privacy coin boom: Is the rally overheating?
Key takeaways: DASH surged on privacy-coin rotation following the Zcash fallout.Multiyear resistance raises odds of a 80% price correction. Dash DASH$83.88 emerged as one of the best crypto market performers this week, with its price rallying 125% to reach $79.60 on Wednesday.
DASH/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView Why is DASH rallying so much now? DASH primarily benefited from the capital rotation from rival Zcash ZEC$422.84 , last year’s top privacy-sector gainer, after the Electric Coin Company’s development team resigned amid governance disputes.
ZEC/USDT vs. XMR/USDT and DASH/USDT weekly performance chart. Source: TradingView Monero XMR$735.58 became the primary beneficiary this week, while Dash, historically a higher-beta privacy play, emerged as a catch-up trade for traders who missed Monero’s initial breakout.
Top privacy coins and their hourly, daily, and weekly price performances. Source: CoinGecko DASH also rose as the EU’s DAC8 directive came into effect on Jan. 1, 2026. The government will require crypto service providers to collect and report user tax data, reviving the narrative that privacy is a feature, not a flaw. Related: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026 DASH’s rally further followed the network’s partnership with Alchemy Pay, a move that expands fiat on- and off-ramp access across 173 countries through more than 300 payment channels. Source: X Can the DASH price rally sustain? As of Wednesday, Dash was approaching a critical technical inflection point. On a longer-timeframe chart, it tested a multiyear descending trendline that capped every major rally since the 2018 peak. Historically, prior rejections at this resistance zone preceded brutal drawdowns of 95% or more during the ensuing bear cycles. DASH/USD two-week chart. Source: TradingView A clean breakout and sustained hold above the descending trendline could open the door to a broader trend reversal, beginning with a rally toward the 0.236 Fibonacci retracement line at around $125 by February. Failure, however, would raise the risk that Dash’s explosive rally is overheating, setting the stage for a sharp pullback toward the token’s descending trendline support since mid 2019. Simply put, DASH could decline toward $17, down approximately 80% from current price levels, in the coming months, if history is any indication. #DASH $DASH
While the popular $XRP token has been struggling after hitting its 2026 high above $2.41 on January 6, its main rival – #Stellar (XLM) – has had a veritable resurgence in the 24 hours between January 13 and 14. In the 24-hour chart, XLM is up 8.99% and is changing hands at $0.244. For comparison, XRP is 0.71% in the red within the same time frame and is changing hands at $2.15 at press time on January 14. XLM one-day price chart. Source: Finbold The rally appears to have come as part of a broader altcoin surge following Bitcoin’s (BTC) late Tuesday rise above $95,000, though it had been bolstered by $XLM -specific developments such as Visa’s (NYSE: V) integration of Stellar earlier in January. Still, despite its latest upsurge, Stellar is below the $0.28 2026 high it achieved on January 6 and remains in the red in longer timeframes. For example, XLM is down 48.33% from where it was six months ago, 41.86% below its value one year ago. It is, however, up 20.56% in 2026. What is next for XLM price in 2026? Elsewhere, Stellar’s technicals show there is substantial uncertainty about where the token might go next. At press time, XLM is trading approximately 5% above its 50-day simple moving average (SMA) but nearly 24% below the 200-day SMA. Stellar’s relative strength index (RSI) of 55.58 shows that the cryptocurrency is neither particularly overbought nor oversold. Ultimately, XLM’s next target price is likely to depend on the broader crypto market, with at least a moderate correction appearing likely given XRP’s recent performance, and Bitcoin’s latest surge toward $96,000 and subsequent retracement to $95,000. In stark contrast to short-term uncertainty – yet, arguably, in line with early 2026 optimism – Stellar is in an exceptionally strong position long-term. The cryptocurrency has successfully carved a niche for itself in cross-border payments with partnerships with firms such as MoneyGram, IBM (NYSE: IBM), and Mastercard (NYSE: MA). Stellar also received long-term tailwinds from the fund manager WisdomTree, as it had decided to use the digital asset’s network for its digital fund listings back in September 2025.
SC02 M5 - pending Long order. Entry lies within HVN + not affected by any weak zone, estimated stop-loss around 7.88%. The uptrend is in the 545th cycle, amplitude 132.40%.