Top Ethereum Layer-2 networks (L2s), including Base, Optimism, and Arbitrum, are ready to give up millions of dollars in revenue to make the ecosystem more interconnected.

Fragmentation has been a long-standing issue with Ethereum. There are too many L2s that don’t interact smoothly (if at all) and are overly centralized.

‘Based’ and ‘native’ rollups could fix this.

In light of the anticipated upgrade, whales have been accumulating $ETH at an unprecedented rate – over $3.8B in two days.

Let’s unpack how this news may impact the ecosystem.

The Cost of Security: What Are Based & Native Rollups?

Core Ethereum developer Justin Drake proposed the concept of based rollups in 2023. Currently, L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism rely on siloed sequencers to process transactions faster at the cost of decentralization.

Based rollups would return transaction processing to the Ethereum mainnet, which means they would be validated by all nodes instead of a single sequencer.

Likewise, native rollups create optimized environments within the Ethereum base layer as opposed to processing data off-chain and submitting results to the mainnet.

These improvements, however, would compromise transaction speeds – decentralized sequencing will increase block times to roughly 12 seconds versus its current 1 second.

On top of that, L2s would lose a substantial part of the revenue they generate from gas fees. Still, it appears that L2 executives don’t mind these trade-offs for the sake of the ecosystem’s security and unity.

While Ethereum struggled with scalability and decentralization lately, whales are hopeful about the ecosystem’s future.

In the past two days, whales bought $3.8B worth of $ETH. This includes Trump’s family venture World Liberty Financial, which spent $20M on Saturday and brought its $ETH portfolio to $193M.

Interestingly, the Ethereum Foundation went against the trend and sold $14M worth of $ETH since January 2, including $308K a few hours ago.

Wall Street Pepe ($WEPE) Could Lead Ethereum Altcoin Bull Run

Ethereum’s upgrade may benefit the price of $ETH and all altcoins in the ecosystem.

One new Ethereum-based project that’s been rapidly gaining traction is Wall Street Pepe ($WEPE), a worthy contender to the original $PEPE (which recently lost ground to Trump’s official meme coin and has shown it isn’t that hard to beat).

The $WEPE presale launched in late 2024 and raised over $61M. WEPE’s relatable mission is the most likely reason for such early success.

Whales like governments, banks, and wealthy individuals can manipulate the market to their advantage due to the sheer amount of funds they hold. Even worse, they may conspire with insider groups to amplify their influence.

$WEPE assembles an army of ‘thirsty degens’ – retail investors who want to level the playing field. Together, $WEPE followers will share tested trading strategies and market insights to crush the bull run.

Only 20 days remain to buy $WEPE and join the frog battalion. One $WEPE now costs $0.0003665, which is the final price before the presale ends, and early adopters will claim their tokens.

The project sets the bar high with CEX listings in sight, so $WEPE might soar to $0.0013 if it maintains the momentum.

Final Remarks

Achieving efficiency, decentralization, and interoperability all at once is no easy task. Ethereum now prioritizes the latter two, and only time will tell whether it’s the right decision.

Still, whale activity shows that the community approves of this strategy.

Positive developments are likely to benefit the entire ecosystem, including early-stage altcoins like $WEPE.

Meanwhile, we remind you to do your due diligence. Don’t fall victim to FOMO and FUD – keep a cool head and diversify your investments.

Price action in the past 24 hours has seen XRP break below the $3 mark again. XRP initially managed to cross above the $3 mark on January 15, a move that marked a notable milestone in trading above this level for the first time in seven years. However, this level has failed and the altcoin has fallen below it again in the past trading day.

Nonetheless, XRP’s foray above the $3 mark again shows its potential to return above this level, especially after years of being labeled dead by some crypto analysts. Interestingly, an analysis on the TradingView platform suggests that the cryptocurrency may be preparing for another significant breakout, not only to reclaim the $3 mark but also to exceed $3.5 very soon.

XRP Holds Steady In The Equilibrium Zone

Technical analysis of the XRP price action on the 3-hour candlestick chart shows that the cryptocurrency has managed to maintain a stable position within an equilibrium zone despite the intense volatility witnessed among cryptocurrencies in the past few days before and after Donald Trump’s inauguration. 

According to the analysis, XRP is currently trading within a wedge pattern, which has historically been a precursor to decisive price movements. Interestingly, this pattern has been developing since January 16, when the asset reached a peak of $3.38 before beginning a corrective phase. The cryptocurrency has exhibited a progressively tightening range within this range, which is a delicate balance between buying and selling pressures that could break out in either direction.

Notably, the consolidation within the wedge pattern appears to be reaching its climax, and the analyst highlighted this as a key indicator of XRP’s readiness to embark on its next leg up. As such, the analyst predicted that the next move would be a bullish return above the $3 mark, with a particular target at $3.5 before any other correction. 

Potential Risks: Bearish Divergence On The Weekly RSI

Although the outlook for XRP remains bullish, the technical analysis also pointed to a possible bearish divergence forming on the weekly RSI. This divergence occurs when the price of an asset moves higher while the RSI indicates weakening momentum. 

Although this presents a risk, the analyst expressed confidence that the current wedge pattern and its steady performance could outweigh this bearish signal. Its continued trading within the accumulation zone is another encouraging factor. If a significant decline were in the picture, it likely would have occurred already. The fact that XRP has held firm in this zone suggests strong support from buyers, with selling pressure being effectively offset by steady buyer interest.

Should the altcoin achieve the projected $3.5 target, it would mark an 18.5% increase from the current price and represent a breakout above its previous all-time high of $3.40. However, this could be considered a short-term price target. Long-term projections for XRP are far more ambitious, with targets ranging from $7 to as high as $20.

Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com

Investors in the future will look back fondly on 2025 as the Year of the Legendary Crypto Bull Run. Bitcoin is projected to triple to $300K by the end of this year, and Cardano could become the first fully decentralized blockchain.

These are very good developments for the crypto industry as a whole, especially meme coins, many of which are coming out of presale and officially launching this year.

Solaxy is projected to go as high as $0.032 by December (compared to its current price of $0.0003665) and Meme Index by as much as $0.074 (up from its current $0.0155933).

$BTC To Triple By Christmas & Cardano as The First Decentralized Blockchain Ever?

Analysts predicted $BTC’s $300K target after a Presidential endorsement and lots of Bitcoin press coverage. The result? Investors and those new to crypto considered putting their money in, leading to a 9% increase in value this month.

This valuation may seem a bit of a pipe dream. It may not be wishful thinking on the part of investors though – US states are rushing to establish Bitcoin reserves after President Trump signaled his support to create a national $BTC reserve.

In more good news for crypto’s 2025 prospects, Cardano is launching its Plomin hard fork, meaning it could become the first decentralized blockchain in history while also enhancing transaction speed, reducing costs, and boosting security.

This could potentially lead to a price rush for the highly-regarded ‘scientific project.’

It’s Time For You To Jump Into The Meme Coin Investment Craze

With the current good news around Bitcoin and Cardano, the meme coin market is bound to receive a lot of investor attention in 2025 (the correlation is definitely there).

The following pre-sales are on fire, and their overall prospects for 2025 are hopping.

1. Solaxy ($SOLX) – Optimizing The Solana Blockchain, With $15M Raised

Solaxy ($SOLX) is another example, along with Cardano, of why 2025 is going to be a good year for blockchains. It’s a meme token that will fund the upgrade and scalability of the Solana blockchain.

Dubbed the ‘ first Solana L2’, the new and improved chain will make Solana transactions faster and cheaper by reducing network congestion and failed transactions caused by Solana’s increasing popularity. Offloading some of that traffic onto the L2 will also lower transaction fees.

Developers can also let their creativity run amok by making new decentralized apps for certain use cases, enhancing Solana even more.

But the most important improvement will be increased investor confidence. Upgrading the system and alleviating the worsening problems that plague Solana may boost investor confidence and hopefully lead to increased buying interest.

$SOLX is currently trading at $0.001616, with a staking APY of 257%. There’s a lot of excitement surrounding this one, and with improvements sorely needed in Solana, it’s definitely one to watch this year and invest in.

2. Meme Index ($MEMEX) – Making Investing in Meme Coins Easier, $3M In The Bank

Meme Index ($MEMEX) is another reason why the next 12 months are looking good for meme coins. Meme Index enables you to buy meme coins and then invest them in one of four plans.

These plans range from ‘safe but low return on investment’ (the grand-sounding Titan Meme Index) to ‘higher risk but a higher chance of a private jet’ (the alarming-sounding Meme Frenzy Index). It would all depend on your tolerance for risk.

Meme Index currently covers eight different meme coins, including $PEPE, $DOGE, and $SHIB. $DOGE and $PEPE have shown nice gains in the past 24 hours, while $SHIB has dipped slightly.

The website claims that the Titan Meme Index is currently outperforming NASDAQ, Bitcoin, and gold.

$MEMEX is the first decentralized meme coin index, which means higher security and privacy, as well as the fact that token holders have more control over their coins. They’re not sitting on someone else’s server, under their control.

For these reasons, $MEMEX is garnering a lot of attention and buzz. Especially when its staking APY is a whopping 769%. With today’s token price at $0.0155933, it might be the day to empty your piggy bank and stock up on this meme coin.

3. Panshibi ($SHIBI) – A 60-Day Presale With $45K Raised In The First Day

It’s worth taking a good look at this one since Panshibi ($SHIBI) has had a wild ride so far. It raised $45K in its first day (now at $87K) and currently costs $0.026.

Uniquely, Panshibi’s presale is restricted to only 60 days, which means you don’t have to worry about delayed launches or vague dates. The developers emphasize transparency and trust over all else.

There’s no mention of a staking APY on the website, but their roadmap does mention a staking platform in stage three. It doesn’t mention any specific numbers, though.

Another reason to put some pennies into this coin is that the developers will give up ownership of the smart contract, instead handing it over to the community.

This is part of the $SHIBI investors’ governance rights. The team’s tokens are locked for two years, so you can also be assured of no sudden rug pulls.

Once $SHIBI hits exchanges, all unsold coins will be burnt, and other offerings on the horizon include NFTs and the staking platform. Panshibi also wants to partner with panda charities, which is nice if you like your crypto investing to be combined with some philanthropy.

4. Basenji ($BENJI) – A $49M Market Cap & Soccer Endorsements To Boot

If frogs and pandas don’t do it for you, then how about a dog?

Basenji ($BENJI), on the Base blockchain, has seen a jump in the last 24 hours by almost 12%, and its market cap has reached a very respectable $49M. CoinMarketCap has rated bullish sentiment at 94%, and the token price is a steal at $0.04906.

Token holders can ‘adopt’ a digital dog, which qualifies them for raffles and contests.

There’s currently no word on what the prizes are, but it’s safe to assume it’s more $BENJI. There are 420B tokens on offer, and 60% of the liquidity will be locked for an unspecified period.

Basenji got a big boost a couple of weeks back with the news that they will be advertising in football stadiums during matches. The deal is with AC Milan, Juventus, BVB and Bayern Munich, ensuring lots of eyeballs will be watching $BENJI.

Don’t Rush In Too Fast – ALWAYS Do Your Research!

It’s easy to get caught up in the mad excitement surrounding crypto presales right now. But before you remortgage your house and sell the soul of your firstborn, we need to emphasize a few things.

First, these are only highly informed analyses and predictions, not profit guarantees. Maybe there’ll be no profit? Or maybe a lot of it? It’s extremely difficult to tell one way or another.

You can mitigate this risk somewhat by always doing independent research. Consult lots of authoritative sources (Chad sitting at the bar isn’t one of them). Then come to your own conclusions.

It also goes without saying that you shouldn’t invest money you can’t afford to lose.