Bitcoin Steady at $118K, Arbitrum Leads Inflows, Stablecoin Threat to Banks Grows

Market Overview:

• Bitcoin (BTC): $118,500 – Eyeing $125K breakout
• Ethereum (ETH): $3,760 – Up 4% on technical momentum
• Top Gainers: XRP, BNB, Solana – All up over 2%

Key Developments:

Arbitrum Surges

Arbitrum saw $168M in weekly inflows, surpassing Avalanche and other Layer-2 rivals. The demand reflects investor preference for Ethereum scalability solutions.

Stablecoins vs Banks

A Bank of America report forecasts stablecoins may disrupt traditional banks in coming years as regulations mature and adoption accelerates.

MetaMask Patch Incoming

Consensys is releasing a performance patch to address excessive SSD usage issues in MetaMask, promising a smoother user experience.

OpenAI’s Massive GPU Plan

Sam Altman confirms 1 million+ GPUs will be deployed by year-end, potentially enabling a new wave of blockchain-AI synergy.

NFT Comeback

A crypto whale purchased 45 CryptoPunks, renewing attention to NFTs as digital assets regain speculative and cultural value.

Why It Matters for Web3

• Layer-2 Growth: Rising inflows into Arbitrum signal increasing Ethereum scalability demand
• Stablecoin Adoption: Regulatory momentum could bring digital dollars to the mainstream financial system
• Infrastructure Scaling: MetaMask fixes and OpenAI’s GPU push show the ecosystem’s ongoing evolution
• NFT Revival: High-volume Punk acquisitions point to institutional confidence in digital collectibles