Trump’s Executive Order What Changed for 401k Plans
On August 7, 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors.” Key directions of the order: • Instructs the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to re-evaluate the existing regulatory guidance and rules for 401(k) and other defined-contribution retirement plans under the law Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), so that “alternative assets” — including private equity, real estate, and digital assets (cryptocurrencies) — may qualify for inclusion in participants’ retirement portfolios. • Asks the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of the Treasury, and other relevant agencies to consider parallel regulatory changes and to update what constitutes an eligible investment under rules governing retirement-plan providers. The rationale presented by the White House: while over 90 million Americans use employer-sponsored defined-contribution plans, the vast majority have historically lacked access to the kinds of alternative asset classes — long available to large institutional investors, pension funds, and wealthy individuals — that may offer higher long-term returns and diversification potential. In line with the order, on May 28, 2025, the DOL rescinded its 2022 guidance that had instructed plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” before including cryptocurrencies on a plan’s investment menu. That 2022 guidance had created a strong regulatory deterrent toward crypto in retirement plans. With the rescission, the DOL has reverted to a historically neutral stance: it is no longer discouraging crypto per se — instead, fiduciaries must simply ensure that any investments (traditional or alternative) meet the standard fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty under ERISA. In short: the door is now open, in principle, for 401(k) participants to gain access to alternative investments — including cryptocurrencies — where plan sponsors choose to offer them.
Why This Matters — Potential Opportunities • Broadening Access to Alternative Asset Classes Traditionally, most 401(k) plans offered only a limited menu of investments: mutual funds focused on stocks, bonds, or cash equivalents. The new policy could allow these plans to offer access to more complex but potentially higher-reward asset classes typically restricted to institutional investors. Private equity, real estate, and digital assets are named explicitly. This may deliver two major benefits for long-term retirement savers: • Diversification: Alternative assets may have return behaviours less correlated with traditional stock and bond markets. • Upside potential: Some alternative investments .if chosen carefully — may outperform conventional asset classes over long horizons, particularly for those comfortable with risk. • Leveling the Retirement-Investment Playing Field According to the White House’s fact sheet, many Americans participating in defined-contribution plans have lacked access to the types of investments available to public-pension funds, large institutional investors, and wealthy individuals. The order aims to extend these opportunities to ordinary workers — enabling consistent access across income and employment brackets. • A Surge of Institutional Capital Toward Crypto/Alternatives If plan sponsors and major providers decide to offer alternative-asset investment options, the influx of retirement savings into private equity, real estate, and crypto could dramatically expand the capital flow into those sectors. For crypto especially, this could mark a major step toward broader acceptance and institutionalization.
Key Risks, Challenges & What Could Still Go Wrong ⚠️ High Volatility, Illiquidity, and Risk Profile Cryptocurrencies and many alternative investments are known for high volatility. Day-to-day swings (or longer-term drawdowns) could substantially affect the value of retirement portfolios — potentially hurtful for older investors or those close to retirement. Many private-market investments (private equity, real estate) are illiquid — meaning they can’t easily be sold, or converted to cash. Fees also tend to be higher than traditional mutual funds, which can erode returns. 🏛️ Regulatory, Custody & Oversight Uncertainties Custodial services, valuation standards, and regulatory clarity for digital assets are not yet mature enough for mass adoption inside 401(k) plans. Even with the neutral stance, fiduciaries must still follow ERISA requirements — and any misstep could create legal exposure. 📉 Potential for Misalignment With Retirement Goals 401(k)s are long-term, stability-focused. High-risk assets may not align with many participants’ retirement needs. Fiduciary Responsibility, Legal and Ethical Questions Lawmakers and legal experts question whether fiduciaries can justify high-risk options like crypto, and whether this shifts liability to plan sponsors. This landscape has not yet been tested in a major market downturn.
What’s Next? What to Watch For • Regulatory follow-through: DOL, SEC, and Treasury must update rules. • Infrastructure readiness: Custody and valuation systems must evolve. • Participant education: Clear guidance is needed before adoption. • Policy scrutiny: Congress and regulators may introduce guardrails.
A Game-Changing Option With Caution The 2025 executive order opens the possibility of alternative assets inside 401(k)s for the first time in years. It could deliver new opportunities — diversification, higher potential returns, and broader access. But with these opportunities come significant risks: volatility, liquidity challenges, fiduciary concerns, and regulatory uncertainty. Whether this becomes a true retirement-market transformation depends on regulatory follow-through, industry adoption, and participant readiness. New Developments After the Executive Order Since the signing of the executive order, several important updates have emerged: • The DOL’s rescission is now fully active, restoring a neutral stance and removing the 2022 barrier that discouraged crypto in plans. • A 180-day regulatory review cycle is underway, signaling that new formal guidance may arrive by early 2026 — guidance that will decide how quickly providers can introduce crypto or private-market exposure. • Recordkeepers and large asset managers have begun internal evaluations of custody models, valuation frameworks, and ERISA-compliant digital-asset products. • Market analysts believe even a small allocation (1% of retirement portfolios) could unlock tens of billions of dollars in crypto inflows, accelerating institutional adoption. • Legal experts caution that fiduciaries must document every decision extensively, as no alternative-asset 401(k) model has yet been tested during a major market crash. These developments indicate that the executive order is more than symbolic — the U.S. retirement industry is actively preparing for a new asset-menu era, though widespread rollout will depend on regulatory clarity and infrastructure maturity in 2026. #BTC $BTC #CryptoIn401k #CryptocurrencyWealth #CryptoNewss
ZEC Privacy-Focused Infrastructure for Secure Value Transfer
ZEC underpins the Zcash network, a protocol built to enable fully encrypted transactions through zero-knowledge proofs. It allows users to choose between transparent and shielded transfers while maintaining strong cryptographic guarantees. The asset is used for transaction fees, network participation, and privacy-preserving payments, making ZEC a key instrument for users seeking secure, confidential movement of value on-chain.
$ZEC
• Zcash Holds Mid-Range Support After Sharp Reversal From Multi-Month Highs
ZEC is consolidating around the $450 zone after retreating from its major resistance area near $750, a level that previously marked peak momentum during its 100%+ breakout swing. Despite the correction, the broader structure remains elevated compared to earlier cycle lows, with buyers consistently defending the $420–$430 band. This zone has emerged as the mid-range support that dictates whether ZEC sustains its higher-timeframe trend or slips into deeper retracement territory.
• Market Momentum Cools but Structural Integrity Remains Intact
Price action shows compressed volatility as ZEC trades near the lower boundary of its consolidation channel, signaling indecision rather than trend collapse. If $450 holds, ZEC maintains the potential to reattempt the $500–$554 recovery region, while losing $420 risks exposing $350–$340 as the next liquidity pocket. The chart’s slope still reflects a market that has expanded significantly year-to-date, with the current phase representing digestion rather than exhaustion. #zec
TRX: High-Throughput Infrastructure for Scalable On-Chain Activity
TRX serves as the core asset of the TRON network, supporting fast, low-cost transactions across a high-throughput blockchain designed for large-scale applications. It powers resource staking, fee payments, and governance while enabling developers to deploy dApps with predictable performance. With its efficient execution layer and broad ecosystem activity, TRX remains a foundational asset for users interacting across TRON’s expanding on-chain economy.
TRON Network Activity Rises as TRX Holds a Higher Low Structure
TRX continues to stabilize above the $0.27 region after forming a higher low at $0.2709, signaling controlled accumulation despite broader market rotation. The recent sale of over 11.7 billion TRON Energy units on CatFee.io highlights persistent on-chain demand for bandwidth and smart-contract execution, reinforcing TRON’s position as one of the most actively used settlement layers in Web3. This underlying network utility often cushions volatility and maintains long-term liquidity depth.
$TRX
• Momentum Remains Neutral but Shows Early Signs of Reversal
With price hovering near $0.281, TRX is attempting to reclaim short-term moving averages, supported by a mildly improving RSI and a MACD that is flattening toward a potential positive crossover. While resistance sits around $0.29–$0.30, the structure remains constructive as long as TRX holds above the $0.27 support band. The combination of stable on-chain activity and a tightening technical range suggests a market preparing for direction once broader sentiment strengthens. #TRX
Crypto ETFs have broken their recent outflow streak, with U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recording a net inflow of more than $71 million on Nov 28, following a stronger $128 million inflow earlier in the week. This shift signals a return of institutional appetite after a short period of defensive positioning, reflecting improved confidence in market stability and ETF-driven liquidity.
$BTC
• Bitcoin Holds Range as Momentum Indicators Re-Strengthen
Bitcoin is currently trading near $91,000, maintaining a steady consolidation between the $84,000–$92,000 band. Short-term EMAs continue to align bullishly, with the 7-hour EMA crossing above longer-duration averages and confirming directional support. This combination of renewed ETF demand and stable technical structure suggests a market environment increasingly shaped by institutional participation and disciplined accumulation.
Lisk’s Layer-2 Transition Reshapes Its Technical Identity
Lisk is undergoing a structural evolution as it migrates into the Ethereum Layer-2 ecosystem, replacing its older standalone sidechain model with a more scalable, EVM-compatible architecture. This shift expands its developer surface area, unlocks access to Ethereum liquidity, and aligns Lisak with the broader modular rollup movement. The addition of the LSK/USDC pair has strengthened liquidity flow, improving trade execution and tightening spreads across spot markets,
$LSK
• Market Momentum Accelerates Following Fresh Liquidity Injection
LSK’s move toward the $0.29 region comes with expanding volume, improving MACD structure, and an elevated RSI confirming renewed strength. Price reclaimed key levels after a 36–38% surge, reflecting a combination of technical recovery and narrative-driven interest behind its Layer-2 upgrade. Immediate resistance remains near $0.31–$0.34, while support forms around $0.25–$0.26 as traders reassess Lisk’s updated role within the maturing Ethereum rollup environment. #LSK #LSKUSDT
Yield Guild Games: A DAO Powering the Future of Virtual Economies
Yield Guild Games operates as a decentralized collective that invests in NFTs tied to virtual worlds and blockchain games. Through its network of YGG Vaults and SubDAOs, users can access yield-generating opportunities, stake assets, participate in governance, and engage in farming mechanisms. The ecosystem creates a structured way for players and contributors to benefit from the growing digital economy while keeping all activity coordinated through its DAO framework,
YGG remains locked in a prolonged downtrend, with price sitting at 0.0840 after an extended series of lower highs and lower lows, following the heavy rejection from 0.2695 and the capitulation wick into 0.0468. The chart shows a classic descending structure where every bounce has been sold into, and momentum continues to weaken — RSI is deeply depressed, MACD is flat near the zero line, and volatility has collapsed, signalling exhaustion rather than reversal strength. The long-term trendline that previously acted as support has now been broken and is functioning as overhead resistance, keeping YGG pinned at the lower range. $YGG A base is attempting to form just above 0.0830–0.0800, but buyers are not showing strong commitment; candles remain small, volume is thin, and no meaningful reclaim has occurred to shift the narrative. For early recovery signs, YGG must first retake 0.095–0.102, a critical breakdown pocket tied to the previous trendline retest — only then would structure begin showing accumulation instead of continued distribution. Until that happens, any upside attempts remain vulnerable. Losing 0.0830 risks dragging price back toward the liquidity sweep zone near 0.0468, where the next major demand cluster sits. . @Yield Guild Games #YGGPlay
Lorenzo Protocol: Tokenized Strategies Built for On-Chain Asset Management
Lorenzo Protocol converts established financial strategies into transparent, on-chain products through its programmable OTFs. These funds provide direct exposure to quant models, managed futures, volatility approaches, and structured yield mechanisms. Capital is allocated through a vault architecture that simplifies execution while maintaining full transparency. The ecosystem is anchored by BANK, which drives governance, long-term alignment, and participation in the protocol’s veBANK model.
BANK is moving through a tight post-selloff consolidation after its launch volatility, with price holding around 0.0438 while repeatedly defending the lower liquidity shelf near 0.0403. The early spike into 0.0895 created a wide overhead imbalance that has kept the pair under sustained pressure, leading to a slow grind downward followed by a stabilization phase where candle bodies have become smaller and volatility has compressed a typical sign that forced selling is cooling and the market is seeking equilibrium. $BANK The current structure shows a base attempting to form just above support: multiple wicks into the lower band were absorbed, indicating that buyers are present even if demand is still weak. The mid-range zone between 0.0475–0.0520 remains the first meaningful resistance cluster tied to the breakdown area; reclaiming this pocket would confirm early accumulation and open the path toward filling part of the upper inefficiency. If BANK loses 0.0403, the probability of another liquidity sweep increases before any durable reversal can develop, but holding and building above 0.043–0.044 keeps the potential for a recovery structure intact. . @Lorenzo Protocol #LorenzoProtocol
KITE continues to hold a structurally strong uptrend, with price hovering near 0.1152 after steadily climbing out of the 0.0300 launch low and maintaining a sequence of clean higher highs and higher lows. The controlled staircase pattern visible on the chart shows a market driven by sustained accumulation rather than speculative spikes — each pullback has been shallow, demand has remained consistent, and no aggressive selling has disrupted the structure. The previous rejection at 0.1333 still acts as the primary short-term cap, forming the upper boundary of the current expansion zone, while the broader behaviour indicates that buyers are preparing for another attempt to revisit and potentially break that high. $KITE Momentum remains constructive: candles are tight, volatility is stable, and the lack of deep wicks suggests strong bid support underneath the trend. For continuation, KITE needs to secure a clean breakout above 0.118–0.123, which would confirm renewed strength and open the pathway to re-test 0.1333 — and if reclaimed, expose the next discovery region toward 0.160–0.175. Failure to hold 0.108–0.102 would weaken this controlled climb and risk a deeper retest of the mid-range before the trend can resume. @KITE AI
BTC is stabilizing after a deep corrective leg that swept into the 80,600 liquidity pocket, where aggressive selling finally met strong absorption and triggered a sharp rebound. The structure has now shifted from a cascade of lower lows into a controlled re-accumulation phase, with price consolidating around 91,300 as volatility compresses and buyers begin defending progressively higher intraday levels. The heavy sell zone between 104,000–116,400 remains the major overhead imbalance — a region created by the prior breakdown — and BTC will need sustained strength to revisit it. $BTC What stands out is the clean V-shaped recovery off the lows: the long wick rejection signals capitulation exhaustion, while the subsequent tight clustering of candles indicates that the market is attempting to build a higher floor rather than slipping back into weakness. For continuation, BTC must secure a breakout above 94,500–95,800, the immediate resistance shelf that rejected the first rebound attempt; clearing it would confirm bullish control and open the path back toward 102,000–108,000. Failure to hold above 88,000–86,500 would weaken this recovery structure and risk a retest of the liquidity sweep near 80,600 before broader trend strength can resume. . #bitcoin
FF is currently trading in a compressed consolidation phase following an energetic launch cycle, with price stabilizing around 0.11527 and consistently maintaining strength along the lower liquidity shelf near 0.04800. The initial expansion toward 0.58000 left a broad inefficiency zone above, and the subsequent moderation in volatility has allowed the market to establish a more balanced structure. The mid-range drift on the chart highlights a transition from high-intensity movement to a healthier equilibrium where both sides are absorbing liquidity efficiently. One notable feature is the steady defense of the horizontal support area, where repeated absorption indicates early signs of a developing accumulation base. $FF For FF to progress toward a constructive recovery trajectory, the key trigger rests within the 0.145–0.165 zone — a structural resistance band that has historically moderated momentum. A clean reclaim of this region would signal renewed directional interest and open the pathway toward the broader efficiency zone at 0.250–0.350. Maintaining stability above 0.095–0.080 keeps the current structure intact and supports continuation of the buildup phase that typically precedes stronger trend development. @Falcon Finance #FalconFinance
A Study of BANK Token's Influence on Lorenzo Protocol’s Ecosystem Dynamics
• Total Supply: 1,000,000,000 BANK • Circulating Supply: 400M+ BANK • Emission Design :Controlled, utility-linked release aligned with validator participation and RWA onboarding. • Primary Utilities: o Validator-route staking o Governance over yield-distribution parameters o Settlement fees for tokenized-asset flows o Incentives for RWA onboarding partners • Economic Flywheel: • Locked Assets → Validator Yield → BANK Buy-Side Pressure → Higher Velocity → Protocol TVL Expansion. • Roadmap: o Q1–Q2 2025: Expansion of fixed-income pools, multi-chain RWA routing activation, validator throughput optimization. o Q3 2025: Institutional Gateway rollout with compliant onboarding; programmable yield strategies via BANK governance. o Q4 2025: Revenue-linked BANK burn model; global marketplace for on-chain treasuries, invoices & yield notes; liquidity expansion across L2 ecosystems. • Market Structure: • Displays controlled volatility with liquidity pockets forming around major RWA-related catalysts. • Utility Strength: • BANK’s value is anchored in productive mechanics—validator yield, settlement flows, and governance—rather than speculative emissions. • Demand Drivers: • Growth of tokenized assets, stronger validator staking incentives, and expanding settlement-fee capture. • Long-Term View: • As RWA volume scales through Lorenzo’s settlement layer, BANK matures into a high-utility, low-velocity asset supported by fee flows, buybacks, and real economic throughput.
Incentive Driven Participation • The Role of Incentives in Shaping Protocol Behavior Incentives decide whether a DeFi ecosystem matures into a self-sustaining economic network or fades into a temporary yield pit. Lorenzo Protocol builds on this principle by designing $BANK not as a passive governance asset, but as an active incentive engine driving staking, liquidity, governance, and structured yield participation. With a capped 2.1 billion supply and roughly 425 million in circulation, $BANK has contributed directly to Lorenzo’s TVL surpassing $590 million in late 2025, reinforcing user retention and protocol revenue momentum across its BTC-centric ecosystem. • Scarcity, Emissions, and Value Capture Architecture At the core of $BANK ’s design is a scarcity-aligned model supported by real revenue flows. Early participants received structured allocations, while tapered emissions prevent the dilution that undermines many DeFi token economies. A sizable supply share remains reserved for ecosystem development and user rewards, ensuring aligned economic growth. Instead of inflation-driven incentives, $BANK ’s value loop is strengthened through recurring buybacks funded by OTF strategy fees, cross-chain operations, and yield-routing revenues—linking token strength directly to protocol activity and expanding capital flows. • Staking, veBANK, and Long-Term Economic Lock-In Converting BANK into veBANK shifts users from short-term actors into long-term economic stakeholders. veBANK unlocks multiple layers: fee sharing from active strategies, premium access to high-performing OTFs, yield multipliers, and governance influence. Longer locks translate into greater economic weight and deeper protocol alignment. This has reshaped the supply dynamics of the token—substantial amounts of circulating BANK are now locked for extended durations, easing sell pressure and stabilizing price behavior. With rising deposits in stBTC strategies, YAT-linked multipliers, and diversified OTFs like USD1+, veBANK has become the gravitational anchor of Lorenzo’s economic system. • Governance Incentives and Accountability Mechanisms Governance within Lorenzo operates on an accountability-first framework. veBANK holders guide decisions around OTF parameters, treasury allocations, RWA integrations, strategy weightings, and risk controls. High-quality proposals receive rebates, while low-effort or low-quorum submissions face slashing—ensuring governance remains purposeful rather than symbolic. This structure has produced a measurable rise in proposal quality and voter participation, resulting in upgrades that strengthened risk frameworks, expanded product categories, and improved capital efficiency across the protocol. • Task Rewards and User Conversion Efficiency Lorenzo’s early task campaigns—cross-chain challenges, liquidity incentives, bridging missions, and stBTC onboarding tasks—proved pivotal in converting new users into active participants. Airdrops distributed across centralized and decentralized venues accelerated initial traction, but the protocol distinguished itself by retaining users. Instead of temporary engagement spikes, incentives redirected participants into staking, veBANK locking, and OTF-based yield strategies. Analytics show sustained increases in active wallets, rising structured-product deposits, and broad engagement across the ecosystem’s core layers. • Ecosystem Metrics and Compounding Growth Layers Ecosystem data illustrates how this incentive structure compounds over time. TVL grew from about $150 million in early 2025 to over $590 million by late Q3. Daily BANK trading volume expanded from $2 million to above $10 million, reflecting deeper liquidity and rising demand for multipliers and veBANK alignment. Governance turnout strengthened consistently, with participation rates well above the DeFi average. Meanwhile, structured yields climbed from mid-teen percentages to nearly 27% as the protocol diversified into RWAs, quant models, delta-neutral BTCfi, and multi-chain yield routing. Each incentive layer—staking, governance, task rewards, fee-driven buybacks—amplified the others, forming a self-reinforcing participation engine. • Risk Controls and Long-Term Sustainability Framework Despite strong performance, the ecosystem has navigated challenges ranging from unlock-driven volatility to the complexity of multi-chain yield strategies. Lorenzo’s transparency-first architecture—routine audits, multi-feed price oracles, reserve attestations, and conservative OTF construction—has mitigated systemic risks. As Bitcoin liquidity migrates toward structured yield instruments and tokenized treasury markets, $BANK ’s design positions the protocol to capture a larger share of the expanding BTCfi sector. • BANK as Lorenzo’s Coordination Layer Over time, BANK has evolved beyond traditional utility roles into Lorenzo’s coordination mechanism—linking user behavior, economic alignment, and protocol revenue feedback loops. By rewarding long-term commitment, reinforcing governance accountability, and cycling strategy fees into buybacks and multipliers, $BANK stands at the center of Lorenzo’s accelerating growth. As tokenized yield markets mature and Bitcoin’s liquidity increasingly shifts into structured on-chain products, $BANK holders are no longer passive beneficiaries—they are active architects shaping the protocol’s direction and the broader landscape of BTC-native finance.
Revolutionizing Asset Management: OTF Infrastructure Transforming Traditional Finance Through Open Architecture The global asset-management landscape—now surpassing $100 trillion—has long depended on institutional gatekeeping, opaque fee structures, and slow operational frameworks. Lorenzo Protocol challenges this legacy by transforming sophisticated investment strategies into transparent, programmable On-Chain Traded Funds (OTFs), giving users unrestricted access to instruments once reserved for accredited participants. With TVL exceeding $590 million across more than 20 networks, Lorenzo is steadily converting traditional finance’s opacity into an open, algorithmically verified ecosystem. OTFs as Blockchain-Native Fund Structures OTFs form the foundation of this shift. They operate as blockchain-native equivalents of ETFs, bundling complex CeFi trading models, hedging strategies, and multi-asset portfolios into single on-chain tokens. These vaults update in real time, eliminate intermediaries, and settle through automated mint-redeem mechanisms. USD1+, the protocol’s flagship OTF, embodies this architecture: backed by tokenized Treasuries, multi-layered DeFi loops, and quantitative trading engines, it delivers institutional-grade yield—above 27%—without relying on leverage-heavy or unsustainable tactics. Scalability Across Simple and Composed Vaults The strength of OTFs lies in their scalability. Simple vaults isolate strategies like delta-neutral BTC trading, offering users stable returns with limited exposure. Advanced vaults combine RWAs, yield-farming primitives, and fast-acting quant strategies to craft multi-pillar portfolios that rebalance with market conditions. Anchored on-chain, these tokens stay fully portable—usable as collateral, liquidity assets, or yield-bearing components across DeFi’s expanding infrastructure. Institutional-Grade Quant Strategies On-Chain Lorenzo’s quant integration sets it apart from typical yield protocols. Institutional-grade trading engines identify arbitrage windows, volatility opportunities, and trend-based inefficiencies, executing trades through CeFi venues for liquidity precision while settling every step transparently on-chain. Each strategy—options hedging, arbitrage capture, trend following—feeds directly into vault yield, blending high-performance execution with full user visibility. Ecosystem Expansion and Composability This architecture is reshaping expectations across DeFi. Retail users gain direct access to strategies once gated behind hedge-fund barriers, while institutions explore automated liquidity models using tokenized credit, fixed-income products, and structured portfolios. Developers treat OTF tokens as composable primitives—similar to stablecoins but with diversified, built-in yield. Through it all, $BANK remains the system’s coordination layer, guiding vault parameters, strategy allocations, and treasury-driven growth decisions. Programmable Finance and Transparent Yield Mechanics By turning complex investment engines into programmable financial instruments, Lorenzo accelerates the shift toward a transparent, self-custodial asset-management model. Strategy updates become auditable, yield flows become modular, and OTFs gain utility across lending, derivatives, and collateralized positions. This transforms funds from static products into dynamic, interoperable building blocks powering real-time on-chain finance. Risk Management and Structural Resilience Challenges persist—ranging from cross-chain risk variables to regulatory ambiguity around tokenized fund structures. Lorenzo’s quarterly audits, multi-source oracle feeds, and conservative OTF risk frameworks help mitigate these issues. Despite volatile market cycles, the protocol’s stability and ability to avoid large-scale liquidations reflect a system architected for resilience rather than hype. Blueprint for the Future of Digital Asset Management As tokenization becomes integral to global finance, Lorenzo resembles an early blueprint for digital asset management rather than a niche DeFi experiment. OTFs translate hedge-fund mechanics, structured-note logic, and multi-strategy portfolios into composable digital assets, while quant engines operate as transparent modules instead of closed institutional tools. High-yield opportunities that once required multimillion-dollar minimums now exist in a form that anyone with a wallet can access. From Intermediaries to Users: A Structural Power Shift The shift is profound: ownership moves from intermediaries to users, strategies become transparent, and financial infrastructure evolves from permissioned silos into programmable global networks. As OTF adoption expands and quantitative models scale across chains, Lorenzo positions itself at the intersection of institutional discipline and decentralized sovereignty—pioneering a future where asset management is composable, inclusive, and fully verifiable on-chain. @Lorenzo Protocol #LorenzoProtocol $BANK
#AT is attempting to stabilize after its steep post-launch washout, with price holding near 0.2127 while maintaining distance from the 0.1934 liquidity floor that previously marked seller exhaustion. The sharp rejection from 0.3660 created a wide imbalance zone and left the chart in a low-volatility resting phase, where candles have tightened and momentum has flattened — classic behaviour when markets transition from forced liquidation into neutral consolidation. Although volume remains light, the absence of fresh downside pressure suggests that selling has cooled and participants are waiting for a catalyst before committing to a new direction. For AT to shift out of this stagnant range, it must reclaim 0.222–0.230, the nearest supply band tied to the initial breakdown; clearing it would confirm early accumulation and open the door toward 0.260–0.298, the broader mid-range inefficiency. If price fails to hold above 0.193–0.188, it would signal that the current base is unstable and expose AT to another liquidity sweep before any meaningful recovery structure develops. . $AT
Falcon Finance — Tokenized Assets Unleashed: AEON Pay and the $2B USDf Inflection
Falcon Finance has moved tokenized assets from experimental tooling into consumer rails. Reaching a $2 billion USDf circulation marks more than a liquidity milestone; it signals that overcollateralized synthetics can scale into real-world commerce when paired with durable risk engineering and seamless payment integrations. By combining diversified reserves—crypto, tokenized treasuries, gold, and compliant equities—with a spend-first integration through AEON Pay, Falcon turns yield-bearing dollars into a usable medium of exchange for millions of merchants and everyday buyers. That outcome is deliberate. Falcon’s architecture treats collateralization as a portfolio problem, not a single-asset bet. The protocol enforces conservative dynamic OCRs, maintains a dedicated insurance buffer funded by protocol fees, and routes yield generation through market-neutral engines so that the peg is supported even when markets stress. The $2B figure therefore reflects active risk management: minting that remains verifiable, audited, and resilient rather than the result of opportunistic emissions. When yield comes from arbitrage, tokenized credit, and RWA staking rather than only from inflationary rewards, a stable currency becomes credible for commerce. AEON Pay is the operational bridge that converts that credibility into velocity. Embedding USDf and the protocol token into an off-chain payments stack—merchant QR flows, mobile bot interfaces, and point-of-sale settlement—lets users spend a yield-bearing stablecoin without interrupting accrual. The key design here is atomicity: swaps and spends happen at the point of sale, yields continue to accrue on idle balances, and liquidity sits behind transparent attestations so merchants and consumers do not trade trust for convenience. That combination converts passive token holdings into circulating money, increasing on-chain velocity and broadening practical demand beyond speculators and treasury managers. Tokenized RWAs amplify the use case. By accepting gold-backed tokens and compliant equity slices as acceptable collateral, Falcon unlocks a wider base of producers and institutions that previously held assets in illiquid formats. These assets now serve double duty: providing store-of-value characteristics while underwriting everyday dollar issuance. The protocol’s orchestration of tokenized treasuries, private credit, and tokenized equities into the minting and yield stack creates diversified income streams that smooth returns and reduce single-asset sensitivity—critical features when dollar stability is required for commerce. From a product and market perspective, the AEON integration demonstrates a practical path for DeFi to touch mainstream flows. Pilots showing high recurring transaction rates, strong remittance interest, and region-specific adoption suggest that when friction falls—no fiat rails, low settlement times, preserved yields—users treat USDf like a functional currency. For merchants, the benefit is twofold: immediate access to a stable settlement medium and exposure to new liquidity channels for working capital. For users, the benefit is sustained purchasing power enhanced by embedded yield rather than eroded by custody or conversion costs. Operationally, the playbook that makes this work is conservative and modular. Real-time attestations, multi-feed price oracles, and quarterly audits are non-negotiable; so are circuit-breakers, progressive collateral haircuts, and insurance reserves that absorb stress without immediate systemic contagion. Governance then becomes the coordination layer that decides which RWAs to approve, how to allocate insurance capital, and when to expand off-chain rails. That governance must balance growth velocity with prudence, because the moment USDf is perceived as a transactional tool it becomes both utility and liability. The broader implication is structural: tokenized assets can power commerce only when underwriting, settlement, and payout logic are aligned. Falcon’s approach—modular collateral, market-neutral yields, real-time verification, and practical payment rails—creates that alignment. If USDf continues to grow and AEON’s merchant footprint scales, the result will be higher on-chain velocity, deeper liquidity for RWAs, and a pragmatic bridge between DeFi composability and everyday spending. Challenges remain: regulatory harmonization for tokenized securities, custody and redemption pathways for physical-backed assets, and maintaining oracle integrity at scale. But the core experiment is now credible in a way it was not before: tokenized value that pays while it circulates, and a payments fabric that spends without interrupting yield. For builders and institutions, Falcon’s milestone reframes questions about tokenized assets—from “can they work?” to “how fast can we integrate them into commerce?” The answer is visible: tokenized assets unleashed can be money-in-motion, not merely stores of value—provided the protocol behind them is engineered to protect the peg while enabling frictionless utility. @Falcon Finance $FF #FalconFinance
#sol is moving through a controlled rebound phase after its deep retracement from the 205 swing high, with price stabilizing around 135.66 following the liquidity sweep into 121.66, where sellers finally showed exhaustion after weeks of persistent downside pressure. The structure has shifted from heavy impulsive decline into a more balanced rotation: candles have tightened, volatility has cooled, and buyers have begun to defend higher lows — early signals of accumulation rather than continuation of the downtrend. RSI hovering near 42 shows momentum is still neutral but no longer in capitulation, while MACD has crossed into a positive slope, indicating improving short-term trend strength. For SOL to transition into a broader recovery, it must break above 142–148, the first resistance shelf where previous rebounds stalled; clearing this opens a pathway into the deeper imbalance zone toward 160–172. Failure to hold above 131–128 would indicate that demand is not yet strong enough to support the current base, exposing the chart to a retest of the liquidity pocket near 121 before any sustainable reversal can develop. . $SOL
Kite Phased Tokenomics: Demand-Triggered Staking and Governance Activation
Kite enters the agentic economy with a token design built for durability rather than spectacle. Instead of front-loading utilities at launch, the protocol unfolds its tokenomics in deliberate phases, activating staking, governance, and rewards only as the network reaches measurable demand thresholds. This design aligns the KiTE supply schedule with the real workload of autonomous agents, grounding long-term value in verifiable activity rather than in emissions alone. With testnet volumes now exceeding hundreds of millions of agent calls and mainnet preparing for a high-throughput environment, Kite positions its token as the financial base layer for a computation network that grows in tandem with agent participation. The phased rollout reflects this philosophy. Early in the lifecycle, utilities are intentionally limited. Tokens circulate primarily to bootstrap participation, fund developer growth, and create liquidity pathways for an ecosystem still forming. Emissions are conservative and tied to real contribution—validators secure subnets, developers deploy modules, and users interact with early agent frameworks. By delaying staking and governance until the network demonstrates organic momentum, Kite avoids premature dilution while allowing its token to settle into a clear economic role. Once mainnet arrives, utilities expand: Staking becomes active, AI-service fees begin to burn and redistribute, and governance transitions from passive signaling to binding decision-making. This structure prevents the common pitfalls of early token economies. Instead of emitting supply into a market not yet capable of absorbing it, Kite increases utility only when workload supports it. The model blends predictable supply with demand-driven activation, creating a system where staking rewards, validator incentives, and module performance bonuses emerge naturally from network usage. As modules begin to host inference calls, data verification tasks, and routing for multi-agent workflows, the economic incentives scale accordingly. Fees generated by these activities increasingly fund staking rewards, reducing reliance on emissions over time. Staking itself is built around the principle of meritocratic security. Instead of applying uniform rewards to all validators, Kite assigns performance thresholds to each module. A subnet that processes more requests or maintains higher availability earns proportionally greater returns. This selective distribution aligns economic incentives with operational reliability—validators benefit most when their infrastructure supports real agent demand. Delegators participate through veKITE, a vote-escrowed mechanism that strengthens long-term governance while enabling differentiated yields based on lock duration and module performance. Slashing and cooldown periods reinforce discipline, ensuring that participation is secured by meaningful commitment rather than transient speculation. Governance follows a similar demand-aligned philosophy. Rather than opening the field to a flood of low-quality proposals, Kite restricts activation to moments when participation thresholds are met. Only proposals with demonstrable relevance—substantiated through on-chain activity, module utilization, or ecosystem metrics—enter the decision pipeline. Once activated, governance decisions are weighted by veKITE, anchoring authority in long-term alignment. Modules gain the ability to request parameter adjustments or fee optimization autonomously, allowing agent-driven networks to evolve based on measurable performance rather than sentiment. The framework ensures that governance remains a tool for refinement, not a channel for unbounded experimentation. This adaptive model introduces several strengths. Token emissions taper as network revenue scales. Subnets that provide meaningful computation attract stake and become self-funding. Governance grows more representative as active users accumulate voting power. Above all, KITE transitions from early incentive asset to the economic engine behind agent workflows—fueling settlement, coordinating computation, and rewarding verifiable intelligence contributions. The model balances growth and sustainability, giving the token room to mature without undermining long-term equilibrium. Challenges remain, particularly around adoption thresholds and system complexity. Demand-triggered activation requires consistent network load, and staking economics depend on module performance that must withstand real-world traffic. Governance frameworks must remain accessible even as they adopt agent-driven features. However, the phased approach gives the protocol time to adjust, refine parameters, and respond to operational data before full decentralization takes hold. Kite’s tokenomics represent a shift in how decentralized compute networks design economic foundations. Rather than inflating incentives to capture early attention, the protocol grows utility in proportion to agent activity, creating a sustainable link between supply, demand, and verifiable work. As autonomous agents scale into a multi-trillion-dollar computational market, this alignment becomes essential. The structure ensures that $KITE operates not as a speculative instrument but as a calibrated financial layer—supporting staking, governance, and settlement for an economy built on machine-driven transactions. @KITE AI #KITE $KITE
Bitcoin ETFs Reverse the Trend: Fresh Inflows Signal Stabilizing Market Structure
After four consecutive weeks of sustained outflows, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have posted a decisive turnaround, recording $70 million in weekly inflows and breaking their longest withdrawal streak since inception. The shift marks a notable improvement in institutional sentiment and suggests that recent market stress may be entering a consolidation phase rather than evolving into a deeper trend reversal. ETF Flows: A Critical Sentiment Indicator The outflow run totaling $4.35 billion reflected caution across risk assets as volatility spiked and positioning unwound. This week’s rebound introduces the first instance of coordinated inflows since mid-October, driven largely by renewed accumulation in cost-efficient vehicles. A single Friday session produced $71 million in positive flows, offsetting earlier hesitancy. Net inflows since January now stand at $57.7 billion, underlining the structural role ETFs have taken in Bitcoin’s liquidity architecture. Total AUM for spot products has reached $119.4 billion, equivalent to 6.5% of circulating market capitalization. ETF custodians collectively hold nearly 1.05 million BTC, reinforcing the long-term migration of supply into regulated, low-velocity structures.
Divergence Across Funds The recovery was uneven. One major legacy issuer continued to report notable redemptions — $113.7 million this week — while newer entrants absorbed a majority of fresh capital. A mid-cap ETF drew $88 million in a single session. Another lean-fee product attracted $77.5 million, continuing a rotation trend that has defined 2025’s inflow landscape. This dispersion highlights a structural preference toward vehicles offering lower management costs and improved liquidity depth. Market Structure Aligns with Flow Reversal The ETF shift aligns with several market-wide stabilization signals: RSI touched 32 earlier this month — its lowest since the March drawdown — before forming a clean bullish divergence. Perpetual futures open interest has rebuilt, returning to pre-correction levels while funding stabilized near neutral, signaling a reset in leverage. Exchange balances declined by 78,000 BTC over the past three weeks, indicating steady accumulation rather than distribution. The 200-day moving average, currently near $82,400, held firm through the correction and continues to act as structural support. Together, these indicators suggest that the market completed a mid-cycle cleansing phase rather than transitioning into a broader bearish regime. Ether ETFs Extend the Recovery Narrative Spot Ether ETFs added further confirmation, posting $312.6 million in weekly inflows — their strongest print since mid-summer. Cumulative inflows have now surpassed $12.94 billion, pushing AUM to $19.15 billion and representing 5.2% of ETH’s market cap.
This synchronized rebound across the two largest assets reflects renewed institutional appetite for core crypto exposure. Outlook: Restabilization Before the Next Leg Instances of multi-week outflow streaks — notably in February and July 2025 — were historically followed by average 60-day gains of 38%. The current setup shares several of the same characteristics: Oversold oscillators Re-accumulation signals from long-term holders Rebound in ETF demand Neutralizing derivatives funding Order-book liquidity and options skew currently point toward an upside window into the $108,000–$112,000 region, with $100,000 acting as the next major pivot for trend validation.
A More Mature Market Cycle Institutional capital returning only weeks after significant outflows illustrates the changing nature of Bitcoin’s investment profile. Spot ETFs have transitioned from speculative exposure tools into systemic liquidity conduits, enabling smoother absorption of volatility and more transparent price discovery. The latest data reflects a market recalibrating rather than retreating. For institutional allocators, the recent 22% drawdown appears to have been viewed less as a risk event and more as a rebalancing opportunity within a maturing cycle. #BTC #ETH $BTC $ETH
Lorenzo Protocol and the Dawn of Tokenized Real-World Yield
Lorenzo Protocol enters the Bitcoin economy with a premise that changes the role of BTC from a dormant reserve to a productive asset class. For more than a decade, Bitcoin operated as collateral without utility—valuable for its scarcity and predictability yet unable to participate meaningfully in the yield-driven architecture powering modern DeFi. Lorenzo’s design challenges that constraint directly. Instead of wrapping BTC for basic lending or relying on fragile cross-chain bridges, the protocol builds a dedicated liquidity layer where Bitcoin holders gain access to structured yield streams sourced from real-world assets, market-neutral strategies, and composable staking products. The result is a framework where BTC behaves less like a static store of value and more like the productive base asset in a multi-chain financial system. The timing is decisive. Post-halving economics accelerated Bitcoin’s scarcity, reducing miner rewards and driving more supply into deep cold storage. That scarcity strengthened Bitcoin’s macro narrative but widened its utility gap: trillions of dollars in inactive BTC sit outside the mechanisms that generate stable yield across tokenized treasuries, credit markets, and quantitative arbitrage. Lorenzo addresses this with a model built around two principles: preserve Bitcoin’s sovereignty while enabling institution-grade yield creation. To achieve that, the protocol combines Babylon’s shared security with a multi-chain execution environment, ensuring that BTC staking, structured vaults, and liquidity strategies remain verifiable and redeemable across networks.
The protocol’s dual-token model is central to this evolution. By separating principal and yield into distinct instruments, Lorenzo gives users the freedom to deploy their assets without losing redemption integrity. stBTC represents principal—a liquid, transferable claim on staked BTC—while yield is captured through independent tokens that track rewards from staking, DeFi strategies, or off-chain market operations. This separation avoids the instability seen in rebasing assets, preserves composability, and enables BTC to serve as collateral across lending, trading, and liquidity infrastructure. For users who prefer non-staking exposure, enzoBTC provides a wrapped but fully redeemable alternative, maintaining access to liquidity across dozens of networks. Where the protocol diverges from earlier attempts is in its treatment of yield as a structured, tokenized product. Lorenzo’s Financial Abstraction Layer turns complex, institution-style strategies—treasury bills, credit facilities, futures basis trading, options arbitrage—into standardized on-chain instruments known as On-Chain Traded Funds. These OTFs behave like transparent, programmable ETFs: they mint, rebalance, and settle autonomously while exposing yield streams that are historically siloed inside centralized institutions. A product like USD1+ illustrates the model clearly. By blending tokenized treasuries with DeFi loops and quantitative hedging, it creates a diversified yield position that retains stability across market conditions while remaining composable within the broader crypto ecosystem. This architecture transforms Bitcoin’s role in liquidity markets. Instead of serving primarily as collateral for speculative leverage, BTC becomes a capital base powering multi-asset yield portfolios. That shift has direct implications for market structure. Instruments like stBTC and OTFs migrate across chains, unlock liquidity for lending platforms, deepen vault strategies, and invite participation from users who were previously confined to passive BTC exposure. It also strengthens collateral integrity by anchoring yield to assets and strategies that maintain relatively low correlation to crypto cycles, creating a counterbalance to the volatility of native tokens. Growth metrics reflect this structural shift rather than a short-term trend. Increasing TVL, expanding chain integrations, and rising demand for BTC-based structured products suggest that users are not simply chasing rewards—they are repositioning Bitcoin as the central asset of a maturing DeFi landscape. This momentum is reinforced by governance. $BANK holders participate directly in decisions regarding strategy allocations, ecosystem funding, and treasury operations. Fee-driven buybacks reduce supply as adoption grows, aligning the economic interests of users with the long-term resilience of the protocol. The challenges ahead are nontrivial. Real-world assets require robust pricing, secure custody pathways, and transparent reporting; quantitative vaults demand continual oversight to maintain neutrality and avoid directional exposure; and cross-chain products must confront latency, oracle risks, and regulatory frameworks. Lorenzo’s design acknowledges these hurdles with a layered approach: auditable on-chain mechanisms, diversified risk profiles, conservative redemption guarantees, and built-in circuit-breakers for market stress periods. These guardrails matter because sustainable yield is a function of discipline, not aggressiveness. Lorenzo’s contribution to Bitcoin’s evolution is therefore not about maximizing returns—it is about expanding utility. By enabling BTC to participate in structured yield markets while retaining self-custody and redemption guarantees, the protocol reframes Bitcoin from passive wealth storage to programmable financial capital. It marks an early chapter in what may become a large-scale shift: a Bitcoin-anchored economy where yield generation, liquidity provisioning, and real-world assets intersect seamlessly. In that sense, the renaissance is not a metaphor. It is a change in financial design. Bitcoin becomes productive without sacrificing its principles, and a new generation of BTC-denominated strategies moves from theory into practice. For holders and builders, the opportunity is straightforward: Bitcoin no longer needs to remain idle. It can function as the engine of a broader yield economy—transparent, composable, and built for long-term participation. @Lorenzo Protocol #LorenzoProtocol $BANK
#XRP’ Holds +1.66% Early Bounce Shows Buyer Interest
XRP trades around $2.2156, recovering from recent selling pressure as intraday candles flip green. Momentum is still light, but buyers are attempting to stabilize the chart.
Mild Bullish Watch Zone: $2.3— reclaiming this level could strengthen the rebound.
Falcon Finance — Liquidity Wars and Synthetic Stability
Long-Term Strategies for Enduring Overcollateralization in DeFi 2.0
Falcon Finance approaches DeFi’s most dangerous phase not as a growth sprint but as a structural engineering problem. When markets lurch and liquidity fragments, protocol design choices that looked acceptable in calm cycles prove fatal; Falcon’s response has been to treat synthetic stability as an active, continuously managed posture rather than a static parameter. The result is a synthetic-dollar architecture centered on enduring overcollateralization, engineered to absorb shocks, preserve redemptions, and keep yields meaningful without resorting to reckless emissions.
The liquidity shocks of 2025 exposed how brittle many synthetic and lending systems remained: rapid funding-rate flips, exchange dislocations and oracle failures triggered cascades that drained TVL and forced painful re-pricings. Falcon’s decision to raise its operational collateral ratio into a persistently conservative band dynamically tuning target OCR into the mid-teens above one-to-one was a deliberate trade-off. Higher collateral reduces capital efficiency in benign markets, but it buys time and options during stress, preventing the kind of fire-sale liquidations that create systemic contagion across composable protocols. That trade-off rests on three engineering layers. First, Falcon insists on a diversified reserve composition that limits exposure to any single liquidity provider or asset class: a meaningful stablecoin buffer, a substantial allocation to BTC/ETH, and a growing RWA sleeve that stabilizes yield even when crypto markets decouple. Second, the protocol couples an AI-driven volatility oracle with real-time OCR adjustments so collateral targets move in proportion to measurable market risk—raising thresholds for assets that flash higher tail-risk and relaxing when conditions normalize. Third, Falcon routes a portion of operational profits into a stitched insurance fund and automated buffers that act as immediate absorbers in a depeg scenario, buying time for governance to enact larger measures if required. On the revenue side, Falcon’s yield engine emphasizes market-neutral sources that compound without magnifying principal risk. Funding-rate arbitration, cross-exchange spreads, and tokenized credit are orchestrated as delta-neutral blocks so the protocol earns carry while keeping core collateral intact. That approach is complemented by ERC-4626 vaults that compartmentalize yield generation away from redemption logic: principal stays redeemable at par while yields accrue in a tradable staking wrapper. This separation preserves the peg even when those yield engines shift strategies or pause during extreme events. Transparency and auditability are practical complements to technical design. Falcon exposes collateral composition, OCR levels, and strategy performance in real time, backed by regular third-party attestations and periodic audits. That visibility matters because it turns confidence into a measurable quantity: counterparties, institutional integrations, and retail users can evaluate the buffer in front of the peg, not just the headline APY. The protocol’s governance model then ties token holders to reserve policy, funneling a portion of fees into buybacks and insurance capital on a predictable cadence so stakeholders share both upside and downside stewardship. Risk management remains the ongoing imperative. Oracles and cross-chain price feeds are obvious single points of failure; Falcon mitigates these with multi-feed aggregates, delay-aware sanity checks, and contingency paths that temporarily raise OCRs if feed integrity is questioned. Counterparty risk for RWAs is handled through conservative haircutting, custodial segregation, and contractual redemption terms. Regulatory considerations, particularly around asset-backed issuance and yield attribution, are addressed proactively through attestations, compliance-ready rails, and selective institutional partnerships that can provision audited reserve lines if markets demand.
Falcon’s governance choices reflect a long timeframe: OCR thresholds, strategy allocations and redemption lags are governed with mechanisms that privilege resilience over short-term yield maximization. That governance posture reduces the temptation to chase TVL with promotional emissions, aligning the protocol toward steady accrual, managed buybacks, and capital buffers. In practice this has meant slower growth in good times but markedly better survivability in bad times—a deliberate product-market fit for institutions that require predictable settlement and for users who cannot tolerate sudden peg failures. The broader lesson is structural: in a composable financial web, stability is contagious. A synthetic dollar that remains reliably redeemable during stress reduces the need for emergency backstops from other protocols, lowers systemic counterparty margins, and enhances on-chain liquidity depth over time. Falcon’s strategy—enduring overcollateralization, modular yield engines, transparent reserves, and governance-aligned buffers—aims to convert that insight into product design, turning synthetic issuance from a source of fragility into a pillar of market infrastructure. For participants evaluating DeFi 2.0, Falcon’s model reframes the calculus. Yield remains an important attractor, but institutional and long-term retail users increasingly prize predictability and auditable safety. Falcon’s play is not to out-yield every competitor in boom cycles, but to outlast them when the cycle tightens. In markets that have taught the industry harsh lessons, that posture may ultimately be the most valuable return of all. @Falcon Finance #FalconFinance $FF
#AT is entering an early stabilization phase after a sharp post-launch breakdown, with price holding near 0.2129 while the market attempts to build a base above the 0.1934 liquidity floor. The collapse from the 0.3660 high left behind a large imbalance zone, and the recent low-volatility drift reflects exhaustion on the sell side rather than renewed weakness. Candles have tightened, momentum has flattened, and the RSI near 26 signals that forced liquidation has cooled and the market is shifting into equilibrium. This type of compression is typical at the end of a heavy unwind, where the next directional move depends on whether buyers can cluster at current levels. For a meaningful recovery, AT must reclaim 0.222–0.230, the first resistance pocket where the previous breakdown began; clearing it would open room toward 0.260–0.298, the broader mid-range inefficiency. If price slips back below 0.193–0.188, it would confirm that accumulation is incomplete and expose the chart to another liquidity sweep before a stable trend can form. . $AT