

Bitcoin social interest dropped to levels last seen in the 2018 bear market, data show, as retail apathy reached extreme territory. "The apathy in the market right now matches the 2018 bear market almost exactly," Benjamin Cowen, a crypto analyst, said. The social interest metric, which tracks mentions of Bitcoin across major social platforms, has not been this low since the depths of the 2018 crypto winter. The decline reflects a broader retreat of retail participants from the market, with trading volumes thinning and on-chain activity slowing. Extreme social disinterest has historically preceded market bottoms in prior Bitcoin cycles, though the lack of buying interest could delay any near-term recovery. The current setup mirrors the accumulation phase that followed the 2018 capitulation, when Bitcoin eventually rallied more than 1,000% over the subsequent two years. Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong recently said he believes Bitcoin may have hit a bottom, adding to the debate over whether the current cycle mirrors the 2018 trough. The comparison to 2018 is significant because that bear market marked the end of a prolonged downturn that saw Bitcoin lose more than 80% of its value from its peak before beginning a multiyear recovery. The social interest data arrives as macro headwinds continue to pressure risk assets. Persistent inflation and elevated interest rates have kept capital on the sidelines, with Bitcoin struggling to reclaim key resistance levels. The lack of a clear catalyst has left the market in a holding pattern, with traders waiting for either a macro trigger or an on-chain signal to determine the next direction. For investors, the question is whether the current apathy represents a buying opportunity or a warning that further downside remains. If history is any guide, extreme social disinterest has often marked the final stage of a bear market before a sustained recovery begins. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

**Tron's gasless stablecoin transfers have grown from zero to $3 billion in weekly volume in under 18 months, signaling a structural shift in how blockchain-based payments are settling.** Tron's GasFree mechanism, which deducts network fees directly from transferred tokens rather than requiring users to hold TRX, processed a record $3 billion in USDT transfers during the first week of May 2026, according to a CryptoQuant report published July 23. That is up from about $1.5 billion in January 2026 and from virtually zero in early 2025, when the feature was first introduced. "GasFree volume now runs well above 2025's peak, indicating that abstracting fee payment is not a niche convenience but a core enabler of application activity on Tron, letting projects onboard USDT-only users at scale," the CryptoQuant report said. The number of unique GasFree users hit a record 30,000, while transaction counts peaked at 196,000, the report showed. The median fee for a $16,000 transfer was about $1.50, and fees remained stable even during periods of peak blockchain demand — addressing a key friction point in conventional gas-based transfers, where costs can spike during network congestion. **Why fee abstraction matters for stablecoin payments** Traditionally, transferring stablecoins on any blockchain requires holding the network's native token — TRX on Tron, SOL on Solana — to pay for bandwidth and energy usage. This has been a persistent barrier for payment applications seeking to onboard users who hold only USDT or USDC balances. Competitors including Stripe's Tempo, Circle's Arc, and the upcoming Google chain have moved to eliminate gas token requirements, putting pressure on incumbent networks to adapt. Tron's approach deducts a small charge from each transfer, similar to how traditional payment operators take a fraction of the transacted amount. The model has attracted payment integrators such as Rhino.fi, which uses Tron USDT in its Wirex integration to provide near-instant spendable balances, completing transactions in under 10 seconds. Weekly USDT volume originating from Tron through Rhino.fi has grown from about $1 million to a record $48 million, with average transaction sizes reaching $24,000 — suggesting increasing business and institutional adoption. **AI payment infrastructure and the road ahead** AI-focused payment providers are beginning to integrate with Tron's liquidity. B.AI, MERX, Oobit, and dTelecom are building x402-based payment rails supported by USDT on Tron, with B.AI's deposit activity accelerating since April 2026, according to CryptoQuant. The gasless transfer growth comes as Tron's share of total stablecoin volume has declined. Visa data shows Tron's dominance dropped to 20% as of mid-2026 from 43% in 2024, as competing networks including Solana and Ethereum L2s have captured a larger share of stablecoin activity. Whether Tron's GasFree model can help defend or reclaim market share will depend on how quickly other chains adopt similar fee-abstraction mechanisms and whether the current growth trajectory in gasless volume can offset the broader share loss. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

An unknown Revolut user sent about $5,000 worth of bitcoin to an address believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. The user made several small transfers through a shared Revolut hot wallet before sending a final 0.033 BTC, worth about $2,170, according to blockchain data tracked by crypto outlet U.Today. The funds were directed to a wallet that has remained dormant since Bitcoin's earliest days. Sending bitcoin to a Satoshi-controlled address effectively removes it from circulation permanently, as the private keys are believed to be inaccessible or intentionally abandoned. The sender's intent remains unclear — the transfer could have been a symbolic gesture, an error, or an attempt to draw attention. The event comes as Bitcoin traded at $64,773 as of Wednesday, down 1.9% over the past 24 hours, with the broader crypto market facing headwinds from rising geopolitical tensions and regulatory uncertainty around the Clarity Act. The incident highlights the unique risks of transacting on a pseudonymous blockchain, where a single address mistake or deliberate action can render funds unrecoverable. Satoshi Nakamoto, who disappeared from public view in 2011, is estimated to control roughly 1.1 million bitcoin across multiple addresses — none of which have ever moved. Revolut, the London-based digital bank valued at $115 billion in a secondary share sale this week, allows its more than 75 million customers to trade over 200 crypto tokens, transfer assets to external wallets and stake holdings through its main app. The company also operates a standalone crypto exchange called Revolut X. The transfer did not appear to be related to any known exploit or security breach at Revolut, according to available data. Blockchain analysts said the funds were sent from a pooled hot wallet shared among Revolut users, making it difficult to identify the individual sender. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.