MERGE
CONFLICT
DIGEST
September 15, 2025
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Markets & Trading π
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Bitcoin bulls anticipate interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve to drive bond yields lower, encouraging increased risk-taking. However, fiscal concerns and sticky inflation may lead to higher longer-term Treasury yields despite the Fed's efforts. This could offset expected bullish effects on Bitcoin and other risk assets, adding complexity to market dynamics.
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Ethereum's price is nearing $5,000 as institutional investors drive up demand for ETFs and staking, with large holders accumulating millions of ETH through these channels. Staking activity has locked up nearly 30% of the digital asset's supply, while record daily transactions and smart contract usage indicate a shift towards Ethereum as an infrastructure layer for commerce.
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Bitcoin's price is surging amidst US economic cracks, with inflation and job growth causing concern. The CPI rose 0.4% month-over-month, while initial jobless claims increased to a 6-year high. Bitcoin, however, is holding steady near $117,300, driven by a rising 200-day moving average and higher short-term holder cost basis, attracting traders seeking riskier assets.
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A cryptocurrency investor shares five key takeaways from their personal experiments and learning process over a year of involvement since 2017. They found UI has improved significantly, but some platforms struggle with complexity. Patience, not impulsive decisions, proved crucial, while buying during bear markets can yield substantial returns, with careful consideration of DeFi products and stable assets.
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Blockchain Technology & Development π
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The digital age seemingly broke the fundamental law of scarcity as information can be copied infinitely at zero cost. To address this, Proof of Work (PoW) was developed to validate transactions and create new units of currency like Bitcoin, requiring immense computational effort and energy consumption to secure its value and scarcity.
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Tether has announced plans to launch a U.S.-compliant stablecoin called USAT after passing the Genius Act, a significant reversal due to scrutiny from U.S. law enforcement officials. Partnering with Anchorage Digital and Cantor Fitzgerald, Tether aims to establish itself as a dominant player in the U.S. stablecoin market by year's end.
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Tron's recent fee reduction has led to a significant drop in daily revenue, falling 64% within 10 days and reaching its lowest level in over a year at $5 million. Despite this decline, Tron remains the leading layer-1 blockchain in terms of revenue, capturing 92.8% of total revenue among layer-1 blockchains.
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Regulation & Compliance βοΈ
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Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, predicts the crypto bull market will extend into 2026 due to aggressive global money printing under Trump-era fiscal policy. He advises investors to take a longer view, considering broader geopolitical shifts and currency debasement, which could fuel bitcoin's potential for further gains, over short-term speculation.
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Institutional & Business π’
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Institutional investors are accumulating a significant portion of Bitcoin's total supply, with Strategy and Metaplanet holding approximately 12.3% as of two hours ago. This trend suggests that market dynamics may be altered as these investors influence the cryptocurrency's trajectory, potentially shifting its overall direction and impact on the ecosystem.
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Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs saw significant institutional demand on September 12, recording combined net inflows of over $1 billion, one of the strongest single-day periods since their launch. Analysts attribute this surge to bullish setups, citing strong technical signals from Bitcoin's trendline reclaim and Ethereum's price break above $4,700.
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Monero's largest blockchain reorganization has raised concerns about security and stability after an 18-block reorg erased over 100 confirmed transactions. Qubic now controls Monero's public hashrate, sparking speculation about its intentions. Analysts warn that repeated reorgs could erode confidence in the network, highlighting vulnerability to majority hash power concentration and potential influence exerted by Qubic.
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DeFi & Protocols π±
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Kyrgyzstan has announced a strategic national reserve of bitcoins, marking a significant shift in Central Asia's economic landscape. The move follows Kazakhstan's lead and is driven by Russia's efforts to bypass economic sanctions, with volumes on cryptocurrency platforms surging 200-fold over two years amidst Western sanctions against certain platforms.
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Several on-chain climate projects are improving efficiency and transparency in carbon markets by integrating real-world data into programmable assets. Initiatives like JPMorgan's Kinexys, Open Forest Protocol, and Fedrok test tokenization at the registry layer with satellite analytics and AI to replace static baselines, enhancing market infrastructure and trustworthiness.
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Decentralized funding is proposed as a solution to traditional mental health research models' shortcomings. The current system is underfunded, allocating only 2% of its budget ($200-360 billion annually) to mental health issues. Decentralized science uses blockchain technology to fund and coordinate research through transparent token-based systems, prioritizing community governance and patient confidentiality.
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Published by Merge Conflict Digest
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