Gate Research Institute: Crypto Market Continues to Retrace | Gate Ventures Strategic Investment in Mesh

Cryptocurrency Asset Overview

BTC (+0.71% | Current Price 76,449 USDT)

BTC has continued its technical correction after a low-volatility consolidation over the past day. The price quickly rebounded from around $72,900 and is now back above $76,000, but overall remains within the weak zone following the previous decline. Regarding moving averages, MA5 has crossed above MA10, but both are still below MA30, indicating a short-term rebound is underway, but the medium-term trend has not yet reversed. The MACD is rising after a bullish crossover below the zero line, with the green histogram bars narrowing, showing bullish momentum is recovering but not yet strong. If BTC can volume-ably hold above the $76,800–$77,200 resistance zone, it may further test the $78,500 level; if it falls below $75,000 again, a retest of the recent low near $73,000 is possible.

ETH (+0.94% | Current Price 2,262 USDT)

ETH’s movement is similar to BTC but with a slightly stronger rebound slope. The price has risen from a low of $2,108 to above $2,260, showing a short-term oscillating recovery pattern. Regarding moving averages, MA5 has approached and attempted to cross above MA10, but overall remains under MA30, indicating the medium-term trend is still weak. The MACD has formed a bullish crossover below the zero line, with decreasing momentum bars from deep green to light green, signaling a decline in bearish momentum and a technical correction phase. If ETH can break through the $2,300–$2,320 zone with increased volume, the rebound may extend to around $2,380; if it falls back below $2,200, a retest of the $2,100 support area is likely.

GT (+0.87% | Current Price 8.08 USDT)

GT’s recent movement shows a slight recovery amid weakness. After testing the $7.50 bottom, it rebounded above $8.00 but remains within a sideways consolidation zone following a downtrend. Regarding moving averages, MA5 has crossed above MA10, but both are still below MA30, indicating this rebound is a short-term technical correction rather than a trend reversal. The MACD is running with a bullish crossover below zero, with decreasing momentum bars, easing selling pressure. If GT can hold above $8.20, it may further test resistance near $8.50; if it drops below $7.90 again, watch for potential support around $7.60–$7.50.

Daily Gainers and Losers

Over the past 24 hours, the overall crypto market continued to face downward pressure, with widespread declines and a clear defensive bias among funds. Most mainstream assets fell, indicating risk assets experienced concentrated selling. Some small-cap tokens showed sporadic rebounds but failed to reverse the overall weak trend.

Sentiment indicators show the latest Fear & Greed Index reading at 14, entering the “Extreme Fear” zone, significantly lower than last week and last month, indicating market risk appetite has further deteriorated and short-term sentiment is near a cyclical bottom. Overall, the market is in a phase of emotion-driven rapid decline and passive deleveraging, likely to experience intense volatility at lows. Only after selling pressure eases and sentiment begins to recover will structural opportunities gradually emerge.

ARC AI Rig Complex (+58.78%, Circulating Market Cap $75.13 million)

According to Gate data, ARC token is currently priced at $0.07350, up approximately 58.78% in 24 hours. AI Rig Complex revolves around the concept of “Rig,” a development and collaboration framework aimed at AI builders, emphasizing establishing continuous feedback loops between creators and AI systems. The narrative stems from developer community discussions on next-generation AI frameworks and toolchains, with the core idea of modular “Rig” structures enabling developers to train, debug, and combine AI capabilities more efficiently, forming a symbiotic cycle of “We build Rigs, and Rigs shape us.”

This rapid surge in ARC is more driven by capital flows and structural speculation rather than clear fundamental progress. The price structure shows a previous decline followed by low-range consolidation, with recent volume breakout above short-term moving averages and quick departure from the consolidation zone. Coupled with its small market cap and relatively concentrated holdings, it is prone to accelerated upward movement under emotional catalysts.

ALCH Alchemist AI (+17.99%, Circulating Market Cap $83.75 million)

According to Gate data, ALCH is currently priced at $0.09920, up 17.99% in 24 hours. Alchemist AI focuses on infrastructure for AI workflows and automation, emphasizing visual construction, debugging, and deployment of AI workflows for developers and the “build in public” community. The project aims to modularize complex multi-step AI tasks, providing shareable workflows, reproducible execution logs, and smoother debugging experiences to lower the barriers for developing AI Agents and automation processes.

The recent rise of ALCH is also driven more by sentiment and structural resonance rather than a single major fundamental event. The token broke out of a recent correction and sideways consolidation with increased volume, attracting short-term capital inflow. The ongoing activity in AI infrastructure and agent toolchains makes projects with clear product narratives and community exposure more attractive for capital concentration.

ENSO Enso (+9.12%, Circulating Market Cap $26.16 million)

According to Gate data, ENSO is currently priced at $1.2424, up approximately 9.12% in 24 hours. Enso is positioned as on-chain execution infrastructure, aiming to facilitate cross-chain and cross-protocol complex transactions and fund flows through a single integrated interface. It emphasizes “execution quality” as a key bottleneck for DeFi user experience, using simulation-driven path optimization and execution abstraction to enable developers to perform multi-step on-chain operations like aggregation, fund scheduling, and yield strategy deployment without connecting to multiple protocols.

This rally in ENSO is more driven by thematic interest and structural capital rather than a single fundamental breakthrough. The price broke through short-term resistance after accumulation in a previous consolidation zone, with volume increasing. Its small market cap and high price elasticity make it susceptible to narrative catalysts, potentially leading to phased acceleration. Additionally, rising market attention to “execution layers,” “cross-chain abstraction,” and “one-stop DeFi operations” provides thematic resonance for capital engagement.

Market Insights

Puell Multiple Enters Discount Zone, Signaling Medium-Long Term Miner Positioning Under Pressure

Bitcoin’s Puell Multiple has fallen back into the historical “discount zone.” This indicator, often called “Miner Revenue Multiple” or “Miner Profitability Index,” measures how much miners are earning daily relative to the past year’s average. When low, it indicates miners’ overall income is significantly below normal, profitability is declining, and some high-cost mining farms may be forced to shut down or sell BTC holdings to maintain cash flow, exerting passive selling pressure on the market. From a cycle perspective, such phases often mark industry “clearing periods,” increasing short-term supply pressure but also aiding in the redistribution of holdings from high-cost miners to long-term holders.

Historically, Puell Multiple remains low for extended periods mainly in mid-to-late bear markets, not in early stages of a new bull run. In other words, the indicator suggests: “Miners are earning less overall, and the industry is in a tough period.” While this gradually makes Bitcoin’s long-term valuation more attractive, it does not imply an immediate price reversal. The market may still experience weak consolidation or retest lows. This phase is more about slow value emergence and an unrepaired trend, favoring phased accumulation and controlled pacing. A full bull market requires demand recovery and macro liquidity improvement.

Gate Ventures Strategically Invests in Mesh, Building Crypto Payment Infrastructure

Gate Ventures announced a strategic investment in the crypto payment network Mesh. Mesh is developing a unified payment layer that connects wallets, exchanges, payment service providers, and fiat on/off ramps via a single API, reducing system complexity between crypto assets and traditional payment systems and improving cross-platform fund flows.

Gate Ventures notes that as stablecoins and native crypto payments evolve into new financial infrastructure, industry fragmentation becomes more prominent. Mesh abstracts multiple payment channels into a unified layer, enabling seamless cross-ecosystem and cross-region settlement and value transfer, supporting merchants, payment providers, and AI automation scenarios, with potential to become a key hub linking traditional finance and on-chain economy.

Vitalik Reassesses L2 Positioning, Moving from “Brand Sharding” to Functional Differentiation

Vitalik Buterin stated on X that as Ethereum L1 scaling accelerates and gas limits are expected to significantly increase by 2026, the original positioning of L2 as “brand sharding” for Ethereum is losing its practical basis. Additionally, the slower-than-expected progress toward decentralization maturity makes it difficult for L2 to serve as a role equivalent to shard chains on the mainnet. Therefore, future development of L2 should shift from “relieving L1 scaling pressure” to providing more differentiated added value.

He suggests that L2 should focus on capabilities beyond expansion, such as privacy, optimized specific applications, extreme performance scaling, support for non-financial use cases, ultra-low latency architectures, and built-in oracles. If L2 handles ETH or other Ethereum assets, it should at least meet Stage 1 security standards and achieve high interoperability with the mainnet. He emphasizes the importance of native Rollup precompiles, especially once ZK-EVM proof capabilities mature, which could enable on-chain verification without a security committee, strengthening trustless interoperability and composability between L2 and Ethereum.

**References:** - Gate, [https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT](https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT) - Farside Investors, [https://farside.co.uk/btc/](https://farside.co.uk/btc/) - Gate, [https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT](https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT) - Farside Investors, [https://farside.co.uk/eth/](https://farside.co.uk/eth/) - Gate, [https://www.gate.com/crypto-market-data](https://www.gate.com/crypto-market-data) - Investing, [https://investing.com/indices/usa-indices](https://investing.com/indices/usa-indices) - Investing, [https://investing.com/currencies/xau-usd](https://investing.com/currencies/xau-usd) - CoinGecko, [https://www.coingecko.com/en/cryptocurrency-heatmap](https://www.coingecko.com/en/cryptocurrency-heatmap) - Gate, [https://www.gate.com/announcements/article/49653](https://www.gate.com/announcements/article/49653) - X, [https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/2018815249806192860?s=20](https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/2018815249806192860?s=20) - X, [https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/2018711006394843585](https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/2018711006394843585)
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