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🔥 Is Bitcoin following its 4-year cycle? The current market action is looking very similar to the previous cycles we saw in 2014, 2018, and 2022!

📉 According to NYDIG, if $BTC ( ▼ 2.12% ) continues to perfectly mirror history in both how long it takes and how far it drops, the bottom for this cycle could land somewhere around $39,000 – $40,000.

However, remember that this is just a historical model! It is not a guaranteed prediction that you should completely rely on. Always stay cautious! 🧘‍♂️

Here’s what we got for you today:

  • 👀 Moonshot hunting guide (Part 2)

  • ⭐ ZachXBT: hardware wallets = trash

  • ⭐ Trump Media’s paid market feed

  • 🔥 Burning hot takes for the road

Want to get the most out of ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a superpower if you know how to use it correctly.

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A low market cap can look like the perfect chance to get in early, but it can also hide the exact risks that wipe out beginners.

Before buying any low-cap crypto, you need to know who controls the supply, where the tokens came from, whether large wallets are quietly preparing to sell, and if the contract will even let you exit.

This guide breaks down the practical checks you can use to separate promising early projects from carefully disguised traps, even if you’re don’t consider yourself a trader 👇

🔒 ZACHXBT ON HARDWARE WALLETS: IS CRYPTO’S ‘GOLD STANDARD’ BROKEN?

For years, hardware wallets like Ledger and Trezor have been seen as the safest place to keep your crypto. But that total trust has now been shaken.

ZachXBT, the legendary on-chain sleuth who has tracked billions in stolen crypto, just said: he no longer recommends hardware wallets for big bags or important trades. Instead, he claims a completely wiped, dedicated iPhone is actually safer.

1/ "All Hardware Wallets Are Trash" 🗑️

Why the sudden criticism? ZachXBT isn't saying the security chips inside these wallets are broken. He is arguing that the entire ecosystem surrounding them is flawed.

He criticized software like Ledger Live for constantly changing, becoming bloated, and making simple tasks so confusing that users easily make mistakes.

In his investigations, funds disappear because users get tricked. Scammers use fake support staff, malicious apps, phishing sites to get users to hand over control willingly:

  • Early 2026: ZachXBT tracked a massive $282M Bitcoin and Litecoin theft. The hardware wallet wasn't breached; the owner was simply outsmarted by an elaborate scam.

  • 2025: A user lost 783 BTC ($91 million) after trusting fake customer support agents.

  • April 2026: ZachXBT exposed a fake Ledger Live app that slipped past Apple's review onto the App Store, draining $9.5 million from over 50 people who typed in their seed phrases.

2/ Ledger’s Never-Ending Trust Crisis 📉

Ledger being called out is not random. It has faced a long list of public trust problems:

  • 2020: A massive data breach leaked the emails, phone numbers, and physical addresses of 270,000 customers.

  • 2023: The launch of "Ledger Recover" outraged the community, proving private keys could technically leave the device.

  • Late 2023: The Ledger Connect Kit hack injected malicious code into DeFi apps, draining $600k in hours.

Ledger, however, stands its ground. They insist the Secure Element chip keeps keys 100% offline and argue that smartphones are much easier targets for malware.

3/ "iPhone Wallet" Counter-Argument 📱

Tornado Cash developer actually agreed with ZachXBT's iPhone idea, but pointed out the lack of a BIP39 Passphrase.

A passphrase acts as a 13th or 25th word that hides your real wallet behind a "decoy" empty wallet. If a thief steals the paper containing your 12-word seed phrase, they only see $0.

A UK investor lost $172 million because his Trezor seed phrase was caught on a home security camera. A passphrase would have made that footage useless.

Right now, hardware wallets like Trezor, Ledger, and Coldcard support passphrases. Major mobile wallets like MetaMask and Trust Wallet do not, leaving AirGap Vault as one of the few mobile options that does.

According to Chainalysis, wallet drains are exploding, 158,000 individual wallets were compromised in 2025, stealing $713 million from 80,000 victims.

My Tip: If you want to try the iPhone method, it must stay permanently offline, using QR codes to sign transactions. But if you forget your BIP39 passphrase, as developer Jameson Lopp warned, you will lock yourself out forever.

The AI IPO Rush Is Coming

OpenAI and Anthropic could bring a new wave of AI attention to the public markets. But investors don’t have to wait for the IPOs.

MarketBeat’s 7 AI Stocks to Buy Now report reveals 7 publicly traded companies positioned to benefit from the next phase of AI investment.

🚨 TRUMP SELLS "SPEED": WALL STREET CAN NOW PAY FOR EARLY ACCESS TO HIS POSTS

Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) just announced they are turning the President's market-moving posts into a paid subscription for Wall Street. If you've been trying to trade the news, you need to read this.

1/ The "Truth API" Cash Grab 💸

Starting August 1, 2026, TMTG is launching a service called Truth API.

  • What it does: It gives big banks and trading firms instant, real-time access to posts from Truth Social.

  • Who is on it: It tracks the top 10 most influential accounts, including Trump, his sons (Don Jr. and Eric), and allies like Sean Hannity and Dan Bongino. It also gives access to every saved post since 2022.

TMTG’s interim CEO Kevin McGurn basically warned Wall Street to buy it or get left behind, saying they will cause a lot of disadvantage to people who don't use their direct service.

2/ Why Speed Matters? ⚡

We all know Trump’s posts move the global markets. Remember April 2025 when he paused new tariffs? The stock market pumped in minutes. Or his recent posts about the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz?

High-frequency trading bots rely on speed. TMTG claims that hedge funds have been secretly scraping Truth Social data for months to get an edge (which breaks the rules).

Now, instead of fighting them, Trump Media is just charging them for the official feed. TMTG also denied rumors that they were trying to make money off meme coins.

3/ Is this Legal? 🤔

Actually, The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust owns about 41% of TMTG.

Senator Ron Wyden called out the "greed" of the Trump family (mentioning their past crypto profits too), saying this new API just makes the Trumps richer and helps Wall Street traders make a fortune.

Despite the outrage, legal experts like Robert Frenchman say this is actually legal.

→ It’s definitely unfair to regular retail traders, but selling tiered information access doesn't break federal securities laws. So far, regulators haven't said a word about it.

🧠 My Analysis: A "Pay-to-Win" Stock Market

By the time you read the post on your phone and open your trading app, the big firms have already bought or sold. You become their exit liquidity.

So does the President post certain things just to create market swings that make his company's API more valuable? We don't know, but the conflict of interest is huge.

🔥 BURNING HOT TAKES FOR THE ROAD

BNB Chain’s massive 36th burn is complete, permanently removing nearly $1 billion worth of $BNB ( ▼ 3.3% ) from supply. Read more

The US Senate just officially blocked any chance of a presidential pardon for the former FTX CEO. No way out for SBF! Read more

Ostium DEX halted operations after an oracle exploit drained $18 million from its $OLP ( ▲ 4.01% ) Vault. Read more

Coinbase revealed that nearly 100% of its new code is now AI-generated, doing the work of 1,200 engineers. Read more

MegaETH killed its "Mega Mafia" program after admitting that most top-tier projects have migrated away from its ecosystem. Read more

🤡 SPICY MEME

💌 SHOUTOUT FROM OUR FIRESTARTER

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⚠ This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Traders should conduct thorough research, understand the risks, and carefully evaluate their decisions before investing in cryptocurrency.

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