The world’s largest credit rating agency, S&P Global, recently released a report highlighting the strong demand for Bitcoin ETFs and other crypto ETFs since their launch last year. This comes as these crypto funds continue to witness massive inflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT leading the way. S&P Global Highlights Demand For Bitcoin ETFs In a research
Veteran trader Peter Brandt has sparked discussions with his recent Bitcoin price prediction to hit as much as $150K in 2025. Although the bullish prediction has fueled optimism among market participants, some call this target a bit conservative. Besides, Brandt has also shared a warning of a potential BTC crash after it reaches the cycle peak.
Peter Brandt Predicts Bitcoin Price’s Cycle Peak
In a recent post on X, Peter Brandt has shared a bold prediction. He suggested that Bitcoin price could hit its bull cycle peak by August or September 2025. However, he noted that BTC must reclaim its “broken parabolic slope.” According to Brandt, if this structure holds, the flagship crypto could touch between $125K and $150K in the current cycle.
However, what really caught the investors’ eye is Brandt projecting a BTC crash of more than 50% once it reaches its peak. Besides, he also tagged analyst Scott Melker, also known as The Wolf of All Streets, in his post. Scott Melker responded to the post, signaling his support for Brandt’s outlook and sparking discussions in the market.
Source: Peter Brandt, X
Despite that, some crypto enthusiasts view this target as underwhelming. Given BTC’s current momentum and growing institutional focus, many believe the crypto could rise much higher.
Meanwhile, Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki recently predicted that Bitcoin price could soar as high as $200,000 by 2025. His bullish stance underscores the growing divide between conservative projections and bullish expectations.
BTC Hits Multi-Month High
Bitcoin price has recorded a new high since February, soaring past the $97,400 mark in the last 24 hours. However, during writing, it rested at $96,790 accompanied by a trading volume of $33.16 billion. Besides, the BTC Futures Open interest also rose by nearly 8%, reflecting the strong market confidence in the asset.
On the other hand, the US Spot BTC ETF regained momentum on April 1 after a brief pause, adding around $422 million in total. Considering all these latest market trends, it is likely that the flagship crypto might continue to move upwards in the coming days.
Meanwhile, a recent BTC price prediction also showed that the crypto is poised to hit $100K soon. However, with Brandt’s experience and Scott Melker’s support of the outlook, the investors should exercise due diligence while making their bets.
BNB Chain has successfully deployed its much-anticipated Maxwell Hard Fork on the testnet. This launch delivers a high-speed, low-latency blockchain performance.
Maxwell’s mainnet activation is scheduled for June 30, 2025. Nevertheless, this deployment positions BNB Chain to rival Solana and Ethereum blockchains on specific metrics.
BNB Chain’s Maxwell Upgrade: What Users Need to Know
The upgrade, activated at block 5,255,2978, represents a foundational overhaul of BNB Chain’s consensus and networking infrastructure. It significantly reduces block times, enhances validator communication, and improves sync efficiency, which are integral factors for scaling user and developer experiences on-chain.
“Maxwell HardFork Successfully Activated on BNB Chain Testnet…Developers and validators are encouraged to begin testing the new infrastructure,” BNB Chain shared in a post.
The network named its Maxwell Hard Fork in tribute to James Clerk Maxwell, the physicist who unified electricity and magnetism. Similarly, BNB Chain’s upgrade aims to harmonize two often competing blockchain priorities: speed and stability.
It cuts block time in half from 1.5 seconds to just 0.75 seconds. New technical enhancements accompany this dramatic acceleration to maintain validator and node synchronization. This would ensure that faster blocks do not come at the cost of network health or decentralization.
Among the key changes introduced are adjustments to consensus cadence and network propagation. The epoch length has been extended from 500 to 1,000 blocks, and validators now lead for 16 blocks per turn. This keeps proposer durations stable even as blocks arrive more frequently.
Further, the per-block gas limit has been halved from 70 million to 35 million, keeping throughput steady and preventing network congestion and state bloat.
At the networking layer, new mechanisms allow blocks to propagate among validators within 400 milliseconds. Similarly, improved range sync capabilities help lagging nodes stay up-to-date even under the faster cadence.
Implications for Users and Rival Blockchains
The implications for end-users are profound. With sub-second block times and finality now approaching 1.9 seconds, BNB Chain is moving closer to a Web2-like experience.
Transactions such as swaps, mints, or gameplay actions can instantly be confirmed. This enhanced responsiveness narrows the psychological divide between Web2 and Web3, offering users a fluid and immediate experience.
The upgrade also opens up new design opportunities for developers. Real-time gaming, prediction markets, and high-frequency trading dApps can operate directly on Layer-1 without relying on separate fast chains.
Meanwhile, the BNB Chain is already showing strong momentum. According to data on DefiLlama, it currently leads the decentralized exchange (DEX) sector with over $13 billion in 24-hour trading volume, nearly six times more than Solana.
Data on Chainspect also shows that transaction throughput per second is up 37%, with BNB Chain handling 12 times more transactions than Ethereum.
However, on block time and finality metrics, BNB Chain remains 87.5% and 99.21%, respectively, less than Ethereum.
BNB Chain vs Ethereum on TPS, block time, and finality metrics. Source: Chainspect
Industry observers are optimistic. DeFi influencer Elja pointed out that BNB Chain’s previous Lorentz Hard Fork slashed gas fees tenfold.
With Maxwell promising even faster speeds, better validator coordination, and smarter syncing, Elja called it “even more bullish” for BNB Chain’s future.
“Lorentz Hardfork resulted in 10x gas fees reduction and increased TPS. The upcoming Maxwell Hardfork will be even more bullish for BNBChain,” Elja remarked.
One user echoed the sentiment, saying the upgrade should resolve the high failure rates they previously experienced during wallet sales.
PancakeSwap, the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) on BNB Chain, has officially announced the implementation of CAKE Tokenomics 3.0. This marks a major shift toward a more sustainable and deflationary ecosystem.
According to the announcement, PancakeSwap will begin rolling out the new tokenomics model on April 23, 2025. The main goals are to curb CAKE inflation, optimize system efficiency, and deliver long-term value to the community. However, the CAKE 3.0 proposal has sparked considerable debate.
What Are the Key Changes in CAKE Tokenomics 3.0?
PancakeSwap has set three primary goals for Tokenomics 3.0: achieve an annual deflation rate of 4%, eliminate complex mechanisms such as veCAKE, and reduce CAKE emissions to improve sustainability.
Retirement of CAKE Staking, veCAKE, Gauges Voting, Revenue Sharing, and Farm Boosting: PancakeSwap will discontinue CAKE staking and the veCAKE mechanism, which required users to lock tokens in exchange for voting rights or benefits. All locked CAKE and veCAKE will be unlocked.
Burn Mechanism to Reduce Circulating Supply: PancakeSwap will burn tokens to reduce supply instead of sharing trading fees with users. The team expects to burn approximately 5.3 million CAKE annually, supporting the deflation target.
Phased Reduction in CAKE Emissions: Daily CAKE emissions will be reduced from 29,000 to 20,000, and later to 14,500 tokens.
Users will have six months from April 23, 2025, to withdraw their previously locked CAKE.
The Debate Around CAKE 3.0
Several developers and community members believe CAKE Tokenomics 3.0 will benefit the project in the long term.
“At its core, CAKE Tokenomics 3.0 defends true value and protects CAKE holders by strengthening long-term fundamentals—such as aggressively cutting emissions to accelerate deflation and sustainably grow value,” Chef Philip said.
However, not everyone agrees. Cakepie DAO—one of the largest veCAKE holders—voiced strong concerns on X. They criticized the decision to eliminate veCAKE, calling it non-transparent and potentially damaging to projects built around that model.
This reveals a divide in the community over how PancakeSwap is balancing deflation and stakeholder interests.
“Sunsetting veCAKE would be devastating for Cakepie and for every project built on long-term alignment with PancakeSwap. Our entire ecosystem is structured around veCAKE, with millions of CAKE locked for four years as a clear show of commitment. Removing veCAKE would erase that commitment overnight and undermine the trust and efforts of all builders who believed in PancakeSwap’s vision,” Cakepie stated.
In response, PancakeSwap proposed a $1.5 million compensation package in CAKE tokens. They offered this to CKP (Cakepie’s token) holders if Cakepie agreed to allow a 1:1 swap from mCAKE (Cakepie’s CAKE derivative) to CAKE.
However, Cakepie is currently voting on whether to accept the offer.
At the time of reporting, CAKE is trading around $1.97, up 17% since April 8, when PancakeSwap first proposed Tokenomics 3.0.
Additionally, data from DeFiLlama shows that PancakeSwap’s 24-hour trading volume has surpassed $1 billion, overtaking Uniswap.
Meanwhile, a report from BeInCrypto reveals that PancakeSwap controls over 90% of the DEX market share on BNB Chain. This highlights the strong relationship between BNB Chain and PancakeSwap.