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PNY’s Overclocked RTX 5070 Ti Is Finally Selling at Retail
Product Reviews

PNY’s Overclocked RTX 5070 Ti Is Finally Selling at Retail

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If you’ve been hunting for a new GPU, you already know that getting one for its suggested retail price isn’t guaranteed. High demand, low supply, and a constantly shifting economic space have caused the new 50 Series graphics cards to hit the market well above the expected price, at least at launch.

Thankfully, the situation seems to be stabilizing a bit, as indicated by this deal on PNY’s overclocked example of the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, which is available on Amazon for its MSRP of $750. Even better, your purchase includes a copy of the upcoming Borderlands 4, potentially saving you $70 if you were planning on picking it up.

PNY

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB Overclocked

I spent some time with the Asus Prime version of the RTX 5070 Ti and was seriously impressed with its performance at multiple resolutions. It managed to stay above 120 frames per second at 1080p in almost every game I tested, making it a great choice for gamers who are still at the lower resolution and looking to max out their screen’s refresh. It also beat 90 fps in all of the test games at 2,560 x 1,440, which is great news for new system builders targeting the higher resolution. This version is overclocked by PNY, which should give you a couple more percentage points on these numbers.

Screenshot courtesy of Brad Bourque

As part of the newest generation of Nvidia GeForce GPUs, you also get access to DLSS 4 and the landmark feature, Multi-Frame Generation. The RTX 5070 Ti can leverage machine learning to produce up to three extra frames between each traditionally rendered frame, shooting your frame rate into the stratosphere in exchange for a bit of quality. While I wouldn’t rely on it for every game, I did an in-depth look in my review of the RTX 5090 Founders Edition (7/10, WIRED Recommends) that shows some of the effects it has on both image quality and frame rate.

If $750 sounds like a lot to spend, make sure to check out my full GPU buying guide, which lays out the different options from the latest generation of both Nvidia and AMD cards. As soon as you move past those sub-$400 budget cards, I think the RTX 5070 Ti offers the best balance of performance and price as an upgraded pick. It’s rare to see these cards listed for retail, and the included copy of Borderlands 4 really sweetens the deal, assuming you were going to play anyway, so I wouldn’t sleep on this if you’ve been considering an upgrade.



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(CoinDesk)
GameFi Guides

Traders Tilt Bearish on August BTC, ETH Targets as Retail Lags Institutions

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Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets:

Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas.

As East Asia begins its trading day, BTC is trading at $116,263, down 1.1% on the day and 2% lower on the week, according to CoinDesk market data, while ETH sits at $4,322, off 3.8% in the last 24 hours but still up 2.6% weekly.

The CoinDesk 20 (CD20), an index tracking the largest crypto assets, is down 2.4%.

Polymarket odds suggest traders are bracing for weakness through the end of August. The most likely outcome for BTC is now a close below $111,000 with a 34% probability, while ETH’s highest-weighted scenario is a finish near $4,800 at 43%.

Enflux, a Singapore-based market maker, said the market is being pulled in two directions.

“The market remains caught between strong underlying institutional conviction, highlighted by Strategy Inc.’s additional 430 BTC purchase and structural financing shift, and a lack of immediate retail follow-through,” it wrote in a note to CoinDesk.

Enflux pointed to VanEck’s reiterated $180,000 year-end bitcoin target as evidence that institutions are positioning for continuation, even as retail-favored narratives such as XRP and DOGE have been capped by the SEC’s delays on ETF approvals.

Solana remains an exception, Enflux wrote, with “quiet strength” from its dominance in USDC transfers and PumpFun’s share of new token issuance.

Still, derivatives positioning shows caution.

QCP reported in a recent market update that perpetual funding rates turned negative over the weekend, a setup that preceded earlier pullbacks, and options skews now favor puts across maturities.

The result is a market that looks structurally supported at the top but tactically defensive into Thursday’s Jackson Hole symposium, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to address policy under the weight of higher-than-expected inflation and a White House that continues to challenge the Fed’s neutrality.

With crypto search interest at a four-year high and the GENIUS Act sailing through Washington, and now in the hands of regulators, the foundation for a broader rally is still being built.

But for now, prediction markets and price action suggest conviction is concentrated at the top, while flows remain selective.

(CoinDesk)

Market Movers

BTC: Bitcoin swung between $114,993 and $117,620 on August 18, with volumes far above average as traders digested Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s clarification that strategic reserves would be filled through budget-neutral acquisitions rather than direct government purchases as well as anticipated the upcoming Jackson Hole summit where Jerome Powell is expected to outline the case for keeping rates as is.

ETH: Ethereum fell 3% to $4,330.61 on Aug. 18 amid heavy volatility and repeated resistance near record highs, even as U.S. spot ETFs drew $3.71 billion of inflows in stark contrast to ongoing retail selling.

Gold: Gold hovered near $3,333–$3,394 an ounce Monday, rising in early U.S. trading as position-squaring set in ahead of the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium, where Chair Jerome Powell may hint at September rate cuts, while traders also weighed U.S.-Ukraine diplomacy and broader geopolitical uncertainties shaping haven demand.

Nikkei 225: Asia-Pacific stocks mostly slipped Tuesday ahead of White House talks between Trump, Zelenskyy and European leaders, though Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.1% and the Topix was flat.

S&P 500: U.S. stocks were little changed Monday as the summer rally showed signs of fatigue ahead of Fed minutes, major retail earnings, and Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech later this week.

Elsewhere in Crypto

  • U.S. Treasury Department Starts Work on GENIUS, Gathering Views on Illicit Activity (CoinDesk)
  • After Attacking Monero, Qubic Sets Its Sights on Dogecoin—Here’s Why (Decrypt)
  • Michael Saylor Eases Stock-Sale Limits as Bitcoin Premium Falls (Bloomberg)



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Bitcoin Exchange Activity Slumps As Retail Stays On Sidelines - Will Bulls Lose Momentum?
GameFi Guides

Bitcoin Exchange Activity Slumps As Retail Stays On Sidelines – Will Bulls Lose Momentum?

by admin


Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

While Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade near its all-time highs (ATHs), trading volume on major exchanges has sharply declined in recent months. This downturn has raised concerns about the sustainability of the current rally.

Bitcoin Trading Volume On Exchanges Slumps

In a recent CryptoQuant Quicktake post, contributor caueconomy highlighted the significant drop in BTC trading volume across top cryptocurrency exchanges. Notably, trading volumes have reached multi-year lows, reflecting a reduced appetite for trading – particularly among retail investors.

Source: CryptoQuant

The analyst partly attributed the decline in trading volume to the growing share of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in overall BTC trading activity. According to data from SoSoValue, approximately $132.5 billion worth of BTC is now held by US spot ETFs.

Additionally, caueconomy pointed to waning interest in altcoins as another contributing factor. This trend is evident in the declining Ethereum (ETH)/BTC ratio and the subsequent rise in BTC dominance.

Source: ETHBTC on TradingView.com

On a more constructive note, the ongoing decline in BTC trading volume does not appear to coincide with a period of market euphoria. This suggests that the current momentum is largely being driven by strategic capital allocators rather than inexperienced speculators.

The analyst concluded that monitoring any spikes in trading volume will be critical, as renewed demand often signals the approach of a local market top. At present, BTC is trading roughly 6.4% below its all-time high.

Amid the current sideways price action, some analysts are still waiting for a definitive directional breakout. For example, renowned analyst Titan of Crypto identified $109,000 as a crucial resistance level. They stated:

BTC needs to break above the last Lagging Span peak to unlock further upside. A rejection wouldn’t invalidate the trend as strong confluence support remains around $100,000. We’re not there yet.

Source: Titan of Crypto on X

Similarly, crypto analyst Merlijn The Trader noted that BTC is forming a bullish inverted head-and-shoulders pattern on the 3-day chart, with a neckline around $113,000. A breakout above this level could pave the way for a new ATH near $140,000.

Source: Merlijn The Trader on X

Some Warning Signs For BTC

While many experts predict BTC to benefit from rising global liquidity – especially the increase in global M2 money supply – others are not as optimistic. Seasoned crypto analyst Ali Martinez recently warned that Tom Demark’s (TD) sequential indicator has flashed a sell signal on the hourly BTC chart.

Further, Binance open interest recently recorded a divergence from BTC price, signalling caution. The Bitcoin RCV indicator has also moved out of the “buy” zone, raising fears of a price pullback. At press time, BTC trades at $104,292, down 3% in the past 24 hours.

BTC trades at $104,292 on the daily chart | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView.com

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, charts from CryptoQuant, X, and TradingView.com

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.



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Bitcoin
NFT Gaming

Did Retail Hype Bite Back?

by admin


Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

Bitcoin has seen a retrace to $107,000 shortly after social media sentiment reached its highest in months. Did retail FOMO act as a contrarian signal?

Bitcoin Positive/Negative Sentiment Recently Observed A Sharp Spike

In a post on X on Wednesday, the analytics firm Santiment discussed how the mood was around Bitcoin on the major social media platforms, based on the Positive/Negative Sentiment metric.

The Positive/Negative Sentiment tells us, as its name suggests, how the positive and negative comments related to a given topic or term on social media currently compare.

The indicator works by filtering the posts/threads/messages on these platforms for the keyword and then putting them through a machine-learning model that can differentiate between bullish and bearish sentiment. It counts up the number of posts belonging to each type and calculates their ratio.

Now, here is the chart shared by Santiment that shows the trend in the Bitcoin Positive/Negative Sentiment over the last few months:

The value of the metric appears to have gone through a sharp rise in recent days | Source: Santiment on X

As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin Positive/Negative Sentiment recently observed a sharp rise in the zone above 1.0 level and reached a high of 2.1. Such a value corresponds to there being 2.1 bullish comments for every bearish comment on social media platforms.

This peak of 2.1 was the largest value for the ratio since Donald Trump‘s re-election as the US President seven months ago. Thus, clearly, it seems the traders were in quite high spirits around BTC.

This bullish mood was naturally a result of the cryptocurrency’s price recovery rally to levels close to its all-time high (ATH). Despite the positive sentiment, though, BTC has seen a plummet during the past day. The trend of a decline taking place following hype on social media isn’t actually an unfamiliar pattern, however, as Bitcoin and other digital assets have seen it take shape time and again.

It turns out that markets often move in a direction that goes opposite to the expectations of the crowd. This can apply both ways, meaning a bearish sentiment can lead to a bottom as well.

How likely sentiment is to affect Bitcoin’s direction may come down to the strength of the opinion among the traders. The Positive/Negative Sentiment indicated a relatively high level of FOMO earlier, so it may have acted as a contrarian signal for the asset.

The sentiment on social media may now be worth keeping an eye on, as how the retail investors react next could once more provide hints about BTC’s future.

BTC Price

Bitcoin was trading above $110,000 just yesterday, but its price has now come down to $107,000 following the drawdown.

The trend in the BTC price over the past five days | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView

Featured image from Dall-E, Santiment.net, chart from TradingView.com

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.



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Outer Worlds 2 is first Xbox Game Studios title to retail at $80
Esports

Outer Worlds 2 is first Xbox Game Studios title to retail at $80

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The Outer Worlds 2 will be the first Xbox title to retail at $80 following Microsoft’s planned price rises announced last month.

Published by Xbox Game Studios, the Obsidian Entertainment title will launch on October 29, 2025, just as the holiday window starts.

This is the time frame Microsoft previously confirmed for consumers to expect pricing to climb for its first-party titles, as well as consoles, controllers, and headsets.

“We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development,” it said.

“Looking ahead, we continue to focus on offering more ways to play more games across any screen and ensuring value for Xbox players.”

The rise in price of Xbox games came after Nintendo announced its flagship title Mario Kart World would retail at $80 for both its physical and digital versions.

This decision received major backlash from consumers. Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser said the $80 price tag “equal[s] the value of the gameplay experience”.

“We look at things such as the content, the extended amount of play that would be provided through the gameplay experiences, and the number of different factors as we consider what the pricing may be,” Bowser explained.

GamesIndustry.biz also spoke with analysts about why Nintendo game prices are so high, citing global inflation and development costs as major factors.



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21Shares courts retail with 3-for-1 Bitcoin ETF stock split
Crypto Trends

21Shares courts retail with 3-for-1 Bitcoin ETF stock split

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The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) will undergo a 3-for-1 share split later this month as the fund’s issuer, 21Shares, says it is looking to boost its appeal to retail investors.

The stock split is slated for June 16 and is designed to “make shares more accessible to a broader base of investors and enhance trading efficiency,” 21Shares said on June 2. 

The exchange-traded fund’s (ETF) investment strategy aiming to track the price of Bitcoin (BTC) won’t change, and its Bitcoin holdings will remain identical, 21Shares said. It added that the ETF will continue trading as usual, and the total net asset value of the fund will also remain unchanged.

A stock split is when a company divides its existing shares into multiple new shares. In a 3-for-1 split, each share becomes three, but the total value remains the same.

Some investors may feel priced out when asset or share prices rise, which can dissuade them from buying certain stocks. This leads some companies or ETF issuers to split their stock and lower the price per share, making it more affordable to retail investors, even though the underlying value is unchanged.

ARKB closed June 2 trading at $104.25 a share, meaning if a stock split happened now, one share would be priced at a third of the current value at just under $35.

ARKB stock split details. Source: ARK 21Shares 

The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, a joint offering between 21Shares and investment manager ARK Invest, has recently been the worst-performing fund in terms of flows out of the 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US.

Related: Cathie Wood’s ARK bags $26M in Coinbase shares, unloads Bitcoin ETF

It has seen six consecutive trading days of outflows totalling $430 million. That trend didn’t change on June 2, when $74 million left the product, according to CoinGlass. 

However, it is the third-largest fund in terms of total aggregate inflows with $2.37 billion, trailing similar ETFs from BlackRock and Fidelity. 

ARKB currently has $4.8 billion in assets under management with a year-to-date return of 7.35%.

Bitcoin ETFs outflows increase

Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US have reversed a trend of inflows, with an aggregate net outflow of $1.2 billion over the past three trading days, according to CoinGlass.

The outflows accelerated as Bitcoin prices dropped 4% in a fall from over $108,000 to just below $104,000 on June 2. 

Glassnode reported that last week’s inflow of more than 6,100 BTC marked the seventh consecutive week of net inflows, “highlighting consistent demand despite cooling momentum.”

Spot Bitcoin ETF flows since December. Source: Glassnode

Magazine: Bitcoin $200K ‘obvious’ breakout, GameStop’s first BTC buy: Hodler’s Digest



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Jamie Crawley
NFT Gaming

UK-Listed Investments Platform IG Offers Spot Crypto Trading to Retail Customers

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Investment platform IG (IGG) said it has begun offering crypto trading to retail investors, becoming the first publicly-listed firm in the U.K. to do so.

This marks IG’s first offering of crypto exposure through spot trading of bitcoin

, ether and a range of smaller tokens.

The company’s crypto service has previously been confined to derivatives products in the form contracts for difference (CFD).

IG has teamed up with U.S.-based crypto-focused fintech firm Uphold to build crypto trading into its existing platforms that customers currently use for dealing shares, FX, commodities and derivatives.

This may demonstrate the increasing integration between traditional finance (TradFi) and digital assets that investors and traders now expect to see.

The London-based firm’s move also coincides with the ongoing development of the U.K.’s plans to establish a regulatory regime for the crypto industry. The government published two consultation papers in April on draft legislation for activities such as crypto trading and stablecoin issuance.

IG shares are around 0.25% higher on the day at the time of writing, compared to the FTSE 100 index which is unchanged.

Read More: UK’s First Centrally Cleared FCA-Regulated Crypto Derivatives Trading Venue GFO-X Debuts



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UK-listed IG rolls out crypto trading to retail investors
Crypto Trends

UK-listed IG rolls out crypto trading to retail investors

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IG Group, a United Kingdom-listed trading and financial services company, is launching cryptocurrency trading to retail investors, expanding its footprint in the digital assets space.

IG customers can now access 31 crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP) and a variety of altcoins and memecoins such as Bonk (BONK), the company said in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on June 2.

IG previously offered cryptocurrency exposure through contracts for difference (CFDs), but this marks a direct entry into spot crypto trading

IG’s crypto trading services come as crypto adoption continues to grow in the UK amid the government’s push for a crypto regulatory regime.

Infrastructure and compliance provided by Uphold

IG’s latest crypto offering is launched in partnership with the United States-based crypto asset firm Uphold, which is regulated in the US and the UK.

The offering is integrated across the IG platform and the IG Invest app, allowing customers to switch from crypto accounts to any other IG accounts, including stock trading.

Uphold will handle all customer transactions and provide pricing data, with its infrastructure fully integrated into IG’s user experience, the companies said in a joint announcement.

“This is a huge moment for IG and a major milestone in the UK’s crypto journey, with retail investors now able to buy, sell and hold crypto assets with a grown-up business,” said IG’s UK managing director, Michael Healy.

IG’s previous crypto moves

The new offering by IG brings crypto spot trading to retail investors after the firm previously introduced crypto CFD trading to institutional clients.

Unlike spot trading, which involves buying and selling crypto assets at their current market prices, CFDs are financial instruments that allow traders to speculate on prices without owning the underlying asset.

A screenshot of IG offering CFDs by the time of the spot trading launch. Source. IG Group

According to the IG website, the company allows its clients to trade CFDs on 11 major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Cardano and more.

Related: UK to require crypto firms to report every customer transaction

In early 2021, IG halted its retail crypto offering in the UK following a temporary ban on crypto derivatives trading by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

UK progressing with crypto regulations

IG’s latest move into crypto marks a major adoption milestone in the UK amid regulators working on introducing industry standards and regulations.

On May 28, the UK FCA launched a public consultation on proposed new rules for stablecoin issuers and crypto custody providers.

In April, the UK government published general draft regulations for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, aiming to protect crypto asset investors from risky investments and scams.

The news comes as crypto adoption is booming in the UK, with the country seeing a massive increase in new crypto owners in the past year, outpacing Europe, according to Gemini.

Magazine: Bitcoin $200K ‘obvious’ breakout, GameStop’s first BTC buy: Hodler’s Digest, May 25 – 31



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Bitcoin search interest over time on Google. (Google Trends)
Crypto Trends

Wall Street Joins BTC Rally With Toyotas While Retail Crashes Their Lambos

by admin



What happens when retail logs off from crypto and Wall Street tunes in? Looking at bitcoin’s

recent all-time-high, one would say it feels bullish and the industry is maturing.

That might as well be the case, but we might not be there yet. So before we floor our Lambos, let’s look under the hood.

First things first, retail investors have basically ghosted this rally. A quick search on Google Trends using the keyword “bitcoin” shows that the surge that was seen back in 2021’s bull market is non-existent. Back then, everyone and their grandmothers were Googling bitcoin, aping into altcoins and flooding the social media with rocket emojis. In 2025? It’s a ghost town in retail-land.

There was a blip of high retail interest surrounding the U.S. presidential election, when a short-lived memecoin mania took over retail sentiment. However, that surge is long gone, as memecoin prices tanked swiftly, even as bitcoin hit an all-time high this week, ripping past $111,000.

Bitcoin search interest over time on Google. (Google Trends)

“Early in this cycle, memecoins became a concentration of risky retail-driven trading with related trading peaking in January,” said Toronto-based crypto platform FRNT Financial. “However, since then, there has been a virtual wash-out of interest and memecoin trading activity,” which shows “the tepid risk appetite in crypto at the moment,” FRNT added.

Translation: “Wen Lambo” crowd got burned, and they aren’t rushing back into the race track en masse anytime soon.

From Lambos to Corollas

On the topic of risk appetite, let’s go back to the car analogy.

During the 2021 bull market, people bought unreliable performance cars, stripped out the brakes and seatbelts to go faster than ever before, and did not care that there might be engine blowouts. As long as there was a promise of reaching the moon, bullish vibes were all that mattered.

Now? After losing tremendous amounts of money on those unsustainable go-fast cars for years, traders are driving Toyota Corollas—sensible sedans that are slow but steady and still on the road.

That risk-off sentiment is also evident from the funding rates, according to FRNT’s analysis of BTC perp rates—a measure of how much traders are willing to pay to maintain their long positions. When bitcoin reached a record high of around $42,000 in January 2021, the perp rate was about blistering 185%. Today, at bitcoin near $110,000, the rate is near 20% on crypto options exchange Deribit, meaning the risk appetite isn’t completely gone but nowhere near the 2021 frenzy.

Average daily BTC perp rate from 2021 to 2025. (Deribit/FRNT)

ATH jitters

A third point to add is the high number of short positions in the market.

As CoinDesk’s Oliver Knight reported this week, the bitcoin long/short ratio is at its lowest point since the crypto winter in September 2022. This implies that the majority of the traders aren’t completely buying into this recent positive momentum and betting on bitcoin moving lower as a hedge for the new bullish rally.

Bitcoin long/short ratio. (Coinalyze/TradingView)

The impact of such positioning was clear on Friday, when bitcoin swiftly crashed from near $111,000 to $108,000 in a matter of minutes and then bounced right back up to $109,000. The anxiety of a swift volatility is real.

So in a car-themed analogy, the drivers (in this case, investors) are still taking out their super-modified, unreliable sports cars for a weekend drive on the track. Still, they also have their Corollas following along. Just in case the engine blows on their go-fast cars.

Cautious optimism

Given the current macro-risk, it’s not entirely surprising that investors are on their toes and risk-averse. But this might just be exactly what your mechanic at the shop prescribed. In fact, this might be an indicator of a sustainable rally in the long term.

“Periods of low leverage and risk appetite in crypto have often preceded further sustainable gains,” according to FRNT.

“BTC appears to be in such a phase, set against a backdrop of numerous bullish catalysts and narratives,” the firm added.

The bottom line is that the retail Lambos might have been towed away, but big money is stepping in with their everlasting Toyotas. This might start a slow but steady race to the moon, not just a reckless joyride.

Read more: These Six Charts Explain Why Bitcoin’s Recent Move to Over $100K May Be More Durable Than January’s Run



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