PUMP 3.5x’d in 3 Weeks

Welcome back to The Warmup.

Happy Monday, we’re coming in hotter than Solana on a breakout candle.

Here’s what we’re watching:

• Market Snapshot

• Tether Launches US-Regulated Stablecoin

• Ethereum Swing Setup

• PumpFun’s Weekend Explosion

• Calendar

Market: Crypto majors slipped overnight with BTC back at $115K and ETH under $4.6K. SOL led the drop, sliding to $235, while XMR and MNT held up as top gainers.

Tether Launches US-Regulated Stablecoin

What’s going on:

Tether just announced USAT, a U.S.-regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin designed to complement its $169B USDT juggernaut.

Bo Hines (former Executive Director of the White House Crypto Council under Trump) has been named CEO of Tether’s newly formed U.S. unit. The USAT team will be based in Charlotte, NC, and Hines says they’re aiming to launch before year-end.

USAT will be issued by Anchorage Digital, with Cantor Fitzgerald involved in distribution and reserves management. Tether Group CEO Paolo Ardoino also clarified that the company is not seeking a public listing right now.

What it means:

This is a big deal for the stablecoin market. A U.S.-regulated version of USDT could attract institutional capital and win over policymakers who’ve been skeptical of offshore stablecoins.

With Tether already the 18th-largest U.S. Treasury holder and on pace to post another year of $13B+ profits, USAT could further solidify its dominance. This time with regulatory backing.

Tether is doubling down on the U.S. market and sending a message, they want to be the go-to dollar onchain.

Ethereum Swing Setup

What’s going on:

Ethereum is looking strong. Price action and structure are showing clear bullish momentum, with a clean 4h retest that suggests continuation to the upside.

We’re eyeing a swing long inside the $4,650–$4,580 range with spot or low leverage exposure.

Key levels we’re watching:

• Entry: $4,650 – $4,580 → DCA inside the range

• Targets:

  • $4,700 → first target

  • $4,800 → mid target

  • $4,900 → stretch target if momentum holds

• Stop Loss: $4,400 → setup invalidated below here

Directional Bias: Bullish

Momentum favors the bulls. As long as ETH holds above $4,400, this setup looks primed for continuation higher over the next few days.

What we’re waiting for:

• Strong 4h close above $4,650 for confirmation

• Volume pickup on breakout toward $4,700+

• Risk management: keep size small, manage stops dynamically

Bottom line: ETH looks ready for another leg up. Manage risk well and trail stops as price moves in your favor.

PumpFun’s Weekend Explosion

What’s going on:

PumpFun just had its biggest weekend ever. The app hit 35,000 daily active users, flipped Rumble in live viewers, and saw creators claim $20M in fees over the last week (including a $3.5M ATH day).

The protocol has now bought back $92M worth of PUMP, which helped send the token price up 40% to $8.8B FDV (3.5x in 3 weeks).

Big names are joining too. A Fortnite streamer made $100K in a single day, and personalities like Alex Becker are teasing launches. The new live-streaming meta seems to be the key driver behind the surge.

What it means:

PUMP is officially back and stronger than ever. Its buyback-driven flywheel is working: more revenue → more buybacks → higher token price → more creators joining.

With crypto attention shifting back to memes and streaming creators, PumpFun could be entering a breakout phase and streamer tokens may be the next hot meta to watch.

Key Events this Week

Major token unlocks:

• Arbitrum (ARB): ~$48M unlock on Sept 16 (~2% of supply)

• Velo (VELO): ~$47M unlock on Sept 20 (~13.5% of supply)

• Optimism (OP): ~$91M unlock on Sept 21 (~6.9% of supply)

Macroeconomic data calendar:

• Tue (Sep 16):

  • U.S. Retail Sales – shows consumer spending

  • Industrial Production – measures factory output

• Wed (Sep 17):

  • FOMC Meeting & Powell Speech – Fed decides interest rates (key market mover)

• Thu (Sep 18):

  • Jobless Claims – tracks unemployment trends

  • Philly Fed Survey – early look at business conditions

Major Earnings Releases:

• Thu (Sep 18): FedEx

• Gemini IPO trades over $40 per share

• Ethereum Foundation sets end-to-end privacy roadmap

• Polymarket weighs financing at $9-10B valuation

Stocks jumped last week after good news on inflation and weaker job numbers made traders think the Fed will cut rates sooner.

Now, markets expect almost three rate cuts by the end of the year, which pushed prices even higher.

In Europe, the ECB said it’s likely done cutting rates, even with inflation falling.

This week’s big focus is the Fed and Bank of England meetings to see if the rally can keep going.

— The Warmup Team

Always do your own research. This newsletter is supplemental material to help educate readers as they make their own decisions. Projects mentioned here are provided to give a potential early-mover advantage.