ZetaChain Votes to Kill Its Own Chain

Welcome back to The Warmup.

Bitcoin printed $85,000 for the first time since January after last week's hike and Clarity miss, then the shorts got run.

Here’s what we’re watching:

• Market Snapshot

• ZetaChain Votes to Kill Its Own Chain

• MSFT Rising Wedge

• Bitcoin Clears $85,000 After Shorts Get Run

• Calendar

Market: Crypto is leading, with SOL, BTC, and ETH surging higher.

ZetaChain Votes to Kill Its Own Chain

What’s going on:

ZetaChain token holders voted Sunday to shut down the project's Layer 1 and move ZETA onto Solana.

Proposal 68 passed with 99.4% support and 58% turnout. The team raised $27 million three years ago to connect rival networks.

Contributors now say they do not need their own chain and want to put the remaining work, including an AI app called Anuma, on Solana instead.

ZETA is slated to become a native Solana SPL token one-for-one, same ticker, same supply.

A second vote still has to set the snapshot and the shutdown block.

What it means:

Running a Layer 1 is expensive. Usage has to pay for validators, security, and attention. When that math fails, the token can still live on a busier chain.

This is the beginner mechanic.

A chain and a token are not the same thing. Holders just chose distribution over independence.

Bridges, claims, and leftover assets on the old network are where users get hurt in migrations.

MSFT Rising Wedge

What’s going on:

MSFT is compressing inside a rising wedge, with repeated rejection near $510–$520.

Key levels we’re watching:

• Resistance: $510–$525

• Support: $493 → $470

• Breakdown target: $450

• Invalidation: Above $525

Directional Bias: Bearish

What we’re waiting for:

• Break below $493

• Volume confirmation

• Rejection near $510–$520 for a short setup

Bitcoin Clears $85,000 After Shorts Get Run

What’s going on:

Bitcoin briefly printed above $85,000 on Monday, the first trip there since January.

The weekly close sat near $81,200, the first finish above the 50-week moving average in 45 weeks.

Roughly $750 million in liquidations over 24 hours, most of it shorts. Bitcoin alone accounted for hundreds of millions.

Spot bitcoin ETFs finished last week barely green after a $433 million Friday print.

What it means:

A forced covering rally can look like a new cycle from the first candle.

Last week still had a Fed hike and a failed Clarity vote. Those were supposed to weigh. Price ignored both because they were already in the price. The lesson is the same one as always.

Surprises move markets.

Headlines you already priced do not. The 50-week reclaim is a real technical tell. A one-hour wipeout of shorts is not a foundation. Size as if $80,000 can be tested again this week.

Key Events this Week

Major token unlocks:

• Plasma (XPL): 1.76B tokens on Friday, Sep 25

Macroeconomic data calendar:

Mon (Sep 21):

• Chicago Fed National Activity Index (August)

• Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee speaks

Tue (Sep 22):

• Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (September)

• Fed speakers: Williams, Jefferson, Barkin

Wed (Sep 23):

• Flash S&P Global Manufacturing and Services PMIs (Europe and U.S.)

• EIA crude oil inventories

• Fed speaker: Michael Barr

Thu (Sep 24):

• U.S. current account (Q2)

• New home sales (August)

• Initial jobless claims

• Trump–Xi meeting in focus for risk assets

Fri (Sep 25):

• Durable goods orders (August, preliminary)

• University of Michigan consumer sentiment (September final)

Major Earnings Releases:

• Tue (Sep 22): AutoZone, Thor Industries, KB Home

• Wed (Sep 23): Cintas, Paychex, General Mills, Cracker Barrel

• Thu (Sep 24): Costco, Darden

• Strategy buys 950 bitcoin for $76M, bringing total holdings to 846,000 BTC

• Polymarket faced $10M fraud attempt as its CEO pushed growth over compliance concerns

• Bitcoin ETFs eke out positive week with $433M Friday inflow as ether funds snap four-week inflow streak

Last week handed the market two reasons to sell. The Fed delivered its first hike since 2023. The Senate blocked Clarity. Bitcoin still closed above the 50-week moving average and then ran the shorts into $85,000.

Do not let Monday's candle write the plan. A reclaim of a long moving average is useful. It is not a permit to double the book because shorts got squeezed before lunch.

Leave room for the next print to go the other way.

— 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.