It’s not often that the worlds of AI, finance, and comedy collide, but this week they do.
OpenAI has officially leapfrogged SpaceX to become the world’s most valuable private company at a staggering $500 billion valuation. Bitcoin’s on-chain indicators are flashing familiar signals, hinting at the possibility of a $200,000 rally by year’s end if demand keeps up its current pace. And while markets crunch numbers, South Park is busy lampooning crypto yet again, this time skewering prediction markets, trading apps, and regulators in its signature style.
Lets check this week Gainers and Loser first.
- Zcash (ZEC) - Incredible rise of 167.78% to a total price of $145.61
- Pump.fun (PUMP) - 40.87% score, with end price of $0.007136
- DeXe (DEXE) - closing up with 37.94% rise and total price of $12.82
- DoubleZero (2Z) - Lost 22.74% to an end price $0.5147
- MemeCore (M) - Lost 8.04% and closed this week with a price of $2.12
- MYX Finance (MYX) - Drop of 6.46% to a price of $8.56
OpenAI Tops SpaceX as World’s Most Valuable Private Company
OpenAI has overtaken SpaceX to become the world’s most valuable private company, reaching a $500 billion valuation following a $6.6 billion employee share sale.
The secondary sale allowed employees who had held shares for at least two years to sell to investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and T. Rowe Price. This marks OpenAI’s second major tender offer in under a year, after a $1.5 billion deal with SoftBank last November. Earlier in the year, SoftBank reportedly considered investing up to $25 billion. The new valuation represents a significant rise from OpenAI’s $300 billion estimate in March following a $40 billion SoftBank-led funding round, putting it ahead of SpaceX, valued around $400 billion.
Investor confidence remains strong despite scrutiny over GPT-5. OpenAI recently partnered with Nvidia to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of systems, with Nvidia committing up to $100 billion as deployment progresses. CEO Jensen Huang called it a step toward “bringing AI infrastructure from the labs into the world.”
The share sale also provides employees liquidity, helping OpenAI compete with rivals such as Meta, which is hiring aggressively for its Superintelligence Labs.
Meanwhile, OpenAI continues structural changes, lifting its capped-profit limit in May, even as co-founder Elon Musk pursues legal action, alleging the company abandoned its nonprofit mission and misappropriated xAI data.
Bitcoin Could Challenge $200K as Demand Builds
Bitcoin demand has been steadily increasing since July, with on-chain metrics pointing to potential late-year price gains toward $200,000.
Data from CryptoQuant shows apparent demand growing by roughly 62,000 BTC per month, a pattern reminiscent of Q4 in 2020, 2021, and 2024, periods that preceded significant price rallies. Much of the current accumulation is being driven by whales and ETFs.
Large holders are adding BTC at an annualized pace of 331,000, compared with 255,000 in Q4 2024 and 238,000 in Q4 2020. By contrast, Q4 2021 saw a contraction of 197,000 BTC.
Bitcoin has crossed $117K, reclaiming the Trader’s Realized Price ($116K).
— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) October 1, 2025
This shift puts BTC back in the BULL phase of the cycle indicator.
From here, Q4 targets expand toward $160K–$200K. pic.twitter.com/FlYePG6kL9
On-chain Realized Price Bands. Source.
ETF inflows are also contributing: products purchased 213,000 BTC in Q4 2024, a 71% increase from prior allocations, and may continue to add exposure into year-end.
On-chain valuation signals are now pointing to a critical level: the Trader’s Realized Price of $116,000. A sustained move above this threshold would indicate a shift into the 'bull' phase on the Bull-Bear Market Cycle Indicator, opening a potential valuation range between $160,000 and $200,000 for Q4. This indicator compares current market prices with realized prices, the average cost basis of investors on-chain. Moving above it signals rising momentum and profit across holders, while falling below marks stress and unrealized losses.
CryptoQuant contributor known as Crypto Dan also noted that the bullish phase of digital gold continues. According to him, there are no clear signals of its end yet. Entering October, market conditions resemble last year’s setup. The CryptoQuant Bull Score Index has remained between 40 and 50, levels that historically precede bullish breakouts.
In 2024, the index crossed above 50 at the start of Q4, just before bitcoin rose from roughly $70,000 to $100,000.
Bitcoin on TV. How Pop Culture Shapes Crypto Awareness
Cryptocurrency has become a recurring target and sometimes a teacher on mainstream TV.
In a recent episode from its 27th season, “South Park” mocked prediction markets, trading apps, and regulators, continuing its long-running crypto gag.
Previous episodes have also parodied Bitcoin and NFTs. For example, a 2021 post-COVID special depicted Bitcoin as both a currency and a Ponzi scheme, while NFTs were humorously portrayed as contagious obsessions spreading chaos among characters.
Other shows have taken a more educational approach.
“The Simpsons” introduced cryptocurrency in its 2020 “Frinkcoin” episode, narrated by Jim Parsons (Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory), explaining blockchain and Bitcoin basics without satire. A later episode even humorously predicted Bitcoin’s price rising toward infinity.
Crypto marketing has also reached Hollywood. Actor Matt Damon starred in a 2021 Crypto.com ad urging viewers to be brave, coinciding with Bitcoin hitting a then-record $69,000. Yet, the subsequent Terra collapse and bear market highlighted the risks behind such campaigns. “South Park” referenced this in a February 2022 special, poking fun at fans who lost money following Damon’s advice.
High-profile Super Bowl campaigns in 2022 further spotlighted crypto. Coinbase engaged viewers with a $15 Bitcoin giveaway via a bouncing QR code, while FTX, featuring Larry David, later collapsed amid bankruptcy and fraud charges, turning the ad into an ironic footnote.
Even Elon Musk’s 2021 SNL appearance influenced crypto markets.
His jokes about Dogecoin propelled the meme token to a short-lived all-time high, though it later dropped sharply, illustrating both the hype and volatility tied to celebrity endorsements.
Oleksii Shumak
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