Hey folks! Welcome to the latest edition of The Blockchain Bulletin. Over the last 24 hours, the crypto market has been a wild ride—Grayscale’s spot Cardano ETF filing is under SEC review, Bitcoin has tumbled below $90,000, and traders are watching liquidations pile up. Meanwhile, altcoins are struggling, while meme coin investors are learning some hard lessons.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) acknowledged Grayscale’s filing for a spot Cardano ETF, beginning the review process. If approved, this ETF will allow exposure to Cardano without requiring direct asset ownership. Instead, shares of the Grayscale Cardano Trust will reflect ADA holdings and track prices from other exchanges including Coinbase and Kraken. Coinbase Custody Trust will manage ADA security using distributed key storage in secure vaults and the SEC’s decision is expected by August 2025.
Meanwhile, Chainflip Labs is enhancing its security measures after detecting Bybit hack-related funds moving through its protocol. The latest update, version 1.7.10, expands broker-level screening to Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens, allowing brokers to reject high-risk transactions. The swap.chainflip.io interface remains in maintenance as the team works on a long-term solution with support from Elliptic and Chainalysis.
Besides security concerns, the market has entered a period of extreme fear. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index dropped to 25 as Bitcoin fell below $90,000, triggering a market-wide sell-off. Liquidations surged, with Coinglass reporting that 284,368 traders lost positions worth $881.96 million in 24 hours. Ethereum fell 10%, while Solana dropped 14%, further intensifying market uncertainty.
Despite the downturn, Metaplanet continued expanding its Bitcoin holdings. The Japanese firm purchased 135 BTC for $13 million at an average price of $96,185. However, with Bitcoin currently at $89,261, the latest purchase is temporarily at a loss. Metaplanet now holds 2,225 BTC, valued at over $205 million. El Salvador also added 7 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 6,088 BTC, now worth $560.7 million.
Altcoins have not been spared from the decline. Analyst Crypto Aman highlighted the sharp sell-off, noting double-digit losses across several assets. AI (AI/USDT) dropped 17.24%, XAI (XAI/USDT) fell 15.25%, and EIGEN (EIGEN/USDT) declined 16.46%. ARB (ARB/USDT) lost 12.19%, while MANTA (MANTA/USDT) and ZRO (ZRO/USDT) dropped 12.23% and 13.16%, respectively. However, VANA (VANA/USDT) gained 27.84%, defying the overall negative trend.
Riot Platforms reported a 34% revenue increase for 2024 despite challenges like the Bitcoin halving and a 67% rise in global network hash rate. The company’s Bitcoin mining revenue reached $321 million, a 70% increase from 2023. Riot mined 4,828 BTC, fewer than the previous year, yet increased its holdings to 17,722 BTC. The expansion was partly supported by a $579 million convertible notes offering.
Elsewhere, a whale offloaded 763,582 TRUMP tokens for $9.48 million in USDC, ending a month-long struggle. Initially securing an $11.8 million profit, the trader reinvested $33.9 million, only to see the price decline. The volatility mirrors previous meme coin trends, such as the Broccoli token surge linked to Binance’s former CEO CZ. One early investor made $6.5 million in minutes, while others suffered losses.
In risk management, Chaos Labs integrated into Ethena Labs’ synthetic dollar, USDe, ensuring transparency through real-time reserve confirmation. Blockchain-based oracles validate USDe’s reserves and governance structure, improving credibility. Additionally, the system alerts users of any reserve fluctuations, enhancing security.
Ethereum developers are progressing with the Pectra upgrade, launching on the Holesky testnet on February 24 and the Sepolia testnet on March 5. The upgrade introduces account abstraction, gas sponsorship, and increased validator staking limits. EIP-7251 raises the maximum staking threshold from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH, while EIP-6110 reduces deposit processing time from nine hours to 13 minutes. Additionally, EIP-7691 increases Ethereum’s blob capacity by 50%, improving scalability.
Cardano (ADA) is testing the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement level at $0.6519, with bearish activity suggesting a possible decline. CryptoBusy warned that failure to hold this level could push ADA to $0.5512. Multiple rejections at $0.75-$0.77 indicate that buyers are struggling to regain control.
Ethereum is also facing resistance at $2,800. Market instability following Bybit’s security breach has kept Ethereum trading within the $2,100-$2,800 range. Currently holding above the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement at $2,316, Ethereum remains in a consolidation phase.
Meanwhile, XRP moved downward despite an ascending triangle pattern that historically favors an upward breakout. Trading at $2.20, XRP’s next move depends on whether it finds strong support or continues its decline. With heightened volatility across the market, one question remains: will the downturn persist or is a rebound on the horizon?
