Weekly Recap: Bitcoin Plunges 12% On Trade War Fears
Happy weekend Defiers!
It was a rough week for crypto markets, with most altcoins cratering by 20% or more as Bitcoin fell as low as $78,200 on Friday morning before recovering some lost ground.
The new pro-crypto SEC is wasting no time, and dropped or paused legal action against Coinbase, Uniswap, Consensys, Gemini and Tron — all in the past week. The agency also clarified that it doesn’t consider memecoins to be securities.
Meanwhile, Sonic, Hyperliquid and Story Protocol are some of the bright spots amid the market-wide selloff.
Also, don’t forget to check out our podcasts with Will Robinson, VP of Engineering at Coinbase, and Bill Barhydt, founder and CEO of Abra.
Enjoy!
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PODCAST & INTERVIEWS
How Coinbase is Bridging Bitcoin to DeFi with New OnChain Lending | Will Robinson, VP of Engineering
Will Robinson, VP of Engineering at Coinbase, explores the company’s expanding role in decentralized finance (DeFi), highlighting the launch of Bitcoin-backed USDC loans through Morpho and Coinbase’s broader efforts to integrate DeFi solutions.
He explains how Coinbase is working to connect centralized finance (CeFi) with DeFi by incorporating decentralized protocols while prioritizing security and regulatory compliance.
Robinson also discusses the introduction of cbBTC as an alternative to WBTC, the company’s approach to multi-chain development, and its plans for further DeFi integrations.
Bill Barhydt: The Next Altcoin Season, $350K Bitcoin & The Future of DeFi Banking
Bill Barhydt, Founder and CEO of Abra, discusses the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency markets and investment strategies in this week's The Defiant Podcast.
He attributes Bitcoin’s price movements to macroeconomic factors, including U.S. monetary policy and liquidity cycles, and notes a growing trend of companies holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets.
Barhydt also examines Ethereum’s scalability challenges and the increasing role of DeFi in financial systems, suggesting that decentralized infrastructure could eventually become the standard for banking.
Friday
- Crypto Markets Bounce After CME Announces Solana Futures Bitcoin traded as low as $78,200 overnight before recovering to $84,000.
- Hyperliquid Flips PumpFun to Become Top 3 Revenue Generator in DeFi The protocol only trails stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle.
- Virtuals Protocol Revenue Craters by 95% Virtuals Protocol’s daily revenue continues to drop due to dwindling demand for AI agent tokens.
- Bybit Hackers Launder Funds Through Thorchain, Shattering Daily Volume Record A senior developer quits and validator threatens to leave over the protocol’s inaction to stop illicit transactions.
- Ethereum Foundation Forms New Advisory Council The ‘Silviculture Society’ comprises 15 individuals who will ensure the Foundation maintains its core values.
- SEC Says Memecoins Are Not Securities The official statement removes the threat of enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission from an entire category of cryptocurrency.
- Trump Organization Files Patent for TRUMP Metaverse The Trump-themed virtual world will include a branded restaurant for avatars to enjoy, as well as clothing and shoes.
Thursday
- Bitcoin Clings to $83,000 after Trump Says Tariffs Will Start Next Week Crypto markets reversed earlier gains after President Trump announced that trade tariffs on Canada and Mexico will start on March 4.
- SEC and Justin Sun Pause Tron Fraud Lawsuit for Settlement Talks Sun, the Tron Foundation and BitTorrent are also accused of selling unregistered securities.
- Bitwise CIO Says Stablecoins Will ‘Dominate’ $44T Cross-Border B2B Payments in Five Years Matt Hougan predicts that once merchants get comfortable with B2B stablecoin payments, they’ll roll them out across domestic retail transactions.
- MKR Soars 50% Following Thwarted Governance Attack Sky (formerly MakerDAO) has also partnered with Berachain to push the cross-chain expansion of its USDS stablecoin.
- APT Surges After Bitwise Registers Aptos ETF in Delaware Asset manager Bitwise previously launched the world’s first Aptos staking ETP on six Swiss exchanges.
- Cameron Winklevoss Wants Payback after SEC Ends Gemini Investigation The Securities and Exchange Commission has ended its investigation of the Gemini exchange without taking any action. Its president wants every SEC crypto lawyer fired.
- U.S. Congress Introduces MEME Act Targeting TRUMP Memecoin The Democrat-proposed legislation would prohibit government officials from issuing cryptocurrencies.
- SEC to Drop Consensys Lawsuit The Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed in principle to drop all pending securities charges against the blockchain software company.
- Litecoin Pops 18% Amid ETF Hype LTC surged as broader markets retreated.
Wednesday
- Bitcoin Drops to $83,000 as Crypto Selloff Enters Third Day In the past 24 hours, ETH, SOL and XRP are down another 5%, 6% and 2%, respectively.
- Safe Wallet Found Responsible for ByBit’s $1.5 Billion Hack Binance founder CZ criticized Safe after ByBit’s audit revealed the point-of-failure exploited by North Korean hackers.
- Bitwise CIO Predicts End of Memecoin Supercycle Matt Hougan believes other narratives like institutional Bitcoin adoption, stablecoins, and tokenization could replace memecoins.
- a16z and The Digital Chamber Send Crypto Regulation Wish Lists to the SEC The digital asset industry seeks clarity from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new Crypto Task Force on key issues like airdrops, ETFs and crypto securities.
Tuesday
- Liquidations Top $1.5 Billion as Bitcoin Plunges to $86,000 Altcoins have been decimated in the past 24 hours, with ETH, SOL and XRP down 10%.
- Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade Crashes Holesky Testnet A critical bug affected key Ethereum clients, preventing transactions from finalizing.
- SEC Ends Uniswap Investigation The agency had claimed Uniswap Labs was operating an unregistered securities exchange.
- Story Protocol’s IP Token Leads Altcoin Market The newly released IP token has tripled over the last week.
- Ethereum Foundation Shuffles Leadership Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi will now fill the role of President of the Ethereum Foundation.
- Tezos Layer 2 Etherlink Launches Mainnet and Unveils Rewards Programs The platform plans to unveil several initiatives to reward users and attract builder interest.
Monday
- Altcoins Plunge as Bitcoin Dips Under $95,000 In the past 24 hours, ETH, SOL and XRP are down 5%, 8%, and 4% respectively.
- Bybit Said it Closed $1.5B Gap Left After Largest Crypto Exploit in History The CEO also released an audited proof of reserves (POR) report proving that the exchange has restored its clients’ assets.
- PumpFun’s In-house DEX Could Spell Doom for Raydium Raydium’s token tanked by over 25% amid fears of the DEX losing market share.
- Sonic Brings Back DeFi Summer Vibes as Ecosystem Outperforms Other Layer 1s The blockchain’s activity and TVL are at all-time highs.
TRENDING
- Hyperliquid Flips PumpFun to Become Top 3 Revenue Generator in DeFi
- Crypto Markets Bounce After CME Announces Solana Futures
- SEC and Justin Sun Pause Tron Fraud Lawsuit for Settlement Talks
- MKR Soars 50% Following Thwarted Governance Attack
- U.S. Congress Introduces MEME Act Targeting TRUMP Memecoin
- Bitcoin Clings to $83,000 after Trump Says Tariffs Will Start Next Week
