Weekly Recap: Bitcoin Soars Above $103,000

Happy weekend Defiers!

Crypto markets enjoyed a bullish week, with Bitcoin surging as high as $104,000 heading into the weekend. Meanwhile, ETH rocketed 32%, pushing the ETH/BTC ratio to a multi-week high as most altcoins posted gains.

Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade went off without a hitch, bringing improved account abstraction features and staking changes to the second most valuable blockchain.

Plus, memecoins and AI coins rally, Doodles launches its token, Sui’s DeFi ecosystem surges, and Stripe dives into stablecoins.

Also, don’t forget to check out our podcast with Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan.

Enjoy!

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PODCAST & INTERVIEWS

Will Crypto ETFs Transform the Market? Expert Insights from Matt Hougan, Bitwise CIO

Are crypto ETFs set to reshape the investing landscape? Join us on The Defiant as we dive deep into the future of crypto assets, the evolving regulatory environment, and the rise of index-based investing. Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise, shares his expert insights on what these changes mean for investors and how crypto ETFs could revolutionize access to digital assets.

Beyond the Hype: Bitcoin, Inflation, and the Future of Crypto with Gus Grillasca

In this episode with cypherpunk and artist Gus Grillasca, we explore the intricate crossroads of cryptocurrency and global economics. From the propaganda of inflation to Bitcoin Ordinals and the NFT controversy, this episode challenges conventional narratives and opens up new perspectives. Hear Gus' insights on navigating the Ethereum ecosystem, the financialization of Bitcoin, and privacy coins in the digital age.

Nike, RTFKT & the Soft Rug Pull Lawsuit

We dive into the recent legal battle between Nike and NFT holders, a case that may shape the future of digital collectibles and their place in the legal and business landscape. This high-profile conflict raises important questions about NFT permanence, government regulation of NFTs, and how brands interact with blockchain-based assets.

Monero Spikes 50% After Being Used to Launder $330 Million of Potentially Stolen Bitcoin

Blockchain analyst ZachXBT uncovered a major development: a “suspicious transfer” involving 3,520 Bitcoin—worth over $330 million at the time. The transaction drew attention as the BTC originated from a wallet believed to belong to a long-term holder. Shortly after, the funds were divided into smaller increments and sent to a new address, raising further questions.

Friday

• Ethereum Leads Crypto Rally With Biggest Weekly Gain Against Bitcoin Since May 2024 ETH jumped 13% as the ETH/BTC ratio surged to a six-week high. BTC, XRP, and SOL also gained 2%, 5%, and 7%, respectively.
• Established Memecoins Soar as Traders Grow Frustrated with PumpFun Games MOODENG and PNUT have surged 220% and 82% in the past week.
• PumpFun DEX PumpSwap TVL Breaks $100M Driven By Memecoin Comeback The memecoin launchpad’s DEX hit an all-time high TVL over $100 million as top memecoins soar.
• CryptoPunks Reclaim $100,000 and XCOPY Edition Sells for $1.2 Million The premier Ethereum NFT collection’s floor price is back into six figures.
• ‘Alarming’ 99% of Memecoin Launches on PumpFun are Pump-and-Dumps or Rug Pulls: Report Solidus Labs found that while the median rug pull on the Raydium decentralized exchange is for just $2,800, the amount of fraud on Solana is ‘staggering.’
• AI Agent Token VIRTUAL Rallies to Multi-Month High Virtuals Protocol continues to roll out updates to its AI agent token launch platform.
• NFT Project Doodles Launches DOOD Token on Solana, Sales Surge Over 100% The project's new ecosystem token is fueling renewed interest in Doodles NFTs.

Thursday

• Is it Finally DeFi Coin Season? Blue-chip altcoins like LIDO and UNI are surging, with some of the top names in DeFi gaining between 15% and 30%.
• Ethereum Surges Above $2,000 on Heels of Pectra Upgrade ETH surpassed the psychologically important price level after the upgrade went live without a hitch.
• MOVE Sees Slight Relief in Wider Market Rally, Despite Ongoing Controversy Binance postponed its upcoming MOVE airdrop hours after Movement announced the termination of its cofounder Rushi Manche.
• Futureverse and Rakuten Wallet Debut Web3 Pass for Millions of Users RakutenWallet.Pass aims to simplify blockchain access and unlock immersive experiences.
• Mog Coin Soars 35% as Elon Musk, Gary Tan Embrace Mog/Acc Philosophy The MOG memecoin celebrates Mog/Acc’s belief in competing and winning.
• Bitcoin Tops $101,000 Amid Fed Pause and Tariff Relief Bitcoin surges 5%, while ETH and SOL rally 14% and 10%, respectively.
• Stablecoin Legislation Has Gone from ‘Slam Dunk’ to ‘at Risk’: Bitwise CIO Senate Democrats appear to be rallying around a movement to block passage of the GENIUS stablecoin.
• Robert Leshner’s Superstate to Launch On-Chain Stocks The equities platform called Opening Bell will debut with public shares of SOL Strategies.
• Arbitrum Gaming Ventures Announces $10M Investment to Power Web3 Gaming The investment is funding games, platforms, and infrastructure to grow Arbitrum’s gaming ecosystem.

Wednesday

• Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade Just Went Live — What Does It Do? From letting third parties pay transaction gas fees to improving validator UX, the biggest Ethereum upgrade since The Merge has just gone live after several delays.
• Trillion-Dollar Fintech Giant Stripe Steps Into Stablecoins The financial infrastructure company is stepping into the stablecoin arena.
• Solana Name Service to Airdrop 40% of Token Supply The SNS airdrop will distribute 20% of the SNS supply to early supporters, with an additional 20% reserved for campaign participants.
• Stablecoin Supply on Sui Network Hits All-Time High Near $1 Billion Sui’s DeFi ecosystem is surging, with stablecoins at an all-time high and overall TVL just 20% off its January peak.
• Crypto Market Holds Steady as Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged Bitcoin nears $97,000, while altcoins like KAITO and Alpaca Finance lead gains.
• XRP Is the Only Top Crypto in Profit Mid-Term: Glassnode New data show Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana holders in red, while XRP bucks the trend.
• New Hampshire Breaks Ground with Crypto Reserve Law After Other States Reject Similar Proposals The move by New Hampshire comes just days after Florida and Arizona shelved similar bills.

Tuesday

• Crypto Market Faces Pressure for Second Day as Investors Await Fed Rate Decision Bitcoin holds steady, Ethereum dips, and altcoins see mixed action ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC statement.
• SEC Delays Litecoin ETF Decision The Securities and Exchange Commission’s delay of an exchange-traded fund for the Bitcoin clone likely means other digital assets like Solana, XRP and Dogecoin are in for long waits.
• Citi and SDX to Tokenize Late-Stage Private Shares by Q3 2025 The move comes as the value of tokenized real-world assets tops $22 billion.
• Creator of AI Agent Zerebro Reportedly Passes Away Confusion, sadness, and controversy are dominating crypto social media after a now-deleted obituary was published for Zerebro founder, Jeffy Yu, who may have ended his own life on a livestream.
• Solana Sees Largest DeFi Outflows After Bug Patch Raises Centralization Concerns Solana started the week with the largest net outflows over 24 hours, as users took funds off of the chain.
• Flare DeFi TVL Doubles to $124M as Kraken Enables USD₮0 Transfers The new integration with Kraken aims to boost accessibility to the omnichain stablecoin for Flare users.
• Ethena Launches USDe Integrations on Hyperliquid Ethena’s USDe synthetic dollar is live on Hyperliquid’s Hypercore, HyperEVM, and Unit.

Monday

• Ethereum DEX TVL Plunges 88% From 2021 Peak: Token Terminal Once at $44 billion, decentralized exchange liquidity on Ethereum now stands at just $5 billion.
• Clanker Employee Outed as Velodrome Thief The developer, who previously went by Gabagool.eth, worked for the Base-backed AI launchpad under the pseudonym ProxyStudio.
• Vitalik Buterin Wants to Make Ethereum as “Beautifully Simple” as Bitcoin A proposed 5-year plan would replace the Ethereum Virtual Machine with a far simpler RISC-V architecture.
• Crypto Markets Slide Ahead of Fed Meeting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major tokens tumble amid renewed trade war fears.

TRENDING

• Ethereum Surges Above $2,000 on Heels of Pectra Upgrade
• Mog Coin Soars 35% as Elon Musk, Gary Tan Embrace Mog/Acc Philosophy
• Bitcoin Tops $101,000 Amid Fed Pause and Tariff Relief
• Stablecoin Legislation Has Gone from ‘Slam Dunk’ to ‘at Risk’: Bitwise CIO
• Arbitrum Gaming Ventures Announces $10M Investment to Power Web3 Gaming
• Trillion-Dollar Fintech Giant Stripe Steps Into Stablecoins