Weekly Recap: Zcash Plunges After Core Team Resigns
Plus, Truebit suffers $26M exploit
Happy weekend, Defiers!
After a brisk start to the week, crypto markets gave up most of their gains by Friday after disappointing US employment data. BTC traded as high as $94,800 on Tuesday before slipping under $91,000 heading into the weekend.
Privacy coin Zcash lost nearly a quarter of its value this week amid a dispute between the core team and the nonprofit that supports the project, raising questions about its governance mechanisms.
In the first major exploit of 2026, nearly $26 million worth of ETH was drained from verification protocol Truebit, wiping out its TRU token.
Finally, we look back at how publicly traded companies began to treat cryptocurrencies as long-term investments in 2025.
Enjoy!
👀 Don’t miss our newest newsletter, The Defiant: Real World, where we track how trillions of assets are coming on-chain. Each week, you’ll get a weekly summary of the high-signal RWA and stablecoin news you can’t miss, and in-depth analysis to put it all in context. Read the latest issue here.
https://thedefiant.io/newsletter/real-world/superstate-tests-rwas-composability
Top Stories This Week
Zcash Plunges 20% After Entire Core Team Exits Amid Dispute
Zcash (ZEC) fell by as much as 20% after the entire development team announced it was leaving following a governance dispute tied to Bootstrap, a nonprofit that supports the project.
Truebit Hack Wipes Out TRU in First Major Exploit of 2026
Truebit suffered a roughly $26 million exploit on Thursday, marking the first major crypto hack of 2026. The attacker drained about 8,500 ETH from a smart contract linked to the blockchain verification protocol.
Crypto Markets Edge Lower After US Jobs Miss Expectations
Crypto markets ticked lower on Friday as new U.S. labor data showed the economy added far fewer jobs than expected in December.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading near $91,000, while Ether (ETH) changes hands around $3,100.
How Digital Asset Treasuries Went Mainstream in 2025
In 2025, publicly traded companies increasingly began treating cryptocurrencies as core balance-sheet assets, rather than just speculative or experimental.
Trending
- Crypto Markets Edge Lower After US Jobs Miss Expectations
- Polygon Leads Altcoin Surge With 15% Rally
- Optimism Foundation Proposes Using 50% of Revenue for Buybacks
- White Whale Memecoin Surges Past $100 Million Valuation
- Bitcoin Extends Selloff as Investors Turn Cautious
- Zcash Plunges 20% After Entire Core Team Exits Amid Dispute
That’s it for today — have a great weekend! If you enjoyed this newsletter, tell your friends! https://thedefiant.io/subscribe
Get an edge in Crypto with our free daily newsletter
Know what matters in Crypto and Web3 with The Defiant Daily newsletter, Mon to Fri
90k+ Defiers informed every day. Unsubscribe anytime.
