Weekly Crypto Update

Crypto Weekly Summary:

Weekly Recap: Total Market Cap (2.7%) at $2.38T

• Week in Review
  • Crypto sector continued to consolidate this week after the recent drop in late January early February. Betting odds on the probability of the CLARITY Act being passed spiked from 60% to 90% on the back of Coinbase CEO comments that progress had been made, but has since settled to just ~72%. Commenting earlier on the stalemate in crypto market structure legislation, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told the Trump family backed WLF Forum at Mar-a-Lago that banking trade groups were responsible, arguing the trade groups operate with a zero-sum mindset with the insistence that the bill block stablecoin rewards. Armstrong expressed cautious optimism that a compromise could be reached in a new draft of the bill, potentially offering banks fresh benefits to bring them on board. He noted that smaller and mid-sized banks are less concerned about losing deposits to stablecoin issuers and more worried about deposit flight to larger banks.
  • SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s outlined her plan for tokenized securities which centers on a proposed innovation exemption, which provides a structured stepping stone for integrating tokenized securities into the U.S. financial system through temporary regulatory relief. The framework allows both traditional financial institutions and crypto-native firms to experiment with on-chain securities on novel platforms, including public, permissionless blockchains and automated market makers without immediate full compliance with existing rules. To mitigate risk, the plan implements strict regulatory breathing room safeguards, such as volume caps, participant whitelists, and sunset provisions that automatically terminate exemptions after a set period. Peirce maintains that because tokenized securities remain legally classified as securities, this incremental approach preserves core investor protections while gathering the market data necessary to develop a permanent, long-term regulatory framework.
  • CME Group will begin offering round-the-clock trading for its cryptocurrency futures and options contracts on its CME Globex platform starting 29-May, pending regulatory approval.
  • OpenAI launched EVMbench, a smart contract security benchmark built with Paradigm, that tests AI systems on three tasks: identifying bugs, exploiting them in controlled environments, and patching vulnerable code. The framework draws on real-world vulnerabilities from audits and security competitions, with the goal of establishing a standard for evaluating AI in blockchain security as DeFi protocols continue to secure large sums.
• Highlights
  • Bitcoin/DLT/DeFi
    • Uniswap considers activating protocol fees across eight additional chains (TheBlock )
    • FedEx reportedly joined Hedera’s (HBAR) governing council, piloting HBARs digital-native supply chain (Binance )
    • Kashkari skeptical of crypto/stablecoin value (CoinDesk )
    • XRP primary users are retail investors, estimated at 2-3M (BeInCrypto )
    • BTC Lightning Network surpassed $1B in monthly transaction volume in Nov-25 (Bitcoin Magazine )
    • Stani Kulechov, Aave’s (AAVE) creator, responds to BGD’s exit from Aave development (X )
    • Ethereum continues to trade below the Market Value to Realized Value ratio of 1.0 (BeInCrypto )
    • Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to record low (TheBlock)
    • Harvard University endowment adds ETH, trims BTC exposure by 21% (CoinDesk)
    • Moonwell lending protocol reports $1.8M in bad debt stemming from oracle set-up error (The Block)
    • Crypto wealth platform Nexo returns to the U.S. three years after withdrawing amid regulatory disputes (Reuters)
    • Crypto exchange OKX secures Payment Institution license in Europe (PR)
  • Corporate
    • Institutions investing in crypto infrastructure and tokenization not speculative tokens (BeInCrypto )
    • WLFI to tokenize Trump Maldives resort (Binance )
    • Peter Thiel divests stake in ETHZilla (CryptoSlate )
    • Nomura, Daiwa, and SMBC are considering launching crypto exchange businesses (DLNews)
    • Binance ETH reserves reportedly registering lowest level in 18 months (Crypto Economy)
    • Starknet integrates EY Nightfall privacy tech into Starknet tech stack to provide confidential transactions (theblock )
    • Analysts position BitGo as prime acquisition target for traditional finance firms (CoinDesk)
    • Brevan Howard’s crypto fund reportedly saw decline of 30% last year (FT)
    • Digital asset treasuries under pressure as Bitcoin remains sluggish (Forbes)
    • Crypto company Nexo has relaunched in the US three years after leaving the country (Reuters)
    • X launching Smart Cashtags within couple of weeks, enabling users to trade crypto directly on the platform (X Post)
    • Binance founder CZ cites lack of privacy as barrier to crypto payments adoption (X Post)
  • Stablecoins/CBDCs
    • German Central Bank president sees more independence for EU to break free from dollar influence leveraging Stablecoins (Binance )
  • Politics/Regulation
    • U.S. Senators urge Treasury Secretary Bessent to investigate UAE official’s stake purchase in WLFI (Senate)
• Data – Last Price, 7D%, Fully Diluted Valuation
  • Bitcoin (BTC) $67,542 / (1.5%) / $1418.37B
  • Ethereum (ETH) $1,951 / (0.5%) / $235.53B
  • XRP (XRP) $1.39 / (5.4%) / $139.21B
  • BNB (BNB) $614.47 / +0.1% / $83.79B
  • Solana (SOL) $82.66 / (3.7%) / $51.32B
  • Hyperliquid (HYPE) $28.93 / (5.1%) / $27.83B
  • TRON (TRX) $0.29 / +3.6% / $27.51B