Coin360 Weekly Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | March 2 - 8, 2025

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Crypto Weekly Recap

Bitcoin:

• Weekly performance: +2.18%
• US Spot BTC ETFs: -$409.21M
• Crypto investment products saw record outflows of $3.8B in three weeks, with $2.9B withdrawn in the largest weekly outflow. Bitcoin led losses, shedding over $2.5B as short positions increased.
• Market volatility spiked due to U.S. and Trump’s crypto-related announcements, executive orders, and comments.
• Bitcoin surged nearly $9.5K within hours on Sunday, hitting $94.7K after Trump’s Crypto Reserve post, but lost momentum and dropped due to tariff news and skepticism over his claims.
• BTC plunged to $81.8K on Tuesday before recovering on tariff relief and anticipation of a crypto summit.
• Trump signed an executive order for a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and launched the Digital Asset Stockpile (DAS), triggering a sell-off as:
  • No new BTC purchases were committed, only existing reserves held.
  • The U.S. government held ~200K BTC ($18B), raising fears of market influence and potential sell-offs despite claiming not to sell.
  • The DAS was created to manage seized altcoins (ETH, ADA, SOL, XRP, etc.) but with no commitment to buy or sell.
  • Concerns over stricter regulations emerged due to government BTC control.
  • Institutional investors and whales likely offloaded BTC at a premium before the correction.
  • The Commerce Department will oversee a sovereign wealth fund, but its crypto acquisition role remains unclear.
• The market dumped further, briefly hitting $85.6K. Mt.Gox’s $1 billion Bitcoin transfer didn’t create a large impact.
• Trump’s first White House Crypto Summit underwhelmed, offering vague promises and minimal policy discussions.
• Event highlights included Trump’s brief mention of a Crypto Reserve and a casual suggestion to help FIFA launch a token. The summit lasted just over 20 minutes, with little time spent on Trump speaking.
• Bitcoin held above $86.5K, staying above the MA200 on the 1D chart.

Ethereum:

• Weekly performance: -4.64%
• US Spot ETH ETFs: -$119.83M
• Compared to Bitcoin, Ethereum’s price took a bigger hit this week.
• ETH surged past $2,500 over the weekend but failed to hold, dropping below $2,000 on Tuesday.
• ETH bears remained active due to key catalysts: Ethereum’s indirect role at the White House Crypto Summit, Pectra upgrade issues on the Sepolia testnet, and a major whale offloading 40,000 ETH amid the market decline.
• Ethereum’s MVRV Z-Score hit a 17-month low on Thursday, signaling possible undervaluation and a potential price bottom.
• Altcoin ETFs remained in focus, with new filings for Aptos, Sui, and Axelar, while existing ones like Dogecoin and Polkadot showed progress.

Altcoins:

• Ronaldinho’s STAR10 memecoin fueled hype, controversy, and insider allegations.
• Binance will delist nine stablecoins in Europe to comply with MiCA.
• Solana saw $485M in capital outflows and governance turmoil amid market shifts.
• Uniswap faced governance backlash over Unichain L2 launch and $165.5M investment plan.
• Binance confirmed Redstone (RED) listing amid an airdrop controversy.
• Bitcoin and Ethereum led this week’s crypto treasury trends.
• Institutions poured $107M into crypto funds, DeFi, and banking adoption.
• Australia, Russia, Vietnam, and Japan led global crypto policy changes.
• Crypto.com’s CRO token faced backlash as 70B burned tokens were restored, with 87% of early voters opposing.
• MetaMask denied links to MASK token as Coinbase-backed DEX listed speculative pre-markets.
• Aave DAO proposed a major AAVE buyback and liquidity upgrade.
• CZ proposed a price-triggered token unlock model to prevent market dumps.
• FTX/Alameda unstaked 3.03M $SOL, sending 24,799 to Binance on March 4.
• Bybit asked ParaSwap DAO to return $100K in hack-related fees, sparking a DeFi debate.
• Reddit considered acquiring TikTok US and bringing it to blockchain.
• Robinhood listed Arbitrum, expanding its crypto offerings.
• Uphold relaunched crypto staking for US users.
• Jump Crypto renewed efforts to expand in the US market.
• Coinbase acquired the team behind Iron Fish blockchain, planned to tokenize COIN stock.
• Aave’s community voted to expand GHO stablecoin with a yield-bearing savings token.
• Argentina froze $100M linked to Javier Milei’s LIBRA coin scam.
• Kraken set May 30, 2025, for its second FTX creditor distribution.
• Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen lost over $100M in XRP due to the LastPass hack, per ZachXBT.
• 1inch suffered a $5M exploit due to an outdated smart contract.
• Avalanche partnered with an Indian town to digitize 700K+ land records.
• BNB Chain’s Pascal hard fork, set for March 20, will support EIP-7702.
• Nasdaq planned to launch 24-hour stock trading Monday through Friday.
• Yescoin’s founder was arrested following repeated token launch delays.
• Ethereum Foundation backed ZKNox, an advanced cryptography startup focused on post-quantum security.
• Bitcoin staking platform Solv Protocol partnered with Ethereum L2 Soneium.
• Flowdesk secured a $52M Series B extension to fund expansion.
• Foundation Capital launched a $600M 11th fund for early-stage AI startups.
• Across Protocol raised $41M in a Paradigm-led token sale.

Trump Establishes U.S. Bitcoin Reserve; Crypto Summit Sparks Backlash

On March 7, 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) and the Digital Asset Stockpile (DAS), holding around 200,000 BTC ($16.92B–$18B) exclusively from seizures. The government will not purchase Bitcoin directly but may explore budget-neutral strategies. The announcement initially caused Bitcoin’s price to drop 5.7% before recovering. At the White House Crypto Summit, Trump reiterated his commitment to making the U.S. the “Bitcoin capital.” However, the summit was brief, lacked substantial policies, and was criticized for excessive praise toward Trump, leading to disappointment and backlash from the crypto community.

U.S. Crypto Regulatory Landscape Transformed by Major Initiatives and Legislative Actions

The recent U.S. crypto regulatory landscape is undergoing significant transformations. On March 7, 2025, Donald Trump established the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, making the U.S. the largest sovereign Bitcoin holder with 200,000 BTC valued at $16.92–$18 billion, despite a 5.7% price drop post-announcement. Concurrently, the OCC permitted banks to offer crypto custody and stablecoin services without prior approval. The White House supports a resolution to repeal an IRS DeFi reporting rule, citing privacy concerns. The SEC dropped its lawsuit against Kraken and closed a three-year investigation into Yuga Labs. Additionally, Texas passed SB 21, creating a $500 billion Bitcoin reserve, marking a significant legislative shift in crypto regulation.

Surge in Crypto ETF Filings Amid Market Volatility: Dogecoin, Hedera, Aptos, and More

The cryptocurrency market is witnessing significant developments with multiple ETF filings aimed at increasing regulatory clarity and investment options. On March 3, 2025, NYSE Arca filed for the Bitwise Dogecoin ETF amidst a 15% price drop for Dogecoin, now at $0.19. NASDAQ filed for a Grayscale Hedera ETF to enhance crypto investment options. Bitwise also announced a spot Aptos ETF with a market cap of $3.8 billion, while Axelar’s ETF filing boosted AXL token prices by 15%. Additionally, Canary Capital registered a Sui ETF, and 21Shares updated its Polkadot ETF application, despite DOT's recent declines. The SEC’s reviews hint at a growing trend towards regulated crypto investments, with approval probabilities ranging between 67% to 75%.

WLFI, Trump-Linked Firm, Boosts Crypto Holdings Amid Market Turmoil

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), linked to Donald Trump, has significantly expanded its cryptocurrency holdings amidst market volatility, tripling its Ether (ETH) stash with $10 million purchases as its price dipped to $1,991. It also acquired $10 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and $1.5 million in Movement Network (MOVE) tokens. Despite these additions, WLFI faces unrealized losses over $89 million across various assets. WLFI's “Macro Strategy” fund aims to enhance investments in major cryptocurrencies while forming a partnership with Sui Network to establish a Strategic SUI Reserve, reflecting growing institutional interest in blockchain technology and decentralized finance.

Bybit Hack: $1.4B Stolen, 77% Traceable, 20% Lost; THORChain Laundered 72%

On February 21, 2025, Bybit suffered a record-breaking $1.4 billion hack, with North Korea’s Lazarus Group identified as the culprit. Within 10 days, 499,000 ETH was laundered using THORChain (72%), eXch (16%), and OKX Web3 wallets (8%). Bybit CEO Ben Zhou confirmed on March 4 that 77% of the funds remained traceable, 3% frozen, and 20% unrecoverable. Meanwhile, Bybit requested ParaSwap DAO to return $97,255 in hack-related fees, igniting debate on DeFi's responsibility. The hack accounted for most of February’s $1.5 billion in crypto losses, highlighting security concerns in both centralized and decentralized finance.

Kraken and Gemini Plan IPOs Amid Crypto-Friendly U.S. Policies

On March 7, 2025, Bloomberg reported that Kraken is preparing for an IPO in Q1 2026 after resolving SEC disputes without penalties. With revenue doubling from $671M to $1.5B in 2024, Kraken benefits from a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment under Trump. Meanwhile, Gemini, founded by the Winklevoss twins, has confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC, assisted by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. The SEC recently ended its investigation into Gemini without enforcement action. This trend aligns with Ark Invest’s view that Trump’s policies are facilitating public listings for crypto firms like eToro, which is also planning a $5B IPO.

Binance Enhances Listing Process with Community Voting and Airdrops

On March 7, 2025, Binance announced enhancements to its listing process by introducing “Vote to List” and “Vote to Delist” features, promoting community participation in token listings. The platform will disclose project listing budgets and continue distributing budgeted tokens via airdrops without charging listing fees. Additionally, Binance Wallet users gain exclusive access to Token Generation Events (TGEs) and the Binance Alpha Observation Zone for early project insights. February 2025 saw a 20.2% decline in the crypto market, impacting its cap from $3.6T to $2.8T, primarily influenced by negative sentiment, a Bybit hack, and reduced memecoin activity.

Tether Freezes $27M in Russian Exchange Amid Scrutiny, Pledges Full Audit with New CFO

On March 6, 2024, Tether froze $27 million in USDT linked to the Russian-sanctioned exchange Garantex, forcing it to halt operations. Garantex, sanctioned by the U.S. and EU for allegedly facilitating illicit transactions, condemned the move, warning of risks to Russian crypto users. Separately, on March 3, Tether appointed Simon McWilliams as CFO, pledging a full audit to address transparency concerns. While the company issues quarterly attestations, it has yet to conduct a full independent audit, raising skepticism. Critics, including U.S. politicians, question whether Tether's actions will truly improve transparency or just deflect scrutiny.

Binance Puts GoPlus Security on Monitoring List Following $5M Market Manipulation Case

On March 7, 2025, Binance placed GoPlus Security (GPS) on its Monitoring List due to market manipulation concerns. A market maker sold 70 million GPS tokens between March 4-5, 2025, without placing any buy orders, causing a price drop and earning around $5 million. Binance froze the market maker's account and launched an investigation. GPS now carries a Monitoring Tag, signaling increased risk. Binance's response aims to maintain market integrity, protect traders, and deter future manipulation. The crypto community is closely watching the situation, as it highlights risks in new token listings and the role of market makers.

Top Weekly Altcoin Gainers and Losers

Gainers:

• Cardano ADA (+26.94%)
• Bitcoin Cash BCH (+22.89%)
• Bitget Token BGB (+14.12%)
• Cronos CRO (+12.43%)
• Movement MOVE (+10.90%)

Losers:

• Sonic S (-30.39%)
• Jupiter JUP (-25.64%)
• Celestia TIA (-22.99%)
• Berachain BERA (-21.72%)
• Hyperliquid HYPE (-21.38%)