Crypto Weekly 3/1/26
Bitcoin Has Worst Month Since 2022 as Geopolitical Chaos Mounts, Circle Surges 30% as USDC Captures Half of Stablecoin Volume, and Jane Street Faces Insider Trading Allegations Over Terra's Collapse
PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($2.34T): -2% / -23%
- BTC ($65,708): -3% / -25%
- ETH ($1,934): 0% / -35%
- SOL ($84): +1% / -33%
- UNI ($3.75): +9% / -33%
- OP ($0.12): 0% / -55%
- COIN ($176): +3% / -22%
- Tether Mkt Cap ($184B): 0% / -2%
- USDC Mkt Cap ($75B): +1% / -1%
- BTC / ETH Dominance: 56% / 10%
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies traded erratically after US-Israel strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as traders await direction from traditional markets on Monday. Link.
- Bitcoin was down roughly 24% in February, its worst monthly performance since June 2022 when TerraUSD imploded and triggered a daisy chain of failures across the ecosystem. Link.
- Bitcoin ETFs saw roughly $1 billion in inflows this week, reversing 5 consecutives weeks of outflows totaling $4.3 billion. Link. Link.
- Quantitative trading firm Jane Street was sued for alleged insider trading by the administrator winding up Terraform Labs, the company behind the Terra / Luna algorithmic stablecoin which lost $40 billion in value in 2022 when its stablecoin depegged. According to the lawsuit, Jane Street obtained non-public information through a former intern’s back-channel communications with Terraform insiders to front-run trades that hastened the de-pegging of the stablecoin. Link. Link. Link.
- Shares of USDC stablecoin issuer Circle climbed roughly 30% following Q4 earnings of $770 million, up 77% year-over-year. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said USDC now accounts for almost 50% of stablecoin transaction volumes, up from a third in the prior quarter. Link.
- Morgan Stanley applied for a new trust bank charter to custody digital assets and support client investment activities including staking. Link. Link.
- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed rules that would restrict companies from launching branded stablecoins through white-label platforms and offering rewards tied to them. The rules are aimed at stablecoin-as-a-service platforms operated by firms like Paxos, Stripe’s Bridge, and Anchorage. Link.
- A federal judge in New York denied Binance’s motion to compel arbitration in a class action alleging the exchange sold unregistered securities to US investors. Link.
- Barclays is exploring the use of blockchain technology for handling internal payment processes and tokenizing deposits. Link.
- Decentralized lending protocol Aave is facing governance tensions ahead of a $51 million funding vote which would merge developer Aave Labs with the Foundation. DAO holders are questioning roughly $86 million in past funding for Aave and asking for greater transparency before tokenholders approve the largest proposal in the protocol’s history. Link.
- South Korea’s National Tax Service revealed the recovery phrase of a seized crypto wallet in a public press release photo, leading to a ‘hack’ of $4.8 million that was in the wallet. Link. Link.
- Minnesota lawmakers are considering banning crypto ATMs following a rise in reported scams targeted at the elderly. The state saw 70 kiosk-related complaints last year totalling $540,000 in reported losses. Link.
- NFT marketplace Magic Eden said it was ending support for Ethereum and Bitcoin assets to focus solely on the Solana ecosystem. Link.
- The UK’s top financial regulator chose four crypto firms, including neobank Revolut, to participate in a risk-free regulatory sandbox that will inform how the agency shapes stablecoin rules later this year. Link.
- A solo Bitcoin miner defied the odds by finding a solo block reward, earning 3.125 BTC worth around $200,000. Link.
- The Ethereum Foundation staked around $3.8 million worth of ETH as part of previously announced treasury operations. Over time, the Foundation aims to stake around $127 million worth of ETH, with native rewards going back to the organization to fund operations. Link.