1. Top 10 CEX Trading Volume and 24-Hour Price Changes:
BTC: + 1.58%
ETH: + 0.87%
KAITO (New Listing)
SOL: + 3.33%
XRP: - 1.27%
LTC: + 0.11%
S: + 23%
BERA: + 21.46%
SUI: + 7.79%
DOGE: - 0.5%
24-Hour Gainers (Data from OKX):
IP: + 77.02%
J: + 43.34%
S: + 22.93%
BERA: + 20.81%
SWEAT: + 18.92%
TIA: + 18.15%
MKR: + 17.73%
MOVE: + 13.69%
NEIRO: + 12.17%
SONIC: + 10.86%
2. 24-Hour Trending Coins
IP, continuing to surge;
PI, an established "community coin", has been listed on exchanges like OKX;
KAITO, airdrop ongoing, listed on Binance and other exchanges.
Headlines
SBF Changes Political Stance in First Prison Interview, Appears to Seek Pardon by Supporting Trump
Odaily News: Former FTX CEO and co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has taken a pro-Trump stance in his first interview from prison, claiming to be a "victim of the politicization of the Justice Department" and saying his support for Republican causes is greater than people know. According to an interview by The New York Sun reporter, SBF provided $40 million to the Democratic Party in 2020 and $5.2 million to the Biden campaign. He is currently serving a 25-year sentence in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, on charges including fraud. Civil groups previously reported that SBF's chances of receiving a pardon are slim, although he appears to be seeking one from the current U.S. president.
Odaily News: Bitcoin Magazine disclosed on X platform that MicroStrategy (now Strategy) has announced the pricing of a $200 million convertible senior notes offering to purchase more Bitcoin.
FOX Reporter: SEC Very Interested in Staking
Odaily News: Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett posted on X platform that according to a source who recently spoke with the U.S. SEC, the agency is very interested in staking and has even requested the industry to provide a memo detailing different types of staking and their benefits. The source expects the agency to issue some form of guidance on staking in the near future, as it is a topic they are passionate about.
Industry News
SEC Voluntarily Withdraws Appeal Against DeFi Rulemaking Decision
Odaily News: The U.S. SEC has voluntarily withdrawn its appeal against a ruling that blocked the agency from expanding the scope of existing securities laws to cover DeFi users and projects. In a four-page motion filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the SEC stated it wishes to "voluntarily dismiss this appeal". Last November, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the SEC's expansion of the legal definition of "dealer" was beyond the regulator's authority, as it conflated DeFi traders with financial brokers. Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith said the SEC's voluntary withdrawal of the appeal is a major victory for the digital asset industry, as the association first sued the SEC to challenge its unlawful power grab, and with the agency's new leadership, they hope for productive dialogue between the industry and the SEC.
Odaily News: Grayscale's spot XRP ETF (19b-4 application) has been officially filed with the Federal Register, meaning the SEC will now begin its review and needs to decide whether to approve or reject the application by October 18. The 19b-4 filing is the formal document Grayscale submitted to the SEC to apply for a XRP-based exchange-traded fund (ETF). The filing has been published on the Federal Register, marking the official start of the review process. According to regulations, the SEC must make a decision by October 18. During this period, the SEC may communicate with Grayscale to request more information or clarification on relevant issues.
Canary Litecoin Spot ETF Listed on DTCC Website with Ticker LTCC
Odaily News: According to the DTCC website, the Canary Litecoin Spot ETF has been listed with the ticker LTCC, and the creation/redemption column shows "D". While this does not indicate any regulatory approval or definitive approval process outcome, being listed on the DTCC website is a "standard process" for the launch of a new ETF.
Franklin Templeton Launches Bitcoin and Ethereum Index ETF
Odaily News: Franklin Templeton has announced the launch of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that holds both spot Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Franklin Crypto Index ETF (EZPZ) is the second crypto index ETF to enter the U.S. market, after asset manager Hashdex launched the Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF (NCIQ) on February 14. EZPZ holds a basket of assets referenced by the CF Institutional Digital Asset Index, which as of February 20 only tracks Bitcoin and Ethereum, with a market-cap weighted composition of approximately 87% BTC and 13% ETH. Franklin Templeton plans for EZPZ to hold more cryptocurrencies in the future, ultimately providing U.S. investors with a "one-stop" crypto investment portfolio as the index expands.
Sources: Deribit Still in Acquisition Talks with Kraken, Coinbase Also Interested
Odaily News: A source familiar with the matter said that the crypto options exchange Deribit is still in negotiations with Kraken regarding a potential acquisition, contrary to previous reports that the U.S. exchange had abandoned the potential deal. Recent reports also confirmed that the crypto options platform is working with FT Partners to evaluate acquisition offers, but Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers has ruled out the possibility of an acquisition. According to Bloomberg, the company's valuation could reach $4 billion to $5 billion or even higher. Another source said Coinbase has also been attempting to acquire Deribit. Strijers previously stated that Deribit is an attractive acquisition target as the leading exchange in the digital asset options trading space, and Kraken hopes to add it to its trading product lineup.
Kraken Plans to Re-enter the Indian Market
Here is the English translation of the text, with the content inside <> retained and not translated:Odaily News reports that the US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is preparing to re-enter the Indian market. To lead its local business, the company has appointed Shiprocket co-founder Vishesh Khurana as an advisor. Kraken plans to soon approach the Indian authorities to apply for the necessary licenses.
At the beginning of last year, the Indian Ministry of Finance issued a notice of inquiry to Kraken for not complying with the country's anti-money laundering laws, after which Kraken became one of the offshore cryptocurrency exchanges banned in India. (Economic Times)
Project News
Odaily News reports that Kaito AI has announced the KAITO token economics, with a total supply of 1 billion tokens, of which:
25% - Core Contributors;
32.2% - Ecosystem and Network Growth;
2% - Binance Holders;
10% - Initial Community and Ecosystem Claims;
7.5% - Long-term Creator Incentives;
5% - Liquidity Incentives;
8.3% - Early Supporters;
10% - Foundation.
Phantom Announces Support for Monad Testnet
Odaily News reports that the Phantom wallet has posted on the X platform announcing support for the Monad testnet, where users can access, exchange MON test tokens, and explore Monad applications.
Odaily News reports that Aptos research lead Alexander Spiegelman posted on X stating that he does not understand why Monad spent so much time plagiarizing Aptos' technology. Everything is open-source, and there are already many peer-reviewed papers, so instead of being evasive, they should just openly plagiarize.
In response, Monad co-founder James Hunsaker said: "When you were still wearing diapers, I was already researching software transactional memory (STM) in the Haskell environment. BlockSTM is a simple extension of these things. I have never looked at any Aptos code, in fact, if you hadn't published these absurdities, I wouldn't even have thought of Aptos."
Cardex: Collaborating with Abstract Team to Track Stolen Funds
Odaily News reports that after Abstract previously disclosed a security vulnerability attack on the ecosystem application Cardex, the team unexpectedly exposed the private key of the session signer on their website frontend after completing the initial security audit. Cardex has confirmed on the X platform that they have been attacked in relation to the session key leak, and are currently collaborating with the Abstract team to track the flow of stolen funds and the recovery situation, and will disclose the details of the incident later.
On-chain Trading Platform Mintify to Announce MINT Token Economics Model Next Week
Odaily News reports that the on-chain trading platform Mintify posted on X that they will announce the MINT token economics model next week.
Last July, Mintify completed a $3.4 million new round of financing, with ARCA, Cumberland, Psalion, Master Ventures, Zeneca, GM Capital, Spencer VC and over 50 angel investors participating, for a total of $5 million in financing.
In January this year, Mintify announced its transformation into an on-chain trading platform.
Odaily News reports that Nexus posted on X that the Nexus Orchestrator is facing high requests and DoS attacks. The team is making their best efforts to keep the network operational. Please stay tuned for further updates.
Odaily News reports that the decentralized storage and data availability protocol Walrus announced on X that its mainnet will launch in March and release its native token WAL, with a total supply of 5 billion tokens, 10% of which will be allocated to the Walrus User Drop, with 4% for the initial airdrop and 6% for future distribution.
PAIN: Harold's Personal Token Share to Be Locked for 20 Years, Presale Airdrop Has Begun
Odaily News reports that the Solana chain meme coin PAIN posted on X that as previously promised, 80% of the 185,976 SOL raised has been refunded, and all funds sent after block 318346069 (i.e. the end of PAINSALE) have also been refunded. Harold's personal token share will be locked for 20 years until 2045.
Its token economics model shows that the total supply of PAIN is 10 million, of which 50% is allocated to Harold himself, 20% for the presale, 15% for liquidity, 10% for the community, and 5% for partners.
In addition, the presale airdrop has begun.
Investment and Financing
Stablecoin Liquidity Provider Mansa Completes $10 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by Tether
Odaily News reports that Mansa, a stablecoin liquidity provider focused on the African market, announced the completion of a $10 million seed round financing, with Mansa's stablecoin-based solutions focused on providing market payment providers with a flexible and reliable way to manage liquidity issues in cross-border payments. This round of financing includes a $3 million Preseed round led by Tether and Polymorphic Capital, with participation from other well-known investors such as Octerra Capital, Faculty Group and Trive Digital. In addition, the company has also obtained an additional $7 million in liquidity funds from institutional investors including corporate investors, quantitative funds and alternative investment institutions.
CoinList to Launch Obol Token Sale, 30% Discount Compared to Recent VC Round
Odaily News reports that CoinList will launch the Obol token sale at 1:00 am Beijing time on February 25, with a 30% discount compared to the recent VC round. For regular users: FDV is $125 million, token price is $0.25, 33% unlocked 6 months after TGE, then linear unlocking over 12 months. For wstETH or weETH holders: FDV is $115 million, token price is $0.23, 33% unlocked 6 months after TGE, then linear unlocking over 12 months. Users need to hold at least $20 worth of wstETH or weETH on CoinList between March 4, 2025 1:00 am and March 11, 2025 1:00 am to enjoy the lower price and FDV. Both options have a minimum purchase of $100 and a maximum of $250,000. Users who are not selected for allocation will receive their funds in their CoinList wallets before March 13, 2025 1:00 am.
Regulatory Policy
Montana Commission Passes Bill Allowing State to Invest in Bitcoin as Reserves
Odaily News reports that according to Bitcoin Magazine, the Montana Commission has passed a bill allowing the state to invest in Bitcoin as its reserves, and the bill is now moving to the House.
Odaily News reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today announced the establishment of the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU), which will focus on combating cyber-related misconduct and protecting retail investors from bad actors in the emerging technology space. Led by Laura D'Allaird, CETU replaces the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit and is composed of about 30 fraud specialists and attorneys from various SEC offices. Specifically, CETU will leverage its employees' extensive financial technology and cyber-related experience to combat misconduct related to securities transactions in the following priority areas: - Fraudulent conduct involving the use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning; - Fraud perpetrated through the use of social media, the Dark Web, or fake websites; - Hacking to obtain material non-public information; - Retail broker account acquisitions; - Fraud involving blockchain technology and crypto assets; - Regulated entities' compliance with cybersecurity rules and regulations; - Fraudulent disclosures by public issuers related to cybersecurity.
