Summary
gm, Bitcoin and other major altcoins faced downward pressure. Bitcoin's price dropped below $84,000, erasing weekly gains and wiping out approximately $115 billion in total market capitalization. This decline was largely attributed to higher-than-expected inflation data and concerns over upcoming tariffs announced by President Trump. Meanwhile, regulatory developments saw the FDIC and CFTC easing restrictions on banks engaging in crypto-related activities, potentially opening doors for increased institutional participation in the crypto space.

News Headlines
💰 Galaxy Digital to Pay $200M Settlement Over LUNA Promotion

  • Galaxy Digital agreed to pay $200 million to settle allegations related to its promotion of the failed cryptocurrency Terra (LUNA).
  • The firm allegedly misrepresented information about LUNA while failing to disclose its intent to sell the tokens, profiting over $100 million through sales in early 2022.

🔐 Coinbase's Ethereum Staking Dominance Raises Centralization Concerns

  • Coinbase's position as the largest Ethereum node operator has raised alarms about potential overcentralization within the Ethereum network.
  • As of March 4, Coinbase managed 3.84 million ETH across 120,000 validators, claiming 11.42% of all staked Ether.

🌊 NFT Sales Plunge 63% in Q1 2025, but Some Collections Show Resilience

  • NFT sales saw a significant decline of 63% year-over-year in Q1 2025, totaling $1.5 billion compared to $4.1 billion in Q1 2024.
  • Despite the overall downturn, collections like Pudgy Penguins, Doodles, and Milady Maker showed remarkable resilience and growth.

🌐 UAE Plans Digital Dirham Launch in Q4 2025

  • The UAE plans to launch its digital dirham, a central bank digital currency (CBDC), in the fourth quarter of 2025.
  • This initiative aims to enhance financial stability and combat financial crime, following a framework approved in June 2024 that regulates stablecoins.

💰 Elon Musk Merges X (Twitter) with xAI, Valuing Combined Entity at $113 Billion

  • Elon Musk has merged X (formerly Twitter) with xAI in an all-stock transaction, valuing the combined entity at $113 billion.
  • The merger aims to leverage 600 million user inputs to enhance AI capabilities and reach.

Market Metrics

Fundraising & VC
1. Abound (Undisclosed, $14M) - Cross-border financial solutions for NRIs
2. Stable Jack (Public Token Sale, $1.28M) - Financial protocol on Avalanche
3. Particle Network (Public Token Sale, $1.26M) - Middleware platform supporting Web3 developers

On-chain Data
1. Portal (PORTAL) token unlock in 2 days ($2.68M, 18.13%)
2. Echelon Prime (PRIME) token unlock in 2 days ($2.61M, 1.34%)
3. Biconomy (BICO) token unlock in 2 days ($857.69K, 0.8%)
4. Celo (CELO) token unlock in 2 days ($709.48K, 0.36%)

Regulatory
🚫 Trump Pardons BitMEX Co-Founders

  • President Trump pardoned Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, co-founders of crypto exchange BitMEX.
  • The trio had previously pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement anti-money laundering programs.

🏦 FDIC Eases Crypto Restrictions for Banks

  • FDIC reverses policy requiring banks to obtain prior approval for crypto-related activities.
  • This change allows banks to engage more freely in crypto services without extensive preliminary checks.

🌐 SEC Closes Crypto.com Investigation

  • SEC officially closes investigation into Crypto.com with no actions taken against the exchange.
  • CEO Kris Marszalek claims SEC's efforts were part of attempt to hinder crypto industry.

🏛️ UK Plans New Crypto Authorization Regime

  • UK's Financial Conduct Authority to implement new authorization regime for crypto companies in 2026.
  • New rules will go beyond current anti-money laundering requirements.

🚨 Senators Scrutinize Trump's Stablecoin

  • Democratic lawmakers call for regulatory scrutiny of Trump-backed World Liberty Financial's stablecoin.
  • Concerns raised over potential conflicts of interest and risks to financial system.

Technical Analysis
Bitcoin - Bitcoin has broken through the floor of a rising trend channel in the short term. This indicates a slower rising rate at first, or the start of a more horizontal development. The currency is testing support at points 84000. This could give a positive reaction, but a downward breakthrough of points 84000 means a negative signal. The currency is assessed as technically slightly positive for the short term.

Ethereum - Ethereum shows weak development in a falling trend channel in the short term. This signals increasing pessimism among investors and indicates further decline for Ethereum. The currency is testing support at points 1870. This could give a positive reaction, but a downward breakthrough of points 1870 means a negative signal. Negative volume balance shows that volume is higher on days with falling prices than days with rising prices. This indicates decreasing optimism among investors. RSI diverges positively against the price, which indicates a possibility for a reaction up. The currency is overall assessed as technically negative for the short term.

Governance & Code
☁️ Sky DAO | Spark Liquidity Layer - Adjust USDS Mint Rate Limits
- This proposal seeks to modify the current mint rate limits for USDS within the Spark Liquidity Layer.

📐 Paraswap DAO | Increase Quorum Threshold (PIP 61)
- This proposal suggests increasing the quorum threshold from 2% of the circulating PSP supply to 8% with the intention of boosting community participation in governance votes, ensuring decisions represent more PSP holders, and building trust in the ParaSwap DAO by requiring a wider agreement.