Right Size News // Crypto

BTC closed weekly near $67,628, breaking below the key technical level that has historically separated bull and bear phases. Historical precedent suggests 17-18 weeks average duration below the 200-week EMA before recovery, though 2022 saw 30 weeks. Entity-adjusted liveliness peaked in December after BTC hit $126,000 in October, now declining below 30 and 90-day moving averages, signaling reduced spending activity. Bitcoin's realized price sits near $55,000 with shifted realized price at $42,000, creating a historical accumulation zone that typically consolidates 6-8 months before continuation.

BTC dropped below $65,118 support Monday amid broader equity weakness following Trump's threat of 15% global tariffs after Supreme Court ruled his IEEPA tariffs illegal. Crypto Fear & Greed Index at 5/100 marks longest extreme fear period since 2022. Polymarket traders now price 72% odds of BTC falling below $55,000, though economist Timothy Peterson estimates 88% probability BTC will be higher in 10 months based on historical patterns.

The digital asset infrastructure company's integration with Jack Henry's platform enables member banks and credit unions to offer stablecoin accounts, crypto lending, tokenized deposits and 24/7 payments through existing banking apps. Stablecore raised $20M last year to help smaller financial institutions add blockchain services following passage of the GENIUS Act, joining competitors like Fidelity and Paxos in embedding digital assets into traditional banking infrastructure.

The ticketing platform embeds Lightning wallets into events to accept Bitcoin payments alongside fiat currency through Stripe integration, with backing from Bitcoin Opportunity Fund and Timechain Capital. Satlantis targets regions with limited traditional payment access, leveraging Bitcoin's layer-2 network which processed $1.1B in transaction volume across 5.2M transactions in November.

World Liberty Financial, backed by President Trump and his sons, reported coordinated attacks involving compromised cofounder accounts, short positions, and paid influencers spreading misinformation. WLFI token dropped 7% to $0.1128 while USD1 stablecoin briefly fell to $0.994 before recovering. Binance holds approximately 87% of USD1 in circulation, worth $4.7 billion.

ProShares' IQMM ETF generated unprecedented $17B in opening-day trading volume, though much stemmed from internal allocations rather than organic demand. The launch underscores competition between traditional money market funds and tokenized alternatives following passage of the GENIUS Act, which established federal stablecoin standards. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs-BNY Mellon are positioning tokenized money market funds as yield-bearing alternatives to stablecoins in collateral markets.

XRP's two-day chart shows a bear pennant pattern that could trigger a drop to $0.80 if support at $1.22 breaks. On Saturday, 31 million XRP (worth ~$45M) flowed into Binance, the largest exchange inflow since Jan. 20, with whales holding 1M+ tokens accounting for 88% of transfers. A close below $1.20 would confirm bearish control, potentially pushing XRP toward $1.11 and $1.00.

The cryptocurrency exchange received conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to operate as a federally regulated custodian. The approval follows conditional approvals granted to Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos, signaling regulatory openness to crypto companies seeking banking charters despite opposition from the American Bankers Association.

The nationwide product lets borrowers count verified cryptocurrency assets toward mortgage underwriting without liquidation, applying proprietary valuation frameworks for large-cap cryptos and stablecoins. Move follows June 2025 directive from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William J. Pulte instructing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to evaluate crypto as reserve assets, and July introduction of Senator Cynthia Lummis's 21st Century Mortgage Act to codify the practice.

BTC/USD dropped around 2.5% Monday amid US selling pressure at the weekly open, with analysts targeting potential support at $64,200 and resistance at $66,500. President Trump's announcement of 15% blanket tariffs over the weekend added policy uncertainty, though QCP Capital noted volatility spikes have moderated compared to earlier in the year. Crypto analyst IT Tech warned of potential retest of $62,250 lows if $65K support fails.

Only 39% of crypto holders have ever used cryptocurrency for purchases, with just 11% actively doing so regularly, according to 2025 National Cryptocurrency Association and GM Global surveys. Measurement challenges stem from merchant conversions to fiat, crypto debit cards, and stablecoin dominance in payment flows. El Salvador's Bitcoin legal tender experiment failed to drive retail adoption, suggesting regulatory status alone doesn't create everyday use cases.

USDT market cap declined $3.1B over 60 days, matching the period preceding Bitcoin's 2022 bear market bottom near $15,500 and subsequent 100% rally to $31,000 by March 2023. Bitcoin is simultaneously testing two major support levels—an ascending trendline from 2022 and horizontal support from the 2021 all-time high—a technical setup that historically preceded 376% gains between November 2022 and March 2024.

A cryptocurrency trader reported that a former Revolut employee threatened to publish his identity and private information unless paid ransom, also contacting his relatives. Revolut confirmed reporting the matter to law enforcement and stated its security systems were not breached. The incident reflects rising extortion and physical attacks targeting crypto investors, with France alone charging 25 suspects in kidnapping and ransom cases throughout 2025.

Michael Egorov told Cointelegraph that protocols cannot sustain growth through inflationary token emissions alone, requiring actual economic activity to drive returns. DeFi's total value locked has fallen 38% over six months to $98B as of Monday, with speculative capital shifting to meme coins and perpetual futures ($1.37T volume in October 2025), forcing protocols to compete on fundamentals rather than yield.

The bank maintained its $2 trillion stablecoin market forecast for late 2028 but reduced expected Treasury bill demand from the $1.6 trillion projected in April 2025. Analysts Geoffrey Kendrick and John Davies cited the passage of the GENIUS Act as supporting long-term growth despite the stablecoin market currently sitting at $300 billion.

Macro analysis firm Citrini Research published a scenario imagining 2028 where AI productivity initially drives S&P 500 to 8,000 and Nasdaq above 30,000, but mass layoffs collapse consumer demand, triggering 10.2% joblessness and 40-60% market decline. The firm predicts autonomous AI agents will route commerce to stablecoins on low-cost chains like Solana and Ethereum, bypassing Visa and Mastercard's 2-3% fees, while wealth concentration reaches historic levels.

The Austrian Financial Market Authority prohibited KuCoin EU from onboarding customers or launching new products after two compliance professionals departed from designated AML and sanctions roles. KuCoin managing director Sabina Liu said the exchange had already begun recruiting and voluntarily paused onboarding before the notice. The action comes months after Austria granted KuCoin a MiCA license to operate across the EU.

Lobstar Wilde, an AI agent created by OpenAI's Nik Pash to turn $50,000 SOL into $1 million through trades, transferred 52.4 million LOBSTAR tokens ($441,780) to X user 'Treasure David' after misreading Solana's decimal interface. The recipient sold roughly $40,000 worth of tokens, though LOBSTAR later appreciated 190% to $0.011, making the accidental transfer worth significantly more.

House Bill 2080, introduced by Rep. Ben Keathley in January, would allow Missouri's state treasurer to invest and hold cryptocurrency using state funds, accept crypto donations, and store Bitcoin for five years before selling or converting it. The bill also proposes allowing government entities to accept approved cryptocurrencies for tax and fee payments. It was referred to the House Commerce Committee on Feb. 19 and faces a public hearing and committee vote before potential House floor debate.

Michael Saylor's firm is poised to make its 100th Bitcoin purchase this week, having accumulated 717,131 BTC since August 2020 at an average cost of $76,027 per coin. MicroStrategy's stock has surged 950% since its first $250M purchase, making it the world's largest public Bitcoin holder. The firm has purchased BTC consecutively for 12 weeks despite Bitcoin currently trading 15% below its average acquisition price at $64,700.

Elliptic identified Bitpapa, ABCeX, Exmo, Rapira and Aifory Pro enabling Russian ruble-to-crypto conversions that bypass international sanctions. Exmo processes $19.5M with sanctioned entities despite claiming exit; ABCeX operates from Garantex's former Moscow office and handled $11B in crypto; Rapira conducted $72M in transactions with sanctioned exchange Grinex. Only Bitpapa was previously sanctioned by OFAC in March 2024.

Bitcoin dropped over $3,000 in two hours, erasing weekend gains and falling to $64,300, down 48% from October's $126,000 peak. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index hit 5/100 (extreme fear)—only the fourth time since 2018. CoinGlass reported 136,000 liquidations totaling $458M in 24 hours, with 92% leveraged longs. Glassnode data shows recent investors still capitulating with $500M daily net realized losses.

Ethereum co-founder Buterin suggested an intent-based security model where users preview onchain consequences before confirming transactions via 'OK' or 'Cancel' prompts. The approach would combine transaction simulations with spending limits and multisig approvals to align user intent with expected outcomes, making low-risk actions easier while raising friction for dangerous operations.

The SEC's Division of Trading and Markets clarified that broker-dealers can apply a 2% regulatory discount to stablecoin holdings instead of the previous 100% haircut, allowing $98M of every $100M in stablecoins to count toward required net capital. Commissioner Hester Peirce called the move necessary, comparing stablecoins to money market funds. The stablecoin market currently holds $295B in total capitalization.