Crypto weekly is authored by maaria bajwa and david blumenfeld

PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($2.67T): -12% / -12%
- BTC ($76,972): -12% / -12%
- ETH ($2,275): -21% / -23%
- SOL ($102): -17% / -18%
- UNI ($3.91): -15% / -30%
- OP ($0.23): -21% / -14%
- COIN ($195): -10% / -14%
- Tether Mkt Cap ($184B): -1% / -1%
- USDC Mkt Cap ($70B): -3% / -7%
- BTC / ETH Dominance: 58% / 10%

THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- Bitcoin dropped below $76,000, heading toward its longest monthly losing streak since 2018 and falling 40% from its 2025 peak, as markets priced in a more hawkish Federal Reserve under a potential Kevin Warsh nomination. Bitcoin ETFs saw $1.6 billion in monthly outflows, the third-worst month on record. Link. Link. Link.

- Unclaimed funds from the 2016 DAO hack on Ethereum, currently worth around $200 million, will be used to create a new Ethereum security fund with the Ethereum Foundation. Roughly 20% of DAO funds were never claimed. Link.

- Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan secretly acquired a 49% stake in Trump's World Liberty Financial for $500 million days before the inauguration. Half was paid upfront, with $187 million going directly to Trump family entities. Link. Link. Link.

- The SEC clarified that tokenized securities must comply with federal securities laws, including registration and disclosure requirements. Link. Link.

- The upcoming Clarity Act cleared a Senate hurdle with approval from the Senate Agriculture Committee, but is still waiting for approval from the Senate Banking Committee. The draft legislation passed without bipartisan support, with Democrats withholding support due to concerns over Trump family conflicts of interest in crypto. Link.

- Ethereum is launching the ERC-8004 standard for trustless AI agents on mainnet soon. The proposal creates three new standardized smart contract registries for discovering and trusting AI agents. Link. ERC-8004.

- USDT stablecoin issuer Tether holds $24 billion worth of gold in its reserves, making it the largest known holder of the precious metal outside of central banks and ETFs. Link.

- Visa and Mastercard executives expressed skepticism about stablecoins' viability for everyday consumer payments during earnings calls, citing relatively low usage of debit and ACH payments. Link.

- Optimism's OP token holders approved a plan to redirect 50% of protocol revenue to OP token buybacks through OTC swaps. Link.

- MegaETH will release over 50% of its 10 billion MEGA tokens based on four growth metrics rather than a time-based unlock. Link.

- Russia will roll out a comprehensive crypto regulatory framework in July 2026, allowing retail investor participation. Link.

- Crypto-related crime reached $150 billion in 2025, up 162% from 2024, driven by state-backed actors primarily in North Korea, Russia, and Iran. Link.

- Tether reported $10 billion in profit in 2025, down 23% from 2024. The company did not disclose why revenue dropped. Link.

- Tether launched USAT, a US regulation-compliant stablecoin, to challenge competitor Circle. Link.

- Fidelity launched its own Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD) stablecoin, fully backed by reserves and available to institutional and retail clients. Link.

- Tokenized real-world assets climbed to $19 billion in 2025, and Coinbase's Base blockchain saw roughly $3 trillion in stablecoin volume in Q4. Link.

- The Trump administration sanctioned two UK-based crypto exchanges, Zedcex and Zedxion, for enabling transactions tied to Iran's IRGC. Link.

- The US Marshals Service investigated a possible hack of $60 million in government-held crypto in late 2025. Link.

- South Dakota lawmaker Logan Manhart proposed a bill to allow the state to invest up to 10% of its funds in Bitcoin, after a similar proposal was rejected last year. Link.

- Texas data centers and crypto miners voluntarily reduced power use during a winter storm to alleviate strain on the state's electricity grid. Link.