Category: crypto

The U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan housing reform bill that includes a ban on the Federal Reserve issuing a digital dollar without congressional approval. The legislation aims to address housing supply, affordability, and regulatory issues, with the CBDC ban being a notable provision that received overwhelming support.

Pump.fun, originally known for meme coins, now allows users to trade a variety of assets like WBTC, USDC, and Ethereum within the app. With over 1.5 million downloads, the platform has evolved to meet demand for on-chain trading. A new fee structure and incentive model aim to attract serious traders and increase liquidity.

ProCap Financial, owned by Anthony Pompliano, acquired 450 Bitcoin and is aggressively repurchasing shares to reduce the company’s discount to net asset value. This strategy aims to increase per-share Bitcoin exposure and shareholder value amid Middle East tensions. The move reflects a trend of companies using market volatility to increase Bitcoin reserves.

XRP is in focus due to new infrastructure developments with Hidden Road going live on the NSCC directory. This strengthens Ripple’s institutional positioning. XRP is trading around $1.36, below its 50-day SMA. Support is at $1.30 and $1.20, resistance at $1.45 and $1.62. Integration with Hidden Road could increase XRPL usage.

Iran’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Nobitex, saw a surge of over 700% in withdrawals following coordinated airstrikes by the United States and Israel on Tehran. The spike in withdrawals was linked to potential capital movement abroad to avoid economic uncertainty caused by the conflict. This trend of using digital assets to move funds out of Iran…

A lawsuit against Uniswap Labs alleging responsibility for scam tokens and rug pulls was dismissed by a federal judge. Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled that Uniswap cannot be held liable for fraud by third-party token issuers. The lawsuit lacked sufficient evidence to support liability. Uniswap founder Hayden Adams called it a “good outcome.”

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that escalating U.S.-Iran conflict could complicate Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts in 2026. Markets now predict no rate cut at March meeting due to rising oil prices and inflation expectations. Geopolitical tension in the Middle East adds inflationary pressure, making rate cuts less likely.

The US Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts filed a civil forfeiture action to recover $327,829.72 USDT linked to a romance scam and money laundering scheme. Stolen funds were converted to stablecoin to conceal their origin, with law enforcement seizing some wallets in August 2025. Efforts are ongoing to return funds to victims.

Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed technical changes to address proof-efficiency challenges. EIP-7864 suggests replacing the hexary keccak Merkle Patricia Tree with a binary tree using BLAKE3 for shorter branches. Buterin also proposes replacing the EVM with a RISC-V VM for greater efficiency and alignment with ZK provers.

Approximately 9.09 million Bitcoin (BTC) coins, or 46% of the circulating supply, are held at a loss in early 2025. This is the second-highest loss concentration since mid-2022. The high number of coins in loss reflects holders who entered the market during the 2024-2025 rally and are now underwater.