Market Overview (Feb 19–Feb 25): Ethereum Staking Trend and StarkWare’s Vesting Schedule Change

Key Points

• The Federal Reserve’s recent meeting showed cautious optimism about the economy, indicating no rush to lower interest rates.
• Ethereum staking has emerged as a significant trend in the crypto market, with the ETH stake rate doubling since the beginning of 2023.
• StarkWare has changed the vesting schedule for $STRK tokens, aiming to reduce selling pressure by vesting a small amount each month until 2027.
  Dive into a comprehensive recap of the crypto market, with insights on Ethereum staking, Binance’s latest launchpool, StarkWare’s vesting schedule change, and more!

Last week’s highlights big news (Feb 19–Feb 25)

In South Korea, both major political parties are ramping up their efforts to encourage public investment in ETFs ahead of the parliamentary elections on April 10, 2024. They are also advocating for financial organizations to deploy BTC ETF funds.

In other news, Tether has printed an additional 1 billion USDT. The explanation from the CEO remains the same: they are pre-printed but not yet issued. This move shows the increasing demand for stablecoins in the crypto market.

Investment fund a16z has made a significant investment of $100 million in EigenLayer, a leading Ethereum restaking protocol in terms of total locked value (TVL). This investment underscores the increasing interest in Ethereum and its associated protocols.

Meanwhile, Kraken is pushing back against the SEC. They’ve submitted a request to dismiss the SEC’s lawsuit, arguing that the SEC is overstepping its boundaries and does not have congressional authority to manage crypto.

In a significant shift, Circle will stop supporting USDC on TRON. While existing USDC on TRON can still be sent and traded until the end of February 2025, no new USDC will be issued on the platform.

In legal news, the Supreme Court of Podgorica in Montenegro has ordered Do Kwon to be extradited to the United States. The House Financial Services Committee has also passed a bill to prohibit the U.S. government from issuing a national digital currency (CBDC), citing concerns that it could be used as a financial surveillance tool.

Despite sanctions from the U.S., BitRiver, a leading Bitcoin mining company in Russia, continues to implement new projects. Their CEO is confident in the profit potential from mining Bitcoin in Russia, especially after the upcoming halving event.

Positive news from Bitwise: their Bitcoin ETF has been approved for financial advisors at a nationwide consultancy managing $30 billion. This is a sign of the growing acceptance of crypto assets among traditional financial institutions.

Japan is also moving closer to allowing venture capital (VC) firms to hold crypto assets, signaling a potential boom in crypto-related startups in the country.

In earnings news, Coinbase’s Q4 report shows a significant increase in the company’s own crypto holdings, from ~$426 million at the end of 2022 to over $1 billion at the end of 2023.

However, it’s not all positive news. The National Banking and Securities Commission of Honduras (CNBS) has issued a ban on domestic financial organizations trading or holding digital assets, citing a lack of regulations on crypto. In addition, Binance has announced its 47th project on Binance Launchpool: Portal (PORTAL).