The crypto industry was rocked this morning by a major security breach at Bybit, one of the world’s leading exchanges. Hackers drained over $1.4 billion in ETH and related tokens. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou posted on X that a hacker “took control of the specific cold wallet and transferred all the ETH in the cold wallet to this unidentified address.” https://x.com/benbybit/status/1892963530422505586 - The hack is the largest crypto hack of all time in dollar terms.

The crypto world is still reeling from the $LIBRA meme coin debacle this week, a scandal tying Argentine President Javier Milei to American developer Hayden Davis. Initially hyped by Milei on social media, $LIBRA skyrocketed before crashing spectacularly, wiping out billions in market value. Investors, including high-profile figures like Dave Portnoy, labeled it “the biggest rug pull of all time,” with losses steep and widespread. A federal judge in Argentina has launched a fraud probe into Milei’s involvement, while lawmakers push for impeachment, alleging he and Davis orchestrated the scheme. Davis allegedly extracted $100 million from the event. Coffezilla has excellent coverage including an interview with Davis here on youtube.

In a bold move, Elon Musk suggested placing the U.S. Treasury on a blockchain to ensure “full spending transparency.” Floated on X this week, the idea aims to leverage blockchain’s immutable ledger to track government spending in real-time, potentially curbing mismanagement and boosting public trust. While some say it’s revolutionary, skeptics question its feasibility amid regulatory and technical hurdles. Elon Musk’s proposal aligns with the Trump administration’s pro-crypto leanings, sparking debate about whether this could pave the way for a national digital asset framework. https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1887237508884275477

Bitcoin (BTC) flirted with the $100,000 mark this week, peaking this morning before taking a massive hit due to the Bybit hack I mentioned earlier. ETF Outflows were significant, driven by almost all the major ETF’s shedding assets this week. The seesaw in ETF flow suggests investors are recalibrating amid macroeconomic pressures and optimism around policy shifts. Based on the farside data we see outflows ramped up yesterday and could continue today (Feb 21st) with the market obviously reacting negatively to the massive $1.4b Bybit hack.

Ethereum (ETH) faced a tough week as well and it may get a whole lot tougher after the Bybit hack really amplified selling pressure. Ethereum ETFs hardly any outflows earlier in the week. Fidelity’s ETH ETF saw outflows on February 20, while Grayscale’s ETHE also contributed to the negative flow. ETH’s DeFi dominance and potential role in a U.S. strategic reserve remain bullish long-term drivers, but this week’s dramas weighed heavily on sentiment. The data shows no activity on February 17 due to public holiday in the U.S.

Metal Blockchain METAL, announced in a press release this week, that Bay Federal Credit Union enrolled in its Banking Innovation Program. Announced via metalblockchain.org, this partnership equips the credit union with access to blockchain tools like stablecoins, digital identity management, and private subnets for faster, cheaper, and compliant transactions. Following Excite Credit Union’s lead, Bay Federal’s move highlights traditional finance’s growing embrace of Metal’s solutions. This expansion strengthens Metal Blockchain’s position as a leader in bridging banking and crypto, with more institutions likely to follow in 2025.

Are you a LOAN holder? The LOAN Protocol community is buzzing with active proposals right now that need your input! Voting power hinges on staked or held $LOAN on XPR Network - lock it for four years, and you get 4x the voting power. Two key proposals are live: one to update the rewards rate (vote here) and another to add Litecoin and Ripple XRP to the rewards schedule (vote here). With decentralized lending gaining traction, your $LOAN stake shapes this protocol’s future, get involved!

Metal DAO (MTL) holders may be interested in Velodrome’s integration on Metal L2 which is currently using MTL incentives to encourage participation on the decentralized exchange. Users can provide liquidity to pools like vAMM-WETH/MTL on Metal L2 chain, earning a percentage of fees. If you stake the LP you can earn xVELO tokens that you can then bridge xVELO to VELO on Optimism chain, and lock it for veVELO to vote on pool incentives. Voting on pools on Metal L2 may reward you with MTL tokens depending on the amount of incentives have been allocated to each pool.

If you are going to get involved remember to read the "Introduction to Velodrome on Metal L2" quick start guide here and do your research before getting started. You must vote once every week and up to 10’000 MTL is sent out as incentives for traders. This week, the vAMM-WETH/MTL pool saw steady activity, making it a low-risk entry for liquidity providers. Velodrome’s governance perks and Metal L2’s efficiency are a fantastic low cost entry to DeFi in the Ethereum world.

This week Paul Grey dropped a video on youtube that compares the technology behind the blockchain; comparing XPR Network vs. Ripple XRP vs. Ethereum. The youtube video breaks down each blockchain’s tech specs, advantages, use cases, unique features and more. Check out this video and more here on youtube or use the vimeo link for translated titles. 

With news of the Bybit hack this morning there was a shock reversal of the upwards trend looking at the 7 day snapshot for top gainers (or least affected) this week. XPR Network bucking the trend slightly, standing out as the only asset in the green.

Remember you can trade these coins and more on Metal Pay here.

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