TL;DR

• Bitcoin fell to $93,500 this week, finding brief support, while Ethereum entered an upward channel after testing $2,600.
• Gate.io partners with Consensus-HK to create a new paradigm in Web3 music social networking.
• Under the MiCA framework, the EU has approved 10 companies to issue stablecoins.
• Canary Capital introduces its $AXL (Axelar) Trust fund.
• Berachain achieves a new all-time high with TVL reaching $3 billion.
• Circle’s on-chain fees surge to $35.39 million over the past week.
• Ethereum network fees plummet 70% compared to last week, reaching their lowest point since July 2020.

Market Analysis

Review and Insights

• BTC — Bitcoin tested bottom support three times this week, with decreasing floor prices reaching as low as $93,500. While BTC remains in a downward channel, it shows support around $95,000, currently oscillating near the upper edge of the descending channel. [1]

• ETH — After testing $2,600 support level, ETH rebounded to around $2,750 and has entered an upward channel. Overall, the trend is stronger than BTC. In the short term, ETH faces major resistance around $2,850 - if bulls can effectively break and hold above this level, market sentiment could further improve. [2]

• Altcoins — While the broader altcoin market experienced significant declines around February 11, several sectors showed remarkable strength. Payment Solutions led the gains with a 33.2% increase in market cap, followed by Wallets at 18.3% and the Bittensor Ecosystem at 7.1%. Multiple tokens within these sectors demonstrated notable growth despite the overall market weakness. [3]
• Option Market — As of February 20, 2025, 08:00 AM (UTC+8), BTC options open interest stands at $32.767 billion, relatively stable from last week ($32.948 billion). The notional value for February 28 options has increased to $5.362 billion. [4]
• Macro Data — On February 14, U.S. Retail sales for January were reported at -0.9% month-over-month, below the expected -0.1%. This weaker-than-expected data pressured the USD, leading most crypto assets to rise. [5]
• Stablecoins — Total stablecoin market cap increased by 0.51% to $225.7 billion this week, indicating continued inflow of fresh capital. [6]
• Gas Fee — Ethereum’s average Gas Fee over the past 7 days rose to 2.8 Gwei, with peaks reaching 131 Gwei, suggesting slightly increased network activity. [7]

Trending Concepts

Bitcoin price fluctuated between $93,500 and $99,000 this week, with varied performance across altcoin sectors. According to CoinGecko data, three sectors led in growth: Payment Solutions, Wallets, and Bittensor Ecosystem, with 7-day market cap increases of approximately 33.2%, 18.3%, and 7.1%, respectively. [8]

Payment Solutions — This sector encompasses platforms and systems that provide technology or services enabling merchants to accept and process cryptocurrency payments for goods and services. With major central banks expected to shift towards looser monetary policies, coupled with the accelerated legislative progress of the U.S. Payment Stablecoin Act and the implementation of EU instant payment regulations, commercial payment digitalization has increased, stimulating surge in demand for payment solutions and drawing more investor attention to this sector.

This sector surged 33.2% over 7 days, reaching a market cap of $2.09 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $277 million. Leading performers included TEL with a 61.4% gain and ACH with a 27.5% increase over the 7-day period. [9]

Wallets — The Wallets sector refers to cryptocurrency wallet platforms. These digital tools allow users to interact with blockchain networks to store and manage cryptocurrencies. The sector’s growth has been fueled by recent regulatory relaxation enabling banks to engage with more Web3 wallet applications, contributing to price appreciation.

This sector increased 18.3% over 7 days, with market cap reaching $2.28 billion and 24-hour trading volume of $985.7 billion. Within the sector, ALPH token saw a 31.1% increase over 7 days. [10]

Bittensor Ecosystem — This sector encompasses interconnected platforms and services built around Bittensor, an open, decentralized, blockchain-based neural network. It functions as a self-governing and tokenized market system for AI technology development and distribution. Recent technical updates to Bittensor have attracted more projects to deploy on the platform, and recent collaborations with multiple project partners have driven growth across the sector.

This sector achieved a 7.1% market cap increase this week, reaching approximately $3.719 billion with 24-hour trading volume of $236 million. Within the sector, STRDY token rose 42.3% over 7 days. [11]

Top Performers

According to CoinGecko data, the top-performing tokens over the past 7 days are as follows: [12]

TEL (Telcoin) - 7-day increase of approximately 60.7%, with a circulating market cap of $1.069B.

Telcoin is a new cryptocurrency based on the Ethereum blockchain, issued by telecom operators worldwide. It aims to make digital assets easily accessible to global users by combining the extensive coverage of mobile telecommunications with the fast, borderless nature of blockchain technology.

Today, Telcoin Bank received conditional approval from the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance. This milestone enables Telcoin to create the first significant bridge between traditional finance and cryptocurrency, advancing integration within the crypto ecosystem. The announcement spurred widespread investor interest, leading to an upward price movement. [13]

OM (MANTRA) - 7-day increase of approximately 32.2%, with a circulating market cap of $7.396B.

MANTRA is a security-focused RWA Layer 1 blockchain that implements real-world regulatory requirements. The network serves institutions and developers by providing a permissionless blockchain infrastructure for compliant authorized applications.

Yesterday, MANTRA received the first-ever DeFi license, allowing it to operate as a virtual asset exchange and offer economic trading, asset management, and investment services. This milestone strengthens MANTRA’s regulatory compliance and ecosystem security. The announcement boosted market confidence, driving up the token’s price. [14]

S (Sonic) - 7-day increase of approximately 30.5%, with a circulating market cap of $2.262B.

Sonic is a high-performance EVM Layer 1 blockchain combining speed, incentive mechanisms, and world-class infrastructure for next-generation DeFi applications. The chain delivers 10,000 transactions per second with sub-second finality.

Yesterday, Sonic reached a significant milestone as its Total Value Locked (TVL) exceeded $500 million. Through ongoing ecosystem enhancements and partnerships with DeFi projects like Rings and Lombard, Sonic has built increasing market confidence. The rising TVL reflects growing trust from both investors and developers in the ecosystem’s strength. This momentum has drawn more attention from the developer and investor communities, reinforcing Sonic’s prospects for sustained growth. [15]

Weekly Spotlights

Hot Topic Review

Gate.io Partners with Consensus-HK to Pioneer Web3 Music Social Experience

On February 19, 2025, the Token of Love Hong Kong Music Festival, sponsored by leading global cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io, launched grandly at Wonderland in West Kowloon Cultural District. As a major official side event of the blockchain industry’s flagship summit Consensus HK 2025, the festival centered on the concept of “Web3 + Music + Social.” Through innovative formats including immersive digital art stages and on-chain sound wave interactive installations, it attracted over a thousand global attendees, 80+ industry media outlets, and ecosystem partners, creating a crossover integration between the cryptocurrency sphere and creative cultural industries.

As a 3 Block-level strategic partner of Consensus HK 2025 (February 18-20), Gate.io not only deeply participated in main venue agenda planning but also demonstrated its evolution from a trading platform to an ecosystem builder through this breakthrough music festival. The event featured a special Gate.io on-chain heartbeat interaction zone, which transformed attendees’ crypto hardware wallet biometric data into NFT sound tracks in real-time, completing the world’s first blockchain-driven collective music co-creation experiment. [16]

10 Companies Approved to Issue Stablecoins Under EU’s MiCA Regulation

Patrick Hansen, Senior Director of EU Strategy and Policy at Circle, announced that 10 companies have received approval to issue stablecoins under the MiCA regulation. The list includes Banking Circle, stablecoin issuer Circle, Crypto.Com, Fiat Republic, Membrane Finance, Quantoz Payments, Schuman Financial, Société Générale, StabIR, and Stable Mint. These service providers have issued 10 euro-pegged stablecoins and 5 USD-pegged stablecoins. Notably, Tether is not on the list.

This development marks the implementation phase of the EU’s cryptocurrency regulatory framework, which could have multi-dimensional impacts on the industry. The regulation’s entry requirements may encourage more projects to adjust their compliance strategies, while demand for supporting services like on-chain auditing and asset custody is expected to grow gradually, with the potential derivative market estimated to reach tens of billions of euros. As the world’s first comprehensive crypto regulatory system to be fully implemented, MiCA’s model may serve as a reference for other regions, though its actual effectiveness will depend on market acceptance and enforcement strength. [17]

Canary Capital Launches $AXL (Axelar) Trust Fund

Canary Capital has launched the Canary AXL Trust, a trust fund containing Axelar network’s native tokens, marking the first investment trust offering exposure to a universal blockchain interoperability protocol. Axelar is a decentralized universal blockchain interoperability protocol designed to enable seamless connections and data interactions between different blockchains. Its core mission is to build a secure, trustworthy, and efficient cross-chain network that connects multiple blockchain ecosystems including XRP Ledger, Hedera, Stellar, TON, Sui, Solana, and Bitcoin. Axelar’s native token AXL plays a crucial role in the network, not only securing the network and maintaining operational incentives but also participating in network governance. This protocol provides developers and institutions with powerful cross-chain solutions, advancing the Web3 ecosystem’s development and supporting various decentralized applications and financial products.

The trust could reshape the cross-chain landscape in three ways: First, it facilitates liquidity connectivity between the Ripple ecosystem and other chains (such as Solana and Bitcoin), accelerating RLUSD adoption in DeFi scenarios. Second, Axelar’s technology stack may become the benchmark for institutional cross-chain solution evaluation, further squeezing out non-standardized protocols. Third, if this trust model proves viable, it could spawn similar products covering Cosmos, Polkadot, and other ecosystems, triggering competition for regulatory compliance in cross-chain solutions. Additionally, traditional capital entry may pressure cross-chain protocols to enhance on-chain transparency and audit mechanisms, promoting infrastructure upgrades across the industry. [18]

Security Incident

Cardex Security Breach Results in $400K Loss, Now Fixed with Enhanced Protection

Abstract is a Layer 2 blockchain network designed to provide users with a secure and fast decentralized application environment. Cardex, a third-party application deployed on the Abstract platform, focuses on decentralized finance (DeFi) services. Their relationship is similar to that of an operating system and its applications, with Abstract serving as the infrastructure supporting various applications including Cardex.

On February 19, Abstract’s security team discovered a vulnerability in Cardex that resulted in a token loss of approximately $400,000. The vulnerability stemmed from the Cardex team inadvertently exposing private keys to frontend session signers during the audit process. Notably, this issue was confined to the Cardex application and did not affect the Abstract Global Wallet (AGW) or the Abstract network itself. Currently, the Abstract team has collaborated with the Cardex team to quickly patch the vulnerability and recommends users regularly revoke wallet authorizations for applications and tokens to ensure asset security. [19]

Project Highlights

Monad Testnet Launch

Monad announced the official launch of its testnet on February 19, with major dApps including Uniswap, Wormhole, and Backpack already deployed. The team has distributed test tokens to over 8.8 million active Ethereum addresses, which users can claim through Monad’s official website.

As an Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain, Monad aims to achieve processing speeds of up to 10,000 transactions per second through parallel computing and superscalar pipeline technology. Monad’s mission is to provide developers and users with a high-performance, low-latency blockchain environment to advance decentralized applications. Its core technology stack includes the MonadBFT consensus mechanism, delayed execution, parallel execution, and a custom MonadDb database. [20][21]

Data Highlights

Berachain TVL Breaks $3B, Reeaching All-Time High

Berachain’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has surpassed $3 billion, reaching a new all-time high. Berachain is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain built on Cosmos SDK, featuring a unique Proof of Liquidity (PoL) consensus mechanism designed to address liquidity challenges in the DeFi space.

Infrared Finance leads as the protocol with the highest TVL in the Berachain ecosystem, showing strong growth with TVL exceeding $1.305 billion and a 35.40% increase over 7 days, emerging as a crucial pillar of Berachain’s DeFi ecosystem. Its liquidity staking model not only enhances Berachain network security but also promotes ecosystem-wide liquidity expansion. [22]

Circle On-Chain Fees Continue to Rise, Exceeding $35.39M in Past Week

According to DefiLlama data, Circle’s on-chain fees continue to rise, surpassing $35.39 million in the past week. Circle, the primary issuer of the USD-backed compliant stablecoin USDC (USD Coin), builds financial infrastructure covering payments, settlement, and asset tokenization, positioning itself as a compliant bridge between traditional finance and crypto ecosystems.

Since Circle’s February 11, 2024 announcement of USDC’s native support across 18 blockchains including Unichain, transaction fees remain high on some networks. Despite increasingly strict global stablecoin regulations, USDC’s regulatory compliance has made it more appealing to certain investors and institutions compared to USDT. However, USDC still shows a significant gap compared to USDT’s weekly transaction fees of approximately $120 million. As USDC adoption increases on low-cost chains like Layer 2 and Solana, its market share may expand further, gradually narrowing the transaction volume and fee gap with USDT. [23]

Ethereum Network Transaction Fees Drop 70% Week-over-Week, Lowest Since July 2020

Ethereum network’s average transaction fees have experienced a sharp decline, with the 7-day moving average Gas fee dropping to $0.77 on February 15, down 70% from $2.57 a week ago, marking the largest weekly decline since August 2021. This fee drop has brought Ethereum’s USD-denominated transaction costs to levels not seen since before DeFi Summer in July 2020.

This decline primarily stems from reduced mainnet activity and user migration to L1 and L2 networks. L2 solutions reduce user transaction fees by batch processing transactions and submitting data to the mainnet. For example, the Dencun upgrade introduced the “blob” mechanism, significantly reducing Layer 2 data submission fees to the mainnet, thereby lowering overall transaction costs. However, the decline in mainnet transaction fees has impacted Ethereum’s tokenomics. Reduced mainnet fee revenue has lowered ETH burning, leading to supply growth. This suggests the Ethereum mainnet needs to increase fee revenue to maintain ETH’s deflationary nature. Overall, as Layer 2 solutions become more widespread and mainnet activity evolves, Ethereum network transaction fees show a significant downward trend. [24]

Market Opportunities

Project Airdrops

Airdrop Project to Watch This Week: Kittenswap

KittenSwap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) known for its efficient and low-cost trading experience, with gas fees lower than Uniswap. The platform features an innovative LIQUID token mechanism where a portion of tokens is burned with each transaction, driving price appreciation. Additionally, KittenSwap offers lending services, allowing users to deposit ETH to earn yields or use LIQUID as collateral to borrow ETH. The platform is community-governed, emphasizing transparency and decentralized governance.

KittenSwap has officially confirmed its airdrop program and launched a points system that will distribute 20% of the total KITTEN token supply in the form of vote-escrowed KITTEN (veKITTEN). This governance-enabled token format ensures long-term alignment between token holders and protocol development. [25]

How to Participate:

• Connect your EVM wallet to KittenSwap [26]
• Configure HypeEVM network
• Perform token swaps
• Add small liquidity to WHYPE/PAWS pool
• Invite friends to increase potential rewards

Note:
The airdrop program and participation methods are subject to change. Users are advised to follow Kittenswap’s official channels for the latest updates. Additionally, users should exercise caution, be aware of potential risks, and conduct thorough research before participating. Gate.io does not guarantee the distribution of future airdrop rewards.

Weekly Fundraising Report

Several projects successfully completed fundraising rounds this week across security infrastructure, DeFi, and foundational infrastructure sectors. According to RootData, eight projects announced funding between February 15-21, with total investments exceeding $100 million. Here are the top three funding rounds: [27]

Blockaid secured $50 million in funding on February 18, led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Variant Fund and others. The funds will be used to expand Blockaid’s operations and R&D efforts. Blockaid is a Web3 security tool focused on fraud prevention in the digital asset space, providing protection for on-chain platforms like Coinbase, Metamask, Stellar, Uniswap, and World App. In 2024, it successfully intercepted 71 million potential attacks, preventing $5.3 billion in losses.

Cygnus completed a $20 million strategic funding round on February 18, with participation from OKX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, and others. The funding will help accelerate Cygnus’ development, expand its product line, and strengthen its presence in key markets. As a modular real yield layer, Cygnus enables blockchains to customize restaking networks and achieve shared security. Notably, Cygnus also provides a Social App SDK, supporting one-click deployment of Telegram-integrated applications, greatly simplifying the development process.

Furthermore, Cygnus Chain serves as the settlement layer for LVS, ensuring multi-chain asset validation and settlement while building robust liquidity infrastructure. Currently, Cygnus is developing the first Web3 version of an Instagram application layer, integrating on-chain and off-chain assets to support the creator economy. Through these innovations, Cygnus aims to bring greater flexibility and scalability to the blockchain ecosystem, driving the development of the creator economy in the Web3 era.

Altius secured $11 million in funding on February 18, led by Founders Fund and Pantera. The funds will be used to accelerate Altius Labs’ technical development, team expansion, and exploration of strategic partnerships with other blockchain projects and organizations. Altius Labs is focused on developing a VM-agnostic modular execution stack. This stack can integrate seamlessly with any Layer 1 (L1), Layer 2 (L2), and application chains independent of single binary implementation and network design, thereby enhancing blockchain performance and interoperability.

Altius Labs aims to help other crypto projects replicate Solana’s success. Through its innovative technical solutions, Altius Labs hopes to provide greater flexibility and scalability for the blockchain ecosystem, driving the development of decentralized applications.

What to Watch Next Week

Token Unlock

According to Token Unlocks, several significant token unlock events are scheduled for next week (Feburary 21-27, 2025), with a total unlocked value exceeding $149 million.[28]

Here are the top 3 token unlock events for next week:

MRS token is scheduled to unlock approximately 10 million tokens at 12:00 AM UTC on February 21, 2025, representing 11.87% of its circulating supply, valued at around $82 million. With recent daily trading volume averaging around $114,000, this unlock could significantly impact MRS’s market price. Investors should exercise caution.

MURA token plans to unlock about 20 million tokens at 12:00 AM UTC on February 23, 2025, accounting for 2.00% of its circulating supply, valued at approximately $42.08 million. With recent daily trading volume averaging around $68,300, this unlock could have a substantial impact on MURA’s market price. Investors should proceed with caution.

IMX token will unlock approximately 24.52 million tokens at 12:00 AM UTC on February 21, 2025, representing 1.41% of its circulating supply, valued at around $17.91 million. With recent daily trading volume averaging $37.63 million, this may have some impact on the token price.

Crypto Calendar

Next week (February 21-27, 2025) will bring several important events that will significantly impact cryptocurrency markets, global economy, and energy markets. The AI intelligence layer Rivalz Network will conduct its TGE (Token Generation Event) on February 21. [29] Solana’s Layer 2 gaming chain Sonic SVM will officially launch its Mobius mainnet on February 27. [30] On February 21, 2025, the US will release the final February University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. [31] On February 26, 2025, the US will release EIA’s crude oil inventory data (in 10K barrels) for the week ending February 21. [32] On February 27, 2025, the US will release initial jobless claims data (in tens of thousands) for the week ending February 22. [33]

References:

1. Gate.io,https://www.gate.io/trade/BTC_USDT
2. Gate.io,https://www.gate.io/trade/ETH_USDT
3. Gate.io,https://www.gate.io/bigdata/estimate
4. Coinglass,https://www.coinglass.com/zh/pro/options/OIExpiry
5. Cryptocraft,https://www.cryptocraft.com/calendar?day=jan15.2025
6. Defillama,https://defillama.com/stablecoins
7. Sosovalue,https://sosovalue.com/zh
8. Coingecko,https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories
9. Coingecko,https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/payments-solutions
10. Coingecko,https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/walltes
11. Coingecko,https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/bittensor-ecosystem
12. Coingedcko,https://www.coingecko.com
13. Coingecko,https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/telcoin
14. Coingecko,https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/mantra
15. Coingecko,https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/sonic
16. Gate.io,https://www.gate.io/zh/announcements/article/43437
17. X,https://x.com/paddi_hansen/status/1892182713345737006
18. X,https://x.com/EleanorTerrett/status/1892290849113067567
19. X,https://x.com/AbstractChain/status/1891928658341753039
20. X,https://x.com/monad_xyz/status/1892227817149997212
21. monad,https://docs.monad.xyz/
22. Defillama,https://defillama.com/chain/Berachain
23. Defillama,https://defillama.com/fees/circle
24. Etherscan,https://etherscan.io/gastracker
25. X,https://x.com/airdrops_io/status/1892216832922173554
26. Kittenswap,https://app.kittenswap.finance/points
27. Rootdata,https://www.rootdata.com/Fundraising
28. Token Unlocks ,https://token.unlocks.app/
29. Gate.io,https://www.gate.io/calendar
30. Gate.io,https://www.gate.io/calendar
31. Jin10,https://rili.jin10.com/
32. Jin10,https://rili.jin10.com/
33. Jin10,https://rili.jin10.com/

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