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Morning Minute: Stablecoins Are Eating Everything

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Morning Minute: Stablecoins Are Eating Everything

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.

GM!

Today’s top news:

  • Crypto majors rebound sharply, up 4-8%; BTC at $65.7k
  • Meta confirms plans to re-enter stablecoins across Facebook, Whatsapp and IG
  • Coinbase launches 24/5 stock trading with no fees & fractional shares
  • Tether teased an upcoming product, with speculation of card or neobank
  • Virtual rebounds 20% as Base continues to drive the onchain AI meta

💰 Stablecoins Are Eating Everything

Forget crypto winter.

The stablecoin market doesn’t care.

📌 What Happened

On the same day, Stripe announced a $159B valuation driven largely by its stablecoin infrastructure, Meta confirmed it is re-entering the payments space with a stablecoin strategy targeting 3B users.

Meta sent RFPs to crypto infrastructure firms seeking a third-party partner to administer stablecoin-based payments across Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, targeting a launch early in H2 2026.

Stripe, which acquired stablecoin platform Bridge last year and whose CEO Patrick Collison sits on Meta’s board, is the leading candidate. This comes after Stripe processed $1.9 trillion in total payment volume last year, up 34%. Bridge volume quadrupled. Stripe also received a national bank trust charter from the OCC last week, letting it custody crypto and manage stablecoin reserves directly.

Meta is not issuing its own token, wanting a “stablecoin agnostic” integration and a new in-app wallet. Meta spokespeople clarified the project is about enabling payments, calling it “enabling people and businesses to pay using their preferred method.”

🗣️ What They’re Saying

“It may be a crypto winter, but it’s a stablecoin summer.”

“Stablecoin payments are advancing quietly and inexorably as real-world uptake continues apace.” – Patrick and John Collison, Stripe annual letter

“Nothing has changed; there is still no Meta stablecoin. This is about enabling people and businesses to make payments on our platforms using their preferred method.” – Andy Stone, Meta communications director

🧠 Why It Matters

A Meta stablecoin is a big deal.

Facebook has 3.2 billion monthly active users. WhatsApp has 3 billion, with an 84.1% daily open rate (the highest of any major app) and 100 billion messages sent every day. Instagram hits another 3 billion.

Meta’s full family of apps reaches 3.98 billion unique people per month. That’s roughly half the world’s population.

For those who don’t remember, Meta’s prior stablecoin attempt failed because regulators came down hard on a company trying to issue its own global currency. This time, Meta is doing none of that. They’re opting to be stablecoin agnostic, using third-party rails.

They learned the lesson and now the regulatory environment under the GENIUS Act has made it easier to execute.

If Meta gets this working across WhatsApp alone—remittances, creator payouts, cross-border transfers—that’s a stablecoin use case at a scale that could dwarf everything currently on-chain.

Stablecoin supply and volumes would soar.

For traders: the clearest beneficiaries are Circle (USDC issuer, likely integration candidate), Tether (always in the driver’s seat), Stripe itself, and any infrastructure layer that sits between the wallet and settlement. And Meta of course…

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

  • Crypto majors are very green after a big rebound; BTC +4% at $65.7K; ETH +6% at $1,940; SOL +8% at $83
  • Virtual (+20%), Morpho (+16%), DOT (+13%) and ETHFI (+13%) led top movers; AVAX +10% as well
  • Bitcoin is down 50% from its all-time high as trader sentiment turns increasingly bearish, per Decrypt reporting today.
  • The Ethereum Foundation began staking 70,000 ETH from its treasury, with an initial 2,106 ETH deposit going live today; staking rewards will fund protocol R&D and ecosystem grants
  • Vitalik has sold more than 10,700 ETH since early February, netting roughly $6.1M, with the proceeds used to help fund the Ethereum Foundation
  • The Trump administration is publicly pressuring the crypto industry to revive the stalled market structure bill
  • Meanwhile, World Liberty Financial is siding with Coinbase against the White House’s version of the market structure bill, creating a split between Trump’s administration and Trump’s own crypto business over stablecoin yield language
  • Michigan lawmakers introduced a bill that would allow state employees to receive wages in Bitcoin
  • Solana DeFi TVL has declined 52% from its September peak to $6.3B
  • Tether teased an upcoming product announcement, with speculation of a neobank and/or payments card

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

Meme Coin Tracker

  • Meme majors were very green alongside majors; DOGE +4%, SHIB +2%, PEPE +4%, TRUMP +5%, PENGU +8%, SPX +10%, FARTCOIN +13%
  • Punch (+22%) and ARC (+25%) led notable movers; AgenC (+110x) and Claw (+52x) led new movers
  • Base AI tokens soared with Virtual (+20%), VVV (+27%), FELIX (+100%) and TIBBIR (+19%)

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

  • Coinbase announced tokenized stock trading, available 24/5, with 0 commission fees and with fractional shares available
  • Kraken launched tokenized equity perpetual futures via its xStocks framework, offering up to 20x leverage on assets including the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, and GLD
  • Binance returned to tokenized stocks for the first time since its 2021 regulatory pullback, listing 10 Ondo Finance-issued U.S. stock, ETF, and commodity tokens on Binance Alpha
  • Aave DAO published an audit of Aave Labs historical performance ahead of their $51M ask tomorrow
  • EtherFi announced its Earn function available on its iOS app

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

  • NFT leaders were slightly red with ETH rebounding; Punks -1% at 29.7 ETH, Pudgy -1% at 4.45 ETH, BAYC even at 6 ETH; Hypurr’s +2% at 467 HYPE
  • Doodles (+14%) and Moonbirds (+5%) led top movers
  • Ether Rock sells for 69.9 ETH
  • XCOPY’s ‘Last Selfie’ gets $1M loan

Daily Debrief Newsletter

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Crypto Markets Struggle as BTC Slips Below $64K

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Crypto Markets Struggle as BTC Slips Below $64K

BTC failed to hold key support levels, dragging the wider crypto market lower.

Cryptocurrency markets are under pressure again, with traders reacting to broader AI-linked fears, lingering macro uncertainty and signs of waning institutional demand. Today, Feb. 24, total crypto market capitalization slipped 2.5%, currently hovering around $2.27 trillion.

Bitcoin (BTC) slid from about $66,000 on Monday morning, Feb. 23, to near $63,700 at press time, marking a 3% daily decline. BTC’s weekly losses are around 6%.

Ethereum (ETH) tracked BTC’s move, falling 3% to $1,840, and down 5.4% on the week.

BTC 24-hour price chart. Source: CoinGecko

Among the rest of the top-10 assets, most are seeing mild to moderate losses today. XRP is down 1.7% to $1.35, BNB lost 3.6% to about $585, and Solana (SOL) declined 3% to $77.

Figure Heloc (FIGR_HELOC) was the only top-10 large-cap in the green this morning, up 1.5%.

Oversold

Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital, noted in an X post today that BTC is approaching all-time oversold territory, with weekly RSI readings lower than any moment outside the deepest bear markets, citing November-December 2018 and mid-2022 as rare comparable periods.

the-defiant
BTC nears lowest weekly RSI. Source: X

Wintermute analysts highlighted in another X post today that Bitcoin has repeatedly failed to break through the $70,000 mark in the past two weeks, while ETH dipped below the psychologically important $1,900 mark.

“Multiple times over the past decade, growth scares have triggered rotations that ultimately reversed as risk appetite returned and the market found its way back to momentum,” the analysts noted.

They added that thin liquidity with derivatives signals a lack of directional conviction. Some selective interest in altcoins from high-net-worth investors briefly emerged mid-week but quickly faded.

Big Movers and Liquidations

Looking at the top-100 assets by market cap, PIPPIN gained the most, up 6.6% to $0.77 on the day, while Monero (XMR) rose 3.4% to $325.

On the downside, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) led losses at 11% to $475.40, followed by NEXO, down 5.5% to $0.80.

According to CoinGlass data, around 137,000 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with total losses of $412.9 million, where BTC accounted for $156.3 million and ETH for $131.7 million, while other altcoins accounted for $22.1 million.

ETFs and Macro Conditions

Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $203.8 million in outflows on Monday, bringing cumulative assets to $80.7 billion. Ethereum ETFs recorded $49.4 million in outflows, with total net assets now at $10.4 billion, per SoSoValue data.

Macro conditions still feel shaky. Shares of IBM plunged about 13% on Monday, Feb. 23 — the stock’s steepest drop in more than 25 years. The selloff came after Anthropic said its Claude Code tool can automate COBOL modernization, the old-school language that still rakes in serious revenue for IBM.

Adding to the nervous mood, analysts at Citrini Research warned in a Feb. 22 note that rapid AI adoption could displace large numbers of white‑collar jobs, squeeze consumer spending, and put pressure on both financial and tech sectors.

In comments to investors on Monday, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon drew comparisons between current credit and risk dynamics and those seen in the run‑up to the 2008 financial crisis, fueling more caution among investors.

These bitcoin-linked stocks are doing better than BTC: Crypto Daybook Americas

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These bitcoin-linked stocks are doing better than BTC: Crypto Daybook Americas

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Traders chasing alpha might want to take a look at U.S.-listed bitcoin BTC$65,857.23 mining stocks. Some of these companies are surging, boldly decoupling from the cryptocurrency’s choppy price action.

Shares in Terawulf (WULF) have gained 31% this month, even as bitcoin’s spot price has dropped nearly 17%. Cipher Digital (CIFR) and HUT 8 (HUT) have gained 8% and 6%, respectively, while Core Scientific (CORZ) is largely steady.

According to Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, these are among the most heavily shorted stocks by hedge funds and could gain due to positive economics.

“With long-term energy contracts secured at attractive rates, these firms possess a strategic advantage that extends well beyond pure Bitcoin mining,” Thielen said in a note to clients.

He added that capital is increasingly flowing toward structural winners, while legacy operators risk being left behind.

Bitcoin has bounced to over $65,000, likely tracking gains in futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 index. The advance occurred even though President Donald Trump didn’t mention crypto in his State of the Union address.

Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $257.7 million in net inflows on Tuesday, the most since early February, according to data from SoSoValue. Analysts said inflows need to hold up over the coming days to spark a real market rebound from this slump.

In terms of price, bitcoin is trading close to well-watched pivots, Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Mumbai-based Giottus.com, said.

“A sustained break below $60,000 is widely framed as a downside trigger, with ~$57,500 cited as the next notable level. Conversely, reclaiming $72,000-$75,000 would be a cleaner signal that risk appetite is returning,” Subburaj said in an email.

In traditional markets, the Dollar Index reversed early losses, pressuring dollar‑denominated assets such as gold and bitcoin. Oil prices slipped as U.S. stockpiles surged, though downside remained muted amid the risk of a potential military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. Stay alert.

Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today

What to Watch

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.

  • Crypto
    • Feb. 25, 1 p.m.: SwissBorg to host its “biggest keynote ever.”
    • Feb. 25: The Sandbox Season 7 starts.
  • Macro
    • Feb. 25, 4:30 p.m.: U.S. Fed balance sheet for week ending Feb. 25 (Prev. $6.61T)
  • Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
    • Feb. 25: Circle (CRCL), pre-market, $0.16
    • Feb. 25: Core Scientific (CORZ), post-market, -$0.18
    • Feb. 25: MARA Holdings (MARA), post-market, -$0.11
    • Feb. 25: Hut 8 (HUT), pre-market, -$0.13
    • Feb. 25: NVIDIA (NVDA), post-market, $1.50

Token Events

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.

  • Governance votes & calls
    • Feb. 25: EigenCloud to host a livestream with Puffer Finance on “Preconfirmations & the Future of Rollups”
    • The Sandbox DAO is voting to pause operations and transfer control to the project team to realign with “The Sandbox 3.0”. The proposal currently has the support of 80% of voters. Voting ends Feb. 25.
    • Decentraland DAO is voting to create a customizable “Windfall Lotto Scene” template for land owners. Voting ends Feb. 25.
  • Unlocks
    • Feb. 25: Humanity (H) to unlock 4.37% of its circulating supply worth $17.71 million.
  • Token Launches

Conferences

For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead”.

Market Movements

  • BTC is up 2.37% from 4 p.m. ET Tuesday at $65,564.62 (24hrs: +3.55%)
  • ETH is up 3.31% at $1,915.35 (24hrs: +4.89%)
  • CoinDesk 20 is up 2.97% at 1,901.09 (24hrs: +4.17%)
  • Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is up 2 bps at 2.83%
  • BTC funding rate is at -0.0007% (-0.7643% annualized) on Binance
  • DXY is unchanged at 97.82
  • Gold futures are up 0.58% at $5,206.50
  • Silver futures are up 3.82% at $91.50
  • Nikkei 225 closed up 2.20% at 58,583.12
  • Hang Seng closed up 0.66% at 26,765.72
  • FTSE is up 0.79% at 10,764.79
  • Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.5% at 6,147.32
  • DJIA closed on Tuesday up 0.76% at 49,174.50
  • S&P 500 closed up 0.77% at 6,890.07
  • Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.04% at 22,863.68
  • S&P/TSX Composite closed up 0.57% at 33,970.38
  • S&P 40 Latin America closed up 1.53% at 3,800.72
  • U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is up 2.1 bps at 4.054%
  • E-mini S&P 500 futures are up 0.11% at 6,911.25
  • E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are up 0.15% at 25,066.25
  • E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures are unchanged at 49,277.00

Bitcoin Stats

  • BTC Dominance: 58.52% (+0.13%)
  • Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.02917 (0.9%)
  • Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,034 EH/s
  • Hashprice (spot): $28.69
  • Total fees: 2.7 BTC / $171,903
  • CME Futures Open Interest: 114,890 BTC
  • BTC priced in gold: 12.6 oz.
  • BTC vs gold market cap: 4.38%

Technical Analysis

SOL's daily price swings in candlestick format. (TradingView)

SOL’s price chart. (TradingView)

  • The chart shows daily price swings in solana (SOL) in candlestick format.
  • The drop from September highs could be described as a stair-step decline, where prices fall, then move sideways in consolidation, and then resume selling.
  • Lately, the price has been consolidating between roughly $75 and $91. A move below the lower end of the range would imply resumption of the broader downtrend, potentially yielding a deeper slide.

Crypto Equities

  • Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Tuesday at $162.03 (+1.12%), +2.14% at $165.49 in pre-market
  • Circle Internet (CRCL): closed at $61.37 (+0.33%), +16% at $71.00
  • Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $21.54 (+5.90%)
  • Bullish (BLSH): closed at $30.76 (+0.42%), -1.63% at $30.26
  • MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $8.05 (+2.16%), +1.61% at $8.18
  • Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $16.50 (+5.43%), +1.94% at $16.82
  • Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $17.87 (+5.80%), +0.78% at $18.01
  • CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $10.35 (+5.40%), +1.93% at $10.55
  • CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $42.71 (+7.42%)
  • Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $9.76 (+2.20%)

Crypto Treasury Companies

  • Strategy (MSTR): closed at $124.61 (+0.73%), +2.51% at $127.74
  • Strive (ASST): closed at $7.16 (-2.65%), +0.35% at $7.19
  • SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $6.55 (+0.92%), +2.90% at $6.74
  • Upexi (UPXI): closed at $0.61 (+7.61%)
  • Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.11 (+3.74%)

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs

  • Daily net flows: $257.7 million
  • Cumulative net flows: $54.05 billion
  • Total BTC holdings ~1.26 million

Spot ETH ETFs

  • Daily net flows: $9.2 million
  • Cumulative net flows: $11.51 billion
  • Total ETH holdings ~5.64 million

Source: Farside Investors

While You Were Sleeping

Amazon to Invest in Louisiana Data Centers

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Amazon to Invest in Louisiana Data Centers

Amazon revealed plans to spend $12 billion on new data centers in Louisiana to support rising AI and computing needs.

The new centers are set to be built in the state’s northwest Caddo and Bossier parishes, marking Amazon’s first large-scale data center presence in the state. 

The tech giant said the project will create 540 full-time data center jobs, and support 1,710 additional positions such as electricians and operations managers.

“Amazon … will build next-generation data center campuses to support AI and cloud computing, ensuring opportunities for local communities,” David Zapolsky, Amazon’s chief global affairs and legal officer, said in a release. “We’re creating hundreds of high-paying jobs and making substantial investments in local infrastructure to serve customers.”

The development comes as tech vendors race to expand AI infrastructure to meet surging data processing needs, Meta, Microsoft, Google, OpenAI and others have each committed hundreds of billions of dollars toward new data centers globally, although many are seeing community backlash due to anticipated water and energy consumption.

Related:Meta Signs $100B AI Chip Deal With AMD

To respond to local concerns, Amazon said it will invest up to $400 million in local water infrastructure and pay for its own energy and utility infrastructure at the new campuses.

The company added that the facilities will use verified surplus water, or water exceeding current community needs, limiting usage to a portion of that supply to avoid straining local resources.

Additionally, Amazon has invested in solar energy projects in Louisiana, bringing up to 200 megawatts of new carbon-free energy onto the grid. The vendor also established a $250,000 community fund to support STEM education and local projects in the region.

“Investments of this magnitude put Louisiana at the center of operations relied on across the country and connect our communities to jobs that power how Americans live, work and do business,” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said in a release. 

Sen. Blumenthal probes Binance over alleged $1.7 billion in crypto Iran-linked transactions

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Sen. Blumenthal probes Binance over alleged $1.7 billion in crypto Iran-linked transactions

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, on Tuesday opened a probe into alleged sanctions violations at crypto exchange Binance, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Blumenthal, who represents Connecticut, sent Binance a letter asking about the $1.7 billion allegedly transferred from accounts on the platform to Iran-linked organizations, including Yemen’s Houthi militants. The violations were identified by internal Binance investigators who were subsequently dismissed, according to several news reports. The world’s largest crypto exchange denied the allegations in an email to CoinDesk.

“The New York Times’ prior reporting is wrong. Binance has strict KYC (know-your-customer) and compliance procedures in place, and there are no Iranian users on the platform,” a Binance spokesperson said in the email. The spokesperson also reiterated the exchange’s stance “against false claims in these reports”, referring to articles by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Fortune about the alleged dismissal of the four investigators involved.

Blumenthal sent a letter to Binance’s co-chief executive Richard Teng asking for records of the company’s dealings with two Hong Kong entities identified by the investigators as the origin of the transfers to Iran, the New York Times said.

One of the accounts was registered to Blessed Trust, a Hong Kong company that served as a Binance vendor. According to the newspaper, a Binance representative said the exchange canceled the accounts and stopped working with Blessed Trust in January.

“Binance appears to have ignored warnings and recommendations to prevent Iranian money laundering schemes on its cryptocurrency exchange,” Blumenthal wrote. The lawmaker also asked Teng to hand over records about “the suspension and dismissal of compliance staff and investigators” who flagged the alleged violations.

Binance’s founder and former CEO, Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in November 2023 to violating anti-money-laundering laws and allowing customers in countries under sanctions, including Iran, to transact on the platform. The company agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties and leave the U.S. market. Zhao served four months in prison for his role before being pardoned by President Donald Trump.

Binance said in a blog post on Sunday that its “sanctions-related exposure is minimal.” Rachel Conlan, another spokesperson, told the Times, there is an ongoing internal investigation at the exchange and that a full report would be sent to the U.S. Justice Department on Feb. 25.

Ethereum Foundation Pledges to Support Privacy-First, Permissionless DeFi

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Ethereum Foundation Pledges to Support Privacy-First, Permissionless DeFi

The EF has created a team to support DeFi builders, focusing on privacy, security, and open-source principles.

The Ethereum Foundation is doubling down on decentralized finance this year, forming a dedicated internal unit to support builders and to scale what it calls “cypherpunk values alongside market growth.”

In a blog post published on Monday, Feb. 23, the organization framed DeFi as the “inevitable evolution of finance,” adding that “it’s been a critical driver of Ethereum’s growth and adoption.”

The foundation is explicit about the kind of DeFi it supports: “permissionless, censorship-resistant, privacy-first, self-custodial, and open source.”

The focus of the new DeFi unit, which sits within the organization’s App Relations team, is to guide DeFi development on Ethereum, support teams building in the space, and make sure projects stick to those principles. According to the blog post, the unit is led by Charles St. Louis and IvanGBI, both veterans from projects like DELV, MakerDAO, and Gearbox Protocol.

“The Ethereum Foundation believes in Defipunk: not finance that’s marginally better than TradFi, but finance that couldn’t exist without Ethereum,” the blog post reads.

First announced last year, “Defipunk” is the EF’s new framework that supports privacy- focused DeFi projects, as The Defiant reported earlier.

Ethereum remains the largest blockchain network by total value locked in DeFi, with $53.8 billion.

Priorities for 2026

To support the outlined plan, the foundation plans to set up “clear channels for DeFi teams to connect with the EF and each other,” though it didn’t provide specifics.

For 2026, the foundation is zeroing in on a set of priorities such as building stronger relationships with teams, improving security, supporting decentralization, advancing privacy, and conducting research.

Looking ahead, the Ethereum Foundation is also watching emerging intersections with AI, institutional adoption, stablecoins and new financial primitives, promising content and support in these areas.

To keep up with the trends, the organization has already set up a new unit dubbed the “dAI Team,” which aims to make Ethereum the “preferred settlement and coordination layer” for AI agents and the machine economy, The Defiant reported back in September.

The pledge to double down on DeFi comes just weeks after Tomasz Stańczak — who led the EF’s platform and EcoDev teams and founded execution-client project Nethermind — announced in mid-February that he would step down as co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation.

Stańczak, who has served in the role for just under a year, said in a post on X that Bastian Aue will take over as interim co-ED alongside current co-ED Hsiao-Wei.

Numo Launches Free Open-Source ‘Tap-to-Pay’ App for Bitcoin Merchants

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Numo Launches Free Open-Source ‘Tap-to-Pay’ App for Bitcoin Merchants

Numo has released a hardware-free Android application that allows merchants to accept Bitcoin payments using a contactless “tap-to-pay” experience powered by the Cashu protocol. Launched on February 24, 2026, the Numo point-of-sale (POS) app transforms any NFC-enabled Android device into a payment terminal. By leveraging Cashu, an open-source ecash protocol, the app enables a checkout […]

Anthropic Targets More Industries With Claude Cowork Plugins

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Anthropic Targets More Industries With Claude Cowork Plugins

Anthropic on Tuesday introduced new Claude Cowork plugins and connectors, after its previous release shook up the legal information services market. The update shows the generative AI vendor’s determination to target other professional services areas and serve as an enterprise model provider.

With the update, Anthropic said enterprises can build a private marketplace for specialized AI agents in Claude Cowork and distribute them across their organizations. Admins can set up plugins from starter templates or create them from scratch with a new menu called Customize. They also control which plugins their teams can access, including organization-specific marketplaces, private GitHub repositories and plugin sources. 

Anthropic also built connectors to applications such as Google Workspace, DocuSign, WordPress and LegalZoom; and it expanded its library of prebuilt plugin templates to include HR, design, engineering, operations, brand voice, and investment and equity research.

Related:Opinion: From Islands to Ecosystems: Why Interoperability Unlocks Scale for Agentic AI

The update comes nearly three weeks after the initial Cowork plugins release triggered a plunge in stock prices of legal industry software providers. That disruption showed how AI technology is affecting knowledge workers and the shift underway as AI tools are replacing some entry-level work. This is because AI tools automate routine tasks and augment high-level roles. This disruption is not solely due to Anthropic. For example, after the open source AI agent framework OpenClaw rose to prominence, leading SaaS providers saw a rapid drop in their stock prices.

“The decline in market valuation of the SaaS market shows that the market truly believes that AI technology is now ready to take over some of the more manual tasks in the professional service space,” said Lian Jye Su, an analyst at Omdia, a division of Informa TechTarget. 

The market decline is also a signal to Anthropic that it has an opportunity to cater to professional services companies since the work is labor-intensive, and high-level work can be augmented by AI.

“The amount of savings that you can incur by automating some of the processes is actually quite significant,” Su said. “It allows Anthropic to showcase the ROI in a much better way compared to some of the other [applications of AI].”

Anthropic’s latest move is also a sign of its continued focus on the enterprise and on providing an alternative in the market to an open source system like OpenClaw, which is now part of Anthropic rival OpenAI, Su added. He added that the plugins show how Anthropic appears to be capitalizing on OpenClaw’s virality and providing an alternative.

Related:OpenAI Aims for Stablecoin Market With New EVMbench

However, Anthropic must still compete with other big tech vendors, such as Salesforce and ServiceNow, which also serve professional services industries.

Bitcoin Taps $66k as Stock Divergence Hints at a BTC Price Rally

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Bitcoin Taps $66k as Stock Divergence Hints at a BTC Price Rally

Bitcoin (BTC) rallied toward $66,000 after Tuesday’s gains in the US stock market, as cryptocurrencies sought to halt their 2026 slump.  

Key takeaways:

  • Bitcoin rallied above $66,000 on Wednesday, recovering alongside US stocks.

  • Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index flipped positive amid $258 million in ETF inflows.

  • While BTC’s correlation with stocks and gold is at its weakest since 2022, it historically signaled significant upside upon reversion.

BTC/USD hourly chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

BTC price recovers in tandem with US equities

Bitcoin’s recovery Wednesday aligns closely with similar rebounds in the US stock market, with AI and tech stocks leading the market higher.

Source: The Kobeissi Letter

The tech-focused Nasdaq led the recovery with 1.05% daily gains, while the S&P 500 rose 0.68%. The Dow locked in a 421-point gain, closing the trading day on Tuesday 0.86% higher.

Related: Bitcoin bounces to $66K as rumors swirl over Jane Street selling algorithm

Crypto-related stocks also saw moderate gains, with crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) rising by 1.12% and Strategy (MSTR) gaining 0.73%.

24-hour performance of US stocks. Source: Financial Visualizations

The swift recovery of US equity markets appears to have played a role in easing negative pressure on crypto investors looking to cut risk asset exposure. 

This is evidenced by the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index, a metric that tracks the price difference between BTC on Coinbase and Binance, which has flipped positive for the first time since Jan. 15.

This means “US buyers are stepping in,” said analyst Nic in a post on Wednesday, adding that the index needs to stay positive to ensure sustained buying pressure. 

Bitcoin’s Coinbase Premium Index. Source: CoinGlass

The return of demand in the US was also reflected by Bitcoin ETFs, which recorded $258 million in net inflows on Tuesday.

Bitcoin won’t stay disconnected forever: Analysis

Bitcoin, which is often viewed as a risk asset in the short term, has frequently moved in tandem with the stock market, particularly the S&P 500.

The past six months have seen a sustained period of this correlation breaking. The daily correlation coefficient index between BTC price and the US benchmark index, the S&P 500 index, is currently 0.32, and -0.45 with gold.

Bitcoin vs. S&P 500’s and gold daily correlation coefficient. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

“Since late August, gold has surged +51%, the S&P 500 has gained +7%, and Bitcoin has fallen -43%,” onchain data provider Santiment said in a recent post on X.  

This marks the weakest correlation between Bitcoin and stocks since the FTX chaos in late 2022.

“Historically, when an asset that is usually correlated breaks away in this dramatic fashion, it typically does not stay disconnected forever,” Santiment said, adding:

“In the long term, this unusual separation actually argues for significant upside for Bitcoin and altcoins.”

Cryptocurrencies, Gold, Bitcoin Price, Markets, Stocks, Price Analysis, Market Analysis, S&P 500, Bitcoin ETF, ETF
Bitcoin correlation with stocks and gold. Source: Santiment

If Bitcoin returns to its historical pattern of tracking equities during economic expansions, “it may have significant room to catch up,” Santiment concluded.

This view was echoed by the founder and CIO of trading company QCP Capital, Darius Sit, who argued that the “Bitcoin vs. gold” debate is often misread as a price contest, when the “more important driver is liquidity and market structure.”

The divergence between stocks and BTC “reflects position unwinds and leverage-driven flows, not a failure of Bitcoin’s longer-term narrative,” Sit said, adding:

“Bitcoin still behaves like a long-term inflation hedge and an increasingly legible form of collateral.”

As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin’s adoption by institutions, banks, merchants, public companies and nation-states surged in 2025, confirming it as a maturing asset class for investors.