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Crypto markets feel the chill, Base, ether.fi reorganize layer-2 landscape: Crypto Daybook Americas

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Crypto markets feel the chill, Base, ether.fi reorganize layer-2 landscape: Crypto Daybook Americas

By Jacob Joseph (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Even with the CoinDesk 20 index (CD20) little changed since midnight UTC, crypto markets remain under pressure. All but one member has dropped, and the outlier, bitcoin BTC$66,531.79, is less than 0.1% in the green.

The index has lost 2% in 24 hours, and spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund flows were negative for a second consecutive session, with $133 million in net outflows on Wednesday. Spot ether (ETH) ETFs also posted net outflows. The second-largest cryptocurrency has lost another 0.2% since midnight.

The key development overnight was Coinbase’s (COIN) announcement that its layer-2 network, Base, will move away from the OP Stack, the open-source, modular rollup framework developed by Optimism that currently powers it. The OP Stack enables chains such as Base and Unichain to operate as low-cost, Ethereum-secured layer 2s, fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and aligned with Optimism’s broader Superchain vision.

Rather than relying on multiple external contributors for core upgrades and protocol changes, Base intends to consolidate development into a self-managed codebase, giving the team greater control over infrastructure, roadmap, and technical evolution.

The move carries meaningful implications for Optimism. Base has historically accounted for the vast majority of Superchain-generated revenue — often exceeding 90% — which accrues to the Optimism Collective. The announcement represents a significant potential headwind to Optimism’s revenue outlook, with the OP token declining 24% since Wednesday following the news.

In a more positive development, ether.fi said it will migrate its Cash product to Optimism’s OP Mainnet. The move will bring some 70,000 active cards, 300,000 accounts and millions of dollars in total value locked. The non-custodial payment card allows users to spend ETH, BTC and stablecoins at over 100 million Visa merchants, offers 3% crypto cashback and processes about $2 million in daily transaction volume.

In another notable layer-2 development, Robinhood’s testnet recorded 4 million transactions in its first week, according to CEO Vlad Tenev. The Arbitrum-based Robinhood Chain is designed to support tokenized real-world assets and a broader suite of onchain financial services, signaling the firm’s continued push into blockchain-based infrastructure.

While these ecosystem developments remain constructive, broader markets continue to trade within a wider downtrend. The latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes, released yesterday, highlight a growing divergence among policymakers on the path of interest rates.

Several officials indicated that further rate cuts should be paused for now, with the possibility of resuming easing later in the year only if inflation continues to fall. 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. 19, 8 a.m.: Zama to host a live presentation of its 2026 roadmap.
  • Macro
    • Feb. 19: U.S. Fed’s Raphael Bostic, Michelle Bowman and Neel Kashkari make speeches throughout the day.
    • Feb. 19, 8:30 a.m.: U.S. initial jobless claims for Feb. 14 est. 225K (Prev. 227K)
  • Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
    • Feb. 19: Riot Platforms (RIOT), post-market, -$0.32

Token Events

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

  • Governance votes & calls
    • ENS DAO is voting to register the on.eth name and establish it as an onchain registry for blockchain metadata. Voting ends Feb. 19.
  • Unlocks
  • Token Launches
    • Feb. 19: Resolv to complete rollout of updated USR/RLP yield distribution parameters
    • Feb. 19: Injective to start INJ Community Buyback Round #226

Conferences

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

Market Movements

  • BTC is up 0.87% from 4 p.m. ET Wednesday at $66,896.68 (24hrs: -1.31%)
  • ETH is up 1.29% at $1,966.13 (24hrs: -1.49%)
  • CoinDesk 20 is up 0.39% at 1,932.97 (24hrs: -2.57%)
  • Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is unchanged at 2.81%
  • BTC funding rate is at 0.0056% (6.1747% annualized) on Binance
  • DXY is unchanged at 97.67
  • Gold futures are unchanged at $5,009.90
  • Silver futures are up 1.13% at $78.47
  • Nikkei 225 closed up 0.57% at 57,467.83
  • Hang Seng closed up 0.52% at 26,705.94
  • FTSE is down 0.63% at 10,618.95
  • Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.81% at 6,054.02
  • DJIA closed on Wednesday up 0.26% at 49,662.66
  • S&P 500 closed up 0.56% at 6,881.31
  • Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.78% at 22,753.63
  • S&P/TSX Composite closed up 1.5% at 33,389.73
  • S&P 40 Latin America closed up 0.37% at 3,707.85
  • U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is up 1.3 bps at 4.094%
  • E-mini S&P 500 futures are down 0.3% at 6,873.25
  • E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are down 0.39% at 24,857.50
  • E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures are down 0.35% at 49,549.00

Bitcoin Stats

  • BTC Dominance: 58.74% (0.26%)
  • Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.0294 (-0.09%)
  • Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,057 EH/s
  • Hashprice (spot): $33.63
  • Total fees: 2.31 BTC / $155,155
  • CME Futures Open Interest: 118,610 BTC
  • BTC priced in gold: 13.4 oz.
  • BTC vs gold market cap: 4.47%

Technical Analysis

Chart plotting ratio of total crypto market cap excluding top 10 tokens to bitcoin.

Total crypto market cap excluding top 10 tokens to bitcoin (TradingView)

  • The ratio of altcoins (excluding the top 10) to the bitcoin price continues to rise from key weekly support and is now testing the 50-week exponential moving average.
  • A break above that level would imply continued resilience of altcoins relative to bitcoin, which is most likely a result of their being extremely oversold.

Crypto Equities

  • Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Monday at $164.05 (-1.19%), +0.24% at $164.45 in pre-market
  • Circle Internet (CRCL): closed at $63.15 (+2.48%), +0.19% at $63.27
  • Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $21.73 (+2.02%), +0.74% at $21.89
  • Bullish (BLSH): closed at $31.85 (-0.47%), unchanged in pre-market
  • MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $7.50 (-0.13%), +0.40% at $7.53
  • Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $15.49 (+5.73%), +0.19% at $15.52
  • Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $17.27 (+0.23%)
  • CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $9.27 (-0.11%), unchanged in pre-market
  • CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $40.04 (+0.10%)
  • Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $9.88 (-2.08%)

Crypto Treasury Companies

  • Strategy (MSTR): closed at $125.20 (-2.70%), unchanged in pre-market
  • Strive (ASST): closed at $8.05 (-1.59%)
  • SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $6.60 (-0.90%)
  • Upexi (UPXI): closed at $0.69 (-4.17%)
  • Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.10 (+0.00%)

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs

  • Daily net flows: -$133.3 million
  • Cumulative net flows: $54.07 billion
  • Total BTC holdings ~1.26 million

Spot ETH ETFs

  • Daily net flows: -$41.8 million
  • Cumulative net flows: $11.68 billion
  • Total ETH holdings ~5.74 million

Source: Farside Investors

While You Were Sleeping

  • Bitcoin shakes off U.S. session losses as Trump says trade deficit cut by 78% (CoinDesk): Bitcoin trading remained volatile on Thursday, rising to around $67,000 after briefly dipping near $65,900, as traders digested President Trump’s claims the U.S. trade deficit was cut by 78%.
  • Bitcoin, ether, xrp ETFs bleed while Solana bucks outflow trend (CoinDesk): U.S.-listed spot crypto ETFs are flashing red across the board, with one exception. SOL ETFs recorded $2.4 million in net inflows, pushing cumulative inflows to nearly $880 million.
  • Gold recaptures $5,000 with focus on the Fed’s rate path (Bloomberg): Gold advanced back to around $5,000 an ounce after jumping 2% on Wednesday, with traders focused on the Fed’s next move on interest rates. Bullion climbed as much as 0.9% on Thursday, silver 3%.
  • European shares dip as Airbus, Rio Tinto plunge; Nestle gains (Reuters): European shares slipped on Thursday, as investors sifted through a mixed bag of earnings from the likes of Airbus, Rio Tinto and Nestle.

How Global Tokenisation Deposits are Unlocking New Economic Value

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How Global Tokenisation Deposits are Unlocking New Economic Value

In this Finextra TV interview from the Digital Assets Forum in London, Jacob Mikkel Hansen, CEO of the Nordic Blockchain Association, explores the evolving blockchain landscape in the Nordic region. Hansen explains how the Nordic region initially took a cautious stance toward blockchain due to strong established trust and limited early use cases. However, this has recently shifted towards a rapid adoption of stable coins, digital identity initiatives, and real-world applications in public-sector projects. Hansen helps to outline the growing institutional involvement and increased public engagement emphasising that blockchain is now unlocking new economic value through tokenised deposits and emerging digital infrastructure.

Stablecoin volume reached $35 trillion in 2025 as illicit share stays below 0.5%

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Stablecoin volume reached $35 trillion in 2025 as illicit share stays below 0.5%

Less than 0.5% of stablecoin transactions were tied to illicit activity in 2025, according to a recent report by blockchain analytics platform TRM Labs.

Illicit flows accounted for roughly 0.4% of overall activity, underscoring that stablecoin usage remains overwhelmingly legitimate, TRM Labs’ analysis showed.

TRM said 2025 was the first year stablecoin activity exceeded $1 trillion in monthly transaction volume multiple times, with sustained throughput rather than short-lived speculative spikes.

In 2024, stablecoin transaction volume experienced unprecedented growth with total onchain transfer volume exceeding $27.5 trillion, and in 2025, it increased by nearly 20% to at least $35 trillion.

Illicit activity followed a similar trajectory of concentration and scale. In 2025, illicit entities received $141 billion in stablecoins, the highest level observed in five years, of which $72 billion was linked to the A7A5 token, a ruble-pegged stablecoin operating within sanctions-linked networks.

Oleg Ogienko, A7A5’s director for Regulatory and Overseas Affairs, told CoinDesk that “TRM Labs tries to call all Russian external trade illicit or illegal. But this is of course a wrong statement.”

In separate comments during an interview at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, Ogienko was even more defiant, saying he was looking to debate anyone who accuses him of breaking any compliance laws through his stablecoin company.

“We are fully compliant with the regulations of Kyrgyzstan. We do not do illegal things,” he said. “We have KYC procedures, and we have AML mechanisms embedded into our infrastructure. We do not violate any Financial Action Task Force principles.”

However, Old Vector LLC and A7 LLC, A7A5’s issuing and affiliated entities, and Promsvyazbank (PSB), the bank that holds the reserves, are sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, barring the U.S. dollar-denominated financial world from interacting with them.

TRM Labs report said stablecoins accounted for 86% of all illicit crypto flows in 2025, underscoring how dominant they have become within high-risk ecosystems. Sanctions-related networks consolidated dramatically in 2025, with the A7 ecosystem alone tied to at least $83 billion in direct volume. These networks increasingly resemble parallel cross-border financial systems rather than isolated actors.

By comparison, 2024 represented a scaling phase. Laundering infrastructure such as guarantee services expanded rapidly from 2022 through mid-2025, peaking above $17 billion per quarter, with roughly 99% of volume denominated in stablecoins. But the institutionalization and centralization seen in 2025, particularly via A7 and front-company exchanges, had not yet reached the same scale.

Crypto Sees Deepest Capital Outflows Since 2022 Bear Market

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Crypto Sees Deepest Capital Outflows Since 2022 Bear Market

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

On-chain data shows the crypto sector has witnessed the largest decline in the monthly Realized Cap since the previous bear market.

Crypto Realized Cap Has Seen A Deep Negative Change Recently

In a new post on X, Glassnode analyst Chris Beamish has discussed the latest trend in capital flows for the crypto market. While the digital asset sector is large, most of the capital that enters or leaves it does so through three main segments: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the stablecoins.

Investors first inject capital into these primary assets, and then it rotates out into the riskier altcoins. Similarly, when exiting from the market, traders tend to sell altcoins first and move their capital into Bitcoin or stablecoins.

An on-chain indicator that can be used to track sector flows is the Realized Cap. This capitalization model calculates an asset’s total value by assuming that the ‘real’ value of any token in circulation is equal to the last spot price it was moved at. This approach is different from that of the usual market cap, which simply sums up the supply at the current spot price.

The last transaction price of any coin can be thought to represent its current cost basis, so the Realized Cap is essentially a sum of the acquisition value for the entire supply. As such, the indicator can be considered as a measure of the total amount of capital that investors have put into the cryptocurrency.

Whenever this metric’s value changes, capital leaves or enters the asset, based on the direction of the change. Below is the chart shared by Beamish that shows the trend in the monthly change in the Realized Cap for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the stablecoins.

Crypto Realized Cap

The value of the metric seems to have been deeply negative in recent days | Source: @ChrisBeamish_ on X

As displayed in the graph, the Realized Cap netflow for these primary assets, serving as a proxy of the demand in the crypto sector as a whole, has plummeted deep into the negative zone recently.

During most of 2025, this indicator was at positive levels, indicating that capital was consistently flowing into the sector. The trend ended up flipping in December, as outflows started taking place instead.

As the crypto market downturn has only deepened in 2026, capital outflows have also intensified on a monthly scale. Today, the indicator is at its most red level since the 2022 bear market.

In the same chart, the data for Bitcoin + Ethereum and the stablecoins is also separately displayed. It would appear that the recent outflows are mostly driven by the combined BTC and ETH Realized Cap, while the stables have seen their netflow sit at a more-or-less neutral level.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $67,100, up 1% over the last week.

Bitcoin Price Chart

Looks like the price of the coin has been moving sideways | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.

Crypto steadies after selloff while derivatives flash caution signals

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Crypto steadies after selloff while derivatives flash caution signals

Bitcoin BTC$66,547.86 and ether (ETH) both rose around 0.9% overnight while the broader altcoin market lagged on Thursday.

BTC was recently trading at $67,000 following a brief touch of $66,000 on Wednesday. Ether, at $1,970 after bouncing off $1,924, is struggling to break through the psychological $2,000 price level.

Volatility has waned since the selloff on Feb. 5. Two subsequent weeks of consolidation have left investors wondering whether this is the calm before another stormy move to the downside, or whether the market is establishing a macro low before rising back toward 2025 levels.

World Liberty Financial’s Mar-a-Lago forum on Wednesday failed to provide a bullish catalyst despite being attended by CFTC Chairman Michael Selig and executives from companies including Goldman Sachs.

From a macro perspective, bitcoin remains in a downtrend since hitting a record high of $126,600 in early October. It has notched a series of lower highs and lower lows with periods of choppy consolidation in between each major move.

Derivatives positioning

  • Market dynamics have stabilized with open interest holding at $15.38 billion.
  • That marks a transition from a leverage cleanup to a steady floor.
  • Retail sentiment shows a subtle rebound with funding rates flipping flat to positive (Binance back at 4%), while institutional conviction remains anchored with the three-month annualized basis persisting at 3%.
  • The BTC options market has reached a 50/50 volume equilibrium between calls and puts. While the one-week 25-delta skew has edged up to 12%, the implied volatility (IV) term structure remains in short-term backwardation.
  • The front-end spike in the IV curve confirms that traders are still paying a “panic premium” for immediate protection, even as longer-dated tenors stabilize near 49%.
  • Coinglass data shows $218 million in 24-hour liquidations, with a 77-23 split between longs and shorts. BTC ($75 million), ETH ($53 million) and others ($22 million) were the leaders in terms of notional liquidations.
  • The Binance liquidation heatmap indicates $67,400 as a core liquidation level to monitor in case of a price rise.

Token talk

  • The altcoin market is starting to suffer in the low-liquidity trading environment.
  • Shares of WLFI$0.1171 lost more than 10% of their value after selling off during Wednesday’s event in a classic “sell the news” move.
  • Axie Infinity (AXS) is retesting its Feb. 6 lows after falling 5.9% since midnight UTC.
  • Lending platform Morpho’s native MORPHO token has now given back all of Wednesday’s gains, trading at $1.39 after shedding 4.2% of its value overnight.
  • A whopping 97 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies, not including stablecoins or tokenized gold tokens, are in the red over the past 24 hours as the market remains in “extreme fear” territory.
  • The fear and greed index is currently at 11/100, up from February’s low of 6/100.

Canary Capital Launches First-Ever Staked SUI ETF

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Canary Capital Launches First-Ever Staked SUI ETF

Canary Capital’s introduction of the Canary Staked SUI ETF provides investors with regulated exposure to the Sui Network’s staking rewards

Canary Capital on Wednesday, Feb. 18, officially launched the Canary Staked SUI ETF (NASDAQ: SUIS).

The exchange-traded fund seeks to track the spot price of SUI while participating in the Sui Network’s proof-of-stake protocol, with net in-kind staking rewards reflected in the fund’s NAV, according to a blog post.

“The Canary Staked SUI spot ETF (SUIS) brings exposure to SUI in a registered, exchanged-traded structure, while also enabling investors to benefit from net staking rewards generated through SUI’s proof-of-stake mechanism,” said Steven McClurg, CEO at Canary Capital.

The new product aims to provide both institutional and retail investors with access to the Sui ecosystem. It also reflects a growing interest in regulated crypto investment vehicles, offering transparency and compliance with existing financial regulations.

The move is expected to attract a broader range of investors seeking diversified exposure to digital assets.

The product launch comes as Sui Network has recorded growth recently, recording over $10 billion in 30-day decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume, 1,000 monthly active developers, and more than $200 billion in monthly stablecoin transfer volume, according to DeFiLlama and Artemis data.

This article was generated with the assistance of AI workflows.

Morgan Stanley, Top Bitmine Shareholders Increased BMNR Holdings in Q4

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Morgan Stanley, Top Bitmine Shareholders Increased BMNR Holdings in Q4

The largest shareholders of Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) stock increased their investments in the leading Ethereum treasury company in the fourth quarter of 2025 despite a wider crypto market crash and poor stock price performance.

Morgan Stanley, the top reported holder, increased its position by about 26% to more than 12.1 million shares, valued at $331 million at quarter end, according to its Form 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. ARK Investment Management, the second-largest holder, increased its stake by about 27% to more than 9.4 million shares worth $256 million, its filing shows.

Morgan Stanley BMNR share holdings during 2025, 13F-HR filing. Source: 13f.info

Several other top institutional holders also increased exposure. BlackRock increased its BMNR holdings by 166%, Goldman Sachs by 588%, Vanguard by 66% and Bank of America by 1,668%.

Wall Street adds BMNR exposure despite 48% stock slide

Each of the top 11 largest shareholders increased exposure to BMNR during Q4 of 2025, including Charles Schwab, Van Eck, Royal Bank of Canada, Citigroup and the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, according to official filings compiled by crypto investor Collin.

Source: Collin

The accumulation came despite a sharp drop in Bitmine’s share price. BMNR fell about 48% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and about 60% over the past six months, trading near $19.90 in premarket action Thursday, according to Google Finance.

Related: BlackRock enters DeFi as institutional crypto push accelerates: Finance Redefined

BMNR stock price, six-month chart. Source: Google Finance

Institutional investments keep Bitmine mNAV above water

The continued institutional investments are bringing more capital to support Bitmine’s operations and continued Ether (ETH) purchases.

The company’s financing flexibility is closely watched through its market net asset value, or mNAV, a ratio that compares a company’s enterprise value to the value of its crypto holdings.

An mNAV below 1 can make it harder for companies to raise capital by issuing new shares, potentially limiting additional cryptocurrency purchases. Data tracked by Bitmine monitoring services indicated the company’s mNAV remained above 1, supported in part by continued institutional ownership.

Related: Bitmine nears $7B in unrealized losses as Ether downturn pressures treasury firms

Bitmine continues to expand its Ether holdings amid the market downturn. It purchased 45,759 Ether for about $260 million during the past week, at an average cost basis of $1,992 per ETH.

Bitmine is the biggest corporate Ether holder, with 4.37 million Ether worth about $8.69 billion on its books, according to data from the StrategicEthReserve.

Magazine: Sharplink exec shocked by level of BTC and ETH ETF hodling — Joseph Chalom