Weekly Update: 13th of February
What happened between the 6th and 13th of February?
- Bitcoin traded sideways between $66,000 and $72,000 following the earlier correction as investors remained cautious and awaited new catalysts. Read more
- BlackRock announced historic move by bringing BUIDL token to Uniswap and purchasing UNI tokens for decentralized finance integration. Read more
- White House meetings on stablecoin yields ended in impasse between major banks and crypto firms, leaving regulation stalled in Washington. Read more
- Tether made strategic investment in LayerZero Labs to strengthen cross-chain infrastructure for USDT and enable agentic finance capabilities. Read more
Crypto market moves sideways after correction
Bitcoin traded primarily sideways this week between $66,000 and $72,000, struggling to break above $70,000. The digital assets market has lost roughly half its value since October, with Bitcoin retreating from a peak of $126,000. Analysts point to weak U.S. employment data, concerns about capital rotation into the AI sector, and a lack of new positive catalysts.
The Crypto Fear and Greed Index reached extreme fear levels comparable to the 2022 FTX crisis. Market observers suggest Bitcoin may be following the four-year halving cycle pattern, where an extended correction phase follows a new all-time high. Our analysts are closely monitoring whether Bitcoin can maintain the crucial $60,000 support level.
BlackRock enters DeFi with Uniswap integration and token purchase
BlackRock made a historic move into decentralized finance by making its $2.4 billion BUIDL token available on Uniswap and purchasing UNI tokens. The BUIDL token, fully backed by U.S. Treasury bills, will trade via UniswapX through whitelisted institutional investors, with Securitize handling compliance and market makers like Wintermute providing liquidity. The UNI token surged 25% immediately following the announcement.
Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock's global head of digital assets, called the integration a notable step in the convergence of tokenized assets and DeFi. For Uniswap, this represents a breakthrough: when the world's largest asset manager deliberately chooses DeFi protocols as a settlement layer, it fundamentally shifts perceptions of decentralized infrastructure.
White House stablecoin meeting leads to impasse over yields
Two White House meetings between major banks and crypto firms ended without breakthrough on stablecoin yields. Banking representatives presented a document proposing a complete ban on stablecoin yields, rewards, and bonuses, while crypto firms showed openness to more limited restrictions. Banks fear that high yields will drain deposits from the traditional banking system, but crypto firms argue that the GENIUS Act already prohibits direct interest payments by stablecoin issuers.
President Trump's crypto adviser Patrick Witt directed both parties to deliver compromise text by the end of February. Beyond stablecoin yields, Democratic senators also demand ethics restrictions around Trump's crypto interests. Market analysts warn that further delays past the midterm elections could extend uncertainty for years.
Tether invests in LayerZero Labs for cross-chain infrastructure
Tether Investments announced a strategic investment in LayerZero Labs, the company behind the interoperability protocol used by USDt0. LayerZero's technology enables digital assets to move securely across different blockchains without liquidity fragmentation. USDt0, built on LayerZero's Omnichain Fungible Token standard, has facilitated over $70 billion in cross-chain value transfers in less than twelve months since launch.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino emphasized that the company invests in infrastructure already delivering real-world utility. Combined with Tether's Wallet Development Kit, the infrastructure provides an advanced foundation for digital asset payments and is also designed for agentic finance where AI agents manage autonomous wallets.
In other digital assets news
- BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF IBIT recorded a record volume of $10 billion in a single trading day during the early February correction with the price falling 13%.
- YouTube star MrBeast announced through his company Beast Industries the acquisition of Step, a banking app for youth with 7 million users, fueling speculation about future crypto integration following earlier trademark filings mentioning cryptocurrency exchange services.
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