Crypto news

Let’s break it down: the total XRP being sent around like hotcakes is what we call payment volume. And guess what? We’ve seen a sudden surge, which means liquidity is flowing through the ledger like it’s in a water park. Now, these whales-those big-time holders-are known for shuffling their cash around like they’re rearranging chairs on the Titanic. They often transfer funds between exchanges, leading to these dramatic spikes that make us all go, “Ooh, what’s that?”

The charts, those intricate tapestries of hope and despair, paint a picture of duality. On the grand canvas of higher timeframes, SOL has stumbled below her former support, a fallen aristocrat. Yet, on the smaller stage of lower timeframes, she clings to $75-$80, a desperate ballerina refusing to leave the spotlight.

Aurora Labs announced the arrival of the Intents Widget, a shiny new tool designed to make NEAR Intents as accessible as your local coffee shop. Paired with the Intents Widget Studio, a browser-based configurator, it’s like IKEA furniture but without the Allen wrench frustration.

Strategy Inc., in its infinite wisdom, has unveiled this Stretch product, a concoction intended to provide the steadying hand of income while reining in the wild gyrations of price swings. One can only hope it fares better than a certain gentleman’s attempts to manage his own erratic behavior at a country dance.

Oh, what a splendid day it is! Stripe has unveiled its latest marvel – x402 payments! Yes indeed, AI agents can now pay their way through the digital world. A jolly good leap into the future, wouldn’t you say?

In an age where the digital and the tangible intertwine like the fates of star-crossed lovers, asset managers and crypto exchanges are weaving a tapestry of institutional infrastructure. On the eleventh of February, Binance, that enfant terrible of the crypto world, announced a partnership with Franklin Templeton, a venerable name in the annals of finance. Together, they have birthed an off-exchange collateral program, allowing the elite of the financial world to deploy tokenized money market fund shares as trading collateral. A move so audacious, it leaves one pondering the nature of progress and the folly of man.

In an unsettling turn of events, Coinbase, the grandmaster of U.S. crypto exchanges, has seen its stock tumble to $154, a steep decline from its 2025 high of $445. Billions have evaporated faster than one can say “blockchain,” with the valuation nosediving from an eye-watering $100 billion to a more pedestrian $41 billion.

On a Wednesday, as the city’s clocks chimed with bureaucratic precision, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) unveiled its latest masterpiece-a policy so bold, so audacious, it could only be the brainchild of a regulator with a penchant for the dramatic. Virtual assets, once the playthings of rogue traders and moon-eyed dreamers, are now to be tamed, collared, and paraded before the masses. Margin finance, that siren of the markets, shall sing its song to the tune of stringent collateral demands, while perpetual contracts, those eternal enigmas, are reserved for the professional few.

Pray, attend to this tale of woe and wonder, dear reader, in our weekly missive, Crypto Long & Short. ‘Tis a newsletter of insights, news, and analysis for the discerning investor. Subscribe forthwith to receive it each Wednesday, lest ye be left in ignorance.

As if plucked from the pages of a melodramatic novel, Taylor supports his audacious claim with words of wisdom from the sage Mark Yusko, who, like an oracle, warns of an impending “curveball.” This curveball, dear readers, is tied to a potential dystopian future where policymakers, ever so fond of wielding their bureaucratic swords, may just clamp down on those mischievous private stablecoins. In a twist worthy of a grand opera, Yusko speculates on a “CBDC version,” where authorities guide users away from USDT and USDC, a notion that has sent shivers of anticipation through the XRP community for years now. Ah, the drama!