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OVERVIEW

Portnoy Shills Like A Hype Man At A Garage Sale, Then Left His Audience With Junk 🗑️ 

Before we dive in, here’s today’s crypto market heatmap:

And here’s a look at crypto’s total market cap and altcoin market cap charts:

NEWS IN THREE SENTENCES
Crypto News 📰

🔥 LIBRA Co-Founder Doesn’t Recall ‘Controlling Milei’ Texts

Hayden Davis, tied to the controversial LIBRA memecoin, says he “can’t remember” sending alleged messages bragging about controlling Argentina’s President via Milei’s sister. CoinDesk and La Nacion published screenshots rumored to show Davis making payoffs to Karina Milei, but he calls it a smear campaign. Protos.

📈 BitGo CEO: “Go Public Or Go Home”

Mike Belsche says crypto firms must IPO to appease Wall Street, referencing the fiasco around FTX’s meltdown. BitGo’s even mulling an IPO itself, having just launched an OTC desk for big institutional players. Gemini’s similarly eyeing the public route, though it’s still juggling lawsuits and regulator scuffles. CoinPaper.

🇮🇳 India Grabs $190M From BitConnect Scam

Authorities seized devices linked to the infamous BitConnect Ponzi, netting a small chunk of the billions in missing Bitcoin. The total stash is worth over $31 billion today, so $190M is barely a drop in the ocean. Founder Satish Kumbhani remains MIA, leaving the rest of the world’s biggest crypto scam in limbo. Decrypt.

🏛️ Charles Hoskinson Does DC

Cardano’s frontman is helping define how “decentralized” fits into new laws, pushing to finalize the FIT21 crypto bill. He’s telling Congress that clarity is king, particularly after the SEC’s lawsuits made the market squeamish. Hoskinson’s also pro research collaboration, reminding folks that the US must keep up with China’s AI if it wants to remain a blockchain superpower. TheCoinRepublic.

🏛️ Horizen’s ZenIP 42406: Migrating to Base

Horizen is eyeing Coinbase’s Base L2 for EON and $ZEN to get sub-1s finality and sub-1¢ fees - perfect for their zero-knowledge privacy bent. The idea? An appchain that inherits Base’s security and institutional clout. They’ll keep the same mission - ZK and all - but piggyback on Base’s developer resources, liquidity, and bridging. DAO voting is set for Feb 20–23 on Snapshot, so if you hold $ZEN, you can weigh in on the next big leap. Horizen.

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MEMECOINS
February 19, 2025: When Davey Day Trader Became Davey Dick Dumper 🤦‍♂️ 

Another meltdown in memecoins, this time courtesy of Dave Portnoy. Here’s the step-by-step descent into GREED and GREED2. 🤦 

The GREED Launch

• Date: February 19, 2025.

• Market Cap: Shot up to $30 million.

• Dave’s Share: 35% of the total supply (over 357 million tokens).

• Investor Hype: Many rushed in, convinced Portnoy wouldn’t dump “anytime soon.”

The Big Sell-Off

• Timeline: Within an hour of launch.

• Dave’s Profit: Approximately $258,000.

• Price Dive: From $0.03 down to $0.003 (a 90% crash).

• Investor Casualty: One buyer lost $101,000 in just three hours.

GREED2 Arrives (Because One Token Wasn’t Enough)

• Launch: Hours after GREED collapsed.

• Dave’s Cut: 26.8% of the total supply (about 268 million tokens).

• Early Surge: Market cap briefly jumped above $28 million.

• Inevitable Crash: Fell below $750,000 in no time.

Portnoy warned everyone “not to invest more than you can afford to lose.” That disclaimer didn’t stop folks from piling in again. It also didn’t stop the next round of accusations that he’d staged another pump-and-dump.

The Lessons

• Short-Lived Promises: Portnoy’s vow not to sell “anytime soon” lasted about 60 minutes.

• Multiple Tokens, Same Outcome: GREED and GREED2 pumped, then tanked, leaving bagholders in the dust..

Bottom Line

Just another memecoin shit show in crypto land. 💩 

ON-CHAIN ANALYTICS
Stablecoin Supply: Not Your Crystal Ball 🔮 

If it weren’t for Davey Dick Dumper and Hayden ‘SBF 2.0’ Davis, a lot of the focus in crypto would likely be on the big stablecoin mints of Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. 🤑 

Tether and Circle minted $1.25 billion in stablecoins on Tron and Solana yesterday, boosting liquidity and potentially luring more traders.

There’s a good chunk of crypto social and news that reports rising stablecoin supply is a leading indicator of Bitcoin and the broader crypto market rallying.

But does the data really support that belief? 🤔 

Key Findings

• USDT supply on exchanges has a very tight relationship (+0.91 correlation) with Bitcoin’s price.

• USDC shows similar patterns, so no, it’s not just Tether.

• Both USDT and USDC supply lag behind BTC’s price moves by roughly 30 days.

Interpretation That Might Ruin Some Narratives

Traders love rolling out theories that a surge in stablecoins on exchanges means Bitcoin is about to pop. The data says otherwise. More often than not, folks move stablecoins to exchanges after the BTC price has already done its thing.

What This Means

Watch BTC first. The stablecoin inflows usually confirm what’s already happening.
Stablecoins don’t lead Bitcoin. They follow. And it’s not exactly subtle.

Yes, stablecoins keep the market liquid, but they’re no crystal ball. They’re just late to the party. 🪙 

NEWS IN THREE SENTENCES
Metaverse, NFT, & Gaming News 🎮️

💎 Tezos Art Community: Collaboration Over Speculation

Tezos fosters an artist-first, grassroots vibe, with indie initiatives like Teia Fountain handing out free tez to new creators and community raid groups (TIAR) “raiding” artist portfolios for mass buys. Platforms like Objkt and Teia champion collab contracts for shared ownership and royalties. Tezos.

👾 Nexus by Zentry Launches on Injective

Zentry’s “Nexus” platform is turning social content creation into a gamified experience. You post about Injective, get zaps (rewards), and climb the ranks. Essentially, it’s a “SocialFi” approach - build hype, earn cred, and maybe bag some tokens. It pairs nicely with the new Ambassador Program for Injective, so if you’re a content machine, you can flex your memes for real gains. Injective Protocol. Injective Protocol.

NEWS IN THREE SENTENCES
DeFi, DEX, and Lending Protocol News 🏦

⚙️ API3’s OEV Network Endures Historic Liquidations

During the massive $10B liquidation weekend, API3’s OEV approach recaptured serious value for Compound, Lendle, and Yei, funneling thousands in “oracle extractable value” (MEV) back to protocols. For Compound, that’s $2.6M in liquidations with $150k recaptured. They’re calling it a “stress test success,” showing that OEV can transform oracles from a cost center to a revenue generator. API3.

🌉 Ethereal Crosses $100M TVL

Ethereal, an onchain exchange, soared to $100M in TVL in mere days. They’re tapping Ethena’s $6B in existing liquidity - an elegant synergy for early depositors. Season Zero has begun, offering depositors (in USDe) “Ethereal Points” plus a 30x multiplier on Ethena Labs rewards. It’s all about that pass to future perks, so if you deposit now, you might get in on big airdrops later. Ethereal’s X.

🏦 CoreFi Strategy: A MicroStrategy-Style BTC Bet

DeFi Technologies launched a new approach, letting institutional players get leveraged exposure to both Bitcoin and CORE (the asset powering Core blockchain’s Bitcoin staking). It’s basically an “accumulate BTC + CORE and amplify with strategic debt” model reminiscent of what MicroStrategy’s done with Bitcoin. CORE.

LINKS
Links That Don’t Suck 🔗

👍️ OKX wants to operate in the U.S., but is awaiting a clear 'regulatory framework,' says exec

🤯 Binance.US restores fiat deposits and withdrawals for the first time since 2023

⚡️ NKLA drops 50%+ as EV firm files for bankruptcy

🤦 BitBoy returns online after psych ward ordeal amid controversy

😱 New malware can steal crypto on Apple macOS devices: Microsoft

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