Lethargic crypto looks to reset
What's being bought and sold*
TOP TRENDING ASSETS
*Trading activity in the past 24 hours on the Uphold platform, as of 8 a.m. 20th February 2025.
The combined total of buy and sell percentages can exceed 100% due to customers who engage in both buying and selling the same asset within the 24-hour time frame.
Don’t invest in crypto unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 minutes to learn more.
What’s up
In A Sideways Slog, Some Altcoins Take Off
The digital asset market remains stuck in neutral. Bitcoin can't seem to catch a catalyst. But there are numerous altcoins moving on with their lives.
XRP gained 4.6% in 24 hours to hit $2.70 after a big day for developments in the ongoing story of how the third-largest crypto came to get its own spot ETF. Yesterday, Brazil approved the world’s first spot XRP ETF. Meanwhile some U.S. issuers have filed papers with the SEC to do the same. XRP is up 10% this week.
Meanwhile, the saga of Story Protocol's IP token continues to get more interesting. IP is now on the verge of cracking into the CoinGecko Top 100 following a 30% rise in just the past day. Story Protocol is a layer-1 chain focused on intellectual property. It launched earlier this month via an airdrop on Feb. 13. Dumping ensued within a day. However, since then, Story's native IP token has gone from $1 to $3.
Other coins experiencing 24-hour momentum at this moment include Sei, Sonic and Bittensor (each of them up 13%) as well as Celestia (+17%).
What's down
Lethargic BTC Ready For Wake-Up Call
Bitcoin crossed above $97,000 and is now in the green on the week. But regardless of whether BTC continues momentum or starts sliding again, a full-on "sentiment reset" is happening and nearly complete, said trader Bob Loukas.
What could drag the largest crypto lower? CryptoQuant analysts counted the ways: waning demand, reduced blockchain activity and a lack of liquidity.
Inflows to spot BTC ETFs have vanished. Net outflows have been the norm over the past two weeks.
CryptoQuant’s Inter-exchange Flow Pulse, which tracks BTC movement between exchanges, also signals weakness with BTC transfers to Coinbase falling below its 90-day moving average (CoinDesk).
What's next
Brazilian Blessing Hailed As Momentous
Against a backdrop of growing worldwide interest in crypto products and a warming regulatory climate in the U.S., the first-ever spot XRP ETF has been born — in Brazil.
Yesterday, the Hashdex Nasdaq XRP Index Fund launched in a "pre-operational phase" following a green light given by Brazil's Securities and Exchange Commission, or the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), per Decrypt. At some point, the ETF will debut on Brazil’s B3 exchange.
"It's a landmark decision which not only enhances XRP's market presence, but also positions Brazil as a leader in global crypto adoption," Crypto News said.
Silvio Pegado, Ripple’s Latin America Managing Director, predicted that Brazil’s progressive stance on crypto regulation might well set a precedent. “XRP is a natural fit for an ETF due to its real-world use cases, rising institutional demand, and strong market presence,” he said.
Brazil, which is Latin America’s biggest economy, boasts a bumper crop of Bitcoin ETFs. Many of the country’s banks offer crypto exposure.
Also on Wednesday, the SEC revealed that it is formally reviewing an application from Canary Capital seeking to launch a spot XRP ETF. Canary, WisdomTree, CoinShares, Bitwise and Grayscale are among the asset managers hankering for SEC approval to launch a variety of new crypto ETFs.
