🚀 Weekly Crypto Market Wrap: FEB 8, 2025

Contents

• Overview in This Market
• Movement in the Top 8
• This Week’s Narrative
• Key Advancements
• DeFi Brief
• Meme’s in Motion
• Airdrop Buzz
• The Wrap Up

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1. Overview in This Market

The week kicked off with a slow bleed on tariff fears, which quickly escalated into a full-blown sell-off amidst trade war concerns. Bitcoin (BTC) plunged from the weekend highs of $105K down to $91K, before gradually recovering to $95K-$98K. The total crypto market cap fell over 12%, dropping from $3.708T to $3.260T. Liquidations on both sides surged, with estimates suggesting up to $10B in liquidated positions. Funding rates, already in low ranges, continued falling, indicating market fatigue and leverage reduction.

The unexpected tariffs caused widespread liquidations, reflecting traders’ over-leveraged positions. While BTC dominance rose to 64%, altcoins faced heavier losses. This reaffirms Bitcoin’s status as a safer bet during market downturns, but concerns remain about market recovery in the face of continued macroeconomic pressures.

2. Movement in the Top 8

1. Bitcoin (BTC): $96,576.00 | -0.04% | Volatility-driven losses amid liquidation events.
2. Ethereum (ETH): $2,637.37 | +0.03% | Outperformed by BTC, major DeFi sell-offs.
3. XRP: $2.40 | -0.83% | Dropped as overall altcoin market weakened.
4. Solana (SOL): $203.35 | +1.63% | Heavy bleeding with minor recovery toward week’s end.
5. BNB: $617.87 | +0.69% | Hit by altcoin-wide pressure despite Binance updates.
6. Dogecoin (DOGE): $0.2505 | -1.07% | Memecoins faced steep corrections.
7. Cardano (ADA): $0.6921 | -0.86% | Struggled amid risk-off sentiment.
8. TRON (TRX): $0.2316 | -0.06% | Saw slightly less downside compared to most altcoins.

The sharp losses across major cryptocurrencies show the ongoing struggle to find a support level amid uncertainty. Bitcoin's relative outperformance indicates that while risk-off sentiment dominates, investors are prioritizing stability over speculative assets like altcoins

3. This Week’s Narrative

The enactment of Trump's long-promised tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China sent shockwaves through both crypto and traditional markets. Crypto suffered its largest-ever liquidation event, with many traders caught off guard by the timing. The EU retaliated by threatening Big Tech sanctions, heightening fears of a trade war.

This escalation in global trade tensions has revived memories of market turbulence during Trump’s first term. Investors are wary of further retaliatory measures, which could exacerbate volatility. The short-term outlook remains cautious as markets brace for additional policy moves.

4. Key Advancements

Several major projects made significant strides this week despite market pressures:

• Tether announced USDT integration with Bitcoin’s Lightning Network after a record $13B profit year.
• Hyperliquid introduced a dual-block architecture in its HyperEVM upgrade.
• Ondo Finance revealed Ondo Chain, an L1 blockchain tailored for real-world assets (RWA).
• Berachain launched its mainnet, just two days after releasing its Honeypaper whitepaper.
• AI project Grass launched an upgrade to optimize large-scale web data scraping, setting a benchmark for data retrieval efficiency.

The advancements by these projects showcase the resilience of innovation in the crypto space. Even during downturns, leaders like Tether and new L1 blockchains continue pushing boundaries, which can build long-term market strength.

5. DeFi Brief

DeFi saw both setbacks and breakthroughs this week, including new initiatives and technical challenges:

• World Liberty Finance announced $10M token swap agreements with multiple blockchains.
• Uniswap V4 launched customizable hooks, enabling more complex DeFi applications.
• Lido Finance teased Lido V3, expected to enhance ETH staking.
• MetaMask introduced gasless swaps, eliminating the need for ETH in transactions.

Despite volatility, DeFi projects are doubling down on innovation. The World Liberty Finance token swaps have drawn criticism for lacking clear strategic partnerships. However, initiatives like Uniswap V4 demonstrate continued infrastructure growth in decentralized finance.

6. Meme’s in Motion

Meme coins experienced notable developments:

• The PAIN memecoin presale raised $40M, later refunding 80% of deposits to allocate funds for liquidity.
• Dogwifhat (WIF) provided updates on its WIF Sphere project, citing organizational delays.

The rapid capital inflows into memecoins highlight their speculative appeal even during volatile periods. However, the PAIN presale's partial refund underscores the challenges of sustaining investor confidence without a robust plan.

7. Airdrop Buzz

Airdrop campaigns saw heightened activity this week as projects sought to engage users and expand their ecosystems:

• Tensor’s S4 Airdrop: Eligible users received additional rewards by claiming their tokens through Vector, Tensor’s new memecoin trading platform, incentivizing early adoption.
• Berachain’s BERA Token Airdrop: The project distributed 15.8% of its token supply to early supporters, including 6.9% allocated specifically to Bong Bear NFT and rebased NFT holders.
• Solayer’s LAYER Airdrop: 12% of LAYER’s token supply was allocated to Genesis participants, with eligibility tied to early engagement on the platform.
• Ondo Nexus Airdrop Speculation: Although not officially announced, speculation is building around an upcoming airdrop tied to Ondo Chain’s real-world asset (RWA) focus, drawing attention from DeFi users.

Airdrops continue to serve as powerful tools for fostering community loyalty and driving adoption. With projects like Berachain and Tensor rewarding early contributors, these initiatives help bootstrap user bases while incentivizing long-term ecosystem growth. The growing trend of targeted and high-value airdrops reflects projects’ focus on retaining high-quality users rather than simple token distribution.

8. The Wrap Up

This week was a stark reminder of crypto’s volatility as macroeconomic forces, especially Trump’s tariffs, rocked the market. Liquidations dominated headlines, but innovation persisted with significant developments in DeFi, project upgrades, and high-value airdrops. For traders and investors, maintaining a strategic long-term outlook while staying agile remains key.

Your Trusted Crypto Research Team,
Crypto Research Australia - CRA
“Stay alert, stay strategic, and stay ahead.”