USD1 Stablecoin Depegs Amid Attack Claims, Eric Trump X Account Activity
The $USD1 stablecoin briefly depegged to as low as $0.9802 USDT before recovering towards its $1 peg. The event followed the deletion of $USD1-related content and trading pairs on Binance from Eric Trump's X account. Issuer World Liberty Financial ($WLFI) claimed the depeg resulted from a coordinated attack, involving unauthorized access to co-founders' X accounts to spread FUD. Influencers were reportedly paid to spread negative information, and attackers opened significant short positions on the $WLFI token. World Liberty Financial assured that no wallets or smart contracts were compromised, and all $USD1 funds remained secure. The $WLFI token declined over 8%, and suspicions of Eric Trump's X account compromise emerged. The incident led to a 0.7% increase in $USD1 mindshare.
Alleged $4.5B BTC Sell-Off Triggers Market Decline
Social media alleges major entities (Binance, Coinbase, Wintermute, BlackRock, and a “Trump insider”) executed a collective $4.5 billion $BTC sell-off. This alleged divestment is cited as the direct cause of the current market downturn. Following this reported event, $BTC dropped to $63,265.00, a 3.73% decrease over 24 hours and a 7.3% decline over seven days. Bullish sentiment for $BTC registered 62.5%, a decline from its typical baseline range of 65-75%. The broader market's Fear & Greed Index plunged to 0/100. BTC mindshare increased by 2.8%.
Record 100K+ BTC Liquidated Amid Market Reversal
The crypto market experienced a record liquidation of over 100,000 $BTC. This downturn followed a period of Bitcoin ETF-driven optimism and a sharp market reversal. Bitcoin ETF investors have been underwater for 25 days, holding positions with an average cost of approximately $83,000, marking the longest period of unrealized losses for ETF investors. Technical indicators turned bearish; the Bitcoin MACD flipped bearish, a pattern that historically preceded a 33% price decline. A rejection above zero in the Coinbase Premium SMA-30 triggered downward price action. The financial impact extended to major holders: Satoshi Nakamoto's unrealized value decreased by $62.6 billion since $BTC's peak, and Michael Saylor's Bitcoin holdings declined by over $9.5 billion. Despite significant liquidations, the $BTC liquidation heatmap indicates few long positions remain below the current price. The $BTC Long/Short ratio stands at 63% long.
IoTeX ioTube Bridge Hacked: $4.4M Targeted with 10% Bounty
The IoTeX cross-chain bridge, ioTube, was exploited, compromising approximately $4.4 million in assets due to a compromised private key around February 21. IoTeX co-founder and CEO Raullen Chai offered a 10% bounty for the return of stolen funds, with a no-prosecution clause for assets returned within 48 hours. Initial reports varied, with some estimates reaching over $10 million, but confirmed losses in specific assets were around $2 million across $USDC, $USDT, $IOTX, and WBTC. The IoTeX network was temporarily paused. Bearish sentiment was observed across the crypto community, with sentiment scores as low as -94. Upbit applied a caution tag to $IOTX. The token experienced immediate price pressure, though it later saw recoveries on Binance Futures and Spot.
Bonk/USD1 Token Suffers Multi-Million Dollar Rug Pull
The Bonk/USD1 token suffered a multi-million dollar rug pull, losing 95% of its value within 15 minutes, despite months of prior promotion. Some traders reportedly profited over $500,000 during the downturn.