VC exec: Hedge funds tanking Bitcoin, 'real organic buyers' needed
A crypto venture capitalist (VC) emphasized the need for "real organic buyers" to engage in the market to stabilize the current volatility in Bitcoin $BTC prices, according to Cointelegraph. In a post on X, Kyle Chasse, the founder of Master Ventures, described the situation as a classic "liquidity game."
He noted that while spot ETFs have attracted long-term holders, they have also drawn hedge funds that engage in short-term arbitrage strategies. Chasse pointed out that these hedge funds "don’t care about Bitcoin," and they are capitalizing on a low-risk yield trade by exploiting the price difference between Bitcoin futures and the spot price, taking advantage of the higher prices on CME futures.
The Crypto Anarchy Tree will grow and grow even more, and you can always choose not to participate in it, but it would be hard to resist for you all when the next narrative hits, just like you had a hard time resisting in the past.
Another liquid market would pop up like agents and memes in the coming weeks/months—and we'll have many of them at regular intervals.
Some of them will die fast, some will survive for a few months, and these liquid markets are the real PvP environment where degens can play to win or die.
Many degens will keep choosing the same path, especially those who entered the space through memes.
They will look for the same dopamine hits again and again. And since there is demand, markets will cater to them eventually.
You could decide to stay sidelined from these markets and choose the utility side of the market, which would shine under the authoritarian state that is closing in too.
Litecoin Defies Market Trends, Bitcoin Recovers From Drop to $82K (Market Watch)
Bitcoin’s nosedive continued in the past 24 hours as the asset plunged to another multi-month low of just over $82,000 before it managed to recover some ground.
Ethereum is the top loser from the larger-cap alts today, while LTC and AVAX stand with minor gains after another massacre.
BTC Rebounds to $86K
A lot can change in the cryptocurrency markets in the span of a week, and sometimes even less. Just last Friday, the largest of the bunch was climbing confidently toward $100,000 after gaining more than five grand in a few days.
However, the Bybit hack stopped its ascent and pushed it south to $96,000 during the weekend. Trump’s tariffs and other controversial economic measures, as well as the growing concerns about rising inflation, pushed investors away from BTC and the ETFs, with massive outflows for several consecutive days now.
The primary cryptocurrency dropped to $94,000 on Monday, but the real pain was observed on Tuesday, with a slump to $86,000, and on Wednesday, with another decline to $82,100 (on Bitstamp). The latter became the new three-month low.
Although BTC has recovered some ground since then and now sits above $86,000, it’s still 3% down on the day. Its market cap has dropped to $1.7 trillion, and its dominance over the alts has decreased to 57.5% on CG.
BTCUSD. Source: TradingView ETH Down, LTC Up
Ethereum continues to dig new lows and dropped toward $2,200 yesterday. It now sits above $2,350, but it is still down by 5% since this time yesterday. XRP, BNB, DOGE, ADA, TRX, XLM, SUI, and TON are also in the red from the larger-cap alts.
In contrast, AVAX and LTC have marked gains of over 3% within the same timeframe. APT has stolen the show after recent speculations about an ETF tracking its performance and has soared by 7% to over $6.1.
The total crypto market cap, though, has shed another $70 billion since yesterday’s peak and is down to $2.970 trillion on CG.
Cryptocurrency Market Overview. Source: QuantifyCrypto
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Deutsche Telekom joins Injective as a validator
Deutsche Telekom, a telecommunications giant valued at more than $180 billion, has strengthened its presence in the crypto and blockchain space by partnering with Injective.
On Feb. 27, the layer 1 blockchain Injective ( INJ ) announced that the German telecommunications company had joined its validator set.
This collaboration further solidifies Injective’s position as a leading decentralized finance and real-world assets platform, with Deutsche Telekom’s role as a validator enhancing its institutional footprint. The telecom giant has previously joined other blockchain networks and platforms as a validator or Web3 partner, including NEAR ( NEAR ), Chainlink ( LINK ), Aleph ( ALEPH ), Polygon ( MATIC ) and Polkadot ( DOT ).
The company is now expanding its Web3 presence by operating as a validator node on Injective.
According to the announcement, the move aligns with Deutsche Telekom’s vision of leveraging its infrastructure and solutions to advance Web3 adoption. The company plans to extend this capability by providing enterprise-level reliability to encourage institutional participation. The collaboration also contributes to Injective’s decentralization.
“With our enterprise-grade infrastructure, we aim to enhance the security of the network for its users. This partnership aligns with our commitment to combine technology with safety and trust thus enabling secure progress for humans and we look forward to being a part of this future,” Oliver Nyderle, head of web3 infrastructure at Deutsche Telekom MMS, said.
Injective has seen significant growth in recent months, with its focus on an enterprise-grade platform playing a key role.
The Binance-incubated and Pantera-backed project has established multiple partnerships across decentralized finance and real-world assets while also emerging as a major player in the artificial intelligence sector. The blockchain recently introduced a software development kit for AI agents, positioning itself within the agentic AI space.
Deals with io.net and Aethir have also been huge in the quest to bring decentralized AI and tokenized GPU resources on-chain.
Deutsche Telekom’s entry into Injective comes as the layer 1 blockchain’s recent Nirvana Chain upgrade introduced advanced real-world asset oracle support for users.
Blockchain-based lender Figure gets $200m investment from Sixth Street
Sixth Street, a private equity firm with over $100 billion in assets under management, has backed blockchain-based lending platform Figure Technology Solutions with a $200 million investment.
Figure and Sixth Street revealed the investment in a press release on Feb. 27. The two firms have formed a joint venture in which Sixth Street’s Asset-Based Finance division will invest $200 million in equity into Figure. The funding will strengthen Figure Connect, the platform’s private credit lending division, by enhancing its loan origination capabilities.
According to Sixth Street, the joint venture will inject over $2 billion of liquidity into the non-agency mortgage market through Figure. Meanwhile, Figure Technology will leverage this investment to scale its operations.
“This joint venture between Figure and Sixth Street puts Figure Connect on a trajectory that is ultimately intended to lower costs for lenders and borrowers, similar to how borrowing costs were lowered with the introduction of TBAs in the agency mortgage space. It validates Figure Connect as the largest, most liquid, blockchain-based capital market,” Todd Stevens, chief capital officer at Figure, said.
Launched in June 2024, the Figure Connect platform utilizes blockchain technology to offer benefits such as market risk hedging and sales automation. The Figure Connect network operates on the Provenance Blockchain, which Figure uses to onboard all loans.
As a leading originator of real-world assets, the Provenance Blockchain enables Figure’s partners to access price discovery through on-chain loan pool bidding. In December 2023, over 40% of Figure’s transaction volume occurred on the blockchain.
Through its partnership with Sixth Street, Figure will tap into additional liquidity and gain access to an “always-on” programmatic bid for its assets.
The joint venture will provide liquidity to Figure’s users, with Figure’s loans set for securitization through this collaboration.