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Metaplanet Now Holds 0.01% of Bitcoin's Total Supply
Japanese firm Metaplanet Inc. has crossed a major milestone, as it now holds 0.01% of Bitcoin’s 21 million supply limit, securing its place among the top 15 corporate Bitcoin holders globally.
The firm’s latest acquisition involved purchasing 68.59 BTC for approximately $6.6 million at an average price of $96,335 per Bitcoin, per a Wednesday statement. The purchase brings Metaplanet’s total Bitcoin holdings to 2,100 BTC, worth just over $204 million at today’s prices.
The Tokyo-based firm has been following the Bitcoin playbook of Strategy (previously MicroStrategy) co-founder Michael Saylor, expanding its Bitcoin reserves in a bid to become one of the largest Bitcoin holders in the world.
Since its strategic pivot towards Bitcoin in April 2024, Metaplanet has steadily increased its Bitcoin holdings, with plans to reach 10,000 BTC by the end of 2025 and 21,000 BTC by 2026.
The company has adopted Bitcoin as a core part of its financial strategy to hold the world’s largest crypto as a hedge against Japan’s economic challenges, including high national debt and currency depreciation. Read More
Memecoins are officially ‘cooked’ after Libragate, says crypto VC
Nic Carter, a partner at Castle Island Ventures, says the time for memecoins is “unquestionably over” following the recent $4 billion LIBRA scandal involving Argentine President Javier Milei.
“Memecoins are cooked,” the crypto entrepreneur wrote in a Feb. 19 post to X, arguing that the Libragate scandal has revealed the true depths of the “corrupt memecoin” sector.
Carter said memecoins had been largely successful because they could be sold as a fairer “alternative to high FDV VC-backed coins.”
While the premise of memecoins may have been no more than gambling, they were at least organically launched, and any retail participant could invest with the expectation that the “casino was fair,” said Carter.
However, recent memecoin launches, including LIBRA and memecoin launches from US President Donald Trump, viral influencer Haliey Welch, and other celebrities — have since been exposed as a series of wildly “unfair and botted launches,” he said.
“The casino didn’t take a slight edge — it was more like 90/10 in favor of the house.”
Other industry pundits disagree, arguing the real utility of memecoins is still in development. Read More
AI, blockchain convergence to bring ‘watershed moments’ in 2025
A convergence of “disparate technologies” such as blockchain, robotics AI, VR and AR could bring immense opportunity in 2025, says the managing director of the Sui Foundation.
Speaking to Cointelegraph at Consensus 2025 in Hong Kong, Christian Thompson said in the mid-term he sees an opportunity with the convergence of a number of technologies, such as AI agents integrated into blockchains.
“The interesting thing with all of these technologies, you get AI, you get robotics, you get like things like AR, VR for gaming, you get blockchain, you get the ability to own your assets in a way,” he said.
“As these technologies converge, you get these watershed moments; I think we’re peering over the edge as it relates to blockchain and AI. Other things will come next. I don’t think it’s very far off. I think it’s in this cycle,” he added.
Blockchain firms have already started integrating AI into blockchain to enhance user experiences and operational efficiency. Decentralized AI infrastructure provider Kite AI launched an AI-focused testnet on Feb. 6.
A day earlier, on Feb. 5, the 0G Foundation launched an $88.88 million ecosystem fund to accelerate projects creating AI-powered decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and autonomous agents, known as DeFAI agents. Read More
Aptos Price Surges as Traders Fuel ‘Community Takeover’ With Memes
Aptos just got a vibe shift in an unconventional "community takeover" led by a degen trader called BuzzlamicJihad, causing APT to spike.
A little-known memer named BuzzlamicJihad launched an unofficial “community takeover” of layer-1 blockchain Aptos, and two months after Aptos Labs founder and CEO Mo Shaikh stepped down, it’s finally catching on—and fueling a massive price surge.
Aptos (APT) has spiked 17% over the past 24 hours to a current price of $6.45, according to CoinGecko, making the token the third-biggest gainer in the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap during that span. The token's daily peak price of $6.57 is the highest mark seen since February 2.
There doesn’t appear to be much to the community takeover, or CTO, aside from a significant boost in vibes, attention, and memes. “Aptos lookin’ good here” has become the meme message of the day as crypto degens turn to buying up an established layer-1 blockchain’s native token, rather than aping into oft-ephemeral meme coins. Read More
First-Ever Spot XRP ETF Gets Green Light in Brazil
Brazil is set to be the first country to launch a spot XRP ETF after the country's regulator gave the green light to Hashdex's product.
The first spot exchange-traded fund based on XRP’s ongoing price will soon begin trading—just not in the U.S.
The Hashdex Nasdaq XRP Index Fund has launched in a pre-operational phase and will debut on Brazil’s B3 exchange after the country’s financial investments regulator greenlit the ETF on Wednesday. Crypto asset manager Hashdex has not yet specified a start date.
The fund’s approval comes as issuers worldwide aim to address surging demand for crypto-focused investments, amid a more favorable regulatory environment for these products and widening acceptance among retail and institutional investors.
In recent weeks, multiple firms, including issuing giants Bitwise Asset Management, 21Shares, CoinShares, and Grayscale, have submitted applications for spot XRP funds. XRP is the third-largest digital asset with a $158 billion market cap as of this writing. Read More
A New Crypto Category Has Emerged. What Impact Will it Have…Will It Evolve Into A Significant Narrative?
US-based cryptocurrency initiatives have historically been reticent about their origins. However, during Gary Gensler's tenure, they became vulnerable to aggressive scrutiny from the SEC, and numerous projects found themselves in the regulatory crossfire. Being a US-based project has often been a liability rather than a benefit in recent years.
The cryptocurrency industry has been electrified by the outcome of the U.S. Presidential election, with Donald J. Trump's victory sparking widespread anticipation. The regulatory shifts expected under Trump's leadership are poised to grant the crypto sector unprecedented freedom in the United States.
A new cryptocurrency category has surfaced amid this enthusiasm: "Made in the USA." This category includes cryptocurrencies that are closely linked to the United States, whether through headquarters located in the US or ties to notable American personalities. With Trump backing crypto, this category could see substantial growth, likely surpassing many others.
This has the potential to evolve into a significant narrative; thus, this article explicitly addresses cryptocurrencies based in the United States, the reasons this narrative could gain prominence, and the cryptocurrencies that may benefit from a Trump administration. To commemorate President Trump's inauguration, a newly established cryptocurrency category titled 'Made in USA' has been incorporated into price tracking platforms, including CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko. Read More
Ethereum NFT Game 'Fantasy Top' Expands to Monad Alongside Testnet Launch
Fantasy Top turns Crypto Twitter (aka X) into a fantasy sports game—and now it's expanding to Monad after launching on Ethereum L2 Blast.
Ethereum NFT game Fantasy Top is expanding from layer-2 network Blast after its buzzy launch last year. On Wednesday, the developers announced that a free-to-play version of the game will debut on the just-launched testnet of new layer-1 blockchain, Monad.
The game, which mirrors traditional fantasy sports, replaces football and basketball stars with the top crypto social media personalities on X (formerly known as Twitter) that it calls “heroes.” For example, like athletes earn for performance on the field, like scoring a touchdown, “heroes” earn points for their social engagement metrics.
Crypto personalities like Ansem, ThreadGuy, Truth Terminal, and many others have hero cards that users can insert into their lineups for each competition.
“This immersive Monad experience introduces never-before-seen heroes and gives players the chance to win whitelist spots for the most hyped NFT collections launching on Monad mainnet,” the game posted on X. Read More
DeFi is set for a longer, stronger DeFi summer: dYdX Foundation CEO
Charles d’Haussy, CEO of the dYdX Foundation, predicts the DeFi will start to boom in September and will have more entry points for new users than ever.
The crypto industry could see a “DeFi festival” begin as soon as September, leading to a decentralized finance boom that lasts for “months and months,” says the CEO of the dYdX Foundation, an independent decentralized finance (DeFi) nonprofit.
Speaking to Cointelegraph at Consensus 2025 in Hong Kong, Charles d’Haussy said the term DeFi summer doesn’t adequately describe the uptick he thinks is on the horizon; instead, he feels “DeFi festival” would be a more accurate term because it will keep growing.
“DeFi summer, in people’s minds, is like three months of crazy parties. I think this short period is behind us. I think it will be a very long party for months and months.”
DeFi summer started in 2020 when the market saw a surge in adoption, and total value locked (TVL) spiked to $15 billion before cooling-off in 2022 when the bear market hit, according to Steno Research. Read More
Montana becomes 4th US state to advance Bitcoin reserve bill to House
Montana has passed a Bitcoin reserve bill at the subcommittee level, making it the fourth US state to advance a related bill to the House.
Montana’s House Business and Labor Committee has passed a bill that could open the door for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to become reserve assets.
Montana’s business and labor committee passed House Bill No. 429 in a 12-8 vote on Feb. 19, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats opposed.
The fourth crypto reserve bill to reach the House at the state level in the US, the measure would create a special revenue account to invest in precious metals, stablecoins and digital assets with an averaged market cap above $750 billion over the last calendar year.
Out of the digital assets, Bitcoin is the only one that currently meets this requirement.
The bill will now head to Montana’s House — a stage in the legislative process that only Utah, Arizona, and Oklahoma have reached when it comes to Bitcoin reserve-related bills. Read More
Creeping doubts over US gold reserves make case for tokenized commodities
The tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) has reached a record high in 2025, driven by institutional demand for US dollar-denominated yield products. As the technical barriers to RWAs continue to erode, commodities that require continual verification, like gold reserves, are likely to find a home on the blockchain very soon, according to Michele Crivelli, founder and chief operating officer of digital asset issuer NexBridge.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Crivelli explained why US Treasurys and other fixed-income instruments have been the biggest targets of tokenization.
“These assets offer stability, transparency and clearly defined yields,” said Crivelli. “There is strong demand for dollar-denominated instruments for various reasons, including the need to combat inflation in certain regions and preserve purchasing power in countries where you don’t have direct access to [US dollar] currency or investment.”
Tokenizing Treasury bonds is a natural first step in a market that Crivelli calls a “small, knowledgeable niche.”
However, it’s only a matter of time before more assets become tokenized.
“Beyond US Treasury bills, gold and other commodities are prime candidates for tokenization, thanks to their potential to reduce correlation with traditional markets,” said Crivelli.
“There are different tokenization models — some replicate financial instruments linked to gold, while others directly represent physical bullion,” he said. Read More
Regulators to blame for LIBRA memecoin scandal — Coin Bureau founder
Some in the crypto community are outraged about the lack of legal clarity around memecoins like Libra, which collapsed soon after endorsement by Argentine President Javier Milei.
The collapse of the Libra token, which was promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei, has reignited calls for stronger regulatory oversight of memecoins.
“The blame for the Libra memecoin disaster, and other pump-and-dump schemes like it, lies on the shoulders of the regulators, and they are the only ones that can fix this,” The Coin Bureau co-founder founder and CEO Nic Puckrin said in a statement to Cointelegraph.
The surge of fraudulent celebrity and political memecoins is a result of a vacuum created by the lack of regulation by authorities like the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Puckrin argued.
SEC crypto task force head Hester Peirce previously said that memecoin regulation falls outside of the agency’s purview, leaving this matter for Congress and regulators like the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Read More
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
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