Tether’s competitors are increasingly pushing to push the world’s largest Stablecoin issuers out of the crypto market, including political pressures aimed at reducing the company’s major market share.
In the broader crypto market, analysts are unable to see the broad “Altcoin Season” rally in 2025, suggesting that only selected tokens with models that generate sustainable investor interest and revenue can outperform the remaining tokens.
Paolo Ardoino: Competitors and politicians are meant to “kill the tether”
According to the company’s CEO Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s competitors are working to drive the world’s largest Stablecoin publisher out of the crypto market.
According to data from Cointelegraph, Tether, the publisher of USDT (USDT), the world’s largest Stablecoin, has a market capitalization of over $142 billion.
However, Stablecoin publishers are facing increasing pressure from competing businesses and politicians, Ardoino said in X-mail on February 25th.
“The business model of our competitors is to build better products and even bigger distribution networks, but their true intention is “kill tether.” Any business or political meetings they have reached a culmination of this intent. ”
“I’ll leave it to you to define a competitor who will use low fairs to kill their opponents rather than focusing on a better product,” added Ardoino.
Tether will continue to focus on its mission to promote global financial inclusion, especially in an undeveloped economy, Ardoino says USDT is used by over 400 million people and acquires 35 million new wallets per quarter.
Ardoino’s comments followed Tether’s exclusion from the list of 10 companies that have approved issuing stationary coins under the European Union market in the Crypto-Assets (MICA) regulatory framework.
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Altseason 2025: “We don’t make most Altcoins,” says Cryptoquant CEO
According to Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of Cryptoquant, most cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin and ether will not experience a wider “Altcoin season” rally in 2025, but could surpass the broader market.
“Most altcoins don’t make it,” during the 2025 market cycle, Ju wrote in the X-Post on February 25th.
Cryptocurrencies with approval of funds (ETFs) traded on potential exchanges, robust revenue generating models and sustained investor attention could outperform the rest of the market, Ju said. Still, “the era of all pumping is over,” he added.
Source: Ki Young Ju
Ju’s outlook is as 24% of the 200 largest cryptocurrencies have fallen to their lowest levels in more than a year, sparking speculation about a possible market capitalization.
Top 200 cryptocurrencies. Source: Jamie Coutts
The current recession could indicate the market capitalization that is in, according to Juan Pellicer, a senior research analyst at Crypto Intelligence Platform Intotheblock.
“Recent market corrections refer to potential surrender as they have fallen to $3.13 trillion with a decline in market capitalization for (especially assets like Solana) and total crypto, washing away excess covered positions,” Pellicer told Cointelegraph.
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Bibit hackers will wash $335 million as funds continue to move
The hackers behind the $1.4 billion Bit Exploit have washed more than $335 million in digital assets, and investigators continue to track the movement of stolen funds.
Crypto Investor Sentiment was hit by the biggest hack in Crypto history on February 21st. BYBit has lost more than $1.4 billion in Liquid-Staked Ether (STETH), Mantle Staked ETH (METH), and other digital assets.
Onchain data shows hackers have moved 45,900 ether (ETH) (value about $113 million) in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to more than $335 million to more than 135,000 ETHs.
According to Embercn, the hackers left around 363,900 ETH, according to pseudonymous blockchain analyst.
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US lawmakers move forward with resolutions to abolish “unfair” crypto tax rules
A US lawmaker in the House of Representatives has advanced a resolution to abolish the “Defi Broker Rules.” This requires brokers to report digital asset transactions to the Internal Revenue Service.
The IRS broker regulations set to take effect in 2027 were approved on December 5th to expand existing reporting requirements to include decentralized exchanges. Brokers must disclose their total revenue from the sale of cryptocurrency, including information about taxpayers involved in the transaction.
During the February 26th committee markup, the House Ways and Means Committee, a key group within the House dealing with financial issues, cast between 26 and 16 votes to advance the resolution.
Source: Methods and Means Committee
In a statement, Miller Whitehouse Levine, CEO of Defi Advocacy Group The Defi Education Fund, said the rules were “illegal and unconstitutional overdue” and need to be overturned to “protect Americans’ freedom of choice by how they trade.”
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MetaMask adds 10 blockchain fiat off ramp to improve crypto accessibility
Ethereum-based cryptocurrency wallet Metamask expands its Fiat Off-Ramp service to support 10 additional blockchain networks. The move aims to work with payment provider Transak to simplify the process of converting digital assets into traditional currency.
MetaMask users were previously forced to exchange assets for ether (ETH) tokens before converting them into Fiat Money, adding additional steps and transaction fees.
However, as part of our continued partnership with Transak, the wallet will add support to 10 new networks: Arbitrum Mainnet, Avalanche C-Chain Mainnet, Base, BNB Chain, CELO, FANTOM, MOONBEAM, MOONRIVER, OPTIMISM and POLYGON.
The first four tokens that received immediate off-ramp support include Ethereum’s ETH, ETH Optimisim, BNB (BNB) and Polygon (Pol) tokens. Support for six additional networks will be gradually deployed.
“By expanding off-ramping capabilities with Transak, MetaMask removes the barrier between crypto and traditional currencies, allowing users to convert broader tokens directly into cash,” says Lorenzo Santos, Senior Product Manager at Consensys.
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Overview of Defi Market
Most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended in a week in red, according to data from CointeLegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.
The Solana-based decentralized exchange Raidium (Ray) tokens exceeded 55% as the biggest loser of the week, followed by the Lido Dao (LDO) tokens, surpassing 34% on the weekly chart.
Total value locked with Defi. Source: Defilama
Thank you for reading this week’s most impactful Defi development summary. See more stories, insights and education about this dynamic space next Friday.
