Memecoin are “cooked.” EU approves 10 stablecoin issuers

👋 Hey there!

This week has been filled with both scandals and exciting news that could shape the industry’s future. Let’s dive into the most notable highlights in this weekly digest 👇

quick weekly news

Memecoins are officially ‘cooked’ after Libragate rug

Starting off the digest with the most debated news of the week – the $LIBRA scandal and the supposed “death” of memecoins right after it. On February 19th, 2025, Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter stated on X that memecoins are officially “cooked,” and the Libragate scandal marked the final revelation of the corruption within the memecoin sector.

According to his post, the entire concept of trading memecoins initially emerged as a form of protest from users who were tired of crypto projects launching with massive valuations while using retail investors exclusively as exit liquidity for VCs. This made it nearly impossible for traders to generate solid returns from traditional altcoins. Memecoins, lacking private VC investments and having almost their entire initial market cap in circulation from the start, seemed like a more appealing option for many traders.

However, as the industry grew, more and more memecoin CTOs not only launched tokens at high valuations but also engaged in insider trading – profiting from price surges before ultimately rugging retail investors. A clear example of this was the $LIBRA token, which was backed by Argentine President Javier Milei and in less than a day was rug-pulled at the mark of nearly $1B capitalization.

To grasp the scale of the $LIBRA incident, Meteora co-founder Ben Chow resigned from his position, and Jupiter Labs, one of the largest DEX protocols on Solana, launched an investigation into the $LIBRA launch. Meanwhile, the main promoter, Javier Milei, faced impeachment calls from the opposition, amid accusations of corruption and receiving payments for promoting $LIBRA.

10 stablecoin issuers approved under EU’s MiCA — Tether is left out

According to Circle’s Senior Director and EU Strategy & Policy Executive, Patrick Hansen, the EU has authorized 10 stablecoin issuers that are recognized as MiCA-compliant by the EU government. In total, these issuers have introduced 10 euro-backed stablecoins and 5 USD-backed cryptocurrencies.

Source: Patrick Hansen

Notably, the biggest stablecoin issuer added to the list was not the largest USD-backed stablecoin issuer, $USDT, but rather its closest competitor and the second-largest centralized stablecoin issuer – Circle. The exclusion of Tether from the EU-supported stablecoins seems to confirm previous developments, where multiple CEXs began delisting $USDT for EU users.

While Tether has faced issues with transparency regarding the real state of its balance sheet and has invested its reserves in less “sustainable” assets, this development raises concerns about whether EU regulations could discourage foreign firms from offering services in the region and potentially hinder the growth of Web3 technology in the EU.

Bitwise XRP ETF clears first hurdle toward $8bn jackpot

Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) acknowledged the spot XRP ETF applications from Bitwise, 21Shares, and Grayscale asset management firms, bringing them one step closer to becoming among the first asset managers to launch spot $XRP ETFs.

According to an interview with DLnews, Lucas Sorlini, product head at institutional crypto platform Northstake, stated that the likelihood of an $XRP ETF being approved in the near future is “high.” If we consider the latest JPMorgan report, nearly $8B could flow into $XRP within the first six to twelve months after the ETF’s launch.

Interestingly, such high odds and optimism toward crypto ETFs in the U.S. seemed nearly impossible just a month ago. At that time, the SEC was led by Gary Gensler, who was highly skeptical of crypto and actively hindered efforts to approve digital assets in the U.S. However, everything changed almost overnight after Donald Trump’s inauguration, as he appointed new, more crypto-friendly leaders across multiple regulatory agencies.

This shift has led crypto firms to file spot ETF applications for various altcoins, and even memecoins, as they test the extent of the new SEC’s willingness to embrace crypto.

Chinese Ethereum holder spends $6.8M to warn against mass mind control

On February 17, 2025, blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence recorded a 500 ETH token transfer to the Ethereum null address, accompanied by a message accusing certain Chinese investors of using “brain-computer weapons.” The message was sent by Chinese Ethereum investor Hu Lezhi, who, over the past few days, burned more than 2,553 ETH (worth $6.8M) to various addresses, including WikiLeaks donations, the Ethereum Foundation, and several unlabeled and burn addresses.

Source: Etherscan

“There is a new mode of crime in which the victim is gradually deprived of his senses of desire until he becomes a complete slave to the digital machine, and if one day I become a victim of the final stage, I will leave the world.”

In these messages, he claimed that “brain-control” machines exist and are capable of turning both people and animals into complete “slaves.” He further stated that if he were ever to encounter the final model of such a brain-control machine, he would “leave the world.”

Additionally, Hu Lezhi accused the Chinese CEOs of Kuande Investment, Feng Xin and Xu Yuzhi, of using such weapons to persecute employees.

What are your thoughts on these almost unbelievable statements? Do you believe Hu Lezhi? 🤔

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