Today's News Highlights:
Bybit CEO: Hopes eXch will reconsider intercepting fund outflows, as this is not only helping Bybit.
Tether has frozen 181,000 USDT related to the Bybit hack and will continue to monitor.
Addresses suspected to belong to Bybit or its affiliated addresses have accumulated 106,498 ETH in purchases over the past day.
Market news: Kanye allegedly sold the publishing rights of his X account for $20 million.
Currently, five institutions/individuals have provided Bybit with a total of approximately 120,000 ETH in loan support.
Bybit CEO: Whether to roll back the Ethereum blockchain to before the theft should perhaps be decided by community vote.
Ethereum core developer explains why the Ethereum blockchain cannot be "rolled back."
Bybit: Will allocate 10% of recovered funds as rewards to ethical hackers and security experts who help recover stolen cryptocurrencies.
NFT trading volume increased by 19.6% week-on-week to $152.9 million over the past seven days.
Regulation/Macro
As U.S. President Trump promises to impose more tariffs, the market has experienced another tumultuous week, and the economic optimism that emerged after Trump's election may be starting to fade. Despite the turbulence, gold continued to rise this week, refreshing its historical high above $2,950. However, there is a prevailing sentiment in the market: does the failure of the rebound in the latter half of the week to continue setting new historical highs indicate that bullish pressure is weakening? Following the release of strong U.S. CPI data, the core PCE price index will be the focus of market attention next week. Here are the key points the market will focus on in the new week:
- Monday 22:30, U.S. February Dallas Fed Business Activity Index;
- Tuesday 17:20, 2026 FOMC voter, Dallas Fed President Logan speaks;
- Wednesday 00:45, Fed Governor Barr speaks;
- Wednesday 02:00, 2027 FOMC voter, Richmond Fed President Barkin speaks on inflation;
- Thursday 01:00, 2027 FOMC voter, Atlanta Fed President Bostic speaks on economic outlook and housing market;
- Thursday 21:30, U.S. Q4 real GDP annualized quarter-on-quarter revision, Q4 GDP price index revision, January durable goods orders month-on-month, U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ending February 22;
- Friday 02:15, 2026 FOMC voter, Cleveland Fed President Mester speaks on financial stability;
- Friday 04:15, 2026 FOMC voter, Philadelphia Fed President Harker speaks on economic outlook;
- Friday 21:30, U.S. January PCE data, January personal spending month-on-month;
Over the past two months, against the backdrop of tariff threats and the Fed tightening policies, the strong U.S. economy has provided assurance for investors to continue injecting funds into U.S. stocks. However, on Friday, the decline in U.S. stocks may indicate that this "protection" could be limited. For investors who have recently poured record amounts of money into various risk investments, even preliminary signs of pressure on U.S. economic growth are enough to prompt them to sell. Given that most Fed officials will speak before the PCE data is released next week, it is expected that they will not easily relax their tone and will continue to emphasize uncertainty and caution.
Project Updates
mETH Protocol: cmETH withdrawals have resumed, user funds are unaffected
The liquid staking/re-staking protocol mETH Protocol announced on the X platform that cmETH withdrawals have resumed, user funds are safe and fully supported, and a detailed post-event analysis report will be published soon, outlining the events and all measures taken.
Previously, it was reported that mETH Protocol, which has a deep binding relationship with Bybit, announced the suspension of cmETH withdrawals after learning about recent security incidents involving certain mETH and cmETH transactions, but deposit and staking services continued as usual.
Tether has frozen 181,000 USDT related to the Bybit hack and will continue to monitor
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announced on the X platform: "We have just frozen 181,000 USDT related to the Bybit hack. While it may not be much, it is honest work," Ardoino also stated that monitoring will continue.
Bybit announced on the X platform that as part of the investigation and recovery efforts, Bybit is committed to allocating 10% of recovered funds to reward ethical hackers and cybersecurity experts who actively help recover stolen cryptocurrencies during the incident.
Bybit stated that it has launched a bounty recovery program, calling on elites in the global cybersecurity and crypto analysis fields to jointly track down the perpetrators of the largest theft in crypto history.
Arkham Exchange will offer spot trading to users in 17 U.S. states starting March 1
Arkham Intelligence announced that its exchange, Arkham Exchange, will begin offering spot cryptocurrency trading to users in 17 U.S. states starting March 1.
This move follows Arkham's announcement last November, after the company launched a USDT-based perpetual contract exchange. Spot trading will be available to users in Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming, Wisconsin, California, Massachusetts, and Montana.
According to monitoring by @ai_9684xtpa, CZ bought 1.005 BNB of TST in two transactions early in the morning, worth about $662. He then injected 1,110.99 TEST and 0.096 WBNB of bilateral liquidity into the TST/WBNB trading pair, worth about $200. Following this news, TST's value briefly surpassed $100 million again.
In response, CZ stated: "Buying TST was just for testing. This is my first time using AMM, liquidity pools, etc. I had never used DEX before, only CEX. I wanted to put some BNB in the TST LP as a test. I had seen a demo of Pancake before, and it looked simple. So I didn't refer to any video tutorials and wanted to see what the first experience would be like. As a newbie, I have to say that the DEX experience can be improved a lot; there may be bots trying to front-run my public address trades (or any large trades), and everyone can monitor in real-time what I'm doing. Well, there is still a lot to be done."
Market news: Kanye allegedly sold the publishing rights of his X account for $20 million
According to X user @afhasbara, Kanye sold the publishing rights of his X account to @barkmeta for $20 million before the cryptocurrency release, with his agent John Monopoly taking a 15% fee. @barkmeta also holds the publishing rights of @AB84 and was behind the fake Yeezy token that was posted on the AB page yesterday and removed within hours. The cryptocurrency tweets from Kanye that are now seen are clearly not posted by him.
Bybit CEO: Hopes eXch will reconsider intercepting fund outflows, as this is not only helping Bybit
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou tweeted, "At this moment, it is actually not about Bybit or any entity, but rather our general attitude as part of the industry towards hackers. I sincerely hope eXch can reconsider and help us stop the outflow of funds. We have also received help from Interpol and international regulatory agencies to help stop these funds, which is not just helping Bybit." Previously, eXch publicly released Bybit's interception request email and responded with a refusal.
Previous news, Slow Mist founder Yu Cosine tweeted that given that a considerable amount of ETH has been laundered through eXch and exchanged for BTC, XMR, etc., all platforms should enhance their risk control levels for funds originating from eXch.
Bybit: Deposits and withdrawals have fully returned to normal levels
Bybit announced on the X platform that deposits and withdrawals on its platform have fully returned to normal levels, and on-chain data has confirmed this situation.
Opinions
CZ: Definitely cannot become a true Shiba Inu user, and has never been a standard CEX user
Binance co-founder CZ responded to community users on the X platform, stating: "I tried meme. But I definitely cannot become a true Shiba Inu user. I never chase quick money. The mindset cannot be replicated. You may not know, but I have never been a standard CEX user. I am a hodler. I am a blacksmith. Making tools. Not every blacksmith practices martial arts. A blacksmith who does not practice martial arts can sometimes still forge a sword."
Binance co-founder CZ shared some thoughts on the recent hacking incident on the X platform, stating:
There is a pattern where hackers are able to steal large amounts of cryptocurrency from multi-signature "cold storage" solutions, such as Bybit, Phemex, WazirX, and other solutions.
In the recent Bybit case, the hackers were able to make the front-end user interface display legitimate transactions, while the actual signatures were for a different transaction. I am not very familiar with other cases, but based on the limited available information, they sound quite similar. More alarmingly, the affected exchanges used different multi-signature solution providers. The hacking capabilities of the Lazarus Group are very advanced and widespread, and it is still unclear whether the hackers were able to breach multiple signature devices, server-side, or whether they could breach in each case.
Some have questioned my suggestion to stop all withdrawals as a standard security precaution (I tweeted this while on the shuttle to the plane), aiming to share a practical approach based on personal experience and observations, but neither approach has absolute right or wrong; the guiding principle is always to lean towards the safer side. After any security incident occurs, it is essential to pause everything, ensure we fully understand what happened, how the hackers breached the system, which devices were compromised, double-check everything for safety, and then resume operations.
Of course, pausing withdrawals may cause more panic. In 2019, after a massive $40 million hack, Binance paused withdrawals for a week, and when withdrawals (and deposits) resumed, deposits exceeded withdrawals. This does not mean it is a better method. Each situation is different. It is a matter of judgment, and the relevant tweet was meant to share what might be effective, with the intention of expressing timely support, and I also believe Ben made the best decision based on the information he had. Ben maintained transparent communication and composure in facing challenges, performing exceptionally well. This stands in stark contrast to other less transparent CEOs (such as WazirX, FTX, etc.). The cases mentioned here vary. FTX was a fraud. WazirX will not be commented on due to ongoing litigation.
According to Jin10, Warren Buffett published his annual shareholder letter, mentioning that the value of traded stocks held last year dropped from $354 billion to $272 billion, but the value of non-listed holdings increased and remains far above the value of the traded stock portfolio. We will always invest the vast majority of their funds in stocks—mainly U.S. stocks, although many of these companies have significant international operations. Berkshire will never be more inclined to hold cash-equivalent assets while giving up equity in quality businesses, whether controlling stakes or partial stakes.
In 2024, Berkshire's performance exceeded expectations, despite 53% of the 189 operating companies reporting a decline in earnings. Due to rising U.S. Treasury yields, there was a significant increase in holdings of these highly liquid short-term securities, resulting in a foreseeable substantial increase in investment income. Berkshire has been continuously increasing its borrowings denominated in yen, but not following any fixed pattern. All borrowings are at fixed rates, with no "floating rate" borrowings. There is no forecast for future foreign exchange rate trends, so efforts are made to maintain a near-neutral position in terms of currency.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou stated that the exchange will do everything possible to recover the stolen funds, including offering a bounty program for anyone who assists in returning the funds, cooperating with law enforcement, and talking with the Ethereum Foundation to explore possible solutions.
When asked during a Spaces session on February 22 whether he supports rolling back the Ethereum blockchain to the state before the February 21 Lazarus Group hack, he responded: "I am not sure if this is a decision for one person. Based on the spirit of blockchain, perhaps this should be a voting process to see what the community wants, but I am not certain."
Ethereum core developer explains why the Ethereum blockchain cannot be "rolled back"
After Bybit was hacked, some individuals inquired why Ethereum could not "roll back" the blockchain to reverse the hack. In response, Ethereum core developer timbeiko.eth provided an explanation. He stated that while Bitcoin was able to "roll back" its blockchain 15 years ago, today, the interconnected nature of Ethereum and the settlement of on-chain and off-chain economic transactions make this issue more complicated.
CZ tweeted that he might combine the remaining funds in the donation address for investment. He wants to see which method works best. "Many people suggest donating to charities, and I support that. I like doing charity with cryptocurrency. My requirement for charities is that the receiving organization must enable cryptocurrency and must allow tracking to the final beneficiaries. Transparency. Suggestions are welcome." "Some other projects suggest destroying the received tokens. I understand the meaning behind that. Airdrops require the most effort in wallet operations, and choosing who to airdrop to will also cause more 'debate.' Some people suggest adding to LP. I did some testing yesterday. I think I may have finally grasped the trick. From this address, the MEV experience is very accurate. It was a good learning experience, an interesting weekend practice; I know I was just a few years late. Currently, I am inclined to do more to support liquidity. I do not care whether the funds in this address make a profit. I believe this is also an indirect way to give back to our community."
Previous news, CZ bought about 1 BNB of TST early in the morning and said it was his first time using DEX, and that the experience could be improved a lot.
Important Data
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, five institutions/individuals have provided Bybit with a total of 120,000 ETH (approximately $32.1 million) in loan support. Specifically:
Bitget: 40,000 ETH ($105.96 million);
Institution/whale withdrawing from Binance: 11,800 ETH ($31.02 million);
MEXC: 12,652 stETH ($33.75 million);
Binance or another institution/whale withdrawing from Binance: 36,000 ETH ($96.54 million);
Address 0x327…45b: 20,000 ETH ($53.70 million).
In the past 7 days, NFT trading volume increased by 19.6% to $152.9 million
According to Crypto.news, based on CryptoSlam data, NFT transaction volume has grown to $152.9 million over the past 7 days, an increase of 19.60% compared to the previous week. The number of NFT buyers increased by 64.53% to 335,666; the number of NFT sellers grew by 49.30% to 237,123; and the number of NFT transactions rose by 4.73% to 1,574,998.
Ethereum network NFT transaction volume surged by 42.71% to $79.1 million, with the number of buyers increasing by 36.09% to 41,619. Bitcoin network NFT transaction volume decreased by 26.59% to $20.6 million, while the number of buyers rose by 40.65% to 23,097.
Notable transactions in the past 7 days include:
- CryptoPunks #7685: $166,289 (60 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #3963: $139,515 (50 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #5774: $122,773 (44 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #9813: $121,059 (44.99 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #8046: $120,659 (44.69 ETH)
Golem Network, which raised 820,000 ETH in 2016, allegedly sold $20 million worth of ETH
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, Golem Network, which raised 820,000 ETH in its 2016 ICO, may have sold 7,250 ETH (approximately $20 million) in the past two days: 6,200 ETH transferred to Binance, and 1,050 ETH transferred to Coinbase. Currently, there should still be 110,000 ETH (approximately $3.05 million) from 2016 remaining: 10,000 in the Golem: Multisig address, and 100,000 in Ethereum native staking.
Bybit allegedly purchased 71,755 ETH through OTC, valued at approximately $197 million
According to Lookonchain monitoring, Bybit allegedly purchased 71,755 ETH (approximately $197 million) through OTC.
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, an address possibly belonging to Bybit or its affiliates (0x2E4…b77) received 34,743 ETH (approximately $97.75 million) from Wintermute about 20 minutes ago. They likely accumulated a total of 106,498 ETH (approximately $294.93 million) in purchases over the past day, conducted through Galaxy Digital, FalconX, and Wintermute.
This address initially received 100 million USDT from Bybit's cold wallet and then began receiving ETH after transferring to FalconX and Galaxy Digital.
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