Feb 24, 2025: Our weekly Institutional Insights explores the latest market developments — market performance, industry news, exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, trending topics, upcoming events and token unlocks — to help you supercharge your crypto trading.

 explores the latest market developments — market performance, industry news, exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, trending topics, upcoming events and token unlocks — to help you supercharge your crypto trading.

Weekly Highlight — Mixed Economic Data Leads to Risk-Off Strategies

For the past two months, the strong U.S. economy has given investors confidence to invest in markets, even amidst looming tariffs and a stricter Federal Reserve Board. However, recent data indicates that this support may be weakening.

Last Friday, several reports on consumer sentiment, housing and services contributed to the S&P 500's largest loss of the year as it fell 1.7%, wiping out its weekly gains. In contrast, bonds experienced a rally, driving the yield on 10-year Treasuries down to 4.43%. The VIX {

the Chicago Board Options Exchange's (CBOE) Volatility Index

, known as the "fear gauge"] spiked, but remained below 20, signaling increased market anxiety.

Previously, optimism among investors was fueled by speculation regarding U.S. president Trump’s policies promoting disinflationary growth. However, mixed economic signals are now causing concern, particularly a report showing a decline in consumer sentiment alongside rising long-term inflation expectations — the largest drop since 1995. Additionally, existing U.S. home sales fell for the first time since September 2024, further complicating the outlook.

While January's job growth appeared solid, with 143,000 jobs added and the unemployment rate stable, institutional investors began the year with a pro-risk stance, optimistic about the U.S. economy’s trajectory. Yet, the recent volatility in economic data has prompted a reevaluation of strategies.

Weekly Crypto Highlight — SEC May Drop Lawsuit Against Coinbase

Coinbase announced that the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to drop its lawsuit accusing Coinbase of operating an illegal exchange, pending Commissioners’ approval. Following this news, Coinbase shares initially surged in premarket trading, but fell by 4% to $246.30 as of midday in New York. Bitcoin also declined by about 1%, trading at around $97,000.

This decision signals a shift from the aggressive regulatory stance of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who faced criticism from the crypto industry for enforcing regulations through lawsuits. Last week, the SEC likewise requested a pause on a similar case against Binance, highlighting ongoing developments regarding a regulatory framework for digital assets.

The SEC's complaint will be unfairly dismissed, meaning it cannot be refiled. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that this dismissal will entail no fines or changes in the company’s operations.

Coinbase has actively engaged in Washington, D.C., donating millions to support pro-crypto candidates and recently adding Chris LaCivita, a former Trump campaign manager, to its advisory council. Armstrong has also communicated with Trump directly.

The SEC initially sued Coinbase in June 2023 amidst a broader crackdown on the digital asset industry following the 

. Gensler had claimed that many tokens fell under SEC jurisdiction. 

The dismissal alleviates a significant burden on Coinbase, allowing it to list more tokens and refocus on product development, rather than legal defenses. This outcome removes a key litigation risk, enhancing Coinbase's capacity to innovate. The company recently reported strong fourth-quarter earnings, and now aims to collaborate with Congress and regulators in order to establish clearer rules for the crypto landscape.

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Weekly Institutional Insights: Mixed Economic Data Rattles Market; SEC May Dismiss Lawsuit

As of mid-February 2025, the cryptocurrency market is experiencing movements driven by economic pressures and regulatory movements. 

As of mid-February 2025, the cryptocurrency market is experiencing movements driven by economic pressures and regulatory movements. Recent inflation data has rattled financial markets, leading to a sharp reassessment of expectations for Federal Reserve policy. A higher-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) report has caused Bitcoin to dip below $94.2K before rebounding to approximately $98.1K. This fluctuation illustrates how macroeconomic factors are increasingly influencing digital assets, mirroring trends seen since early 2022 when the Fed began raising interest rates.

Santiment data reveals that discussions around the terms “CPI” and “inflation” surged to 1.75% of all crypto conversations, the highest level since 2022. This heightened sensitivity indicates that when markets are stagnant or declining, economic news is met with increased concern and fear, often leading to sell-offs. Despite the increased uncertainty, Bitcoin has demonstrated resilience, staying above the $98K mark. Nevertheless, continued inflation could lead to further volatility in risk assets such equities and crypto.

The LIBRA scandal has further complicated the crypto landscape. Argentine President Javier Milei's endorsement of the cryptocurrency led to a dramatic rise — and an even more significant fall in value, as it plummeted by 80% within days. Allegations of fraud surrounding Milei have intensified scrutiny of speculative assets, particularly meme coins, leading to a crisis of confidence among investors.

The fallout from this scandal reflects a broader trend of growing impatience with high-risk assets. Retail sentiment has turned bearish, as evidenced by increased mentions of selling across social media platforms. This shift highlights the need for thorough research before investing in speculative projects. The LIBRA incident serves as a stark reminder of the risks associated with relying solely on endorsements for investment decisions, prompting many traders to seek more stable and established cryptocurrencies.

Emerging Opportunities and Investor Behavior

Litecoin is gaining traction, driven by the possibility of a spot ETF approval that could pave the way for broader access to altcoins, further maturing the crypto market. As discussions around the term “Litecoin ETF” spike, market analysts are optimistic about the likelihood of approval, which could enhance investor interest in Litecoin and similar assets.

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Bybit x Santiment: LIBRA Scandal Gives Rise to Meme Coin Crisis; Litecoin ETF Anticipations Build Up

KAITO is the core currency of Kaito AI’s InfoFi ecosystem, enabling transactions, governance, staking, and community engagement.

The S&P 500 fell 0.43% amid Walmart’s weak outlook, with investors eyeing PMI and home sales data next. Gold rose 0.23% to $2,939 on safe-haven demand but retreated from a $2,954 high. Traders await S&P Global Flash PMIs. Coindesk Indices, an index measuring broader cryptocurrency market performance was up by 0.02%, with Bitcoin and Ether rising by 2.46% and 0.69%, respectively in the past 24 hours. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today’s top performer is BERA, which surged nearly 15.8% after The Graph integrated Berachain Mainnet on day one, enabling seamless onchain data access.

Berachain (BERA), founded in 2021, is a Layer 1 blockchain with Proof-of-Liquidity consensus, ensuring security and liquidity while maintaining full Ethereum compatibility. The Graph has 

 support for the newly launched Berachain mainnet from day one. Developers can now query Berachain data using Subgraph Studio, making it easier to organize and access onchain data. This integration enables the creation of fast and efficient frontends for Berachain-powered dapps.

Check Out the Latest Prices, Charts, and Data of 

 is the core currency of Kaito AI’s InfoFi ecosystem, enabling transactions, governance, staking, and community engagement. The total supply is allocated as follows: 56.67% to community and ecosystem initiatives (including ecosystem growth, creator incentives, and liquidity rewards), 25% to core contributors, 10% to the foundation, and 8.3% to early backers. Distribution is merit-based, using AI-driven assessments of engagement, governance participation, and long-term alignment with Kaito’s vision. Staking provides rewards and voting rights, ensuring active participation. A claim process for KAITO will be announced soon.

Yesterday, BTC Spot ETFs recorded a net outflow of $252.8M, including $33.5M from GBTC and $219.3M from non-GBTC funds.

. With $43 million in funding, this presents a valuable opportunity. To maximize your points, complete the "Generate at least one transaction on Sahara Testnet" task by sending a small amount of SAHARA via Metamask. This earns 20 points, a significant amount compared to other tasks. Ensure you take full advantage of this opportunity.

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KAITO Powers the InfoFi Ecosystem with Governance Staking and Community Rewards

Kaito is an AI-powered information indexer specifically designed to deliver actionable insights for cryptocurrency traders and investors. Find out more now!

Within a year of its launch, Kaito has already established itself as a key player in the web3 industry. Its innovative approach combines artificial intelligence with publicly available crypto conversation data, creating a tool that can present an up-to-date picture of the events affecting the cryptocurrency space at any given time.

 is an AI-powered search engine specifically designed for the cryptocurrency space. It’s a premium service with a monthly subscription of $1,099. The platform indexes thousands of 

 sources that aren’t accessible through traditional search engines, and gathers data from Twitter, Discord, governance forums, research papers, news articles, podcasts and even conference transcripts. 

Kaito uses advanced AI algorithms and natural language processing to better understand context and gauge sentiment about topics. Its use of AI and an internal algorithm allows Kaito to filter out the noise, presenting a more accurate picture of community sentiment. 

. Before moving to web3, Hu worked in the traditional finance space for over eight years, including the management of a $500 million equities portfolio at Citadel. His aim with Kaito is to democratize web3 information by giving users access to tools and insights they need to navigate this ever-changing industry. 

Kaito has quickly attracted significant investment from major 

 in the industry. The project has already raised $10.8 million across two funding rounds.

The seed round in August 2023 was led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital China, Jane Street and others, as Kaito secured $5.3 million. This was followed by a Series A round in June 2023, led by Superscrypt and Spartan, raising an additional $5.5 million with a valuation of $87.5 million. Other notable investors include Mirana Ventures, Folius Ventures and Alpha Lab Capital. 

Kaito offers a range of features designed to provide users with comprehensive and actionable insights. They include the following:

: Kaito’s platform uses a custom-built large language model (LLM) in combination with real-time data gathered from various sources to provide users with actionable insights on developments in the web3 space. 

:As a web3-native company, Kaito can analyze and understand the nuances of 

 and concepts. This gives it an edge when compared to Web 2.0 search engines that struggle to understand this space. 

: Kaito tracks market sentiment at various levels, including general market sentiment, sector-specific sentiment and sentiment toward specific tokens and projects, providing investors and traders with an important metric in assessing a project’s value.

Kaito uses a custom LLM to enhance its data processing capabilities. The platform aggregates data continuously from various sources, including social media, forums and news websites. This data is then processed using Kaito’s natural language processing capability to identify relevant information, extract key insights and analyze market sentiment. 

In addition, its platform uses a reputation system to give weightage to different posts based on the reputation of each poster. It also employs sophisticated algorithms to filter out spam and bots that often try to shape public opinion on social media platforms, especially on X. 

In December 2024, Kaito AI introduced two new elements to its ecosystem: 

 collection. Yaps is a scoring system that measures user contribution and engagement within the web3 community. Users earn 

 by creating valuable content, engaging with others in the crypto space and participating in discussions on 

. Kaito uses four main attributes in allotting these points:

The system also automatically filters out spam posts, making sure only real posters and useful posts can earn Yap points. While Kaito hasn’t officially confirmed a token airdrop associated with Yaps, the program allows participants to accumulate points that might play a role in future rewards, or initiatives within the Kaito AI ecosystem.

Participation in the Yaps program is completely free. Users just need to log in with their Crypto Twitter accounts and Kaito will start tracking their Yaps scores automatically. 

Genesis NFTis a limited-edition collection of 1,500 

 launched by Kaito AI. Priced at 0.1 ETH each, these NFTs have been minted in three phases:

As of Dec 26, 2024, NFTs in the collection are tradable on OpenSea, with a floor price of approximately 3.69 ETH. 

Kaito is a new and innovative service in the web3 space. Its use of AI to cut through the noise and fragmentation presents a great opportunity for the entire ecosystem. Kaito’s 

 suggests that it’s likely to roll out new features and/or services in the future. While the high subscription fee may be an obstacle for large-scale adoption, Kaito is still likely to become an important tool in the hands of institutions and 

 Perpetual Contract with up to 75x leverage now!

Intermediate

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Kaito: AI-Powered Web3 Information Platform

Bybit Card

Bybit Guide

The Bybit Card is a virtual Mastercard crypto debit card that lets you access your crypto funds quickly and easily, allowing you to spend your crypto wherever and whenever.

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 and how to use them? Enter a whole new world of spending your crypto on the go with the Bybit Card. Not only is using this crypto debit card convenient and reliable, but it’s also a secure and fast way to make the most use of your crypto assets.

Let’s explore more on the Bybit Card and the limitless opportunities that it unlocks.

The Bybit Card is a Mastercard crypto debit card that lets you access your crypto funds quickly and easily, allowing you to spend your crypto wherever and whenever.

 It comes in both virtual and physical versions, and is currently available to users in EEA and CH regions, AIFC, Australia, Brazil and Argentina. 

Brought to you by Bybit and Mastercard, two of the leading innovators in fintech, a Bybit Card is the perfect way to ensure that you’re always digital-ready for everything crypto.

As a reliable and convenient way to off-ramp your crypto and spend on the go, the Bybit Card helps you to maximize and fully integrate crypto into your daily life. With it, you can utilize your earnings from Bybit's full suite of trading products and pay for your shopping — instantly.

But that's not all. Unlock a world of exclusive benefits with the Bybit Card Loyalty Rewards Program — including rewards from partners, such as unique offers and special experiences.

Additionally, the Bybit Card is easy and affordable to maintain. It’s valid for three years and its virtual version comes with auto-renewal after expiration. There are no annual or dormancy fees

, and there’s a minimal 5 EUR/USDT issuance fee for the physical card.

For the virtual version of the card, you won’t be charged any issuance or account closure fees. 

The only chargeable fees are the foreign exchange and crypto conversion fees for certain countries, as well as 2% ATM withdrawal fees for EEA and CH (after the first 100 EUR monthly), Australia (after the first 100 USD monthly) and Argentina (after the first $95K monthly).

Transacting using your crypto assets shouldn’t be complicated. As such, Bybit has created a way to make life easier for its users through this crypto debit card. The following are some of the unique selling points of the Bybit Card:

Over 90 million merchants accept the Bybit crypto debit card. All you need is to shop and pay at stores that display the Mastercard logo. As one of the leading global electronic payment providers, Mastercard has an expansive merchant network around the world. 

Bybit’s strategic partnership with Mastercard provides a secure platform for its users to conveniently pay for goods and services using cryptocurrencies.  

Currently, you can select and pay anytime, with one of the following six cryptocurrencies using your Bybit Card 

The transaction process is fast and straightforward since it is done directly from your Bybit account through an intuitive and user-friendly dashboard. We're also adding more crypto options and allowing multi-asset spending in a single transaction in the future, so stay tuned for the upcoming developments!

At Bybit, keeping our customers' funds safe is a priority. For that reason, we saw Mastercard as a perfect fit, since their platform observes strict security standards to prevent loss of funds and customer information. 

-enabled which is a cutting-edge fraud prevention technology that allows for consumer authentication when making online payments. When using your Bybit Card, you can comfortably shop knowing that there’s an additional layer of security present to keep fraudsters at bay.

As a customer-centric platform, Bybit provides 24/7 multilingual customer support for all its products, including the Bybit Card. We have a team of dedicated live agents to address any questions, concerns or inquiries related to your Bybit Card.

Bybit Card’s exciting Loyalty Rewards Program lets you earn Bybit Card Loyalty points every time you pay using our crypto debit card. Depending upon the Loyalty points accumulated, you can redeem them for different rewards. You can also activate the 

 function to automatically receive cashback on all purchases conducted with fiat and crypto in USDT, to be credited to your 

Bybit has over 20 trading products available on its exchange, including 

. With the Bybit Card, you can easily and quickly off-ramp your earnings and spend them to make online payments.

You can use the Bybit Card with online retailers and merchants all across the globe. With a Virtual Bybit Card, you can 

 once you’ve applied successfully, while a physical Bybit Card allows you to make online payments, as well as contactless payments in retail stores using point-of-sale (POS) terminals that support contactless payments. You can add Bybit Card to Google Pay (available for EEA and CH, Argentina, Brazil and Australia), Apple Pay (EEA, Argentina and Brazil) and Samsung Pay (EEA & CH and AIFC). 

Your virtual Bybit Card is activated automatically and is available for immediate use once your application is successful. In addition, you don’t need to activate foreign transactions separately. Your Bybit Card tier follows your Bybit account's VIP level. Please refer to 

 for more information on Bybit Card benefits for different VIP levels.

Managing funds on your Bybit Card is straightforward. It is, however, important to understand how your funds are deducted during payments, especially during times when you have insufficient fiat in your account. 

The Bybit Card doesn’t have a separate wallet. As such, it uses the balance in your Bybit Funding Account. To add funds to your Funding Account, you can use the 

 option or deposit crypto from other platforms/wallets.

When making a transaction using the Bybit Card, the fiat currency is automatically denominated based on the 

Once you pay using your crypto debit card and the transaction is authorized, the amount you’ve spent will be frozen in your Funding Account, and then it will be deducted once the merchant completes the transaction.

Should the merchant cancel (i.e., reverse) prior authorization or refund the transaction, the frozen amount will be returned to your Funding Account’s 

In a situation where there’s not enough fiat in your Funding Account to complete a transaction, your chosen crypto in your account will be converted to fiat to cover the deficit. 

Note that there’s a minimum crypto conversion fee of 1 EUR/AUD or 5,000 ARS.

Payments will automatically be denominated in the currency on your card, even if you’re making foreign transactions. 

If you purchase a product that’s charged in foreign currency, your funds will be deducted according to Mastercard's foreign exchange rate, 

 the Bybit Card foreign exchange fee of 0.5% for EEA, 1% for Australia, 7% for Argentina, 1.5% for Brazil and 2% for AIFC. 

For more information on exchange rate, refer 

When there are insufficient crypto and fiat funds in your Funding Account, the transaction will be declined. You can top off your Funding Account either through the 

 feature, or the direct deposit of crypto from external platforms or wallets via the Bybit dashboard.

Follow these five simple steps to pay using your Bybit Virtual Card:

You can use the Bybit Physical Card for both online and offline transactions. To make payment for online purchases, you can obtain your physical card details (i.e. card number, CVV and expiration date) either from the 

 in your Bybit Account, or the physical card itself. The Bybit Physical Card can be used for any in-store payments that support contactless chip and PIN purchases. 

 that there are contactless usage limits in Europe. A single transaction has a maximum limit of 50 EUR, and the cumulative amount of contactless payments is 150 EUR. Additionally, the maximum number of consecutive contactless payments is five. 

Your card will be declined if you make contactless transactions exceeding these limits.

In case of a dispute regarding a transaction you’ve made, we highly recommend that you reach out directly to the merchant involved if you wish to request a refund.

don’t recognize any particular transaction, or you otherwise suspect that your card credentials may have been compromised, you can choose either to freeze your crypto debit card immediately or replace it, and then contact our Customer Support within 45 days of the transaction for further assistance

Ways To Protect Yourself From Debit Card Frauds

As cybersecurity crimes continue to become more sophisticated, it’s important to learn how to detect them — and how to protect yourself from debit card fraud. It’s easy to detect suspicious activity on your Bybit Card, since you’ll notice funds missing in your Funding Account balance. 

Because your Bybit Card is available virtually, you need to stay alert for any fraudulent activities. Here are some ways to help you prevent fraudulent activities on your Bybit Card:

Using a crypto debit card increases the liquidity of your digital assets and provides you the convenience of spending cryptocurrency in your daily life. 

Whether you’re paying bills or buying goods online, the Bybit Card helps you maximize your crypto usage while keeping your funds safe. 

It’s issued in partnership with Mastercard, so you can spend your preferred cryptocurrencies anywhere a merchant displays the Mastercard logo. E

asy to use with its intuitive mobile app, the Bybit Card gives you an efficient way to manage your digital assets on the go!

What Is Bybit Card and How to Use It

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards