Maze Media

Regulators Taking Steps
Hong Kong has allowed crypto margin trading and perpetual contracts. For now, only Bitcoin and Ethereum can be used as collateral, and it’s limited to professional investors.
2️⃣ New Tools in the Market
CME Group is planning its own token that can be used as collateral on decentralized networks. This means tokens from big, trusted financial institutions may carry more weight.
3️⃣ Tokenization is Growing
Multiliquid and Metalayer Ventures launched a system on Solana to instantly redeem tokenized real-world assets into stablecoins. Big funds like VanEck, Janus Henderson, and Fasanara are already participating.
4️⃣ Easier Access for Institutions
Robinhood is testing Ethereum L2 on Arbitrum to support tokenized stocks and DeFi. Franklin Templeton partnered with Binance to allow tokenized money market funds to be used as off-exchange collateral.
5️⃣ China Tightens Control
China banned unapproved Renminbi-pegged stablecoins and RWA issuance, affecting both domestic and foreign players.
6️⃣ Adoption is Uneven
Tokenized commodities reached $6.1B, growing 53% in 6 weeks! Some countries are enabling leverage and tokenization, while others restrict it. Traditional finance is still moving on-chain via derivatives, custody, and L2 solutions.
🌐 Crypto adoption is moving fast, but every country has its own pace and approach.

Bitcoin briefly dropped below $66,000 on Wednesday after strongerthan expected U.S. job data was released. Following this, the probability of a Federal Reserve rate cut in March fell from 21% to just 5.4%.

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Grayscale says Bitcoin is no longer behaving like gold but is moving more like tech/software stocks. According to them, the drop to $60,000 happened because investors started reducing risk in growth-focused portfolios.
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South Korea’s financial regulator has launched an investigation into crypto exchange Bithumb after the platform accidentally credited users with around 620,000 BTC (about $43B).
The mistake happened on Feb 6 during a promotional campaign when a staff member reportedly entered BTC instead of KRW as the reward unit. What started as a routine check quickly escalated, with regulators calling it a serious threat to market stability.
Bithumb said:
99.7% of the mistakenly credited BTC has been recovered
93% of the 1,788 BTC that users managed to sell before trading was halted has been recovered
About 125 BTC are still missing
The incident also caused a roughly 15% drop in the BTC/KRW price on the exchange. Bithumb has pledged 110% compensation to affected users.
The case raised broader concerns about internal accounting versus actual on-chain custody, as Bithumb reportedly held only around 46,000 BTC at the time, despite internally moving 620,000 BTC. Lawmakers warned it resembled a “bank-run scenario,” sparking discussions about limiting individual exchange holdings and aligning crypto exchange liabilities with traditional financial rules.
Bithumb plans to strengthen internal controls and launch a ₩100B ($68M) user protection fund, signaling that regulators are becoming far less tolerant of such mistakes.
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