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Goldman Sachs Dumps XRP and SOL: Altcoins Market Could Crash

Goldman Sachs has reduced exposure to XRP and Solana, according to recent portfolio disclosures. The timing raises an obvious question: is this institutional profit-taking, or something more structural? Both assets have catalysts on the horizon, but the exit signal from one of Wall Street’s most-watched desks is hard to ignore. The bank’s exit reflects an institutional shift away from higher-beta altcoins and toward large-cap anchors like BTC and ETH. While XRP’s regulatory overhang has been resolved, SOL’s sharp one-week drawdown of nearly 11% has reignited questions about its dependence on speculative memecoin cycles, even with the Foundation President’s statement on memecoins. Neither asset delivered a clear breakout in recent sessions despite windows of opportunity. The data points to a market in transition, with altcoin liquidity thinning and institutional appetite shifting to infrastructure plays closer to Bitcoin’s base layer. XRP is holding a narrow range between $1.38 and $1.4...
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Bitcoin has shed $5,000 within days. ETF flows, derivatives say the selloff could worsen

  Bitcoin has fallen about 6% from $82,000 to $76,800, and underlying data point to the drop being more than a routine pullback. Bitcoin has pulled back sharply from $82,000 to $76,800 in a matter of days. On the surface, a 6% decline after a strong rally from $60,000 can look like a routine pullback. However, the market data underneath the price action suggests otherwise. Three signals are pointing in the same direction, and together they paint a picture of a market that's fearing a deeper price slide. ETF outflows accelerate The 11 U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs have shed over $1.5 billion since May 7, according to SoSoValue data. Monday's withdrawals alone hit $648 million, the highest single-day tally since Jan. 29 and the second time in a week that daily outflows have exceeded $600 million. Last Tuesday, investors yanked $635 million from the same funds. The pace of redemptions has more than offset the inflows seen at the start of the month, resulting in a net outflow of $3...
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'Groundhog Day' in Crypto as Bitcoin Again Plunges Following New Record

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The world's largest crypto briefly rose above $70,000 Friday, but immediately tumbled about 5% to below $67,000 It's deja vu all over again for bitcoin (BTC) bulls, who for the second time this week barely had a few seconds to celebrate a surge to a new-all time high before prices quickly reversed sharply lower. In the morning hours of U.S. trading, bitcoin took out the Tuesday record of about $69,200 and rose to $70,136, CoinDesk Bitcoin Index (XBX) data shows. But within seconds, selling took hold and less than one hour later, the price had tumbled about 5% to as low as $66,500.
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Hong Kong launches Project Ensemble to support tokenization with wCBDC

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 The HKMA’s latest CBDC project will look at tokenized deposits in tokenized asset transactions. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will launch a project to create a new wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) to support tokenization. Dubbed Project Ensemble, it could result in the issuance of a “live” CBDC if there is sufficient interest, the HKMA said in an announcement. The project will center around innovative infrastructure for interbank settlement using wCBDC. Its initial focus will be on tokenized deposits, that is, tokenized commercial bank money, for use in transactions with tokenized assets. The first step in the project will be the creation of a sandbox that will research and test:
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Pig-butchering crypto scams made over $75b, University of Texas professor reveals

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 A recent study conducted by University of Texas professors indicates that pig-butchering crypto scams may have siphoned off tens of billions of dollars. A new study led by University of Texas finance professor John Griffin and graduate student Kevin Mei suggests that pig-butchering crypto scams may have drained over $75 billion from victims around the globe. The research, conducted over four years from January 2020 to February 2024, involved tracking the flow of funds from over 4,000 victims to the predominantly Southeast Asia-based scammers. Pig-butchering scams typically begin with unsolicited text messages, enticing individuals into fraudulent crypto investments, and resulting in substantial financial losses.
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U.S. Regulators Can Influence Tether’s Offshore Usage: JPMorgan

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Tether’s (USDT) dominant position as the largest stablecoin faces regulatory challenges and risks from various authorities and jurisdictions as they seek to impose more transparency and compliance on stablecoins. The stablecoin is vulnerable due to its dependence on the American market and pending regulations. Despite Tether’s headquarters not being based in the U.S., regulators can exert influence over its offshore usage through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report Thursday. 
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Blowfish exposes new ‘aqua, vanish’ bit-flip drainers on Solana

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 Web3 security company Blowfish recently detected a pair of sophisticated Solana (SOL) transaction drainers capable of executing elusive bit-flip attacks. The firm’s Feb. 9 analysis details how these drainers — dubbed aqua and vanish — can alter a condition in on-chain data post-transaction signature by the user’s private key.  These dangerous scripts lurking under the transactional radar are being peddled on the dark web, offering scammers a scam-as-a-service toolkit. The Blowfish examination highlights the drainers’ adept use of the on-chain authority provided to decentralized apps (dapps), enabling them to switch from transaction facilitators to malicious account-draining entities.
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