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Bitcoin is “transitioning out of its most stressed phase”

Many are hoping that the bill working its way through the Senate will mark “the beginning of the end of crypto’s regulatory limbo.”

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

The lower-than-expected CPI print and optimism around the amended Digital Asset Market Clarity Act seem to be buoying bitcoin this morning. Meanwhile, bitcoin ETFs started the week with modest inflows ($116.7 million), according to SoSoValue.

Timothy Misir, head of research at Blockhead Research Network, said that on-chain metrics suggest bitcoin is transitioning “out of its most stressed phase.”

“Price now sits above the Active Investors Mean ($87.7K) but remains well below the Short-Term Holder cost basis at $98.9K. This configuration implies reduced forced selling pressure, but also highlights the scale of overhead supply that must be absorbed for a sustained breakout,” Misir said.

One potential headwind for bitcoin is the trajectory of the probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, a situation Farzam Ehsani, CEO of VALR, called “paradoxical.”

While weakening confidence in dollar policy traditionally increases interest in decentralized assets as a hedge against political and currency risk, abrupt political maneuvers within the government are increasing instability, triggering short-term outflows from risky assets and high-volatility markets, Ehsani said.

He said investors should exercise “extreme caution” in the coming weeks, as the crypto market could react sharply to the conflict’s outcome.

“If the Fed holds firm, the market could return to its fundamental scenario. If the White House is able to push through a rate cut and launches stimulus measures, bitcoin and gold could surge higher,” Ehsani said.

Finally, “this week may mark the beginning of the end of crypto’s regulatory limbo,” Benchmark analysts wrote in a note, as the Senate committee will vote on Thursday on the amended Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.

“We believe a successful committee process culminating in floor consideration would represent a material de-risking event for crypto markets,” the analysts wrote. “That regulatory clarity is the key prerequisite for institutional adoption of both crypto tokens and crypto-related equities. In our view, such clarity would unlock a level of liquidity that only institutions could provide, and liquidity is the foundation upon which sustainable crypto valuations are built.”

Some are pessimistic that the bill will move forward. Nic Puckrin, cofounder of Coin Bureau, said he is “not holding his breath” for the bill to pass this month.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see further delays as committee members grapple with the implications of the proposed amendments. And any delays will weigh heavily on a digital asset market that has struggled with momentum for months,” Puckrin said.

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$82B

Crypto money laundering activity totaled more than $82 billion in 2025, more than 8x higher than 2020’s figure of $10 billion, according to a Tuesday report published by crypto analytics firm Chainalysis. Chinese-language networks dominated the ecosystem, accounting for roughly 20% of the illicit activity, or $16.1 billion, last year:

“Compared to other laundering endpoints, since 2020, inflows to identified CMLNs [Chinese-langugage money laundering networks] grew 7,325 times faster than those to centralized exchanges, 1,810 times faster than those to decentralized finance (DeFi), and 2,190 times faster than intra-illicit on-chain flows.”

Tom Keatinge, director at the Centre for Finance & Security at security think tank Royal United Services Institute, told Chainalysis that the rapid development of Chinese-language networks is an “an unforeseen consequence” of China’s imposition of capital controls.

“Wealthy individuals seeking to move money out of China and evade these controls provide the impetus and liquidity pool needed to service organized crime groups based in the West,” he noted.

Keatinge told Chainalysis, “The professional enablers of this capital flight provide the services necessary to match these two independent yet mutually beneficial needs.” 

Chinese-language networks offer six primary money movement techniques to clean dirty money, which include recruiting individuals to rent out their financial identities, selling illicit cryptocurrency at a discounted rate, and obscuring fund origins through multiple transactions. 

Overall, this Chinese ecosystem processed nearly $44 million per day last year. 

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Avalanche joins class of cryptocurrencies with at least one ETF

Investment management company VanEck on Monday introduced the first exchange-traded fund offering spot exposure to AVAX, the native token for the Avalanche blockchain and the latest cryptocurrency with an ETF. 

The new investment vehicle also aims to provide staking rewards for holders, according to the press release. AVAX, which has seen over $354 million in trading volume in the last 24 hours, is up slightly today. The token is trading at $11.70 as of 1:20 p.m. ET, a far cry from its all-time high of $144.96 in 2021. 

The nascent VanEck fund joins a group of its crypto-specific ETFs, including the firm’s bitcoin ETF, with $1.4 billion in total assets; its ethereum ETF, which holds $147.5 million; and its solana ETF, with assets totaling $27.9 million.

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Ethereum treasury firm ETHZilla acquires two aircraft engines (!?!?) in tokenization push

ETHZilla, known for its ethereum treasury, formed a new subsidiary and purchased aerospace equipment in a bid to boost the company’s tokenization efforts. 

The treasury firm, through its nascent subsidiary ETHZilla Aerospace LLC, “acquired two CFM56-7B24 aircraft engines, together with all parts, engine records and engine stands” for $12.2 million from Avean Engine Solutions, according to an 8K filing on Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. 

The two aircraft engines are subject to lease agreements with a major airline, which were assigned to ETHZilla as part of the acquisition, the filing stated.

The firm’s top priority in 2026 is growing its real-world asset tokenization business and is keen on rolling out RWA tokens in the first quarter, an ETHZilla representative told Sherwood News at the beginning of the year. 

ETHZilla’s acquisition of two aircraft engines is part of this tokenization road map, which aims to bring real-world assets from high-value vertical markets, such as aerospace, maritime, and heavy equipment, on-chain. 

“In the heavy equipment market, we will initially focus on aerospace assets such as aircraft engines and airframes to tokenize,” ETHZilla Chairman and CEO McAndrew Rudisill said in his shareholder letter from December. “This represents a large, growing market with quality high-yielding assets, and we believe it is a very attractive space for tokenization.” 

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Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.