FTX Recovery Trust to Distribute $2.2 Billion to Creditors on March 31

The shift towards political announcements driving market movements over internal metrics is evident in Bitcoin's lagging performance in 2025. Policy signals are now exerting more influence than the traditional four-year cycle, with quasi-QE and fiscal dominance shaping the market backdrop.

Nexo has been fined $500,000 by California regulators for issuing unlicensed loans to over 5,000 state residents, leading to regulatory troubles in the U.S. The firm must transfer funds of California residents to a licensed U.S. affiliate within 150 days.

Brian Garry Sewell, a Utah man, received a three-year federal prison sentence for defrauding investors of nearly $3 million through an unlicensed cash-to-crypto business. The judge also ordered over $3.8 million in restitution to investors and the Department of Homeland Security.

Rep. Maxine Waters and other lawmakers criticized the SEC for its handling of enforcement actions against crypto firms, particularly involving Tron founder Justin Sun's case. The letter raised concerns about potential political influences on the SEC's decisions and the security risks posed by Sun's connections with China.

CME Group plans to introduce futures contracts for Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar on February 9, pending regulatory approval. The contracts will be available in standard and micro sizes for each cryptocurrency, expanding CME's existing crypto offerings beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, chaired by Tom Lee, announced a $200 million investment in Beast Industries, founded by MrBeast. The deal, one of the most novel for a crypto treasury firm, is expected to close soon. Beast Industries plans to incorporate DeFi into its financial services platform.

X is cracking down on apps that incentivize users to post on the platform, causing a drop in the price of Kaito's token by over 15% in just 30 minutes. Head of Product Nikita Bier announced the initiative to improve user experience by eliminating AI spam.

Group-IB warned about a new ransomware strain, DeadLock, using Polygon smart contracts for proxy server rotation. The malware, first identified in July 2025, has infected a limited number of victims and lacks a public affiliate program or data-leak site.

Ripple is providing $150 million to LMAX Group to integrate its RLUSD token into the exchange's infrastructure, aiming to enhance cross-asset capabilities for institutional clients. This move reflects the growing momentum of stablecoins in institutional market access beyond crypto-native use, with RLUSD positioned as a highly-regulated stablecoin for institutions.

MetaMask has expanded its support to include the Tron blockchain, allowing users to manage Tron-based assets and interact with apps directly within the wallet interface. This move follows previous additions of Bitcoin and Solana support, enabling swaps between different networks.