Today's news tips:
1.Bybit CEO: I hope eXch will reconsider blocking capital outflows, which will not only help Bybit
2. Tether has frozen 181,000 USDT related to the Bybit hacker and will continue to monitor
3. It is suspected that Bybit or its associated addresses have bought a total of 106,498 ETH in the past day or so
4. Market news: Kanye is suspected of selling the publishing rights of X account for $20 million
5. Currently, 5 institutions/individuals have provided loan support to Bybit totaling about 120,000 ETH
6.Bybit CEO: Rolling back the Ethereum blockchain to before the theft may be decided by the community vote
7. Ethereum core developers publish article explaining why the Ethereum blockchain cannot be “rolled back”
8. Bybit: 10% of recovered funds will be rewarded to ethical network and security experts who recover stolen cryptocurrencies
9. NFT transaction volume in the past 7 days increased by 19.6% month-on-month to US$152.9 million
Regulatory/Macro
Next week's macro outlook: What will the Fed do next as caution becomes the main theme? Focus on PCE
With US President Trump promising more tariffs, the market has experienced another turbulent week, and the economic optimism that emerged after Trump's election may begin to fade. Despite the volatility, gold continued to rise this week and refreshed its all-time high above $2,950. However, there is always such a voice in the market: as the rebound in the second half of the week failed to continue to set a new record high, does this mean that bullish pressure is easing? After the release of strong US CPI data, the US core PCE price index will become the focus of the market in terms of data next week. The following are the key points that the market will focus on in the new week:
- At 22:30 on Monday, the U.S. Dallas Fed Business Activity Index for February will be released;
- At 17:20 on Tuesday, Logan, 2026 FOMC voting member and president of the Dallas Fed, will deliver a speech;
- At 00:45 on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Board Governor Barr delivered a speech;
- At 02:00 on Wednesday, Barkin, 2027 FOMC voting member and Richmond Fed President, will speak on inflation;
- At 01:00 on Thursday, 2027 FOMC voting member and Atlanta Fed President Bostic will speak on the economic outlook and the housing market;
- At 21:30 on Thursday, the revised annualized quarterly rate of real GDP in the fourth quarter of the United States, the revised GDP price index in the fourth quarter, the monthly rate of durable goods orders in January, and the number of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending February 22;
- At 02:15 on Friday, Hammack, 2026 FOMC voting member and President of the Cleveland Fed, will speak on financial stability;
- At 04:15 on Friday, Harker, 2026 FOMC voting member and President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, will speak on the economic outlook;
- At 21:30 on Friday, the US PCE data for January and the monthly rate of personal spending for January will be released;
Over the past two months, a strong U.S. economy has provided investors with protection to continue pouring money into U.S. stocks amid tariff threats and the Fed's tightening policy, but Friday's decline in U.S. stocks may mean that this "protection" may be limited. For investors who have recently poured record amounts of money into various risky investments, even the first signs of pressure on the U.S. economic growth outlook are enough to make them sell. Given that most of the Fed officials will speak before the release of PCE data next week, they are not expected to relax their tone easily and continue to emphasize uncertainty and caution.
Project News
mETH Protocol: cmETH withdrawals have been resumed, user funds are not affected
The liquidity staking/re-staking protocol mETH Protocol announced on the X platform that cmETH withdrawals have been restored, user funds are safe and fully supported, and a detailed post-event analysis report will be released soon, outlining the incident and all measures taken.
Earlier news, mETH Protocol, a liquidity pledge/re-pledge protocol under Mantle, which has a close relationship with Bybit, announced the suspension of cmETH withdrawals after learning about the recent security incident involving certain mETH and cmETH transactions on Bybit, but deposit and pledge services will proceed as usual.
Tether has frozen 181,000 USDT related to the Bybit hack and will continue to monitor
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announced on the X platform: "We have just frozen 181,000 USDT related to the ByBit hacker attack. Although it may not be much, it is honest work." Paolo Ardoino also stated that he will continue to monitor.
Bybit stated in a post on the X platform that as part of the investigation and recovery efforts, Bybit has pledged to use 10% of the recovered funds to reward ethical network and cybersecurity experts who actively recovered the stolen cryptocurrencies in the incident.
Bybit said it has launched a bounty recovery program, calling on the elite in the fields of cybersecurity and crypto analysis around the world to jointly track down the perpetrators of the largest theft in crypto history.
Arkham Exchange will offer spot trading to users in 17 U.S. states starting March 1
Arkham Intelligence announced that its exchange, Arkham Exchange, will begin offering spot cryptocurrency trading to users in 17 U.S. states starting March 1.
The move follows Arkham’s announcement last November, following the launch of its USDT-based perpetual contract exchange. Spot trading will be available to users in Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming, Wisconsin, California, Massachusetts, and Montana.
According to @ai_9684xtpa, CZ bought 1.005 BNB of TST twice in the early morning, worth about $662. Subsequently, 1110.99 TEST and 0.096 WBNB of bilateral liquidity were injected into the TST/WBNB trading pair, worth about $200. Perhaps affected by this news, the value of TST briefly exceeded $100 million again.
In response, CZ said: "I bought TST just for testing. This is my first time using AMM, liquidity pools, etc. I have never used DEX before, only CEX. I want to put some BNB in TST LP as a test. I have seen the Pancake demo before, and it looks simple. So I didn't refer to any video tutorials and wanted to see what the first experience would be like. As a novice, I have to say that the DEX experience can be improved a lot. There may be robots trying to front-run my public address transactions (or any large transactions). Everyone can monitor what I am doing in real time. Well, there is still a lot to do."
Market News: Kanye is suspected of selling the publishing rights of X account for $20 million
According to X user @afhasbara, Kanye sold the publishing rights to his X account to @barkmeta for $20 million before the cryptocurrency was released, with his agent John Monopoly taking a 15% fee. @barkmeta also owns the publishing rights to @AB84 and was behind the fake Yeezy tokens that were posted on the AB page yesterday, which were taken down within hours. Kanye's cryptocurrency tweets are clearly not from him.
Bybit CEO: I hope eXch will reconsider blocking capital outflows, which will not only help Bybit
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou tweeted, “At this moment, it’s not about Bybit or any entity, but our general attitude towards hackers as an industry. I sincerely hope that eXch can reconsider and help us stop the outflow of funds. We have also received help from Interpool and international regulators. Helping to stop these funds is not just helping Bybit.” Previously, eXch publicly released Bybit’s interception request email and refused to respond.
According to previous news , Yu Xian, the founder of SlowMist, tweeted that given that a large amount of ETH has been washed out through eXch and exchanged for BTC XMR, etc., all platforms should increase their risk control levels for funds from eXch.
Bybit: Deposits and withdrawals have fully returned to normal levels
Bybit released an update on the X platform announcing that deposits and withdrawals on its platform have fully returned to normal levels, which has been confirmed by on-chain data.
Viewpoint
CZ: I definitely can’t be a real CEX user, and I’ve never been a standard CEX user.
Binance co-founder CZ responded to community users on the X platform, saying: "I tried the meme. But I certainly can't be a real CEX user. I never chase quick money. The mentality can't be copied. You may not know that I have never been a standard user of CEX. I am a hodler. I am a blacksmith. I make tools. Not every blacksmith knows martial arts. Blacksmiths who don't know martial arts can sometimes polish out a sword."
Binance co-founder CZ posted some thoughts on the recent hacker attack on the X platform. He said:
There is a pattern where hackers were able to steal large amounts of cryptocurrency from multi-signature “cold storage” solutions such as ByBit, Phemex, WazirX, and others.
In the recent ByBit case, the hackers were able to make the front-end UI show a legitimate transaction, while the actual signature was for another transaction. Not familiar with the other cases, but based on the limited information available, they sound similar. Even scarier, the affected exchanges used different multi-signature solution providers. The hacker Lazarus Group's intrusion capabilities are very advanced and wide-ranging, and it is unclear whether the hackers were able to hack into multiple signature devices, the server side, or in every case.
Some have questioned my suggestion to stop all withdrawals as a standard security precaution (I tweeted this on the shuttle to the plane), the purpose was to share a practical approach based on personal experience and observation, but there is no absolute right or wrong approach, the guiding principle is always to lean on the safe side. After any security incident, pause everything, make sure we fully understand what happened, how the hackers got into the system, which devices were compromised, double-check that everything is secure, and then resume operations.
Of course, suspending withdrawals could cause more panic. In 2019, Binance suspended withdrawals for a week after a massive $40 million hack, and when withdrawals (and deposits) were restored, more deposits were made than withdrawals. It’s not that this is a better approach. Every situation is different. It’s a matter of judgment, and the tweets are meant to share what might work, to show support in a timely manner, and to trust that Ben made the best decision based on the information he had. Ben has done an excellent job of communicating transparently and staying calm while dealing with challenges. This is in stark contrast to other less transparent CEOs (such as WazirX, FTX, etc.). The cases mentioned here are different. FTX is a fraud. WazirX, due to ongoing litigation, will not comment.
According to Jinshi, Buffett published his annual shareholder letter, which mentioned that the value of tradable stocks held last year fell from $354 billion to $272 billion, but the value of non-listed controlling stakes held increased and is still much higher than the value of the tradable stock portfolio. We will always invest most of their funds in stocks - mainly US stocks, although many of these companies will have important international businesses. Berkshire will never prefer to hold cash equivalent assets and give up holding equity in high-quality companies, whether it is a controlling stake or a partial stake.
Berkshire has outperformed expectations in 2024, even though 53% of the 189 operating businesses reported earnings declines. Investment income has increased significantly, predictably, due to higher U.S. Treasury yields, which have significantly increased holdings of these highly liquid short-term securities. Berkshire has been increasing its borrowings denominated in yen, but not following any fixed pattern. All borrowings are fixed-rate, with no "floating-rate" borrowings. No predictions are made about future foreign exchange rate movements, so an approximately neutral position is sought with respect to currencies.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said the exchange will do everything possible to recover the stolen funds, including offering a bounty program for anyone who assists in returning the funds, working with law enforcement, and talking with the Ethereum Foundation to explore possible solutions.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou was asked in Spaces on February 22 whether he supports rolling back the Ethereum blockchain to the state before the Lazarus Group hack on February 21. He responded: “I’m not sure if this is a decision made by one person. Based on the spirit of blockchain, maybe this should be a voting process to see what the community wants, but I’m not sure.”
Ethereum core developer explains why it is impossible to "roll back" the Ethereum blockchain
After Bybit was hacked, some people asked why Ethereum could not "roll back" the blockchain to reverse the hacker attack. In response, Ethereum core developer timbeiko.eth published an article to explain that while Bitcoin was able to "roll back" its blockchain 15 years ago, today, the interconnected nature of Ethereum and the settlement of on-chain <> off-chain economic transactions make this problem difficult today.
CZ tweeted that he might combine the remaining funds in the donation address with investments. Let's see which method works better. "Many people suggest donating to charities, which I support. I like to use cryptocurrency for charity. My requirement for charity is that the receiving organization must enable cryptocurrency and must allow tracking to the ultimate beneficiary. Transparency. Suggestions are welcome." "Some other projects suggest destroying the received tokens. I understand what that means. Airdrops are the most effort in wallet operations, and choosing who to airdrop to will also cause more "controversy." Some people suggest adding to LP. I did some testing yesterday. I think I may have finally got the hang of it. Judging from this address, the MEV experience is accurate. A good learning experience, a fun weekend exercise, and I know it's just a few years late. At present, I tend to do more to support liquidity. I don't care if the funds on this address make money. I think this is also an indirect way to give back to our community."
According to previous news , CZ bought about 1 BNB of TST in the early morning, and said that it was his first time using DEX and his experience could be improved a lot.
Important data
According to the monitoring of on-chain analyst Yu Jin, 5 institutions/individuals have provided loan support totaling 120,000 ETH (3.2097ymy) to Bybit. Specifically:
Bitget: 40,000 ETH ($105.96 million);
Institutions/whales withdrawing from Binance: 11,800 ETH ($31.02 million);
MEXC: 12,652 stETH ($33.75 million);
Binance or another institution/whale that withdrew from Binance: 36,000 ETH ($96.54 million);
0x327...45b address: 20,000 ETH ($53.7 million).
NFT transaction volume in the past 7 days increased by 19.6% month-on-month to US$152.9 million
According to Crypto.news, according to CryptoSlam data, NFT transaction volume has grown to $152.9 million in the past 7 days, an increase of 19.60% from the previous week. The number of NFT buyers increased by 64.53% to 335,666; the number of NFT sellers increased by 49.30% to 237,123; and the number of NFT transactions increased by 4.73% to 1,574,998.
Ethereum network NFT transaction volume jumped 42.71% to $79.1 million, and the number of buyers increased 36.09% to 41,619. Bitcoin network NFT transaction volume fell 26.59% to $20.6 million, and the number of buyers rose 40.65% to 23,097.
Notable transactions over the past seven days include:
- CryptoPunks #7685: $166,289 (60 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #3963: $139,515 (50 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #5774: $122,773 (44 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #9813: $121,059 (44.99 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #8046: $120,659 (44.69 ETH)
Golem Network, which raised 820,000 ETH in 2016, is suspected of selling $20 million in ETH
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin, Golem Network, which raised 820,000 ETH in ICO in 2016, may have sold another 7,250 ETH (US$20 million) in the past two days: 6,200 ETH were transferred to Binance and 1,050 ETH were transferred to Coinbase. There should be 110,000 ETH (US$3.05 million) from 2016 to now: 10,000 in Golem: Multisig address and 100,000 in Ethereum native staking.
Bybit allegedly purchased 71,755 ETH through OTC, worth about $197 million
According to Lookonchain monitoring, Bybit is suspected of purchasing 71,755 ETH (US$197 million) through OTC.
According to the monitoring of the on-chain analyst Ember, the address (0x2E4...b77) that may be Bybit or its affiliates received another 34,743 ETH (US$97.75 million) from Wintermute about 20 minutes ago. They are likely to have purchased a total of 106,498 ETH (US$294.93 million) in the past day or so: through Galaxy Digital, FalconX, and Wintermute.
This address first received 100 million USDT from Bybit’s cold wallet and then began to receive ETH after transferring it to FalconX and Galaxy Digital.
