Here’s a quick recap of the crypto landscape for Friday (February 21) as of 9:00 p.m. UTC.
Bitcoin and Ethereum price update
Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at US$95,056, reflecting a 3.4 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. The day’s trading range has seen a high of US$99,262 and a low of US$94,909.
Ethereum (ETH) is priced at US$2,637, marking a slump of 4.1 percent over the same period. The cryptocurrency reached an intraday high of US$2,837 and a low of US$2,625.
Altcoin price update
- Solana (SOL) is currently valued at US$169.56, down 2.8 percent over the past 24 hours. SOL experienced a high of US$179 and a low of US$168 during Friday’s trading session.
- XRP is trading at US$2.53, reflecting a 6 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency recorded an intraday high of US$2.70 and a low of US$2.52.
- Sui (SUI) is priced at US$3.27, showing a 5.8 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. It achieved a daily high of US$3.55 and a low of US$3.23.
- Cardano (ADA) is trading at US$0.7574, reflecting a 6 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. Its highest price on Friday was US$0.8166, with a low of US$0.7526.
Crypto news to know
SEC agrees to dismiss Coinbase case
Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) said Friday that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to dismiss its case against the cryptocurrency exchange, pending final approval from regulators.
The SEC sued Coinbase in June 2023, alleging that it was operating as an unregistered securities platform and brokerage service. It accused Coinbase of generating billions in revenue while failing to provide investor protections.
Coinbase shared the update on social media platform X, stating, “But this isn’t the end. It’s the beginning. And if there were ever a time to build — that time is now. Thank you to everyone who stood with us, and stood with crypto.”
“The SEC’s swift action to bring order to the crypto industry and restore fairness is encouraging. Commissioner Peirce’s Task Force has been instrumental in this progress, taking a thoughtful, inclusive approach that actively seeks industry and stakeholder input. The SEC faces a challenging task — not only must it undo harmful policies, but it must also lay the foundation for sound regulatory frameworks. And as history shows, undoing bad policy is itself good policy.
Under Acting Chairman Uyeda and Task Force Leader Commissioner Peirce, the SEC is holding itself to a higher standard, and I am pleased — but not surprised — to see this shift. I am confident that this commitment to fairness and integrity will continue under incoming Chairman Atkins.”
Guillén leads BakerHostetler’s digital and innovative markets team and co-leads its blockchain team; she is also a former attorney with the SEC’s Office of the General Counsel, and was among the candidates that the Trump administration considered for the position of SEC chair.
Jan3 CEO suggests ‘manufactured’ price action
Samson Mow, CEO of Jan3 and founder of Pixelmatic, suggested that Bitcoin’s range-bound price action may be manufactured during a panel discussion at Consensus Hong Kong 2025 on Wednesday.
“If you look at the price movement, we peak, and then we stay steady and chop sideways. And it’s good, you can say it’s consolidation, but it just looks very manufactured.”
Mow indicated that the significant buying pressure from retail and other major investors accumulating BTC must be offset by substantial selling pressure.
Additionally, FTX’s recent Bitcoin sales, as part of their payout process, might be creating downward pressure on the market, counteracting the upward momentum generated by significant buying interest. This situation leads to a period of price stabilization rather than immediate growth.
“FTX is starting to pay out their dollars from selling Bitcoin, ill-advisedly, in the mid-20K range, so clearly, somebody is selling to match this. Otherwise, the price would already be moving upwards again,” Mow said.
Bybit experiences its largest security breach
Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou confirmed a security breach that saw over US$1.4 billion in liquid-staked Ether and other ERC-20 tokens hacked from the cryptocurrency exchange on Friday morning.
The confirmation came roughly one hour after on-chain security analyst ZachXBT spotted the incident shortly after it occurred, according to Cointelegraph’s coverage of the event.
The attack appears to have compromised the signing process for transactions, allowing hackers to manipulate the smart contract logic of the cold wallet. The hack affected only Bybit’s Ethereum cold wallet; other wallets, including Bitcoin reserves, remain secure.
Bybit has obtained a bridge loan covering a significant portion of the stolen funds and continues to process withdrawals. The situation is ongoing, and Bybit is working with other exchanges to track and potentially freeze the stolen assets. Arkham Intelligence attributed the hack to the North Korean group Lazarus.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.