Crypto Treasury Firms Go on $8B Buying Spree in Historic Week

Marti, a Turkish ride-hailing company, has put 20% of its cash into Bitcoin and plans to increase that to 50%. The move is part of a long-term plan to use crypto as a store of value while keeping its main business growing.
eToro has started offering tokenised US stocks on Ethereum and is planning to build its own blockchain. This would let users trade shares like crypto and use them in decentralised finance.
The US SEC has approved in-kind trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, letting firms trade crypto directly instead of using cash. This change is expected to cut costs, improve trading, and make it easier for big investors to enter the crypto market.
Ozzy Osbourne’s NFT collection CryptoBatz saw a big jump in sales and price after news of his death. Trading volumes surged over 100,000% in one day, briefly raising the floor price to around $295.
JPMorgan is planning to let clients borrow money using crypto like bitcoin and ether as collateral. This comes as rules around digital assets in the US become clearer and demand from wealthy clients grows.
The SEC Chairman said Ethereum is not considered a security, which has encouraged companies to increase their Ethereum holdings. This clear regulatory view has helped boost Ethereum’s price and sparked more interest from investors and firms.
ChatGPT said: Shinhan Bank has added cryptocurrency tracking and educational tools to its SOL app, becoming the first South Korean bank to offer such services. The move signals growing acceptance of crypto in traditional banking, with plans to expand into crypto purchases and wallet management soon.
Vitalik Buterin urged developers to simplify Ethereum Layer 2 networks by using Ethereum’s base layer for security and consensus. He said projects should stop rebuilding features Ethereum already provides and focus only on processing and verifying transactions.
Standard Chartered has started offering bitcoin and ether spot trading directly to institutional clients through its UK branch. This makes it the first major global bank to provide regulated crypto trading using existing foreign exchange systems.
Pi Network will launch its Open Network on 20 February 2025, ending its Enclosed Mainnet phase. With 10.14 million migrations and 19 million verified Pioneers, this transition unlocks Pi’s ecosystem for real-world use, enabling integration with other compliant systems.
Holiday scams in the UK are rising, with AI-generated images and social media making it easier for fraudsters to deceive consumers. Many holidaymakers, especially young people, are falling victim to scams due to the allure of cheap deals and influencer promotions.
CertiK audited the code behind a stablecoin used by Huione, a platform linked to human trafficking and illegal activities. The firm has apologised and promised to improve its vetting process after failing to fully investigate the project's risks.
OpenAI is launching GPT-5 to enhance usability, but CEO Sam Altman warned that users may eventually need to cover compute costs which has sparked criticism. Is Altman that hard up for money?
Estonian nationals Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin have agreed to surrender all claims to digital assets seized by US authorities as part of their plea agreement. To date, $350 million has already been returned to victims.
The US released Russian national Alexander Vinnik in a prisoner swap for American teacher Marc Fogel, who was detained in Russia on drug charges. Vinnik was convicted of laundering billions through his cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e.
Adobe’s Firefly Video Model enters the AI video space, competing with OpenAI’s Sora and startup Runway. Its key advantage lies in its seamless integration with Premiere Pro, giving it a potential edge in professional video editing. But will it challenge OpenAI, or remain a limited competitor?
Ethereum's Pectra upgrade, set for March 2025, will improve scalability, reduce gas fees, and enhance user experience with features like Account Abstraction and Layer 2 storage improvements. Key changes also include larger validator staking and security upgrades, positioning Ethereum for better performance in the blockchain space.
After a Twitter discussion about his Belgian Malinois, CZ hinted at creating a meme coin inspired by his pet. Initially curious about meme coins, he later suggested he might "mull it over," sparking speculation about his involvement with meme tokens on BNB Chain. This marks a shift from his past criticism of meme coins, with dog-themed coins surging in popularity following his comments.
Mehmet Aydın, founder of Çiftlik Bank, was sentenced to 45,376 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 500,000 people. He fled to Uruguay but was later extradited to Turkey, where he denied the charges but was convicted of fraud and money laundering.