Crypto Biz: Weeks like this will rattle your conviction

Whether you’re new to crypto or a seasoned vet, there’s no sugar-coating that it has been a horrible week for markets. Bybit suffered the largest hack in the industry’s 15-year history, Bitcoin plunged more than 20% from its high and US President Donald Trump inched closer to slapping 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. Bitcoin proxy stocks also plunged due to a combination of earnings misses, operational losses and a strong correlation with BTC. This week’s Crypto Biz newsletter dissects the fallout from the Bybit hack, Strategy’s latest price tumble and Paolo Ardoino’s warning that politicians want to “kill Tether.” Bybit hack: The latestOn Feb. 21, Bybit suffered a $1.4 billion exploit at the hands of North Korea-affiliated Lazarus Group, which targeted the exchange’s staked Ether token wallets. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou later declared “war” on Lazarus Group and vowed to do anything in his power to recover the lost funds. In the meantime, he assured users that Bybit was “back to 100% 1:1 on client assets.”A forensic investigation later confirmed Lazarus Group’s involvement in the attack and identified Safe(Wallet) as the compromised vector.Forensic reviews conducted by Sygnia and Verichains revealed that “the credentials of a Safe developer were compromised [...] which allowed the attacker to gain unauthorized access to the Safe(Wallet) infrastructure and totally deceive signers into approving a malicious transaction,” Bybit said.Miners’ shares dropShares of Bitcoin mining stocks Bitdeer Technologies and Cipher Mining plunged after releasing their fourth-quarter financial results. Bitdeer’s stock fell by more than 25% after reporting weaker-than-expected earnings and revenue. Cipher’s share price was down more than 17% after reporting that its operating losses more than doubled on a year-over-year basis. Some miners have struggled to adapt following Bitcoin’s 2024 halving, which cut mining rewards in half. Bitdeer said its weak performance was “primarily driven by the impact of the April 2024 halving.”Strategy shares follow Bitcoin lowerWith Bitcoin’s price plunging more than 20% from its January all-time high, shares of Michael Saylor’s Strategy have also declined sharply. Since the start of the year, MSTR has declined by 16%. Strategy’s strength lies in its ability to raise capital backed by its expanding Bitcoin treasury. However, “In a situation where their liabilities rise significantly higher than their assets, this ability could deteriorate,” according to market commentator The Kobeissi Letter.In the meantime, Strategy remains undeterred by Bitcoin price volatility. Earlier in the week, it announced that it had acquired another 20,356 BTC for $1.99 billion.Strategy is the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin treasurer, with 499,096 BTC on its books. Mining company MARA Holdings is a distant second with 45,659 BTC on its balance sheet. Tether CEO: Politicians want to “kill” stablecoin issuerTether CEO Paolo Ardoino has warned that hostile politicians are trying to push the world’s largest stablecoin issuer out of the cryptocurrency market. In a post on the X social media platform, Ardoino said that competitors should be focused on building a better product than Tether. However, “their real intent is to ‘Kill Tether,’” Ardoino said. “Every single business or political meeting that they have culminates with this intent,” he continued.The irony of trying to kill Tether is that USDt (USDT) is the “most successful tool for US dollar hegemony and distribution across emerging markets,” said Ardoino. With a market capitalization of more than $140 billion, USDT is by far the most popular stablecoin in the world. Crypto Biz is your weekly pulse on the business behind blockchain and crypto, delivered directly to your inbox every Thursday.