Here’s what happened in crypto today
Today in crypto, the US Securities and Exchange Commission's task force continues discussions with crypto firms over digital assets regulation; Bybit CEO Ben Zhou says the exchange has replaced all the Ether stolen from the $1.4 billion hack. Meanwhile, Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor has hinted at more Bitcoin buying. SEC task force continues meeting with firms over crypto regulationsMany are speculating that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), under new leadership since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, could drop some of its enforcement cases against crypto firms.According to multiple filings with the SEC as of Feb. 24, in the last seven days, officials with the commission’s crypto task force have met with representatives from several firms and industry leaders to discuss issues “related to regulation of crypto assets.” The task force, launched on Jan. 21 and headed by Commissioner Hester Peirce, met with the advocacy group Crypto Council for Innovation, infrastructure provider Zero Hash, crypto investment firm Paradigm Operations, and Strategy executive chair Michael Saylor.All firms and individuals involved with the discussions provided documents suggesting that the SEC reevaluate its previously held position that many cryptocurrencies were securities under its purview. The commission has several pending enforcement actions against firms, the majority of which were filed under then-Chair Gary Gensler, but dropped an investigation into Robinhood Crypto and OpenSea. It may decide to end a case against crypto exchange Coinbase.The reported meetings followed similar discussions between the SEC crypto task force and representatives of the Blockchain Association, Jito Labs, Multicoin Capital, and others. It’s unclear whether the commission intends to move forward with charting a different regulatory path under acting chair Mark Uyeda or wait until the US Senate confirms an official head for the agency — anticipated to be former commissioner Paul Atkins.Bybit has ‘fully closed the ETH gap’ CEO says after $1.4B Lazarus hackBybit CEO Ben Zhou says his cryptocurrency exchange has fully replaced the $1.4 billion worth of Ether that was hacked on Feb. 21.A new audited proof-of-reserve report will be published very soon to show Bybit’s client assets are back at a 1:1 ratio through a Merkle tree, Zhou said in a Feb. 24 X post.The statement came in response to a X post from blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain wh,ich estimated that Bybit has acquired 446,870 Ether, worth around $1.23 billion from loans, whale deposits and purchases — making up nearly 88% of the $1.4 billion stolen from North Korean stated-back hacker organization Lazarus Group on Feb. 21.Saylor posts Sunday chart signaling more Bitcoin buyingStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor posted the chart that has typically come ahead of the firm buying more Bitcoin. The chart, which has become somewhat of a Sunday ritual for the executive, was not posted last week as the company took a one-week break from buying.“I don’t think this reflects what I got done last week,” the executive wrote in a Feb. 23 X post, in a nod to a recent move by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) instructing federal employees to submit a list of five things they got done last week.The company currently has 478,740 BTC, valued at roughly $45.8 billion, and is up over 47% on its investment. Strategy also issued $2 billion in convertible bonds on Feb. 20 to purchase more of the decentralized, supply-capped asset.Bybit hackers may be behind Solana memecoin scams — ZachXBTThe Lazarus Group, the primary suspect behind the $1.4 billion Bybit hack, may also be linked to recent Solana memecoin scams, including rug pulls on the Pump.fun platform, according to onchain investigator ZachXBT.The crypto industry was rocked by the largest hack in history on Feb. 21, when Bybit lost over $1.4 billion in liquid-staked Ether (stETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH) and other digital assets.Blockchain security firms, including Arkham Intelligence, have identified North Korea’s Lazarus Group as the likely culprit behind the Bybit exploit. The same entity laundering the hacked Bybit funds may also be responsible for some of the recent memecoin launches on Solana’s Pump.fun, according to ZachXBT.“On Feb 22 the attacker received $1.08M from the Bybit hack to 0x363908df2b0890e7e5c1e403935133094287d7d1 who bridged USDC to Solana,” ZachXBT wrote in in a Feb. 23 Telegram post.The $1 million was then consolidated across multiple wallets on Solana, some of which had previous links to memecoin scams, the investigator added.“I made 920+ addresses receiving funds tied to the Bybit hack public and noticed a person laundering for Lazarus Group previously launched meme coins via Pump Fun,” he said.