Market Chop Continues

GM Anon!

It’s been a chaotic week, with fear creeping into the market, as key metrics continue to pull back. This is happening despite major bullish news, including pro-crypto support from the Trumps and regulatory advancements. The delay in alt season is wearing people down, and hopium is running thin—but don’t get shaken out. Alt season is coming—it’s just a matter of time!

Let’s dive in!

TLDR

• $2.2B in Liquidations – Traders got wiped out as volatility surged, with Binance seeing $821M in liquidations. More forced selling followed throughout the week.

• Alt Season Delayed – Despite bullish regulatory news and Trump’s pro-crypto stance, traders are fatigued, and momentum remains uncertain.

• Solana’s Strength – TVL up, fees rising, and DEX volumes surging with 200M+ daily swaps—Solana is dominating on-chain activity.

• Stablecoin Liquidity Rising – Total market cap hits $220.9B, up 2.1% this week, signaling fresh liquidity flowing into the market.

• Base Growth Accelerates – Stablecoin supply surpasses $4B, indicating stronger capital deployment and increasing DeFi activity.

• MicroStrategy Rebrands to "Strategy" – Now holds 471,107 BTC ($50B), solidifying its position as a top institutional BTC holder.

• Berachain Mainnet & Airdrop – The Proof-of-Liquidity blockchain launched with a $632M BERA airdrop—early DeFi projects Gummi, Infrared, Kodiak, and Shogun gaining traction.

Monday Liquidations

Retail capitulation is in full effect—just as we’ve seen before every major market move. The usual pattern is playing out: weak hands get shaken out while smart money accumulates. History doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes. Stay focused, don’t get caught in the noise. The real moves happen when the majority is sidelined.

On Monday, over $2.2B in long liquidations rocked the market, wiping out overleveraged traders as prices pulled back sharply.

Binance took the biggest hit with $821M in liquidations, followed by OKX ($494M), Bybit ($333M), and Gate.io ($307M). Even smaller exchanges like HTX ($207M), CoinEx, Bitfinex, and BitMEX experienced a wave of forced selling.

It was a brutal shakeout, exposing just how overleveraged traders had become. As the week progressed, choppy price action led to even more liquidations, with traders attempting to re-enter the market too early and getting wiped out again.

With this flush, some leverage was cleared, potentially setting up for a relief bounce—but with uncertainty still looming, volatility remained high. Tread carefully—this market isn’t forgiving.

DeFi & Stablecoins

Ethereum continues to face challenges in the current market environment, despite some bullish signals—most notably, recent accumulation by the Trumps. However, TVL has taken a substantial hit over the past week, reflecting broader market hesitation.

Solana's TVL experienced a strong uptrend from mid-2024 till Jan 2025, but a notable pullback has emerged recently, signaling a potential cooling period after months of growth.

The latest fee data highlights Solana's increasing dominance in on-chain activity, with multiple Solana-based applications ranking among the top fee-generating protocols. Meteora, Raydium, Jito, and Pump.fun are pulling in significant revenue, surpassing many of Ethereum’s major players.

Solana’s liquid staking sector is also growing rapidly, with Jito ($5.58M in 24H fees, $290M in 30-day fees) solidifying its position as a major player. The increase in fees suggests strong demand for liquid staking solutions on Solana, mirroring the early growth phase Ethereum’s liquid staking sector experienced.

The total stablecoin market cap has surged to $220.9B, reflecting a 2.1% increase over the past week. This marks a strong continuation of the uptrend that began in mid-2023, reinforcing the growing demand for stablecoins across DeFi, trading, and institutional adoption.

USDT remains dominant, holding a 63.96% market share, further solidifying its role as the primary liquidity vehicle in the crypto ecosystem. This steady rise in stablecoin supply is a bullish signal, as it suggests more liquidity is entering the market—typically a precursor to increased crypto trading activity and potential market expansion.

Given this trend, stablecoin inflows could serve as a leading indicator for upcoming volatility, particularly as capital rotates back into risk assets like BTC, ETH, and high-performing alts.

Building on the broader stablecoin expansion, the total stablecoin supply on Base has now surpassed $4B. This rapid growth highlights Base’s increasing role as a hub for liquidity, with stablecoins flowing in at a steady pace. With DeFi activity picking up, this trend could signal deeper capital deployment and stronger ecosystem development on the network.

MicroStrategy Now Strategy

MicroStrategy has rebranded as Strategy, a move that solidifies its commitment to BTC as the foundation of its business. Strategy now has 471,107 BTC in its reserves—worth nearly $50B as of January 2025—the company has positioned itself as one of the largest institutional holders of BTC, doubling down on its long-term vision.

Solana Going Strong

Solana’s DEX ecosystem continues to experience a surge in activity across multiple metrics, highlighting strong growth in trading volume, liquidity, and user participation. Key quantitative insights include:

• Newly Traded Tokens: Over 400K new tokens are being created and traded weekly, signaling a wave of speculative and developer activity.

• Liquidity: Solana DEX TVL has surpassed $2.5B, showing steady capital inflows.

• Total Traders: The number of unique wallets has now exceeded 519M, reflecting increasing adoption.

• Swap Activity: Daily swap counts have peaked above 200M swaps, with a substantial portion driven by bots.

• Organic vs. Bot Trading: While bot-driven transactions dominate, organic user engagement remains strong, supporting a healthy trading ecosystem.

These figures reinforce Solana’s position as one of the most active blockchain ecosystems, with a rapidly expanding DEX landscape that continues to attract both traders and liquidity providers.

Majors & Memes

With the recent market pullback, attention has shifted back to major assets like BTC and ETH. Among altcoins, HYPE and XRP have been in focus, while in the meme sector, DOGE has dominated. Meanwhile, in the AI agent narrative, AIXBT has captured the most mindshare.

Within the Solana ecosystem, users have been locked in fierce competition to realize profits, with many turning to stablecoins—likely as a way to secure profits amid the recent market downturn.

In the AI agent sector, AIXBT is commanding significant attention. While it appeared to be losing ground last week, it has regained traction, maintaining strong mindshare during this turbulent period. FARTCOIN has also emerged as a notable contender. Other tokens drawing interest include ARC, AI16Z, WIF, BIS, MLG, and GRIFFAIN.

Attention is shifting towards DeFi, a trend we identified last week, with GameFi following behind. OM (+22%) and Ondo (+15%) have demonstrated strong resilience during the recent market bounce.

Berachain

Berachain, a highly anticipated layer-1 blockchain using a Proof-of-Liquidity mechanism, is distributing approximately $632M worth of its native BERA token alongside its mainnet launch which began on February 6.

Main features: 

• An Ethereum-compatible layer-1 blockchain designed for high performance.

• Uses a Proof-of-Liquidity consensus model, ensuring security while maintaining liquidity by redistributing network revenues to participants.

• The BERA token will function as both the gas token for transactions and a staking token for network security.

Token Allocation:

• 15.8% – Airdrop to eligible users

• 13.1% – Community-driven initiatives

• 20% – Research and development

• 34.3% – Institutional investors

• 16.8% – Advisors and core development team (Big Bera Labs)

Token Distribution: Out of the 500M BERA tokens created at Genesis, 15.8% (around 79M tokens) will be airdropped to eligible users.

Eligibility & Claims:

• Initial claims started on Feb 6 via the Berachain airdrop checker. Use this link to check if you participated in Berachain activities:

• Users rewarded for social engagement and Request for Broposal participation can claim their tokens from Feb 10.

• Bong Bears NFT holders and affiliated NFT collections (Bond, Boo, Baby, Band, and Bit Bears) will receive the largest portion.

Key Protocols on Berachain 

1. BeraTone – A Blockchain-Based Farming & Life Sim Game

BeraTone is a farming and life simulation video game being developed on Berachain. It comes from the creators of Bit Bears, a well-known NFT project with 8,000 ETH in trading volume. 

The game is backed by Build A Bera, a collective supporting Berachain projects, which includes key players like Infrared and Shogun. By integrating blockchain mechanics, BeraTone aims to provide an immersive play-to-earn experience within the Berachain ecosystem.

2. Gummi – A Modular Money Market with High Leverage

Gummi introduces Berachain’s first modular money market, enabling users to borrow against a variety of assets—including tokens, yield farms, and NFTs—with up to 99%+ loan-to-value (LTV) ratios. 

One of its standout features is its 100x leverage trading capability, allowing users to leverage trade any token or NFT. This makes Gummi a powerful platform for DeFi users seeking advanced borrowing and trading strategies.

3. Infrared – Expanding Berachain’s Staking & Liquidity Markets

Infrared focuses on enhancing the utility of BGT (Berachain Governance Token) by introducing iBGT, a liquid staking solution. This allows users to stake BGT while still being able to utilize its value across Berachain’s DeFi ecosystem. 

iBGT can be integrated into DEXs, lending protocols, and other financial applications, ensuring stakers maintain liquidity while securing the network. Infrared plays a crucial role in optimizing Berachain’s staking economy.

4. Kodiak – Automating Liquidity Management in DeFi

Kodiak is building a vertically integrated DeFi infrastructure, aiming to democratize access to liquidity management. By streamlining automated strategies for liquidity provision, Kodiak enables users—both individual and institutional—to optimize their capital efficiency. 

This project is significant for Berachain’s ecosystem as it enhances the usability and sustainability of liquidity pools across its DeFi platforms.

5. Shogun – A Cross-Chain DEX Aggregator for Maximized Trader Value

Shogun is a cross-chain DEX aggregator that connects Berachain, Solana, and EVM-compatible chains. It uses an intent-based trading model to optimize order execution and convert MEV into TEV (Trader Extractable Value), ensuring traders receive better pricing and minimal slippage. 

Shogun’s cross-chain functionality makes it an essential infrastructure piece for multi-chain trading on Berachain.

Why These Apps Matter for Berachain

Each of these projects contributes to Berachain’s growing ecosystem in a unique way:

• BeraTone pushes blockchain gaming forward.

• Gummi introduces advanced lending and leverage options.

• Infrared strengthens staking and liquidity mechanisms.

• Kodiak simplifies liquidity management for DeFi users.

• Shogun enhances cross-chain trading with trader-first optimization.

Together, these projects highlight Berachain’s expanding DeFi, NFT, and gaming infrastructure, reinforcing its role as an innovative blockchain ecosystem.

Check out more Berchain apps here.

That wraps up this post—we hope you found the insights valuable. See you next week, anon! 🚀