Crypto investors celebrated this week as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decided to dismiss one of the most contentious lawsuits in the crypto realm, which had embroiled Ripple Labs in a legal struggle for over four years.
### SEC’s XRP Reversal a Milestone for the Industry: Ripple CEO
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse hailed the SEC’s decision to drop its prolonged lawsuit against Ripple Labs, the company behind the XRP Ledger blockchain, as a landmark achievement for the crypto sector. At the Blockworks’ 2025 Digital Asset Summit held in New York, Garlinghouse announced on March 19 that the SEC would no longer pursue its case against Ripple, concluding a four-year legal battle tied to an alleged unregistered securities offering worth $1.3 billion in 2020. He remarked, “This feels like a win for the industry and marks the onset of a new era,” highlighting the optimistic outlook for the future of blockchain innovation.
### Solana Futures ETF to Drive Institutional Adoption, Despite Initial Inflows
The crypto landscape is witnessing its first-ever Solana futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a move that could potentially lead to the approval of spot Solana (SOL) ETFs in the future. The launch of the Volatility Shares Solana ETF (SOLZ) and the Volatility Shares 2X Solana ETF (SOLT) on March 20 is seen as a pivotal moment by industry experts. Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research, noted that this development could significantly enhance Solana’s market presence by boosting demand and liquidity for SOL, thereby helping it close the gap with Ethereum’s market capitalization. According to Lee, the introduction of a regulated investment vehicle through the Solana ETF could attract substantial capital, reinforcing Solana’s competitiveness in the blockchain ecosystem.
### Pump.fun Introduces New DEX, Competing with Raydium
Pump.fun has unveiled its own decentralized exchange (DEX) named PumpSwap, which could challenge Raydium as the leading platform for trading Solana-based memecoins. Starting March 20, memecoins that successfully establish liquidity on Pump.fun will transition directly to PumpSwap, as announced via a post on X. Previously, these tokens migrated to Raydium, which gained popularity primarily due to the trading activities surrounding memecoins. Pump.fun claims that PumpSwap operates similarly to Raydium V4 and Uniswap V2, designed to offer users a seamless trading experience. The platform stated that the new migration process eliminates delays and complexities, allowing for instantaneous and cost-free transitions.
### Bybit Reports 89% of Hacked $1.4B Crypto Still Traceable Post-Hack
Following the historic hack that resulted in the loss of over $1.4 billion from Bybit, the majority of the stolen funds remain traceable, according to blockchain investigators. The cyber incident, which occurred on February 21, involved the theft of liquid-staked Ether (stETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH), and other digital assets. Investigators have pointed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group as the suspected perpetrators, who are actively trying to obscure the stolen assets. Despite their efforts, Bybit’s co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou reported that 88% of the hacked funds are still trackable. In a March 20 post, Zhou detailed that 86.29% of the stolen assets had been converted into Bitcoin across various wallets, primarily using BTC mixers to obfuscate their origin.
### Memecoin “Wolf of Wall Street” Plummets 99%
Hayden Davis, co-creator of the Libra token, has launched a new memecoin that has encountered a dramatic collapse, losing 99% of its value shortly after its introduction. The newly minted Solana-based memecoin, dubbed Wolf (WOLF), was launched on March 8 amid speculation surrounding Jordan Belfort, famously known as the “Wolf of Wall Street.” Initially achieving a market capitalization of $42 million, the token’s value plummeted to roughly $570,000 by March 16. Blockchain analytics revealed concerning patterns of insider trading, with over 80% of WOLF’s supply controlled by a single entity linked to Davis, raising alarms about potential market manipulation.
### DeFi Market Overview
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView indicates that most of the top 100 cryptocurrencies experienced positive movements over the past week. Among these, the BNB Chain-native Four (FORM) token emerged as the week’s top performer, surging over 110%, followed closely by PancakeSwap’s CAKE token, which climbed by more than 48%. The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector continues to evolve, showcasing resilience and growth amidst the broader crypto market dynamics. Thank you for following our recap of this week’s most significant DeFi developments. We invite you to join us next Friday for further insights and updates from this rapidly changing industry.
