SEC drops 6 cases, memecoin craze cools and more

The crypto industry has had a memorable month in February, with major policy changes on the horizon and growing Bitcoin adoption globally.

A new report this month shows that the Bitcoin network is decentralizing apace. Public companies now account for 35% of global hashrate, and China’s dominance in hashrate has decreased to 14%.

In the US, the crypto industry is seeing significant progress on the legal front as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped or paused five major legal proceedings against crypto-related entities. 

Not everything is a bed of roses. This month saw the largest exchange hack of all time, with North Korean hacker group Lazarus suspected of stealing $1.4 billion in Ether. Memecoins are also cooling down, with issuances reaching their lowest level since before the new year at ~40,000 per day.

Here’s February by the numbers.

SEC drops 6 cases against major crypto firms 

The SEC halted or paused six legal proceedings against different exchanges and protocols this month, including those against Coinbase, Uniswap and Robinhood Crypto.  

The actions signify a new approach the commission is taking after the creation of its Crypto Task Force, headed by crypto-friendly Commissioner Hester Peirce. The group has already met with stakeholders in the industry to discuss fine-tuning rules concerning staking, exchange-traded products (ETPs) and a framework for digital assets.

The SEC and its potential new chair, Paul Atkins, have given Ripple chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty hope that the high-profile case against the firm may be dismissed. 

Bitcoin decentralizes: 70% of Bitcoin owned by individuals

At the beginning of this month, investment firm River released an annual report on the state of Bitcoin adoption. It found that not only is it growing apace, but the network has become more decentralized. 

The US and China’s share of global hashrate have declined. The two countries still lead the world in hashrate, but an analysis by country from Hash Rate Index — cited by River — shows that hashrate is spreading out.

The two nations’ share of Bitcoin mining power has decreased in relation to other nations, with 28 countries having over 0.1% of global hashrate and only nine countries having more than 1%.

Also of note: mining pools are more evenly distributed. The top 10 mining pools still make up the lion’s share of hashrate, but their overall hashrate fell in 2024. 

Governments, financial institutions and even software companies have become increasingly interested in Bitcoin; habitual large Bitcoin buyers like Michel Saylor’s Strategy and El Salvador continue their purchases apace. 

Still, the majority of Bitcoin — nearly 70% — is owned by individuals. 

US lawmakers are eager for Bitcoin reserves, but five states reject

It has not yet been 40 days since US President Donald Trump was sworn into office and has begun — in tandem with his allies in Congress — to deregulate the crypto industry. Indeed, 15 new crypto-friendly legislators entered Congress after the federal elections in 2024. 

Trump established an “internal working group to make America the world capital in crypto” through an executive order on Jan. 23. The group is tasked with exploring, among other things,  the feasibility of a national crypto reserve.

Related: Timeline: Trump’s first 30 days bring remarkable change for crypto

Lawmakers in individual states have been introducing bills in their respective legislatures to introduce or explore Bitcoin and crypto reserves. However, of the 25 states that have introduced bills, five have rejected them, with four of those rejections this month.

Still, others go on undeterred. In February alone, 11 states saw new legislation pertaining to Bitcoin reserves or cryptocurrency investments by state governments. 

Lazarus bags $1.4 billion in largest crypto heist of all time

On Feb. 21, North Korean hacker group Lazarus stole $1.4 billion in Ether (ETH) from crypto exchange Bybit, setting a record for the largest crypto hack ever. The amount stolen was larger than in all of 2024’s crypto hacks combined ($1.27 billion), according to DefiLlama.

Blockchain analyst ZachXBT was able to confirm that Lazarus was responsible through tracking the wallets used in the Bybit hack to those associated with the exploit of Phemex in January.

Memecoin mania begins to die down to December 2024 levels

The memecoin craze that has proliferated the crypto space with thousands of new tokens daily is beginning to calm down — at least for now.

The lead-up to Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration saw the proliferation of thousands of political-theme memecoins named in varying degrees of good taste. 

Trump himself and later his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, released their own memecoins, sparking international interest in the phenomenon, along with some serious ethics concerns. 

Those concerns were made manifest in February when President Javier Milei of Argentina became embroiled in a memecoin scandal.

New data shows the daily issuance of memecoins on Solana down to a modest 40,000, the lowest since Dec. 25, 2024.

The memecoin frenzy, which saw a trader end his own life on a lifestream on Feb. 22, has come under increased scrutiny due to its casino-like character. Vitalik Buterin and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong have expressed their disappointment in the space, with the latter saying it’s “gone too far.”

The SEC has even created a special division, the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, to oversee the space.

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