Global investment firm VanEck registered an Avalanche exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, hinting at a forthcoming filing for a spot AVAX ETF.

VanEck, on March 10, registered a new cryptocurrency investment product called VanEck Avalanche ETF in Delaware, according to public records on the official Delaware state website.

Similar to other crypto ETF filings by VanEck, the potential new product under filing number 10125689 was registered as a trust corporate service company in Delaware.

VanEck Avalanche ETF registration in Delaware. Source: Delaware.gov

The filing comes amid a major market sell-off, with Avalanche (AVAX) dropping 55% year-to-date, while Bitcoin (BTC) is down around 17% in 2025, according to CoinGecko.

Fourth standalone crypto ETF registration by VanEck

With the new filing, Avalanche became the fourth crypto asset to see a standalone ETF registration by VanEck in Delaware, following Bitcoin, Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL).

As previously reported, VanEck filed for a spot Solana ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June 2024, becoming one of the first issuers to file for such a product.

Source: Nate Geraci

VanEck —  among the first spot Bitcoin ETF issuers in the US in 2024 — has emerged as one of the major ETF players in the crypto market, known for being the first ETF provider to file for a futures Bitcoin ETF in 2017.

An excerpt from VanEck’s journey with crypto since 2017. Source: VanEck

What other issuers have filed for an Avalanche ETF in the US?

Launched in 2020 by Emin Gün Sirer’s Ava Labs, Avalanche is a multichain smart contract and decentralized app launch platform that was created to rival the speed and scalability of Ethereum.

Avalanche’s native utility token AVAX made it to the top 10 largest crypto assets by market capitalization in 2021. At the time of writing, the token is the 20th largest crypto asset with a market cap of $7 billion, according to CoinGecko.

Related: Bitwise files to list a spot Aptos ETF — the 36th largest cryptocurrency

Some crypto community members highlighted that VanEck was moving forward with a potential Avalanche ETF before registering an XRP (XRP) ETF.

In an X post reposted by VanEck digital asset research head Matthew Sigel, one commenter wrote:

“VanEck have filed an AVAX ETF before an XRP ETF. Come on then, Matthew Sigel, who is your handler telling you not to file an XRP ETF?”

Source: Matthew Sigel

VanEck’s Avalanche ETF registration appears to be the first registration for the product in the US.

Previously, rival crypto ETF provider Grayscale filed with the SEC to convert its multi-coin fund, including AVAX and four other crypto assets, into an ETF in October 2024.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

Deutsche Boerse’s trading unit, Clearstream, is preparing to launch cryptocurrency custody and settlement services for institutional clients in 2025 amid increasing demand for regulated digital asset infrastructure.

The German exchange group plans to offer Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) custody to its more than 2,500 institutional clients, with services expected to begin in April, according to a Bloomberg report on March 11.

Clearstream will provide these digital asset services through Crypto Finance AG, a Switzerland-based subsidiary in which Deutsche Boerse acquired a majority stake in 2021.

Deutsche Boerse’s trading unit also aims to launch support for other cryptocurrencies and diversified services such as staking, lending and brokerage capabilities.

“With this offering, we are creating a one-stop shop around custody, brokerage and settlement,” Jens Hachmeister, head of issuer services and new digital markets at Clearstream, told Bloomberg.

The move aligns with a growing institutional push toward regulated crypto services in Europe following the implementation of Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which went into full effect for crypto asset service providers on Dec. 30, 2024.

The institutional offering came nearly two months after Boerse Stuttgart Digital Custody became Germany’s first crypto asset service provider to receive a full license under MiCA, Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 17.

Boerse Stuttgart’s license was part of the firm’s efforts to become a regulated infrastructure provider for banks, brokers and asset managers.

Related: EU MiCA rules pose ‘systemic’ banking risks for stablecoins — Tether CEO

Europe’s MiCA poses overregulation concerns

While MiCA is widely viewed as a positive step for global crypto regulation, some industry experts worry about potential regulatory overreach that could impact retail investors and drive crypto firms out of Europe.

While the regulation is a significant step toward a more mature industry, it also seeks to identify the “weak points of control” in the crypto space, which could mean more scrutiny for retail investors and the end-users of crypto platforms, according to Dmitrij Radin, the founder of Zekret and chief technology officer of Fideum, a regulatory and blockchain infrastructure firm focused on institutions.

“Retail users will be way more obligated to provide information, data which will be screened. They will be accounted for. Most Europeans will see taxation,” Radin told Cointelegraph.

Related: 20% of Gen Z, Alpha sees crypto as retirement alternative: Report

The regulation also raises the possibility of enforcement actions against blockchain protocols that fail to comply with MiCA standards. European governments may pursue legal cases against noncompliant platforms during the early implementation phase.

Other blockchain regulatory experts fear that MiCA will introduce consolidation among crypto firms with limited capital, leading to a potential crypto firm exodus to the Middle East due to more lenient regulations.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

An Ethereum developer rejected speculation that the Ethereum Foundation (EF) was behind a recent deposit of more than 30,000 Ether into the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Sky, formerly known as MakerDAO.

On March 10, a wallet address deposited 30,098 Ether (ETH), worth about $56 million, into Sky. Crypto intelligence platform Arkham labeled the address “Ethereum Foundation?,” raising speculation that the EF may have moved funds into the lending protocol — a strategy recommended by the community — instead of directly selling ETH to fund its operations. 

However, community members quickly dismissed the claims, clarifying that the wallet in question does not belong to the Ethereum Foundation. Eric Conner, the co-author of Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-1559), called a Wu Blockchain report “completely fake,” implying that the address doesn’t belong to the EF. 

Anthony Sassano, host of The Daily Gwei, also cited the report, saying that the wallet does not belong to the EF. 

Source: Anthony Sassano 

Ethereum wallet likely from an early investor

Wu Blockchain later clarified that while the account was suspected of belonging to the Ethereum Foundation, transaction history suggested it was more likely associated with an early Ethereum investor.

The address received a 4 million Dai (DAI) transfer from the EF ETH Sale in May 2022, and initial ETH funding was traced back to a wallet called jonny.eth. 

The address deposited the $56 million into the Sky vault to avoid liquidation as ETH prices tumbled. On March 10, ETH dropped from a high of $2,138 to $1,813, a 15% decline.

The move allowed the wallet to avoid liquidation, lowering its liquidation price to $1,127.14, 40.19% below ETH’s price of $1,896 at the time of writing.

Related: Ethereum Foundation forms external council to uphold core blockchain values

Ethereum Foundation deployed $120 million into DeFi protocols

While the recent deposit into Sky was not linked to the Ethereum Foundation, the EF has faced criticism in the past for selling ETH for stablecoins to fund team salaries and operations. In January, community members suggested that the foundation could instead borrow stablecoins against its ETH holdings rather than sell the assets.

At the time, Sassano said that instead of swapping ETH for stablecoins, the foundation should consider using Aave to borrow stablecoins against ETH. Sky allows users to do something similar. By depositing ETH, users can borrow DAI. 

On Feb. 13, the EF listened to the community and deployed 45,000 ETH, about $120 million at the time, to DeFi protocols Aave, Spark and Compound.

Community members celebrated the move, with Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov saying, “DeFi will win.” The EF also said there’s “more to come,” suggesting this is not their last foray into DeFi. 

Magazine: MegaETH launch could save Ethereum… but at what cost?

Solana network revenue and total value locked onchain have collapsed in the past two months as interest in memecoins has continued to taper off. 

Weekly network revenue on the Solana blockchain hit a record high of $55.3 million in mid-January amid the height of the memecoin minting frenzy. 

However, revenue has since tanked 93% to around $4 million in the past week, back to levels not seen since September, according to DefiLlama data. 

Solana weekly decentralized application (DApp) revenue has also slumped around 86% from $238 million in mid-January to $32 million for the past week.  

Meanwhile, DeFi total value locked on Solana has also declined by almost 50% over the same period, falling from a January high of just over $12 billion to current levels of around $6.4 billion. 

Solana weekly revenue and TVL. Source: DefiLlama

Memecoin trading, primarily on the Pump.fun platform comprises roughly 80% of the Solana blockchain’s revenues, according to a March 5 report by VanEck. 

Pump.fun daily revenue hit a peak of $15 million in late January but has since slumped by around 95% to $800,000 on March 7, according to data from Dune Analytics. 

Memecoin mania peaked when Donald Trump launched his own namesake token (TRUMP) on Jan. 18, shortly followed by his wife, Melania, who launched MELANIA on Jan. 20.

“The launch of TRUMP and MELANIA marked the top for memecoins as it sucked liquidity and attention out of all the other cryptocurrencies,” said CoinGecko founder Bobby Ong on March 6. 

Both tokens surged following their launches but dumped in the days that followed. TRUMP is currently down 86% from its peak, trading at $10.50, while MELANIA has collapsed 95% in just seven weeks to $0.71.

Related: Solana down 45% since Trump token launch as memecoins divert liquidity

Memecoin market cap hit a peak of $137 billion in December but has since tanked 68% to $44 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. 

Memecoin market cap meltdown. Source: CoinMarketCap

Solana (SOL) prices have also taken a battering over the past few weeks, resulting in a 58% fall from their mid-January all-time high of $293. The asset was down a further 5% on the day, trading at $122 at the time of writing. 

Magazine: Bitcoin’s odds of June highs, SOL’s $485M outflows, and more: Hodler’s Digest

Solana network revenue and total value locked onchain have collapsed in the past two months as interest in memecoins has continued to taper off. 

Weekly network revenue on the Solana blockchain hit a record high of $55.3 million in mid-January amid the height of the memecoin minting frenzy. 

However, revenue has since tanked 93% to around $4 million in the past week, back to levels not seen since September, according to DeFillama data. 

Solana weekly decentralized application (DApp) revenue has also slumped around 86% from $238 million in mid-January to $32 million for the past week.  

Meanwhile, DeFi total value locked on Solana has also declined by almost 50% over the same period, falling from a January high of just over $12 billion to current levels of around $6.4 billion. 

Solana weekly revenue and TVL. Source: DeFillama

Memecoin trading, primarily on the Pump.fun platform comprises roughly 80% of the Solana blockchain’s revenues, according to a March 5 report by VanEck. 

Pump.fun daily revenue hit a peak of $15 million in late January but has since slumped by around 95% to $800,000 on March 7, according to data from Dune Analytics. 

Memecoin mania peaked when Donald Trump launched his own namesake token (TRUMP) on Jan. 18, shortly followed by his wife, Melania, who launched MELANIA on Jan. 20.

“The launch of TRUMP and MELANIA marked the top for memecoins as it sucked liquidity and attention out of all the other cryptocurrencies,” said CoinGecko founder Bobby Ong on March 6. 

Both tokens surged following their launches but dumped in the days that followed. TRUMP is currently down 86% from its peak, trading at $10.50, while MELANIA has collapsed 95% in just seven weeks to $0.71.

Related: Solana down 45% since Trump token launch as memecoins divert liquidity

Memecoin market cap hit a peak of $137 billion in December but has since tanked 68% to $44 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. 

Memecoin market cap meltdown. Source: CoinMarketCap

Solana (SOL) prices have also taken a battering over the past few weeks, resulting in a 58% fall from their mid-January all-time high of $293. The asset was down a further 5% on the day, trading at $122 at the time of writing. 

Magazine: Bitcoin’s odds of June highs, SOL’s $485M outflows, and more: Hodler’s Digest

A hacking group with ties to Russia has claimed responsibility for the massive cyberattack on X, which saw the social media platform unable to be accessed by thousands of users, although user functionality was quickly restored. 

Cybersecurity group SpyoSecure said in a March 10 post to X that hacker group Dark Storm made a Telegram post taking credit for the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, which was posted by the group’s leader. 

“To anyone wondering why X (Twitter) was down, it was under attack by Dark Storm Team,” SpyoSecure said. 

Source: SpyoSecure

The Telegram channel has since been deleted for violating the platform’s terms of service. Screenshots shared on X show them stating they “took Twitter offline,” alongside a screenshot of failed connection attempts from various global locations.

Ed Krassenstein, a social media personality and co-founder of NFT marketplace NFTz.me, said in a March 10 post to X that he had also been investigating the attack and was in touch with Dark Storm’s leader, who again claimed they were behind it.

“The reason he gives me for the attack is just a demonstration of our strength, with no political motives,” Krassenstein said.

The pro-Palestinian hacker group Dark Storm has been active since 2023, has ties to Russia, and is known for targeting NATO countries. 

Platform owner Elon Musk confirmed the social media platform had been hit with a cyberattack preventing some users from accessing the site on March 10.

He said in a March 10 interview with Fox Business’s Larry Kudlow he had a rough idea of where the IP address of the hackers originated. 

“We’re not sure exactly what happened but there was a massive cyberattack to try and bring down the X system with IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area.”

Related: US Treasury sued for giving Elon Musk’s DOGE access to sensitive info

It comes amid violence at Tesla facilities around the US as part of a broader “Take down Tesla” movement protesting Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is taking the axe to many government departments. 

Musk told Kudlow that regardless of the protests, he still thinks they are “doing the right thing here” because DOGE is cutting spending to initiatives “very few taxpayers would agree make sense.” 

Tesla stock is also suffering. In the most recent trading session, Tesla is down over 15% to $222 per share. In the after-hours session, it’s down a further 3% to $215, according to Google Finance. 

Tesla stock is down in its most recent trading session amid protests over Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Source: Google Finance

Overall, the stock has been up 24% over the past year; however, it’s still down from its all-time high of $480 set on Dec. 17, 2024.

This isn’t the first time X has suffered a DDoS attack. Last August, Musk claimed the platform was hit by hackers prior to his interview with then-presidential hopeful Donald Trump. 

Magazine: Bitcoin’s odds of June highs, SOL’s $485M outflows, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 2 – 8

Finance officials in the European Union are concerned US President Donald Trump’s embrace of digital assets could affect Europe’s monetary sovereignty and financial stability.

“The US administration is favorable toward cryptocurrencies and especially dollar-denominated stablecoins, which may raise certain concerns in Europe,” European Stability Mechanism (ESM) managing director Pierre Gramegna said at a Eurogroup press conference on March 10. 

Gramegna cautioned that the US crypto pivot “could eventually reignite foreign and US tech giants’ plans to launch mass payment solutions based on dollar-denominated stablecoin,” adding, “And if this were to be successful, it could affect the euro area’s monetary sovereignty and financial stability.”  

The ESM “supports the ECB’s urgency in making the digital euro a reality to safeguard Europe’s strategic autonomy — this digital euro is today more necessary than ever,” he added.

The ESM is an intergovernmental organization established by member states of the euro area, helping countries overcome financial crises and maintain long-term financial stability and prosperity.

Pierre Gramegna speaking on US crypto threat. Source: YouTube

“Policy developments in other jurisdictions can have important consequences for us here in Europe,” concurred Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe. 

“These discussions are fundamentally linked to our own autonomy and to the resilience of our currency,” he added, stating that a European central bank digital currency (CBDC) was now critical to staying ahead of the curve.

In February, the European Central Bank said it was expanding the development of its CBDC payment system to settle transactions between institutions. The ECB has been exploring CBDCs since 2020, including a consumer-facing retail digital euro and wholesale cross-border settlement between central banks.

Meanwhile, Trump has spoken out against a Federal Reserve CBDC, signing an executive order in January to establish a crypto working group while prohibiting the “establishment, issuance, circulation, and use” of a US CBDC. 

Related: Crypto academics slam controversial ECB paper blasting Bitcoin

The ECB has also rejected the idea of adding Bitcoin (BTC) to its monetary reserves or allowing other European central banks to do so. 

In late January, ECB President Christine Lagarde said that the reserves of central banks have to be “liquid, secure and safe,” implying that they would not include crypto assets. 

She added that she was “confident” that Bitcoin would not enter the reserves of banks under the European Council. 

Magazine: Bitcoin’s odds of June highs, SOL’s $485M outflows, and more: Hodler’s Digest

Defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox moved almost a billion worth of Bitcoin, the second large BTC transfer in a week, as Bitcoin’s price fell to a four-month low on March 11.

Of the 11,833 Bitcoin (BTC) moved, 11,501 ($905.1 million) were sent into a new wallet, while the remaining 332 Bitcoin ($26.1 million) were transferred to a warm wallet, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain, citing Arkham Intelligence data.

The transfer cost Mt. Gox just $2.13.

Transaction details of Mt. Gox’s $931 million transfer. Source: Arkham Intelligence

It comes less than a week after Mt. Gox moved 12,000 Bitcoin worth a little over $1 billion on March 6. Arkham noted that $15 million of those funds were sent to BitGo — one of the custodians facilitating Mt. Gox’s creditor repayments.

Blockchain analytics firm Spot On Chain said the 332 Bitcoin that recently went into the warm wallet may also be moved to assist with the repayments.

The movement coincided with a 2.4% price fall for Bitcoin to $76,784 over 30 minutes, CoinGecko data shows, retreating to November prices when the market was rallying on the back of US President Donald Trump’s election win.

While Bitcoin recovered from the slump to $79,275 soon after, Maelstrom chief investment officer Arthur Hayes advised investors to “be fucking patient” in a March 11 X post in which he predicted Bitcoin would bottom around the $70,000 mark.

Source: Arthur Hayes

Related: Bitcoin may benefit from US stablecoin dominance push

Mt. Gox’s main wallets now only hold 24,411 Bitcoin — worth $1.94 billion — after the exchang started offloading around $9.2 billion worth of Bitcoin in June 2024, Spot On Chain data shows.

Mt. Gox’s change in Bitcoin holdings since 2015. Source: Spot On Chain

Last October, the defunct crypto exchange extended its deadline to fully repay its creditors, saying it would do so by Oct. 31, 2025.Mt. Gox was the largest Bitcoin exchange between 2010 and 2014 — handling around 70-80% of Bitcoin trades before it collapsed from a hack that saw up to 850,000 Bitcoin stolen from the Tokyo-based platform.

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The Trump administration may be intentionally creating uncertainty in the stock markets to corner Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell into lowering interest rates, according to a market commentator. 

Doing so increases the likelihood that the US won’t need to refinance around $7 trillion in debt it owes over the next few months, Bitcoin commentator Anthony Pompliano said in a March 10 X post.

US President Donald Trump and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent are “taking matters into their own hands; they’re crashing asset prices in an attempt to force Jerome Powell to cut interest rates,” said Pompliano, who serves as the founder and CEO of Professional Capital Management and host of The Pomp Podcast.

The President and his team are intentionally crashing the market.Is this a master plan or are we watching uncontrolled destruction?! pic.twitter.com/Tbc0M9Rjxu

— Anthony Pompliano 🌪 (@APompliano) March 10, 2025

In late January, Powell announced the Fed was not lowering interest rates from the current target range of 4.25% to 4.5% despite calls from Trump to do so.

Pompliano said the recent market panic has been driven in part by Trump’s tariffs — and has been used to create a more favorable bond market while lowering the 10-year Treasury yield.

He noted that the 10-year Treasury yield is already down from nearly 4.8% in January to 4.21% now — a sign that Trump’s purported strategy is “heading in the right direction.”

Source: Thomas Kralow

Whether Pompliano’s theory is correct or not, the stock market has been tanking of late, and crypto has been hit even harder.

Broad market index funds such as State Street’s Standard & Poor’s 500 index fund (SPY) fell 2.66% on March 10 alone, while the Nasdaq-100% fell 3.8%, Google Finance data shows.

Both indexes are down 7.32% and 10.7% over the last month, while Bitcoin (BTC) is down 27.4% from its $108,786 all-time high, and over $1.2 trillion has been wiped from the cryptocurrency market cap since Dec. 17.

If the stock market continues to tank, it will come down to a “who blinks first” contest between Trump and Powell, Pompliano said.

While Trump hasn’t confirmed such a strategy, Pompliano pointed to a Fox News interview on March 9 where Trump said: “Nobody ever gets rich when the interest rates are high because people can’t borrow money.”

Pompliano added that lowering interest rates would also benefit American consumers:

“The big goal, get interest rates down, and that will lead to more economic activity, thanks to access to cheap capital. Give the people cheap capital and they’ll go and do things with it.”

Related: Bitcoin dips to $80K in ‘ugly start,’ could retest key resistance: Hayes

CME FedWatch, a tool used to measure expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate change, has tipped a 96% probability that the target rate will remain between 4.25% and 4.50% following the Federal Reserve’s next meeting on March 19. 

However, it’s near 50-50 odds for the target rate to be lowered in the Federal Reserve’s following meeting on May 7.

The Federal Reserve typically avoids lowering interest rates when inflation is high, as one of its primary objectives is to maintain price stability.

However, a Trump-inflicted recession, or “Trumpcession,” as some call it, could force America’s top bank to start cutting again.

Magazine: Meet lawyer Max Burwick — ‘The ambulance chaser of crypto’