Crypto Market Today (Feb 15): BTC Near $98K, XRP Up 10%, Meme Coins Pump Hard

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ByBit Hacked, BTC Stagnant, LTC ETF Advances – Crypto News

Published

9 hours ago

February 23, 2025

Dripp

Crypto Highlights This Week: The broader market concludes another interesting week, primarily keeping investors on their toes. Cryptocurrency exchange behemoth Bybit suffered a $1.4 billion hack this week, whereas BTC and altcoins remained stagnant despite market advancements. Simultaneously, the meme coin sector panicked amid the emergence of the Argentinian LIBRA token.

Here’s a brief collection of some of the top crypto market updates reported by CoinGape Media over the past week.

Weekly Crypto Highlights: ByBit Exchange Hacked By N. Korean Group

The renowned cryptocurrency exchange Bybit was hacked by ‘The Lazarus Group’ this week, resulting in a massive exploitation of funds. Reportedly, the North Korean criminal organization stole $1.4 billion worth of ETH from the crypto exchange.

As a result, the broader crypto market saw a whopping $566 million liquidated in a day as investors started panic selling. In turn, BTC and altcoins reversed recent gains, backtracking to previous lows. BTC price closed the week at around $96K, whereas ETH was near $2,800. XRP & SOL also reversed recent gains, trading in the red this weekend.

It’s also worth mentioning that ByBit rolled out a $140 million bounty for cybersecurity experts to recover $1.4 billion stolen in Ethereum.

LIBRA Token Panic: What Happened?

Meanwhile, Argentinian President Javier Milei endorsed the Solana-based LIBRA meme token this week, which soon rocketed in value. However, the market was taken by storm when insiders cashed out massive amounts amid the rally, urging LIBRA price to crash over 90%. This saga raised rug-pull concerns surrounding the crypto, further bringing heat to its price.

However, President Javier Milei ordered a probe into the launch and KIP Protocol, aiming to rectify the error and bolster the token. This saga has emerged as another noteworthy crypto highlight this week, underscoring the market’s risky nature.

ETF Filings This Week

Simultaneously, a stockpile of ETF advancements was witnessed this week. Canary Capital’s Litecoin ETF emerged on Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), solidifying chances of approval.

Further, Grayscale’s XRP ETF entered the U.S. SEC’s review mode.

Also, asset manager Franklin Templeton filed an S-1 to launch a spot Solana ETF with the U.S. SEC this week. Mentioned above are the top crypto market highlights for this week, which appear to have substantially impacted investor sentiment.