Clapp Weekly: Selling pressure, SEC-Binance pause, Strategy copycats

Price dynamics

BTC price

Bitcoin surged above $100k on Friday, February 7, after the US nonfarm payrolls report indicated a slowdown in job growth. However, selling pressure soon returned, pushing the price back into the five-figure range.

After Friday's uptick, BTC dropped deeper and spent the weekend below $97k. A rebound on Monday, February 10, helped it recover to $98,467.00 the following day — only to decline again, with dips as low as $94,726.

Currently priced at $96,312.98, the market leader is down 2.0% over the past 24 hours, with a 7-day change of -1.4%.

ETH price

Ether exchange-traded products have seen weekly inflows of $793 million, surpassing Bitcoin for the first time this year. Yet ETH continued to underperform, weighed down by heightened selling pressure.

After a high of $2,851.76 on Thursday, February 6, ETH struggled, rebounding from $2,585.21 over the weekend before dropping further to $2,561.71 on Monday, February 10. A brief recovery pushed it to $2,721.66 yesterday, but the gains quickly faded.

At press time, ETH is trading at $2,623.64, down 3.3% in the past 24 hours and 5.2% over the past seven days.

Seven-day altcoin dynamics

The recent selling pressure, which pushed BTC below $95k on February 9, was the strongest since the collapse of 3AC in June 2022. While Bitcoin continues to show resilience and demand, altcoins exhibit pre-pandemic stress amid tightening liquidity.

President Trump’s 25% tariff on aluminum and steel imports triggered a sell-off, wiping out $500 billion from the total crypto market capitalization before it partly recovered. Concerns over the US-China trade war are fueling market instability, while whales' short BTC positions are dampening sentiment.

Investors are closely monitoring Trump’s planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which has now been delayed. The outcome of these talks could influence economic uncertainty and Bitcoin’s trajectory.

Meanwhile, altcoins face further downside pressure, with declining trading volumes and thinning market depth across the board. Analyst AB KuaiDong attributes this deterioration to high Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV) altcoins—projects that raised funds at inflated valuations in previous cycles.

Now, these issuers are under pressure to list their tokens at high prices to prevent early investors from selling at a loss. This trend is evident in tokens like TIA (down 84% from its all-time high), ZRO (-62%), and ENA (-68%). However, HYPE stands out as a notable exception, showing relative strength, as highlighted by CCN.

Winners & losers

LTC's 's rally (+14.0%) is fueled by the rising odds of Litecoin ETF launches, as reported by Bloomberg Intelligence. The runner-up, TAO (+11.7), rocketed after Bittensor's Dynamic TAO Whitepaper introduced subnet tokens and market-driven emission. 

Meanwhile, BNB (+10.1) is up after a motion for a 60-day pause in the SEC vs. Binance case, reflecting hopes for facilitation by the Crypto Task Force. 

Despite the President's hype attempts, the TRUMP meme coin (-15.1%) has hit a low not seen since just after launch. On February 1, he posted on Truth Social, "I LOVE $TRUMP," with a link to the official Get Trump Memes website.

ENA (-28.8%) was swayed by a whale's decision to unstake $8.78M in tokens, while JUP (-15.9%) was hindered by an X security breach enabling promotion of scam tokens. 

Cryptocurrency news

Binance and SEC agree to pause case, find an early resolution

Monday's court filing reveals that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Binance, and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) have jointly requested a 60-day stay in their ongoing legal case. This move aims to expedite a resolution, marking a significant development in the saga.

The SEC filed the case in 2023, accusing Binance and its US subsidiary, BAM Management, of violating securities laws. The new motion aims to conserve resources and resolve the dispute without prolonged litigation.

A key factor in this development is the Crypto Task Force, launched on January 21 by SEC Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda. The filing acknowledges that it could "facilitate the potential resolution of this case."

The Crypto Task Force is focused on developing a clear regulatory framework for the industry, signaling a shift toward structured oversight rather than regulation through enforcement.

This motion aligns with broader industry efforts to reduce enforcement actions, a point of contention under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler. A Binance spokesperson has praised Chairman Uyeda's "thoughtful approach to ensuring digital assets receive the appropriate legislative and regulatory focus in this new, golden era of blockchain in the US and around the world."

With Gensler's departure and President Donald Trump's executive order advocating for crypto-friendly policies, the legal landscape appears to be shifting. The stay in the Binance-SEC case could mark a pivotal moment in the dialogue between regulators and the crypto industry.

Strategy copycats: Companies hoard Bitcoin to boost share price

More and more businesses are following the Bitcoin-hoarding plan pioneered by Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), led by executive chairman and crypto evangelist Michael Saylor. According to data from Coinkite cited by the Financial Times, 78 companies worldwide also hold crypto in their corporate treasuries.

Strategy remains the largest corporate holder, with 471,000 coins — about 2% of all Bitcoin in circulation. The company’s aggressive purchases, including two billion-dollar buys in 2025, have driven its stock price up by over 400% in the past year. With a market cap of $83 billion, it outshines giants like Target and Capital One.

Inspired by Strategy’s success, dozens of companies — from pharmaceuticals to advertising — are adding crypto to their reserves. They perceive Bitcoin as an inflation hedge, a diversification tool, and a means to boost their share prices. Here are a few examples.

• OneMedNet, a healthcare data company with a $30 million market cap, used $4.6 million from a private stock sale to buy BTC, aiming to increase revenue and defend against short-selling. 
• KULR, a thermal-energy management company, purchased 510 BTC, citing Michael Saylor as inspiration. Since announcing its Bitcoin strategy in December, KULR’s stock has surged 117%.

Brian Estes, Off The Chain Capital’s Chief Investment Officer, has described BTC as “kryptonite for short sellers.” While this trend highlights Bitcoin’s growing influence in the corporate space, it raises questions about long-term sustainability. 

Some analysts caution against over-reliance on BTC to prop up stock prices. For instance, Mark Palmer of The Benchmark Company suggests smaller businesses risk becoming “zombie companies” with struggling core businesses. Making BTC a primary treasury asset changes corporate nature, so “a company’s operating business is effectively a facilitator of the bitcoin acquisition strategy.”