CoinByte Weekly Wrap: Bernstein Flags 60% Crypto Stock Drop as Buying Opportunity

Happy Friday! Welcome to the 12th instalment of the Coinbyte Weekly Wrap.

The market remained under mild pressure this week, with BTC trading in a relatively narrow but downward-biased range. BTC moved between the mid-US$65,000s and highs near US$69,200, before pulling back to around US$66,800, posting a weekly decline of approximately 0.12%. Price action showed brief attempts to push higher early in the week, followed by a gradual weakening into the weekend.Major altcoins broadly underperformed and closed the week in negative territory. Ether showed relative resilience with a modest 0.51% weekly decline despite a sharper 24h pullback of 3.83%. BNB and Solana were among the weakest large caps, falling 7.39% and 8.65% respectively, while Cardano also saw notable downside at -6.18%. In contrast, TRX stood out as the only major token posting a weekly gain, rising 0.74%, indicating selective strength within the market.Trading activity remained relatively stable across major assets. BTC average daily volume came in at approximately US$35.1bn over the past seven days, slightly below its 24h average of US$39.1bn, suggesting steady but not expanding participation. Stablecoin activity remained elevated, with USDT maintaining strong turnover near US$80.6bn on a 24h basis, highlighting continued liquidity presence in the market. ETH and SOL recorded average daily volumes of around US$16.4bn and US$3.9bn respectively. Meanwhile, ETF flows remained supportive, with total net inflows of US$25.2 million this week. ARKB continued to see consistent buying interest, including a notable +US$33 million inflow on Monday, signaling ongoing institutional demand.In parallel, Bitmine executed its largest ETH purchase of the year, adding over 71,000 ETH in a single week, highlighting continued institutional accumulation despite broader market weakness.Overall, this week’s market action reflects a continuation of mild weakness in Bitcoin alongside broader underperformance across large-cap altcoins, while liquidity conditions and institutional flows remain supportive but without a clear catalyst for upside acceleration.

This week saw regulatory clarity and institutional integration continue to progress across the digital asset sector, with Australia passing a crypto licensing framework and crypto potentially moving closer to retirement accounts as the U.S. Department of Labor withdrew prior 401(k) guidance, removing heightened scrutiny and returning decision-making to fiduciaries. In the U.S., policymakers also introduced the “Mined in America Act,” outlining efforts to expand domestic mining and formalize a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve framework.Institutional market structure developments remained in focus, as Moody's rated the first Bitcoin-backed municipal bond and Morgan Stanley advanced its Bitcoin ETF filing. Capital continued to flow into infrastructure, with Keyrock and OpenFX both raising funding to expand trading and stablecoin-based settlement services.At the same time, real-world usage and infrastructure buildout progressed, with stablecoin payments expanding in Southeast Asia, Tether extending its gold-backed token Tether Gold (XAUT) to BNB Chain, and Chainalysis introducing AI-driven tools for on-chain investigation.

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Regulation | Australia has passed a crypto licensing bill that brings digital asset platforms and custody providers under its existing financial services framework, requiring most operators to obtain an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). The legislation sets out custody, disclosure and conduct requirements for licensed firms, with exemptions for smaller providers below certain transaction thresholds.link

Regulation | Crypto could be coming to retirement accounts, as the U.S. Department of Labor has withdrawn prior guidance that called for “extreme care” when including crypto in 401(k) plans, following a White House-cleared review process. The change removes a higher scrutiny standard and returns decision-making authority to plan fiduciaries under existing investment rules.link

Policy | Republican senators have introduced the “Mined in America Act,” which aims to expand domestic crypto mining, reduce reliance on foreign mining hardware, and incorporate a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve into a formal legal framework. The bill proposes a certification program for mining operations and includes federal support for U.S.-based mining equipment manufacturing.link

ETF | Morgan Stanley has updated its Bitcoin ETF filing, introducing a fee waiver on the first $5 billion invested for six months and confirming plans to list the fund on NYSE Arca under the ticker “MSBT.” The filing also outlines custodians including Coinbase, BNY Mellon, and Fidelity.link

Adoption | Stablecoin payments are increasingly being embedded into everyday transactions in Southeast Asia through crypto-linked cards, with users often unaware they are spending stablecoins. Singapore-based StraitsX reported a 40x increase in card transaction volume and an 83x rise in card issuance between late 2024 and 2025. The growth reflects expanding usage of stablecoins in retail payments via existing card networks.link

Institution | Moody’s has assigned a Ba2 rating to a $100 million Bitcoin-backed municipal bond issued through the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority, marking the first credit-rated public debt instrument secured by Bitcoin collateral. The bond structure uses BTC as collateral held in custody, with defined overcollateralization thresholds and scheduled maturity in 2029.link

Compliance | Chainalysis has added natural language AI agents to its blockchain investigation platform, allowing users to query on-chain activity using conversational prompts. The agents are designed to translate plain-language questions into structured investigative workflows, leveraging data from over 10 million prior investigations and providing auditable outputs for compliance and law enforcement use.link

Payments | Forex infrastructure startup OpenFX has raised $94 million in a funding round led by Accel, Atomico, Lightspeed Faction, M13, Northzone and Pantera, valuing the company at approximately $500 million. The platform uses stablecoins to facilitate cross-border FX settlement, targeting faster and lower-cost international payments for institutional clients and expanding into Southeast Asia and Latin America.link

Institution | Crypto market maker Keyrock has raised a Series C round led by SC Ventures, valuing the company at approximately $1.1 billion, with participation from Ripple. The firm provides market making, OTC trading, and options services across centralized and decentralized exchanges, and plans to use the proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet, expand its product suite, and pursue acquisitions in the digital asset infrastructure sector.link

Markets | Bernstein said crypto-linked equities, down roughly 60% from their 2025 highs, are approaching a potential bottom and trading at discounted valuations. The broker maintained outperform ratings on Coinbase, Robinhood and Figure, while lowering price targets amid expectations of near-term earnings weakness.link

Research |  Standard Chartered said rising stablecoin velocity suggests increased transaction activity across existing supply, indicating that usage growth may not require proportional expansion in total stablecoin issuance.link

Tokenization | Tether has expanded its gold-backed token Tether Gold (XAUT) to BNB Chain, enabling broader access and transferability of tokenized gold across blockchain networks.link

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