Bitcoin Defies ETF Outflows, Altcoins Show Strength

Starknet's native token, STRK, surged 82% over the past week while Bitcoin and Ethereum struggled. This increase followed Starknet's announcement of exploring a transition from an Ethereum Layer-2 to a standalone Layer-1 blockchain to gain more control over security migrations.

Jeonbuk Bank in South Korea is now offering loans in Korean won collateralized by Bitcoin. However, the custody of Bitcoin and the handling of default sales remain outside the bank's direct control, representing a cautious approach to integrating crypto into traditional finance.

A crypto whale, identified by address 0x93c…3C6B9, deposited 11.64 million ENA tokens, valued at approximately $2.85 million, to the Bybit exchange. This marks the largest single transaction by value from this whale in the past year and could signal an intent to sell, potentially impacting ENA's price.

SWI Group has raised €800 million (approximately $900 million) to convert Genesis Digital Assets' former Bitcoin mining sites into AI data centers. This capital increase values SWI at €6.1 billion, highlighting a trend of repurposing mining infrastructure for the growing demand in AI compute capacity.

Chinese police have launched an investigation into companies linked to the fintech firm CreditEase on suspicion of illegal activities. CreditEase, whose affiliated funds previously participated in financing crypto projects like Circle and Figure, had already suspended redemptions of its fixed-income products and initiated a “benign liquidation.”

XRP has dropped to $1.41, marking a 16% retreat from its late-September peak. Analysts warn that a daily close below the $1.37 level could trigger further selling, despite continued interest from long-term investors and ETF participants.

DATA Network plans to discontinue its independent blockchain and migrate its AI training data protocol to Sui. The Sui Foundation is supporting this migration with a $30 million investment, leveraging Sui's scalability and storage capacity for AI applications.