Crypto News Weekly Recap: Bitcoin Liquidations, Stablecoin Infrastructure, DePIN Growth, and Network Pressures

This week’s crypto market was defined by sharp deleveraging, infrastructure-focused narratives, and growing stress across both market structure and network economics. Bitcoin suffered heavy liquidation-driven losses, while builders and institutions doubled down on long-term infrastructure in stablecoins, DePIN, and open-source systems.

Key Takeaways

• Heavy liquidations pushed Bitcoin out of the world’s top 10 assets by market cap.
• Stablecoin infrastructure and institutional adoption remained a core growth theme.
• DePIN quietly expanded into a $10B revenue-generating sector despite weak token prices.
• Ethereum leadership prioritized privacy and open-source infrastructure funding.
• Solana’s validator economics raised fresh decentralization concerns.
• Coinbase expanded prediction markets nationwide amid regulatory scrutiny.

Bitcoin liquidations push BTC out of the world’s top 10 assets

A wave of leveraged liquidations erased hundreds of billions of dollars in market value, pushing Bitcoin out of the world’s top 10 assets by market capitalization. Trading around $83,000, Bitcoin’s market cap fell to roughly $1.65 trillion after more than $1.6 billion in long positions were liquidated, marking one of the largest forced deleveraging events on record. The sell-off occurred as gold surged to new all-time highs, reinforcing Bitcoin’s underperformance relative to both risk assets and traditional safe havens amid macro and policy uncertainty.

Circle targets durable infrastructure to accelerate institutional stablecoin adoption

Stablecoin issuer Circle said it will focus on building long-term, institution-ready infrastructure throughout 2026, including advancing its Arc layer-1 blockchain toward production. The company plans to deepen cross-chain support for USDC, EURC, and related tokens while scaling its payments network so institutions can adopt stablecoins without managing complex backend infrastructure. Circle’s strategy reflects growing institutional interest in regulated stablecoins as the sector surpassed $300 billion in total market capitalization.

DePIN grows into a $10B sector despite token price collapse

Decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) reached a $10 billion market size in 2025, generating $72 million in onchain revenue, according to a new Messari report. While many DePIN tokens remain down more than 90% from all-time highs, leading projects are now producing recurring revenue from real-world use cases such as bandwidth, compute, energy, and sensor data. Messari noted that DePIN revenues have proven more resilient than DeFi and Layer 1s during the current downturn, signaling a shift from speculative growth to sustainable infrastructure economics.

Vitalik Buterin earmarks $45M in ETH for privacy and open-source infrastructure

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced plans to deploy 16,384 ETH, worth roughly $45 million, to support privacy-preserving technologies, open hardware, and secure software systems. The funding will be distributed gradually over several years and may be supplemented by staking strategies. Buterin framed the move as part of a broader focus on long-term infrastructure and self-sovereign tools, even as the Ethereum Foundation enters a period of “mild austerity” amid declining ETH prices.

Solana validator count drops 68% as node economics tighten

Solana’s validator count has fallen 68% since 2023, raising concerns about network decentralization as rising costs and zero-fee competition push smaller operators offline. The network’s Nakamoto Coefficient has also declined by 35%, indicating increased concentration of stake among large validators. Industry participants warned that without sustainable economics, decentralization risks becoming dependent on large operators rather than community participation.

Coinbase launches prediction markets across all 50 US states

Coinbase rolled out Kalshi-powered prediction markets nationwide, allowing users to trade event contracts tied to sports, politics, and cultural outcomes. The launch is part of Coinbase’s broader push to become an “everything exchange,” expanding beyond spot crypto trading into derivatives, tokenized assets, and prediction markets. However, the move comes amid ongoing legal challenges facing prediction platforms at the state level, particularly around sports betting regulations.

Final Thoughts

This week highlighted a clear divergence between short-term market stress and long-term infrastructure conviction. While Bitcoin’s liquidation-driven sell-off exposed structural fragilities in leverage-heavy markets, builders and institutions continued investing in stablecoins, decentralized infrastructure, and open-source systems. As capital rotates away from speculation toward utility and resilience, the next phase of crypto growth may depend less on price momentum and more on sustainable economic foundations.