Crypto News Weekly Recap: Market Stress Hits Balance Sheets, Stablecoins Expand, and Global Regulation Tightens

This week’s crypto market highlighted the deep financial ripple effects of digital asset volatility. Beyond price action, the downturn exposed treasury risks, ETF investor pressure, NFT market contraction, and infrastructure fragility across mining operations. At the same time, stablecoins continued expanding, while global regulators intensified their stance on digital assets.

• Crypto volatility is now heavily impacting corporate treasuries, ETFs, and mining infrastructure.
• NFT market capitalization has fallen back to pre-2021 boom levels.
• Bitcoin-focused corporate strategies are facing multi-billion dollar losses.
• Tether strengthened its stablecoin dominance despite the broader market downturn.
• Vitalik Buterin’s ETH activity raised market sensitivity toward whale movements.
• China reinforced its anti-private stablecoin stance while accelerating CBDC adoption.

Crypto downturn triggers balance sheet stress across the industry

The latest crypto sell-off has extended far beyond price charts, directly impacting institutional balance sheets, spot ETFs, and mining infrastructure operations. Ether’s sharp decline toward the $2,000 range has left treasury-heavy companies sitting on massive unrealized losses, while Bitcoin ETFs are exposing traditional investors to crypto’s downside volatility for the first time.

Infrastructure has also faced stress, as extreme weather events disrupted mining output across the United States. The situation highlights how crypto markets are becoming deeply interconnected with corporate finance, investor portfolios, and real-world infrastructure systems.

BitMine faces over $7B in Ether treasury losses

BitMine Immersion Technologies, a company heavily exposed to Ether, saw its unrealized losses surpass $7 billion as ETH prices dropped below $2,200. The firm currently holds approximately $9.1 billion worth of Ether, including a recent purchase exceeding 40,000 ETH.

While company leadership maintains that unrealized losses are expected in treasury models designed to track ETH performance, the situation underscores the risks companies face when integrating volatile digital assets into corporate reserves. The development has sparked broader debates about the sustainability of crypto treasury strategies during prolonged market downturns.

BlackRock Bitcoin ETF investors enter negative territory

Investors in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), one of the most successful ETF launches in history, are now experiencing negative aggregate returns following Bitcoin’s decline below $80,000.

The ETF previously attracted massive institutional inflows and quickly reached $70 billion in assets under management. However, the downturn is providing traditional investors with their first direct exposure to Bitcoin’s volatility, highlighting both the opportunities and risks associated with mainstream crypto adoption.

US winter storm disrupts Bitcoin mining production

A major winter storm across the United States forced public Bitcoin mining firms to temporarily reduce operations, causing daily production to drop from approximately 70–90 BTC to as low as 30–40 BTC during peak disruptions.

The event demonstrated mining’s ongoing dependency on energy grid stability and environmental factors. Production later recovered as weather conditions improved, showcasing both the operational flexibility and fragility of large-scale mining infrastructure.

NFT market cap falls back to pre-boom levels

The global NFT sector dropped below $1.5 billion in market capitalization, returning to levels last seen before the 2021 NFT boom. The decline follows broader crypto market weakness and structural challenges within the NFT ecosystem.

Despite increased minting activity, demand has failed to keep pace. NFT supply rose approximately 25% in 2025, while total sales volume fell 37% year-over-year. The imbalance between supply and buyer demand has pushed average NFT sale prices below $100.

Corporate exits have added additional pressure. Nike divested from RTFKT, while major platforms such as Nifty Gateway and Rodeo announced shutdowns, reflecting the sector’s continued contraction and shift toward consolidation.

Strategy posts $12.4B quarterly loss amid Bitcoin decline

Bitcoin-focused firm Strategy reported a $12.4 billion net loss for Q4 2025 after Bitcoin fell more than 20% during the quarter. The company currently holds over 713,000 BTC, but remains down roughly 17.5% relative to its average purchase cost.

Despite the loss, company executives stated that Strategy’s financial structure remains strong due to high liquidity, limited short-term debt obligations, and long-term conviction in Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. The case highlights both the scale of institutional Bitcoin adoption and the financial volatility associated with it.

Tether USDt reaches record $187B market cap

Tether’s USDt stablecoin expanded to a record $187.3 billion market capitalization, adding over $12 billion during Q4 2025 despite broader crypto market weakness.

Onchain activity also reached new highs, with nearly 25 million active wallets and quarterly transfer volume surpassing $4.4 trillion. Tether increased its exposure to US Treasury holdings to over $141 billion, strengthening its reserve backing and reinforcing its dominance within the stablecoin sector.

The company also launched a GENIUS Act–compliant stablecoin designed for the US market and expanded digital payment integrations through partnerships such as Opera’s MiniPay wallet.

Vitalik Buterin sells ETH amid funding and infrastructure initiatives

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold approximately $6.6 million worth of ETH through a series of transactions, shortly after announcing plans to allocate $45 million toward privacy and open infrastructure development.

The sales were executed through multiple smaller swaps to reduce market impact. However, the transactions drew attention amid heightened market sensitivity toward large token holders, particularly during a prolonged bear market phase.

China bans stablecoin and tokenized asset issuance

China’s central bank and multiple regulatory agencies issued a joint statement banning unauthorized issuance of yuan-pegged stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). The regulation applies to both domestic and foreign issuers.

The move reinforces China’s long-term strategy of restricting private digital currencies while promoting the state-backed digital yuan (e-CNY). The policy signals continued divergence between China’s CBDC-focused digital currency strategy and the decentralized stablecoin models growing globally.

Final Thoughts

This week reinforced a key narrative shift in crypto: volatility is no longer confined to token prices but is now directly impacting corporate treasuries, institutional investors, infrastructure, and global regulatory frameworks. While sectors like NFTs continue to contract, stablecoins and infrastructure projects are quietly expanding. As the industry matures, resilience and real-world integration may become the defining factors separating sustainable crypto sectors from speculative cycles.