• Specs News
  • Posts
  • 2/21/25: Is Kanye West Dropping A Coin? đŸȘ™đŸ†đŸ”Ž

2/21/25: Is Kanye West Dropping A Coin? đŸȘ™đŸ†đŸ”Ž

Today’s issue is brought to you by Safe — the world’s leading smart account provider on EVM, securing $100B+ in assets (including Vitalik’s).

Top News

  1. Ye to launch $YZY token after bashing other celebrity coins

  2. Coinbase lawsuit with SEC set for dismissal with zero fines

  3. Bybit unveils real-time liquidation data, setting new standard

Specs’ Insights

1. Ye to launch $YZY token after bashing other celebrity coins

⌐â—Ș-â—Ș → Ye is launching a memecoin.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is set to launch $YZY this Sunday according to three sources close to the project —following in Trump’s footsteps.

This comes after he previously criticized celebrity memecoins, saying they “prey on fans.” Now, he’s doing exactly that, except with 70% of the supply in his own wallet. The rest? 10% for liquidity and 20% for investors—putting an insane amount of trust (and power) in his hands.

From a tokenomics standpoint, this is the ultimate rug setup—but whether he dumps or not is anyone’s guess. Given his history of erratic moves and controversies, this launch has all the ingredients for absolute chaos.

The real question is how will $YZY perform compared to $TRUMP?

2. Coinbase lawsuit with SEC set for dismissal with zero fines

⌐â—Ș-â—Ș → Coinbase can’t stop winning.

Coinbase just reached an agreement with SEC staff to dismiss their lawsuit—a massive win for the entire crypto industry.

Once officially approved next week, it will mean zero fines, zero concessions, and zero changes to their business. After years of legal battles, millions in legal fees, and endless attempts to crush crypto in America, Coinbase is walking away completely untouched.

The SEC’s case was weak from the start. They let Coinbase go public in 2021, reviewed their listing standards, then tried to sue them for listing the same assets years later. Their legal overreach failed, and now they’re forced to back down.

This proves what we already knew: Crypto isn’t going anywhere, and the SEC is losing its grip.

But before you celebrate too hard—this doesn’t mean regulators are suddenly friendly. The SEC just launched a Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit to crack down on crypto fraud, and insider trading cases are heating up. The purge of bad actors isn’t over yet.

3. Bybit unveils real-time liquidation data, setting new standard

⌐â—Ș-â—Ș → Bybit just set a new standard for transparency.

Bybit just dropped real-time liquidation data via API updates every 500 milliseconds, giving traders and analysts instant visibility into market liquidations.

This level of transparency is unprecedented—and similar to when Bitwise published the holding address of its Bitcoin ETF. Moves like this don’t just impact crypto—they reshape the entire financial industry by creating a new standard for accountability.

In a space still haunted by black swan events like FTX, initiatives like this build trust and push the industry forward. More exchanges should follow suit.

Speaking of transparency—Fort Knox audit when?

Everything Else

⛓ Crypto & DeFi

🏩 Wall Street & VC

  • VanEck says strategic reserve of 1M BTC could offset 21T debt by 2049

  • Franklin Templeton launches spot Bitcoin and Ethereum combo ETF

  • US Bitcoin ETFs surpass $750B in cumulative trading volume

  • JPMorgan sees weak demand in crypto and lack of positive catalysts

  • Grayscale XRP ETF countdown begins as filing hits Federal Register

  • Canary Capital spot Litecoin ETF added to DTCC website

  • MicroStrategy plans to raise $2B to buy more Bitcoin

  • Figure Markets debuts an SEC-registered yield-bearing stablecoin

  • BitGo and Copper enable off-exchange custody trading on Deribit

  • Acre raises $4M at a $90M valuation for Bitcoin staking

đŸ›ïž Legal & Regulatory

🌎 Rest Of The World

  • ECB to develop a fiat settlement system for DLT transactions

  • Hong Kong explores crypto ETF staking under a new roadmap

  • Altvest becomes first African-listed company to adopt BTC as a treasury asset

đŸ–Œïž NFTs & Metaverse

  • Kanye West to launch YZY token on Sunday despite past criticism of crypto

  • OpenSea reclaims 71.5% NFT market share after SEA token announcement

  • Story Protocol IP token surges 149% in a single day

  • Pudgy Penguins artist finds ‘freedom’ in new Berachain NFT collection

  • PENGU now live on Shopify via Helio integration

  • Sam Spratt sells out 'Masks of Luci' collection for $2.19M

Join Our Community!

Designed to make you a better crypto investor, builder, and operator.

💬 Chat with Valko and other experts
📚 Access additional hand-curated resources
😊 Make friends, share memes, have fun