📌 Robinhood's Breakout Quarter

5. Trump Mulls Summits Over a “Crypto Council”

Trump’s plan for a formal “crypto council” may be scrapped in favor of rotating summits, tackling policy issues like banking, payments, and mining one at a time. Insiders say it’s an attempt to avoid conflict between warring factions within the crypto industry (CEX vs. DEX, BTC maxis vs. altcoiners, etc.). David Sacks remains the administration’s crypto czar, but Bo Hines – a low profile executive director – has been quietly shopping around alternative ideas on Capitol Hill. How this switch to summits will shape policy still remains to be seen.

4. Peirce: Many Memecoins Likely Beyond SEC’s Reach

According to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce – now heading the agency’s crypto task force – most memecoins probably don’t fit the SEC’s current securities framework. Speaking with Bloomberg (watch clip here), she suggested Congress or the CFTC might be more appropriate to tackle memecoin regulation, already signaling a stark contrast to Gensler’s broad most cryptos are securities stance.

3. 21Shares’ Ether ETF Seeks Staking Green Light

Ether briefly rallied yesterday afternoon after news that the Cboe exchange and 21Shares asked the SEC to allow staking of the ether held by its 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF (CETH). If the SEC okays the move, it’d be the first US ETF to do so. For context, approved ETFs currently only allow for holding ETH but not staking the asset, which means ETF holders are missing out on yield.

2. OpenSea Expands Into Crypto Trading

NFT marketplace OpenSea has completed the public rollout of its new trading platform, OS2, expanding into cryptocurrency trading alongside plans for a SEA token airdrop. Early beta users note a farm-centric interface with points, loyalty scores, and other features used in rival platforms such as Magic Eden and Blur.

1. Robinhood Crushes Q4 Earnings

Robinhood (HOOD) just posted a blockbuster Q4, reporting its highest quarterly revenue to date, primary driven by an increase in transactions. For context, Q4 crypto transaction-based revenues alone surpassed the company's total revenue from the previous quarter. Now the spotlight turns to Coinbase’s earnings – who’s either going to report similarly insane numbers or, conversely, give investors tell that Robinhood is beginning to siphon some of its market share.