FTX Payments Set to Begin, LIBRA Token Fallout: What’s Weighing on The Crypto Market? – BitRss

The cryptocurrency market has retreated from its post-Trump election surge with Bitcoin trading at US$95,139 while Solana faces steeper declines amid concerns over memecoin sentiment.
The LIBRA scandal has intensified with allegations involving Argentine President Milei’s administration and developer Hayden Davis’s admission of market manipulation through sniping.
FTX ($0.00)’s bankruptcy estate has begun its creditor repayment program worth US$16 billion, though reimbursements based on collapse-era prices will result in significant losses for most investors.

The crypto market is struggling to keep momentum it had built following Donald Trump’s election in November 2024. After the election, Bitcoin surged by 60%, peaking in January 2024, but has since lost over 12% of these gains.

Bitcoin is currently trading for US$95,139 (AU ($9.91)$149,902) but is far from being the most impacted crypto. Most major cryptocurrencies are down, with Solana particularly spooked by current events, down over 5% in the past 24 hours.

Related: Coalition Pledges to Fast-Track Crypto Regulation, Echoing Trump’s Deregulatory Zeal

The Fear & Greed Index has also turned to Fear, dropping to 44, down from Extreme Greed last month.

Uncertainty around Trump’s tariffs and broader economic policies, as well as reduced expectations for further US rate cuts, are key reasons the market has turned fearful. Other contributing factors include LIBRA and FTX.

Following the TRUMP ($16.65) memecoin saga and several other stunts, sentiment around memecoins has turned negative. The LIBRA rug pull scandal also keeps growing with fresh new allegations.

Galaxy Research said the reduced interest in memecoins could negatively affect demand for Solana, a major altcoin driving broader crypto growth.

LIBRA Saga Continues as More Compromising Details Emerge

Argentine’s President Javier Milei who tweeted about LIBRA and says it wasn’t a promotion, now faces impeachment threats over the token.

LIBRA surged to a market cap of roughly US$4.5 billion (AU$7.09 billion) before losing over 90% of its value.

Related: RBA Cuts Interest Rate, Pours Water Over Hopes of Future Cuts as Bitcoin Stumbles

According to Bloomberg, citing La Nacion newspaper and crypto site CoinDesk, Hayden Davis, who was involved in the development and launch of LIBRA, TRUMP and MELANIA (Trump’s wife’s very own memecoin) bragged about his involvement.

The reports claim he was allegedly paying Milei’s sister Karina to influence the president’s decision-making. He and Milei denied any wrongdoing.

Hayden told YouTuber and crypto sleuth Coffeezilla in an interview that the whole thing was not a rug pull, though he admitted the team engaged in sniping. Sniping is using a crypto’s volatility to buy and sell exactly at the right point, sometimes with the help of bots and often involving insider trading.

FTX Estate Starts Repayments

The other event with the potential to impact the market is the sale of the FTX bankruptcy estate. In a post, FTX announced that it would begin the creditor repayment program, potentially totalling more than US$16 billion (AU$25.2 billion).

Small claim holders have already started receiving their money back this Tuesday.

(1/3) FTX today announced that it has commenced the initial distributions of recoveries to holders of allowed claims in FTX’s Convenience Classes in FTX’s Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization. Customers should expect to receive funds within 1 to 3 business days.

— FTX (@FTX_Official) February 18, 2025

While the reimbursements are good news, most investors will still suffer losses because repayments are based on prices at the time of the FTX collapse.

Related: Solana Faces Sharp Decline in DEX Volume and SOL ($168.21) Price Amid Market Uncertainty

That could be a big blow to most, as BTC ($95,249.85) was trading around US$20k around the time, a far stretch from today’s prices. It remains to be seen how much of this liquidity will find its way back into crypto.