CMC Market Pulse: Back to Chop Season
By CMC Research | Published February 13, 2026
The latest edition of CMC Market Pulse dives into the evolving landscape of the cryptocurrency markets, providing key narratives, project developments, and insights in under five minutes for investors and enthusiasts seeking actionable intelligence.
Market Overview 📉
As of 6:45 AM UTC on February 13, 2026, the cryptocurrency market has returned to a phase of relative consolidation, often referred to as "chop season." After a volatile fortnight, Bitcoin (BTC) edged up modestly by 1.46% over the week, while Ethereum (ETH) trailed with a 0.57% increase. The total crypto market capitalization experienced a slight recovery of 0.89%, rising from $2.24 trillion to $2.26 trillion.
With market volatility easing, liquidations have also tapered off, rarely exceeding $300 million per day. Funding rates among major cryptocurrencies have begun to stabilize, shifting from broadly negative levels last week to low positive territory this week, signaling more balanced market sentiment.
Significant accumulation activity is evident:
- Michael Saylor’s Strategy acquired 1,142 BTC for approximately $90 million, increasing their total holdings to 714,644 BTC.
- Binance finalized its last tranche of Bitcoin purchases using SAFU stablecoin reserves, amassing a total of 15,000 BTC worth almost $1 billion.
- Stripe enhanced its payment capabilities by integrating the x402 protocol, enabling AI agents to programmatically make payments in USDC on the Base blockchain.
Despite growing stability in crypto, caution remains prevalent as traditional equity markets show signs of strain. However, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices modestly advanced by 0.24% and 0.13%, respectively, maintaining an uptrend.
Among altcoins, notable outperformers this week included Pippin (PIPPIN), Berachain (BERA), Humanity (H), Aster (ASTER), Kite (KITE), and River (RIVER).
Narrative of the Week 📰
Institutional finance is cementing its presence in the decentralized finance (DeFi) arena through high-profile partnerships:
- LayerZero unveiled "Zero," its own institutional-focused blockchain, collaborating with prominent financial players like DTCC, ICE/NYSE, Citadel Securities, and ARK Invest.
- Uniswap teamed up with Securitize to facilitate trading of BlackRock’s BUIDL token on UniswapX. As part of the deal, BlackRock acquired an undisclosed amount of UNI tokens.
- Robinhood launched the testnet for its new permissionless Ethereum-compatible Layer 2 blockchain, opening access to builders and users to engage with existing smart contracts.
These developments highlight growing institutional adoption, potentially enhancing the legitimacy and mainstream acceptance of DeFi protocols within the broader finance ecosystem.
Major Project Updates 🗓️
Several significant milestones and strategic pivots were announced across blockchain projects:
- Sonic announced a strategic shift towards a vertically integrated business model, aiming to ensure that revenues and utility flow back to the Sonic token (S), rather than dissipate to external developers.
- Sui Network launched suiUSDe, a synthetic dollar powered by Ethena. It has already been integrated with DeepBook Margin, enabling complex DeFi functionalities such as margin trading and lending on Sui.
- MegaETH opened its mainnet fully to the public, allowing users to bridge assets, swap tokens, and interact with live decentralized applications.
- Polymarket partnered with Kaito AI to launch Attention Markets, a novel prediction market focusing on mindshare.
- Ethereum Name Service (ENS) announced it will deploy ENSv2 directly on Ethereum Mainnet rather than launching a separate chain called Namechain.
- Circle partnered with edgeX to introduce native USDC and Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) on the EDGE Chain, streamlining institutional on/offramps and cross-chain USDC transfers.
These updates underscore evolving blockchain infrastructure and commercial models, as projects seek to increase token utility and provide more integrated services.
DeFi Brief 🏦
DeFi continues expanding its offerings amid a generally bearish crypto market:
- Ondo Finance, a Real-World Asset (RWA) protocol, launched Ondo Perps, a capital-efficient perpetual trading platform for equities and commodities.
- Aave proposed the "Aave Will Win" framework, aiming to funnel 100% of protocol revenues to the Aave DAO to better align the interests of the protocol and token holders.
- Crypto exchange and wallet Backpack revealed its tokenomics, unveiling a token generation event (TGE) with 25% of tokens unlocked as an airdrop to Points and Mad Lads NFT holders.
- Sushiswap expanded to Solana, enabling token swaps and cross-chain trading, supported by Jupiter Exchange and their Ultra API.
These enhancements reveal DeFi’s commitment to innovation and diversification, addressing emerging market needs.
Fundraises 💰
Several promising crypto projects successfully raised capital this week:
- Levl, a stablecoin payments infrastructure protocol, raised $7 million in a seed round led by Galaxy, along with CMCC Global, FalconX, and others.
- Birch Hill, focusing on on-chain credit infrastructure, secured $2.5 million in a pre-seed round led by ParaFi Capital and Castle Island Ventures.
- Tether (USDT) made an undisclosed investment into the interoperability protocol LayerZero.
- Bullshot, a token launchpad, raised $7.5 million in private funding, featuring investments from Animoca Brands, B1 Ventures, AWS Cloud, and others.
These fundraises indicate healthy investor interest in infrastructure and tooling projects that support broader crypto ecosystem growth.
Airdrops Abound 🎁
- Espresso Foundation opened claims for its ESP token airdrop, allowing users to claim and stake tokens.
- Based Foundation introduced the BASED token, allocating 36% to the community, with the token generation event slated for March 2026. —
Tweet of the Week 📝
"Nothing like a good rugpull to start off your crypto journey!"
— boldleonidas
Why It Matters
The cryptocurrency markets appear to be stabilizing after recent volatility, with improving fundamentals fueled by institutional partnerships and new project developments. Nevertheless, market participants remain cautious given mixed signals from traditional finance markets. The ongoing integration of DeFi with institutional finance, coupled with innovative protocol updates and fundraising activities, suggest the crypto ecosystem is gearing up for a renewed phase of growth and adoption.
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