Tether Launches US-Focused Stablecoin, Fed Pauses Rate Cuts, and Bitcoin Drops Below $84K Amid Broad Tech Pullback

Takeaways

• Bitcoin dips again amid broad crypto market pullback: The price of bitcoin dipped below $84,000 on Thursday morning, pushing the top cryptocurrency down more than 4% year-to-date. The move came after Microsoft’s soft earnings report sparked a broader tech pullback, with the NASDAQ leading losses on the day. The crypto selloff forced roughly $650 million in liquidations among leveraged long crypto positions.
• This week, Tether launched USAT, a USD-backed token issued through Anchorage Digital Bank: The stablecoin was built to comply with the GENIUS Act under OCC supervision, with Cantor Fitzgerald serving as reserve custodian and primary dealer. At launch, USAT will be available on a number of trading and payments platforms to enable immediate onramps for institutional and retail.
• In a widely expected move, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday announced the committee would pause rate cuts this month: The decision comes after the central bank committee lowered rates three separate times since September amid concerns over a softening labor market.
• Ripple announced the launch of Ripple Treasury, a corporate treasury platform that embeds GTreasury into Ripple’s blockchain stack: The product promises no longer than five-second cross-border settlement using RLUSD and aims to centralize liquidity management.
• VanEck debuted VAVX, the first US spot Avalanche ETF, on Nasdaq: The fund offers spot AVAX exposure plus staking rewards and aims to broaden institutional access to the layer-1 blockchain.

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Bitcoin Dips Again Amid Broad Crypto Market Selloff

The move came after Microsoft’s soft earnings report sparked a broader tech pullback, with the NASDAQ dropping more than 1% on the day.

Bitcoin had stalled around the $90,000 mark for the past few weeks while gold and silver continued an upward trend, but those precious metals were also hit hard with sell-offs on Thursday morning, with both tumbling. Gold in particular has been on ascendant run over the past year, with investors increasingly tabbing it as their preferred safe-haven asset. On Thursday, the crypto sell-off reportedly caused approximately $650 million in bullish leveraged positions.

"Everything from weak earnings results to worries around Iran and government shutdown are causing a broad-based selloff," Joshua Lim, a global co-head of markets at prime brokerage FalconX, told Coindesk. "It's triggering a bigger unwind across consensus hedge fund and commodity trading advisors positions in metals and equities."

Tether Launches US-Regulated Dollar-Pegged Token, USAT

. Unlike Tether’s global USDT, USAT is purportedly structured for US regulatory alignment.

Tether has tapped Cantor Fitzgerald as the reserve custodian and primary dealer for the new stablecoin, positioning the arrangement to offer bank-style reserve management and reporting. At launch, USAT will be available on a number of trading and payments platforms to enable immediate onramps for institutional and retail.

Tether's appointed CEO of USAT, Bo Hines, will lead the US push, with the firm framing USAT as a domestic complement to USDT. Tether is hoping to win over US institutions that have historically favored USDC for its domestic ties and perceived transparency. Issuer Anchorage also signaled ambitious scaling goals, saying it intends to leverage Tether’s global liquidity to grow USAT rapidly.

Federal Reserve Pauses Interest Rate Cuts, Crypto Doesn’t Budge

“The economy has once again surprised us with its strength, not for the first time,” Powell said at his news conference.

The decision comes after the committee lowered rates three separate times since September amid concerns over a softening labor market, pushing the federal funds rate between 3.5% and 3.75%. Meanwhile, President Trump has publicly lobbied for Powell to lower rates to help reduce borrowing costs as the president considers his next pick to lead the Fed. Powell’s term is up in May, with Gemini Predictions currently tabbing Rick Rieder as the favorite to become the next Fed chair.

Ripple Rolls Out Ripple Treasury After GTreasury Acquisition

Ripple announced the commercial launch of Ripple Treasury, a corporate treasury suite that merges GTreasury’s cash-management tools with Ripple’s onchain settlement infrastructure, following the firms’ recent acquisition. The platform is reportedly designed to replace fractured treasury workflows with a single interface that treats tokenized rails and custody providers as “digital banks” via API integrations.

Amongst other features, Ripple Treasury will reportedly be able to settle cross-border payments in roughly three to five seconds using the company’s RLUSD stablecoin. The product also aims to centralize liquidity management and payments so that treasurers can monitor fiat and token positions in one place.

The launch comes after Ripple’s acquisition of stablecoin provider Rail and prime broker Hidden Road, and represents the company’s first major product rollout since the acquisition of GTreasury for $1.25 billion last year. The company had previously said that the acquisition would allow customers to access liquid markets via its institutional product suite.

VanEck Launches First US Spot Avalanche ETF, VAVX

On Monday, VanEck launched VAVX, the first US spot Avalanche (AVAX) ETF, on Nasdaq. Fees for the fund will reportedly be waived until the fund hits $500 million in assets or February 28, whichever comes sooner. The vehicle offers direct spot exposure to AVAX with staking rewards, and VanEck will partner with Avalanche on educational resources.

After the introductory offer, the fund will have a 0.2% sponsorship fee, with analysts viewing the listing as a significant milestone for institutional access and potential flows into layer 1 ecosystems. Market reaction however was fairly mixed, with VAVX price falling slightly on its debut despite AVAX itself seeing a minor price spike. The listing follows regulatory changes that streamlined approvals for crypto ETFs in the US.

-Team Gemini