Crypto
crypto
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

DeFi Dev Corp. launches partnership with dogwifhat, coin surges

DeFi Development Corp., which aims to be the “Strategy of solana,” has announced a “strategic validator partnership with the dogwifhat community,” a meme coin on the Solana blockchain.

Dogwifhat, with an $869 million market cap, is one of the top gainers in the past 24 hours, up over 22%.

Under the partnership, DeFi Development Corp. will provide technical operations and infrastructure, while both parties “will jointly promote the validator and collaborate to secure delegated stake,” the press release says.

This partnership follows a similar one DeFi Dev made with meme coin bonk in May, which “established a new model for how institutional infrastructure and community tokens can align to advance decentralized networks,” according to a May 16 press release.

Dan Kang, DeFi Dev’s head of investor relations, told Sherwood News that the partnership was the “next natural step” after the BONK validator launch, and that WIF was “more than a meme coin.”

“It’s a cultural force with massive community reach, and we believe aligning with projects that shape the solana narrative is a smart, long-term move. After our BONK validator launch, this was a natural next step. We’re committed to supporting the ecosystem’s most iconic communities,” he said.

When asked whether DeFi Dev is considering additional solana meme coin partnerships, Kang said the company is always exploring new ways to engage with the solana ecosystem and support aligned partners.

“But we don’t have any additional validator partnerships to announce at this time,” he added. 

More Crypto

See all Crypto
crypto
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

Crypto platform BlockFills halts withdrawals

Crypto lending and trading platform BlockFills has halted customer withdrawals amid the current market downturn, according to The Wall Street Journal, a development that recalls the broader meltdown of the 2022 crypto bear market, albeit on a much smaller scale.

This morning, bitcoin dipped below $67,000, and it was hovering around that level midafternoon, struggling to recover from last week’s bloodbath.

“BlockFills is working tirelessly to bring this matter to a conclusion and will continue to regularly update our clients as developments warrant,” a spokesperson told the WSJ.

The Chicago-based, Susquehanna-backed company’s “suspension was put in place last week but remains in effect,” the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

The company, which serves institutional clients, handled $60 billion in trading volume in 2025, per the FT. 

Ethan Buchman, CEO of Cycles, told Sherwood News that BlockFills halting withdrawals is a harsh reminder that, despite changes since the panic of 2022, the crypto industry still has a long way to go in developing off-chain risk infrastructure with stronger standards for underwriting, clearing, and settlement.

crypto
Sage D. Young

Ethereum ETF holders still “diamond-handing” despite hurting more than their bitcoin counterparts

Holders of spot ethereum ETFs are in more pain than bitcoin investors. 

The price of ethereum stands around $1,940 as of Wednesday morning, representing about a 45% drop from $3,500, the average cost basis of spot ethereum ETF holders, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart. 

The losses of ethereum ETF holders are larger than bitcoin fund investors based on available data. Bitcoin is trading at $68,822, representing an 18% slide from the the cost basis for all its ETFs of $83,983, data from Glassnode shows. 

While facing larger losses than their bitcoin ETF peers, the vast majority of ethereum ETF buyers have stayed put. “The net inflows into the ETH ETFs have gone from about $15 billion down below $12 billion. This is a much worse selloff than the Bitcoin ETFs on a relative basis, but still fairly decent diamond hands in grand scheme (for now),” Seyffart said on Tuesday on X.

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy
12h
Bitcoin is in a “macro tug-of-war” as asset struggles to recover

Bitcoin is resting on a 200-week EMA, “a key level that systematic and momentum trading strategies look at.”

Hands pulling on rope during game of tug-of-war
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy
2/10/26
Abra CEO: This is not bitcoin’s “worst time ever” and advises “when in doubt, zoom out”

Over the last 12 years, Bill Barhydt has lived through “multiple 70% bitcoin drawdowns.”

bitcoins on the eyes
crypto
Sage D. Young

Meme coins have lost all their 2026 gains and continue to dive

Despite having an early lead in year-to-date gains, meme coins have round-tripped and bled even more. 

For example, frog-based token pepe was up 75% in the first four days of January, but is now about 8% lower than where it started the year. Dogecoin, shiba inu, bonk, pengu, dogwifhat, and trump tell a similar story: posting a positive gain and then slumping into the red. 

Screenshot 2026-02-09 at 11.32.10 AM.png
The year-to-date price performances of the top meme coins by market capitalization (TradingView)

Meme coins, cryptocurrencies based on internet jokes that are often critiqued for lacking utility, are reflexive: they can lead gains during bullish market conditions, but see sharper declines in bearish ones. The entire category of meme coins has shed 25.8% of its valuation in the year so far, data from blockchain analytics firm Artemis shows.

The price action of meme coins comes amid a broader market decline that saw bitcoin drop to $63,000 last week as its peers revisited cycle lows. 

“The market has, in large, been bleeding, whether major, altcoin, or meme,” according to Nicolai Søndergaard, research analyst at on-chain data firm Nansen. “It is not surprising to me to see that larger memes as well have been trending down.”

He told Sherwood News, “If we also consider the fact that there are less active wallets now compared to a few months ago, it also makes sense that larger ‘household’ memes would decline as money shifts around to the next shiny thing.”

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.
©2026 Sherwood Media, LLC