• Crypto.com gains credibility after conditional approval from the OCC.
• Cronos (CRO) remains far below its peak, but fundamentals are stabilising.
• The regulatory approval strengthens Cronos’ long-term investment case.

Cronos (CRO) is once again in focus as regulatory progress at Crypto.com reshapes the long-term narrative around the ecosystem.

The token has spent much of the past year trading under pressure, mirroring broader market uncertainty and fading risk appetite.

Recent developments in the United States, however, have injected a new layer of strategic significance into CRO’s outlook.

Crypto.com has secured conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a nationally regulated trust bank.

This approval does not mean full operational status yet. It does, however, signal regulatory acceptance at the highest federal level.

That signal alone carries weight in a market where regulatory clarity often defines winners and losers.

Crypto.com’s regulatory progress in the US

The planned Crypto.com national trust bank will not operate like a traditional retail bank.

It will, for instance, not accept deposits or issue loans.

Its role is focused on digital asset custody, settlement, and staking services under federal oversight.

This positioning places Crypto.com closer to the infrastructure layer of institutional finance rather than consumer banking.

For the broader crypto market, the conditional approval suggests Crypto.com is on track to become a federally regulated custodian before committing serious capital.

It also reduces reliance on fragmented state-by-state licensing. From a credibility standpoint, this is a meaningful step forward.

For Cronos, the implications are indirect but important.

Cronos exists as part of the Crypto.com ecosystem. Any expansion in regulated services strengthens the ecosystem’s long-term utility.

That utility underpins demand, even if price reactions are not immediate.

CRO price analysis

Cronos (CRO) is currently trading far below its all-time high.

The token peaked near $0.97 during the 2021 bull market, but today it trades closer to the $0.07 range. That decline reflects both market cycles and shifting sentiment around exchange tokens.

Despite the drawdown, however, Cronos maintains a multi-billion-dollar market capitalisation.

Liquidity remains steady, though daily trading volumes are modest compared to previous cycles. While short-term momentum remains weak, long-term positioning is beginning to look more nuanced.

How the OCC approval feeds into Cronos’ price outlook

The conditional OCC approval does not directly change CRO’s tokenomics, nor does it alter supply or introduce immediate new use cases.

What it does is reinforce the ecosystem’s regulatory durability, which matters as capital becomes more selective.

Following the approval, institutional staking, custody, and settlement services could eventually intersect with Cronos-based activity.

Even if adoption grows slowly, the direction is clear.

For long-term holders, the narrative around Cronos is shifting from speculative growth to regulated infrastructure alignment.

As Crypto.com moves closer to full approval, attention on Cronos is likely to increase.

The price recovery will, however, still depend on broader market cycles, although the path forward now looks more credible than it did a year ago.

Undaunted by the plunge in bitcoin BTC$63,304.16 and the even worse price action for bitcoin treasury companies, Adam Back, the CEO of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company (BSTR), says shareholder approval for a public listing could come as soon as April.

The public listing would come via a SPAC merger with Brandon Lutnick’s Cantor Equity Partners I (CEPO).

BSTR intends to debut with 30,000 bitcoin on its balance sheet. Of that total, 25,000 coins will be contributed by Back and other founding shareholders. A further 5,000 BTC will be contributed in-kind by early investors.

The merger plans were announced in the summer of 2025 amid a frenzy of hastily formed crypto treasury companies that hoped to mimic the success of Michael Saylor’s Strategy.

Since, though, the price of bitcoin has crashed to $63,000, and the performance of crypto treasury companies has been far worse, with many prominent ones vaporizing 90% or more of investor capital.

Speaking with CNBC on Monday, Back said a weaker bitcoin price could benefit BSTR ahead of its listing. Launching at a lower reference price would enable the company to accumulate more bitcoin at discounted levels, potentially strengthening its balance sheet and increasing long-term upside if market conditions improve.

Addressing bitcoin’s recent decline, Back noted that it occurred despite what he characterized as a favorable regulatory backdrop in the United States. He attributed the pullback to broader macroeconomic factors, including geopolitical tensions and tariff-related uncertainty, which have weighed on risk assets more broadly.

Back added that bitcoin treasury companies play a supportive role in the market. Their core strategy centers on acquiring and holding bitcoin, though he acknowledged that the pace of accumulation typically slows during bear markets. Ultimately, he said, bitcoin treasury companies are taking bitcoin off the market, which is a long-term bullish catalyst.

HBAR price faces downside risk after losing key support at $0.09, with bearish intraday structure increasing the probability of a corrective move toward $0.07.

Hedera (HBAR) price action is showing early signs of structural weakness following a decisive loss of high-timeframe support near the $0.09 level. What previously acted as a strong demand zone has now transitioned into resistance, marking an important shift in market structure.

This transition is technically significant. When former support flips into resistance, it often signals a change in market control from buyers to sellers. Recent price movements suggest that HBAR is now undergoing a bearish retest of this level, a common market behavior that frequently precedes continuation to the downside.

As long as HBAR trades below $0.09, the broader technical outlook favors further corrective movement, with the next major support region located near $0.07 coming into focus.

HBAR price key technical points

• $0.09 support flipped into resistance: Structural breakdown confirms bearish shift
• Point of control under threat: Loss of key volume support could accelerate downside momentum
• $0.07 high-timeframe support targeted: Next major demand zone within current range

HBAR’s recent price action has been technically constructive in defining market direction. The confirmed loss of the $0.09 level represents a major structural development. Markets often respect these transitions strongly, as participants who previously bought at support may begin selling when price retests the level from below.

The current bounce toward resistance appears corrective rather than impulsive. Instead of establishing higher highs, price is forming a potential lower high within the intraday structure. This behavior aligns with a bearish retest scenario, where temporary upward movement allows sellers to re-enter positions before continuation lower.

From a market structure perspective, maintaining acceptance below $0.09 keeps sellers firmly in control. Until this level is reclaimed, bullish continuation remains unlikely in the short term.

Point of control becomes critical volume support

Another important level to monitor is the point of control (POC), which represents the area of highest traded volume within the broader range. The POC often acts as a final area of equilibrium before price transitions into expansion.

If HBAR loses acceptance around this level, it would signal that the market has abandoned its last major volume-based support. This development could significantly increase downside momentum.Below the POC lies a region of relatively thin volume, meaning fewer historical transactions exist to slow price movement. When markets enter low-volume zones, price tends to move quickly as liquidity gaps allow accelerated rotations toward lower value areas.

This technical dynamic strengthens the probability of a move toward the value area low and ultimately the $0.07 high-timeframe support.

Bearish retest suggests lower high formation

From a price action standpoint, the current local bounce appears to be a bearish retest rather than a trend reversal. Intraday structure continues to favor lower highs and weakening momentum, suggesting that the market is preparing for another rotational move downward.

Bearish retests typically occur after structural breakdowns, allowing price to revisit former support levels before sellers resume control. HBAR’s inability to reclaim resistance supports this interpretation.

If price forms a confirmed lower high beneath $0.09, it would further validate the bearish continuation thesis. This setup increases the likelihood that HBAR rotates toward deeper support levels as part of a broader corrective phase.

What to expect in the coming price action

From a technical, price action, and market structure perspective, HBAR remains vulnerable while trading below the $0.09 resistance. The current rebound appears corrective within a bearish intraday trend. A loss of the point of control could trigger accelerated downside movement toward the $0.07 high-timeframe support.

Unless buyers reclaim higher value and invalidate the lower-high structure, the probability favors continued downside rotation in the near term.

XRP Ledger recorded multiple breakthrough metrics in February. These figures reflect Ripple’s effectiveness in attracting attention and accelerating adoption on its underlying blockchain.

However, XRP’s price remained stuck below $1.4 during the final week of February, despite several positive signals that predicted an upcoming recovery.

Activity on XRP Ledger Increased in February After Upgrades

Data from XRPscan shows that the number of successful payments on the XRP Ledger has continuously increased over the past month. The figure rose from a low of 1 million payments at the end of December last year to more than 2.7 million in February. This marks the highest level in 12 months.

On the XRP Ledger, a successful payment is a transaction that validators have confirmed and recorded on the distributed ledger.

Therefore, this increase reflects the growing vibrancy of the XRP Ledger. A higher number of successful transactions proves that users genuinely use the network for payments, transfers, DeFi, or other applications.

“XRP network activity stays strong. Around 2M transactions per day and roughly 40K active addresses. That is real usage. While most chains chase narratives, XRPL keeps moving value. Payments. Settlements. This kind of consistency is what institutions look for,” crypto investor CryptoSensei said.

In addition, the Automated Market Maker (AMM) on the XRPL DEX showed signs of a breakout, with more than 14,000 deposits. This development provides XRPL with additional decentralized liquidity and reduces trading slippage.

Notably, AMM activity has never been this before. This breakout occurred after the Permissioned Domains upgrade was activated in early February. The network enabled the Permissioned DEX two weeks later.

Investors expect the Permissioned DEX to pave the way for banks, payment providers, and financial institutions to trade within a controlled liquidity environment on XRP Ledger.

Despite these positive signs, XRP’s price continued into its fifth consecutive month of decline, and the final week of February closed in the red. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $1.33, down 45% from its early-year high.

A recent report from BeInCrypto shows that rising whale inflows to exchanges continue to create selling pressure. Realized losses have reached their highest level since 2022.

However, historical signals also suggest that such extreme negativity often precedes a price bottom and a strong recovery. The latest analysis from BeInCrypto clarifies that XRP now needs confirmation through a breakout above the $1.47 resistance level.

Blockchain analytics company Nansen will establish a local entity and build a Bhutan-based team in Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), expanding into the kingdom as its Special Administrative Region advances its digital asset strategy.

According to a joint announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Nansen plans to incorporate within GMC and develop on-the-ground analytics capabilities to provide blockchain data and market intelligence to industry participants operating in the region.

GMC is a purpose-built Special Administrative Region in southern Bhutan focused on long-term economic development. The region has previously announced digital asset initiatives spanning custody infrastructure, tokenization, institutional liquidity and regulatory frameworks.