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Cardano is Launching a New Stablecoin This Month

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Cardano is Launching a New Stablecoin This Month

The Cardano blockchain ecosystem will integrate USDCx, a variant of Circle’s USDC stablecoin, by the end of February.

On February 15, Philip DiSaro, CEO of the smart contract development firm Anastasia Labs, confirmed that “USDCx” will go live on the network before the end of the month.

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Cardano Targets Stablecoin Deficit With Upcoming USDCx Debut

USDCx is a dollar-denominated stablecoin backed 1:1 by USDC held through Circle’s xReserve infrastructure. Circle is the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization.

According to DiSaro, USDCx will function identically to native USDC for retail users, allowing for seamless transactions across decentralized applications.

However, he noted that the asset differs slightly in its redemption mechanics compared to USDC.

“USDCx is functionally identical to native USDC for retail users. The literal only difference in functionality is that USDC can be redeemed directly for USD in a bank account through Circle EXCLUSIVELY by institutional partners of Circle. That means this is not possible and doesn’t matter to retail users, or even DeFi power users because they are not able to do this with USDC either,” DiSaro stated.

Still, DiSaro emphasized that the new stablecoin retains full USDC utility for the broader Cardano ecosystem.

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“USDCx is not scuffed USDC; it has all of the functionality that USDC has for retail. You can bridge USDCx to any CCTP enabled chain in a single transaction, which would be the same amount of transactions if we had native USDC. Anything that you can pay for with USDC in a transaction, you can pay for with USDCx in a transaction,” DiSaro explained.

Nonetheless, market observers have noted that the launch represents a critical infrastructure upgrade for Cardano.

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Notably, the Charles Hoskinson-led blockchain has historically struggled to attract the deep, stablecoin liquidity seen on rival chains such as Ethereum and Solana.

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Data from DeFiLlama shows it hosts less than $40 million in stablecoin supply, compared with the billions held on rivals such as Ethereum.

Previous attempts to bootstrap stablecoin liquidity on Cardano have largely failed to gain traction, leaving the network at a competitive disadvantage in the decentralized finance sector.

So, this move is designed to address the network’s long-standing liquidity fragmentation and bolster its decentralized finance capabilities.

Meanwhile, the initiative arrives as Cardano attempts to shed its reputation for isolation through an integration with LayerZero. This interoperability protocol facilitates communication between separate blockchains.

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By leveraging LayerZero, Cardano applications can theoretically interact trustlessly with more than 50 other networks, including Ethereum and Solana.

However, investors have yet to react positively to these structural changes.

BeInCrypto’s data shows that the network’s native ADA token has declined more than 25% over the past month to a 2-year low of $0.24. It has recovered to $0.28 as of press time.

This price performance reflects the broader crypto market downtrend and skepticism about the chain’s ability to capture market share in an increasingly crowded crypto economy.

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Crypto World

BTC Price Trades at $66K With 44% of Supply Now in the Red

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Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Price, Markets, Price Analysis, Market Analysis

Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $66,450 on Thursday, a 47% drawdown from its all-time high of $126,000 reached in October 2025. As a result, many BTC holders are sitting on significant unrealized losses, underscoring the risks still facing Bitcoin investors at current levels. 

Key takeaways:

  • Bitcoin’s 47% drawdown from its $126,000 all-time high has left holders with nearly $600 billion in unrealized losses.

  • Apparent demand and buying from US investors remain in deep contraction, suggesting broader market distribution. 

44% of Bitcoin circulating supply now in the red

BTC/USD trades 24% below its yearly open of $87,500 after it closed 2025 in the red. The prolonged weakness has pushed a significant portion of its supply underwater.

As Bitcoin trades at $66,450 on Thursday, roughly 8.8 million BTC are held at a loss, representing $598.7 billion in unrealized losses, or more than 44% of the circulating supply, according to data from Glassnode.

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Related: Bitcoin risks new lows as US dollar targets highest level since April 2025

The magnitude of this figure implies a “structural resemblance to conditions observed in Q2 2022,” Glassnode said in its latest Week On-chain newsletter.

Glassnode explained that the 2022 bear market provides a precedent when roughly 3 million BTC needed to be redistributed before the market could recover. 

“Historically, resolving a supply overhang of this scale has required a meaningful redistribution of coins from loss-realizing holders to new buyers at lower prices.”

Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Price, Markets, Price Analysis, Market Analysis
BTC: Total supply in loss. Source: Glassnode

This mounting paper loss has eroded conviction, prompting long-term holders (LTH) to capitulate by selling below their cost basis.

LTH realized loss, a metric that  measures the aggregate dollar value of Bitcoin sold at a loss by investors who have held BTC for more than 155 days, has risen to $200 million, “confirming active capitulation,” Glassnode said, adding:

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“A meaningful cooldown toward levels below $25M per day would represent a more compelling signal of exhaustion in selling pressure, and a prerequisite for the base formation that historically precedes a sustainable bull market transition.” 

Bitcoin LTH realized loss. Source: Glassnode

BTC’s spot price is also below the average cost basis of US spot Bitcoin ETF holders, currently at $83,408, suggesting that these investors are increasingly under strain.

US spot Bitcoin ETF cost basis chart. Source: Glassnode

The risk-off sentiment is also seen in global Bitcoin investment products, which recorded more than $194 million in net outflows during the week ending March 27.

Bitcoin apparent demand contraction persists

Bitcoin’s apparent demand has stayed negative since mid-December 2025, as traders and investors continue to be risk-off amid BTC’s price weakness.

Capriole Investment’s Bitcoin Apparent Demand metric shows that the demand for Bitcoin is at -1,623 BTC on Thursday, and that sellers are in control.

Bitcoin apparent demand. Source: Capriole Investments.

The continued contraction in total apparent demand indicates persistent “selling from retail,” CryptoQuant said in its latest Weekly Crypto report, adding:

“The sustained demand contraction, now persisting since late November 2025, confirms that the broader market remains in distribution.”

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s Coinbase Premium Index, which measures the difference in pricing between the BTC/USD pair on Coinbase and Binance, also remains in negative territory.

“The persistent negative premium indicates that US investors have not yet re-entered the market at scale,” CryptoQuant said, adding:

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“This is consistent with the demand contraction seen across on-chain metrics.”

Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index. Source: CryptoQuant

As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin price risks new lows in the short term amid a strengthening US dollar.