The escalating crisis in the Strait of Hormuz — where military conflict, mine 
threats, and a near-halt in shipping have rattled global energy flows — is now 
rippling through financial markets, leaving investors juggling oil shocks, 
geopolitical risk, and a still-fragile global economy. The Strait of Hormuz 
Crisis Sends Shockwaves Through Markets The confrontation stems […]

Oil, Stocks, Crypto Swing as Strait of Hormuz Crisis Threatens Global Energy Supply

While large institutional flows dominate total stablecoin volume, small-value 
transfers make up most stablecoin transactions on BNB Chain, which has 
eclipsed other blockchains by transaction count and has become one of the 
leaders in the sector. Related Reading: Dogecoin Risks More Pain As Price 
Retests Critical Support – Analyst Warns Of 37% Breakdown BNB Chain Tops 
Global Stablecoin Transactions By Count As stablecoin activity continues to 
grow, BNB Chain has emerged as one of the leading networks in the sector, 
positioning itself ahead of competitors like Ethereum, Tron, and Solana in 
transaction share, especially for smaller-value transfers predominant in 
emerging markets and retail use. Recent data shows that BNB Chain is leading 
the stablecoin sector by transaction count, handling roughly 40% of global 
transactions while only holding 5% of the total stablecoin supply. This figure 
illustrates the high transaction velocity achieved through its low fees and 
faster block times, facilitated by recent upgrades, and active DeFi protocols 
like PancakeSwap and Venus. On-chain data platform Dune also revealed that BNB 
Chain is currently leading in monthly unique stablecoin senders among all 
blockchains. The data shows that the network saw 15.1 million unique senders 
in February alone, surpassing Tron’s 8.8 million, Ethereum’s 5.4 million, 
Solana’s 4.8 million, Arbitrum’s 2.5 million, and base’s 2.1 million. This 
signals that, in terms of everyday stablecoin activity like trading, payments, 
and remittances, BNB Chain is currently the most active network for users. 
While Ethereum remains the dominant chain for stablecoins, the BNB chain leads 
in annual stablecoin growth, as reported by NewsBTC, with the BNB Smart Chain 
(BSC) soaring 133% Year-over-Year (YoY). In addition, it doubled its 
stablecoin market capitalization to $14 billion at its 2025 peak, also 
recording the highest daily active users across blockchains. Recently, it also 
recorded $21.7 billion in stablecoin transfers in a single day, marking a 
yearly peak. ‘The Normies’ Lead Stablecoin Transactions Growth Forbes recently 
highlighted the key role of fiat-pegged tokens in crisis economies, affirming 
that stablecoins have subtly become parallel currencies in emerging nations 
where local currencies are not a reliable store of value. The Orbital 
Stablecoin Premium/Discount Index for Q4 2025, cited by Forbes, shows the gap 
between what people pay for digital dollars and what they should cost, with 
regions such as the Middle East and North Africa averaging a 16.35% buy 
premium. Small stablecoin transactions under $10,000 grew exponentially in 
2025, going from 316 million to 3.2 billion. “Most of that growth came from 
emerging markets, where a less-than-$0.05 transaction fee on chains like BNB 
Chain or Polygon costs less than the bus fare to the nearest bank,” the news 
media outlet detailed. Notably, 82% of stablecoin transfers are under $1,000 
on the BNB Chain, while 99% of them are below $10,000, with an average 
transaction cost of $0.050. According to the report, two-thirds of merchant 
stablecoin payments come from exchange accounts, and more than 50% of crypto 
users in emerging markets entered through Binance or OKX. Related Reading: 
Bitcoin Stabilizes, But Glassnode Warns Spot Demand Is Still Weak Nina, BNB 
Chain’s Director of Growth, told Forbes that the chain’s substantial 
transaction volume relative to its smaller share of total value accurately 
reflects its user base: “The normies.” “Our audiences are not necessarily all 
occupied institutions, but a lot of micro payments and retail users,” she 
explained. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

BNB Chain Dominates 40% Of Global Stablecoin Transactions With Small-Value Transfers

The prediction markets platform argued for an injunction against Ohio 
authorities, claiming that federal commodities laws superseded state laws on 
sport event contracts.

Kalshi suffers court loss in Ohio over sports betting lawsuit

Cardano is facing a fresh round of criticism after renowned crypto market 
analyst Ali Martinez, known on X as Ali Charts, argued that the network’s 
valuation remains badly out of step with actual usage. His thesis is blunt: 
unless adoption improves materially, ADA’s price could face far more downside 
if a key support level breaks. In a post titled “The Most Useless Network in 
the Crypto Market,” Martinez framed Cardano as a chain with a large market 
value but comparatively weak onchain traction. He wrote, “Cardano ranks among 
the largest cryptocurrencies by market value, yet the level of real activity 
on the network remains relatively small.” Could Cardano Fall Another 80%? He 
then tied that directly to DeFi participation, arguing that “the amount of 
capital locked in Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem has never exceeded $1 billion, and 
it has historically been only a fraction of what is locked on competing 
platforms like Ethereum. Even some newer chains, such as SUI, have already 
surpassed it in usage.” Related Reading: Cardano Red Month Is Far From Over: 
Analyst Predicts Crash To This Target That gap between valuation and network 
activity sits at the center of his bearish case. Martinez argued that when “a 
network is valued in the billions but only a limited amount of capital and 
applications are actually using it, the price may be driven more by 
speculation than by real demand.” In his view, Cardano has yet to establish 
the kind of durable product-market fit that tends to sustain long-term capital 
inflows in crypto. He sharpened that comparison by placing Cardano alongside 
two ecosystems that, in his telling, already carved out clearer roles in the 
market. “Unlike Ethereum, which has built a dominant position in DeFi, or 
Solana, which has captured high-speed consumer applications, Cardano still 
lacks a clear use case that consistently attracts users, developers, and 
investors,” he wrote. The point was not simply that Cardano is smaller than 
those chains, but that it still has not locked in a sector where it is the 
default destination for activity. Related Reading: Cardano Sharks &amp; Whales 
Quietly Accumulate 819M ADA Amid Price Decline Martinez also pointed to 
Cardano’s development model as a structural constraint. “Another concern for 
me is the pace of development and the increasingly competitive environment,” 
he said. “Cardano follows a research-driven model that prioritizes academic 
review and formal verification. While that approach can improve security and 
design quality, it has also resulted in a slower rollout of features compared 
to other blockchains.” That slower cadence, he suggested, has had compounding 
effects. “Although Cardano launched in 2017, smart contracts were not 
introduced until 2021, giving competing ecosystems several years to build 
stronger network effects with more developers, applications, and liquidity.” 
In crypto, where network effects can become self-reinforcing, arriving late to 
key product layers can matter as much as technical design. The market 
implication of that thesis comes down to one chart level. Martinez said $0.245 
is the critical support to watch. If that floor breaks decisively, he sees 
scope for a move to $0.112 or even $0.051, which would imply another 50% to 
80% decline from that zone. He stopped short of calling the breakdown a 
certainty, noting that it “has not yet occurred,” but said traders waiting on 
the sidelines could still see a short setup if the level fails, provided risk 
is tightly managed. At press time, ADA traded at $0.2668. Featured image 
created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Cardano Could Plunge 80% More As ‘Most Useless Network,’ Analyst Claims

Armed criminals posing as police officers forced a French couple to transfer 
roughly $980,000 worth of bitcoin during a violent home invasion on Monday in 
Chesnay, France, in what authorities say is part of a growing wave of crypto- 
linked kidnappings across the country. France Investigates €900K Bitcoin 
Extortion After Home Invasion in Yvelines French authorities […]

Cryptocurrency price in NZD