With altseason talks swirling, whales are snapping up the hottest altcoins on the market.

The SEC has recently acknowledged Grayscale's spot Cardano ETF filing, while Ripple has unveiled an ambitious roadmap for 2025 and partnered

The crypto market has seen a turbulent few months, with prices dropping sharply and volatility remaining high. However, despite the bearish market conditions, some altcoins have managed to outperform others and attract the attention of whales.

As talks of an upcoming altseason swirl and major tokens experience shifts in momentum, whales are snapping up some of the hottest altcoins on the market. These institutions are known for making large-scale trades that can influence price trends and ultimately decide the fate of specific coins.

Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has acknowledged NYSE Arca’s proposal from crypto asset manager Grayscale to list and trade a spot Cardano exchange-traded fund (ETF). This sets the stage for the agency’s timeline to ultimately approve or reject the proposed ETF.

NYSE Arca, a subsidiary of the NYSE Group, filed a proposal to the SEC on February 10 to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Cardano Trust. The proposed ETF will track the price of Cardano using an index that monitors its daily price on crypto exchanges.

The ETF will be centrally covered by Coinbase in cooperation with Coinbase Custody Trust Company. BNY Mellon Asset Servicing will act as the transfer agent and administrator for the ETF.

Trading at $0.6152 at the time of writing, ADA has seen a great decline amid the market-wide slump. The token has lost over 30% in the past month and dropped over 6% in the 24-hour time frame.

Market observers are suggesting that one important factor that could trigger a shift in ADA’s momentum is the foreseen approval of the spot ETFs. According to Polymarket, the odds have climbed to 66% from 52% on February 24.

In other news, Ripple Labs is set to enhance the XRP Ledger’s decentralized finance (DeFi) capabilities, with a detailed 2025 roadmap. A crucial aspect of this plan includes the integration of decentralized identity (DID) and credential-based verification, which will enable permissioned exchanges and decentralized markets that comply with regulatory standards.

This initiative aligns with the company’s broader vision to expand the utility of the XRP Ledger and support the development of a more inclusive and accessible financial ecosystem.

A key part of Ripple’s strategy is to develop a permissioned decentralized exchange (DEX) for trading tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). This DEX will use XRP Ledger’s decentralized identifiers to integrate compliance checks into smart contracts, ensuring regulatory adherence.

Coupled with a credit-based DeFi lending protocol, these initiatives aim to position the XRP Ledger (XRPL) as a secure and scalable platform for institutional use in decentralized markets.

Announced on February 26, this collaboration will enable BDACS to use Ripple Custody, which secures XRP, Ripple USD (RLUSD), and other crypto assets for financial institutions in Korea.

These strategic measures are anticipated to help boost XRP’s adoption and liquidity.

As of press time, XRP is changing hands at $2.03, falling 7% in the last 24 hours. Some analysts suggest that XRP has been outperforming other cryptos during this market-wide correction and may help it recover faster than other coins.

Some of the biggest names in crypto are making a stir in the industry with their latest moves.

Amidst a broader market downturn affecting many altcoins, data shared by “Darkfost” on X highlights that Toncoin (TON) has displayed remarkable stability with its total value locked (TVL) remaining relatively constant.

As of mid-2024, Toncoin’s TVL hovered around $300 million, showcasing an enduring confidence in the token’s fundamentals despite the market challenges. However, over the past ten days, the TVL figure has dwindled to less than $200 million. Nevertheless, this extended period of stability is a testament to Toncoin’s resilience.

This tidbit of information aligns with a previous report by CCXV, which estimated that in early 2024, around 15 to 20 percent of the total ether (ETH) locked in DeFi protocols belonged to crypto behemoths, also known as whales.

These findings suggest that major crypto players are making significant moves, which could have a substantial impact on the market trends in the coming months.

While many altcoins have faced difficulties in recent times, Toncoin appears to be holding up well. This could be attributed to its close ties with Telegram and the ongoing development activity within the Toncoin ecosystem.

Earlier this year, Telegram announced that all crypto-related MiniApps must complete their transition to the TON Blockchain by February 21.

Moreover, all developers are required to integrate their apps with Toncoin and discontinue any references to non-TON platforms.

At the time of writing, TON is priced at $3.15, dropping nearly 10% in the last 24 hours.

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