Now that spring is finally here, it’s time to start transitioning your wardrobe from winter into the current season. That doesn’t necessarily mean put away all sweaters and coats, because as we know spring can be very fickle. But there are a few tricks to making those winter-looks more spring friendly.
Transitional Coats: Last week I talked about transitional coats, and these are the perfect items to add into your wardrobe right now. Lightweight, but will still keep you warm on a cool night. Spring Sweaters: Layer with a transitional coat, or wear on its own, some of your winter sweaters are easy to wear into spring. I lived in these cashmere sweaters from Everlane all winter, and I know I’ll be pairing them with skirts and shorts for spring. Pumps instead of Boots: I’ve traded in my boots for pumps. Keeping my feet warm isn’t a priority anymore, so it’s time to break out my favorite heels and pair back to effortless denim. These pumps have been worth the investment – I wear them the most during spring.
Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, has confirmed that the Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin can be temporarily halted or reversed to comply with legal or regulatory requirements.
Schwartz’s statement comes after Senator Bill Hagerty updated the GENIUS Act. The bill requires stablecoin issuers to implement technology that allows freezing, seizing, or stopping transfers when legally mandated.
Ripple Technology Enables Freezing of RLUSD Stablecoin
“Requires the permitted payment stablecoin issuer to seize, freeze, burn, or prevent the transfer of payment stablecoins issued by the permitted payment stablecoin issuer.”
Attorney Jeremy Hogan took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to question the bill’s practical implications. He particularly stressed the technological capabilities required for stablecoin issuers to implement the proposed rule.
“So, can Ripple or Circle actually freeze RLUSD or USDC once it’s transferred? I didn’t think that was possible for either,” Hogan posted.
In response, Schwartz confirmed that this is indeed possible.
“RLUSD can be frozen or clawed back,” he answered.
Schwartz clarified that this functionality is essential to ensure that the balances on the ledger remain aligned with the legal obligations of the issuer. Since off-ledger events, like court orders, can change or nullify those obligations, it’s important for issuers to have the ability to update the ledger as needed.
It should be noted that in January, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) activated the clawback amendment. This followed a 90% vote from its community.
This change allows token issuers to retrieve tokens from wallets that have been deposited into Automated Market Maker (AMM) pools. This, in turn, helps maintain adherence to regulatory requirements. Given that RLUSD is natively issued on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum (ETH) blockchains, the clawback functionality applies to it as well.
The bill also stipulates federal oversight for stablecoin issuers with market values exceeding $10 billion. At present, only Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) meet this threshold.
Meanwhile, RLUSD is a relatively new stablecoin. Ripple launched it on December 17, 2024. In addition, BeInCrypto data shows that it currently has a market capitalization of 135.1 million.
Therefore, as per the act, it will remain under state regulation. However, the state should also follow a framework comparable to federal standards.
According to a CoinGecko report, meme coins were the most popular crypto trend in 2024. They accounted for 14.3% of total narrative interest—a significant rise from 8.3% in 2023.
Recent developments, however, present a contrasting narrative.
“There has been a significant drop in meme coin market cap since December. It’s the weakest narrative and not worth putting your money in it,” an analyst wrote on X.
As of March 5, the latest data showed the total meme coin market capitalization plummeted to $54 billion. This represented a 56.8% decline from its $125 billion peak on December 5, 2024.
Trading volumes have also taken a hit, dropping 26.2% in the past month alone. This has raised concerns about the “meme coin supercycle.”
“Is this the end of the meme coin supercycle?” crypto analyst Lark Davis questioned.
A meme coin supercycle refers to an extended period of rapid growth and speculation in meme-based cryptocurrencies. However, with declining numbers across the board, the community is now grappling with fears that the hype may be fading for good.
The second-largest meme coin, Shiba Inu (SHIB), has also suffered a substantial drop. Over the past month, it has slipped 10.6%. Similar trends have been observed in all 10 top meme coins.
The decline isn’t just affecting individual tokens—skepticism in meme coins as a whole appears to be rising. Elon Musk, for example, one of the most vocal supporters of DOGE, recently likened meme coins to “casinos.” He further cautioned against investing life savings in them. Meanwhile, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan previously stated that the present time is the “end of the meme coin boom.”
Google Trends data further supports this waning hype. The search volume for “meme coin” has plummeted from a peak score of 100 in mid-January to just 8 last week. This suggested that public enthusiasm was fading as fast as it surged.
The impact of this downturn is being felt across the ecosystem, particularly on platforms that thrived during the meme coin mania.
Pump.fun, a popular meme coin launchpad, has seen its trading volume crash from $3.3 billion in January 2025 to just $814 million. This marked aa staggering 75.3% drop.
Leading meme coin Shiba Inu has shed almost 10% of its value over the past week. As of this writing, SHIB trades at $0.0000125.
This price decline coincides with a significant drop in whale holdings during the same period. This signals waning confidence among large investors amid broader market weakness.
SHIB’s Market Confidence Wanes as Whale Sell-Off Accelerates
According to IntoTheBlock, SHIB’s large holders ’netflow has fallen 123% in the past week. This comes amid the meme coin’s 8% price dip.
SHIB Large Holders Netflow. Source: IntoTheBlock
Large holders refer to whale addresses that hold more than 0.1% of an asset’s circulating supply. Their netflow measures the inflow and outflow of tokens in their wallets to track whether they are accumulating (positive netflow) or offloading (negative netflow) their holdings.
When this metric falls, it indicates that whales are selling large portions of their assets, leading to increased supply and putting more downward pressure on price.
Moreover, this decline in SHIB whale netflow could worsen the weakening confidence among SHIB retail traders, prompting them to sell their coins in anticipation of further losses. This can accelerate SHIB’s price dip in the short term.
On the daily chart, SHIB’s falling Relative Strength Index supports this bearish outlook. At press time, this momentum indicator is a downward trend at 35.34.
An asset’s RSI measures an asset’s oversold and overbought conditions. It ranges between 0 and 100, with values above 70 indicating that the asset is overbought and due for a decline. Conversely, values under 30 suggest that the asset is oversold and could witness a rebound.
At 35.05, SHIB’s RSI indicates that the asset is approaching oversold territory but has not fully entered it yet. This suggests weakening buying pressure and hints at the potential for further downside unless the meme coin demand picks up.
SHIB Holds Below Descending Trend Line
SHIB has remained below a descending trend line since December 8, keeping its price in decline. This pattern is formed when an asset’s price consistently makes lower highs over a period, connecting these peaks with a downward-sloping line. It is a bearish trend, indicating sustained selling pressure among SHIB market participants.
If this decline continues, SHIB risks falling to a seven-month low of $0.0000107.
