GM, and welcome to another edition of The Castle Chronicle.

What a week! The crypto world reacted sharply to the White House's proposed Crypto Strategic Reserve, sparking market volatility.

Now, all eyes turn to the upcoming March 7th summit, where the initiative's details and broader regulatory implications will take center stage.

Here’s what’s happened this week:

• 🔍 Market Watch – Relevant metrics across sectors and assets

• 📈 Price Action – Mixed signals and crazy volatility

• 🗳️ Arbitrum Corner – A recap from ETHDenver

• 🏰 Castle recap – A list of all the articles we published this week

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🔍️ MARKET WATCH

TOP PERFORMERS

Although BTC is just chopping around in a range, we saw some serious strength coming into a few markets. Cardano soared 43% after Trump announced that it would be one of the 5 crypto assets in his Crypto Strategic Reserve.

BTC FEAR AND GREED INDEX

We are still in the extreme fear territory, but at least it’s better than last week. What a significant change compared to a month ago. The crypto sentiment truly is a wild ride.

CAPITAL FLOW

With BERA POL about to kick off, it is no surprise to see significant inflows into the ecosystem. Arbitrum is also seeing a significant inflow—is that because it’s the main bridge to Hyperliquid, or are they cooking something?

On the other hand, BASE is experiencing an insane capital outflow. Putting things into perspective, BASE currently has a TVL of almost $3b, so this isn’t anything alarming per se.

NARRATIVE PERFORMANCE

Pretty much every single sector is dumping with social-fi taking the biggest beating, as $KAITO is experiencing a sell-off,

CEX coins are the only only ones seeing positive numbers with $CRO and $BGB leading the charge.

Courtesy of 0x_Vlad - trend-based trader and MentFX student

📈PRICE ACTION

Last week we saw a move below the current range low and for a moment it looked like the weekly chart is gonna lose its momentum cycle. The dip got eaten up quickly though and we saw some demand come into the market. Right now we’re still hovering around that range low, so we’ll have to wait and see what it wants to do.

Here’s where we’re at:

• Healthy uptrend

• Re-accumulation

As always, within a healthy uptrend our instant assumption should be re-accumulation. I am therefore still expecting demand to show up either here, or after price momentarily breaks down and finds demand lower.

Either way, this is currently a market that is chopping. I wouldn’t touch BTC here until it gives me a clear sign that it’s ready to move higher.

Trade responsibly, and I’ll see y’all next time!

Not following what I’m talking about? Check out my quick cheatsheet to understand how I approach a chart.

Courtesy of 0x_Vlad - trend-based trader and MentFX student

💙 ARBITRUM ETHDENVER RECAP

🏔️ Arbitrum at ETHDenver: From Fire Booths to Burgers

ETHDenver was peak Arbitrum energy this year.

Whether you were grabbing merch at the packed-out booth, catching Stylus alpha, or just vibing at the ArbiBurger pop-up, it felt like Arbitrum was everywhere—and it kinda was.

At the main event, the Arbitrum booth stayed busy. We had merch flying, DAO volunteers holding it down (s/o @0xatomist @0xdonpepe @juanrah pruitt @tbenetti and @lino), and a steady stream of builders stopping by to chat Orbit Chains, Stylus, and whatever else was cooking. The real alpha though? The talks.

• Stylus Unveiled: Rust + EVM = 🔥, courtesy of @bidzyyys from @OpenZeppelin (recap). Massive moment for devs who’ve been waiting to level up their smart contracts without sacrificing speed or security in languages they know and love.

• Robinhood x Arbitrum: Swap natively inside your Robinhood wallet, as explained by Johann from Robinhood Crypto & AJ from Offchain Labs (recap). Mainstream adoption? Yeah, we’re leaning in.

• Zigitrum: Building smart contracts in Zig with @ChrisCo512 (recap). For all the language nerds out there, this one's worth a rewatch - one more possibility added to the Stylus playbook.

• One-Step Proofs Deep Dive: @tsahidoteth breaking down fraud proofs like it’s no big deal (recap). The tech that keeps it trustless, made simple.

But ETHDenver wasn’t just about the main stage. Side events were where the real culture kicked in:

• Protocol Cup with @nct_labs

  • Arbitrum builders swapped laptops for cleats in a community football match. A chance to take a break from the conference grind and meet other teams on the field. Sponsored by Arbitrum, PlumeNetwork, and Injective, the Protocol Cup was a 5v5 basketball tournament where leading crypto protocols and community teams competed.

• SheFi Summit by @shefiorg

  • A packed house for panels on how to build, invest, and lead with intention. Arbitrum was out supporting the women leading the charge in Web3, and the energy was unmatched. Diverse crypto and AI leaders, thought-provoking panels, networking opportunities, and interactive quests with real rewards. SheFi had it all.

• Arbicorn Roast with @use_corn

  • In partnership with innovative BTCFi protocols @use_Corn, @Lombardbtc, and @Legion, Arbitrum presented the Arbicorn Roast. There were fire tacos on demand and a real retro vibe from Corn with a host of arcade games available to play. Not to mention core contributors from all protocols chatting with the ecosystem. BTCFi is choosing Arbitrum stack as it’s home!

• Crosschain Collider

  Nothing works well like parties to unite interop maxis under a common UX. If you’re betting on a multi-chain world, this was the spot to break some moves. Shoutout to the sponsors Across Protocol, Axelar, Camelot, Caldera, Chainlink, the Ethereum Foundation, Espresso, Everclear, GMX, LayerZero, Lifi protocol, Open Zeppelin, Polymer Labs, Succinct Labs, and Reservoir.

• ArbiBurger at Shake Shack

  • Yes, they actually branded Shake Shack. Yes, there were custom wrappers. Yes, the line was out the door. ETHDenver attendees pulled up for the shakes and stayed for the ecosystem. Brought to you by The Arbitrum DAO, Entropy Advisors, and Corn, ArbiBurger offered attendees free burgers, fries, and shakes while connecting with fellow builders and enthusiasts. The vibe was immaculate and anyone you wanted to talk to from the eco was there. Hunter and Churro repping OCL, Wenmoon for a bit of beauty, Cliff and Raam repping the foundation, Entropy showing us they’re all in, Coinflip getting his BD on, Dennison with the Tally gang, Kryz with his L2beat hat on, and many, many more.

For the DAO in us, ETHDenver was also a rare chance to put PFPs to names:

• Delegate Day

  Top delegates, Offchain Labs, and Arbitrum Foundation folks came together to sync on vision, roadmaps, and governance pain points. The DAO has many operational challenges, and they need to be solved together.

• ARDC Brunch

  ARDC members linked up IRL to swap notes and brainstorm how to level up research across the ecosystem. Big plans are brewing for more impact and visibility from the contributor side.

• Governance Brunch from Tally, L2beat, Areta

  • Ballots & Burritos - A safe place for governance leaders to discuss key challenges and leading initiatives in the field. Because it’s not just about Arbitrum, it’s about the success of decentralized organizations.

ETHDenver might be over, but the momentum feels like it’s just getting started. If this week was any sign, Arbitrum’s not just shipping—it’s setting the vibe for 2025.

Courtesy of Atomist - Founder at Castle

🏰 CASTLE RECAP

Just in case you missed it, we published some interesting articles this week. Make sure to check them out!

Sonic: Growing Fast with a Focus on Defi

Arbitrum's Path to a Stage 2 Rollup

The AI Dispatch #7 - The Stars Are Aligning?

And that’s it for this week! May the White House bless us with a new bull run! We need it.

In our newsletter, we may discuss projects or tokens in which we hold positions. While we aim to provide informative content, our views are not financial advice. Please conduct your research and consult professionals before making investment decisions. Crypto markets are volatile, and past performance doesn't guarantee future results. Invest responsibly, and be aware of the risks. Your capital is at risk, and we do not accept liability for any losses.