Circle Shares Rise 4% as Polymarket-Driven USDC Growth Prompts Analyst Upgrade
Circle (CRCL) shares jumped 4% after Mizuho upgraded the stock to neutral, citing a surge in USDC usage on prediction market Polymarket. The analyst projects Polymarket’s 2026 trading volume to reach $50 billion, roughly three times 2025 levels, potentially adding 25% to USDC’s market cap. Consequently, Dan Dolev raised his USDC circulation forecasts by about 7% for 2026 and 21% for 2027, lifting revenue estimates accordingly. Despite the optimism, the price target remains modest at $77, reflecting lingering competition and macro‑economic headwinds.
Robinhood CEO Says Tokenized Stocks Could Prevent Another GameStop Freeze
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says the 2021 GameStop buying halt was caused by outdated settlement infrastructure, not market actors. He argues that blockchain‑based tokenized stocks would eliminate the multi‑day settlement lag that still exists under the T+1 regime. Robinhood has...
Peter Thiel and Galaxy-Backed Citrea Wants to Turn Idle Bitcoin Into a High-Speed Bank Account
Citrea, backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Galaxy Ventures, has launched its Bitcoin‑focused mainnet, aiming to create a credit market anchored directly to BTC. The platform introduces ctUSD, a Treasury‑backed stablecoin issued by MoonPay, designed for U.S.‑dollar settlement and compliance...
Fidelity Investments Starts Its Own Stablecoin in a Massive Bet that Future of Banking Is on Blockchain
Fidelity Investments is launching the Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), an Ethereum‑based stablecoin redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars, in early February. Backed by cash, cash equivalents, and short‑term Treasuries, the coin will be issued by Fidelity Digital Assets, a federally chartered...
WisdomTree Expands Tokenized Fund Access to Solana in Multichain Push
WisdomTree announced that its full suite of tokenized funds will now be available on the Solana blockchain through its WisdomTree Connect and WisdomTree Prime platforms. Both institutional and retail investors can mint, trade, and hold these real‑world asset tokens directly...
Nomura's Laser Digital Applies for U.S. National Trust Bank to Offer Crypto Custody
Laser Digital, Nomura’s digital‑assets division, filed an OCC application to launch a U.S. national trust bank that would provide crypto custody, spot trading and staking services under federal supervision. The bank would serve institutional clients and also hold U.S. government...
Here's How China's Response to Trump Tariffs Silently Rocks Bitcoin
China has countered President Trump’s roughly 29% tariffs on its goods by tightly managing the yuan, preserving export competitiveness and keeping the currency range‑bound. This exchange‑rate discipline amplifies dollar‑driven liquidity cycles, which in turn influence macro‑sensitive assets like Bitcoin. JPMorgan...
Dogecoin Turns Lower After Failing to Hold $0.124
Dogecoin hovered near $0.124 but failed to sustain the breakout, closing the 24‑hour period at $0.1246 after a modest 0.6% gain. The token traded in a tight $0.122‑$0.125 range, with sellers turning the $0.1243 level into resistance in the final...
BNB Rises 2.5%, Nears $900 Mark as Prediction Market Growth Signals Utility Expansion
BNB surged 2.5% to $893, closing in on the $900 resistance level. The rally coincided with Virtune’s launch of a physically backed BNB exchange‑traded product on Nasdaq Stockholm, offering direct exposure with a 1.95% annual fee and Coinbase custody. Meanwhile,...
Anthony Scaramucci-Linked AVAX One Tumbles 32% on Uncertainty Around Shareholder Sales
AVAX One, a digital‑asset treasury firm linked to Anthony Scaramucci, saw its stock plunge more than 32% after filing that nearly 74 million insider shares are now registered for resale. The company, which holds AVAX tokens and other Avalanche ecosystem assets, disclosed...
WH Advisor Patrick Witt: Davos 2026 Was ‘Turning Point’ for Global Crypto Normalization
White House advisor Patrick Witt told CoinDesk that the World Economic Forum in Davos 2026 was a turning point for normalizing digital assets. He reiterated the administration’s pledge to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world” and to...
Privacy-Focused Miden, Korea Digital Asset Agree to Build Crypto Infrastructure for Institutional Adoption
Miden, a privacy‑focused blockchain firm, has signed an MOU with Korea Digital Asset (KODA), South Korea’s largest institutional crypto custodian. The collaboration will develop privacy‑preserving, compliance‑ready infrastructure and standards for regulated digital‑asset adoption in the country. The deal aligns with...
Galaxy Digital Leads $7M Investment in Tenbin to Build Improved Tokenized Gold and FX Markets
Galaxy Digital’s venture arm led a $7 million seed round for Tenbin, a New‑York startup building institutional‑grade tokenized gold and emerging‑market FX on blockchain. Tenbin will anchor its tokens to CME futures, delivering near‑real‑time pricing, rapid settlement and yield from futures‑basis...
Tether Takes the Fight to Circle with a New 'Made in America' Stablecoin
Tether has launched USAT, a U.S.-regulated dollar‑backed stablecoin issued through Anchorage Digital Bank, aligning with the GENIUS Act. The token is overseen by the OCC and backed by Cantor Fitzgerald as reserve custodian, positioning it as a domestic alternative to...
Trump Family-Backed American Bitcoin Lifts Bitcoin Holdings to Nearly 5,900 Coins
American Bitcoin, the Trump‑family‑backed mining firm, raised its bitcoin reserves to roughly 5,843 BTC, positioning it as the 18th‑largest corporate holder worldwide. The company posted a 116% bitcoin yield from its September 2025 Nasdaq debut through January 2026, achieving this...
Bitcoin to Silver Ratio Nears Levels Last Seen During the FTX Capitulation
Silver’s price has surged roughly 300% over the past year, but recent volatility sparked a sharp intraday swing, pulling back from $117 to $112 per ounce. The bitcoin‑to‑silver ratio now sits around 780, aligning with the low levels seen during...
As Bitcoin Miners Cut Unprofitable Production, Hash Ribbon Metric Points to BTC Price Rebound
An intense U.S. storm forced Bitcoin miners to shut down equipment, slashing the network hashrate by roughly 20% and prompting a projected 17% difficulty cut—the steepest since July 2021. The drop triggered a miner capitulation signal on Glassnode’s Hash Ribbon, where...
Australia's Corporate Regulator Flags Risks From Rapid Innovation in Digital Assets
Australia’s corporate regulator ASIC warned that rapid growth in digital assets and artificial intelligence is exposing consumers to unlicensed services. Its 2026 Key Issues Outlook highlighted regulatory gaps in crypto, payments and AI, urging the government to clarify whether these...
Bitcoin and Ether Volatility Trading Gets Easier with Polymarket's New Contracts
Polymarket has launched two new prediction contracts linked to Volmex’s 30‑day implied volatility indices for Bitcoin and Ethereum. The contracts pay out if a one‑minute candle on the volatility index reaches a preset target before year‑end, letting users bet on...
Macro Fears Mask Ethereum’s Momentum, SharpLink CEO Says
SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom says institutional giants, led by BlackRock, are betting heavily on Ethereum as the backbone for tokenized assets despite current price stagnation. He cites three drivers—a strong endorsement from Larry Fink, over 65% of stablecoins residing on...
Deus X CEO Tim Grant: We Aren't Replacing Finance; We're Integrating It
Deus X Capital CEO Tim Grant will speak at CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference, emphasizing that digital assets are meant to augment, not replace, traditional finance. Grant, who entered crypto in 2015 after meetings with Ripple and Coinbase, leads a family‑office‑backed...
Millions in Crypto Wealth at Risk of Vanishing when Holders Die. Here's How to Protect Them
Millions of dollars in crypto risk disappearing when owners die without proper estate planning. Recent updates like the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) clarify that executors can access assets held by custodians, but many holders still...
Crypto Exchange WhiteBIT Flagged by Russia as 'Undesirable' Over Support for Ukraine Military
Russia’s prosecutor general has designated Ukrainian‑founded crypto exchange WhiteBIT and its parent W Group as “undesirable,” criminalising any interaction by Russian citizens. The move follows accusations that WhiteBIT funneled funds to Ukraine’s military, donating $11 million and processing over $160 million in defense...
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest Files for Two Crypto Index ETFs Tied to CoinDesk 20
ARK Invest has filed with U.S. regulators to launch two new cryptocurrency ETFs that track the CoinDesk 20 benchmark. One fund will replicate the full index, while the second will mirror the index but exclude bitcoin by pairing long index futures...
Here Are the Winners and Losers (so Far) in Bitcoin Mining From Nvidia's $2B CoreWeave Investment
Nvidia’s $2 billion investment in cloud‑AI specialist CoreWeave has intensified competition for GPU resources, prompting a sharp sell‑off in several bitcoin miners that are pivoting to AI infrastructure. Shares of Cipher Mining, CleanSpark, IREN and TeraWulf dropped 5‑9% as investors fear...
BlackRock Doubles Down on Bitcoin Fund Offerings with Income-Focused Filing
BlackRock filed an S‑1 to launch the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, which will use a covered‑call strategy on bitcoin or its IBIT holdings to generate income. The fund will actively manage call options, trading upside potential for regular premium...
Bitcoin Hash Rate Slides During U.S. Winter Storm While Markets Shrug Off Mining Disruption
Bitcoin’s network hash rate dropped about 10% on Sunday as a severe U.S. winter storm knocked out roughly one‑tenth of the global mining power. The outage highlighted the growing concentration of mining in a few dominant pools, with the top...
Bitcoin Risks Fourth Straight Monthly Loss, a Streak Not Seen Since 2018
Bitcoin is on track for a fourth consecutive monthly decline, a streak not seen since 2018‑19, with the price hovering around $87,000. The cryptocurrency has fallen roughly 36% from its October peak, marking a sharp correction after a series of...
Bitcoin Income Windfall Drives Metaplanet to Revise Full-Year Revenue Forecast Upward
Metaplanet announced FY2026 revenue above ¥100 billion, with 97.5% expected from its Bitcoin Income Generation unit. The firm’s bitcoin holdings, roughly 35,102 BTC valued at over $3 billion, underpin a structured‑options yield strategy. FY2025 revenue rose 31% to ¥8.9 billion, but a ¥104.6 billion write‑down...
Ark Invest Bought $21.5 Million of Crypto Company Shares as Bitcoin Fell Under $90,000
Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest added $21.5 million of equity exposure to three crypto‑related firms on Jan 24, marking the first purchases of Coinbase, Circle and Bullish since mid‑December. The trades were executed through Ark’s Innovation (ARKK) and Blockchain & Fintech Innovation (ARKF)...
Solana’s New Phase Is ‘Much More About Finance,’ Says Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante
Solana’s ecosystem is pivoting from meme‑driven hype to a sober focus on financial infrastructure, according to Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante. Over the past year the network has emphasized high‑throughput on‑chain trading, market structure and settlement rather than NFTs or gaming....
Here's What Fed's Highly Anticipated Rate Decision This Week Means for Bitcoin and the Dollar
The Federal Reserve is expected to keep its policy rate steady at 3.5%‑3.75% this week, marking a pause after three consecutive quarter‑point cuts. Traders will watch Jerome Powell’s language to determine whether the pause is hawkish, which could bolster the...
How the Ultra-Wealthy Are Using Bitcoin to Fund Their Yacht Upgrades and Cannes Trips
Ultra‑wealthy crypto investors are turning to decentralized finance platforms such as Aave, Morpho and Uniswap to obtain short‑term credit without liquidating their Bitcoin or Ether holdings. Cometh, a French DeFi‑for‑businesses firm that recently secured a MiCA licence, structures these loans...
Crypto ETFs with Staking Can Supercharge Returns but They May Not Be for Everyone
Ethereum staking ETFs now let investors earn yield while avoiding direct custody. Grayscale’s ETHE became the first U.S. Ethereum fund to distribute staking rewards, paying $0.083 per share, roughly an 82‑cent return on a $1,000 position. Compared with self‑custody or...
Sui Group Charts New Course for Crypto Treasuries with Stablecoins and DeFi
Sui Group Holdings, the only Nasdaq‑listed firm linked to the Sui Foundation, is shifting from a passive crypto‑treasury vehicle to an operating business that generates yield. It currently holds about 108 million SUI tokens (~$160 million) and aims to increase its stake...
The Fight over Stablecoin Yield Isn’t Really About Stablecoins
Congress is debating whether stablecoins should be allowed to pay yield, but the dispute reveals a deeper shift in how consumers view deposits. The author argues that balances are increasingly expected to earn by default, challenging the traditional low‑yield bank...
Agora's Nick Van Eck Bets on Stablecoin Boom in Enterprise Payments
Agora CEO Nick van Eck is steering the startup toward stablecoin‑driven enterprise payments, emphasizing cross‑border payroll and B2B transactions. The firm’s AUSD stablecoin and a stablecoin‑as‑a‑service platform aim to replace costly legacy remittance systems. Van Eck predicts multinational firms will...
Ethereum Treasury Firm Buys Jet Engines Amid Tokenization Push After Selling ETH
Ethereum‑focused treasury firm ETHZilla has bought two CFM56‑7B24 jet engines for $12.2 million through a new aerospace subsidiary, adding the assets to a portfolio that recently shed $114.5 million of ETH. The engines are leased to an airline with a $3 million buy‑sell...
One of the Oldest NFT Trading Platform Which Facilitated over $300 Million in Sales at Its Peak Shuts Down
Nifty Gateway, once a flagship NFT marketplace that facilitated over $300 million in sales during the 2021 digital‑art boom, announced it will cease operations on February 23, 2026. Effective immediately, the platform entered withdrawal‑only mode, giving users a one‑month window to move NFTs...
Ukraine Banned Polymarket and There’s No Legal Way for It to Come Back
Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation blocked Polymarket and nearly 200 gambling‑related sites, labeling the prediction‑market platform an unlicensed gambling operator. Officials said Ukrainian law lacks any definition for “prediction markets,” leaving Web3 betting platforms without a legal pathway. A pending...
Here Is Why Investors Are Snubbing Michael Saylor’s 10% Dividend Offer in Europe
Strategy (MSTR) launched its first non‑U.S. perpetual preferred, Stream (STRE), in November, offering a 10% annual dividend and raising $715 million at a 20% discount to its EUR 100 stated value. The instrument trades on Luxembourg’s Euro MTF, but limited broker support...
R3 Bets on Solana to Bring Institutional Yield Onchain
R3, the Corda platform creator for banks and central banks, is pivoting to on‑chain asset tokenization by partnering with the Solana Foundation. The firm cites Solana’s high throughput, low fees and trading‑first design as ideal for institutional capital‑market applications. R3’s...
Ethereum Foundation Makes Post Quantum Security a Top Priority as New Team Forms
The Ethereum Foundation announced a dedicated Post‑Quantum team, elevating quantum‑resistant security to a top strategic priority. Led by Thomas Coratger and supported by Emile, the group will accelerate wallet safety upgrades, research prizes and test networks. A bi‑weekly developer session...
Bitcoin’s Weakness versus Gold and Equities Puts Quantum Computing Fears Back in Focus
Bitcoin slipped below $89,000, a 30% drop from its early‑October peak, while gold hit a record $4,930 an ounce and silver surged 3.7%. The price weakness has reignited quantum‑computing fears, highlighted by investor Nic Carter, but on‑chain analysts attribute the...
SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Billionaire Winklevoss Twins-Backed Gemini over Earn Product
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against crypto exchange Gemini, which stemmed from the now‑defunct Gemini Earn product. The dismissal follows Gemini’s full repayment to investors through the Genesis bankruptcy process and a joint stipulation...
FBI Arrests Ex-Olympian Drug 'Kingpin' Who Allegedly Used Crypto to Move Proceeds
U.S. authorities arrested Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympian snowboarder, on drug‑trafficking and murder charges. The FBI, which had listed him among its top‑ten most‑wanted fugitives, captured him in Mexico and transferred him to the United States. Treasury officials had...
U.K. FCA Moves Closer to Crypto Regulation with Final Consumer Duty Consultation
The UK Financial Conduct Authority has issued its final consultation on how the Consumer Duty will apply to crypto‑asset firms, inviting feedback by March 12. It plans to open a permission gateway for crypto‑asset services in September 2026 and requires full authorization...
Binance Plans to Bring Back Tokenized Stock Trading After 2021 Retreat
Binance is revisiting tokenized stock trading after shutting down its 2021 service under regulatory pressure. The exchange plans to offer blockchain‑based fractional shares that track real‑time prices, leveraging recent launches of regulated stablecoin‑settled contracts. Competitors such as OKX, NYSE, Nasdaq...
Binance’s Changpeng Zhao Says Bitcoin Will ‘Break’ the Four-Year Cycle This Year
Binance co‑founder Changpeng Zhao told CNBC he expects Bitcoin to break its traditional four‑year cycle this year, driven by increasingly crypto‑friendly policies in the United States and abroad. He forecast a "supercycle" that could push BTC to new all‑time highs,...
Grayscale Files for ETF Tracking Binance's BNB Token, Following VanEck’s Bid
Grayscale has submitted a Form S‑1 registration to launch a spot exchange‑traded fund tracking Binance’s BNB token, under the ticker GBNB. The fund would list on Nasdaq pending a 19b‑4 filing and SEC approval, and it excludes staking to sidestep...