Hong Kong Regulators to Submit Draft Bill for Crypto Framework in 2026
Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Securities and Futures Commission will submit a draft digital‑asset framework in 2026, targeting crypto‑advisory services and stable‑coin licensing. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is already processing stable‑coin licence applications, though none are approved yet. The draft also incorporates OECD‑aligned tax‑reporting rules slated for automatic exchange from 2028. Currently, 11 crypto platforms are licensed to serve Hong Kong residents, underscoring a cautious but growing regulatory environment.
Bitcoin, Ether ETFs See $1B Outflows as Crypto Market Tumbles 6%
Bitcoin and Ether exchange‑traded funds recorded nearly $1 billion in outflows on Thursday, the largest single‑day withdrawals this year. Spot Bitcoin ETFs shed $817.9 million, the biggest daily outflow since November 2025, while Ether ETFs lost $155.6 million. The broader crypto market slipped about...
There Is No Trust in DeFi without Proper Risk Management
DeFi is moving into an institutional phase, with crypto ETFs, digital‑asset treasuries and tokenized real‑world assets attracting billions of dollars. However, the ecosystem’s rapid growth exposes three core risks—protocol composability, reflexivity loops, and duration‑related liquidity uncertainty. Robert Schmitt argues that without...
DOJ Finalizes $400M Crypto Forfeiture in Helix Bitcoin Mixer Case
The U.S. Department of Justice has finalized a forfeiture exceeding $400 million in cryptocurrency and related assets tied to Helix, an early Bitcoin‑mixing service operated by Larry Harmon. Helix processed more than 354,000 BTC between 2014 and 2017, facilitating money‑laundering for darknet...
Bitcoin Falls to $81K, Triggering $1.7B in Liquidations
Bitcoin slid to a nine‑month low of $81,058, its lowest level since April, wiping out roughly 35% of its October peak. The plunge triggered $1.68 billion in liquidations, affecting 270,000 traders, with 93% of those positions being leveraged longs on Bitcoin...
Optimism Passes Buyback Proposal to Bolster OP Token
Optimism governance approved a proposal to divert half of Superchain revenue toward buying back OP tokens for the next twelve months, beginning in February. The measure, submitted by the Optimism Foundation, reallocates 50% of income that previously went entirely to...
Bybit Made ‘Slow but Steady Comeback’ in 2025 After Massive Hack: CoinGecko
Bybit posted the second‑largest trading volume among crypto exchanges in 2025, reaching $1.5 trillion and capturing an 8.1% market share despite a $1.5 billion hack earlier in the year. The exchange kept withdrawals open, honored all user transactions, and secured external liquidity,...
BlackRock’s BUIDL Aids Avalanche Tokenization Value Boom in Q4
Avalanche’s real‑world asset (RWA) ecosystem surged in Q4, with total value locked climbing 68.6% QoQ to $1.3 billion, a 950% year‑over‑year gain. The jump was anchored by BlackRock’s $500 million USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) and new tokenized‑loan offerings from FIS...
21Shares Launches First Jito Staked Solana ETP in Europe
21Shares has introduced the JSOL exchange‑traded product, the first Europe‑listed ETP backed by JitoSOL, offering direct exposure to Solana with built‑in staking rewards. The ETP trades in USD and euros on Euronext Amsterdam and Paris and holds JitoSOL, a liquid‑staking...
DePIN Rebounds Into a $10B Overlooked Sector, Messari Says
Decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) have grown into a $10 billion market, delivering $72 million of on‑chain revenue last year. While the 2018‑2022 token cohort is down 94‑99 % from all‑time highs, leading projects now trade at 10‑25 times revenue multiples, indicating undervaluation. The...
UK Lords Launch Stablecoin Inquiry as Bank of England Moves to Finalize Rules
The UK House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee has launched an inquiry into the Bank of England and FCA's proposed stablecoin framework, inviting written submissions until March 11 and a public hearing thereafter. The BoE aims to finalize a systemic...
OSL Group Raises $200M to Expand Stablecoin and Payments Business
OSL Group announced a $200 million equity raise to accelerate its stablecoin trading and payment services worldwide. The capital will fund acquisitions, international expansion, product development, and technology upgrades, reinforcing its balance sheet after a record $300 million raise in 2025. OSL,...
Solana Validator Count Drops 68% as Node Costs Squeeze Small Operators
Solana’s validator count has slumped 68% to 795 nodes, down from a March 2023 peak of 2,560, as rising operating costs and fee competition force smaller operators offline. The network’s Nakamoto Coefficient also fell 35% to 20, signaling reduced decentralization. Validators...
Bybit to Launch Retail Bank Accounts with Personal IBANs in February
Bybit announced the launch of “My Bank powered by Bybit,” a retail banking service that will provide users with personal IBANs beginning in February. The product enables fiat deposits, bill payments, salary receipts and crypto trading under a single account,...
Hang Seng Launches Physical Gold ETF with Tokenization Option
Hang Seng Investment Management has launched a physically backed gold ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under code 3170. The fund tracks the LBMA Gold Price AM, holds London‑good‑delivery gold bars, and charges 0.40% per year with a -0.50%...
Swiss Bank Sygnum Raises over 750 BTC for Market-Neutral Fund
Swiss bank Sygnum announced that its market‑neutral Bitcoin fund delivered an 8.9% annualized return in Q4 2025, even as Bitcoin prices fell roughly 25% since the fund’s launch. The fund completed its seed phase by attracting more than 750 BTC from professional...
Cere Network Co-Founder, Board Face $100M Lawsuit over Token Sales
Crypto infrastructure platform Cere Network’s co‑founder Fred Jin, his family members, and board members have been sued in San Francisco federal court for allegedly executing a $41 million pump‑and‑dump scheme surrounding the November 2021 token launch. The plaintiff, investor Vivian Liu, seeks $100 million...
XRP Millionaire Wallets Are Ramping up in 'Encouraging Sign': Santiment
Santiment reports that 42 new XRP wallets holding over one million tokens have appeared since the start of 2026, marking the first increase in such "millionaire" wallets since September. Despite a modest 4% price dip year‑to‑date, XRP trades around $1.87,...
Bitcoin Rallies Expected to Be Short-Lived Until Liquidity Returns: Data
Bitcoin held above the $80,700‑$83,400 support zone, staving off a sharp decline, but futures data suggest the rally may be brief until liquidity improves. Glassnode points to the 90‑day realized profit/loss ratio as the key gauge, noting it must stay...
US Senators Quiz Deputy AG over DOJ Crypto Unit Shutdown
Six Senate Democrats have confronted Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche over his April 2025 decision to disband the Justice Department’s national cryptocurrency enforcement team, a unit created in 2022 that pursued high‑profile cases such as Binance. The senators allege Blanche...
HYPE Rallies as Hyperliquid DEX Growth Grabs Traders’ Attention: Will It Last?
Hyperliquid’s HYPE token jumped 60% to $34.90, up from $21.80 in two days. The rally was sparked by institutional buying through Hyperliquid Strategies, a large staking unlock, and an ARK Invest bullish report. Bearish leveraged positions were liquidated for more...
AI-Enabled Scams Rose 500% in 2025 as Crypto Theft Goes ‘Industrial’
TRM Labs reports a five‑fold surge in large language model‑powered scams in 2025, propelling AI‑generated deepfakes, voice clones and synthetic images into mainstream fraud. Crypto theft amounted to $35 billion, a slight dip from 2024, while illicit crypto wallet inflows jumped...
Sony Doubles Down on Soneium After First Year of Mainnet Activity
Sony Group Corp. has injected an additional $13 million into Startale Group, reinforcing its commitment to the Soneium blockchain after the network’s mainnet launch in January 2025. Soneium has processed about 524 million transactions, surpassing Avalanche and Algorand, and now hosts 5.4 million wallets....
Dubai Insurance Launches Crypto Wallet Premium Payments, Claims Settlements
Dubai Insurance has introduced a crypto‑enabled digital wallet that lets policyholders pay premiums and receive claim settlements in digital assets. The wallet is built on Zodia Custody’s institutional custody platform and operates within the United Arab Emirates’ existing regulatory framework....
Europe’s DeFi Tax Gap Won’t Last Forever, Says Ex-OECD Official
The EU’s DAC8 directive, aligned with the OECD’s Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), will obligate crypto exchanges and custodians to collect and report user activity data starting in 2026. The framework deliberately leaves decentralized finance (DeFi) out of scope because...
Crypto Loses Speculative Edge as AI and Robotics Attract Capital: Delphi
Delphi Digital reports that speculative capital is migrating from cryptocurrency to artificial intelligence and robotics, eroding crypto’s traditional role as the go‑to high‑risk asset class. Over the past year Bitcoin fell about 12% while the Global X Robotics and AI...
For Wall Street’s Most Sophisticated Trading Firms, the Next Alpha Is Onchain
Wall Street’s high‑frequency trading firms are shifting their edge from physical data‑center proximity to on‑chain infrastructure. By running validators, designing low‑latency nodes, and participating in blockchain governance, they aim to capture the next source of alpha in decentralized finance. Early...
WisdomTree Brings Its Full Tokenized Fund Lineup to Solana
WisdomTree announced that its entire catalog of tokenized exchange‑traded products is now available on the Solana blockchain. The move expands the firm’s multi‑chain deployment, adding Solana to its existing presence on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base and Optimism. Institutional and retail...
South Korea Regulator Backs Ownership Caps for Crypto Exchanges
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced it will impose ownership caps of roughly 15%‑20% on licensed crypto exchanges, aligning them with governance standards applied to securities markets. The proposal, part of the draft Digital Asset Basic Act, would shift...
Digital Euro Key to Payments Sovereignty in ‘Weaponised’ World: ECB Exec
European Central Bank executive Piero Cipollone said the digital euro is essential for payment sovereignty amid rising geopolitical tensions. He highlighted that cash now represents only 24% of transaction value, underscoring the need for a public‑money digital alternative. The ECB...
Wallet Linked to Alleged US Seizure Theft Launches Memecoin, Crashes 97%
A Solana‑based memecoin called John Daghita (LICK) was launched on the Pump.fun launchpad by a wallet investigators link to an alleged theft of US government‑controlled crypto. Within its first day the token lost roughly 97% of its value, dropping from...
OKX Launches EU Stablecoin Payment Card via Regulated Issuer Monavate
OKX has introduced the OKX Card in Europe, a Mastercard‑compatible payment card that lets verified users spend stablecoins such as USDC and Global Dollar. The card is issued by Monavate, an EMI regulated under the EU’s MiCA framework, and requires...
UK Bans Coinbase Ads that ‘Trivialized’ Crypto Risks: Report
The UK Advertising Standards Authority has banned a series of Coinbase advertisements that portrayed cryptocurrency as a remedy for cost‑of‑living pressures while omitting risk warnings. The campaign, which included a satirical video and three high‑traffic posters, was deemed irresponsible for...
Coinbase Moves Closer Toward Rolling Out ‘Custom Stablecoins’
Coinbase is conducting backend tests of Flipcash’s USDF, a custom dollar‑backed stablecoin that will let businesses issue their own branded tokens. The feature, announced in December, uses Circle’s USDC as collateral and currently supports no trading, deposits or withdrawals. If...
Silver, Gold Hype Overtaking Crypto on Social Media: Santiment
Santiment’s social‑media analysis shows retail chatter on precious metals has overtaken cryptocurrency throughout January, with gold leading when it hit new highs and silver dominating both early‑month and after reaching a record $117 per ounce. Crypto briefly reclaimed attention during...
Trustless AI Agent Standard Could Hit Ethereum Mainnet on Thursday
Ethereum is set to launch ERC‑8004, a new smart‑contract standard that enables trustless communication between AI agents, on mainnet Thursday around 9 AM ET. The protocol introduces a unified method for registering, discovering, and validating AI agents without altering the underlying network....
Steak ‘N Shake Adds $5M in Bitcoin to Reserve as In-Store Sales Grow 18%
Steak ’n Shake announced a $5 million addition to its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, bringing total holdings to roughly $15 million (about 168 BTC). The chain attributes an 18 % same‑store sales increase in 2026 to its Bitcoin‑payment program. It also unveiled a Bitcoin bonus...
Nearly 40% of US Merchants Now Accept Crypto at Checkout: PayPal
PayPal’s latest survey shows that nearly 40% of U.S. merchants now accept cryptocurrency at checkout, up from earlier experimental phases. The study of 619 payment‑strategy leaders reveals that 84% of merchants believe crypto payments will become mainstream within five years,...
Morgan Stanley Appoints New Head of Digital Asset Strategy
Morgan Stanley has appointed long‑time executive Amy Oldenburg to head its newly created digital‑asset strategy unit. The move follows the bank’s recent filings for spot Bitcoin and Solana ETFs, a staked Ether ETF, and plans to launch a crypto wallet...
US Marshals Confirm Probe Into $40M Theft Claims Involving Seized Crypto
US Marshals confirmed an investigation into allegations that John Daghita, son of a federal contractor CEO, stole more than $40 million in cryptocurrency seized by the government. Crypto analyst ZachXBT traced two wallets linked to Daghita, holding roughly $23 million and $36 million...
South Dakota Lawmaker Takes Another Run at Bitcoin Reserve Bill
South Dakota Representative Logan Manhart re‑introduced HB 1155, allowing the State Investment Council to allocate up to ten percent of public funds to Bitcoin. The bill mirrors his unchanged 2025 proposal and would place the state alongside Texas, Arizona and New Hampshire,...
USDCx Appears on Aleo as Privacy-Focused Blockchains Seek Stablecoin Access
Circle and Aleo announced that USDCx, a privacy‑focused version of the USDC stablecoin, is now live on Aleo through Circle’s xReserve model. The token is fully 1:1 backed by USDC held in xReserve and interoperable with USDC on Ethereum and...
Animoca, RootstockLabs Partner to Bring Bitcoin DeFi to Japanese Institutions
Animoca Brands Japan has teamed up with Rootstock Labs to launch Bitcoin‑native DeFi tools for Japanese corporations and institutions. The partnership will localise Rootstock’s institutional program, allowing firms to manage Bitcoin treasury assets via the rBTC token and RIF utility...
Tucker Carlson Presses Peter Schiff on Bitcoin as New Global Reserve Currency
Gold advocate Peter Schiff appeared on Tucker Carlson’s program to reiterate his criticism of Bitcoin, labeling it a purely speculative instrument with no intrinsic use. He dismissed proposals for a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve as a taxpayer‑funded bailout and contrasted...
Bitcoin Trend Line Cross Mimics 2022 Amid ‘Insane’ BTC Vs. Silver Breakdown
Bitcoin’s weekly chart showed a bearish crossover as the 21‑week exponential moving average slipped beneath the 50‑week EMA, mirroring the pattern last seen in April 2022. The crossover marks the first long‑term trendline reversal in four years, reinforcing the notion of...
Stablecoins Are Real Threat to Bank Deposits, Says Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered warns that stablecoins could erode a third of U.S. bank deposits, equating to roughly $100 billion of the $301.4 billion stablecoin market. The analysis highlights that regional banks are disproportionately exposed because deposits fund net interest margin (NIM) revenue. Tether...
Wemade Taps Chainlink for Korean Won Stablecoin Infrastructure
South Korean gaming platform Wemade has brought Chainlink Labs into its Global Alliance for KRW Stablecoins (GAKS), adding oracle capabilities to the consortium’s infrastructure. The alliance, which already includes Chainalysis, CertiK and remittance firm SentBe, aims to build a compliant,...
Trading 212 Let UK Retail Trade Crypto ETNs without FCA Approval: FT
Trading 212, a major European investment platform, allowed UK retail customers to trade cryptocurrency‑linked exchange‑traded notes (ETNs) without the FCA’s required permission. The FCA lifted its 2021 ban on crypto ETNs in October 2025, but firms must obtain specific debenture...
KuCoin Taps Former LSEG Exec Sabina Liu to Lead MiCA Expansion in Europe
KuCoin has appointed former London Stock Exchange Group executive Sabina Liu as Managing Director of its European unit, overseeing the exchange’s expansion under the EU’s Markets in Crypto‑Assets (MiCA) framework from Vienna. The move follows KuCoin’s recent acquisition of a...
ASIC Wins $9.3M Penalty Against BPS Financial over Misleading Qoin Wallet
Australia’s securities regulator ASIC secured a Federal Court order forcing BPS Financial to pay AU$14 million after finding the firm operated the Qoin Wallet without a licence and made misleading statements about its crypto token. The penalty includes a AU$1.3 million fine...