Today's top news highlights:
Meta is reportedly planning to re-enter the stablecoin market in the second half of this year ; however, the company has officially responded that "Meta currently does not have any stablecoins ."
White House: President Trump will not pardon FTX founder SBF
Binance re-enters the tokenized stock market through a partnership with Ondo Finance.
Coinbase partners with Yahoo Finance to open stock trading to all US users
Michael Saylor: Bitcoin is experiencing a "valley of despair" similar to Apple's in 2013.
Strategy becomes the stock with the highest short positions globally.
Macro & Regulatory
In his Budget 2026 address, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po stated that the government will submit a draft digital asset policy ordinance this year, establishing a licensing regime for service providers such as digital asset trading and custody. Hong Kong already has a licensing regime for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers, with the first batch of licenses to be issued in March. The government and financial regulators will continue to encourage licensed issuers to explore more application scenarios while ensuring compliance and manageable risk. Chan indicated that the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will also further promote liquidity in Hong Kong's digital asset market, providing more products and services for professional investors, and will establish an accelerator to accelerate market innovation, while fully protecting investors.
According to Caixin, a hearing on "applicable legal issues" will be held in July for the case involving the laundering of 60,000 Bitcoins. Chinese victims intending to pursue recovery proceedings in the UK will need to provide detailed financial information by June 18, 2026, after completing initial registration. This information will include the total investment, losses, and evidence of any compensation received. This hearing is crucial for the disposal of the 60,000 Bitcoins. Under Chinese law, the relationship between the victims and Blue Sky Global is one of creditor and debtor, meaning the victims can only recover their principal at most. Under UK law, the victims have a proprietary interest in the Bitcoins, and the increased value of their losses may also be recoverable.
White House: President Trump will not pardon FTX founder SBF
According to Fortune, Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the FTX fraud case, has recently been frequently posting on social media through X in support of Trump, attacks on the "deep state," and Judge Lewis Kaplan, which is seen as a social media campaign to garner a pardon from President Trump. A White House spokesperson reiterated that Trump made it clear in January that he had no plans to pardon Bankman-Fried, Robert Menendez, Nicolás Maduro, and others, stating that "the president is the final decision-maker in all pardon cases."
According to Jinshi News, White House officials stated that President Trump's plan to impose a 15% tariff rate under Section 122 remains "unchanged," and it is unclear when the rate will be changed to 15%.
US sanctions Russian company Operation Zero in connection with crypto-funded data theft case
The U.S. Treasury Department's OFAC announced sanctions against Russian cyber tools company Operation Zero and six individuals, including its head Sergey Zelenyuk, for allegedly endangering U.S. national security by selling cyber exploit tools. The case stems from a Justice Department investigation in which Australian Peter Williams admitted to stealing software secrets from U.S. defense contractors between 2022 and 2025 and selling them to Operation Zero for millions of dollars in crypto assets.
According to ForkLog, multiple Russian media outlets, citing the Federal Security Service (FSB), reported that Telegram founder Pavel Durov is under criminal investigation under Article 205.1, Paragraph 1.1 (assisting in terrorist activities) of the Russian Criminal Code for allegedly aiding and abetting terrorism. The investigation concerns the dissemination of illegal content, alleging that platform administrators ignored demands from Russian communications regulators to remove banned channels and chats, and that Telegram was used for criminal activities and the distribution of material from extremist and terrorist organizations. Russian communications regulators began restricting the service in the summer of 2025 due to increased fraud, and in February 2026, they tightened restrictions on traffic due to the platform's non-compliance with Russian law. Durov responded at the time by stating that "Telegram defends freedom of expression and privacy."
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern Carolina announced that federal law enforcement officers seized over $61 million worth of Tether (USDT). Law enforcement stated that the funds flowed to wallet addresses linked to "pig butchering" cryptocurrency investment scams. Scammers typically gain victims' trust under the guise of romantic relationships, inducing them to deposit funds into fake cryptocurrency exchanges and encouraging further investment through fake high-yield accounts. When victims requested withdrawals, the scammers refused, citing reasons such as the need to pay "taxes." Once the funds were transferred to wallets controlled by the scammers, they were quickly tiered and transferred to launder the money. This operation was carried out by the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) after tracking the flow of funds from multiple victims, with Tether facilitating the asset transfer.
Trump: Ensure members of Congress cannot use inside information for personal gain
US President Trump: Ensure that members of Congress cannot profit from insider information and immediately pass the "Anti-Insider Trading Act".
Putin signed a new law granting Russian courts the power to confiscate crypto assets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new law that explicitly classifies crypto assets, such as Bitcoin, as "intangible property" under criminal law and grants courts the power to confiscate such assets in criminal cases. The new law requires police or prosecutors to specify the type and quantity of tokens and the wallet address when applying for confiscation, and allows law enforcement personnel to transfer crypto assets to government-controlled wallets.
Former Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda stated that the Bank of Japan is likely to raise interest rates twice a year in 2026 and 2027, bringing the rate to around 1.5% to 1.75%. He believes the Japanese economy is in good shape and that tightening fiscal and monetary policies is necessary. He also believes the yen is currently "somewhat too weak" at around 157 against the US dollar. Furthermore, he anticipates that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's spending and tax cut plans could exacerbate inflation and push up bond yields.
Project Updates
Meta Platforms spokesperson: Meta does not currently have a stablecoin.
Meta Platforms (META.O) spokesperson Andy Stone: There is currently no stablecoin from Meta.
According to previous reports, sources familiar with the matter indicated that Meta plans to re-enter the stablecoin market in the second half of this year.
The Holdstation team confirmed on Twitter that a security incident occurred with their DeFAI Smart Wallet product. The latest update confirms a total loss of approximately 462,000 USDT. The team stated they are investigating the root cause of the incident and strengthening multiple layers of security. A compensation plan is currently being developed, and details and implementation plans will be released to the community later.
Binance Alpha will begin airdropping today at 6 PM, with a minimum requirement of 256 points.
Binance Alpha will begin its token airdrop today at 18:00 (UTC+8). Users holding at least 256 Binance Alpha Points can claim their tokens on a first-come, first-served basis before the airdrop pool runs out or the event expires. Specific token types and further details will be announced later.
ZachXBT: Information about a crypto project suspected of insider trading may have been leaked.
Chain detective ZachXBT posted on the X platform that due to the need to interview many people during the investigation, the information about the crypto project involved in insider trading, which was planned to be released on February 26, may have been "inevitably" leaked. In response to community users, ZachXBT also stated that he did not expect the prediction market to be so popular, nor did he expect that the prediction market would immediately launch a related event contract after he released the announcement. Furthermore, he had never before experienced a single announcement tweet garnering 8 million views and 27,000 likes.
Kraken launches tokenized US stock perpetual contracts, supporting 24/7 trading and 20x leverage.
According to CoinDesk, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has launched its first regulated tokenized equity perpetual futures contract, open to qualified non-US users in over 110 countries. Initial offerings include tokenized versions of the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, and the SPDR Gold ETF. The product is based on xStocks, Kraken's tokenized equity service acquired last December. The underlying xStocks tokens are fully collateralized and 1:1 backed by the underlying assets, providing a pricing anchor even when US exchanges are closed. The perpetual contracts have no expiration date, are available for 24/7 trading, and support up to 20x leverage, offering users continuous access and a capital-efficient risk management experience.
OpenAI appoints former Roblox executive Arvind KC as Chief Human Resources Officer
OpenAI announced on Tuesday the appointment of Arvind KC as Chief Human Resources Officer. The former Roblox executive will be responsible for recruiting, onboarding, and employee development as OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, continues its expansion. According to an OpenAI spokesperson, KC will report to Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon. The AI startup is currently in the midst of a new funding round, expected to raise over $100 billion, and has recently taken steps to advance its IPO plans.
The 21Shares SUI ETF is now trading on Nasdaq.
According to an official announcement from the Sui Foundation, the 21Shares-issued spot SUI ETF (NASDAQ: TSUI) began trading on Nasdaq on February 24, providing U.S. investors with regulated, highly liquid direct exposure to SUI through their existing brokerage accounts. The ETF recently received approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Binance re-enters the tokenized stock market through a partnership with Ondo Finance.
According to The Block, Binance has re-entered the tokenized stock market through a partnership with Ondo Finance. Ondo Finance President Ian De Bode stated that Binance has launched 10 Ondo tokenized US stocks and ETFs on Binance Alpha and Binance Wallet, including AAPLon, GOOGLon, TSLAon, NVDAon, and QQQon. A Binance spokesperson stated that Ondo tokens are digital securities, and Binance offers these products through its regulatory license from the Abu Dhabi Financial Services Authority. Neither Binance nor Ondo's tokenized stocks and ETFs are available to US users.
According to PRNewswire, cryptocurrency payment company MoonPay has announced the launch of MoonPay Agents, a non-custodial software layer that allows AI agents to autonomously access wallets, funds, and conduct transactions via the MoonPay CLI. After users verify and deposit funds into their wallets through MoonPay, the AI agents can act on their behalf to conduct token transactions, exchanges, and digital asset transfers. MoonPay Agents are built on the developer-friendly command-line interface MoonPay CLI, enabling the AI system to generate and manage non-custodial wallets, deposit funds through MoonPay's global portal, and programmatically execute on-chain transactions.
Coinbase partners with Yahoo Finance to open stock trading to all US users
According to The Block, Coinbase has rolled out its stock trading feature to all US users, a full expansion following a limited pilot program last December. The exchange has also partnered with Yahoo Finance to add a "Trade [Asset] on Coinbase" button to the latter's stock and crypto asset pages. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This partnership will offer Yahoo Finance users a one-month free trial of Coinbase One Basic, including zero trading fees and USDC rewards. Coinbase plans to share more details about its tokenized stocks in the coming months and intends to offer perpetual US stocks to traders outside the US this spring, pending regulatory approval at its Bermuda subsidiary.
According to Businesswire, WisdomTree announced that its WisdomTree Treasury Money Market Digital Fund (WTGXX) now offers 24/7 trading and instant settlement. This marks the first time registered tokenized mutual fund units have been approved for 24/7 trading and instant settlement through a dealer-principal liquidity model within the US regulatory framework. The rollout of this feature required coordination of multiple regulatory approvals, with several WisdomTree entities receiving exemptions from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Bhutan launches digital nomad visa powered by Solana
According to Cointelegraph, Bhutan has launched a digital nomad visa powered by Solana, allowing residents to stay for 36 months by investing $10,000 in TER tokens and paying $2,800.
An executive at Emirates NBD, in an interview with CNBC, stated that the bank has opened up the possibility of allocating Bitcoin in its investment process, viewing it as a store of value and "digital gold," acknowledging its proof-of-work mechanism, limited supply, and low inflation characteristics. The executive stated that Bitcoin's current valuation is more attractive than it was six months ago, when its price was considered too high. He revealed that the bank's internal fair value model indicates a reasonable price for Bitcoin within 12 months could approach $100,000, and the bank is still refining the model. He also indicated that the bank has not yet finalized its Bitcoin allocation, but if it is included in its portfolio in the future, it will be in a limited proportion. This is because Bitcoin is correlated with market risk appetite and exhibits extreme volatility, while the bank prioritizes portfolio diversification.
Binance Alpha's second round of the SUPERFORTUNE (GUA) airdrop rewards is now open. Users with at least 256 Binance Alpha Points can claim 200 GUA tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. If the reward pool is not fully distributed, the points threshold will automatically decrease by 5 points every 5 minutes. Please note that claiming the airdrop will cost 15 Binance Alpha Points. Users must confirm their claim on the Alpha event page within 24 hours; otherwise, they will be considered to have forfeited their claim.
Analysis & Opinions
Cathie Wood: Bitcoin is "undoubtedly" superior to gold
According to The Crypto Basic, Ark Invest founder Cathie Wood reiterated her strong belief in Bitcoin in an interview with Bloomberg, stating that it is "undoubtedly" superior to gold. She believes Bitcoin hedges against both inflation and deflation, and its digital attributes give it a structural advantage in the modern financial system, while the demand landscape for gold has matured. Wood pointed out that Bitcoin is still in the early stages of institutional and retail adoption, institutional exposure is still developing, and younger investors are increasingly favoring digital assets over physical gold. She believes Bitcoin represents a generational shift in value storage investments.
According to The Block, Bitcoin continued its decline on Tuesday, briefly falling below $62,900, a daily drop of about 4%. Analysts warned that against the backdrop of continued capital outflows and accumulating macroeconomic risks, the market may face a more significant "cleansing." Samer Hasn, senior market analyst at XS.com, stated that Bitcoin has moved out of its consolidation phase and entered a new downward cycle, with geopolitical tensions, tariff uncertainty, and tightening liquidity accelerating the exodus of funds from the crypto market. He believes that if selling pressure continues, the $53,000 to $55,000 range is a potential downside target. Matt Howells-Barby, vice president of Kraken, pointed out that Bitcoin may see its first six-week losing streak since May 2022, with $60,000 being a key support level; a break below this level could see a drop to around $55,000.
According to Cointelegraph, Glassnode data shows that Bitcoin traders' realized profit/loss ratio (90-day moving average) has fallen below 1, indicating that investors are selling their positions at a loss. This is the first time such a signal has appeared since 2022. Historical data shows that when this indicator falls below 1, it is usually accompanied by at least six months of realized losses and foreshadows further price declines: in the 2022 bear market, Bitcoin fell 25% within six months after the indicator fell below 1, and in 2018, it fell more than 50% within five months. Glassnode points out that if history repeats itself, Bitcoin may "enter a full-blown phase of excessive realized losses," and the price decline could last for more than five months.
Agent of "1011 Insider Whale": This will be a long winter, not just in the crypto space.
Garrett Jin, an agent for “1011 Insider Whale,” posted on the X platform: “This is going to be a long winter, not just in the crypto space.”
Michael Saylor: Bitcoin is experiencing a "valley of despair" similar to Apple's in 2013.
According to CoinDesk, Strategy founder Michael Saylor, in a podcast interview, compared Bitcoin's current 45% pullback to Apple's 2013 slump. At that time, Apple's stock price fell 45% from its peak, its price-to-earnings ratio dropped below 10, and the market lost confidence in its future. However, it ultimately took seven years, with the support of Carl Icahn and Warren Buffett, to fully recover its valuation. Saylor believes that any successful technology investment must experience a 45% pullback and a "valley of despair." Bitcoin's pullback has currently lasted 137 days, but it could continue for two, three, or even seven years.
According to CoinDesk, Glassnode data shows that over 400,000 BTC accumulated in the $60,000 to $70,000 price range during Bitcoin's recent decline. The supply within this price range increased from approximately 997,000 on January 1st to approximately 1.43 million currently, a 43% increase, representing over 8% of the non-exchange circulating supply and forming a dense cost zone for holding coins. This analysis is based on Glassnode's UTXO implemented price distribution metric, which groups the existing supply according to the price at the time of each Bitcoin's last on-chain movement and excludes intra-entity transfers and exchange balances through entity adjustments to more clearly reflect the cost basis of genuine investors. The $70,000 to $80,000 area has previously been described as an "air layer," historically characterized by sparse trading volume.
Saxo Bank: Cryptocurrencies fall due to heightened risk aversion.
According to *Walter Bloomberg, Saxo Bank analysts stated that cryptocurrencies fell along with other risk assets as concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence and tariff uncertainty dampened investor sentiment. The U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs saw net outflows of approximately $203.8 million and $49.5 million respectively, indicating decreased risk appetite. Analysts noted that cryptocurrencies are currently trading in tandem with overall market sentiment rather than following their own fundamentals.
According to a Windemute market update report, the current macroeconomic environment is undergoing a dual-driven process of deglobalization and structural reshaping by artificial intelligence, leading to a slow and difficult-to-trade adjustment phase in the market. Bitcoin is consolidating in the $64,000 to $67,000 range, repeatedly failing to hold above $70,000, reflecting a lack of market confidence. Ethereum has fallen below the psychological level of $1,900, with the next key support level at $1,600. The report points out that the Federal Reserve is no longer the sole force dominating the market; the continued structural impact of tariffs, the real-time disruption of industries by AI, and the coexistence of slowing growth and sticky inflation are weakening the effectiveness of monetary policy tools.
Investment and Financing
According to a Bitwise announcement, the company has acquired Chorus One, an institutional-grade staking service provider managing over $2.2 billion in staked assets. Chorus One will be integrated into Bitwise Onchain Solutions (BOS), helping it expand to more than 30 PoS networks, including Solana, Avalanche, Sui, NEAR, Aptos, and TON. This transaction will add 50 technical staff and strengthen its protocol and governance research capabilities. Following the completion of the transaction, Bitwise will have nearly 200 employees and manage over $15 billion in client assets.
Sources familiar with the matter: Stripe is considering acquiring all or part of PayPal's business.
Payment processing company Stripe is considering acquiring all or part of PayPal's (PYPL.O) business. Sources familiar with the matter say discussions are in the early stages and a deal is not yet finalized.
mechanism
According to Globenewswire, Tice P. Brown, a major individual shareholder of Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin treasury company Empire Digital, released an open letter disclosing that he has formally rejected a private share buyback offer from management (who personally holds 9.8% of the company's shares). Brown accused the company of prioritizing CEO Ryan Lane's job security over shareholder interests. He demanded Ryan Lane's immediate resignation, the replacement of all board members of Empire Digital Inc., and the immediate sale of all Bitcoins with the proceeds returned to shareholders. Data shows that Empire Digital currently holds approximately 4,081 Bitcoins, worth approximately $258 million.
Two months later, Strategy-related wallets transferred another 1300 BTC.
On-chain data monitoring shows that after about two months of inactivity, Strategy-related wallets have once again seen significant fund movements, with approximately 1,300 BTC transferred to a new wallet, equivalent to about $83 million at current prices. Lookonchain points out that this operation is most likely just a reorganization of funds.
BlackRock deposited 1,814 BTC and 24,472 ETH into Coinbase.
According to Onchain Lens, BlackRock deposited 1,814 BTC ($114 million) and 24,472 ETH ($44.57 million) into Coinbase, and may continue to deposit.
YZi Labs transferred 37.33 million EDUs to Binance, worth approximately $4.37 million.
YZi Labs transferred 13.54 million AI tokens and 11.11 million WOO tokens to Binance.
Important data
As of 08:00 (UTC+8) on February 25, 2026, the Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Index was 0.0159%, ending approximately 40 consecutive days of negative values. During the same period, the price of BTC was $64,130.6.
Bitcoin spot ETFs saw net inflows of $258 million yesterday, with FBTC leading the way.
According to SoSoValue data, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a total net inflow of $258 million on February 24th (Eastern Time, February 25th Beijing Time). Fidelity FBTC led the way with a net inflow of $82.8138 million, bringing its historical cumulative net inflow to $11.017 billion; BlackRock IBIT saw a net inflow of $78.935 million, with a historical cumulative net inflow of $61.265 billion. As of press time, the total net asset value of spot ETFs was $81.302 billion, with a net asset value ratio of 6.31%, and a historical cumulative net inflow of $54.067 billion.
Stripe was valued at $159 billion in its employee stock buyout offer.
According to Bloomberg, payment processing company Stripe has been valued at $159 billion in an employee stock buyout offer, a significant increase from $106.7 billion last year. Co-founder and President John Collison stated that the company currently has no plans to go public. Stripe's annual letter indicates that total payment processing volume will reach $1.9 trillion by 2025, a 34% year-over-year increase. Stripe has expanded its business into cryptocurrency-related payments, including acquiring stablecoin orchestration platform Bridge and crypto wallet provider Privy, and launching its own blockchain, Tempo. Stripe stated that the stablecoin payment market doubled to approximately $400 billion last year, with about 60% being inter-enterprise transactions, and Bridge's transaction volume more than quadrupling during the same period.
Strategy becomes the stock with the highest short positions globally.
Michael Saylor's Strategy (MSTR) is currently the large-cap stock with the highest short position globally. Goldman Sachs data shows that MSTR's short position accounts for approximately 14% of its circulating market capitalization, ranking first.
According to Tronscan data, Tron processed approximately 994 million transactions in the fourth quarter of 2025, a 16.5% increase quarter-over-quarter. Its daily transaction volume peaked at approximately 12.6 million transactions on October 28.
Huang Licheng deposited another 245,000 USDC into Hyperliquid to continue his long position.
