Today's top news highlights:
Tether makes strategic investment in global internet marketplace platform Whop
The Ethereum Foundation releases a draft roadmap roadmap identifying five key North Stars.
Binance Wallet launches Sentio (ST) related Booster and Pre-TGE events.
Macro & Regulatory
At a press conference held by the Supreme People's Court on February 26 regarding the "Work of People's Courts in Punishing Telecommunications and Internet Fraud and Property Crimes According to Law," Wang Bin, Director of the Third Criminal Division of the Supreme People's Court, stated that in the next step, the courts will focus their crackdown on ringleaders and core members of criminal groups, "financial backers" of telecommunications fraud, human smugglers, organizations that provide armed protection for cross-border telecommunications fraud, as well as related crimes such as intentional homicide, intentional injury, kidnapping, and money laundering using virtual currencies and underground banks during the process of telecommunications fraud.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has released proposed rules to establish regulatory requirements for "permitted payment stablecoin issuers" and foreign issuers, as well as certain custody businesses within its jurisdiction; provisions related to BSA/AML and OFAC sanctions will be developed separately with the Treasury Department. Public comments will be accepted for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
U.S. Trade Representative: The U.S. will issue a notice regarding the 15% tariff in the coming days.
According to Jinshi News, U.S. Trade Representative Greer stated that the U.S. is studying how to implement the 15% tariff, and will issue a public announcement regarding it within the next few days. The announcement is expected to be released by the EU and the UK in the coming days. It is anticipated that the EU and the UK will fulfill their commitments under the agreement and will raise the tariff to 15% "depending on the circumstances."
Earlier reports indicated that U.S. Trade Representative Greer hinted that some tariffs could exceed 15% .
Indiana legislature passes Bitcoin rights bill, awaiting governor's signature.
According to The Block, the Indiana legislature has passed the cryptocurrency regulation and investment bill HB 1042, which is awaiting final signature by Governor Mike Braun. The bill requires several state-managed retirement and savings plans (including the Legislative Pension Plan, the Hoosier START college savings plan, and some public servant and teacher retirement funds) to provide participants with self-managed brokerage accounts that include at least one cryptocurrency investment option. Furthermore, except for financial institution regulators, other public entities are prohibited from restricting individuals from using cryptocurrencies to pay for legitimate goods and services, or from restricting individuals from holding digital assets through self-custody or hardware wallets. The bill also prohibits the imposition of special taxes on crypto activities, distinct from other financial transactions. If signed, it will take effect on July 1, 2026.
According to MyBroadband, South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the government will release a draft regulation to formally include crypto assets in the capital flow management system under the Currency and Foreign Exchange Act. This move aims to improve cross-border capital regulation and complement existing anti-money laundering and fraud prevention regulations. Previously, the Pretoria High Court ruled that cryptocurrencies do not fall under the legal definition of "money" and that current foreign exchange control rules do not apply to crypto assets, urging the government to reform legislation. Although the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has appealed the ruling, maintaining that cryptocurrencies should be treated as money in terms of regulatory functions, the current regulatory focus has shifted to establishing clear administrative accountability and cross-border transaction reporting requirements.
According to The Block, South Korean ruling party lawmaker Kim Seung-won has proposed amendments to the Capital Markets Act and the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, requiring influencers who provide cryptocurrency investment advice on social media to disclose their personal asset holdings and compensation received. The proposal aims to increase market transparency and combat misleading information and self-dealing. Under the proposed bill, individuals who regularly provide investment advice on social media, in mass publications, or on the radio must disclose the types and quantities of crypto assets they hold, as well as any compensation related to their promotion. Penalties for violations will be comparable to those for capital market crimes such as price manipulation. Kim Seung-won stated that this measure is necessary to address conflicts of interest and investor harm caused by unregulated social media comments.
South Korean police arrested two suspects for allegedly stealing 22 Bitcoins as evidence.
According to The Block, the Gyeonggi North Provincial Police Agency in South Korea arrested two suspects on February 25, 2026, for allegedly stealing 22 bitcoins from the Gangnam Police Station's evidence vault. These bitcoins were initially seized in November 2021 during an investigation into the "A Coin Foundation" hack. The investigation revealed that because the police did not store the assets in an officially regulated hardware wallet at the time, but instead used a cold wallet provided by the foundation, the suspects were able to illegally transfer the assets via telecommunications networks using mnemonic phrases. Currently, the bitcoins, valued at approximately $1.5 million, have not been recovered. Furthermore, the former police officer who handled the case was sentenced to 18 months in prison in August 2024 for accepting bribes from the foundation.
The National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center today released a report titled "Ready Player One: An In-Depth Analysis of the Global Virtual Currency Asset Harvesting Operation Under US Technological Hegemony." The report states that the US is using its technological and regulatory advantages to systematically harvest assets in the global virtual currency sector. The report claims that the US is controlling core blockchain technologies and on-chain traceability companies, pushing for stablecoin legislation to mandate the allocation of US Treasury bonds in its reserves, and leveraging its long-arm jurisdiction to conduct cross-border law enforcement and asset seizures. According to incomplete statistics, from 2022 to 2025, the US will seize over $30 billion in virtual currency assets in various cases, including approximately $15 billion in the Chen Zhi case alone; Binance and Zhao Changpeng will be subject to $4.35 billion in seizures and fines through civil and criminal proceedings; and Garantex will be targeted across its entire supply chain for allegedly circumventing sanctions. The report concludes that the US is including virtual assets such as Bitcoin in its national strategic reserve tools.
Project Updates
According to The Block, Circle (CRCL) shares rose approximately 30% to around $80 after the earnings release, closing at $83.33, a 35.47% increase. The company previously disclosed fourth-quarter revenue and reserve gains of $770 million, a 77% year-over-year increase, and guided for USDC circulation to grow at a CAGR of 40% over the next few years. Brokerage firm William Blair maintained its "Outperform" rating, calling it one of the few high-quality crypto infrastructure stocks. The report showed that the fourth-quarter revenue-less-distribution-cost margin exceeded 40%, thanks to approximately 18% of the average USDC circulating supply being directly hosted on the Circle platform; adjusted EBITDA was $167 million.
According to previous reports, Circle's total revenue and reserve income for the full year of 2025 increased by 64% year-on-year, and the circulating supply of USDC reached $75.3 billion at the end of Q4 .
The foundation promises 100% compensation to all users who held USDC, USDT, ETH, and WBTC bridged from Ethereum to IoTeX at the time of the incident: users with losses of $10,000 or less will receive the full amount in one lump sum; users with losses exceeding $10,000 will receive the first $10,000 immediately, with the remainder distributed over four quarters, plus an additional 10% compensation in the form of IOTX staked over 12 months. The platform will open the official recovery address and Claims Portal on February 27th. Users must aggregate their affected assets, transfer them all at once, and submit on-chain transaction information to complete the verification and compensation process.
According to The Block, DeFi-native prime broker Project 0 has launched a new feature called "Project 0 Pay." This feature allows users to borrow USDC by staking their DeFi portfolios to pay for real-life expenses such as credit card bills, without selling assets or interrupting yield generation. Users can directly connect their credit cards and bank accounts to the Project 0 interface; the system calculates the borrowing amount based on spending patterns and automatically converts the borrowed USDC into fiat currency and deposits it into the account. Project 0 founder MacBrennan Peet stated that this move aims to give DeFi portfolios a bank account-like function, allowing for flexible handling of daily expenses while maintaining long-term positions.
According to The Block, Aave Chan Initiative (ACI) founder Marc Zeller released an "audit report" on Aave Labs ahead of a vote on its proposed $51 million funding round, escalating the Aave governance controversy. In the report, Zeller stated that Aave Labs has raised approximately $86 million in total funding to date (including ICOs, venture capital, and DAO payments), but lacks accountability in financial disclosure and wallet transparency. The audit specifically questioned Aave Labs' RWA marketplace, Horizon, alleging that it inflated data through incentives, with an actual expenditure-to-revenue ratio of approximately 24:1.
Binance Wallet launches Sentio (ST) related Booster and Pre-TGE events.
According to the official announcement, Binance has launched two exclusive Sentio events within the Binance Wallet: 1. Booster Event: Participants can share a 25,000,000 ST airdrop reward by completing phased tasks and supporting the project's early development. 2. Pre-Sale Event (Pre-TGE): Eligible users can have priority to subscribe to the Sentio token ST before it is listed for trading.
Upbit will remove DENT from its platform on March 30th.
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit announced that it will terminate trading support for the DENT/BTC trading pair on March 30, 2026 at 15:00 (KST). Upbit stated that after conducting a continuous review based on its model case for virtual asset trading support, it determined that DENT had several deficiencies in information disclosure, transparency of change procedures, and the substance and sustainability of the project, which could potentially harm users. Therefore, after listing DENT as a trading alert on February 10, it ultimately decided to delist it. After the trading support ends, the platform will still provide withdrawal services until April 30, 2026; after this date, it will be unable to process related deposits, withdrawals, and erroneous transfers.
Binance Alpha will launch Fabric Protocol (ROBO) on February 27th.
Binance Alpha will list Fabric Protocol (ROBO) on February 27th. Eligible users can claim the ROBO airdrop using Binance Alpha Points through the Alpha Events page after trading begins.
According to the official announcement, the second round of the Binance Alpha Everlyn AI (LYN) airdrop rewards is now open. Users with at least 256 Binance Alpha Points can claim 95 LYN tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. If the rewards are not fully distributed, the threshold will automatically decrease by 5 points every 5 minutes. Please note that claiming the airdrop will consume 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.
Upbit will launch trading pairs for Centrifuge (CFG) in Korean Won, BTC, and USDT.
Upbit will list the Centifuge token CFG, supporting trading pairs with KRW, BTC, and USDT, on the Ethereum network.
MetaMask partners with Hyperliquid to launch arbitrary token staking contract trading functionality
MetaMask Perps now allows users to open long or short contract positions on Hyperliquid using any token in their wallet as collateral.
The Ethereum Foundation releases a draft roadmap roadmap identifying five key North Stars.
According to Justin Drake, the Ethereum Foundation's EFProtocol released a draft "Strawmap" technology roadmap on strawmap.org, aimed at researchers and developers, proposing five goals: second-level finality fast L1, zkEVM real-time proof to achieve L1 with approximately 10K TPS "gigagas", DAS to achieve L2 with approximately 10M TPS "teragas", quantum-resistant cryptography, L1 native privacy, and ShieldedETH transfers.
Kalshi discloses two insider trading cases: one involving a gubernatorial candidate and MrBeast.
Prediction market platform Kalshi stated that it has initiated approximately 200 investigations and frozen multiple suspicious accounts in the past year, and disclosed two closed insider trading cases: one involved a California gubernatorial candidate who traded about $200 on his own campaign and posted about it on social media, resulting in a 5-year ban and a fine equivalent to 10 times the initial trading amount; the other involved an insider in the YouTube streamer-related market who traded about $4,000, triggered monitoring due to the "near-perfect win rate" of low-probability contracts, and was found to be a program editor's employee, suspected of obtaining significant non-public information, resulting in a 2-year suspension and a fine equivalent to 5 times the initial trading amount (recovery of $5,397.58 + a $15,000 fine). Both cases have been reported to the CFTC as required.
According to The Block, Hut 8 reported a net loss of $248 million in 2025, a significant reversal from the $331.4 million net profit in 2024. This was primarily due to approximately $220 million in unrealized digital asset losses offsetting a large unrealized gain from the previous year. Revenue increased from $162.4 million to $235.1 million during the same period, with computing power revenue at approximately $202.3 million, power and hosting services revenue at $23.2 million, and digital infrastructure revenue at $9.6 million. Fourth-quarter revenue was $88.5 million, but due to approximately $401.9 million in unrealized digital asset losses, the quarterly net loss was $301.8 million. The company's adjusted EBITDA for the full year was negative $135.4 million.
Nvidia released its Q4 FY2026 results, with revenue of $68.1 billion and data center revenue of $62.3 billion, both exceeding market expectations. The company also provided revenue guidance of approximately $78 billion for Q1 FY2027, higher than Wall Street's expectation of $72.6 billion. The company stated that it has already secured inventory and capacity to meet demand in the coming quarters. Data center revenue significantly exceeded estimates this quarter, while gaming and automotive-related businesses slightly missed market expectations. Nvidia stated that customers are increasing their investment in AI computing infrastructure, leading to exponential growth in computing demand. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that the company is about to enter into a collaboration agreement with OpenAI. The company will leverage new technologies from Groq to expand its product line. He is confident that the company's cash flow will grow as embodied intelligence emerges.
Analysis & Opinions
According to Cointelegraph, Bitcoin's recovery today is closely linked to a similar rebound in the US stock market, with artificial intelligence and technology stocks leading the market higher. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index led the gains, rising 1.05% on the day, while the S&P 500 rose 0.68%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 421 points, closing up 0.86% on Tuesday. Analysts point out that Bitcoin's correlation with gold and US stocks is currently at its lowest level since the FTX incident in 2022. Despite gold rising 51% and Bitcoin falling 43% over the past six months, on-chain data firms like Santiment believe this extreme divergence suggests significant upside potential.
According to The Block, Vetle Lunde, Head of Research at K33, pointed out that Bitfinex's LEO token is currently trading at a premium of approximately 60% to its implied fair value, which may indicate new developments in the market's expectation of handling the Bitcoin seized during the 2016 Bitfinex hack. Currently, approximately 94,636 Bitcoins related to the incident remain frozen, representing about 30% of the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and are undergoing legal proceedings to determine victims' claims. According to Bitfinex's 2019 commitment, if the assets are recovered, 80% will be used to buy back and burn LEO tokens.
ProCap CIO: Bitcoin ETF's AP mechanism may weaken spot price discovery.
Authorized Participants (APs) in Bitcoin ETFs like IBIT, such as Jane Street, JPMorgan, and Macquarie, can short ETF shares without borrowing under frameworks like RegSHO, hedging with BTC futures instead of buying spot. This creates a "grey window," preventing capital inflows from translating into spot buying and weakening the mechanism by which the ETF-NAV price spread naturally converges through spot purchases. Park also stated that traditional ETFs are suitable for assets whose value originates from external sources, but Bitcoin's value lies in its independence from institutions. In contrast, while the old version of GBTC had flaws, it did not have this "unlimited funding loophole."
He Yi: The future comes with the storm; the bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish.
Binance CEO He Yi retweeted JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's view that "the market may have experienced a short-term pullback, but the trend is positive," adding, "The future is coming with the storm. The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish?" According to her retweeted tweet, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon stated in a television interview: "Blockchain is real and increasingly effective; cryptocurrencies are better than the existing financial system! The experimental phase in the crypto space is over; although the market may have experienced a short-term pullback, the trend is positive."
According to CoinDesk, Glassnode data shows that the Hashband indicator is nearing the end of a three-month miner capitulation, one of the longest capitulation periods in history. A recovery signal is triggered when the 30-day moving average of the hashrate rises above the 60-day moving average, indicating that miners are returning to online activity and network pressure is easing. Since the indicator first reversed last November, Bitcoin has fallen from around $90,000 to a low of $60,000 in early February, and is currently recovering to around $65,000. The Hashband indicator is based on the comparison of the 30-day and 60-day moving averages of the hashrate. Miner capitulation occurs when mining revenue falls below operating costs, inefficient miners shut down and sell their Bitcoin reserves, leading to a decrease in hashrate and increased selling pressure in the market.
According to a Bitfinex Alpha report, the Bitcoin market remains in a downtrend within a high time frame due to weak inflows into Bitcoin spot ETFs and continued selling by large investors. The report points out that although Bitcoin has rebounded 20% from its February 5th low, a bottom has not yet been confirmed. Year-to-date, US Bitcoin spot ETFs have seen a net outflow of $2.6 billion, with institutional investor "ETF weakness" exacerbating selling pressure. On-chain data shows that approximately 64% of inflows into exchanges currently come from large holders (whales), a new high since October 2015. Furthermore, influenced by US tariff policies and macroeconomic uncertainties, options traders are again paying a premium for downside risk, leading to a cautious market sentiment.
According to The Block, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan points out that crypto assets may currently suffer from structural valuation errors, primarily due to investors' "anchoring bias," which keeps them focused on outdated narratives while ignoring the reality that Wall Street is rapidly shifting towards on-chain infrastructure. Hougan emphasizes that although the tokenized asset market is currently only around $20 billion, the sheer size of traditional financial markets indicates enormous growth potential. He cites examples such as BlackRock's tokenized government bond fund, JPMorgan's issuance of deposit tokens on the Base network, and Apollo's tokenized credit fund, arguing that the current lag between consensus narratives and actual developments provides investors with opportunities to generate excess returns (alpha).
Investment and Financing
Tether makes strategic investment in global internet marketplace platform Whop
According to its official blog, Tether announced a strategic investment (the specific amount was not disclosed) in WHOP, the world's largest online marketplace, with over 18.4 million users, annual revenue of approximately $3 billion, and a monthly transaction volume growth rate of 25%. As part of the investment partnership, WHOP will integrate Tether's Wallet Development Kit (WDK), enabling creators and users to make efficient payments using USD₮ and USA₮. This collaboration aims to reduce friction and costs associated with traditional payment systems using stablecoin technology, supporting WHOP's international expansion into Latin America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.
mechanism
Ethereum treasury firm FG Nexus sold another 7,550 ETH, worth approximately $14.06 million.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, Ethereum treasury company FG Nexus sold another 7,550 ETH ($14.06 million) today. The company previously purchased 50,770 ETH ($196 million) between August and September 2025 at an average price of $3,860. On October 22, 2025, they announced plans to sell their real estate holdings to continue accumulating ETH. However, less than a month later, they began reducing their holdings, and have since sold 21,025 ETH ($55.7 million) at an average price of approximately $2,649. They currently hold 30,094 ETH ($57.5 million), with a cumulative loss of $82.8 million.
ETHZilla rebrands as Forum, transitioning to focus on RWA tokenized assets.
According to The Block, ETHZilla's stock price surged over 13% to approximately $3.91 on Tuesday as the company officially changed its name to Forum, further shifting from a single ETH hoarding strategy to a cash flow-based tokenized asset strategy. Data shows that ETHZilla had previously reduced its ETH holdings multiple times: in October of last year, it sold approximately $40 million worth of ETH to repurchase shares, and in December, it sold another 24,291 ETH (approximately $74.5 million) to redeem convertible bonds. This month, the company acquired a portfolio of 95 manufacturing and modular housing loans for approximately $4.7 million, planning to tokenize them on Ethereum Layer 2 with a target annualized yield of over 10%, and purchased two CFM56-7B24 aircraft engines for tokenization through Liquidity.io.
Arrington Capital wallet allegedly withdrew 20,000 ETH from Binance and Deberit.
BlackRock deposited 1,134 BTC, worth approximately $74.18 million, into Coinbase.
Important data
According to SoSoValue data, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a total net inflow of $507 million yesterday (February 25th, Eastern Time). The BlackRock ETF (IBIT) saw the largest single-day net inflow of $297 million, bringing its total historical net inflow to $61.563 billion. The Grayscale ETF (GBTC) followed with a net inflow of $102 million, while its total historical net outflow is $25.874 billion.
According to Route2FI analysis, a whale is holding a $24 million long position in ARC on Lighter, adding $360,000 per hour via TWAP (time-weighted buy), continuously injecting funds to drive the bullish trend. This whale has already profited $5 million. The analysis points out that this whale's behavior is similar to the JellyJelly price manipulation incident on Hyperliquid. In March 2025, a whale on Hyperliquid simultaneously shorted the JELLY perpetual contract and manipulated the spot price through other accounts and on-chain mechanisms, causing short sellers to be liquidated. Hyperliquid's liquidity pool (HLP) suffered losses after settlement, and the Hyperliquid team urgently delisted the contract through a governance vote and forced settlement at an extremely low price.
A whale who converted BTC to ETH used Aave leverage to add over 25,000 ETH to its position.
Vitalik has sold a total of 16,420 ETH, cashing out approximately $32.84 million.
