The Paxful case underscores the increasing regulatory scrutiny on crypto platforms, highlighting the need for robust compliance measures.

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Risk curators are becoming essential for building trust and efficiency in the evolving crypto landscape.

The post Bhavin Vaid: Curation is essential for navigating crypto markets, risk curators ensure pricing efficiency, and transparency builds user trust | On The Brink with Castle Island appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Coinbase stock drops 34% YTD as analysts slash targets before Q4 earnings, citing crypto volume decline and rising competition.

The post Coinbase stock sinks 6% as analysts slash targets ahead of earnings appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Coinbase launches Agentic Wallets to enable AI agents to hold funds and transact autonomously onchain using the x402 protocol.

The post Coinbase unveils new Agentic Wallets enabling AI agents to hold and send crypto appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

UKs FCA sues Justin Sunlinked exchange HTX for unlawfully promoting crypto services in violation of new UK rules.

The post UK’s FCA sues Justin Sun–linked HTX over illegal crypto promotions appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

MoonPay Launches Crypto Deposits Feature to Enable Cross-Chain Funding in Wallet in Telegram

MoonPay has launched a new product called MoonPay Deposits, in hopes of making wallet-to-wallet crypto transfers easier by automatically handling swaps, bridging, and cross-chain routing behind the scenes.

The company said the service allows users to fund applications with crypto from an existing wallet, regardless of which token or blockchain they hold. 

Instead of manually ensuring the correct asset and network are selected, users can send supported crypto and receive the final balance in their chosen asset.

MoonPay Deposits is now available in the self-custodial TON Wallet, part of Wallet in Telegram’s dual-wallet setup, giving more than 100 million users a new way to move funds into the Telegram-based ecosystem.

“Users shouldn’t have to buy new assets or navigate complex steps just to fund an account,” said CEO and co-founder Ivan Soto-Wright, adding that the product simplifies transfers by letting people use the crypto they already own.

The service is designed to reduce friction for users entering the TON ecosystem, which previously required holding assets on the TON blockchain before funding a TON Wallet account. 

With the new deposit flow, users can send Bitcoin and other assets from external networks, with MoonPay automatically converting them into TON or other supported tokens.

Andrew Rogozov, founder and CEO of The Open Platform and Wallet in Telegram, said the goal is to make entering and exiting the TON ecosystem as seamless as using a custodial wallet while maintaining self-custody.

The company said the product operates entirely on its infrastructure and integrates natively into partner environments, supporting deposits from detection through final asset delivery.

Users can access MoonPay Deposits directly through TON Wallet by selecting a deposit option, choosing the token and network they want to send from, and transferring funds to a generated address. 

MoonPay then manages the routing and credits the user in the correct asset.

Intercontinental Exchange considering investing in MoonPay  

Two months ago, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owner of the New York Stock Exchange, entered talks to invest in the crypto payments firm. 

The potential funding round was expected to value MoonPay at around $5 billion, up from its previous $3.4 billion valuation. The company had recently strengthened its regulatory standing by securing a Limited Purpose Trust Charter from the New York Department of Financial Services, alongside its existing BitLicense. 

The company also announced that CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham would join as chief legal and administrative officer.

This post MoonPay Launches Crypto Deposits Feature to Enable Cross-Chain Funding in Wallet in Telegram first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Motiv Builds Bitcoin Circular Economies, Empowering 750+ Peruvian Families Weekly

In Peru’s diverse landscapes—from Andean highlands to coastal surf towns and Amazonian outposts—Bitcoin is quietly taking root, not through top-down mandates or corporate adoption but through grassroots efforts that blend humanitarian aid with Bitcoin’s sense of financial sovereignty. 

At the forefront is Motiv Peru, a non-profit co-founded by Rich Swisher and Valentin Popescu, which has spent years equipping underserved and unbanked communities to use Bitcoin for everyday needs, education, and local trade. What began as a simple shoe donation program in 2019 has evolved into a network of about 10 active zones with hubs in Lima, Cusco, and Huanchaco and satellite programs in Tarapoto and Iquitos, among others, serving over 750 families weekly. 

The Motiv team is 50 strong, plus volunteers, and is actively demonstrating Bitcoin’s potential as a tool for long-term empowerment in the developing nations rather than short-term foreign aid relief. Most profound of all, Motiv has developed a non-profit strategy that is having deep and lasting social impact, while bootstrapping Bitcoin circular economies, fulfilling an early Bitcoin vision, ‘banking the unbanked’.

What did Motiv figure out that other fiat NGO’s have not, and what does Bitcoin have to do with it?

Alpaca Socks for Bitcoin and the Genesis of Motiv

Peru has an old and curious history with Bitcoin. One of the first documented real-world uses of Bitcoin involved Peruvian alpaca socks. In early 2011, merchants like Grass Hill Alpacas accepted Bitcoin for wool socks and other goods, exported them from the South American country to the U.S., as noted in Bitcoin Wiki entries and contemporary forum discussions on Bitcointalk. This paralleled legendary moments in Bitcoin history like the famous Laszlo Hanyecz pizza purchase in May 2010.

By 2025 the Peru’s crypto landscape had grown amid regional trends, emerging as one of the largest hubs of Bitcoin adoption in the world. Chainalysis data from 2025 shows Latin America handling significant volumes, with Peru recording around $28 billion in crypto transaction value—part of a broader regional surge driven by remittances, inflation hedging, and smartphone access enabling wallets. 

Motiv’s origins trace to 2019. Founded by Swisher, a retired U.S. military and police officer with experience in international business, and Valentin, a Romanian expat with experience in non-profit work and logistics, who had lived in Peru since 2007. 

They met while building a playground in a remote Cusco highland village. While Valentin was approached by Jonathan, a seven-year-old orphan living in dire conditions—a mud hut with few possessions, malnourished, and isolated. His mother had passed away months earlier, and his father was the town drunk. “I carried him on my shoulders, and all the kids came around shouting ‘Jonathan, Jonathan!’ He was the star,” Valentin told Bitcoin Magazine in an exclusive interview. When offered a granola bar, Jonathan started sharing it with the other kids despite his own hunger. “This is the orphan of the village, the most looked-down-on kid… and he’s thinking about others. My mind, my heart exploded.”

Seeing the extreme need Jonathan was in, Swisher and Valentin called in some donors and managed to buy him a full outfit, a jacket, shoes, pants, and a hat, essential protection from the punishing cold of the Andes highlands. But there was a problem, seeing the gifts brought to Jonathan, the other kids were jealous, they too needed shoes and much more, in this isolated village of Peru. 

Valentin promised the rest of the kids they, too, would get shoes, good shoes. In the rough terrain of the Andes, high-quality footwear is like a 4×4; for many kids, it means the difference between going to school or not, because the journey they need to make is that rough. That’s when the Happy Steps program was born, and for all intents and purposes, when Motiv found its purpose. Two months later, they returned to the village with shoes for everyone, bought with donations from Swisher’s network, establishing a yearly program to support similar villages upgrading their footwear. 

As part of the program, the Motiv team and other adults who volunteer wash the children’s feet, often tattered by the elements and rough terrains. Then they give the child the new pair of shoes. Valentin’s experience in this remote village taught him an important lesson, which he shared in the interview: “I understood that the story isn’t me, a foreigner, coming to feel good about doing this. But what we are trying to do is push so that Peruvians can serve and be leaders in the community. Being a leader isn’t talking; it’s serving.”

Next year came around, and Motiv was getting ready to release another batch of shoes, but the year was 2020, and COVID-19 and the corresponding lockdowns were ravaging the country’s health and economy. Valentin called Swisher, “Look, we have this situation; we had planned this amount for shoes, so I’m going to do one thing. Why don’t you talk to the donors instead of buying shoes now? Well, we have to buy food.”

Right as Valentin might have been, non-profit donations don’t quite work that way. Swisher talked to the donors but returned with bad news. When donations are made for a specific program or purpose, you can’t just pivot at the last minute; the donors refused. But there was another option; Swisher mentioned that “he knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who has Bitcoin” that could buy shoes and food. Valentin recalled his reaction: “This isn’t the time for jokes, Rich.”

But the Bitcoin donor was serious. He would fund the shoes program this year and cover other essential supplies like food for the village, to help them survive COVID. But there was one condition. Everything had to be paid for in Bitcoin. 

“I started looking for a store, but I didn’t find any. I was looking for a big store or something. ” Recalled Valentin, “eventually, I found a kiosk that accepted Bitcoin, crypto, everything. And the guy told me, ‘I don’t have many things.’ We bought some little things from him, but it wasn’t what we needed… We’re talking hundreads of people, right?” At this point, Motiv was looking to provide supplies to 50 families, a triple-digit number of people. The kiosk merchant solved the immediate food supplies mission, but he realized he was going to have to orange pill some vendors to get scale. 

The second merchant was Olger the shoemaker. Olger had supplied Motiv in previous shoe donation campaigns, so a relationship already existed, but COVID had hit him hard. He lost his wife and job during the pandemic and was left with three kids to take care of alone. Olger, rather than turn to alcoholism as many did during those hard times, doubled down on his vocation and started teaching people to make shoes, while also accepting Bitcoin from Motiv and becoming a crucial partner of the Happy Steps program. 

From there, Motiv began organizing a list of merchants and educating them about Bitcoin. They quickly faced negative responses, financial scams of many kinds, crypto included, had savaged the country a few times by this point, so a very simple and different approach to Bitcoin evangelism was needed. Rather than promise financial independence or preach the cypherpunk utopia, Valentin simply sold Bitcoin as a payments tool and taught these merchants to use it as they wished. From this premise, Motiv started to snowball.

Motiv Peru 2026

Fast forward a few years, and Motivn Peru is a well-oiled machine. As merchants got introduced to Bitcoin as a payment method, they began getting interested in it as a technology, and basic Bitcoin and financial literacy education programs followed, hosted at Motiv centers in major locations across Peru. Various education programs were developed to answer the questions of merchants and users alike in an organized manner. 

Valentin tells us that today Motiv teaches Peruvians about Bitcoin from Monday to Saturday in 15 different locations, touching over 750 families. Motiv events in  2025 reached over 6000 people of all ages, including the Copa Bitcoin soccer tournament, a Christmas event, and various fairs and educational activities. The total number of individual bitcoin transactions made as a result of these efforts ranges between 25 and 30 thousand, with Blink as their entry level go to wallet. 

This post Motiv Builds Bitcoin Circular Economies, Empowering 750+ Peruvian Families Weekly first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt.

Bitcoin Magazine

Crypto-Lender BlockFills Suspends Client Deposits and Withdrawals As Crypto Market Slumps

BlockFills, an institutional-focused digital asset trading and lending firm, has temporarily suspended client deposits and withdrawals, citing recent market and financial conditions, according to reporting from the Financial Times.

A notice was sent last week and stated the suspension was intended “to further the protection of our clients and the firm.” It added that any funds deposited during the suspension period would be refused and returned. Clients were told they could continue trading under certain restrictions, including the possibility that positions or loans requiring additional margin could be closed.

BlockFills provides spot and derivatives execution, structured products, and crypto-backed lending to miners, hedge funds, and other professional counterparties. 

The Chicago-based firm has also been active in crypto credit markets, lending against bitcoin collateral and facilitating leveraged trading strategies.

According to its website, BlockFills serves roughly 2,000 institutional clients, with options products available only to investors holding at least $10 million in digital assets.

The company did not specify how long the suspension would last or provide details on the underlying cause beyond citing market volatility. A BlockFills spokesperson said that the firm is “working hand in hand with investors and clients to bring this issue to a swift resolution and to restore liquidity to the platform.”

Is BlockFills sending a warning sign? 

In the digital asset industry, a halt on customer withdrawals is often interpreted as a warning sign, potentially indicating liquidity constraints or asset-liability mismatches. 

Several crypto trading and lending firms, including FTX, BlockFi, Celsius, Genesis Capital, Vauld, and Voyager, imposed similar restrictions during prior market downturns before entering restructuring or bankruptcy proceedings.

BlockFills’ suspension comes as bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies have experienced significant declines. Bitcoin fell below $65,000 last week, down roughly 25% so far in 2026 and about 45% since an October peak near $120,000. 

Since its founding in 2018, BlockFills has expanded its trading and lending business with backing from Susquehanna and CME Group’s corporate venture arm. 

While the suspension echoes measures taken by other firms during past crypto downturns, there is currently no public evidence that BlockFills is insolvent. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is struggling to stay above the $66,000 level. Earlier this week, bitcoin traded above $72,000 but failed to hold that level.

This post Crypto-Lender BlockFills Suspends Client Deposits and Withdrawals As Crypto Market Slumps first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Standard Chartered and B2C2 Form Partnership to Help Institutions Access Crypto

Standard Chartered and B2C2, a global provider of institutional liquidity for digital assets, announced a strategic partnership in hopes of improving institutional access to crypto markets. The collaboration brings together Standard Chartered’s global banking infrastructure with B2C2’s liquidity across spot and options trading, according to a note shared with Bitcoin Magazine. 

Under the agreement, B2C2 will provide its institutional clients like asset managers, hedge funds, corporates, and family offices with direct connectivity and liquidity access to Standard Chartered’s banking network and settlement services. 

The partnership is designed to deliver a streamlined experience by integrating regulated banking services with institutional-grade crypto liquidity.

The move reflects a broader trend of accelerating institutional adoption of digital assets, particularly in Asia. 

As demand for regulated access to crypto assets grows, partnerships between established banks and digital asset firms aim to reduce friction in fiat-to-crypto transactions and enable faster, more reliable settlement processes.

Crypto access for institutional investors

Luke Boland, Head of Fintech, Asia, at Standard Chartered, noted the significance of the collaboration, stating that it enables “regulated, scalable market linkage without compromising execution or risk management.” 

Thomas Restout, Group CEO of B2C2, emphasized the value of Standard Chartered’s global reach and regulatory credentials, calling the bank “an ideal strategic counterpart” for expanding institutional access to digital markets.

The partnership wants to connect traditional finance with digital asset markets, giving B2C2’s clients access to Standard Chartered’s global banking network.

This allows institutional investors to trade and manage both fiat and digital assets more efficiently and with better oversight.

B2C2 is known for providing reliable digital asset liquidity to institutional clients worldwide, while Standard Chartered has a strong presence across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, helping clients with cross-border transactions and market access.

Together, the two companies plan to build a solid framework for institutional crypto trading, supporting the growth of digital assets as part of mainstream finance. 

Back in May 2025, Standard Chartered announced plans to expand its regulated digital asset services for institutional clients. 

The bank has now officially launched spot Bitcoin trading through its UK branch, integrated with existing FX platforms and offering clients flexibility in settlement and custody. 

This partnership with B2C2 will make it easier for institutions to navigate both traditional banking and emerging crypto markets.

This post Standard Chartered and B2C2 Form Partnership to Help Institutions Access Crypto first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Price Approaches $60,000, Eyes Multi-Month Bottom

The bitcoin price extended its steep decline today after a multi-month long slide that erased more than half of its value from its October peak, with the bitcoin price now trading near $66,000 following a sharp sell-off that pushed prices toward $60,000.

Since roughly December 2025, the bitcoin price has followed a pretty straightforward downward trajectory, falling from levels above $100,000 into a volatile range that has kept traders focused on whether the market has reached a durable floor.

Bitcoin price dropped below the psychological mark of $70,000 on Feb. 5, triggering intense selling pressure across spot and derivatives markets. The decline has been driven by macroeconomic uncertainty, institutional derisking, and turbulence in technology stocks that often trade in tandem with crypto risk appetite. 

Since the sell-off, Bitcoin price has struggled to regain momentum, hovering around the $66,000 to $67,000 level while trading swings between $66,000 and $72,000 remain common.

K33: Bitcoin price may be at a ‘local bottom’

Research and brokerage firm K33 argued this week that the plunge toward $60,000 may have marked a local bottom, citing what it described as “capitulation-like conditions” across volume, funding rates, options skews, and exchange-traded fund flows.

K33 Head of Research Vetle Lunde pointed to a “vast list of extreme outliers” that accompanied the move, according to reporting from The Block. Trade volumes reached the 95th percentile, while funding rates collapsed to levels last seen during the March 2023 U.S. banking crisis. Options skews rose to readings previously associated with the most intense stress of the 2022 bear market.

Momentum indicators also entered rare territory. After persistent selling since Jan. 20, Bitcoin’s daily Relative Strength Index fell to 15.9, one of the most oversold readings since 2015. RSI measures the speed and magnitude of recent price changes on a scale from 0 to 100, with values below 30 often viewed as oversold. 

Lunde noted that previous extremes in March 2020 and November 2018 coincided with major cycle lows.

Sentiment gauges reflected similar strain. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to 6 during the sell-off, its second-lowest level on record, underscoring the depth of pessimism as Bitcoin price approached $60,000.

The price action came with what Lunde called “hyperactive trading.” Two-day spot volume reached $32 billion on Feb. 6, among the highest ever recorded. Feb. 5 and Feb. 6 marked back-to-back 95th percentile volume sessions, a pattern seen only once in the past five years during the FTX collapse. 

K33 said such outlier days often align with local price extremes, though consolidation and retests can follow.

Derivatives markets mirrored the stress. Daily annualized funding rates in Bitcoin perpetual swaps fell to -15.46% on Feb. 6, the lowest since March 2023, while the seven-day average annualized funding rate dropped to -3.5%, its weakest since September 2024. 

Options positioning moved into what Lunde described as “extreme defensive territory,” similar to periods surrounding the Luna collapse, the 3AC unwind, and the FTX failure.

ETF activity also surged. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) recorded its largest daily trading volume on Feb. 5, surpassing $10 billion with 284.4 million shares traded. The same day ranked as the fifth-largest daily outflow since spot Bitcoin ETFs launched, contributing to net weekly outflows of 13,670 BTC despite inflows later in the week.

Taken together, K33 said the breadth of volatility, volume, yields, skews, and ETF flows supports $60,000 as a high-probability bottom. The firm expects the Bitcoin price to enter a prolonged consolidation phase lasting weeks or months, likely between $60,000 and $75,000, with elevated odds of a retest of support but limited expectation of further downside.

Bitcoin billionaires are buying the dip

Some long-term industry figures have framed the downturn as an opportunity. Val Vavilov, co-founder of Bitfury and an early cryptocurrency adopter, said the latest market rout offered a chance to rebalance and add exposure. 

“For us, the fall in Bitcoin is an opportunity to rebalance our portfolio and purchase a certain amount of Bitcoin at a low price,” he said according to Bloomberg, while noting Bitcoin remains only one component of a broader strategy that now includes artificial intelligence data centers.

Technical analysts remain focused on key levels. After the rebound from $60,000, resistance sits near $71,800, with $74,500 representing a Fibonacci retracement level.

Further resistance stands near $79,000 and $84,000. 

On the downside, bulls are watching $65,650 and $63,000 as nearer-term support, while $60,000 remains the major floor above the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement at $57,800, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data. 

At the time of writing, the bitcoin price is $66,624.

This post Bitcoin Price Approaches $60,000, Eyes Multi-Month Bottom first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

The XRP Ledger (XRPL) has overtaken Solana on one closely watched metric over the past month, flipping it in real-world asset tokenization, excluding stablecoins.

Data from RWA.xyz indicate that the Ledger has approximately $1.756 billion in total on-chain real-world asset value, excluding stablecoins, compared with approximately $1.682 billion for Solana.

While this gap is not large, the shift is notable because it reflects a sudden burst of issuance-style activity on a network that has spent much of the last cycle in the shadow of faster, retail-heavy chains.

The speed of the move is the bigger surprise. RWA.xyz shows the XRPL's represented asset value at about $1.45 billion, up 276.75% over the last 30 days.

Over the same 30-day window, RWA.xyz shows Solana’s distributed asset value up 43.34%, Ethereum’s distributed assets up 16.58%, and Polygon’s distributed assets up 22.48%.

Those numbers do not say the XRPL has become the busiest tokenization venue in crypto.

However, they point out that XRPL captures a form of tokenization that institutions often adopt first: high-value assets recorded on-chain in controlled structures that resemble regulated market plumbing more than open, retail distribution.

Represented versus distributed, and why the split matters

RWA.xyz divides tokenized assets into two categories, distributed assets and represented assets.

Distributed assets are built to move. They can be transferred peer-to-peer and moved to external wallets, which aligns more closely with how crypto markets typically define token activity: broad ownership, high transfer counts, and visible secondary flows.

On the other hand, represented assets are recorded on-chain but are not freely transferable outside the issuer or platform’s participant set.

In this model, the chain functions more like a shared ledger for recordkeeping and reconciliation, with restrictions, participant gating, and operational controls.

That distinction helps explain how XRPL can lead in value while remaining quiet by crypto standards.

The growth on XRPL is overwhelmingly in represented assets. This is the version of tokenization that can scale quickly in notional value because it does not require a large retail holder base or deep on-chain turnover to be recognized as “on-chain value.”

It can also appear, from the outside, as a network that has suddenly grown in “RWA TVL” without showing a comparable increase in the activity metrics typically tracked by traders.

A value flip built on concentration, not throughput

The same dataset that shows the XRP Ledger ahead of Solana on total real-world asset value also shows how concentrated the XRP Ledger’s footprint appears to be.

RWA.xyz reports the XRP Ledger with 22 real-world asset holders and a 30-day transfer volume of approximately $10.11 million, down by about 91% over 30 days.

That profile fits a market with a handful of large on-chain issuances held in controlled structures, rather than widely distributed, actively traded tokens moving across many wallets.

Solana’s profile is different. RWA.xyz reports approximately $1.64 billion in distributed asset value on Solana, up 43.34% over 30 days; approximately 285,007 real-world asset holders, up 114.81%; and approximately $2.18 billion in 30-day transfer volume, up 36.92%.

Put together, the contrast is sharp as XRPL is winning on value concentration while Solana is winning on participation and throughput.

Essentially, this suggests the market is currently rewarding tokenization that can accumulate significant value under tight controls, even when the assets are not yet widely moving across wallets.

That is a familiar pattern in early institutional adoption. Firms often begin by recording assets in a ledger for lifecycle management and reconciliation. They expand distribution and secondary transfer later, once the compliance model and operating procedures have been proven.

Why institutions are leaning into XRPL right now

XRPL’s represented asset surge aligns with the design choices the network has emphasized for institutional users: controls first, venues later.

Institutions that tokenize assets early often want the on-chain system to resemble existing market infrastructure. That means controlled access, restricted transfers, and clear operational boundaries.

It reduces friction by allowing issuers to mirror compliance and participant rules that already exist off-chain, rather than rebuilding everything in a fully permissionless environment.

XRPL has been pushing to make that control layer native. PermissionedDomains is enabled, providing issuers with an on-chain mechanism to restrict participation via credential-gated access controls.

That matters because it transforms “permissioning” from a business-process promise into a protocol-level feature, one that can be incorporated into the structure of assets and venues.

The next step is the market-venue layer. PermissionedDEX is intended for a trading environment restricted to approved participants rather than open to the public.

That is the direction institutions tend to pursue once assets are represented on-chain, a controlled environment where they can trade, settle, and manage lifecycle events within defined access rules.

MPTokensV1 is also enabled, adding token primitives intended to address common issuance requirements.

It is the sort of feature that tends to matter more to issuers than to traders, because it speaks to how assets are created and managed rather than how quickly they can be moved between retail wallets.

Taken together, the feature set supports an institutional sequence, represents assets on-chain under rules that resemble familiar transfer restrictions, then expands into controlled trading as permissioned market infrastructure matures.

That sequencing also helps explain why XRPL can show large represented value with a small holder base. The early objective is governed issuance, not mass distribution.

Notably, recent issuer activity fits that pattern on the blockchain network.

On Feb. 11, Aviva Investors announced a partnership with Ripple to tokenize traditional fund structures on the XRPL.

The market significance of this move is that a regulated asset manager's entry into the tokenized fund infrastructure can broaden the set of credible issuers building on a blockchain.

Nigel Khakoo, Ripple's Vice President of Trading and Markets, said:

“With [XRPL] built-in compliance tools, near-instant settlement, and native liquidity, the [blockchain] provides the secure and scalable infrastructure required to support the next generation of institutional assets.”

This followed the $280 million diamond tokenization initiative in the United Arab Emirates, implemented through a partnership between Ctrl Alt, a Ripple-backed custody technology provider, and Billiton Diamond.

What to watch next

The headline is that the XRP Ledger has surpassed Solana in real-world asset value tokenized on-chain, and it has done so with the fastest growth rate shown in the represented-asset measure.

In light of this, the next phase for the network concerns whether that value constitutes an active market.

A base case is that XRPL continues to onboard a small number of large represented issuances.

If the represented value is approximately $1.45 billion and the distributed value grows only modestly, XRPL can remain competitive in value-based rankings even if it remains a smaller story in crypto-native activity terms.

Meanwhile, a potential upside is that the market structure stack matures, with permissioned trading and lending amendments moving to active use, and institutions beginning to treat tokenized assets as collateral.

If that happens, it should be reflected not only in value but also in transfer volume and participation, as controlled markets become more than a ledger entry.

A downside case is that the recent jump proves to be a one-off concentration.

If assets remain largely non-transferable and transfer volume stays depressed, the flip can look more like accounting dominance than market dominance, while Solana continues to compound participation and liquidity through distributed assets.

The post XRP Ledger just flipped Solana in RWA tokenization value and the holder count reveals why appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Prediction markets entered the mainstream in 2025, with a fourfold surge in annual trading volume as a handful of venues consolidated control over what is rapidly becoming an institutional-scale product, according to a new report from blockchain security firm CertiK.

The sector’s total volume rose from $15.8 billion in 2024 to $63.5 billion in 2025, the report said, with activity remaining elevated after the US election cycle and extending into January 2026.

That persistence matters because it suggests that election trading behaved less like a one-off spike and more like an acquisition event that drew new users into repeat behavior.

Notably, the week ending Jan. 18 set a record of about $6 billion in notional volume, the report said, reflecting how quickly prediction markets have moved from niche crypto product to a high-turnover trading venue.

However, CertiK’s central argument is that the next phase of growth is colliding with an integrity problem that has less to do with smart contract exploits than with the layers that govern onboarding, the “real” meaning of volume, and the mechanisms that determine who gets paid.

A three-platform market with single-point failures

Three platforms now account for more than 95% of global prediction market volume, according to CertiK, and each is pursuing a different path to dominance.

Kalshi, which operates as a regulated venue in the US, is positioned as the compliance-first model. Polymarket has captured the largest share of crypto-native and international participation.

Meanwhile, Opinion is the fast-growing entrant, using ecosystem incentives to scale from effectively zero to roughly 30% market share in months, the report said.

That concentration turns operational issues into systemic ones.

A failure at any major venue is no longer a contained event; it is a market-wide trust shock that can spread across liquidity pools, data feeds, and user balances, particularly as brokers and mainstream distribution begin to treat prediction probabilities like a new class of information product.

CertiK points to a December 2025 incident involving Magic.link, Polymarket’s third-party authentication provider, as a preview of where the sector is most exposed.

Accounts using Web2-style login methods, such as email or social authentication, were compromised, placing funds in affected accounts at risk, while the on-chain settlement layer remained secure.

In CertiK’s framing, it was an identity failure, not a settlement failure, and it highlighted the tradeoff of “Web2.5” onboarding: a smoother user experience in exchange for centralized failure points.

The lesson is uncomfortable for an industry that markets itself on decentralization.

Prediction markets can support fully collateralized on-chain settlement while retaining the same third-party risks that plague conventional fintech, including authentication, account recovery, and platform-level access controls.

When the tape lies but the odds still talk

The report also draws a line between two concepts that are often conflated in crypto markets: trading volume as a proxy for adoption and probability outputs as a proxy for information.

According to the report, incentive programs can inflate activity without necessarily improving the quality of forecasting signals.

CertiK reported that wash trading remains widespread, citing research estimating that artificial volume reached as high as 60% on some platforms during peak airdrop-farming periods.

Such distortion can mislead outsiders, including prospective institutional users, regarding liquidity depth and organic participation.

Yet CertiK argues the more important question is whether the probabilities remain useful even when the tape is noisy.

In the report’s view, wash trading has inflated volume metrics but has not yet compromised price accuracy, and probability outputs have remained reliable for forecasting.

This creates tension for platforms seeking to graduate to mainstream finance; they may be able to position themselves as information utilities even if their activity metrics are partly fabricated by incentives.

It also raises a harder strategic decision for the market leaders.

If distribution and credibility depend on information quality, platforms may have to become less tolerant of behaviors that boost volume in the short term but undermine the optics and trust required for institutional capital.

Chain migration and the new execution plumbing

Beneath the headline numbers, CertiK describes a structural rotation in how prediction market liquidity is executed.

Polygon retained “legacy dominance” through the November election cycle, the report said, but BNB Chain volume surged beginning in late 2025, correlating with Opinion’s accelerated incentive rollout.

By the week of Jan. 19, CertiK said BNB Chain activity had effectively flipped the historical hierarchy, capturing the plurality of weekly flows and pushing off-chain settlement into a secondary position, even as Kalshi posted record performance during NFL playoff trading.

That shift is more than a scoreboard for blockchain ecosystems. It changes who can participate, how trades are cleared, and which market structures are feasible.

CertiK notes that many on-chain venues are moving from automated market makers to central limit order books deployed directly on high-throughput chains, a design that produces tighter spreads and more familiar mechanics for professional traders.

In practice, it also moves prediction markets closer to an exchange-like microstructure, with the attendant risks of front-running and the MEV-style transaction-ordering disadvantages on public networks.

The oracle problem, the moment where “truth” becomes a payout

If there is a single tail risk that unifies the sector’s growth story, it is resolution, the step that converts probabilities into cash.

CertiK characterizes oracle manipulation as the primary technical attack vector because market-resolution mechanisms directly control fund distribution.

It also says ambiguous market definitions have already caused disputes across all major platforms throughout 2025, especially where political outcomes or contested official results create gray areas.

The report maps the main resolution models across the dominant platforms.

Polymarket is described as using UMA’s optimistic oracle, in which outcomes resolve automatically unless disputed within a challenge window, with disputes escalating to UMA token-holder votes.

Kalshi is framed as using centralized arbitration, with human arbiters resolving outcomes based on authoritative sources.

Opinion is described as relying on consensus oracles, where designated parties must agree on an outcome.

Each model carries a different trust assumption. Optimistic oracles can be fast for unambiguous outcomes but create edge-case vulnerability, including the risk that large token holders may influence votes in low-liquidity disputes.

Centralized arbitration is predictable but requires trusting the platform operator. Consensus oracles distribute authority but still depend on the incentives and integrity of the designated resolvers.

As prediction markets scale, those tradeoffs become harder to ignore.

The sector can tolerate occasional edge-case controversy when it is a crypto curiosity. However, becomes a governance crisis when market probabilities begin to appear in mainstream distribution channels or are used by institutions as inputs to risk decisions.

The post Prediction markets hit $64 billion in 2025 but reliance on centralized logins has created a critical security flaw appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Washington’s stablecoin stalemate is hardening into a fight that banks recognize immediately as a deposit issue.

The dispute is no longer centered on whether dollar-linked tokens should exist. It centers on whether they should be treated as deposits, especially if consumers can earn interest-like rewards simply for holding them.

A recent White House meeting aimed at breaking a deadlock between banking and crypto trade groups ended without agreement, with stablecoin interest and rewards still the central fault line.

The timing is not incidental. Stablecoins have grown beyond a niche plumbing layer for crypto trading and cross-venue settlement.

Total stablecoin supply hit a fresh high in mid-January, peaking at $311.332 billion, based on DeFiLlama data.

At that scale, the policy question ceases to be theoretical and becomes a question of where the safest, stickiest “cash” balance sits in the financial system and who benefits from it.

Why banks see stablecoins as deposit competition

Banks care about stablecoins because the dominant model reroutes “deposit-like” money away from bank balance sheets and into short-term US government debt.

Deposits are cheap funding for banks. They support loan books and help cushion margins. Stablecoin reserves, by contrast, are typically held in cash and short-term Treasuries, which shifts the system’s resting money away from deposit funding and toward sovereign funding.

Essentially, these new assets change who earns, who intermediates, and who controls distribution.

That becomes politically explosive when the product starts competing on yield. If stablecoins are strictly non-interest-bearing, they look like a settlement tool, a payments technology that competes on speed, uptime, and availability.

However, if stablecoins can deliver yield, either directly or through platform rewards that feel like interest, they start to resemble a savings product.

That is where banks perceive a direct threat to their deposit franchise, particularly for regional lenders that rely heavily on retail funding.

Standard Chartered recently quantified the perceived risk, warning that stablecoins could withdraw approximately $500 billion in deposits from US banks by the end of 2028, with regional lenders most exposed.

The estimate is less important as a forecast than as a signal of how banks and their regulators are modeling the next phase.

In that framing, a crypto platform becomes the front-end “cash account,” while banks get pushed into the background, or lose balances outright.

GENIUS and CLARITY are now tangled in the rewards fight

Notably, the US already has a stablecoin law on the books, and it is central to the current dispute.

President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act in July 2025, framing it as a means to bring stablecoins within a regulated perimeter while supporting demand for US debt through reserve requirements.

However, the law’s implementation remains forward-dated, with the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirming that the legislation could be implemented by July this year.

That runway is one reason the yield dispute has migrated into the market-structure push now grouped under CLARITY.

Banks argue that even if stablecoin issuers are constrained, third parties (exchanges, brokerages, fintechs) can still offer incentives that appear to be interest, drawing customers away from insured deposits.

Due to this, they have outlined a broad prohibition on stablecoin yield, stating that no person may provide any form of financial or non-financial consideration to a payment stablecoin holder in connection with the holder’s purchase, use, ownership, possession, custody, holding, or retention of a payment stablecoin.

They add that any exemptions should be extremely limited to avoid undermining the prohibition or driving deposit flight that would undercut Main Street lending.

However, crypto firms counter that rewards are a competitive necessity, and that banning them locks in bank power by limiting how new entrants can compete for balances.

The pressure has become explicit enough to slow legislative momentum.

Last month, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the company could not support the bill in its current form, citing constraints on stablecoin rewards among other issues, a move that helped delay Senate Banking Committee action.

Nonetheless, not everyone in crypto agrees that the two debates should be fused.

Mike Belshe, BitGo’s CEO, said both sides should stop rehashing GENIUS because, in his view, that fight is settled, and anyone who wants changes should pursue an amendment.

He said the market-structure effort should not be held up by a separate dispute over stablecoin yield, adding, “Get CLARITY done.”

That split is now shaping how the sector plans for 2026. It is also shaping how banks and crypto platforms position themselves for rules that will determine who holds the consumer’s default dollar balance.

Three paths for the sector, and three different sets of winners

Considering the above, the stablecoin impasse can be resolved in ways that reshape business models across crypto and finance.

In the first scenario, the no-yield clampdown (bank-friendly). If Congress or regulators effectively restrict passive “hold-to-earn” rewards, stablecoins will skew toward payments and settlement rather than savings.

That would likely accelerate adoption among incumbents seeking stablecoin rails without deposit competition.

Notably, Visa’s push is an early signal. It reported more than $3.5 billion in annualized stablecoin settlement volume as of Nov. 30, 2025, and expanded USDC settlement to US institutions in December.

In this world, stablecoins grow because they reduce friction and improve settlement, not because they pay consumers to hold.

In the second scenario, banks and crypto firms can reach a compromise.

Here, US lawmakers could allow rewards tied to activity (spending, transfers, card-like interchange) while restricting pure duration-based interest.

That would preserve consumer incentives but make compliance and disclosures the moat, favoring large platforms with scale.

The likely second-order effect is a migration of yield into wrappers, with returns delivered around the stablecoin through structures such as tokenized money-market access, sweeps, and other products that can be framed as distinct from a payment stablecoin balance.

Lastly, the status quo could persist due to ongoing delays between the banks and the crypto firms.

If the impasse drags through 2026, rewards persist long enough to normalize stablecoin “cash accounts.” That increases the likelihood that the deposit-displacement thesis is directionally true, especially if rate differentials are meaningful to consumers.

It also increases the risk of a sharper policy backlash later, a whiplash moment that arrives after distribution has already shifted and the political optics harden around deposit flight.

The post If crypto rewards survive CLARITY Act banks are likely to rapidly build their own branded digital dollars appeared first on CryptoSlate.

At 8:30 a.m. Eastern, the U.S. labor market handed traders a breaking story with two timelines, one for today, one for last year.

Nonfarm payrolls grew by 130,000 in January, unemployment held at 4.3%, and wages kept climbing.

The details came straight from the BLS, the monthly snapshot that tells markets how hiring and paychecks are moving.

Then I scrolled, and the past shifted.

The same release carried a huge annual benchmark revision that rewrote the job count for March 2025 lower by 898,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, and pushed the entire 2025 trendline down.

Those revisions matter because traders build expectations from the shape of the curve, and the curve just changed.

That is where Bitcoin enters the room.

Crypto traders should follow the jobs report because it can move the Federal Reserve’s timeline in a single morning. Rates shape the price of risk across the world, and Bitcoin sits right in the path of that pressure, especially on days when the market is repricing the cost of money.

Today, the first reaction came through bonds. Right after the release, Treasury yields climbed, with the 10 year moving up to around 4.20% from about 4.15%, a classic signal of markets leaning toward tighter conditions.

CME FedWatch odds of a March cut dropped to about 6% from roughly 22% before the data hit.

Bitcoin followed that pulse, down around 3% on the day, trading near $66,900, as traders absorbed the shift toward later cuts.

#1

Bitcoin BTC

$67,638.93

-1.7%

Market Cap $1.35T

24h Volume $47.83B

All-Time High $126,173.18

Sectors

Coin Layer 1 PoW

The heart of this story lives in the tension between the morning’s headline and the year that got revised.

January hiring looks steady, wages look firm, and the official unemployment rate sits at 4.3%. The benchmark process also says the economy carried fewer jobs through 2025 than the first draft suggested, and that gap forces traders to hold two pictures in their head at once.

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Jan 28, 2026 · Liam 'Akiba' Wright

Why one jobs report can swing Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s macro wiring has become clearer over time, and today’s release shows it in plain English.

Stronger hiring data can lift yields, higher yields raise the bar for risk, and Bitcoin often feels that weight first. The market has been flirting with record highs, while yields have climbed, driven by a mix of growth confidence and rate caution.

Wages are a key piece of the caution. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in January to $37.17, and they are up 3.7% over the past year, figures that keep the conversation about sticky inflation alive.

When wage growth runs firm, markets tend to price a Fed that stays patient, and a patient Fed often means tighter financial conditions for longer.

At the same time, the benchmark revisions invite a second storyline, one that points toward a softer backdrop under the surface.

The BLS revised the March 2025 level down by 898,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, and it revised 2025’s net job growth sharply lower, which changes how investors interpret the past year of “resilience.”

That is why rate cut odds matter so much to Bitcoin traders, and why it's wise to watch the futures market like a second scoreboard. Those odds moved rapidly after the release, and that speed itself becomes part of the risk, because it pulls liquidity expectations forward and back within hours.

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Bitcoin hits Federal Reserve’s 2026 stress tests, creating a massive capital risk for banks

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Jan 22, 2026 · Gino Matos

Three paths from here, and what each means for BTC

Markets move on the story that the next few data points confirm, and today set up three plausible paths.

1. One path looks like higher for longer, jobs keep printing steady enough, wage growth stays firm, and inflation cools slowly. In that world, cuts get pushed out, yields stay elevated, and Bitcoin’s rallies can struggle to hold, because the cost of money keeps pressing on risk.
2. A second path grows out of the revisions, the downshift in 2025 becomes the first clue to a broader slowdown that shows up in future hiring, hours, and spending. In that world, cuts come back into the frame faster, and Bitcoin can find support as markets price easier conditions.
3. A third path sits between them, a soft landing with gradual cooling and eventual cuts, and a choppy road in between. That world can still be constructive for Bitcoin, and it can feel noisy because every major print becomes a debate over timing.

Two near-term calendar beats matter most for that debate.

The next inflation report lands Friday, and the next employment report is scheduled for March 6.

Barron’s flagged CPI as the next catalyst traders were circling, which makes sense given how quickly rate cut odds moved today.

For now, the impact reads like this, a jobs beat pushed yields up, cut odds slipped, and Bitcoin traded lower in that first wave of repricing.

The deeper takeaway lives in the benchmark revisions, because they change the story people tell about where the economy has been, and that story shapes where they think policy heads next.

The post Bitcoin price is sliding today because the government admitted nearly 1 million jobs from last year never existed appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bank of America Securities expects the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to raise its policy rate from 0.75% to 1.0% at its April 27-28 meeting. Markets already price roughly 80% odds of that outcome, according to swap data cited in recent BoJ meeting minutes.

The 25-basis-point move itself sounds modest, but the debate it has sparked runs deeper: could a return to 1% policy rates, last seen in Japan's mid-1990s, trigger a global carry-trade unwind that forces deleveraging across risk assets, including Bitcoin?

In August 2024, a sharp yen rally tied to the unwinding of carry trade sent Bitcoin and Ethereum down as much as 20% in a matter of hours.

The Bank for International Settlements later documented the episode as a case study in forced deleveraging: margin calls cascaded across futures, options, and collateral structures, and crypto took the hit.

So when headlines now invoke the specter of “Japan at 1%” and “systemic risk,” the issue is whether history rhymes or whether this time the script is different.

The 1995 parallel and where it breaks down

On April 14, 1995, the Bank of Japan set its basic discount rate at 1.00%. By April 19, the dollar had collapsed to 79.75 yen, a post-Plaza Accord low that forced coordinated intervention.

Five months later, BoJ cut the discount rate to 0.50%, the start of a multi-decade experiment in ultra-low rates.

That year also followed the 1994 “Great Bond Massacre,” a global selloff that wiped an estimated $1.5 trillion from bond portfolios as US and European rates surged.

The confluence of those shocks, consisting of yen strength, bond volatility, and rate uncertainty, created the kind of macro turbulence that now gets invoked whenever Japan's policy stance shifts.

However, the mechanics today are different. In 1995, the yen's strength resulted from Japan's current account surplus ballooning and foreign capital fleeing dollar-denominated assets. The policy rate move was a response, not the primary cause.

Today, the Federal Reserve holds rates at 3.50-3.75%, still 275 basis points above Japan's current 0.75%, and that differential sustains the structural logic of the yen carry trade: borrow in yen at near-zero cost, invest in higher-yielding US or emerging market assets, pocket the spread.

A single 25 bps hike to 1.0% doesn't erase that gap. What it can do is change expectations about the trajectory. And expectations, not the absolute level, drive currency volatility.

How carry trades unwind and why volatility matters

A carry trade's payoff is straightforward: investors earn the interest differential, minus any currency appreciation on the funding leg.

Borrowing yen at 0.75% and earning 3.5% in dollars results in a net of roughly 2.75%, until the yen strengthens 2.75% and wipes out the gains. Leverage amplifies this dynamic.

At 10x leverage, a 1% yen move translates into a 10% equity drawdown, enough to trigger margin calls and forced selling.

The risk isn't the hike itself. The risk is a hike that surprises, combined with positioning extremes and thin liquidity. In August 2024, the BoJ raised rates and signaled a more hawkish stance than markets had expected.

The yen rallied sharply. Volatility-targeting funds, which mechanically cut exposure when volatility rises, sold equities and other risk assets.

Futures positions unwound. Cross-currency basis spreads, which are the cost of hedging dollar liabilities with yen funding, blew out. Bitcoin, treated as liquid collateral by macro funds and frequently held in levered structures, sold off alongside tech stocks and high-beta equities.

The BIS documented the sequence: leveraged positions in crypto derivatives compounded the selloff, with liquidations accelerating as stop-losses and margin thresholds were breached.

The episode proved that Bitcoin, despite its narrative as a non-correlated asset, behaves like a risk-on trade when global liquidity conditions tighten suddenly.

Japan's Treasury holdings and the ‘repatriation' channel

Japan holds approximately $1.2 trillion in US Treasuries as of November, making it the largest foreign creditor to the US.

When the BoJ raises rates, the yield gap between Japanese Government Bonds and Treasuries narrows.

Japanese institutional investors, such as pension funds, life insurers, and banks, face a different calculation: why hold 10-year Treasuries at 4.0% and bear currency risk when JGBs now yield closer to 1.5% and carry no FX exposure?

This rebalancing doesn't happen overnight, but it happens.

Treasury International Capital (TIC) data track these flows, and any sustained decline in Japanese holdings would put upward pressure on US yields, thereby tightening global financial conditions.

Higher Treasury yields mean higher discount rates for all risk assets, including Bitcoin.

The effect is indirect but real: Bitcoin's valuation is partly a function of the opportunity cost of holding it versus risk-free assets, and when that opportunity cost rises, speculative demand weakens.

The flip side matters too. If the BoJ disappoints hawks and holds rates steady, July or September becomes the next live window, after which the carry trade rebuilds, the yen weakens, and the repatriation narrative fades.

Risk appetite improves, and Bitcoin is likely to trade higher alongside equities and credit.

Scenarios for April and what they mean for Bitcoin

There are three potential scenarios for April.

The first scenario involves the BoJ raising rates to 1.0% in April, but guidance remains measured: “data-dependent,” “gradual normalization,” and no signal of accelerated tightening.

The yen strengthens modestly, and volatility stays contained.

Bitcoin's reaction is muted or short-lived. Any dip reflects broader risk-off sentiment rather than forced deleveraging. US dollar liquidity and equity market tone matter more than the hike itself.

The second scenario becomes concrete if the hike is accompanied by hawkish forward guidance or coincides with stronger-than-expected Japanese wage data.

The yen rallies sharply, up to 5% in a week, driven by stop-loss orders and speculative position covering. Cross-currency basis spreads widen. Volatility-control strategies cut exposure. Margin calls hit macro funds and crypto derivatives traders. Bitcoin sells off 10% to 20%, mirroring the August 2024 episode.

This is the systemic risk scenario: not because the rate level is catastrophic, but because the speed and positioning create a liquidity event.

The third and less likely scenario is where BoJ waits, citing weaker first-quarter data or political uncertainty. Markets reprice, the yen weakens. Carry trades rebuild. Bitcoin catches a bid alongside other risk assets as the narrative shift lifts sentiment.

The April meeting becomes a non-event, and focus turns to later-year meetings.

What to watch instead of doomscrolling

The answer to “Is BoJ to 1% a systemic risk?” depends entirely on execution and context.

A telegraphed, orderly move is a non-event. A surprise, coupled with thin markets and crowded positioning, can trigger volatility that cascades.

To better understand the potential implications, investors should closely monitor the April 27-28 BoJ statement and Outlook Report. Not just the decision, but the language around future hikes and inflation expectations.

Additionally, it is important to monitor USDJPY implied volatility, not just the spot rate, as volatility is the accelerant.

Watching CFTC positioning data for extremes in yen shorts, which can fuel squeezes, is also advised. Lastly, following TIC data for signs of Japanese Treasury repatriation, even if the flow is gradual.

Bitcoin's role in this dynamic is clear: it's liquid, it's levered, and it's treated as risk collateral by the same macro traders who run yen carry strategies.

When those trades unwind violently, Bitcoin sells off. However, when they unwind gradually (or don't unwind at all), Bitcoin's correlation to traditional risk assets weakens, and it trades more on its own supply dynamics and institutional adoption trajectory.

The BoJ hike to 1% is real. The risk of a carry unwind is real. But the risk is conditional, not inevitable.
Markets have priced in a high probability of the move, thereby diffusing some of the surprise premium.

The question now is whether the path beyond 1% looks gradual or accelerated, and whether global liquidity conditions can absorb the adjustment without breaking.

For Bitcoin, that's the difference between a volatility event to monitor and a systemic shock to prepare for.

The post Odds Bank of Japan raises rates hits 80% with Bitcoin on the sideline – one hidden signal decides everything appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Investigators released footage of a suspect in the Nancy Guthrie case amid reports of a Bitcoin transfer and new ransom demand.

Paxful signed a plea deal saying it should pay a $112 million fine for its crimes. But the DOJ determined it could only afford to pay $4 million.

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TLDR:

• Tether Directory maps USD₮ integrations across exchanges, wallets, payments, and infrastructure
• USD₮ commands $186 billion market cap as world’s leading stablecoin and digital dollar choice
• Platform built with The Grid offers searchable ecosystem view for users, developers, regulators
•  Directory validates active USD₮ usage rather than promotional listings through moderation review

Tether has introduced the USD₮ Tether Directory, marking a milestone in digital asset transparency. The public resource maps global USD₮ integrations across exchanges, payments, wallets, and infrastructure providers.

CEO Paolo Ardoino unveiled the directory at the 2026 Plan ₿ Forum in San Salvador. The platform offers users, developers, institutions, and regulators enhanced visibility into USD₮’s real-world applications.

With USD₮ commanding a $186 billion market cap, this initiative addresses growing demands for ecosystem documentation.

Comprehensive Mapping of Global USD₮ Infrastructure

The Tether Directory was developed through a partnership with The Grid, an API-first ecosystem intelligence platform for Web3.

This collaboration brings forth an intuitive, searchable interface showcasing products and services supporting USD₮.

Users can navigate the directory by category, supported assets, and product type. The platform enables ecosystem participants to submit or claim page profiles for moderator review.

The directory functions as a validation mechanism for genuine USD₮ integrations. Rather than accepting promotional listings, the platform prioritizes active and verifiable usage data.

This approach ensures accuracy and relevancy across all listed services. The moderation process maintains quality standards while expanding the directory’s coverage.

Paolo Ardoino emphasized the interconnected nature of USD₮’s global infrastructure. “USD₮ does not exist as an isolated asset. It operates within a broad universe of wallets, platforms, payment tools, and cutting-edge infrastructure built by teams around the world,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.

“Making the Tether universe more transparent and navigable matters as USD₮ becomes more ubiquitous in everyday financial activity, and this directory helps document how USD₮ and other Tether products are utilized globally.”

The directory serves multiple stakeholder groups with distinct needs. Developers can identify integration opportunities and technical requirements.

Financial institutions gain clarity on USD₮’s operational framework. Regulators access comprehensive data about USD₮’s deployment across different jurisdictions. End users discover available services and platforms supporting their digital dollar needs.

Expanding Documentation for Digital Dollar Infrastructure

USD₮ has established itself as critical financial infrastructure for digital dollars globally. The stablecoin facilitates diverse use cases spanning payments, remittances, trading, and liquidity provision.

Markets worldwide rely on USD₮ for stable value transfer and storage. The directory catalogs these varied applications across different regions and sectors.

The launch represents a proof-of-concept that will evolve over time. Additional integrations will be incorporated as the USD₮ ecosystem continues expanding.

Tether plans ongoing updates to reflect new partnerships and platform launches. The company invites businesses supporting USD₮ to claim profiles for directory inclusion.

Transparency initiatives like the Tether Directory respond to increased scrutiny of stablecoin operations. By documenting where and how USD₮ functions,

Tether provides stakeholders with concrete information. The directory moves beyond abstract discussions about stablecoin usage to showcase practical implementations. This data-driven approach supports informed decision-making across the ecosystem.

The directory’s searchable format accommodates users with varying technical expertise. Simple navigation allows quick discovery of relevant services and platforms.

Advanced filtering enables detailed exploration of specific integration types. This accessibility ensures the directory serves both casual users and industry professionals effectively.

The post Tether Launches First Public Map of USD₮’s Ecosystem Worldwide appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Paxful has been sentenced to pay a $4 million fine after pleading guilty to money laundering and prostitution charges.
• The company processed over $3 billion in crypto trades between 2017 and 2019, including transactions linked to Backpage.
• The U.S. Department of Justice initially sought a $112 million penalty but reduced it to $4 million based on Paxful’s financial situation.
• Paxful also agreed to pay a separate $3.5 million civil penalty to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
• The case highlights the legal risks faced by cryptocurrency exchanges involved in facilitating illegal activities.

Paxful Holdings, a peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace, has been sentenced to pay a $4 million fine after pleading guilty to charges of fostering illegal prostitution, violating money-laundering laws, and knowingly handling criminal proceeds. The company, which ceased operations in 2023, processed over $3 billion in crypto trades between 2017 and 2019. U.S. authorities also revealed that Paxful had facilitated transactions linked to Backpage, a platform notorious for promoting illicit sex work.

Paxful Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges

Paxful entered a plea agreement with U.S. authorities in December, admitting to its involvement in illegal activities. The peer-to-peer exchange knowingly transferred Bitcoin for customers linked to criminal schemes, including money laundering and fraud. During this period, Paxful made substantial profits, collecting approximately $30 million from its operations.

The Justice Department emphasized that Paxful’s actions allowed illegal transactions to take place undisturbed. “By putting profit over compliance, the company enabled money laundering and other crimes,” said Eric Grant, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California. The company also processed Bitcoin for Backpage, a platform heavily involved in prostitution and trafficking, further complicating its legal standing.

Impact of the $4 Million Fine on Paxful

Originally, the Justice Department had sought a fine exceeding $112 million. However, the company’s inability to pay that amount led to a drastically reduced penalty. After considering Paxful’s financial situation, the final fine was set at $4 million, which a federal judge affirmed during a sentencing hearing.

In addition to the criminal fine, Paxful agreed to pay a separate $3.5 million civil penalty to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The company’s founders were also implicated, with Artur Schaback, Paxful’s co-founder from Estonia, pleading guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws in 2024. Paxful’s operations and marketing strategies were scrutinized, with the company once boasting about the “Backpage Effect” in boosting its business.

The court’s ruling reflects a broader commitment to holding companies accountable for facilitating illegal activity. U.S. Attorney Eric Grant emphasized that the sentence serves as a clear warning. Companies that fail to prevent criminal activities on their platforms will face severe legal consequences under U.S. law. Paxful’s plea deal marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing effort to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges and curb illegal use.

The $4 million fine, while a fraction of the initial demand, underscores the seriousness of the charges and Paxful’s role in criminal networks. This case serves as a reminder of the legal and financial risks faced by cryptocurrency exchanges that fail to comply with U.S. laws.

The post Paxful Hit with $4 Million Penalty Over Illegal Transactions and Crimes appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Hong Kong remains committed to digital assets with a transparent and predictable regulatory framework.
• The UAE is rapidly advancing in the digital asset space with clear regulations and a dedicated regulatory body.
• Hong Kong has granted licenses to 11 virtual asset trading platforms under its licensing regime.
• Hong Kong plans to issue licenses for stablecoins and digital asset custodians in the coming months.
• Johnny Ng suggests Hong Kong could benefit from appointing a dedicated position to oversee crypto regulations.
• Hong Kong continues to engage with global partners, including South Korea, to stay competitive in the digital asset market.

Hong Kong has long been a global financial hub, known for its robust commitment to blockchain and cryptocurrency development. Despite this, it now faces increased competition from the UAE, which has been making aggressive moves in the virtual asset space. The rivalry has intensified as both regions strive to lead in digital asset regulation and innovation.

Hong Kong’s Transparent Regulatory Framework for Digital Assets

Hong Kong has built a reputation for its stable and predictable regulatory approach toward digital assets. According to Joseph Chan, Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, the city’s regulation is transparent and dependable. “Our regulation is transparent, certain, and predictable,” Chan emphasized. This consistency has helped Hong Kong remain a trusted location for virtual asset businesses despite global market fluctuations.

Since the implementation of its licensing regime for virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) two years ago, Hong Kong has granted licenses to 11 companies. The framework aims to provide a stable environment for virtual asset firms, promoting industry growth. Chan also pointed out that Hong Kong’s approach remains steady, even when facing challenges like crypto winters.

Furthermore, Hong Kong is moving forward with its stablecoin regulatory regime, with licenses expected in the first quarter of this year. The upcoming licensing framework for digital asset dealers and custodians will be addressed later this year. This process, though lengthy, is designed to ensure all industry players are well-informed, minimizing uncertainties for businesses in the region.

UAE’s Aggressive Stance on Virtual Asset Regulation

While Hong Kong has maintained stability, the UAE is making fast strides in becoming a crypto-friendly hub. Johnny Ng, founder of Goldford Group, highlighted that the UAE is very aggressive in attracting digital asset businesses. The UAE has established clear regulations and placed virtual assets under the oversight of a dedicated regulatory body in regions like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Ng noted that this approach gives the UAE an edge in competing with other global financial centers. He pointed to South Korea’s similar model, where a government body specifically handles crypto regulations. “The UAE is really aggressive,” Ng said, comparing its regulatory efforts with those of Hong Kong and other jurisdictions.

In response, Ng suggested that Hong Kong could benefit from appointing a dedicated position to oversee digital asset regulation. “Hong Kong’s legislative council can recommend that the government create one position to oversee all these things,” he said. This idea would streamline regulatory processes and enhance the city’s competitiveness.

The post Hong Kong and UAE Compete for Dominance in Digital Asset Regulation appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• MSTR stock dropped 4.8% today, following a significant decline in Bitcoin’s price.
• Michael Saylor linked the stock’s decline to a four-month Bitcoin bear market.
• Strategy’s stock has shown extreme volatility, with 58 moves greater than 5% in the past year.
• A 13.4% drop in Strategy’s stock occurred just six days ago due to Bitcoin’s sharp decline.
• Canaccord Genuity analyst Joseph Vafi slashed his price target on Strategy by over 60%.

Shares of Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) experienced a 4.8% drop in the afternoon session today. The decline follows the movement of Bitcoin, which faced a notable decrease in its value. Strategy’s strong correlation with Bitcoin’s performance has made the company’s stock price highly volatile.

Strategy Inc, MSTR

MSTR Stock Moves in Tandem with Bitcoin

Strategy’s stock price has consistently followed Bitcoin’s fluctuations, given the company’s large holdings in the cryptocurrency. As Bitcoin dropped from over $110,000 to near $70,000, MSTR stock reflected a similar decline. Michael Saylor, Strategy’s executive, directly attributed the recent decrease to the ongoing four-month bear market for Bitcoin. He stated, “The stock’s decline is tied to the market’s response to Bitcoin’s performance.” This strong link between the two assets has resulted in high volatility for Strategy’s shares.

The company’s stock has moved more than 5% on 58 occasions over the past year, showing its sensitivity to market shifts. Today’s drop, however, is viewed as another typical move within the volatility that investors expect. The market, however, does not appear to see this as a fundamental change in the business outlook. Investors are continuing to monitor Bitcoin’s movements as they assess Strategy’s performance.

Previous Drop and Analyst’s Impact on MSTR

The latest drop comes after a 13.4% decrease in Strategy’s stock just six days ago. This drop followed Bitcoin’s sharp decline, which impacted the value of Strategy’s holdings. Canaccord Genuity analyst Joseph Vafi reduced his price target for the company by over 60% due to Bitcoin’s declining price. The drop in Bitcoin’s value below $70,000 also coincided with the market waiting for Strategy’s fourth-quarter earnings report.

The large-scale impact of Bitcoin’s movement on Strategy’s stock is a key focus for analysts. Investors have remained concerned about the company’s crypto exposure, especially as its Bitcoin holdings lose value. Despite these concerns, Strategy continues to be the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, which has made its stock price sensitive to changes in the cryptocurrency’s performance.

Strategy’s stock has dropped 19.8% since the beginning of the year, with its current price at $126.10 per share. This price is a far cry from its 52-week high of $455.90, a 72.3% drop from that peak. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Strategy stock five years ago would now see an investment valued at $1,249.

The post MSTR Stock Struggles as Bitcoin’s Value Dips Below $70,000 appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:

• Gold’s 427% rally since 2016 enters the same zone where previous decade-long super runs peaked in 1980 and 2011. 
• Historical pattern shows gold consolidates for years after peaks while capital rotates into stocks for extended rallies. 
• Cryptocurrency now provides institutional alternative for capital rotation that didn’t exist during previous gold cycles. 
• Combination of cooling inflation, rising real rates, and Fed tightening typically signals end of gold super runs.

Gold has reached a price level that historically marks the end of major bull runs. The precious metal recently hit a cycle high near $5,600, reflecting a 427% gain since 2016.

Market analysts now compare current conditions to previous decade-long rallies that ended in 1980 and 2011. The pattern suggests a potential rotation of capital into other asset classes.

However, this cycle introduces a new variable with crypto markets now positioned as institutional investments.

Historical Super Runs Follow Consistent Decade Pattern

Gold moves in extended bull markets that typically last nine to ten years. The 1970 to 1980 rally delivered returns of 2,403% before peaking.

Another super run from 2001 to 2011 generated 655% gains. The current 2016 to 2026 cycle has produced 427% returns so far.

These prolonged trends don’t continue indefinitely, according to market data. Instead, gold runs hard for approximately a decade before entering extended consolidation periods.

After reaching peaks, the metal often trades sideways or declines for years. The pattern has repeated across different economic environments and policy regimes.

Bull Theory noted on social media that gold just entered the same zone where every major bull run historically ended. The observation points to technical and fundamental factors aligning with previous market tops.

Yet a new high alone doesn’t confirm a peak has formed. The current position simply indicates the rally is no longer in early stages.

Several factors typically combine to end gold super runs. Inflation cooling and real rates moving higher create headwinds for the metal.

Federal Reserve tightening policies reduce speculative demand. Dollar stabilization removes currency-driven buying pressure. Risk appetite returning to markets pulls capital toward growth assets.

Crypto Emerges as New Rotation Destination

Previous gold peaks in 1980 and 2011 triggered capital flows into equities. After the 1980 top, stocks entered a two-decade bull market.

The 2011 peak preceded another extended equity rally through the 2010s. Gold cooled while stock markets absorbed investment capital seeking returns.

The current cycle presents a different landscape compared to earlier periods. Cryptocurrency markets have matured into institutional asset classes with regulated exchange-traded funds.

Public companies now hold Bitcoin on balance sheets. The investor base has expanded beyond retail traders to include pension funds and corporate treasuries.

This development changes the traditional rotation pattern that followed gold peaks. Capital flowing out of precious metals now has multiple destinations.

Instead of moving solely into stocks, funds can allocate to Bitcoin and digital assets. Crypto represents the risk-on component that didn’t exist in previous cycles.

The potential shift could reshape how bull markets unfold across asset classes. If gold enters a consolidation phase similar to past patterns, both stocks and crypto may benefit.

Bitcoin’s role as a high-beta growth asset positions it to capture speculative capital. The combination of established equities and emerging digital markets creates broader opportunities for portfolio allocation.

The post Gold Reaches Critical Zone as Decade-Long Bull Run Shows Historical Peak Signals appeared first on Blockonomi.

Popular meme coins, including Pepe, have been trading in the red for almost a month after shedding 40% as the broader market remains under pressure. Despite multiple attempts, the token has not been able to stabilize since the October crash last year.

Since then, PEPE whales have accumulated 23 trillion tokens.

Heavy Whale Accumulation

In the latest update, Santiment revealed that the frog-themed token has lost approximately 73% of its market capitalization since reaching its peak nearly nine months ago. Despite the steep decline, the on-chain analytics platform noted a major change in behavior among large holders.

During the broader market crash in October, which began around four months ago, the top 100 Pepe wallets switched direction and accumulated a combined 23.02 trillion PEPE tokens. Santiment highlighted that “smart money” wallets often play a significant role when altcoins eventually reverse trend and post major rallies.

While retail sentiment toward Pepe and the broader meme coins is currently very bearish, it stated that assets seeing heavy accumulation have historically broken out again once Bitcoin regains steady bullish momentum.

However, a market commentator said Pepe’s price trend looks strongly bearish. According to the analysis, PEPE is trading below all major moving averages, while the Supertrend indicator remains on a sell signal. The ADX shows strong trend strength, and the negative directional indicator appears to be dominating, which points to continued downside pressure.

The analyst identified $0.0000031 as an important support level to watch. If that level breaks, the next downside targets are $0.00000197 and then $0.000000529. The commentator added that only a move back above $0.00000726 would shift focus back to a potential reversal.

Meme Coins’ Struggle Continues

Pepe, which is trading at $0.0000035 after declining by 4% over the past day, is not the only meme coin to have suffered under the current market conditions. Dogecoin, the oldest and largest meme coin by market cap, has witnessed a similar downturn as it trades near $0.090. Shiba Inu was also down by almost 3% during the same period, hovering at $0.0000058.

Bonk and Floki shared a similar fate as well.

The post Is Pepe Ready to Explode? Whales Load Up 23 Trillion Tokens appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Trend Research, the trading firm led by Liquid Capital founder Jack Yi, has fully exited its Ethereum positions, closing out what was once Asia’s largest ETH long, according to on-chain monitoring platform Arkham.

At its peak, Trend Research held approximately $2.1 billion in leveraged Ethereum long positions, accumulated by borrowing stablecoins against ETH collateral.

Bullish Tweets, Brutal Exit

Arkham data revealed that the firm closed its final ETH position on Sunday. The exit resulted in a total realized loss of roughly $869 million. Interestingly, the complete exit followed several days of position reductions as Ether’s price declined toward the $1,750 level, which triggered stress across leveraged positions in the market.

Notably, Yi had publicly reiterated his bullish outlook just days before the firm fully exited its ETH exposure. In a post on X published four days prior to the final exit, Yi said Trend Research remained “bullish on the next major bull market,” and even predicted that ETH would go beyond $10,000 and Bitcoin above $200,000. He described the firm as having made “partial adjustments to manage risk.”

Yi also addressed broader market conditions in the post, and spoke about the lack of liquidity and alleged platform-driven manipulation. Despite these concerns, he maintained that the long-term trajectory of the crypto industry remained intact. He further asserted that current prices represented an attractive entry point for spot positions when viewed on a multi-year horizon, while acknowledging that extreme volatility has historically forced many bullish traders out of positions before subsequent rebounds.

Accumulation Trend During Market Stress

Amidst the market turmoil, Ethereum “accumulating addresses” – defined as wallets with no history of outflows, balances of at least 100 ETH, and no association with exchanges, miners, or smart contracts – currently hold 27 million ETH, according to CryptoQuant’s analysis. This figure represents approximately 23% of Ether’s circulating supply.

CryptoQuant also found that the altcoin has traded below the realized price of these accumulating addresses only twice in its history. The first time was when the market hit a low in 2025, while the second has been unfolding since January 2026. This means that accumulating addresses have continued to add to positions despite recent price declines and the forced unwinding of leveraged trades

The post Largest Ethereum (ETH) Long in Asia Is Gone: But On-Chain Data Tells a Different Story appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Robinhood has launched the public testnet for Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum Layer 2 network built on Arbitrum. The US-based trading platform said the testnet is designed to accelerate the development of tokenized real-world and digital assets.

This move would give developers early access to the core infrastructure ahead of a planned mainnet launch later this year.

Arbitrum-Based Layer 2 Testnet

With the public testnet now live, developers can begin building and verifying applications on Robinhood Chain, using an environment that is compatible with standard Ethereum development tools and leverages Arbitrum technology. Robinhood stated that several infrastructure providers, such as Alchemy, Allium, Chainlink, LayerZero, and TRM, are already integrating with the network.

More partners are expected to be onboarded during the early stages of the testnet. As part of the launch, participants can access network entry points to the testnet, developer documentation hosted on Robinhood’s website, and early infrastructure support from ecosystem partners.

The company stated that the testnet phase is intended to support experimentation, identify potential issues, improve network stability, and lay the groundwork for developers ahead of the upcoming mainnet.

Robinhood Chain is backed by the company’s existing infrastructure and experience. It was developed with a focus on reliability, security, and compliance, the release said. Built on Arbitrum, the network supports bridging and self-custody, along with the scalability and customizability needed for financial-grade decentralized products such as tokenized asset platforms, lending platforms, and perpetual futures exchanges.

Going forward, Robinhood said developers building on the chain will gain access to testnet-only assets, including Stock Tokens for integration testing, as well as direct testing with Robinhood Wallet. The company added that the chain is designed to provide a familiar development environment within the broader Ethereum and Arbitrum ecosystem.

Institutional Expansion Meets Revenue Headwinds

The trading platform has continued to deepen its exposure to cryptocurrencies since rolling out crypto trading for users. Last year, Robinhood officially completed the $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp, which was touted as its formal entry into institutional crypto. However, its revenue trends have weakened in the last few months.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, Robinhood generated $221 million from cryptocurrency transactions, down 38% from a year earlier. The result contrasted with the previous quarter, when crypto revenue jumped to $268 million, amidst broader market turmoil.

The post Robinhood Enters Layer 2 Race With Public Testnet Launch of Robinhood Chain appeared first on CryptoPotato.

[PRESS RELEASE – Las Vegas, Nevada, February 11th, 2026]

Ault Capital Group today announced the public testnet launch of Ault Blockchain, a Layer 1 network designed for trading, settlement, and institutional-grade onchain infrastructure. This launch marks the first public release of the protocol and opens access to developers, infrastructure operators, and early network participants.

Ault Blockchain is built as a Cosmos-based Layer 1 with full Ethereum Virtual Machine compatibility, enabling Ethereum-native smart contracts and tooling to run without modification. The network is governed by Ault DAO, which oversees protocol rules, economic parameters, and long-term upgrades through onchain governance.

The public testnet provides a live environment for evaluating core network functionality, validator performance, and infrastructure design. This early access seeks community engagement and feedback by contributors who add value to the network’s development and stability.

In contrast to typical launch models, Ault Blockchain will not conduct a public token sale. Instead, the native AULT token will be distributed exclusively through a protocol-controlled emissions schedule tied to measurable network participation, including consensus security and licensed infrastructure operations rather than speculative activity.

Milton “Todd” Ault III, founder and executive chairman of Ault Capital Group, said: “Ault Blockchain was built the opposite way most networks are built. We started with real financial use cases and then designed the blockchain to support them. Participation is based on defined roles and verifiable work, not speculation, with transparent economics that are meant to support long-term network health from day one.”

The network launch is supported by a group of established infrastructure and development partners. B-Harvest serves as Ault Blockchain’s primary development partner, contributing to protocol engineering and core network architecture. Xangle focuses on development of Ault’s official explorers and relevant hubs.QuickNode provides RPC infrastructure to support network access and reliability. Finally Protofire supports Safe-related tooling across EVM environments.

Ault Blockchain introduces a licensed participation framework for infrastructure operators. Licensed Mining Nodes are authorized to perform defined off-chain services, beginning with cryptographic randomness at launch. In parallel, Proof-of-Stake validators and delegators secure network consensus and collect transaction fees under transparent, DAO-governed economics. After launch, the core team will shift its focus to the core team’s roadmap including spot trading on decentralized exchanges, lending services, perps trading, and other advanced workloads are being explored and may deploy over time as the network evolves.

Ault Blockchain’s testnet launch follows the completion of an initial protocol security audit and precedes further validator onboarding and ecosystem testing. Ault Blockchain’s mainnet launch will occur after additional testing milestones are met. At genesis, the chain will launch with its core protocol modules, EVM compatibility, an initial validator set, and onchain governance in place, marking a new era for institutional finance.

To learn more about Ault Blockchain, visit https://Aultblockchain.com and read project documentation to view the testnet scanner go to the following link . https://ault-evm-testnet.explorer.xangle.io/home

About Ault Blockchain

Ault Blockchain is a finance-first, institutional-grade Layer-1 blockchain designed to support trading, settlement, and data-driven workloads. Built on the Cosmos SDK with full Ethereum Virtual Machine compatibility, the network enables unmodified Ethereum smart contracts while providing fast finality and native cross-chain interoperability.

Governed onchain by Ault DAO and supported by a licensed infrastructure framework, Ault Blockchain aligns network economics with verifiable participation rather than speculative token distribution. With real-world financial and analytics applications launching from day one, Ault Blockchain is optimized for next-generation onchain finance.

About Ault DAO

Ault DAO is the decentralized governance body responsible for overseeing the Ault Blockchain protocol. The DAO was created by and is overseen by Ault DAO, LLC, a Wyoming DAO LLC. Through onchain governance, the DAO manages protocol parameters, validator participation, and network upgrades, ensuring transparent and community-driven decision-making aligned with the network’s long-term objectives.

About Ault Capital Group

Ault Capital Group is a diversified investment and holding company focused on technology-driven businesses, digital assets, and financial infrastructure. Through its operating companies and strategic investments, Ault Capital Group supports platforms across blockchain, data infrastructure, and emerging technologies. The firm emphasizes disciplined capital allocation and long-term value creation.

The post Ault Capital Group Unveils Ault Blockchain Public Testnet appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Even though they were trading at around $68,000 and $1,980, respectively, at the time of writing, Bitcoin and Ethereum bounced yesterday after sharp sell-offs, with BTC reaching $71,000 and ETH climbing to $2,150 following the resumption of spot ETF inflows.

The rebound renewed speculation that BTC may have established a local floor, but traders are also bracing for today’s Non-Farm Payroll (NFP) report and Friday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) release, two data points that could reset Federal Reserve rate expectations and determine whether the rally holds.

ETF Flows Turn Positive, But On-Chain Data Signals Volatility Ahead

In its latest market update, digital asset trading firm QCP noted that spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $145 million in net inflows yesterday, building on Friday’s $371 million. Spot ETH ETFs also reversed course with $57 million in net inflows after three days of red.

The shift follows a period of intense selling pressure that recently drove BTC to around $60,000, its lowest level since before the November 2024 U.S. elections.

Despite the inflows, on-chain data suggests market participants are preparing for continued turbulence. For example, CryptoQuant contributor CryptoOnchain reported that on February 6, over 7,000 BTC moved from Binance to other spot exchanges, making it the second-highest daily volume in the past year.

At the same time, the seven-day moving average of flows from Binance to derivative exchanges spiked to 3,200 BTC, the highest level since January 2024. The analyst interpreted the migration of funds to derivative platforms as a sign that large holders are either hedging downside risk or positioning for sharp price swings.

Meanwhile, QCP market watchers revealed that the Coinbase BTC discount has narrowed from approximately 20 basis points to 9 basis points, signaling a moderation in U.S.-led selling. But the Crypto Fear & Greed Index remains at 9, deep in “extreme fear” territory, with the trading firm describing conditions as “thin ice that happens to be holding.”

Historical Context and On-Chain Trends

Bitcoin’s correction has drawn the broader market lower, with the OG cryptocurrency dipping below $67,000 and altcoins such as ETH, XRP, and BNB losing significant ground. The total crypto market capitalization has fallen to $2.36 trillion, shedding over $50 billion in daily value. Still, not all assets have mirrored this decline, as the likes of XMR gained 3%, while ZRO entered the top 100 following a 20% surge.

Unlike previous cycles, this downturn has avoided major systemic failures. Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov pointed out on February 10 that real-world assets (RWAs) on the blockchain are expanding despite price volatility, with institutional interest sustained by technological advantages and 24/7 markets.

While the market looks for big economic changes, the increase in ETF investments provides some hope, but QCP warns that past price changes and how derivatives are set up mean traders should be careful and manage risks wisely.

The post Fragile Optimism in Crypto as ETF Flows Return appeared first on CryptoPotato.