Author: Tristan Lodenberg

Michael Selig, chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said the agency is pushing back against what he described as an “onslaught of state-led litigation” targeting prediction market platforms. In a public statement, Selig confirmed the CFTC filed an amicus brief to defend its exclusive jurisdiction over event-based contracts, which the agency considers part of the derivatives market. Selig argued that prediction markets have operated under CFTC oversight for more than two decades and serve legitimate economic purposes, including risk hedging and price discovery. He warned that attempts by state regulators to assert authority over these platforms would be…

Dutch electronic money institution Quantoz Payments has become a principal member of Visa, enabling the company to issue virtual debit cards backed by its regulated e money tokens across Europe. Through the agreement, Quantoz can launch Visa branded virtual cards linked to balances held in its USDQ, EURQ and EURD tokens. These tokens are issued as regulated electronic money within the European Economic Area and are fully backed 1:1 in safeguarded accounts via a bankruptcy remote foundation structure. The company is also required to maintain at least a 2% additional reserve buffer. Stablecoin Debit Cards and BIN Sponsorship Model As…

Stablecoin infrastructure platform Bridge, acquired by Stripe in 2025, has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate as a federally chartered national trust bank. Once final approval is granted, the charter would allow Bridge to provide digital asset custody, issue stablecoins and manage related reserves under direct federal oversight. Bridge said the approval strengthens its regulatory foundation as businesses increasingly seek compliant stablecoin solutions. The company referenced alignment with the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin legislation enacted in July 2025, positioning itself to scale services within a clearer federal framework. Crypto Firms Seek…

Decentralized SocialFi platform Zora has introduced a new “attention markets” product on Solana, allowing users to trade positions on trending topics, memes and online buzzwords. The feature enables participants to speculate on whether specific ideas or hashtags will gain traction across social platforms. According to co-founder Jacob Horne, deploying a “Trend” requires 1 SOL, currently around $85, a mechanism designed to limit spam. While Trends themselves do not offer creator rewards, users can launch tradable “Pairs” under each Trend that provide incentives for creators. Early activity shows traders experimenting with tickers tied to themes such as longevity, bitcoin, artificial intelligence…

Bitcoin miner Hive Digital Technologies posted record revenue of $93.1 million for its fiscal third quarter ending December 31, 2025, marking a 219% increase year-over-year and a 7% rise from the previous quarter. The growth was driven by expansion across Hive’s Bitcoin hashrate fleet and its BUZZ HPC platforms. Executive Chairman Frank Holmes highlighted that the company scaled its renewable-powered Tier-I hashrate platform to 25 EH/s and accelerated its AI strategy. Net Loss Driven by Accelerated Depreciation Despite strong revenue growth, Hive reported a net loss of $91.3 million, attributed to accelerated depreciation on its Paraguay expansion and non cash…

The Monad Foundation has strengthened its leadership team with three senior hires from major crypto and financial institutions as it accelerates institutional adoption following its November mainnet debut. Urvit Goel joins from the Optimism Foundation as vice president of go-to-market. Joanita Titan, previously overseeing custody and staking at FalconX, becomes head of institutional growth. Sagar Sarbhai, formerly with BVNK, takes on the role of head of institutions for Asia-Pacific. The appointments bring experience spanning JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Anchorage Digital, Fireblocks and Amazon, adding traditional finance and institutional crypto expertise to Monad’s expansion plans. Layer-1 Blockchain Targets Capital Markets and…

XRP has recorded a sharp decline in network activity, with active addresses falling 26% between Feb. 12 and Feb. 15, 2026, to 40,778. The drop comes amid broader crypto market volatility and points to weakening short term demand. Fewer active wallets suggest reduced transactional usage, lower liquidity and softer retail participation. These metrics often reflect declining momentum, raising concerns about near term price stability. XRP slipped from an intraday high of $1.51 to $1.46 and is currently trading around $1.46, down 0.09% over 24 hours. Trading volume also fell 38.6% to $2.74 billion. Technical Patterns Offer Mixed Signals for XRP…

Stablecoin withdrawals from centralized exchanges have slowed significantly, signaling a shift from capital flight to consolidation, according to data from CryptoQuant. Over the past month, net outflows totaled approximately $2 billion, compared with $8.4 billion during the early stages of the late-2025 bear market. The moderation suggests that while market sentiment remains cautious, investor funds are not exiting the crypto ecosystem at the same pace. Analysts note that a sustained bullish reversal would likely require renewed reserve growth or deployment of capital into higher-risk assets. Binance Dominates CEX Stablecoin Liquidity Binance now holds $47.5 billion in combined reserves of Tether…

Bitcoin is trading near $66,000, struggling to regain strong upside momentum despite a noticeable decline in implied volatility. Data shows Bitcoin’s implied volatility has fallen sharply from nearly 100% earlier this month when prices briefly dropped toward $60,000. The cooling volatility suggests panic driven hedging has subsided. However, stabilization has not translated into renewed buying pressure. Bitcoin has failed to reclaim the $70,000 level in a sustained move, reflecting cautious positioning among traders. Derivatives Metrics and ETF Flows Signal Soft Demand Perpetual futures funding rates remain just above neutral, indicating only mild bullish sentiment rather than aggressive leverage. Open positioning…

Ethereum has fallen roughly 20% in February, briefly slipping below the key $2,000 psychological level. Despite the pullback, onchain metrics indicate steady long term accumulation. More than 2.5 million ETH flowed into accumulation addresses during the month, lifting total holdings to 26.7 million ETH, up from 22 million at the start of 2026. Network activity is also expanding. Weekly transactions reached 17.3 million, while median fees dropped to $0.008 a dramatic decline compared to fee spikes above $25 during the 2021 peak cycle. Over 30% of ETH’s circulating supply, approximately 37.2 million coins, is now staked, tightening liquid supply conditions.…