Latest Crypto News | Bitcoin, Ethereum and Altcoin Updates

Kraken-backed tokenized stocks have exceeded $25 billion in cumulative transaction volume since their 2022 launch, reflecting rapid adoption of tokenized equities and ETFs. The milestone includes centralized and decentralized trading, minting and redemption activity, and onchain settlements; onchain records show more than $3.5 billion in blockchain-native transactions and over 80,000 unique onchain holders. Kraken provides custody and trading access while partnering with licensed issuers and custodians that hold underlying shares or ETFs in bankruptcy-remote structures, claiming one-to-one backing and redeemability for underlying assets. Integrations with exchanges (eg, Bybit, Gate.io) expand global access and enable 24/7 trading outside traditional market hours. Kraken reports nearly $225 million in aggregate assets under management across xStocks and highlights rising liquidity and repeat engagement. Traders should note improved liquidity and round-the-clock access, fractional exposure to major stocks, and operational benefits of blockchain rails — alongside risks: regulatory scrutiny of tokenized securities, basis and settlement differences versus spot equities, custody/issuer counterparty risk, and potential liquidity shifts during market stress.

MARA Holdings, parent of Marathon Digital, has acquired a controlling stake in Exaion, the low‑carbon data‑center, HPC and blockchain infrastructure unit spun out of French utility EDF. The deal expands MARA’s European footprint, gives access to energy‑efficient data centers, high‑performance computing (HPC) and blockchain node hosting, and links to EDF’s renewable energy portfolio. Management says the acquisition supports MARA’s strategic shift from pure Bitcoin mining to diversified infrastructure including AI‑as‑a‑Service, green cloud offerings and blockchain services while retaining mining operations. No purchase price was disclosed. Traders should watch for: (1) disclosure of financial terms and how MARA accounts for the asset, (2) any new “AI & Cloud” segment or capital‑allocation changes in upcoming earnings, and (3) potential effects on MARA’s BTC exposure and operational use of power/rigs. Primary keywords: MARA, Exaion, Bitcoin mining, green data centers, AI compute. Secondary/semantic keywords: EDF, HPC, cloud services, renewable power, M&A, EU regulation.

SBI Holdings has launched a ¥10 billion corporate bond issued and managed on a blockchain that offers investors rewards paid in XRP. The issuance uses distributed-ledger technology to complete on‑chain lifecycle processes (issuance and management) and integrates XRP-denominated incentives to attract retail and institutional buyers. The deal underscores SBI’s strategy to combine traditional finance products with crypto infrastructure and leverages its ties to Ripple and the XRP ecosystem. The offering size is ¥10 billion; specific terms (maturity, coupon) were not disclosed in the summaries. Traders should watch for potential increases in XRP demand from reward distributions, greater visibility for tokenized debt markets, and signals of institutional experimentation with on‑chain securities.

Activist investor Starboard Value argues Riot Platforms — parent of bitcoin miner Riot Blockchain — can unlock as much as $21 billion in enterprise value by repurposing excess data-center capacity and cheap power for AI training and high-performance computing (AI/HPC). Starboard’s analysis highlights Riot’s large-scale sites (Corsicana and Rockdale), models potential revenue and margin upside from colocation and AI hosting, and estimates a materially higher per-share valuation if management accelerates the pivot. The investor calls for faster execution, governance changes, cost cuts and exploration of strategic alternatives; it points to peers that have closed multibillion-dollar AI/data-center deals (some backed by large cloud providers) as a template. Riot has already begun steps toward transition — including a data-center partnership with AMD and selling roughly $200 million of bitcoin to fund expansion — but Starboard says progress is too slow and urges greater urgency. For traders, the proposal represents a clear revaluation catalyst tied to corporate strategy, potential M&A or large commercial contracts, and diversification away from pure bitcoin-mining revenue; these factors could raise Riot’s stock volatility and affect correlated crypto-mining equities. Primary keywords: Riot Platforms, AI data centers, bitcoin miner, Starboard Value. Secondary keywords: AI/HPC, data centers, colocation, enterprise value, AMD.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) is trading around $0.00000626, sitting roughly 2.65% below the Bollinger Bands midline (20‑day SMA) near $0.00000635. Price recently failed to hold above the middle band and has formed lower highs and lower lows since early January from the ~$0.000009 area. A confirmed daily close above the 20‑day SMA would place SHIB into the upper half of the bands and could open a path toward the upper band near $0.000007, which coincides with visible horizontal resistance. The lower band has contracted around $0.0000056, where buyers previously stepped in to prevent a retest of February lows, suggesting marginal supply thinning. Failure to hold above $0.000006 would likely shift focus back to $0.0000056 support (≈10% downside). Momentum indicators remain weak-to-neutral (RSI below 50), and open interest has fallen from January highs, limiting leveraged fuel for sustained rallies. Traders should watch daily closes relative to the 20‑day SMA, Bollinger Band width (volatility compression/expansion), trading volume, and any break of $0.00000635 on the upside or $0.0000056 on the downside for confirmation of directional bias.

Whale Alert verified an on-chain transfer of 5,000 BTC (≈$336–$349M across reports) from an unknown private wallet to a Binance deposit address. Such large cold‑to‑exchange inflows often draw trader attention because they can presage sell-side liquidity on spot markets, be posted as collateral for derivatives, settle OTC trades, or reflect custody reshuffles. On-chain checks show the source wallet is not a long-dormant Satoshi‑era address and has exhibited recent accumulation. Early order‑book response on Binance was modest, with Bitcoin’s price broadly steady — suggesting initial market absorption. Traders should monitor subsequent on‑chain activity (hot‑wallet distribution vs. coins staying pooled), Exchange Net Flow and reserve metrics from providers like Glassnode and CryptoQuant, Spent Output Age Bands (SOAB), and Binance order‑book depth to determine whether the inflow converts to executed selling. Historical precedents show large inflows can precede short‑term volatility or price dips, but outcomes vary by execution method (on‑market vs OTC/limit orders) and macro context. For traders: treat this as a high‑value liquidity signal to integrate with derivatives positioning, open interest, OTC reports and broader macro indicators before making directional bets.

Binance’s XRP exchange reserves fell by roughly 200 million XRP over ten days, pushing the exchange supply ratio from about 0.027 to 0.025 and taking centralized exchange balances to multi‑year lows. The outflows appear steady rather than single large transfers, indicating retail and institutional holders are withdrawing XRP to private custody rather than selling on‑exchange. XRP traded near $1.43 with about $2.2 billion 24‑hour spot volume; price momentum weakened during a recent correction (RSI low on shorter timeframes). On‑chain data show whale inflows to Binance at multi‑month lows and subdued 30‑day average inflows, suggesting large holders are not actively distributing. Spot XRP ETF flows briefly saw redemptions during the correction, but redemptions have slowed and small inflows resumed, reducing institutional sell‑side pressure. Analysts interpret falling exchange reserves and low inflows as signs of quiet accumulation or post‑capitulation absorption rather than active distribution. For traders: shrinking exchange supply reduces immediate sell‑side liquidity and downside risk, which can support price if demand returns; however, weak momentum and limited institutional buying mean the setup is cautiously constructive rather than decisively bullish. Monitor exchange reserves, on‑chain flows, ETF flows and spot volume for changes in market depth and potential volatility.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs have retained roughly $53 billion in cumulative net inflows despite recent months of redemptions and a late-January/early-February sell-off that pushed Bitcoin lower. The ETFs peaked at about $63 billion in October before falling to around $53 billion, far exceeding initial forecasts of $5–$15 billion. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) remains the largest and fastest-growing vehicle, surpassing $70 billion in assets under management and driving much of the institutional adoption of spot Bitcoin ETFs. Analysts link sustained ETF demand to broader institutional participation and easier platform access, though short-term volatility has caused intermittent outflows across funds. Market commentary notes Bitcoin’s price fell roughly 50% from its highs and briefly slipped toward $60,000 after the sell-off, prompting debate over whether traditional four-year cycles are changing. For traders: continued large-scale ETF inflows provide ongoing institutional bid under BTC and support market liquidity, but recent redemptions and price volatility increase downside risk in the short term. Key data points: ~$53B cumulative net inflows, ~$63B peak in October, BlackRock iShares >$70B AUM. Primary keywords: Bitcoin ETF, net inflows, Bitcoin price. Secondary keywords: spot Bitcoin ETF, institutional adoption, ETF redemptions, BlackRock iShares.

HIVE Digital has continued its transition from Ethereum to a dual Bitcoin mining and AI/HPC business. Latest results show installed hashrate near 25 EH/s (up ~300% YoY), a 34–35% gross margin, and BUZZ AI revenue reaching $4.9M in the reported quarter. The company mined 885 BTC in the most recent quarter, despite a ~10% quarterly BTC price decline and rising network difficulty, and core operating metrics improved even as GAAP net loss widened to $93.1M due mainly to accelerated depreciation and non‑cash charges. HIVE signed a two‑year, $30M contract to deploy 504 Nvidia B200 GPUs for enterprise AI cloud services, expected to add roughly $15M of annual revenue and materially boost HPC/AI revenue; management targets $140M ARR for BUZZ AI and $225M total HPC revenue by Q4 2026. Expansion has been funded partly via at‑the‑market equity issuance, which increased shares outstanding and introduces dilution risk even as hashrate per share rose ~114% YoY. Key trader considerations: potential rerating if BUZZ AI scales as guided and mining economics remain favorable; risks from continued dilution, rapid hardware depreciation, GPU pricing cycles, AI deployment execution, and BTC price volatility. Primary keywords: HIVE Digital, Bitcoin mining, BUZZ AI, hashrate, AI ARR, Nvidia B200.

Canary Capital and Grayscale Investments launched the first U.S. ETFs that give direct spot exposure to Sui (SUI) while integrating native staking rewards. Canary’s fund (SUIS) began trading on Nasdaq; Grayscale converted its closed-end trust into the Grayscale SUI Staking ETF (GSUI) on NYSE Arca. Both products pass or seek to capture staking rewards from Sui’s delegated proof-of-stake model—Canary’s fund reports net staking rewards under the 1940 Act and Grayscale says GSUI will capture native staking activity. Grayscale charges a 0.35% annual sponsor fee but is waiving it for three months or until assets reach $1 billion; Canary’s fee details are structured within its registered fund terms. Historical reported staking yields on Sui after fees are about 1.7%–1.9%. The launches expand regulated crypto offerings by embedding PoS yield mechanics into ETF wrappers, potentially attracting yield-seeking institutional capital. Market reaction was muted amid recent altcoin weakness: SUI traded near $0.95 with a roughly $3.7 billion market cap and had fallen sharply in the prior 30 days. Key implications for traders: these ETFs add a regulated, tradable vehicle combining spot exposure with staking income (which may reduce selling pressure from delegated stakes), create a new on-ramp for institutional allocation to SUI, and will test whether staking yields produce durable inflows during a market downturn. Watch early flows, fee waivers, and whether “sell-the-news” behavior continues—short-term price impact may be limited, while longer-term demand depends on institutional appetite for yield-bearing crypto ETFs.

On-chain trackers flagged a 290,010,321 USDC (~$290M) transfer on Ethereum from Coinbase Institutional to a Coinbase exchange wallet. Whale Alert labeled both addresses as being controlled by Coinbase Global Inc., indicating an internal reallocation rather than new capital inflow or outflow. Such large stablecoin movements typically reflect liquidity rebalancing, custody/treasury management, or client settlement activity. USDC maintained its $1 peg and there was no immediate price impact across crypto markets. Traders should monitor exchange-level net USDC flows, order-book depth on USDC pairs (BTC/USDC, ETH/USDC), and any subsequent on-chain velocity into DeFi or OTC venues — because while this transfer is operational and neutral in itself, follow-on conversions into spot or derivatives could create short-lived buying pressure. Primary keywords: USDC, Coinbase, stablecoin transfer, liquidity rebalancing, on-chain.

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), co-founded by Eric Trump, has engaged Securitize — a digital securities firm backed by BlackRock and Ark Invest — to structure and issue blockchain tokens representing interests in a development loan tied to the Trump International Hotel & Resort in the Maldives. The offering represents loan revenue (not equity) and will deliver fixed yields and payments linked to loan performance. Sales are limited to verified accredited U.S. investors and eligible offshore buyers under private placement exemptions; transfers and resales will carry restrictions. The resort development, led with DarGlobal and involving the Trump Organization, targets about 100 ultra‑luxury beach and overwater villas with completion aimed around 2030. Securitize will handle issuance, compliance and token distribution on supported public blockchains through selected partners and wallets. WLFI’s native token recently fell about 6.6% to $0.1163. The deal highlights ongoing institutional adoption of real‑world asset (RWA) tokenization but underscores regulatory uncertainty and limited secondary‑market liquidity as material risks for traders.

Societe Generale’s digital-asset arm SG-FORGE has launched its MiCA-aligned euro stablecoin, EUR CoinVertible, on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), expanding an existing multi-chain issuance that already includes Ethereum and Solana. The move targets institutional users and emphasizes XRPL’s scalability, low fees, fast and predictable settlement. Ripple provided custody infrastructure for the launch and may integrate the stablecoin into its product suite, with SG-FORGE noting potential use as trading collateral. The issuer is a Top-10 European bank with roughly $1.8 trillion in assets; the stablecoin is issued under French digital-asset rules and backed 1:1 by cash or high-quality securities. CoinGecko reports a circulating supply in the tens of millions of euros, making EUR CoinVertible one of the larger euro stablecoins after Circle’s EURC. SG-FORGE framed the XRPL rollout as part of a regulated product roadmap; Ripple executives stressed the adoption reflects institutional compliance needs. Validators on XRPL are also voting on upgrades (eg, Permissioned DEX) that could enable controlled, regulated trading environments. For traders, the launch signals greater institutional adoption of XRPL for regulated euro liquidity and on-chain settlement, potentially increasing demand and stablecoin flows on XRPL; it does not by itself constitute a direct price driver for XRP.

Crypto.com has become one of the first major digital-asset platforms to secure ISO/IEC 42001:2023, the international Artificial Intelligence Management System (AIMS) standard. The certification requires formal AI risk governance covering ethics, transparency, accountability, societal impact, and ongoing reporting. Company leaders — CEO Kris Marszalek and CISO Jason Lau — say the award reflects enterprise‑wide operational oversight of AI, not isolated controls. Crypto.com positions ISO/IEC 42001 alongside its existing compliance stack, including ISO/IEC 27001 (information security), ISO/IEC 27701 (privacy), ISO 22301 (business continuity), PCI DSS, SOC 2 Type 2 and Tier 4 alignment with NIST frameworks. The company also referenced recent AI initiatives and investments — integrations with CoincidenceAI and Doblox, and its reported $70m acquisition of the ai.com domain and an autonomous‑agent platform — as part of its strategy to deploy AI for fraud detection, risk modelling and operational automation. For traders, the certification signals stronger governance and controls around Crypto.com’s AI‑driven products and services, which could support institutional confidence and user flows amid rising regulatory scrutiny of market‑facing AI tools. The move is likely to be interpreted as a credibility and operational‑risk improvement rather than a direct price catalyst.

MYX, an on-chain derivatives protocol, has closed a strategic funding round led by Consensys, with participation from Consensys Mesh and Systemic Ventures. Consensys is now the largest investor. The undisclosed capital will fund deployment of MYX’s Modular Derivative Settlement Engine and accelerate the upcoming MYX V2 release. V2 is positioned to introduce gasless one-click trading, a Dynamic Margin system supporting higher leverage, and integrations with standards and infrastructure such as EIP-4337, EIP-7702 and Chainlink’s permissionless oracle stack to improve capital efficiency and expand tradable assets across chains. The deal signals stronger institutional backing for on-chain derivatives infrastructure and suggests faster product development and potential reduced liquidity fragmentation for omnichain perpetuals. Traders should watch V2 rollout and integration milestones — upgrades that could improve UX, on-chain liquidity aggregation and leverage products, affecting derivatives volume and order flow.

Upbit has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals for Injective (INJ) from 13:00 UTC to support the Injective protocol’s scheduled “Volan” mainnet upgrade. Spot trading for INJ/KRW and INJ/BTC on Upbit remains active; only external token movements (deposits and withdrawals) are blocked until Upbit’s technical team verifies the upgraded network and confirms node updates. The Volan upgrade adds real-world asset (RWA) modules, improves IBC cross-chain communication, and optimizes the proof‑of‑stake consensus to raise throughput. Exchanges routinely pause transfers during major upgrades to avoid risks such as double-spends and to validate the new chain. Upbit has not provided a precise restart time and will notify users when services resume. Market response has been muted so far, but traders should expect potential short-lived price discrepancies and limited arbitrage opportunities between Upbit and other venues that continue external INJ flows. Actionable points for traders: (1) complete any necessary withdrawals before the cutoff, allowing extra time for network congestion and time zones, (2) monitor Upbit and Injective official channels for restart notices, and (3) watch for transient arbitrage or spread changes while withdrawals are disabled. This is a routine risk-management measure intended to protect user funds during a major protocol upgrade.

Elemental Royalty, a precious-metals royalty company, will offer shareholders the option to receive quarterly dividends in Tether’s XAUT token (tokenized, 1:1‑backed gold) beginning with the upcoming payout. The company says dividends will be converted from U.S. dollar revenue into XAUT and distributed per share, subject to standard corporate approvals and shareholder communications about conversion and custody options. Elemental frames the move as providing greater flexibility and hedging amid gold-market volatility and says the XAUT option supplements — not necessarily replaces — future cash dividends. Key trader considerations: shareholder uptake of XAUT, secondary-market liquidity and spreads for XAUT versus spot gold, custody and wallet compatibility, tax and regulatory treatment across jurisdictions, and potential DeFi use cases (eg. using XAUT as collateral). This sets an early precedent for public mining-finance firms distributing asset-backed tokens; traders should monitor whether this increases demand and tradable liquidity for XAUT and affects gold-linked crypto instruments.

Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, disclosed about $96 million in spot Bitcoin ETFs in its Q4 2025 SEC 13F filing, marking a notable institutional allocation to regulated crypto products. Holdings span five spot Bitcoin ETFs, led by roughly $72.6 million in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) and about $23.4 million in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). The filing also showed a $4.3 million position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF and small equity stakes in crypto firms such as Coinbase and Circle, plus a sizable put option on MicroStrategy shares—interpreted as a hedge related to a company with heavy BTC exposure. For traders, the disclosure reinforces sustained institutional demand for spot BTC exposure via ETFs rather than direct custody, which can support liquidity and act as a price-floor mechanism. Watch ETF flows, share issuances/redemptions, and further bank disclosures for signs of expanding allocations that could influence short-term flows and longer-term institutional adoption.

NEAR Protocol (NEAR) is consolidating near $1.03–$1.05 after recent downside pressure, trading below the 20-day EMA (~$1.12). Technicals are mixed: RSI sits in the high-30s (near oversold), while the MACD histogram shows nascent bullish momentum. Key decision levels are resistance $1.0677 and support $1.0283. Bull scenario: a daily close above $1.0677 on rising volume (50%+ above 24h average) with expanding MACD histogram and RSI breaking above ~40 could trigger targets at $1.1234, $1.1810, $1.29 and, if momentum is strong, $1.6031. Bear scenario: rejection at $1.0677 and sustained trading below EMA20 with falling MACD and RSI under 30 could push NEAR toward $0.9760, $0.8410 and lower long-term lows near $0.2984. NEAR remains highly correlated with Bitcoin (~0.85); BTC strength or weakness (current area near $68k, supports at $65,483 and $62,910) will likely determine the sustainability of any NEAR rally. Traders should watch daily and 4H candle closes, volume spikes, RSI/MACD crossovers, and EMA10/20 interactions for confirmation. Recommended risk management: position sizing ~1–2% of capital and stop-losses at scenario invalidation levels. This is analysis, not investment advice.

The White House is arranging another high-level meeting to resolve a standoff between banks and crypto firms over whether dollar‑pegged stablecoins can offer interest‑like yields. Banks warn stablecoin yields could drain as much as $500 billion in U.S. deposits by 2028 (Standard Chartered), raising financial‑stability and competitive‑distortion concerns. Crypto companies, exchanges and industry groups including the Blockchain Association and Coinbase argue that banning rewards will push users toward riskier, unregulated alternatives and weaken regulated stablecoins. The talks follow multiple earlier White House sessions (most recently Feb. 3, 2026) that failed to bridge differences. The administration is proposing revised regulatory language and a drafting‑style meeting as a last attempt to reach compromise ahead of midterm‑related legislative hurdles and to advance the stalled Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The outcome will shape whether stablecoin yield products remain permissible and could materially affect liquidity flows between banks and crypto platforms, with implications for stablecoin issuers, centralized exchanges offering yields, and overall market stability.

Publicly traded firm Strategy purchased 2,486 BTC between Feb 9–16, 2026, spending about $168.4 million at an average price of roughly $67,710 per coin. The funds came from its ATM (at-the-market) equity program. The purchase increases Strategy’s total bitcoin holdings to 717,131 BTC, bought for about $54.52 billion, with an average acquisition cost near $76,027 per BTC. Because spot prices remain below that average cost, the treasury shows an estimated unrealized loss of approximately $5.756 billion. Strategy continues using ATM offerings to raise capital for recurring bitcoin accumulation, reinforcing its position as the largest corporate bitcoin holder and making the company more sensitive to BTC price swings. For traders, the update signals continued institutional demand and steady accumulation at current levels, but also highlights elevated treasury-driven volatility and downside risk while the firm holds sizable unrealized losses.

The XRP Ledger (XRPL) added about $354 million in tokenized real‑world assets (RWAs) over the past 30 days, lifting its total on‑chain RWA value and moving XRPL into sixth place among blockchains by tokenized asset value. The recent surge allowed XRPL to surpass Solana (SOL) and close the gap with BNB Chain, which remains fifth. The ranking aggregates distributed and represented assets and excludes stablecoins. This growth occurred despite a decline in XRP’s spot price during the same window, suggesting issuance and infrastructure activity — not short‑term token performance — drove the increase. Earlier reporting noted a 15.37% month‑over‑month rise (to roughly $1.5 billion in total tokenized assets on XRPL); the later update quantifies the 30‑day inflow as $354 million and clarifies XRPL’s sixth‑place standing. For traders, the move signals accelerating tokenization activity on XRPL that could support on‑chain utility and institutional interest; continued shifts in rankings will depend on further RWA issuance, valuation changes, and adoption by asset managers.

Kraken, operating in Wyoming as a Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI), has pledged to contribute additional funding for every eligible Wyoming newborn’s federal “Trump Account” for 2026. The Trump Accounts program is a federal pilot that provides a one-time $1,000 U.S. Treasury deposit for U.S. babies born between Jan 1, 2025 and Dec 31, 2028; funds are invested in approved index funds and grow tax-deferred until adulthood. Kraken framed the commitment as community support rooted in Wyoming, citing the state’s clear crypto-friendly regulatory framework—custody rules and banking charters—that has attracted crypto firms and enabled Kraken Financial. Senator Cynthia Lummis welcomed the pledge. Analysts and observers flagged political and reputational risk because the program is associated with President Trump, and noted the company did not disclose the exact contribution amount or whether it will provide cash or digital-asset funding. The move aligns Kraken with mainstream institutions backing the pilot and signals deeper ties between crypto firms and public policy. For traders, this is primarily a policy and adoption signal: it strengthens Wyoming’s reputation as a crypto policy hub and may support longer-term institutional and retail uptake of state-anchored crypto services. Immediate price effects are limited absent token issuance, large capital flows, or direct market exposures; primary impacts are reputational, regulatory and potential access expansion rather than short-term liquidity shocks.

BitMine Immersion Technologies has continued large-scale ETH accumulation since June, raising its holdings to roughly 3.62% of circulating Ether and reiterating a target to reach 5% within months. The miner-and-asset manager reports total assets around $9.6–$12.8 billion across filings and disclosed a $200 million investment in Beast Industries. BitMine has staked about 2 million ETH (roughly half its ETH holdings) to generate staking rewards, targeting $176 million of annual payouts to shareholders and consistent staking yields near industry rates. Management — led by Tom Lee — says the strategy is driven by expected institutional tokenization of assets, growing Wall Street interest, AI integrations, and Layer-2 adoption on Ethereum. The company will continue regular ETH purchases regardless of short-term volatility despite paper losses earlier in the accumulation. Market consequences include higher institutional staking demand, longer ETH staking wait times, and potential effects on ETH liquidity and price discovery. Traders should note increased concentrated institutional accumulation can reduce available circulating ETH, potentially supporting price over time, but repeated buy-and-hold accumulation also raises position risk and may have limited short-term price impact depending on broader market conditions.

ZeroLend, a multi‑chain non‑custodial DeFi lending protocol, announced it will permanently wind down operations after three years, urging users to withdraw funds immediately. The team cited sustained operational losses, a sharp fall in deposits and revenue, discontinued oracle support, rising security risks and thin lending margins. Deposits fell from a peak of about $359M in November 2024 to roughly $6.6M across Linea, Ethereum and zkSync Era; gross revenue dropped from $3.1M in 2025 to about $355k year‑to‑date. Most lending markets have been set to 0% loan‑to‑value. For assets stranded on smaller chains (Manta, Zircuit, xLayer), ZeroLend plans a timelock smart‑contract upgrade to redistribute locked funds; Base LBTC suppliers will receive a partial refund tied to a Linea airdrop allocation. The ZERO governance token has no recovery mechanism and plunged sharply (daily drops reported between ~34%–45%), trading near zero and showing severe illiquidity. The team blamed fragmented multi‑chain liquidity, unsupported oracles, infrastructure setbacks and increasing security threats, including active attacks, which produced sustained losses despite prior fundraising (a reported $3M 2024 seed at a $25M valuation and institutional backers). Traders should monitor ZERO token liquidity, on‑chain withdrawals and contract upgrades: forced sales, rapid withdrawals and timelocked redistributions could increase short‑term volatility in ZERO and related Layer‑2 and lending markets. Key SEO keywords: ZeroLend, DeFi lending shutdown, ZERO token collapse, withdrawals, multi‑chain liquidity.

Seventeen US-based AI startups closed funding rounds of $100 million or more during January–February 2026, continuing the heavy investor interest seen in 2025. Major disclosed deals include Anthropic’s $30 billion Series G (valuation $380 billion), xAI’s $20 billion Series E, ElevenLabs’ $500 million Series D (valuation $11 billion), Runway’s $315 million Series E (valuation $5.3 billion), Baseten’s $300 million infrastructure round (valuation $5 billion) and Fundamental’s $255 million (valuation $1.4 billion). Funding was concentrated in AI infrastructure, enterprise/developer tools, generative media, robotics and healthcare AI. Trends noted: more nine‑figure rounds at earlier stages (seed/Series A), increased strategic corporate participation (Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures and other cloud/compute players), and geographic concentration in Silicon Valley with specialised pockets in the Northeast. The surge is lifting valuations and expanding runway for compute‑heavy R&D but raises sustainability and exit-risk questions if product deployments or revenue lag. For crypto traders, the flow signals continued institutional confidence in AI infrastructure and cloud-accelerated stacks — sectors that can support equities and compute/cloud‑adjacent crypto projects and tokens tied to decentralized compute, storage, or AI platforms. Short‑term effects may include increased M&A activity and upbeat risk sentiment for related assets; longer term, elevated valuation multiples and talent competition could create downside risk if monetization stalls. (Main keyword: AI funding; secondary keywords: AI startups funding, AI infrastructure funding.)

YouTuber and collectibles investor Logan Paul sold a PSA-10 Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card for $16.49 million via Goldin Auctions, a record price for a trading card. Paul originally purchased the card in July 2021 for about $5.3 million, netting roughly an $8M profit after the sale. The card is one of approximately 39 produced and reportedly the only copy graded PSA 10. Buyer A.J. Scaramucci publicly received the card and displayed it at the handoff. The sale has renewed scrutiny of Paul’s fractional-ownership platform, Liquid Marketplace. Paul previously proposed fractionalizing up to 51% of the card in 2022; he says only ~5.4% was sold (raising about $270,000), which he repurchased in 2024 and made withdrawable. Liquid Marketplace faces charges from the Ontario Securities Commission alleging securities-law violations — including misleading investors, failing to register and misuse of funds — with a hearing set for June 2026. The case sits alongside wider headwinds for NFTs and tokenized collectibles. Paul’s earlier Web3 ventures (including CryptoZoo and his 0N1 Force NFT purchase) have faltered: a CryptoZoo fraud suit was dismissed after a buyback program, and a 0N1 Force NFT he bought for $635,000 has collapsed in value. The broader NFT market has contracted sharply (reported market cap falling from about $3.2B to $1.55B since early 2026), and some marketplaces are winding down. Despite this, tokenized Pokémon cards on Solana marketplaces showed renewed activity in early January, with one platform recording roughly $37M weekly volume. Implications for traders: the headline sale underlines how celebrity ownership and viral moments can drive outsized valuations in pop-culture collectibles and tokenized assets. However, regulatory scrutiny of fractionalization platforms and weakness in the NFT market increase legal and liquidity risks for tokenized collectibles. Traders should weigh short-term attention-driven price spikes against long-term market contraction and potential regulatory action when assessing tokenized-card assets and related marketplaces.

PRED, a sports-prediction trading platform built on Base, closed a $2.5 million seed round led by Accel with participation from Coinbase Ventures’ Base Ecosystem Fund (BEF) and Reverie. The funding will support product development, hiring, liquidity growth and go-to-market activities as PRED moves from invite-only internal testing toward broader rollouts. The team says PRED delivers exchange-style performance — roughly 200 milliseconds execution and spreads under 2% — using transparent on-chain order books and market-driven pricing rather than house-controlled sportsbook models. PRED is currently in private beta with invite-only onboarding and excludes users in India, Singapore, the US and OFAC-sanctioned jurisdictions. The raise aims to deepen institutional and trader participation to build a high-velocity venue for trading sports outcomes on Base.

A.J. Scaramucci purchased Logan Paul’s ultra-rare 1998 Pikachu Illustrator card for $16.49 million, a new trading-card record. The card is believed to be the only PSA 10 example among roughly 39 copies, increasing its collector value. Paul bought the card in 2021 for $5.3 million and reportedly realized substantial profit after fees. The sale revived scrutiny around Paul’s 2022 decision to fractionalize about 5.4% of the card via his Liquid Marketplace tokenization platform. Liquid later went offline and faced regulatory action in Canada in 2024 for alleged securities violations; critics call the episode a cautionary example of tokenized ownership and NFT fractionalization risks. Paul says he repurchased the fractional interests, helped restore withdrawal access, and funded restorations. For crypto traders, the episode highlights persistent regulatory and custody risks tied to tokenized collectibles and fractional NFTs. Primary keywords: Logan Paul, Pikachu card sale, PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator, NFT fractionalization, Liquid Marketplace. Secondary keywords: trading card record sale, tokenized ownership, regulatory scrutiny, collectibles market.