AI NEEDS MONEY -- HOROWITZ SAYS CRYPTO IS THE ANSWER
Ben Horowitz, co-founder of venture giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), just outlined why crypto and AI may be on a collision course.
His core argument is structural. AI agents operate globally and digitally, but traditional financial rails are slow, fragmented, and built for humans. Crypto, by contrast, is programmable, borderless, and always-on -- a better fit for machine economies.
👀 $TRUMP EYES REPLACING INCOME TAX WITH TARIFFS 🇺🇸
President Donald $TRUMP proposed replacing federal income taxes with tariffs, claiming foreign countries would pay while easing Americans’ tax burden.
Using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, he plans to act without Congress, though critics note tariffs currently generate far less revenue than income taxes and mostly fall on U.S. consumers.
Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley (managing trillions in assets) is rolling out direct spot #Bitcoin trading on E*TRADE in early 2026 via their Zerohash partnership.
No more just ETFs -- this means everyday retail investors get seamless, direct access to buy, sell, and hold #BTC right in their brokerage accounts.
But it doesn't stop there: plans include Bitcoin lending, yield products, full in-house custody, and expansion across wealth management accounts. High-net-worth clients are already getting early access per recent updates.
Mainstream finance is absorbing Bitcoin into the core system. When a firm this massive normalizes direct #crypto trading alongside #stocks and #bonds, the game changes for liquidity, adoption, and legitimacy.
Eric $TRUMP Reveals American $BTC Expanded Its Bitcoin Treasury Holdings By 58% Quarter Over Quarter Strengthening Balance Sheet Position.
SIX MONTHS IN AND ALREADY BTC ELITE 😤🚀
Eric $TRUMP posted this on X, coinciding with American Bitcoin Corp. (NASDAQ: ABTC)'s Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings release. The company, co-founded by Eric Trump, reported these metrics in official statements and press releases.
American Bitcoin increased its Bitcoin holdings by 58% quarter-over-quarter and mined at a 53% discount to market price. In about six months since its NASDAQ debut, it accumulated over 6,235 BTC, ranking as the 17th largest public Bitcoin holder, with year-over-year revenue growth of 159%. #MarketRebound #STBinancePreTGE #NVDATopsEarnings
$BTC ETFs bought $506.6 million worth of $BTC yesterday.
BlackRock's IBIT led the charge with ~$297 million of that $506.6M, nearly 60% of total flows on its own. What's notable is that no individual ETF recorded outflows on the day — this was broad-based buying across the board, not just one fund reshuffling.
TOKENIZED U.S. TREASURIES SURPASS $10B IN VALUE LOCKED
The market for tokenized U.S. Treasury securities has officially crossed $10.8 billion as of February 25, 2026, marking over $1.9 billion in year-to-date inflows. This signals a shift from experimental pilots to functional onchain financial infrastructure.
• YTD Growth: +20% since January 1, 2026, despite broader crypto market downturns. • Top Products: Circle’s USYC ($1.7B) and BlackRock’s BUIDL (~$2.2B) lead institutional offerings. • Yields: Average 7-day APY ~3.28%.
$TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PUSHES TO PASS CLARITY ACT BY MARCH 1 📅
The $TRUMP administration is accelerating efforts to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act), with an informal March 1, 2026 White House deadline to resolve remaining disputes.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is urging Congress to fast-track the bill for a Spring 2026 signature, calling federal rules “exactly what we need” to stabilize volatile markets and reassure investors.
Closed-door sessions with firms like Ripple and Coinbase mark progress; Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse estimates a 90% chance of passage by April.
🚨 JANE STREET UNDER GLOBAL SCRUTINY - DELETES ALL X POSTS 👀
Jane Street faces global scrutiny over a Terraform Labs $LUNA insider-trading lawsuit and a halted 10 AM Bitcoin $BTC selloff pattern, while BlackRock’s #iShares Bitcoin Trust #IBTC fuels speculation of massive crypto profits. #JaneStreet posted record 2025 revenue ($24B in 9 months)
Meanwhile, India’s Securities and Exchange Board of India has issued a $566M fine over alleged market manipulation tactics.
Searches for “can’t sell house” are spiking, signaling a market standoff. Home prices remain near record highs, but the pool of qualified buyers has shrunk, leaving sellers’ expectations out of step with reality.
Affordability is a major barrier: high prices and 6–7% mortgage rates have priced out nearly 80% of first-time buyers. While inventory is technically rising, actual sales are slowing, with homes staying on the market 48% longer than a year ago.
$BTC , on the other hand, offers 24/7 global liquidity, exponential growth potential.
Ripple CTO David Schwartz is pushing back hard on critics.
He said the $XRP Ledger was deliberately designed so even Ripple itself cannot control the network, specifically to prevent censorship, transaction reversals, or forced changes under regulatory pressure.
According to Schwartz, the architecture ensures nodes independently choose which validators to trust, meaning no single entity -- including Ripple -- can unilaterally alter the ledger.
But the market should understand the bigger context.
This comes after renewed criticism that XRPL’s Unique Node List structure creates “soft centralization.” Critics argue coordination around validator lists could still concentrate influence, while Schwartz calls that view “objectively nonsensical.”
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce Expects Surge In Crypto Securities By 2026 As SEC And CFTC Align Rules, Bringing New Clarity For $BTC .
$BTC ENTERING ITS REGULATED ERA ⚖️🚀
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce indicated that 2026 will see more crypto assets classified as securities due to growing tokenization of traditional assets like stocks and bonds. She emphasized the need for durable regulatory positions through Commission documents and rulemakings, alongside closer CFTC collaboration for a unified government approach. If relevant legislation passes, implementation work will intensify. #TrumpStateoftheUnion #STBinancePreTGE #TokenizedRealEstate