Bitcoin AI Generated News

Russia moved to fully block WhatsApp on Thursday, in what Meta says is an attempt to push more than 100 million Russian users onto a state‑controlled “surveillance app” — part of a broader Kremlin push to curb foreign messaging platforms. WhatsApp condemned the move on Twitter, saying Moscow’s effort to “isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia,” and added it is “doing everything we can to keep users connected.” Simultaneously, Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator, announced new restrictions on Telegram and said limits will remain until the app complies with local law, TASS reported. The twin actions are being read by digital‑rights advocates as a familiar playbook used by authoritarian states: block popular foreign services, promote a domestic alternative, and progressively fold citizens into a surveillance ecosystem. State super‑app “Max” Russia has been quietly building its replacement. Max, a government‑developed “super app” modeled on China’s WeChat, bundles messaging with government services but does not offer end‑to‑end encryption. Local outlets say the government has mandated Max be pre‑installed on all new devices sold in Russia and that public employees, teachers and students are required to use it — moves critics view as steering users toward a centrally controlled platform. Responses from platforms and advocates Telegram co‑founder Pavel Durov framed Russia’s pressure as an attempt to force citizens onto an app “built for surveillance and political censorship,” tweeting that Telegram “stands for freedom and privacy, no matter the pressure.” He pointed to Iran’s failed attempt years ago to replace Telegram with a state app — a ban that mostly failed in practice — as evidence such strategies can backfire. Shady El Damaty, co‑founder of human.mind and a digital‑rights advocate, told Decrypt the pattern is now familiar: “China, Iran, and now Russia. Same pattern every time — block the foreign platforms, spin up a domestic app, call it ‘sovereignty’ or ‘security.’” He warned that even decentralised tools still rely on chokepoints — app stores, hosted UIs and backend APIs — and argued that “real decentralisation and privacy isn’t a vibe, it’s the most critical infrastructure.” A look back and a warning Russia previously tried to block Telegram from 2018 to 2020 but lifted enforcement after users widely bypassed restrictions and the technical effort proved ineffective. That history underscores both the limits of censorship and the new measures governments can deploy to make surveillance the default. Kremlin stance and next steps Dmitry Peskov, President Putin’s press secretary, told TASS that WhatsApp could be restored “subject to compliance with Russian law and a willingness to engage in dialogue,” warning that an “uncompromising stance” by the company would keep the block in place. Neither the Kremlin nor Meta had immediate responses to Decrypt’s requests for comment. Why this matters to the crypto and decentralisation community For crypto and censorship‑resistance advocates, the Russian move is a reminder that control over communication infrastructure can be weaponised to limit speech and privacy. El Damaty put it plainly: “When a government controls how you communicate, they control what you say, who you say it to, and whether you say anything at all.” He urged that privacy be treated as baseline infrastructure — built without backdoors, vendor lock‑in or a centralized switch someone can flip. What happens next will test both the resilience of encrypted and decentralised tools and the ability of users to access them amid tightened state controls. For those building crypto‑native alternatives, the challenge is not only designing censorship‑resistant protocols but removing the practical chokepoints that allow states to steer populations into surveilled platforms. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Bitwise researcher: Bitcoin’s pullback looks driven more by macro fear than crypto fundamentals — and that could mean a big rebound André Dragosch, Bitwise’s Head of Research for Europe, says Bitcoin’s recent slide is less about an idiosyncratic crypto problem and more about markets pricing a deep U.S. recession. In a social post on Wednesday, Dragosch argued that if that recession doesn’t materialize, Bitcoin could be set up for a sharp recovery. Macro still rules Bitcoin, he says Dragosch describes Bitcoin as “fundamentally a macro‑driven asset,” estimating that roughly 90% of BTC’s historical performance can be explained by broad economic forces — growth expectations, global liquidity and monetary policy. He cautions that occasional decouplings do happen, and the market may currently be in one of those transitionary phases. The “quantum discount” narrative Part of the recent divergence, Dragosch notes, may come from crypto‑specific stories rather than traditional macro signals. Some traders are pricing in a so‑called “quantum discount”: concern about long‑term holder selling and speculation that quantum‑resistant cryptography will become essential. He points out that Bitcoin has underperformed Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which some market participants see as having a clearer near‑term roadmap for quantum resilience — a sign this narrative may be at work. Dragosch’s back‑of‑the‑envelope take: markets may be assigning as much as a 25% probability to quantum‑related risk, while he believes a more realistic discount is closer to 5%, since any meaningful “Q‑Day” threat is likely far off. A rare macro mispricing, he argues More recently, Dragosch says Bitcoin’s sensitivity to macro news has picked back up. That sensitivity, combined with weakness in software stocks, has deepened the correction — and created what he calls one of the largest macro mispricings in Bitcoin’s history. By his account, the gap between forward‑looking economic indicators and Bitcoin’s implied growth pricing is now wider than it was during the COVID‑19 shock in 2020. In practical terms, he believes current BTC pricing reflects expectations of a severe U.S. recession. If that downturn fails to appear, the set‑up could offer “one of the more asymmetric risk‑reward opportunities” Bitcoin has seen. Signs macro may be stabilizing Dragosch also highlights macro signals that aren’t uniformly negative: - Industrial commodity markets are showing early momentum. - U.S. ISM data has returned to expansion territory. - Germany’s Ifo business climate and Taiwanese semiconductor export trends are improving. - Historically, global rate‑cutting cycles have preceded stabilization in forward growth expectations. Taken together, these indicators suggest global growth may not be deteriorating as sharply as some fear — an environment that tends to favor risk assets like Bitcoin and reduce relative demand for safe havens such as gold. He also points to the BTC‑to‑gold ratio sitting near levels that historically indicate dislocation, which he views as another signal of potential undervaluation. Price context At the time of writing, Bitcoin traded around $67,591 — roughly 46% below last October’s record peak near $126,000. What to watch Dragosch’s thesis comes down to two things to watch: macro data that would validate or invalidate recession fears (ISM, leading indicators, commodity momentum, central bank policy) and whether quantum‑risk narratives keep gaining traction among holders and traders. If macro improves and the quantum premium proves overblown, Bitcoin could see a meaningful rebound, he suggests. Featured image: OpenArt; chart: TradingView.com. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Social sentiment around Bitcoin remains firmly bearish even after the recent price recovery, analytics firm Santiment reports — a sign retail traders on social platforms may still be wary despite the market rebound. How the metric works Santiment’s Positive/Negative Sentiment indicator gauges whether social media chatter about an asset leans bullish or bearish. A machine‑learning model classifies posts mentioning Bitcoin as positive or negative, then the metric is simply the ratio of positive to negative posts. Readings above 1 indicate more bullish messages than bearish ones; readings below 1 signal dominant negativity. What the data shows Santiment’s chart of Bitcoin’s sentiment over the past few months shows a clear cycle: - In January, as BTC rallied, positive sentiment spiked — social media users grew optimistic and, by Santiment’s wording, “greedy.” - That optimism coincided with a local market top and was followed by a pullback that pushed Bitcoin down toward the $60,000 level. - As prices fell, sentiment flipped sharply negative and has stayed depressed even as BTC recovered into the high $60,000s. Santiment notes that historically “while FUD is high, price rebounds have a heightened probability,” highlighting the recurring contrarian pattern in crypto markets where prices often move against the prevailing crowd expectation. Why it matters Persistent social-media fear despite price gains suggests retail participants may be slow to re-enter or remain cautious — a dynamic that can influence short-term volatility. For traders and analysts, tracking sentiment alongside price action offers an extra lens: extreme greed can foreshadow tops, while extreme fear can precede rebounds. Other market cues to watch Santiment’s analysis comes amid other market developments: Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards flagged on X that the combined market cap of USDT and USDC has been dipping. Historically, Edwards notes, stablecoin market caps tend to decline only in bear markets — so a continued fall in these reserves could indicate capital leaving the sector. Where price stands now Bitcoin briefly climbed above $70,000 earlier in the recovery but has since retraced and is trading around $67,700 at the time of writing. Bottom line Social sentiment remains skewed toward fear even after BTC’s bounce, making the current environment a potentially fertile one for volatile moves. Keep an eye on sentiment readings, stablecoin flows, and price behavior around key levels ($60k–$70k) to gauge where the market might head next. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

On-chain data shows bitcoin investors are locking in losses at levels last seen during the Terra/Luna collapse — but at much higher prices — a pattern analysts say looks more like late-cycle capitulation than a systemic market breakdown. What happened - Axel Adler Jr. flagged that Bitcoin’s Net Realized Profit/Loss (7‑day moving average) plunged into deeply negative territory on Feb. 7 and remained depressed through Feb. 10. That reading is the second deepest on record, behind the June 18, 2022 nadir tied to the Luna/UST implosion. - The metric stayed below a meaningful negative threshold for five straight days, signaling a sustained cluster of sellers and that realized losses are outpacing realized profits on moved coins — i.e., many holders are selling below their purchase price. - A companion gauge, Realized Loss (7DMA), climbed to one of its highest smoothed readings ever. Adler also noted a single‑day realized loss on Feb. 5 that ranks as the second‑largest one‑day loss in Bitcoin’s history. Why this matters — and how today differs from 2022 - The two events look similar in loss magnitude, but a crucial distinction is price: in 2022 those realized-loss levels occurred at much lower BTC prices. Today the same scale of losses is being crystallized after a pullback from recent highs, with Bitcoin trading around $67,000 at the time of Adler’s report. - That price difference suggests this episode is largely a “flushing out” of late bull‑cycle entrants rather than a systemic contagion like the Terra collapse. What to watch next Adler highlighted two indicators traders should monitor for a potential market recovery: 1. Net Realized Profit/Loss (7DMA) moving and staying above zero for multiple weeks — signaling a shift from loss dominance to profit dominance. 2. Realized Loss (7DMA) declining below a lower threshold — showing forced selling pressure is easing. Caveat - The 7‑day smoothing can understate peak stress. Adler points out single‑day spikes in 2022 were roughly three times higher than the weekly average, and continued price weakness now could extend this loss regime and turn a correction into deeper capitulation. Bottom line On-chain metrics mirror the intensity of mid‑2022 losses, but because those losses are occurring at far higher prices, the current signal reads more like late-stage capitulation than an echo of Terra’s systemic collapse. Monitor the Net Realized Profit/Loss and Realized Loss 7DMAs for signs the market is shifting back into profit dominance. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Bitwise client deploys $11M into Bitcoin amid market correction, signaling renewed institutional interest Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley revealed that a wealth management client invested $11 million in Bitcoin during the recent market correction — the client’s first crypto purchase after roughly two years of conversations with the firm. The buy, made while prices were depressed, highlights how some institutional and high-net-worth investors view pullbacks as buying opportunities rather than red flags. Horsley said a segment of investors who have remained on the sidelines are seeing declines as entry points, drawn by Bitcoin’s long-term value proposition and its capped supply. That narrative, he suggested, continues to resonate in the wealth management world despite the asset class’s short-term volatility. Market analysts told the outlet that sizable purchases like this one point to sustained institutional interest in Bitcoin beyond transient price moves. They also urged investors to use disciplined risk-management strategies to navigate crypto’s ups and downs. Bitwise Asset Management, which offers crypto investment products and services to both institutions and retail investors, has been active in helping clients access digital assets as part of diversified portfolios. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Thailand officially greenlights crypto as an underlying asset for derivatives Thailand’s government has approved a move to recognize cryptocurrencies as underlying assets under the Derivatives Trading Act, clearing the way for regulated crypto futures and options in the country. Key developments - On Feb. 10 the cabinet approved the Finance Ministry’s proposal—originally put forward by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in early 2026—to classify cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as “permissible goods and variables.” This designation enables them to serve as the basis for regulated futures and options contracts. - SEC secretary-general Pornanong Budsaratragoon said the commission will now draft specific regulatory requirements for market participants. That process will include: - Amending derivatives business licenses so existing digital-asset operators can offer crypto-linked contracts. - Establishing strict contract specifications to help mitigate crypto’s characteristic price volatility. - Reviewing broker and clearing-house licensing frameworks to ensure they can support these new products. Market rollout and products - The SEC will work with the Thailand Futures Exchange to launch the country’s first suite of crypto-linked derivatives, including Bitcoin futures. - Carbon credits are also being reclassified from “goods” to “variables,” paving the way for physically delivered carbon credit futures in Thailand. Wider strategy and timeline - The SEC’s 2026 roadmap further targets the rollout of crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Deputy SEC secretary-general Jomkwan Kongsakul has said the commission plans to launch crypto ETFs in Thailand “early this year” (early 2026). - Regulators frame the changes as measures to increase market inclusiveness, broaden investor options and improve risk-management tools for participants. Broader context - The reforms form part of a larger push to position Thailand as a regional crypto trading hub. The government is also exploring tourism-focused crypto use: the TouristDigiPay initiative, introduced by Deputy Prime Minister Pichai Chunhavajira, aims to let visitors convert digital assets into local fiat to support the tourism sector. What to watch next - Expect the SEC to publish draft rules and licensing amendments in the coming weeks/months, setting timelines for product launches and operational readiness for brokers, clearing houses and exchanges. Market participants should monitor those rule drafts for contract specs, margining requirements and other risk controls. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Headline: Israeli reservist and civilian indicted for allegedly using classified IDF intelligence to bet on Polymarket An Israel Defense Forces reservist and a civilian have been indicted for allegedly using classified military information to place wagers on Polymarket, spotlighting new risks at the intersection of insider information and decentralized prediction markets. What happened - A Tel Aviv court recently approved publication of an indictment charging the two defendants with serious security-related offenses, bribery and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors say the reservist accessed internal military intelligence through his army role and passed operational details to the civilian, who used that information to place bets tied to Israeli military actions on Polymarket. - The case was brought by the State Attorney’s Office cyber division after a joint investigation by police, the Shin Bet internal security agency and the Defense Ministry’s Arazim investigations unit. Authorities emphasized neither defendant holds a senior defense post. Why this matters for crypto markets - Polymarket is a blockchain-based prediction market where users buy and sell “yes/no” contracts on real-world events. The platform operates pseudonymously via crypto wallets, making it harder to link on-chain activity to specific individuals. - The probe was triggered by unusually accurate wagers on military outcomes, including bets linked to alleged Israeli operations in Iran in June 2025. Reports say one anonymous Polymarket account made several precise predictions about strikes and timing, generating significant profits — an anomaly that drew investigators’ attention. Broader implications - The indictment raises questions about how decentralized, pseudonymous platforms can be abused to monetize classified or insider information and the challenges regulators and investigators face when tracking on-chain activity back to real-world actors. - Israeli authorities warned that betting on the basis of classified information endangers operational security and national defense, and that exploiting secret material for financial gain could undermine military secrecy. What to watch - Whether this case prompts calls for greater oversight of prediction markets, stronger KYC/AML practices on crypto platforms, or new legal precedents around using classified information in on-chain markets. - Any public statements or policy moves from Polymarket or other prediction market operators addressing insider-use risks or platform safeguards. This developing story underscores the friction between crypto’s pseudonymity and state security concerns — a tension likely to draw more attention as on-chain markets continue to grow. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

As Consensus Hong Kong 2026 wrapped, the spotlight shifted from institutional panels to hands-on innovation on the show floor — and the message was clear: blockchain is entering “the Year of the Application Layer.” Nearly 1,000 developers took part in the EasyA x Consensus Hackathon, pitching more than 30 projects on demo day. What stood out wasn’t just quantity but a qualitative shift: thanks in part to generative AI, teams are increasingly shipping user-ready applications rather than academic or protocol-only proofs of concept. The result is a shrinking gap between demos and market-ready products. A new breed of builder Historically, Consensus hackathon entries skewed heavily toward deep technical work — faster consensus algorithms, niche layer-2 experiments and other infrastructure plays that didn’t translate easily to mainstream use. This year, however, developers showed up as product builders, prioritizing user experience and real-world utility. “The big thing that we've seen right now is that developers are actually building things that real people can actually use,” said Phil Kwok, co-founder of EasyA. “We've seen a big increase in the application layer. This is the year of the horse in Asia, but it's the year of the application layer in blockchain.” That UX focus was evident in practical integrations like passkeys from iOS and Android, which let users log into Web3 apps without relying on 24-word seed phrases. By removing those long-standing friction points, teams are making blockchain apps feel more like mainstream mobile and web experiences. Winners: automation, security and risk management Judges rewarded projects that combine automation, robust security and risk management — capabilities organizers say will be essential for onboarding retail users at scale. Top honors went to: - FoundrAI — An autonomous AI agent billed as a “startup in a box,” FoundrAI manages a project’s lifecycle end-to-end, including hiring human developers to build the product. It points to a provocative direction for decentralized labor and project automation. - SentinelFi — Aimed at tackling rug pulls and scam tokens, SentinelFi provides real-time safety scores for traders by running a six-category on-chain analysis to flag risky tokens before users invest. - PumpStop — A non-custodial trading layer focused on risk mitigation. Using state-channel instant execution, PumpStop allows traders to place stop-loss orders with on-chain proofs, bringing professional trading controls to custody-preserving environments. A growing centerpiece of Consensus The EasyA x Consensus Hackathon has grown from side-room activity to a central attraction on the conference floor. “Typically every hackathon that we host gets bigger and bigger,” said Dom Kwok, co-founder of EasyA. “It's taking up more and more of the conference floor every year. We had someone flying in from San Diego just to see what was getting built.” Despite a macro environment that’s often reflected in muted token prices, the atmosphere among builders was optimistic. Organizers emphasized a long-term perspective: while markets react to interest rates and Fed policy, developers are focused on the 93% of the global population that still doesn’t own crypto. For many teams, usability — not yield-chasing — is the feature that will unlock the next billion users. Looking ahead Phil and Dom Kwok said they’re already eager to see how much further the bar will be raised at Consensus Miami 2026, and how many more developers will bring surprising, user-friendly ideas to the table. If Hong Kong was any indication, the industry’s center of gravity is shifting from protocol innovation alone to real-world applications that prioritize people. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Agant has taken a key regulatory step in the U.K. crypto market, securing registration as a cryptoasset business with the Financial Conduct Authority under the country’s anti-money laundering rules. The move clears a path for the firm to issue GBPA, a fully backed sterling stablecoin aimed at institutional users, the company said in a Wednesday press release. Why it matters Stablecoins—crypto tokens typically pegged to fiat or reserve assets—are now central to payments and cross-border settlement in digital finance. The market is dominated by dollar-pegged tokens such as Tether’s USDT (market cap nearly $184 billion) and Circle’s USDC. But as the U.K. advances its regulatory framework for digital assets, pound-denominated stablecoins are drawing fresh interest from institutions and innovators hoping to anchor more activity in sterling. Where GBPA fits in Agant says GBPA will be redeemable 1:1 for pounds sterling, fully backed, and built to operate inside the U.K.’s evolving regulatory regime. The firm plans to link the token with traditional financial infrastructure while leveraging blockchain programmability and faster settlement—traits that could make GBPA useful for treasury operations, institutional liquidity management and cross-border payments. The current GBP stablecoin landscape remains small The GBP stablecoin market is still nascent. Tokenised GBP (TGBP) is one of the larger options currently, with a market cap of about $4.9 million, according to CoinGecko. Other pound tokens, such as VNX British Pound (VGBP) and Mento British Pound (GBPM), have market caps in the low hundreds of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars—underscoring how early the market is for sterling-pegged coins compared with dollar alternatives. Macro backdrop Stablecoin supply and on-chain volumes have expanded dramatically in recent years, turning these tokens into a pillar of digital finance. Industry data cited in Agant’s announcement points to total stablecoin supply climbing into the hundreds of billions—projected to exceed $280–$300 billion in 2025—driven by uses from cross-border payments to institutional liquidity solutions. Company positioning and next steps Agant, headquartered in Stirling, Scotland, focuses on institutional digital finance. CEO Andrew MacKenzie said a well-designed GBP stablecoin could "provide a strong foundation for innovation in payments, settlement and tokenized assets in the U.K." He added the company is working closely with regulators, financial institutions and global partners as it develops the platform. With FCA registration in hand, Agant is now positioned to roll out GBPA once operational and compliance milestones are complete—adding another contender to a small but potentially growing field of pound-denominated stablecoins as London seeks to deepen its role in digital asset markets. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Hong Kong’s securities regulator has taken a major step to broaden the city’s crypto market, unveiling rules that allow licensed crypto firms to offer margin financing and enable trading in leveraged perpetual contracts — moves designed to deepen liquidity and sharpen Hong Kong’s position as a global virtual-asset hub. What’s changing - The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) released a Pillar P framework under its ASPIRe roadmap permitting licensed corporations that provide virtual-asset dealing services (VA brokers) to extend credit to margin clients. Credit will only be available to clients with strong credit profiles and adequate securities collateral. - Only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are eligible as virtual-asset collateral under the new guidance. - The SFC has also published a high-level framework allowing licensed virtual-asset trading platforms to offer perpetual contracts (Perps) — but only to professional investors. Why the regulator is moving now According to the SFC, these changes aim to expand product choice, deepen market liquidity, and broaden investors’ risk-management tools while positioning Hong Kong as a leading digital-asset center. The regulator says responsible, regulated margin financing can boost participation and liquidity in a “risk-controlled environment.” Risk controls and operator responsibilities The SFC cautions that perpetual contracts carry risks different from traditional futures and spot trading. As a result, platform operators will need robust governance and transparent processes covering valuation, margining, collateralization and liquidation. The new frameworks emphasize strong management measures to contain those risks and align crypto offerings with traditional market standards. Comments from the SFC Speaking at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, Eric Yip, the SFC’s Executive Director of Intermediaries, described the ASPIRe roadmap as ushering Hong Kong’s crypto development into a “defining stage.” He stressed this year’s regulatory focus on liquidity — cultivating market depth, improving price discovery and building investor confidence through expanded but responsible product access. Yip noted that crypto margin financing will be anchored to the existing securities margin-financing framework to clarify the use of crypto as collateral and “enable responsible leverage that supports liquidity without undermining financial stability.” He also described the Perps framework as principles-based and intended for professional investors. Innovation channel: Digital Asset Accelerator Yip highlighted a forthcoming Digital Asset Accelerator under Pillar Re — a structured conduit for engagement between regulators and industry innovators aimed at bridging regulatory clarity and product innovation. Bottom line Hong Kong is deliberately expanding its crypto product suite while insisting on strong regulatory guardrails. By greenlighting BTC/ETH-backed margin financing and professional-only perpetuals within a controlled framework, the SFC is betting that liquidity and market sophistication can be cultivated — provided governance, transparency and risk controls remain front and center. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

YZi Labs is placing bets on futures most investors aren’t yet living in — from stablecoins and Web3 infrastructure to AI and long-horizon biotech — and doing so with a clear, conviction-driven playbook. Speaking at Consensus Hong Kong 2026 on Thursday, YZi head Ella Zhang summed up the firm’s approach: “To focus on the things that haven’t happened yet, and to focus on the people who are there to dream them up and to make it happen.” Formerly Binance Labs, YZi is deliberately spanning multiple technological frontiers to balance different time horizons: crypto’s boom-and-bust cycles, AI’s accelerating adoption, and biotech’s decade-spanning development timelines. That balance informs how YZi evaluates opportunities. Zhang stressed that founders are pressured to demonstrate real user demand rather than narrative-driven hype. The firm zeroes in on product fundamentals — which pain point is being solved, how distribution will work, and whether there are early signals the problem truly matters. Funding is driven by conviction: “We’re not obligated to deploy all the capital we have,” she said, and checks come when the team believes in a company’s prospects. YZi aims to be an early backer while continuing to support portfolio companies across multiple rounds, pairing capital with mentorship and strategic resources. On the infrastructure side, Zhang highlighted BNB Chain as a natural distribution layer, pointing to “thousands of protocols” and “hundreds of millions of users” as fertile ground for new applications. At the same time, the firm explicitly welcomes the messy reality of startups: it’s “very, very open for the founders to fail and welcome them to come back,” framing failure as part of founder development and long-term relationship-building. Among product trends, Zhang singled out stablecoins as crypto’s first mass-market use case beyond trading. With global compliance frameworks improving, stablecoins are positioned to drive broader adoption — but they’re not finished. Zhang said custody solutions, exchange infrastructure and on-chain foreign exchange rails still need work before stablecoins reach full maturity. Bottom line: YZi’s multi-horizon thesis — disciplined, fundamentals-first investing across Web3, AI and biotech — aims to smooth the timing risk inherent in crypto cycles while supporting ambitious founders over the long haul. For startups, that means rigorous product scrutiny and a partner willing to back convictions across rounds. For investors, it’s a bet on diversification across technologies that may pay off at different tempos. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

The idea that stablecoins can slash remittance costs across Africa is compelling — but recent data shows the reality is far more uneven. Borderless.xyz’s January figures reveal that the median spread for stablecoin-to-fiat conversions across African corridors was nearly 300 basis points (about 3%). That’s substantially higher than Latin America’s ~1.3% and Asia’s almost negligible 0.07%. Those gaps matter: they directly reduce the money arriving in recipients’ pockets. Digging inside the continent exposes even sharper contrasts. South Africa, with multiple competing providers and deeper liquidity, posted one of the lowest conversion costs at roughly 1.5%. At the other extreme, Botswana’s median spread climbed to nearly 19.4% in January (though it eased later that month), and the Democratic Republic of Congo saw spreads above 13%. These aren’t isolated blips — the dataset spans 66 currency corridors and nearly 94,000 rate observations. What’s driving these differences is less about blockchain technology and more about what happens where crypto meets cash. “Spread” here refers to the execution cost — the bid-ask gap between the price a provider will buy a stablecoin for and the price it will sell the equivalent fiat. Where several payment providers compete, spreads tend to sit in the 1.5–4% range; where a single player dominates, spreads can top 13%. Borderless.xyz also compared stablecoin mid-rates with interbank FX mid-market rates, a metric it calls the TradFi premium. Across 33 currencies globally, the median TradFi premium was tiny — about 5 basis points (0.05%) — suggesting parity in many markets. In Africa, however, the median premium widened to roughly 120 basis points (about 1.2%), helping explain why stablecoins don’t automatically deliver large savings in every corridor. Economists still note that stablecoins can cut remittance costs versus legacy services (which often charge around $6 per $100 sent), but the new data adds important nuance. Faster settlement and lower fees are possible, but only when local on-ramps and off-ramps function well. For senders and recipients, that means some corridors offer real savings while others remain frustratingly expensive. For regulators and newcomers, the lesson is clear: improving cross-border rails alone isn’t enough. Bolstering local competition, deepening liquidity, and opening more reliable fiat on- and off-ramps are essential to translating the promise of stablecoins into consistent, tangible benefits for African remittance corridors. Featured image from andBeyond, chart from TradingView. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Crypto payments go autonomous as Ethereum sees a surge of agent registrations This week brought a flurry of developments that could let AI agents move from advising humans to executing crypto transactions on their own — and markets are already reacting. Coinbase launches “Agentic Wallets” Coinbase introduced Agentic Wallets, a wallet architecture built specifically for autonomous AI agents. The aim: let AI systems hold, spend, earn and trade crypto without needing human approval at every step. According to Coinbase, “the next generation of agents won’t just advise – they’ll act.” Key features and safeguards: - Built on Coinbase infrastructure and powered by the x402 payments protocol, which has processed over 50 million transactions. - Enables machine-to-machine crypto payments, gasless trading on Base, and programmable financial actions. - Developers can enforce session caps and transaction limits. - Private keys remain secured within Coinbase’s infrastructure. - Built-in compliance tooling automatically screens transactions. Lightning Labs expands agent tooling on Bitcoin Lightning Labs unveiled a toolkit to enable AI agents to transact directly over the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Their update includes support for automatic L402 payments, node operations via MCP, remote key signing for enhanced security, and scoped spending controls — all designed to let autonomous agents interact with Lightning with better security and operational control. Ethereum agent activity explodes after ERC-8004 On Ethereum, activity ramped up sharply after the launch of ERC-8004, a standard that gives agents portable on-chain identities and a trust layer. Over 13,000 AI agents registered on-chain in a single day following the standard’s introduction, signaling strong developer uptake and interest in identity-driven agent ecosystems. Market response: many AI tokens climb Market action reflected growing enthusiasm for the AI payments narrative. Several AI-related tokens finished the week in positive territory: - Kite (KITE): ~+15% over seven days - tokenbot (CLANKER): >+15% - Siren (SIREN): +12% - Unibase (UB): +9% (Prices per CoinMarketCap.) Some tokens were down on shorter time frames, but the broader weekly gains suggest investors may be positioning early around autonomous agents and machine-native payments. Why it matters If these infrastructure upgrades prove robust and secure, they could unlock new machine-to-machine economic flows — from autonomous services paying each other for compute and data, to agents managing and optimizing portfolios without constant human intervention. Built-in compliance and key custody controls will be critical in determining whether regulators and institutions are comfortable with autonomous payments at scale. Disclaimer This content is informational and not investment advice. Crypto trading carries high risk; do your own research before making financial decisions. © 2026 AMBCrypto Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Meta is doubling down on U.S. infrastructure as it races to power the next generation of artificial intelligence. On Wednesday the company announced plans for a massive new data center in Indiana — a $10 billion project designed to deliver 1 gigawatt of electrical capacity when fully operational. That scale is notable: Meta says the site’s power needs will equal the electricity consumption of roughly 800,000 homes. The company has already signed contracts with power providers to upgrade local grid infrastructure, and Rachel Peterson, Meta’s vice president for data centers, told Reuters the facility could be online by 2027–2028. “We’re going to be pushing a lot of capacity through construction very quickly at this site,” she said. Meta’s move highlights two broader trends. First, Big Tech is aggressively securing huge amounts of energy to run compute-heavy AI workloads. Second, the project aligns with the White House’s “Make in America” push — Meta has emphasized U.S.-based investment, and in November said it would pour $600 billion into U.S. infrastructure and jobs over three years. The Indiana announcement also contrasts with other recent cloud investments abroad. In December, Amazon and Microsoft unveiled plans to invest a combined $53 billion into data centers in India — with Amazon committing $17.5 billion and Microsoft $35 billion — targeting expansion in cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. Meta’s choice to concentrate capacity at home gives a boost to U.S. power suppliers and construction firms. Who could benefit financially? Power grid and utility companies stand to win from necessary transmission and substation upgrades, making them a sector to watch as capital flows toward on‑site and regional upgrades. But the project has drawn opposition. Environmental activists warn that concentrated, high-demand facilities can strain local grids, potentially impacting residents’ power reliability, and raise broader concerns about carbon emissions and climate effects. For crypto and blockchain watchers, the story is relevant beyond AI: large, new industrial loads change regional power economics and can reshape where energy-intensive operations — including mining and compute services — locate or expand. As hyperscalers lock in long-term energy deals and push grid upgrades, investors and operators in both the energy and crypto ecosystems will want to follow how these megaprojects unfold. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

XRP is staging a noticeable Wave 4 relief bounce after last Thursday’s sharp sell-off, but the larger downtrend remains intact — meaning one last leg lower is still possible before a sustainable recovery can take hold. What happened - The dramatic drop pushed XRP’s RSI to multi-year lows, a level of exhaustion that analyst CasiTrades says likely signals capitulation. That flush set the stage for the current rebound, which is typical for a Wave 4 reaction after the market becomes deeply oversold. - Short-term momentum has improved, but overall trend direction hasn’t changed: a decisive break above key resistance is required to confirm a reversal. Key technical levels to watch - First resistance: the initial Wave 4 target at the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement, near $1.52. This area also lines up with a macro 0.65 retracement, creating a strong confluence zone where sellers may reappear. - The make-or-break zone: around $1.65, where the 0.5 Fib and a macro 0.618 retracement converge. A sustained move above $1.65 would materially strengthen the recovery case; failure to hold it would raise the odds of a final impulsive leg down. Bearish scenario - If XRP cannot reclaim $1.65 as support, CasiTrades warns the market could move lower toward targets near $1.09, and potentially as low as about $0.90. That would complete a larger corrective sequence. Bullish scenario and opportunity - The recent relief rally has already normalized the RSI from extreme oversold territory. If price drops to the lower targets, those conditions could produce bullish divergences on momentum indicators — a classic setup for strong long-term buying opportunities. - Conversely, a confirmed break and flip of $1.65 into support would change the outlook in favor of a more sustainable recovery; a clean back-test of that level would offer a more structured entry point than chasing the rebound. Bottom line XRP’s short-term bounce shows promise, but traders should treat $1.65 as the critical pivot. According to CasiTrades, this is not the time for panic selling: major technical levels have been tested, and the anticipated final wave down could be shortened or even fail — potentially marking the start of a stronger recovery. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

BlockFills, a crypto trading firm, has temporarily suspended client deposits and withdrawals, citing recent market and financial stress. The company announced the move on X, saying the pause—implemented last week—is a protective measure intended to preserve liquidity for both clients and the firm. Despite the restriction on cash flows, BlockFills says trading functionality remains available. Clients can still open and close positions across spot markets and derivatives and handle select other trading activities, enabling them to manage existing exposure even while deposits and withdrawals are paused. The firm did not give a timeline for when normal deposit and withdrawal services will resume. BlockFills framed the decision as a liquidity safeguard during a period of heightened uncertainty. “Management has been working hand in hand with investors and clients to bring this issue to a swift resolution and to restore liquidity to the platform,” the company said. It also emphasized transparency—holding information sessions and giving customers opportunities to ask senior management questions—with further updates promised as the situation develops. The announcement comes amid notable market volatility: Bitcoin fell from the low $70,000s to a weekly low in the mid-$60,000s before recovering toward roughly $67,000 at press time. That turbulence has put liquidity management under greater scrutiny across crypto trading firms, testing operational resilience and prompting a range of risk-mitigation actions industry-wide. BlockFills’ move joins a string of recent precautionary steps by crypto firms as markets remain choppy; the company’s continued client communications will be key to watching how and when normal services are restored. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Headline: Strategy leans on preferred stock to keep buying Bitcoin while dampening share volatility Strategy is ramping up sales of perpetual preferred shares as a way to fund ongoing Bitcoin purchases while reducing the wild swings that have tracked its ordinary shares. In a Feb. 12 interview with Bloomberg, CEO Phong Le said the company is marketing more of a perpetual preferred product called “Stretch,” aimed at investors who want exposure to digital assets but not the extreme price moves of common stock. Stretch pays a variable dividend that is reset monthly; the current dividend rate is 11.25%. The security is structured to trade close to its $100 par value, helping limit the sharp price moves that often hit Strategy’s common shares. Why preferred shares? - Preferreds sit above common stock in the capital structure (but below debt), generally offer steady income and priority on dividends in exchange for limited or no voting rights. - That predictable-return profile makes them attractive to institutions—pension funds, insurers and banks—that prefer stability over high beta exposure to Bitcoin. - Analysts say preferred issuances also bolster the balance sheet: compared with convertible bonds they reduce refinancing risk and avoid sudden dilution for common shareholders. Funding and Bitcoin accumulation Over the past three weeks, Strategy raised about $370 million via common stock sales and roughly $7 million via preferred shares. All proceeds were used to buy more Bitcoin, bringing the company’s holdings to north of 714,000 BTC—roughly $48 billion at current prices. The financing shift reflects longer-term dynamics in Strategy’s business model: the company has built itself on using capital markets to accumulate BTC, and its common stock frequently behaves like a leveraged play on the cryptocurrency—surging when Bitcoin rallies and amplifying losses when it falls. With Bitcoin about 50% below its recent peak, that sensitivity has made relying solely on common stock raises more difficult. Broader context and outlook Co-founder Michael Saylor has reiterated that the company does not plan to sell its Bitcoin and intends to keep buying each quarter regardless of market conditions. Strategy first leaned into preferred-stock funding earlier and raised roughly $5.5 billion through several preferred offerings in 2025; the latest moves continue that pattern and signal the company’s confidence in this long-term funding model. Bottom line: Preferred stock gives Strategy a tool to keep piling into Bitcoin while muting the feedback loop between the crypto’s volatility and the company’s share price—making its capital-raising more palatable to conservative institutional buyers and strengthening its financing position. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Lighter has taken a big step toward marrying TradFi blue-chips with DeFi: the DEX announced on Feb. 11 that it’s launching on-chain perpetual futures tied to major South Korean equities. Traders can now trade crypto-settled perps for Samsung Electronics ($SAMSUNG), SK Hynix ($SKHYNIX), Hyundai Motor ($HYUNDAI) and a Korean Composite index (KRCOMP) with up to 10x leverage. Why it matters - This is the first decentralized exchange to offer perpetual contracts directly linked to Korean stocks, letting crypto-native traders take long or short positions on these names around the clock — no broker, custodian, or local market hours required. - Contracts are settled in crypto and remain open as long as margin requirements are met, mirroring the model used for BTC/ETH perps but applied to traditional equities. How it works Lighter uses a zero-knowledge design intended to lower fees and speed execution while keeping sensitive user data off-chain. That privacy-forward architecture aims to make trading cheaper and faster than some on-chain alternatives, while still delivering the familiar features of perpetuals: leverage, continuous settlement, and 24/7 markets. Market backdrop The timing taps into growing demand for Korean equities, especially in semiconductors and autos. Samsung and SK Hynix have benefited from surging memory demand tied to AI workloads, while Hyundai continues to gain from resilient global auto sales. Semiconductor-focused funds and some leveraged products have posted strong gains in recent months — with some returns in the 70–80% range reported — which helps explain investor appetite for new ways to gain exposure. Regulatory context and risk South Korea is simultaneously opening regulated channels for leverage: regulators have approved a new wave of 2x leveraged ETFs tied to big names like Samsung and Hyundai, slated to launch in 2026 along with investor education programs. Lighter’s perps, however, operate outside South Korea’s securities framework. That brings advantages — easier access and higher leverage — but also regulatory and counterparty risks that traders should weigh. Crypto market relevance South Korea remains an active crypto market. CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju recently noted that local exchanges still account for roughly 9.54% of global spot trading volume, underscoring continued local engagement in digital-asset markets. Bottom line Lighter is betting on demand for “hybrid” financial products that combine equity exposure with crypto-native infrastructure. For traders seeking 24/7, on-chain access to Korean blue-chips, these new perps are a novel option — but one that comes with the higher leverage and regulatory caveats typical of unregulated crypto derivatives. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Input Output Global (IOG) founder Charles Hoskinson announced Thursday that Midnight, the company’s long-awaited privacy-focused blockchain, will go live in the final week of March. The reveal came during Hoskinson’s keynote at Consensus Hong Kong and marks a major milestone in IOG’s push to combine data protection with regulatory compliance in decentralized systems. Midnight is designed as a partner chain to Cardano and centers on selective-disclosure privacy powered by zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. In plain terms, ZK proofs let users prove the validity of transactions or data without exposing the underlying information — a “smart curtain” for blockchain records that keeps data private by default while allowing selective sharing when required. Hoskinson said IOG has “some great collaborations to help us run it,” naming Google and Telegram among partners and hinting at more to come. To demonstrate how Midnight handles privacy at scale, IOG launched the Midnight City Simulation — an interactive platform that showcases the chain’s “rational privacy” model. The simulation presents multiple disclosure levels (public, auditor and “god”) to illustrate how different parties can be granted varying degrees of access, balancing transparency and confidentiality for decentralized applications that must meet regulatory or audit needs. The simulation went live at midnight.city at 10:00 a.m. Hong Kong time Thursday, though public access remains restricted until Feb. 26, according to IOG’s press release. Running on the Midnight network, the demo uses AI-driven agents to generate unpredictable, continuous transaction traffic, testing the chain’s capacity to generate and process ZK proofs under realistic load. IOG says this sustained proof-generation is a crucial proof point that the network can scale and operate in real-world conditions. Taken together, the launch timeline, industry partnerships, and the City Simulation position Midnight as a notable attempt to marry on-chain privacy with compliance — a capability many developers and regulators have been watching closely. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

Headline: DOJ slaps Paxful with $4M criminal fine after probe finds platform enabled illicit payments The U.S. Department of Justice has ordered peer-to-peer crypto marketplace Paxful to pay a $4 million criminal fine after the company pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges tied to failures in anti-money‑laundering controls and knowingly moving illicit funds. Key facts - Paxful admitted guilt to charges including conspiracy to violate the Travel Act (for promoting illegal prostitution), operating an unlicensed money‑transmitting business, and dealing with funds sourced from criminal activity. - The DOJ said Paxful “profited from moving money for criminals” by promoting weak AML controls and failing to comply with money‑laundering laws, despite being aware that users were running fraud, extortion, prostitution and commercial sex‑trafficking schemes. - Prosecutors initially calculated a criminal penalty of $112.5 million, but reduced the amount to $4 million after determining Paxful lacked the financial capacity to pay the larger sum. - Between December 2015 and December 2022, the DOJ says Paxful acted as a primary payment conduit for Backpage and copycat classified‑ad sites. Roughly $17 million in Bitcoin was routed through Paxful to those platforms, generating millions in company revenue; the DOJ pegged Paxful’s take at about $2.7 million. - The complaint alleges Paxful and its founders marketed the exchange as KYC‑compliant while knowing many customers were engaged in illicit activity, even boasting internally about a so‑called “Backpage Effect” that accelerated growth. - Co‑founder Artur Schaback pleaded guilty in July 2024 to conspiracy to willfully fail to maintain an effective AML program and faces up to five years in prison under his plea agreement. Ray Youssef stepped down in April 2023 amid a public fallout and has since distanced himself from the company’s legal troubles. Company trajectory and fallout Paxful briefly suspended services in April 2023, resumed soon after, and ultimately shut down permanently in late 2025. In a company blog post, Paxful cited unsustainable compliance‑remediation costs and the legal fallout from “historic misconduct” by its original co‑founders as reasons for its closure. What this means for the industry The case is a sharp reminder that peer‑to‑peer crypto marketplaces are under increasing DOJ scrutiny, particularly around AML controls and the risk of facilitating payments for illegal online markets. Enforcement actions like this signal continued pressure on crypto platforms to demonstrate meaningful compliance or face criminal penalties. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news