Ark Invest bought 41,453 Coinbase shares on Tuesday for three of its ETFs, reversing earlier February sales amid market volatility.
A misconfigured Chainlink price oracle on DeFi lender Moonwell briefly valued Coinbase Wrapped ETH (cbETH) at about $1 instead of roughly $2,200.
Reports of real-world trials and steady questions from advisers are giving XRP and its network fresh attention, but the story is part optimism and part early-stage testing. Related Reading: What Bitcoin Rout? Michael Saylor Unfazed, Teases New Accumulation Grayscale Investments Reports Growing Advisor Questions According to people familiar with sales desks, the firm’s teams keep hearing the same line from financial advisers: clients want to know about the token. That curiosity, while loud, does not automatically mean money is moving in large sums. Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, who leads Product and Research at Grayscale Investments, said XRP ranks among the most talked-about crypto assets, with many investor discussions placing it just behind Bitcoin. The firm’s role is sales and research, and what gets asked about often leads product teams to track demand. Still, Reports say adviser interest is now a regular part of conversations that once focused almost entirely on Bitcoin. “Advisors are constantly asked by their clients about $XRP, and in some cases, it’s the second most talked about asset in this community behind Bitcoin.” As @Ray_scale shared during @Ripple’s XRP Community Day, advisors across the country consistently hear about $XRP from their… pic.twitter.com/ws3q1fJoZR — Grayscale (@Grayscale) February 16, 2026 Big Players Run Pilots Reports have disclosed that big names in finance and payments are running trials on the network. BlackRock and Mastercard have been linked to exploratory projects testing tokenized instruments and settlement flows. Pilots were set up to see whether on-chain liquidity and programmable money can shave steps from traditional processes. The work is at testing scale. It is not yet routine, and most of what’s public is limited to proof points. Token Demand Vs. Infra Checks XRP remains at the center of the conversation. Reports note that advisers and retail holders mention it often, and that community enthusiasm helps keep it in headlines. But supply, custody arrangements, and regulated product wrappers are the things that actually move investable capital. Meanwhile, the ledger that underpins the token is being vetted for features that large institutions find appealing. The ledger’s pace and fee profile have been looked at closely in these checks. Enterprise Features And Tokenized Funds Reports say the network includes native AMM-like mechanics, an on-ledger exchange, and trust line tools that can be adapted to compliance steps. Those features are part of why conventional firms have been willing to run pilots. Franklin Templeton and DBS took part in tokenized fund work last year, testing how regulated assets might flow on-chain with better liquidity. The results were mixed but instructive: tokenization can shorten settlement windows, yet legal and custody questions take time to solve. Related Reading: Bitcoin Should Be Flying—Instead, Quantum Risk Keeps It Grounded: Analyst Swap And Settlement Tests Gain Traction Reports note collaboration between market infrastructure teams and specialist firms to enable fund-share swaps and stablecoin rails. Securitize helped bridge traditional fund shares to on-chain representations, and Gemini was named in pilots that try converting fund exposure into a liquid on-chain form. Featured image from Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images, chart from TradingView
A Wells Fargo strategist said bigger US tax refunds may revive retail risk-taking by late March, potentially sending fresh cash into Bitcoin and momentum stocks.
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said DeFi could help lead the market out of crypto winter, while Michael Saylor declared "spring is coming."
BH Digital Asset underperformed bitcoin, which lost 6% in 2025.
BlackRock has sharpened the staking posture for its iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB), outlining a plan to keep most of the fund’s ETH staked and earning rewards rather than held in custody. In its latest amended filing, the sponsor said that under normal market circumstances, it would seek to keep 70% to 95% of […]
The post BlackRock to skim 18% of staked Ethereum ETF rewards from investors — and ETHB exits could take weeks appeared first on CryptoSlate.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to see slowing outflows as investors and analysts examine Q4 2025 filings showing which institutions bought and sold crypto ETFs.
While the broader crypto market remains relatively stable with majors consolidating near short-term ranges, Origin (LGNS) is beginning to stand out on the technical front. The token has climbed roughly 7% on the week, not through explosive momentum, but through a steady grind higher that now places it directly beneath a multi-month descending trendline. This …
Bitcoin remains stuck below the $70,000 mark, a level that once served as a crucial floor for the cryptocurrency but has now turned into its most significant near-term barrier. After losing that support, the asset has struggled to regain momentum, and analysts warn that a combination of macroeconomic uncertainty and weak buying pressure could push the asset back into the $50,000 range — a level not seen since September 2024. Iran Tensions, Fed Uncertainty And ETF Withdrawals Market sentiment has noticeably deteriorated in recent weeks. “Sentiment is clearly bleak in crypto markets,” said Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter. She pointed out that although traditional financial institutions continue to make meaningful strides in adopting digital assets, those developments have not translated into stronger prices, which she noted, is weighing further on investor confidence. Related Reading: Top Expert Projects Bitcoin Bear Market To End In Less Than 365 Days Broader macroeconomic forces are adding to the unease. According to Bloomberg, traders are assessing escalating geopolitical tensions involving Iran, as well as renewed debate over whether the economic impact of artificial intelligence (AI) could extend beyond the technology sector. At the same time, expectations surrounding Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate cuts have shifted back into focus following last week’s inflation data, injecting additional uncertainty into risk markets. Capital flows are not offering much relief. US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded a fourth consecutive week of net outflows, with $360 million pulled last week alone. Bitcoin At Risk Of Drop To $50,000 “Macro news has been closely correlated with crypto’s risk profile over the last 12 months,” said Paul Howard, senior director at market maker Wincent. He expects Bitcoin to remain range-bound as it searches for a new catalyst to revive sentiment. Howard added that a pending US Supreme Court ruling on tariffs, expected Friday, could have a more meaningful market impact than routine Federal Reserve minutes or inflation reports. Related Reading: XRP Outlook Slashed: Standard Chartered Lowers Forecast From $8 To $2 Amid this debate, investors view $60,000 as a pivotal support level for Bitcoin, but that floor could give way if risk appetite weakens further, according to Robin Singh, CEO of crypto tax platform Koinly. Singh cautioned that the market does not yet display the type of deep capitulation typically associated with durable cycle lows. “One macro wobble, another wave of uncertainty, or even just sustained chop in the mid-$60,000s could easily tip this into a sharper flush back into the $50,000s,” Singh said. “This doesn’t have the same full capitulation feel we’ve seen at true cycle bottoms in the past.” At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at around $68,000, marking a 29% decline over the past thirty days. Compared to the all-time high of $126,000 reached last October, CoinGecko data shows a 46% difference between the current trading price and the all-time high. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
Grayscale has officially launched its Sui Staking ETF, which started trading today on NYSE Arca under the ticker GSUI. The fund gives investors regulated exposure to the SUI token while also earning staking rewards, combining traditional ETF investing with crypto yield opportunities. The listing went live after Grayscale filed the required Form 8-A with the …
In recent weeks, the crypto market has reportedly been consolidating or experiencing a small recovery during Asian trading hours, which is then liquidated with the start of the US trading session. Currently, the top two tokens, Bitcoin and Ethereum, surged beyond their respective resistance at $68,000 and $2,000. While the rally remains stuck within a …
CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju warned on X that roughly 6.89 million BTC are currently vulnerable to quantum attacks. That figure includes an estimated 1 million BTC linked to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. According to Ki Young Ju, 1.91 million BTC sit in old P2PK addresses where public keys are permanently visible on the blockchain. …
While the crypto market struggles and broader sentiment sits at its lowest levels in years, BNB Chain has shown resilience, building on last year’s on-chain momentum, while taking key steps toward strong builder activity and growing user participation. Now, the ecosystem has turned to AI agents, one of the rapidly growing narratives, to start preparing for the next market phase. Related Reading: Crypto Funds Bleed $173M As Outflows Extend To Fourth Week – Report BNB Chain’s AI Agent Ecosystem Grows In a recent development, the BNB Chain has rolled out support for AI agent standards ERC-8004 and BAP-578, seeking to make agent identity practical at scale “with low fees, fast transactions, and infrastructure designed for frequent agent activity.” Notably, AI Agents are autonomous programs capable of making decisions, interacting with other systems, and carrying out tasks, including trading and managing data, without continuous human participation. However, these agents have shown limits that must be addressed to operate beyond single apps or centralized platforms. As a result, BNB Chain announced earlier this month the deployment of the ERC-8004 infrastructure on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) Mainnet and Testnet. ERC-8004 is a new on-chain identity standard designed to give autonomous AI agents verifiable, portable identity across platforms. According to the announcement, they also introduced BNB Application Proposals (BAPs), which are a new standard for the application layer, to complement the ERC-8004 infrastructure. BAP-578, the first BAP, launches the Non-Fungible Agent (NFA) standard, which enables AI agents to “exist as on-chain assets that can hold assets, execute logic, interact with protocols, and be bought, sold, or hired. This marks the first step toward an open, predictable, and interoperable Agent Economy on BNB Chain.” By February 17, its AI Agent ecosystem had reached 58 projects across 10 categories, including infrastructure, social platforms, DeFi, trading, gaming, and entertainment. Moreover, it has seen over 200 builders participate in its ongoing “Good Vibes Only: OpenClaw Edition” hackathon event, focused on AI/on-chain actions. The Ecosystem’s Momentum The BNB Chain has continued to show strength across its ecosystem despite the recent market downturn and BNB’s price correction, holding key on-chain metrics and strong fundamentals. Crypto market intelligence firm Messari recently highlighted BNB Chain’s performance during the last quarter of 2025. Notably, BNB Chain remained the third-largest network by DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL), ending the year with $6.6 billion in TVL across its ecosystem, up 23.6% YoY. Per the report, average daily transactions surged 30.4% QoQ, while daily active addresses increased 13.3%. In addition, the total Real-World Asset (RWA) value grew to $2 billion, a 228.1% increase QoQ, and 554.6% up YoY from the $3.6 million registered at the start of the year. Related Reading: Bitcoin Whales Flood Binance As Correction Deepens: On-Chain Data Shows As reported by NewsBTC, most of these metrics have held throughout the recent market struggles, with TVL across its ecosystem, daily active addresses, and average daily transactions showing sustained growth since the end of 2025. Meanwhile, it has seen massive growth in the prediction markets sector, with leading platforms within the ecosystem reaching crucial milestones after surpassing $20 billion in cumulative volume in late January. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
On-chain analyst Willy Woo outlined Bitcoin’s bear cycle in three phases. Phase 1 began with a Q3 2025 liquidity breakdown, while Phase 2 is expected once broader market weakness sets in, leading eventually to capitulation and recovery. Bitcoin has fallen 47% from its $126K peak to $67.3K, with volatility levels not seen since the 2022 FTX crash. …
A new SEC filing shows Peter Thiel-linked Founders Fund entities now own zero ETHZilla shares, after disclosing a 7.5% stake in 2025.
Ethereum’s Beacon Deposit Contract has reached 80.97 million ETH, now holding over 50% of the total supply for the first time in its 11-year history. This growth from 77.85 million a month ago reflects continued deposits following the 2022 Merge, where users lock ETH to secure the network and earn rewards. Long-term holders show commitment …
Peter Thiel fully exits ETHZilla, filing shows, as shares slide and the firm shifts from ether buildup to tokenization.
XRP is trading near $1.48, holding a $90 billion market cap, and remains the fourth-largest crypto behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether. Technical indicators show weekly and monthly RSI in oversold zones, signaling a potential rebound. Enthusiasts who held through February’s $1.36 dip are cheering a recovery, while Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse highlights growing institutional interest and …
In the past 24 hours, no major change has been seen in the crypto markets, except for the Bitcoin price, which experienced a minor pullback. The token maintained a tight consolidation until the start of the US trading session and plunged by over $1500 in minutes. With this, the price closed the day’s trade at …
Sam Bankman-Fried has argued that FTX was financially sound at the time it filed for bankruptcy, claiming the platform held sufficient assets to meet customer balances even after withdrawals were frozen. Speaking amid his prison sentence, he maintains that users have since been repaid in full and says this should be considered in his request …
Crypto market researcher Dom (@traderview2) says he’s identified what looks like a persistent, algorithmic XRP seller on South Korea’s Upbit: one that, by his estimates, has offloaded roughly 3.3 billion XRP into the XRP/KRW order book over the past 10 months. If the analysis holds, it reframes Upbit’s XRP flow as a venue-specific phenomenon rather than a simple reflection of global risk-on/risk-off sentiment. XRP/KRW Saw $5 Billion in Net Selling Dom analyzed “82 million trades on Upbit XRP/KRW” and mapped their net imbalance over time. His headline conclusion: “A $5 billion one directional selling pipeline running 24/7 for almost a year.” Dom said the work began after an intense intraday stretch that forced a closer look at the tape. “It started with yesterday’s price action. -57M XRP in CVD over 17 hours. It looked insane,” he wrote. “So I ran forensic queries – bot fingerprinting, iceberg detection, wash trade checks. The selling was real. Algorithmic. 61% of trades fired within 10ms. Single bot running 17 hours straight with one 33 second pause.” Related Reading: Analyst Reveals What XRP Price Will Move Toward In Bid For $4 Instead of treating that -57 million XRP cumulative volume delta as an outlier, Dom said he zoomed out and found it matched a longer-running pattern. “-57M isn’t an anomaly,” he wrote. “Upbit XRP/KRW has been net negative every single month for 10 months,” listing several months with large net selling: “Apr: -165M,” “Jul: -197M,” “Oct: -382M,” and “Jan: -370M.” In total, he put the figure at “3.3 BILLION XRP in net selling. ~$5B.” He also argued the flow is unusually consistent. “Only 1 week out of 46 was positive. One,” Dom wrote, adding that there is “no weekday/weekend distinction” and “no time of day where buying outweighs selling in aggregate.” That persistence is part of why he framed it as something closer to execution infrastructure than discretionary trading. “This isn’t a trader,” he wrote. “It’s infrastructure.” A key part of the thread is the cross-venue comparison. Dom said Binance’s XRP/USDT market showed materially less sell pressure during the same windows—“2-5x less sell pressure on the same coin,” he wrote, pointing to a June period where “Binance was net positive while Upbit bled -218M.” He also flagged a weak relationship between the two venues’ hour-by-hour flow, claiming “the hourly correlation between the two venues is only 0.37,” which would imply Upbit’s net selling is being driven by local factors rather than simply mirroring global positioning. XRP Traded Cheaper In Korea For Months Dom’s pricing observations added another layer. He said that from April through September, Upbit XRP traded “3-6% BELOW Binance,” calling it a “reverse Kimchi discount.” In his view, that detail matters because it suggests the seller was willing to accept consistently worse execution than what was available elsewhere. “The sellers were accepting 6% worse fills than available on global markets, for many months,” Dom wrote. “They don’t care about the price. They need KRW, are mandated to use Upbit, and/or are Korean holders taking profit…” Related Reading: XRP Vs Gold Hits Historic Zone As Sentiment Capitulates: Analyst He then pointed to what he described as a structural break around Oct. 10. “Korean retail went insane. Premium flipped from -0.07% to +2.4% in a single day. Trades 5x’d to 832K,” Dom wrote, adding that the premium “has only briefly gone negative since.” The seller, in his telling, did not back off—if anything, the pace increased. “And the sellers? They doubled their daily rate. From -6.3M/day to -11.2M/day.” Dom tried to connect that behavior to market regimes by “bucket[ing] every day by what XRP did on Binance globally,” reporting that Upbit flow skews heavily negative on down days and especially on crash days. He summarized the dynamic as feedback between a systematic seller and retail behavior: “On moon days, Korean retail becomes a NET BUYER. They’re accumulating,” he wrote. “On crash days, sell intensity is 8x heavier. The systematic seller + retail panic amplify each other. Korean retail buys every rip. The pipeline sells into all of it.” To support the “machine versus retail” framing, Dom contrasted order-size fingerprints on both sides of the tape. He claimed the sell side repeatedly used round-number clips—“10, 50, 100, 500, 1000 XRP”—with “57-60% of all trades fire within 10ms,” while the buy side showed a large fraction of “tiny fractional sizes,” such as “2.535, 3.679, 2.681 XRP,” which he argued is consistent with KRW-denominated retail tickets like buying a fixed won amount of XRP. “One side looks like retail,” he wrote. “The other looks like a machine.” The scale claim is also central to why the thread traveled. Dom said “3.3 billion XRP” represents “5.4% of XRP’s entire circulating supply,” moved through “a single trading pair, on a single exchange, in 10 months.” He emphasized he’s working from trade-level datasets: “This analysis used tick trade data I collected from Upbit and Binance,” he wrote, citing “82M Upbit trades + 444M Binance trades.” Dom stopped short of naming a specific entity behind the selling, instead posing a question he framed as the next investigative step: who can sustain “300-400M per month for a year straight,” seemingly “doesn’t care about 6% discounts,” and “needs KRW specifically or is in some walled garden and can only use Upbit?” At press time, XRP traded at $1.45. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
The creator platform’s new product lets users trade tokens linked to social-media traction, a Polymarket-style bet on vibes rather than events.
Robinhood Markets has announced a new plan aimed at giving everyday investors access to private companies before they go public, an area that has usually been limited to venture capital firms and large institutions. The company has launched Robinhood Ventures Fund I (RVI) and started its IPO roadshow for a public offering of about $1 …
The Donald Trump family-backed project, World Liberty Financial, has seen its WLFI token price surge nearly 20% today. As of now, the $WLFI price is hovering around $0.1175, giving it a market cap of about $3.13 billion. While most major coins trade in the red, this sharp rise rasie question among investors: why World Liberty …
Crypto majors soften while Asian equities rebound modestly, with traders continuing to weigh quantum fears, ETF flows and a possible shift in bitcoin’s broader trend.
The broader crypto market is trading in a muted tone, with Bitcoin and major altcoins consolidating after recent volatility. In that relatively calm backdrop, Pi Network price is quietly gaining momentum. PI has advanced more than 6% on the day, extending its weekly recovery as traders position ahead of the project’s first anniversary on February …
Bitcoin continues to struggle to reclaim the $70,000 level, with persistent selling pressure keeping the market in a defensive posture. Price action has repeatedly failed to establish sustained momentum above this psychological threshold, reflecting cautious sentiment among both institutional and retail participants. While volatility has moderated compared with the sharp declines seen earlier in the cycle, the broader structure still suggests a market searching for direction rather than entering a clear recovery phase. Related Reading: Ethereum Whale Losses Mirror Past Bottoms: Accumulation Continues Despite Pressure Recent on-chain data from a CryptoQuant analyst offers additional context by examining whale positioning. Wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC currently control approximately 4.483 million BTC as of February 16, 2026. Within this cohort, long-term holder whales — those holding coins for more than 155 days — dominate with roughly 3.196 million BTC, or about 71.3% of the total. Short-term whales, defined by holding periods under 155 days, account for around 1.287 million BTC, representing 28.7%. Although newer whales have modestly increased balances in recent months, structural control remains firmly with long-term holders. This imbalance suggests that while newer capital faces ongoing pressure, more established investors continue to anchor the market. Whether this dynamic supports stabilization or precedes further volatility remains an open question. Whale Cost Basis Signals Redistribution Rather Than Capitulation The analyst emphasizes that the most decisive signal comes from comparing realized price — the on-chain average acquisition cost — across different whale cohorts. Short-term holder (STH) whales currently show a realized price near $88,494, while long-term holder (LTH) whales maintain a significantly lower cost basis around $41,626. With Bitcoin trading close to $68,795, the contrast is pronounced. Newer whales are sitting on roughly a 22% unrealized loss, whereas long-term whales retain an estimated 65% profit margin. This asymmetry highlights a familiar market dynamic: recent capital is under pressure, while structurally entrenched holders still operate from a position of strength. When price declines accelerate, short-term whales historically tend to capitulate first, locking in losses. Recent realized profit data suggest this process has already intensified since Bitcoin’s October all-time high, with deeper negative spikes appearing as the correction progressed. Historically, similar configurations observed in 2019 and 2022 corresponded with redistribution phases rather than systemic collapse. Supply gradually shifted from lower-conviction participants toward stronger holders. The key threshold remains the LTH realized price near $41.6K. As long as Bitcoin trades above that level, structural capitulation is not confirmed. Instead, the current phase appears to reflect conviction transfer rather than widespread market destruction. Related Reading: Hyperunit Whale Dumps $500M In Ethereum As Massive Crypto Bet Turns Sour Bitcoin Holds Key Support As Downtrend Structure Remains Intact Bitcoin price action on the 3-day timeframe continues to reflect a structurally weak market following the sharp rejection from the late-2025 highs near $125,000. Since then, BTC has printed a sequence of lower highs and lower lows, confirming a clear intermediate downtrend. The recent drop toward the $65,000–$70,000 zone highlights persistent selling pressure, particularly after repeated failures to reclaim higher moving averages. From a technical perspective, price is currently trading below the 50-, 100-, and 200-period moving averages, all of which are beginning to slope downward. This alignment typically signals bearish momentum and suggests rallies may continue to face resistance. The 200-period average near the mid-$90,000 region now represents a major structural barrier rather than support. Related Reading: Liquidity Or Liability? History’s Hard Lessons For The XRP Momentum Play Volume dynamics reinforce this interpretation. Selling spikes accompanying recent declines appear stronger than buying activity during rebounds, indicating distribution rather than accumulation in the short term. However, the stabilization near the $65,000–$70,000 range suggests a potential consolidation phase rather than immediate continuation lower. Key support sits around the recent local low near $60,000. A sustained breakdown below that level could trigger another volatility expansion, while recovery above $80,000 would be required to neutralize the current bearish structure and shift sentiment toward stabilization. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com
Thiel's exit from ETHZilla signals potential instability in Ethereum-focused ventures, impacting investor confidence and market dynamics.
The post Peter Thiel sells entire stake in Ethereum treasury ETHZilla appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Billionaire investor Peter Thiel and his firm Founders Fund have fully sold their stake in ETHZilla, reducing ownership from about 7.5 percent to zero by the end of 2025, according to SEC filings. The company had raised 425 million dollars to build an Ether treasury after rebranding from 180 Life Sciences, and Thiel’s backing once …