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Bitcoin climbed toward $68,000 alongside gold as renewed U.S.–Iran tensions lifted safe-haven demand. Crypto markets then whipsawed after a Supreme Court ruling on tariffs briefly sparked a rally that was later erased. Even as crypto pushes further into the mainstream, retail users continue to face banking friction while builders press ahead with new releases and blockchain protocol upgrades across the ecosystem.
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News Roundup
Artificial Intelligence
Decentralized, Centralized, & Traditional Finance
Study Finds Community Bank Deposits Flowing to Coinbase, Raising Credit Concerns (Cointelegraph)
Crypto Goes Mainstream, but Retail Users Still Face Banking Freezes and Blocked Transfers (Cointelegraph)
BGD Labs to Cease Involvement With Aave Amid Governance Disputes (The Block)
Lightspark and Cross River Link Bitcoin Lightning to FedNow for 24/7 Fiat Settlement (The Defiant)
Tether’s USDT Supply Heads for Sharpest Monthly Drop Since FTX Fallout (Cointelegraph)
Dubai Launches Secondary Trading in Push to Tokenize $16B of Real Estate by 2033 (CoinDesk)
Crypto Treasury Executives Urge Basel Committee to Revisit 1,250% Bitcoin Risk Weight (Cointelegraph)
Exchanges
Exchange-Traded Funds
On Feb. 19, U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs posted $165.76 million in net outflows.
U.S. Ethereum spot ETFs recorded $130.19 million in net outflows on Feb. 19.
On Feb. 19, U.S. XRP spot ETFs saw $4.05 million in net inflows.
U.S. Solana spot ETFs posted $5.94 million in net inflows on Feb. 19.
Gaming
The Sandbox Unveils Web Browser-Based Games in Season 7 (Decrypt)
Infrastructure
Nillion Winds Down Cosmos-Based NilChain, Redirects Strategy to Ethereum (The Defiant)
Lightning Network Tops $1 Billion in Monthly Transaction Volume (Cointelegraph)
Dash Evolution to Integrate Zcash’s Orchard Privacy Pool (Cointelegraph)
FOCIL and EIP-8141 for Faster, Censorship-Resistant Ethereum Transactions (Vitalik Buterin)
Bitcoin Developer Warns Network Is Unprepared for Quantum Threat (DL News)
Ethereum Developers Lock In FOCIL for Hegota Upgrade Despite Controversy (DL News)
Markets
Bitcoin Approaches $68K as Gold Gains on Renewed U.S.–Iran Tensions (CoinDesk)
Optimism Token Sinks 25% After Coinbase Cuts Off DAO from Revenue (DL News)
Capital Rotates Into Tokenized Assets as DeFi TVL Slides (Decrypt)
AZTEC Soars 82% After Dual South Korean Exchange Listings (CoinDesk)
U.S. PCE for December 2025 rose 0.4% MoM, Exp. 0.3%, Prev. 0.2% (BEA)
U.S. PCE increased 2.9% YoY, Exp. 2.8%, Prev. 2.8% (BEA)
U.S. Core PCE for December 2025 rose 0.4% MoM, Exp. 0.3%, Prev. 0.2% (BEA)
U.S. Core PCE rose 3.0% YoY, Exp. 3.0%, Prev. 2.8% (BEA)
U.S. GDP rose 1.4% in Q4 2025, Exp. 2.5%, Prev. 4.4% (BEA)
Crypto Rallies After Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump Tariff Regime (The Block)
Digital Assets Enter 2026 With Stronger Foundations Despite Market Slump (CoinDesk)
Bitcoin Reverses Gains After Brief Rally on Supreme Court Tariff Ruling (CoinDesk)
Meme Coins
Trump Family Meme Tokens Plunge as Retail Losses Mount, Insiders Sit on Billions (CryptoRank)
Mining
Bitcoin Miners Target 30 GW AI Expansion as Post-Halving Margins Tighten (Cointelegraph)
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Surges 15% as Hashrate Rebounds Despite Profit Squeeze (CoinDesk)
MARA Finalizes Majority Acquisition of French Data Center Firm Exaion (The Block)
Politics & Regulation
White House Stablecoin Talks Advance, but Yield Dispute Still Stalls Crypto Bill (CoinDesk)
Trump Family Crypto Venture Draws Wall Street and Regulators to Mar-a-Lago (Cointelegraph)
SEC Signals Openness to Clearer Rules for Tokenized Securities at ETHDenver (Cointelegraph)
Trump Family Crypto Ties Complicate Bipartisan Support for Clarity Act (Decrypt)
Tennessee Judge Blocks State Enforcement Against Kalshi’s Sports Contracts (The Block)
House Democrats Press Treasury Over World Liberty Financial Bank Charter Review (U.S. Congress)
South Korean Regulators Face Backlash After $43B Bithumb Bitcoin Glitch (Cointelegraph)
Netherlands Orders Polymarket to Halt Operations Over ‘Illegal Gambling’ (Decrypt)
U.S. Supreme Court Tariff Ruling Unlikely to Jolt Crypto Markets, but Political Risks Linger (CoinDesk)
Treasuries
Metaplanet CEO Defends Bitcoin Strategy Amid Transparency Criticism (The Block)
Other News
Australian Executive Pleads Guilty to Selling Cyber Secrets to Russia for Crypto (Decrypt)
CZ Returns to U.S., Attends Trump-Linked Crypto Summit at Mar-a-Lago (WSJ)
Silicon Valley Engineers Charged With Stealing Google and Tech Trade Secrets (Decrypt)
Malaysian Police Officers Arrested Over Alleged Crypto Extortion Scheme (The Block)
Wall Street Titans and Celebrities Converge at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Crypto Summit (CoinDesk)
Check This Out!
Ethereum continues to lead as the primary network for stablecoins, while BNB Chain tops annual growth rankings with 133% year-over-year growth.
Source: CoinDesk, DeFiLlama
Meme of the Day
Source: kirtash93
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