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Fintech firm Newity has raised $11 million in a funding round led by CMT Digital, according to The Block. The names of other individual and institutional investors who participated were not disclosed. The company is exploring ways to bring a lending platform for small and medium-sized businesses onto the blockchain.

On-chain data platform Parsec is shutting down after five years of operation and has begun refunding subscription fees, The Block reported. The outlet noted that despite being backed by major investors like Galaxy Digital and Uniswap Ventures and being active in the DeFi and NFT analytics space, the platform has abruptly ceased its services.

According to Google Trends data, search queries asking if Bitcoin's value will fall to zero or if the cryptocurrency is dead have recently surged to their highest levels since 2022. Meanwhile, BTC is trading at $66,955.88, up 1%, according to CoinMarketCap.

The leadership of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released a draft proposal for an "Innovation Exemption" aimed at facilitating the introduction of on-chain securities, The Block reported. The measure would grant regulatory exemptions under specific conditions. Speaking at the ETHDenver conference, U.S. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Hester Peirce said the exemption would allow for the limited trading of certain tokenized securities on new platforms, serving as a stepping stone for a long-term regulatory framework. The move comes as global demand for tokenized assets has surged over the past year, with traditional financial firms like Nasdaq and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), as well as crypto companies such as Kraken and Robinhood, entering the market for tokenized stocks and real-world assets (RWA). The SEC is expected to announce a specific plan for processing approvals of related products in the near future.

Bitcoin's on-chain floor price is $54,900, Cointelegraph reported, citing a recent analysis by Glassnode. The analytics firm noted that BTC entered a correction phase after falling from $79,000 in January and is currently consolidating in its 2024 support range between $60,000 and $69,000, a level being defended by medium-term holders. However, Glassnode explained that if this support fails, the price could see a further decline to its realized price of $54,900. The firm added that exchange inflows are decreasing while coins continue to be absorbed by long-term holder addresses, reducing the circulating supply on the market.

Polymarket has acquired API-focused startup Dome, The Block reported. The move marks Polymarket's second official acquisition, following its earlier purchase of derivatives exchange QCEX. Dome specializes in technology that connects multiple prediction market platforms through a single API.

Crypto lending platform Blockfills is pursuing a sale after suffering a $75 million loan loss due to increased market volatility, CoinDesk reported. The company also blocked customer deposits and withdrawals last week amid the recent downturn.

Persona, the Know Your Customer (KYC) provider for OpenAI, has been accused of providing user cryptocurrency addresses to a U.S. federal agency, DL News reported. The company allegedly shared customer data, including crypto addresses, with the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $67,000. BTC is trading at $67,000 on the Binance USDT market.

Whale Alert reported that 3,107 BTC has been transferred from an unknown wallet to Coinbase Institutional. The transaction is valued at about $206 million.

Nasdaq-listed Sharplink, which previously announced plans to strategically reserve Ethereum (ETH), held 867,798 ETH as of Feb. 15, worth approximately $1.68 billion, The Block reported. The company also paid out 13,615 ETH in staking rewards over the past year, according to a report. Joseph Chalom, CEO of Sharplink and former head of digital assets at BlackRock, stated that the company is staking nearly all of its Ethereum holdings and continues to increase its position despite recent market volatility. He added that institutional investors trust Sharplink to generate long-term shareholder value, irrespective of price fluctuations. A recent securities ownership filing (13F) showed that as of Dec. 31, institutional investors held 46% of Sharplink's common stock, with the company attracting around 60 new institutional backers during the fourth quarter.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao stated on X that cryptocurrency has never needed a bailout and never will. His comments follow a letter from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a known crypto opponent, to the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve (Fed), in which she urged that cryptocurrency billionaires should not be granted bailout authority.

Global asset manager ProShares has listed a dedicated money market ETF, IQMM, for U.S. stablecoin issuers on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), The Block reported. The ETF is the first financial product designed to meet the reserve requirements of the U.S. stablecoin regulation known as the GENIUS Act, which took effect last July.

Simon Gerovich, CEO of the Japanese listed company Metaplanet, affirmed in a letter to shareholders that the company will maintain its strategy of accumulating Bitcoin despite its recent price plunge. He acknowledged that BTC is highly volatile, a fact all holders must accept. Gerovich explained that Metaplanet's investment is driven by Bitcoin's limited supply, increasing adoption, and its characteristics as a store of value, though he noted this does not eliminate the pain of a decline in asset value. He added his personal belief that BTC has likely formed a bottom around the $60,000 level. However, Gerovich stressed that the company's strategy remains unchanged regardless of price movements, stating that Metaplanet will continue to accumulate BTC and will not sell under any circumstances.

Crypto bank Anchorage Digital has launched Stablecoin Solutions, a new service that uses stablecoins for correspondent banking, CoinDesk reported. The service aims to replace complex and costly traditional correspondent banking relationships with an on-chain settlement system based on stablecoins. Anchorage plans to offer the service under its federal charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and within the GENIUS regulatory framework for stablecoins.

New York-based crypto investment firm DBA has raised a $68 million second fund, The Block reported. This follows its first $50 million fund, which was established in 2023. The firm plans to invest primarily in early-stage projects. Its first fund invested in projects such as DoubleZero (2Z) and Monad (MON), as well as stablecoin app Payy, capital formation platform MetaDAO, and Bitcoin scalability solutions developer Alpen Labs. The second fund is reportedly set to focus on areas like decentralized derivatives exchanges, such as Hyperliquid (HYPE), and prediction markets.

Mike McGlone, a senior macro strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence who previously forecast that Bitcoin could collapse to $10,000, has revised his downside target to $28,000, CoinDesk reported. McGlone had faced criticism for his $10,000 prediction, with some arguing it could excessively stoke fear and negatively impact capital flows. In his new analysis, he stated that a drop to $28,000 is more likely than a plunge to $10,000, adding that investors should remain cautious about buying risk assets, including BTC.

Institutional investors are consistently buying Ethereum below the $2,000 level, even as the asset experiences its sixth consecutive month of decline, BeInCrypto reported. Citing an analyst, the outlet noted that this is Ethereum's longest downtrend since 2018. Despite growing concerns over unrealized losses, purchasing ETH below $2,000 is being viewed more as an opportunity than a risk. Inflows into accumulation wallets held by large-scale investors have reportedly reached an all-time high, with recent buyers including firms like Bitmine (BMNR) and K3 Capital. In contrast, the report added that retail investors are turning away from Ethereum, fatigued by its sideways price movement over the past five years.

Whale Alert reported that 290,010,321 USDC has been transferred from Coinbase Institutional to Coinbase. The transaction is valued at about $290 million.

Veteran trader Peter Brandt has predicted that the true bottom for Bitcoin is likely to emerge around this October, U.Today reported. He stated that BTC must surpass $93,000 to invalidate its current bearish structure, noting that the technical setup has deteriorated since the price fell below its January high of $92,000. Brandt added that the bottom of this cycle is likely to form in October, with prices expected to be between $42,000 and the low $60,000s.

Bitcoin cloud mining firm Bitdeer (BTDR) has announced plans to issue $300 million in convertible notes and conduct a direct sale of its Class A shares. According to CoinDesk, the proceeds will be used to fund capped call transactions to limit share dilution upon conversion of the new notes and to privately purchase a portion of its convertible notes due in 2029. The capital will also be allocated to expanding data centers, developing high-performance computing and AI cloud businesses, and creating ASIC-based mining equipment. Following the announcement, Bitdeer's stock fell 17% to a 10-month low. BTDR is currently trading at $8.29, down 13.88%.

The Layer 2 blockchain Sui (SUI) has introduced a custom PCR (Platform Configuration Register) verification feature, the project announced on its official X account. This feature proves that an application's code has not been hacked or manipulated when running within a special security zone called Marlin Nautilus. Sui added that this allows users to verify an app's security without any separate process.

Tradeweb Markets has partnered with prediction market Kalshi to make it easier for institutional investors to access prediction markets, according to Walter Bloomberg. As part of the partnership, Tradeweb will also invest a minority stake in Kalshi, and Kalshi's real-time data will be integrated into the Tradeweb platform.

The three major U.S. stock indices opened lower today. - S&P 500: -0.30% - Nasdaq: -0.40% - Dow Jones: -0.31%

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, one of the most prominent crypto skeptics within the U.S. Federal Reserve, has stated that cryptocurrency is completely useless, according to Walter Bloomberg.