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Rising gold prices and political turmoil have fueled the rapid growth of tokenized gold protocols, DL News reported. According to data from DefiLlama, the market capitalization of Tether Gold (XAUT) has surged 62% this year to $3.7 billion, while that of Pax Gold (PAXG) has grown 48% to $2.4 billion. Citing industry experts, the outlet noted that political turmoil, including U.S. tariff measures and the possibility of an invasion of Iran, has driven this trend. In contrast, the report added, Bitcoin has surrendered all gains made since the 2024 re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump.

UK investors will be barred from adding crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs) to their tax-free Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) starting next fiscal year, the Financial Times reported. According to the report, the UK's tax authority, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), will exclude crypto ETNs from standard ISAs. Instead, they will be reclassified as eligible for Innovative Finance ISAs (IFISAs), which do not offer the same tax advantages. However, virtually none of the 57 platforms approved to handle IFISAs plan to support crypto ETNs, making it difficult for investors to receive tax benefits on these products.

PayPal is not currently in discussions to be acquired by online payments company Stripe, according to online news outlet Semafor. The outlet reported that PayPal's management has been working with banks for several months to prepare for unsolicited takeover bids or activist fund campaigns. This follows an earlier report from Bloomberg which stated that Stripe was considering an acquisition of PayPal, with discussions in their early stages.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is exploring ways to retain $133 billion in tariff revenue that the Supreme Court has ruled was illegally collected, according to Walter Bloomberg. Measures under consideration reportedly include redesigning the tariff system under new legal authority and compelling companies to forfeit a portion of their refunds for tariffs already paid. However, courts are expected to closely scrutinize any attempts to delay or reduce the refunds, which the Democratic Party and businesses are demanding be returned in full. The refund process could extend for several years, with the pace of execution depending on Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Justice. Bloomberg explained that tariffs are a cornerstone of Trump's economic policy, funding tax cuts and potential direct payments. The administration is now balancing federal finances against potential backlash from corporations and the courts over the $133 billion at stake.

U.S. Representatives Scott Fitzgerald, Ben Cline, and Zoe Lofgren have co-sponsored the Blockchain Development Act, a bill designed to explicitly exclude blockchain software developers from criminal liability, according to Eleanor Terrett, host of "Crypto in America." The core of the legislation is to clarify the scope of Section 1960, the federal statute criminalizing unlicensed money transmitting businesses. While the provision was originally intended to regulate custodial businesses that hold and manage customer funds, its application to software developers in cases involving Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet—who did not directly control user funds—has become a major point of contention between the crypto industry and regulators. The proposed act would legally specify that the mere act of developing software or deploying code is not a punishable offense.

U.S. House Democrats will push for a vote on an Iran War Powers Resolution next week, Walter Bloomberg reported.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has fallen below $67,000. BTC is trading at $66,983.75 on the Binance USDT market.

Circle has launched its native USDC and Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) on Morpho, The Daily Hodl reported. The integration enables the use of USDC for DeFi trading and payments on the protocol.

Christopher Alexander Delgado, the former CEO of crypto investment firm Goliath Ventures, has been arrested in connection with an alleged $328 million Ponzi scheme, Decrypt reported. He is accused of raising approximately $328 million from investors and using the funds to carry out the fraudulent scheme. One investor is said to have lost around $720,000 in the process.

The three major U.S. stock indices opened mixed today. - S&P 500: -0.04% - Nasdaq: -0.28% - Dow Jones: +0.345%

Three hours before on-chain analyst ZachXBT implicated Solana-based trading platform Axiom in an insider trading probe, two new wallets placed a total of $59,800 in bets on the prediction market Polymarket, according to Lookonchain. The wagers were on the likelihood that Axiom would be the project named. The addresses reportedly profited by $109,000 within three hours, raising suspicions of insider trading.

On-chain perpetual futures exchange Decibel has officially launched on the Aptos mainnet. According to CoinDesk, Decibel previously launched a public testnet service, during which it secured over 700,000 unique accounts and 132,000 daily active users. Daily trading volume exceeded one million transactions. The Decibel Foundation announced plans to expand beyond crypto derivatives into the spot market, multi-collateral accounts, and tokenized real-world assets.

OKX has launched a fraud detection platform, Alterya, in partnership with blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. According to Cointelegraph, Alterya analyzes fraudulent activity across websites and social media, linking it to financial identifiers such as cryptocurrency wallet addresses and bank accounts to detect risk signals. The platform enables exchanges to proactively block transfers to addresses implicated in fraud or issue warnings before withdrawals are processed.

MetaMask is expanding its cryptocurrency debit card service nationwide in the U.S. after completing a one-year pilot program, CoinDesk reported. The company initially launched the card in partnership with Mastercard in December 2024. While the service was previously restricted in areas such as New York and Vermont, it has now received approval to operate in New York State for the first time.

Bitcoin has recorded its first weekly green candle following five consecutive red candles, BeInCrypto reported. Some analysts have raised the possibility that the bear market ended this month and that a rebound has already begun. Crypto analyst Coinvo Trading explained that in every cycle, Bitcoin has bottomed out exactly 23 months after reaching its all-time high (ATH), noting that this pattern has never failed and that the market is currently at that 23-month point. Veteran U.S. trader Peter Brandt also assessed that this analysis is more persuasive than other market narratives.

On-chain analyst ZachXBT has identified the project he previously flagged for insider trading as Axiom, a Solana-based trading platform. ZachXBT alleged that several Axiom employees, including Broox Bauer, used internal access to view the private wallet addresses and activities of specific whale users and high-profit traders. He claimed they tracked these users' trades in real time to inform their personal trading, thereby securing illicit profits. The analyst added that the employees managed and shared a Google Sheet listing the wallet addresses of various KOLs, compiled from data extracted from an internal dashboard. This activity has allegedly been ongoing for over a year, since early 2025.

U.S. initial jobless claims for the fourth week of February totaled 212,000, coming in below the forecast of 217,000. Weekly jobless claims are a key metric used by the Federal Reserve to gauge the health of the labor market when making interest rate decisions. A higher-than-expected number can signal a cooling labor market as companies increase layoffs, potentially giving the Fed a reason to cut rates. Conversely, a lower-than-expected figure suggests a robust labor market, which could justify the Fed holding or raising rates to focus on curbing inflation.

Cryptocurrency disclosure infrastructure company Bluprynt has raised $4.25 million in a funding round led by Valor Capital Group, The Block reported. Participants in the round included Coinbase Ventures and Robinhood. Founded by Georgetown University Law School professor Christopher Brummer, Bluprynt is developing a framework to simplify crypto regulatory compliance procedures.

On-chain ransomware payments totaled $820 million in 2025, a decrease of approximately 8% from the previous year, Chainalysis reported. During the same period, the number of attacks rose by 50%. The median payment per incident surged by 368% to around $60,000, highlighting a trend of demanding larger sums from fewer victims.

Ethereum Layer 2 network Starknet plans to launch a new Bitcoin-based asset called strkBTC, The Block reported. The project aims to go beyond simply bridging Bitcoin to Starknet by enhancing both user privacy and DeFi utility. The new asset will allow users to conceal transaction amounts and counterparties while enabling interaction with DeFi platforms on Starknet.

American Bitcoin (ABTC), a mining firm involving President Donald Trump's sons Donald Jr. and Eric, posted a $59 million valuation loss on its Bitcoin holdings in the fourth quarter of last year, CoinDesk reported. The company currently holds more than 6,000 BTC.

WIT LLC, the investment firm of Walmart's founding Walton family, invested $4 million in BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) during the fourth quarter of last year, CNBC reported. The investment accounts for less than 1% of the firm's total portfolio. Meanwhile, Kemnay Advisory Services, led by duty-free entrepreneur Alan Parker, increased its stake in Coinbase by about 44% during the same period.

Digital asset trading firm STS Digital has secured a $30 million strategic investment, The Block reported. The round was led by CMT Digital, with participation from Payward, Strobe Ventures, Arrington Capital, F-Prime, and Bitrock Capital. The funds will be used to expand its institutional-grade spot and options platform, enhance its market-making capabilities, and strengthen its financial health and liquidity.

Bernstein has assigned an outperform rating to USDC issuer Circle, setting a price target of $190, DL News reported. This represents a potential upside of 129% from its current stock price. The rating follows Circle's reported revenue of $770 million in the fourth quarter of last year. However, Bernstein noted that Circle's performance could be sensitive to interest rate cuts, as 99% of its revenue is tied to interest income. The firm also highlighted the risk of intensified competition, suggesting that greater regulatory clarity could lead to more banks and large payment companies entering the market.

Bitcoin's Net Taker Volume, based on the 25-hour moving average (25HMA), reached $1.13 billion per hour yesterday, according to CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn. He explained that this marked the strongest taker buying pressure in several months and showed a concentration of aggressive buying.