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Bithumb has announced that it will temporarily suspend deposits and withdrawals for the Polygon Ecosystem Token (POL) starting at 9:00 a.m. UTC on March 4. The suspension is due to a scheduled mainnet upgrade.

The Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency has arrested and is investigating two suspects for stealing Bitcoin that had been seized and was being held by Seoul's Gangnam Police Station, TV Chosun reported. The pair is accused of siphoning off 22 BTC, valued at approximately 2.1 billion won ($1.8 million) at the time, around November 2021. The Bitcoin had been voluntarily submitted to the police during a criminal investigation. An investigation revealed that the Gangnam Police Station was only storing the physical USB-type hardware wallet and was unaware that the assets could be withdrawn remotely by anyone who knew the wallet's recovery phrase.

Cryptocurrency accounted for 134.9 billion won ($101 million), or 15.8%, of the 850 billion won ($637 million) in criminal proceeds recovered by South Korean police last year, MoneyToday reported, citing data from Democratic Party lawmaker Chae Hyun-il. The data also showed that damages from illegal activities involving cryptocurrency, such as investment fraud, totaled 443 billion won ($332 million). The report attributed the ongoing trend of crypto-related crime and seizures to the increased use of digital assets and the diversification of criminal methods.

Selling pressure is dominating the Bitcoin market, with perpetual futures funding rates remaining in negative territory for an extended period, according to crypto analyst Gaah in a CryptoQuant contribution. He noted that sellers have been the primary market force since July of last year, while buyers have only managed to absorb the selling volume. Current selling pressure is at its highest level in three months. However, Gaah explained that the high-leverage situation, which persisted for 16 months, has been gradually easing since Bitcoin reached a new all-time high last October. Recent price declines have triggered forced liquidations and capitulation, leading to a lower leverage ratio, which he described as a positive signal for prices.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin may have sold tens of millions of dollars worth of ETH near the market bottom, crypto analyst Ali Martinez said, according to CryptoPotato. Martinez explained that Buterin sold when ETH's MVRV (Market Value to Realized Value) ratio was at 0.78, noting that the cryptocurrency has often formed macro bottoms when this ratio falls below 0.8. While ETH is currently undervalued based on on-chain metrics, Martinez warned that further price drops are possible if selling pressure continues. He identified key support levels at $1,800, $1,584, and $1,238, with a final capitulation point at $1,089. Over the past month, Buterin has sold a total of 11,422 ETH, valued at $23.33 million. The sales were reportedly to support the Ethereum ecosystem, and he still has approximately 5,000 ETH remaining to be sold.

The Seoul Gangnam Police Station may have violated internal guidelines in its handling of 22 BTC that went missing while being held as evidence, KBS reported. In March 2022, the National Police Agency established a rule under its integrated evidence management guidelines requiring seized virtual assets to be transferred to and stored in an official police cold wallet. However, the Gangnam station, which had received the 22 BTC as a voluntary submission in 2021, reportedly kept the assets in an external cold wallet instead of the official one. The Bitcoin is presumed to have been lost in May 2022, after the new guidelines were already in effect.

Crypto bank Anchorage Digital has purchased Strategy preferred stock (STRC), CoinDesk reported. STRC is structured to provide dividend income without a maturity date and has a higher repayment priority than common stock. Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley said that institutions are now moving beyond discussing Bitcoin to reorganizing their capital structures around the asset. He added that the investment of capital by a Bitcoin infrastructure company like Anchorage into a treasury strategy firm like Strategy is a significant signal in itself.

U.S. federal prosecutors for the Eastern District of North Carolina have seized $61 million in USDT linked to a cryptocurrency investment scam, The Block reported. The scammers gained the victims' trust through romance scams, then defrauded them by proposing cryptocurrency investments that promised high returns.

An analysis suggests that Bitcoin could rebound by re-establishing its correlation with U.S. stocks. According to on-chain analytics firm Santiment, Bitcoin has decoupled from the U.S. stock market over the past six months, reaching its lowest correlation since the collapse of FTX. The firm noted that since August of last year, gold has risen 51% and the S&P 500 has gained 7%, while Bitcoin has fallen 43%. Historically, Bitcoin rose in tandem with the stock market during periods of low interest rates and economic expansion in 2021 and 2024, and declined alongside stocks during the rate-hike cycles of 2018 and 2022. In November 2022, the combination of interest rate hikes and the FTX bankruptcy caused a sharp drop to $15,700. Santiment concluded that when two historically correlated assets decouple, they often recouple in response to shifts in the macroeconomic environment and investor sentiment. If this pattern repeats, Bitcoin could see a significant rebound.

Binance has announced it will delist seven spot trading pairs at 3:00 a.m. UTC on Feb. 27. The affected pairs are DOT/BRL, GALA/BRL, GALA/EUR, GRT/ETH, GRT/EUR, OP/EUR, and SOL/ARS.

Bitcoin adoption is accelerating despite the asset's price correction, according to a new report from Bitcoin financial services firm River, cited by Cointelegraph. The report highlights that even with BTC down approximately 50% from its all-time high, adoption by institutions, banks, corporations, and nations has quickened. Over the past year, institutional investors accumulated a total of 829,000 BTC through corporations, governments, funds, and ETFs. The report notes that Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) have been net buyers for eight consecutive quarters, and spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen inflows of about $1.5 billion per quarter over the last two years. Additionally, around 60% of major U.S. banks are reportedly developing Bitcoin-related products as the regulatory environment improves. Corporate investment saw the most significant growth, with volumes increasing 2.5 times year-over-year. Nation-state adoption has also expanded, with five new countries—including the sovereign wealth funds of Luxembourg and Saudi Arabia, the Czech central bank, Brazil, and Taiwan—beginning to hold Bitcoin. This brings the total number of countries holding BTC through mining, seized assets, or central banks to 23. River concluded that based on these trends, the pace of future BTC adoption is likely to accelerate further.

BTC perp long/short ratios on top exchanges by open interest The following are the 24-hour long/short ratios for BTC perpetual futures on the world’s three largest crypto futures exchanges by open interest: Overall: 50.53% long, 49.47% short - Binance: 50.66% long, 49.34% short - OKX: 49.48% long, 50.52% short - Bybit: 50.8% long, 49.2% short

Jeonbuk Bank has begun building a cryptocurrency wallet, Seoul Economic Daily reported. The bank has a partnership with crypto exchange Gopax to provide real-name deposit and withdrawal accounts. Binance recently became the largest shareholder in Gopax, holding a 67.45% stake.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has fallen below $65,000. BTC is trading at $64,993.73 on the Binance USDT market.

South Korea's Democratic Party is pursuing legislation that would require financial influencers, or "finfluencers," who recommend stocks and virtual assets to disclose their own financial holdings, The Herald Business reported. Kim Seung-won, a Democratic Party lawmaker on the National Assembly's National Policy Committee, is preparing to propose amendments to the Capital Markets and Financial Investment Business Act and the Virtual Asset User Protection Act. The core of the proposed amendments would mandate that any individual who repeatedly advises a specific group on trading financial products or virtual assets, or who does so for compensation, must disclose the payment received as well as the type and quantity of their own holdings. Penalties for violations are reportedly being considered at a level comparable to existing unfair trade practices in the capital markets, such as market manipulation and front-running.

A ruling from South Korea's Tax Tribunal has affirmed that companies established overseas for issuing cryptocurrency are subject to domestic corporate tax if their business is substantially managed from within South Korea. The tribunal disclosed that on Aug. 28 last year, it rejected an appeal filed by a Singapore-based entity, referred to as Corporation A. The appeal challenged a decision by the National Tax Service (NTS) to classify the firm as a domestic corporation and impose taxes on unreported digital asset sales. According to the case details, the NTS registered Corporation A as a domestic business in June 2023 and conducted a tax audit. The investigation concluded that the company had failed to report revenue from 28,531,385 of its issued tokens, leading to the tax assessment. In its ruling, the Tax Tribunal sided with the NTS, finding that Corporation A lacked a substantial place of management in Singapore and that its major business decisions were made in South Korea.

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs saw a net inflow of $9.23 million (13.2 billion won) on Feb. 24, according to Trader T. The funds reverted to net inflows after just one day of outflows. - Fidelity's FETH: -$1.85 million - Grayscale's Mini ETH: +$11.08 million

Global financial services company Payoneer has applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a charter to establish a national trust bank, Cointelegraph reported. The company plans to issue its own stablecoin, PAYO-USD, which will comply with the Stablecoin Regulation Act (GENIUS), for use in stablecoin payments. If approved by the OCC, Payoneer would be able to directly manage the PAYO-USD reserves and provide custody and stablecoin-to-fiat exchange services. Payoneer previously announced a partnership with Bridge, Stripe's stablecoin operator, to add stablecoin functionality to its cross-border transaction platform.

An address believed to belong to YZi Labs deposited 37.33 million EDU, worth $4.37 million, to Binance about 25 minutes ago, EmberCN reported. The move follows the sale of the address's entire holdings of ID, AI, and WOO, with the latest transaction representing its full EDU position. Deposits to exchanges are typically interpreted as an intention to sell.

Binance announced it will list the TAO/USD1 cross margin trading pair at 8:00 a.m. UTC today, followed by the ADA/U, DOGE/U, and PEPE/U cross margin pairs at 10:00 a.m. UTC on the same day.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $257.29 million on Feb. 24, according to data compiled by Trader T. The funds returned to net inflows after a single day of net outflows. - BlackRock's IBIT: +$78.52 million - Fidelity's FBTC: +$82.81 million - Bitwise's BITB: +$3.5 million - Ark's ARKB: +$71.14 million - VanEck's HODL: +$12.76 million - Grayscale's Mini BTC: +$8.56 million

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a State of the Union address that his most preferred method for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue is through diplomatic channels. He stated that while Iran wants an agreement, it has not yet made a clear commitment not to manufacture nuclear weapons, and warned that the country will soon develop missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. Trump added that he is working to end the war between Russia and Ukraine and will do his best to achieve peace as president.

Mastercard is hiring a dedicated executive for cryptocurrency payments, BeInCrypto reported. According to a LinkedIn posting, the position, titled "Director of Crypto Flows," will be responsible for overseeing the issuance of stablecoin-linked cards, expanding DeFi payments, and leading the overhaul of network regulations for Web3 transactions. The move is seen as a response to threats against the company's traditional card fee-based revenue model from the proliferation of stablecoins and the expansion of AI-driven commerce.

The Blockchain Association, a U.S. cryptocurrency lobbying group, has submitted recommendations to Congress regarding crypto taxation, Cointelegraph reported. In a statement, the association argued that stablecoins should be treated the same as cash and that small-value crypto transactions should be tax-exempt. It pointed out that requiring tax reporting on minor gains or losses from everyday transactions imposes excessive costs on individuals without significantly increasing tax revenue. Other recommendations included: - Applying wash sale rules to cryptocurrencies. - Including mining and staking rewards as subject to capital gains tax. - Incorporating stablecoin compensation measures into the proposed CLARITY Act.

24-hour crypto futures liquidations The following shows estimated liquidation volumes and position ratios for major crypto perpetual futures over the past 24 hours: - BTC: $173.97 million liquidated (62.88% shorts) - ETH: $112.19 million liquidated (55.37% longs) - ESP: $12.83 million liquidated (83.11% shorts)