CoinPhoton

Dragonfly closes $650M fourth crypto venture fund amid bear market
Dragonfly Capital has closed its fourth crypto-focused venture fund at $650 million, exceeding its original $500 million target by about 30% despite ongoing bear market conditions. The new Dragonfly Fund IV matches the size of the firm’s 2022 vintage fund.
Managing partner Haseeb Qureshi said the raise comes during a period of weak sentiment and elevated fear in crypto markets, but noted the firm’s prior funds were also launched during downturns and later produced strong vintages.
Recent deployments include leading a $75 million Series C round for payments network Mesh in January, alongside Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures and PayPal Ventures. The firm also co-led a $36 million Series A for cross-border payments startup Conduit in 2025, and previously backed MyShell and Fantasy.top.
The new fund follows the resolution of a potential U.S. regulatory issue tied to Dragonfly’s 2020 investment in PepperSec, developer of Tornado Cash. U.S. authorities later stated the firm and its principals were not investigation targets, while Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm was convicted in 2025.

LI.FI launches LiFI Composer for one-click multi-step DeFi transactions
LI.FI has launched LiFI Composer, a new transaction orchestration tool that lets users bundle multiple DeFi actions — including swaps, bridging, deposits, and staking — into a single on-chain transaction with a unified execution overview.
The company said the tool simulates each step in complex, multi-stage flows to improve predictability and reduce failed transactions, aiming to simplify cross-chain and self-custodial DeFi usage. LiFI Composer is also part of the firm’s broader push this year to expand product offerings for its 800+ partners and streamline user workflows.
Backed by CoinFund and Multicoin Capital, the startup was founded in 2021. Last December, it added a $29 million Series A extension led by Multicoin, bringing total capital raised to $51.7 million.
LI.FI reported strong growth, with monthly volume rising 595% year over year to about $8 billion in October 2025, up from $1.15 billion in October 2024.

Bridge wins conditional OCC approval for national bank charter
Stablecoin platform Bridge — acquired last year by Stripe — has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to become a federally chartered national bank, joining a growing group of crypto firms seeking federal oversight.
If finalized, the charter would allow Bridge to custody crypto, issue stablecoins, and manage stablecoin reserves under a federal regulatory framework. The company said the status would help enterprises, fintechs, crypto companies, and financial institutions build digital-dollar products with clearer regulatory backing.
Other crypto firms that have received conditional OCC approval include Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. So far, Anchorage Digital Bank remains the only crypto-native firm to have received a national trust charter outright, first granted in 2021.
Bridge added that its compliance framework is designed to align with the GENIUS stablecoin law signed by President Donald Trump, with federal regulators now working on implementation rules.

Abu Dhabi funds hold over $1B in BlackRock spot Bitcoin ETF
Two Abu Dhabi-based funds held more than $1 billion worth of shares in the leading spot Bitcoin ETF from BlackRock at the end of last year, according to new regulatory filings.
Mubadala Investment Company reported ownership of 12,702,323 shares of the IBIT ETF, valued at about $631 million. Government-linked Al Warda Investments disclosed holdings of 8,218,712 shares worth roughly $408 million in a separate filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mubadala increased its IBIT position by about 46% compared with the previous quarter, after holding more than 8 million shares for much of last year.
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF is the largest of its kind, with around $58 billion in assets under management, though its value has declined alongside Bitcoin’s recent price weakness.
Form 13F filings are submitted quarterly by institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets and disclose long positions in U.S. equities and related options, offering only a partial snapshot of total portfolio exposure.

BitGo shares slip despite Mizuho outperform rating
Shares of BitGo fell Tuesday after Mizuho initiated coverage with an outperform rating and a $17 price target, saying the firm is well positioned to benefit from rising demand for regulated digital asset infrastructure.
Analysts expect BitGo’s recurring custody and staking revenue to help cushion earnings compared with more trading-dependent crypto firms during market downturns. More than 80% of the company’s revenue is tied to custody and staking services rather than volatile transaction activity.
Mizuho also said expanding stablecoin issuance and tokenized asset growth could drive sustained increases in assets held on BitGo’s platform over the next several years. The firm currently safeguards over $100 billion in client assets and is viewed by analysts as a security-focused, institution-grade custodian.
The stock is trading near $10.15, down roughly 44% from its $18 IPO price on the New York Stock Exchange, as post-listing momentum faded alongside broader weakness in crypto-linked equities. Analysts note ongoing risks from market volatility and intensifying competition from both crypto-native and traditional financial institutions entering custody.

Ethereum’s tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market has surpassed $17 billion on its mainnet, rising more than 300% year over year and confirming its lead as the primary blockchain for tokenized finance. The network now represents roughly one-third of total onchain RWA value, while Ethereum-based stablecoins exceed $175 billion in market cap.
Growth is being driven by major institutions such as BlackRock and JPMorgan, which are launching tokenized Treasury and money-market products onchain. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund has become the largest tokenized money-market vehicle and recently expanded to direct onchain trading through DeFi infrastructure.
Momentum is also spreading beyond Treasuries into tokenized commodities, including gold, with institutional trading firms entering the segment. Large banks and investment firms project the tokenized asset market could grow into the multi-trillion-dollar range over the next decade, with Ethereum expected to capture the majority of issuance.

Zora launches attention markets product on Solana
Zora, a crypto social platform closely tied to the Base ecosystem, has announced a new product launch on Solana called “attention markets.”
The feature lets users speculate on which online topics, memes, and trends will gain traction, effectively enabling SocialFi traders to take long or short positions on social media virality. Users can create markets around any emerging idea or moment, attach related links, and build positions across multiple paired themes.
According to Zora’s product description, markets and pairs move together based on user activity and attention. Traders can track PNL in real time and exit positions at any time.
A promotional demo shows markets built around the “longevity” trend paired with tokens like $redlight, $coldplunge, $shrooms, and $peptides. The interface also highlights several fast-rising attention markets, though current trading volumes appear relatively limited.
Zora is known for experiments at the intersection of crypto and the creator economy, including early NFT tooling and creator-linked tokens. Other startups are entering the attention markets segment as well, including Noise, which recently raised a $7.1 million seed round led by Paradigm.

TON Foundation partners Banxa to bring stablecoin payments to APAC SMEs
TON Foundation has partnered with Banxa to roll out stablecoin payment processing for small and medium-sized enterprises across the Asia–Pacific region using infrastructure from The Open Network.
The integration combines Banxa’s global fiat–crypto on- and off-ramp network with TON’s blockchain rails and merchant infrastructure from OSL Group. The setup is designed to support B2B settlements, C2B payments, and cross-border transactions throughout APAC, leveraging Banxa’s licensed operations across multiple global markets.
The move follows the recent launch of TON Pay, a payment SDK that enables Mini Apps on Telegram to accept Toncoin and USDT directly in-app, with sub-second settlement and average fees below $0.01. OSL Group recently closed a $200 million equity financing round in early 2026 after raising $300 million in 2025.

Tokenized US Treasury assets are approaching the $11 billion mark, but competition between blockchains is shifting from simple issuance to real distribution, usage, and financial utility. What matters now is where yield tokens are actually held, how often they move, and whether they are integrated into stablecoin settlement and collateral workflows.
XRP Ledger recently showed two important signals: a planned partnership between Aviva Investors and Ripple to tokenize traditional fund structures, and data showing most of OpenEden’s TBILL token supply sits on XRPL. However, actual TBILL transfer activity is still overwhelmingly concentrated on Ethereum and layer-2 networks, not XRPL.
This creates a gap between where tokens are issued and stored versus where they are actively traded and used. XRPL shows growing RWA and stablecoin balances, but secondary trading and collateral usage remain limited so far.
The key question for the next 30–90 days is whether XRPL can convert supply concentration into real on-chain activity and settlement flows. If transfer volumes and institutional product launches follow, XRPL could become a true RWA venue. If not, it may remain mainly an issuance and custody endpoint while liquidity and collateral gravity stay on Ethereum and its layer-2 ecosystem.

The article examines the claim that there is “almost no cash on the sidelines” and explains why the reality is more nuanced. Several indicators suggest investors are already heavily deployed. Retail investors are holding lower-than-average cash levels in their portfolios, equity mutual funds are maintaining very thin liquidity buffers, and professional managers — based on surveys from Bank of America — are carrying near-record low cash allocations. This combination means that in a sharp market selloff, there may be less immediate buying power available to stabilize prices, which increases short-term fragility.
At the same time, the broader financial system is not short on cash. Instead, large amounts of capital have moved into money market funds and short-term instruments, where investors can earn yield while staying defensive. These funds collectively hold trillions of dollars, acting as a reserve of optional liquidity. The key question is not whether cash exists, but what incentives will cause it to rotate back into risk assets. Interest rate trends are central: if short-term yields fall, some of this capital may gradually shift into stocks, bonds, and crypto; if yields remain attractive, the money may stay parked.
For crypto markets, liquidity conditions are especially important. Research from BlackRock shows Bitcoin has historically been sensitive to real interest rates, while macro analysis by Lyn Alden frames Bitcoin as a long-term reflection of global liquidity cycles. That means crypto could benefit if financial conditions ease and cash rotates outward, but it could also be pressured if a macro shock forces investors to reduce risk broadly. The core conclusion: positioning across many investor groups is tight, cash is concentrated rather than gone, and the next move in rates and macro conditions will likely determine market direction more than the headline narrative about “empty sidelines.”

Aave has introduced a governance proposal that would route 100% of Aave-branded product revenue to its DAO treasury, formalize brand and IP protection, and focus development on Aave V4. The framework signals a shift toward a token-centric, business-style operating model where the DAO captures and allocates real protocol revenue.
The proposal is based on the view that US regulatory pressure on crypto is easing. Enforcement activity by the SEC has declined, priorities have shifted, and several high-profile cases have been dropped, suggesting a more flexible environment for token value accrual mechanisms.
Aave’s plan goes beyond tokenomics, outlining a full operating structure in which the DAO manages budgets, product lines, and brand strategy, while collecting revenue from interfaces, apps, cards, and institutional products. Estimated annualized revenues from existing Aave products already exceed $100 million.
The trend is not isolated. Protocols like Uniswap and others are reactivating fee switches, buyback-and-burn programs, and treasury routing models. With better regulatory clarity and on-chain revenue data, DeFi tokens are increasingly being positioned as assets with measurable value capture rather than governance-only instruments.
The main risk: if enforcement tightens again, protocols may be forced to pause or redesign these value-accrual models. The core question is whether the current regulatory “thaw” will last long enough to make this shift permanent.

Global crypto funds see fourth straight week of outflows
Global crypto investment products recorded a fourth consecutive week of net outflows, with $173 million withdrawn last week and $3.74 billion pulled over the past four weeks, according to data from CoinShares.
The pace of redemptions has slowed compared with earlier in the month but has not reversed. Exchange-traded product trading volume also cooled to $27 billion from $63 billion the prior week, indicating reduced speculative activity alongside weaker flows. Major issuers in the segment include firms such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and Bitwise.
Regional data showed a sharp divergence. U.S.-listed products posted $403 million in weekly outflows, while Europe and Canada together attracted $230 million in inflows, led by Germany, Canada, and Switzerland.
By asset class, bitcoin funds saw the largest redemptions at $133 million, while ethereum products lost $85.1 million. Despite the broader risk-off trend, several altcoin-focused products still recorded selective inflows, showing pockets of relative resilience.

deBridge launches Model Context Protocol for AI-driven cross-chain transactions
Cross-chain protocol deBridge has launched a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI agents and developer tools to execute swaps, bridging, and multi-step onchain transactions across EVM-compatible networks and Solana.
The MCP server is designed to support tools such as Claude, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot, offering deterministic execution, MEV-aware routing, and reliable quoted outcomes. Users retain custody of funds while the protocol abstracts wallet orchestration, chain switching, and transaction retries behind a single interface.
Potential use cases include AI trading assistants rebalancing portfolios across chains, bots running multi-step strategies, consumer apps embedding cross-chain execution, and developer tools converting natural language into onchain actions.
The rollout follows December’s launch of deBridge Bundles, an intent-based execution model that removes chain-level complexity by letting users specify desired outcomes while the protocol handles execution. Founded in 2022, deBridge runs a zero-TVL, solver-based architecture and supports 24 blockchains, including Ethereum, Base, and Tron, with backing from investors such as Animoca Brands and ParaFi Capital.

Crypto fear and greed index hits record low amid prolonged risk-off mood
The Crypto Fear and Greed Index dropped to a record low reading of 5 on Feb. 12, signaling deeply negative market sentiment after months of deterioration, according to data highlighted by The Block.
The index aggregates volatility, momentum, social media activity, dominance, and search trends into a single score from 0 (extreme fear) to 100 (extreme greed). The extended slide into fear territory is largely traced to the Oct. 10, 2025 “10/10” liquidation shock, when more than $19 billion in leveraged crypto positions were forcibly closed within 24 hours across over 1.6 million accounts — the largest wipeout on record. Bitcoin fell about 14% that day, with altcoins posting even steeper losses, exposing weaknesses in derivatives liquidity and exchange infrastructure.
The weak sentiment reading contrasts with continued institutional engagement. Major traditional finance firms including BlackRock and Citadel are still expanding into DeFi and tokenized assets, highlighting a growing gap between retail sentiment and institutional positioning.

Wintermute launches institutional tokenized gold trading, sees $15B market in 2026
Wintermute has launched institutional OTC trading for tokenized gold, adding support for Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT), the two largest gold-backed tokens by market cap. The firm expects the tokenized gold sector to grow to $15 billion in 2026 despite a softer broader crypto market.
The company said its OTC desk will provide algorithmically optimized spot execution for institutional clients seeking gold exposure through blockchain-based settlement. Tokenized gold trading volume reached $126 billion in Q4/2025, surpassing five major gold ETFs for the first time, while onchain gold market cap climbed over 80% in three months to about $5.4 billion.
CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said tokenized gold is following an infrastructure shift similar to foreign exchange markets, driven by 24/7 liquidity and instant settlement. The desk will support trading against USDT, USDC, fiat currencies, and major digital assets, enabling real-time hedging and collateral mobility.
The move aligns with broader tokenized real-world asset growth. ARK Invest, Standard Chartered, and BlackRock have all projected strong long-term expansion in tokenized asset markets.

Metaplanet reports ¥95 billion net loss on Bitcoin valuation hit
Tokyo-based bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet reported a net loss of ¥95 billion ($619 million) for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, reversing from a ¥4.44 billion profit the prior year. The loss was mainly driven by a ¥102.2 billion valuation loss on its Bitcoin holdings, recorded as a non-operating item with no impact on cash flow or core operations.
Despite the headline loss, the company said its balance sheet remains robust, with a 90.7% equity ratio and sufficient coverage of liabilities and preferred shares even under an 86% Bitcoin price decline scenario. Year-end figures show ¥46.7 billion in liabilities, ¥458.5 billion in net assets, and Bitcoin holdings valued at ¥481.5 billion.
FY2025 revenue rose to ¥8.91 billion, up 738% year over year, while operating profit jumped to ¥6.29 billion, up 1,695%. Bitcoin-related activities generated most of the revenue and profit, largely from premium income tied to Bitcoin options transactions.
The firm ended the year holding 35,102 BTC, surpassing its 30,000 BTC target and ranking among the largest public holders globally, though still far behind Strategy. It maintains a long-term goal of accumulating 210,000 BTC. For FY2026, the company forecasts ¥16 billion in revenue and ¥11.4 billion in operating profit but gave no net income guidance due to Bitcoin price volatility.

OpenAI hires OpenClaw creator to lead personal AI agent push
OpenAI has hired Austrian developer Peter Steinberger to lead development of personal AI agents, bringing one of the most viral open-source agent projects into its ecosystem while keeping it operationally independent.
Steinberger originally launched the project in November 2025 as Clawdbot, later renamed Moltbot and then OpenClaw. The tool gained rapid traction for its ability to autonomously perform real-world tasks such as managing calendars, booking flights, and interacting with third-party services with minimal human supervision.
CEO Sam Altman said personal agents are expected to become a core part of the company’s product lineup. OpenClaw will continue as an open-source project under an independent foundation, supported financially and technically by OpenAI.

Bitcoin’s fall to around $60,000 should be viewed as a two-stage capitulation process rather than a single-day panic bottom, based on on-chain data analysis. The selling did not come from one uniform group, but from different investor cohorts surrendering at different times.
The first capitulation wave happened in November 2025 near $80,000, driven mainly by investors who bought earlier in the cycle and endured a long period of sideways price action. After months without a clear breakout, many exited positions out of exhaustion and loss of conviction. That phase reflected time-based fatigue turning into realized losses.
The second capitulation wave arrived in February 2026, when Bitcoin dropped toward $60,000. This time, selling was split between remaining older holders and newer dip buyers who had entered between roughly $80,000 and $98,000 expecting a bottom. When price continued lower, those newer entrants were forced to close at losses, creating a confidence-driven surrender layered on top of the earlier exhaustion-driven one.
On-chain metrics recorded some of the largest realized losses in dollar terms on record, with short-term holders absorbing the majority of the damage and net realized losses peaking around $1.5 billion per day. At the same time, volumes jumped sharply across spot, ETF, futures, and options markets, signaling broad, high-stress redistribution rather than routine profit-taking.
Instead of defining a precise bottom price, the data points to a bottoming zone built around network cost-basis levels. With two major surrender phases completed and weaker hands largely cleared, the next stage is likely to be consolidation and gradual rebuilding of risk appetite rather than an immediate straight-line recovery.

Changpeng Zhao and Barry Silbert agree that the biggest barrier preventing crypto payments from replacing bank transfers is the lack of practical privacy.
CZ argues that with current on-chain payments, salary and transaction details are fully transparent, meaning anyone can see how much a company pays each employee. This level of visibility makes businesses reluctant to use crypto for payroll and commercial payments. He says crypto needs compliant but shielded payment mechanisms to enable broader real-world adoption.
Silbert supports this view and calls privacy-focused crypto an “asymmetric bet” similar to early Bitcoin investments. He believes a portion of capital could shift from Bitcoin into privacy-oriented assets in the coming years. While still bullish on Bitcoin, he notes it is no longer truly anonymous due to blockchain analytics firms like Chainalysis and Elliptic.
Overall, both leaders see privacy — not AI or institutional adoption — as the key missing link for crypto payments to scale.

Ray Dalio says the decades-old global order built after World War II has effectively collapsed and is being replaced by a new era driven by raw power and intensifying great-power rivalry. In a recent post, he cited statements from leaders at the Munich Security Conference as confirmation that the rules-based framework is breaking down.
Dalio argues the world is entering “Stage 6” of his long-term Big Cycle model — a disorderly phase marked by weak rules, power politics, and multi-layered conflict. He says international relations function more like a law-of-the-jungle system than a legal system, with disputes settled through pressure, sanctions, and force rather than neutral arbitration.
He outlines five main conflict channels — trade, technology, geopolitics, capital, and military — noting that economic and financial warfare often comes before shooting wars. Dalio stresses that wars rarely go as planned and are usually more damaging than expected, urging leaders to avoid reckless escalation.
He highlights financial strength as the foundation of geopolitical power and identifies U.S.–China tensions, especially around Taiwan, as the most dangerous flashpoint. For investors, he warns that major geopolitical shifts often bring capital controls, asset freezes, market disruptions, and higher taxes, with gold historically serving as a defensive hedge. Despite the risks, he says decline is not inevitable if major powers manage finances responsibly and pursue cooperative, win-win relationships.