Cryptopolitan

A recent blockchain investigation has exposed the developers of the Trove Markets Project, alleging that they gave preferential treatment to crypto influencers.

This investigation was conducted by crypto analytics platform Bubble Maps. The findings claim that while Trove’s anonymous development team claimed to have distributed the refunds transparently, on-chain data points toward the opposite. 

The project raised $11.5 million during its January ICO but refunded only $2.4 million to early investors after the token crashed, wiping out 98% of its value within minutes of trading. This left developers with approximately $9.4 million they claimed they would use to continue development on Solana.

$450,000 in stablecoins traced to new wallets after the crash

An analysis of the Bubble Maps’ data revealed that less than 24 hours after the Trove crash on January 19, 2026, $450,000 in stablecoin was transferred to wallets linked to the project’s deployer. 

These wallets had no prior transaction history, and the transactions ($100,000 in USDC and $350,000 in USDT) were linked to leaked Telegram conversations in which Trove’s founder discussed compensating a popular influencer who demanded a refund.

Bubble Maps discovered these transactions by using visual bubble map technology to identify connections between seemingly unrelated blockchain addresses. It analyzes transaction patterns, timing, and wallet relationships, which helps the firm to determine when multiple addresses are controlled by the same person. 

In Trove’s case, the on-chain evidence showed clear links between the deployer wallet that managed the presale funds and the destination addresses that received the stablecoin transfers after the crash. 

Influencers getting refunds while investors got 3% recovery

In the leaked Telegram conversations released by Bubble Maps, Trove’s founder can be seen trying to handle an opinion leader who demanded a refund after the crash and ensuring that the influencer received compensation.

Alleged leaked conversation between Trove’s founder and crypto KOLs. Source: Bubble Maps

Another documented case involves another influencer Joji (@meteversejoji on X), who described his experience with Trove on X. 

According to his story, his team invested in the project back in October 2025, and when he requested a refund days before the launch in January (after learning about the switch from HyperLiquid to Solana), he was told he would be “made whole at the token generation event,” even though the team had already spent much of the raised capital.

This story is a stark contrast to other accounts from many investors. One investor said that his $20,000 investment should have resulted in $14,000 USDC back and $6,000 worth of TROVE tokens based on the established distribution plan. However, because of the crash, the investor received only $600, a recovery rate of exactly 3% on their capital.

Screenshots circulating on social media also reveal more evidence of preferential treatment. Some influencers were allegedly offered monthly payments to place the TROVE logo in their X usernames, plus the privilege of buying ICO tokens at discounted prices compared to the prices marketed publicly.

This disparity uncovers a two-tier refund system. Influencers with leverage and inside information received larger compensations, while ordinary investors were left to count their losses with near-worthless tokens.

$9.4 million now left in developer hands

The Trove token launched on Solana in January 2026 after a last-minute change from the originally intended Hyperliquid blockchain. When trading started, the token was valued at an expected $20 million, but then crashed to around $330,000 in minutes, leaving investors desolate.

Analysts noted that catastrophic liquidity was the main catalyst for the crash. At the time of the launch, the token had only $50,000 in liquidity backing the $20 million valuation. 

With how volatile the crypto market is, the slightest selling pressure can trigger the most extreme price movements. This is exactly what happened as early holders rushed to exit the market, overwhelming the pool and sending the valuation below $1 million in minutes.

Trove had initially raised $11.5 million during its ICO. The developers announced that they had refunded around $2.4 million to investors, but would keep the remaining $9.4 million to continue building their exchange on Solana.

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By 2026, the crypto market will not focus solely on speculative altcoins. Intelligent capital is currently being invested in real time projects that can deliver financial value and high security. Although most investors are often drawn to large-cap assets, there is a new crypto quietly pursuing a growth trend that resembles early industry leaders. 

The value of this project has already increased 300%, but the technical process is only going to start. It is establishing a base of decentralized finance first and then is on its way to a big breakout. The algebra of its present trend points to the fact that the initial returns are only the beginning of a very big circle.

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) develops a dual lending system making it flexible and quick at the same time. The former is the Peer-to-Contract (P2C) market. In this case, users can put assets such as ETH or USDT into common liquid pools to claim a passive Annual Percentage Yield (APY). The second one is the P2P (Peer to peer) market. This enables people to negotiate the terms of their own loans directly which is best in case of volatile assets.

The protocol’s whitepaper provides very high Loan-to-Value (LTV), which is usually as high as 75% of stable assets. This would imply that a user with a collateral of $2,000 would be able to get up to $1,500 in liquidity without selling the holdings. 

Mutuum Finance is at the moment in Phase 7 of its presale, the tokens are sold at $0.04. The project has already raised $20.5 million through the over 19,000 holders and this is an indication that there is a great demand for this new infrastructure.

Protocol Launch and Price Targets

One massive driving force behind Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is the official launch of V1 protocol on the Sepolia testnet. In this version, yield-bearing receipts are introduced in the form of they are called mtTokens and are provided to liquidity providers. As borrowers make payments in the form of interest, these tokens increase in value as compared to the underlying asset. This makes the project a concept for working financial technology.

This technical advancement is caught by analysts. There are several targets that MUTM may rise to $0.45 in the near future after the official launch of this token at $0.06. This would be an increase of 10x the current levels. In the longer-term, in 2027, some analysts can envisage a route to the 1.00 mark, particularly with the platform expanding its user base and its deployment of the mainnet complete.

Security and Sustainable Growth

The MUTM ecosystem is designed to nourish its value on the basis of a buy-and-distribute mechanism. The trading fee of a percentage of the protocol will purchase MUTM tokens on a trading market and reallocate them to the stakers. In order to get the liquidations priced correctly, the system combines decentralized oracles, such as Chainlink. This eliminates artificial liquidations and insures user collateral in the market fluctuations.

The team also places the priority on security. The protocol has already passed through a complete audit by Halborn Security that is among the most reputable companies in the sector. It also has a high rate of trust by CertiK and a bug bounty program of $50,000. These are aimed at securing the already raised $20 million and giving future institutional capital a safe haven.

According to many analysts, MUTM is pursuing the same initial moves as Binance Coin (BNB). Similar to BNB, Mutuum Finance is establishing a large group of investors and a working ecosystem that would reach large exchanges. 

It is building a bankless liquidity hub where users get their money under their complete control. Mutuum Finance is no longer a speculation game with its V1 testnet live and Phase 7 selling out. It is a financial product of professional character that prepares itself for the next crypto significant DeFi cycle.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

The AI scare trade has been used to explain price drops across multiple industries. Crypto has also fallen with the rest of the market, also falling prey to the influential market narrative. 

The AI scare trade spread contagion across markets. The narrative that new AI-powered tools can upend business models of major industries caused panic selling in multiple sectors of the stock market. 

The AI scare trade first showed its effect in January and has since become a major narrative over the past two weeks. The first industry to be affected was software, as the S&P software industry index dropped by over 18% in the year-to-date. 

The S&P software index lost over 18% in 2026, pressured by the narrative that AI will disrupt its business model. | Source: SP Global

The narrative spilled over to other stocks, including private credit companies, insurance, real estate, precious metals, and other markets. 

At this point, it remains unclear if AI-based products really exist to disrupt entire industries and their know-how. Yet even the expectation is enough to exacerbate the price drop. 

Will crypto survive the AI scare trade?

BTC has historically behaved in ways similar to NASDAQ, though with a higher volatility. In this case, BTC is tracking the software industry index, with deeper losses in 2026. 

During the latest overall market downturn, BTC slid into the $65,000 range, showing vulnerability to the AI scare trade in the short term. The price of BTC has not reacted to news of AI agents being deployed in the crypto ecosystem. 

In the past weeks, the AI scare trade showed that development did not lead to market optimism and did not lift all boats. This added to the uncertainty for BTC, extending the slide, as there are no signs of aggressively buying the dip. The AI scare trade arrived at a time of peak market uncertainty, causing a worsening spiral of market sentiment. 

Is the AI scare trade real?

In the past day, the AI scare trade affected the logistics industry, where claims were made that AI products could resolve freight stress points and increase capacity. 

The latest market downturn, which affected trucking and logistics, was caused by a suspiciously obscure company. 

The new potential AI product to disrupt logistics came from Algorhythm Holdings, Inc. The company trades near a five-year low, and only relies on OTC pink sheet listings for its liquidity. 

Algorythm Holdings (RIME) traded near a five-year low, and not even the hype around its potential AI product could lift its stock price. RIME traded at around $1 after the news. Before switching to the AI narrative, Algorhythm Holdings sold consumer-oriented karaoke equipment.

RIME crashed to a five-year low, but its speculation on launching an AI product disrupted the logistics stock market. | Sources: OTCQB

The performance of RIME suggests the AI scare may be caused by hype, and potentially dissipate with time and skepticism. The only worry is that there are no investors left to buy the dip on stocks, metals, or crypto, mostly due to the fear of further irrational price drops. 

If the AI scare narrative reverses, it may lead to more confident buying and a potential recovery. For now, any industry can fall to the narrative’s influence, only based on a future product announcement.

Want your project in front of crypto’s top minds? Feature it in our next industry report, where data meets impact.

The crypto market is huge. At its most recent peak in October 2025, its market cap reached over $4 trillion, rivalling the market caps of some mega companies and dwarfing the economies of nations. This surge was due to a shift towards clearer regulation, significant institutional inflows, especially through ETFs, and an overall renewed market optimism. 

Cumulative crypto market cap as of October 2025 | Source: Coingecko

As of February 2026, that value has dropped by about half with swings in between. Why is this the case? 

Why Emotions Matter More in Crypto

First, ask yourself: Emotion or Fundamentals… Which has the biggest impact on the cryptocurrency market?

The reality is that crypto behaves nothing like traditional finance – it is, in fact, more speculative. The crypto market trades 24/7, with high retail participation and narrative-driven cycles. Emotions, specifically Fear and Greed, have a stronger hold over the cryptocurrency market, often driving price extremes that charts and valuation models struggle to explain.

For example, the price of Bitcoin jumps 15% on news of institutional money inflows, and over the next 48 hours, the coin’s market value drops by 32% on the announcement of regulatory concerns or, in odd cases, for no particular reason. That’s a dramatic swing that happens in reality, and for the most part, defies what analysts would call “a fundamental value change.” It’s simply psychology operating at scale. 

Research demonstrates that socio-psychological and behavioral factors, such as loss aversion and regret, herding behavior, and overconfidence, have a substantial influence on investment decisions in the global market, but with more amplification in the crypto market. This means the crypto market remains extremely sensitive to the behavior of investors.

Investors feel good, greed sets in, and the market is green… Fear sets in, massive sell-offs follow, and the market is down. Hence, having a clear understanding of the market psychology and emotional cycles can be the huge difference between a costly mistake and disciplined decision-making.

This piece explores how fear and greed drive price action, volatility, and decision-making in crypto markets, helping you recognize emotional cycles so you can make more disciplined, risk-aware decisions.

What Is Market Psychology?

Market psychology refers to the collective sentiment and behavior of investors that influence financial markets. Unlike traditional economic theory, which assumes that economic participants make rational decisions based on economic or earnings data, market psychology recognizes that emotions and cognitive biases often drive trading decisions, sometimes more powerfully than fundamentals.

At its core, market psychology explains the gap between the ideal decision of an investor informed by rational models and what they actually do when fear, greed, cognitive biases, and social pressure set in. 

An individual investor may put in all the work, plan out their strategies, and even maintain composure during a period of market uncertainty. However, when other investors simultaneously panic, their collective actions create cascading price movements and an emotional feedback loop where selling triggers more selling. 

This herd mentality, in which investors follow the crowd without conducting a deep analysis of the market situation, is particularly prominent in crypto markets and is a significant factor that influences market direction.

Fear and Greed Explained

Fear in Crypto Market

Typically, in any market, fear emerges when investors perceive threats to the preservation of their capital, albeit more slowly in traditional markets. But in crypto, fear can spike instantly due to sudden price crashes, exchange failures (especially following a security breach), and regulatory announcements. 

Panic Selling and Loss Aversion

Panic selling is fear’s most visible manifestation. A recent example is the case of flow (FLOW), which experienced panic-driven token sell-offs and over 40% depreciation in market value due to a major security exploit. An investor who planned to HODL Bitcoin (BTC) for 6 months may abandon that course of action within minutes when losses hit 20%. Other times, an investor might sell a winning position too early because of loss aversion or hold a losing position too long, hoping to recover losses.

Market Capitulation

Other than panic selling, market capitulation is another factor that marks the extreme end of fear cycles. During this period, even long-term holders surrender to despair and exit positions, often at or near market bottoms. As of early February 2026, Glassnode data reveals that approximately 9.3 million BTC (about 45% of the circulating supply) were trading below their purchase price, the highest level of underwater holdings since January 2023. As Bitcoin dropped to about $60,000 on February 5-6, over $1 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated in a single day, exemplifying fear’s most destructive force in crypto markets.

Shift to Stablecoins or Cash

There is also the scenario in which investors shift their volatile assets to stablecoins or cash as fear intensifies across the crypto market. Technically, when stablecoins see rapid inflows, it is usually an indicator of a market-wide risk aversion.

Greed in Crypto Market

During a bull market and sustained price gains, reasoning often flies out the window for many investors, and greed tends to dominate. Greed in crypto markets manifests as:

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

Imagine chasing a moving train headed to your final destination! This is the case for FOMO-driven investors. They begin to chase an asset that’s already in motion. The fear of missing out (FOMO) on opportunities overshadows risk considerations, and market participants become increasingly aggressive as prices pump. 

For example, the Bitcoin bull run of 2025 saw the coin hit an all-time high of $126,000 in October. Leading up to that milestone, the search interest for cryptos spiked dramatically, with hundreds of thousands of new entrants jumping in on the rally to avoid missing out. This sort of impulsive, greed-induced approach often coincides with late-stage bull markets, when the risk of losses is highest.

Recent Success vs Long-Term Performance

In some cases, market participants decide to invest in an asset based on its early successes or its most recent performance, neglecting pre-existing trends. Because upside narratives often spread instantly in the crypto space, these investors become overconfident as the price of the asset increases, validating their investment decisions. In that moment, the possibility of a price reversal is nonexistent to such investors.

Excessive Leverage

This is enabled by easy access to margin trading and derivatives, and it amplifies greed-driven risk-taking. Crypto platforms often allow traders to control positions that exceed their actual capital, with leverage ratios up to 100x or more. This means that a trader with $5,000 in capital could hold positions up to $500,000 (100x leverage). While this can magnify profits during favorable moves, a mere 1% adverse price movement completely liquidates the position.

For example:

Scenario 1: Price rises 2% Scenario 2: Price falls 1% Capital: $1,000

Leverage: 100x

Position size: $100,000

Profit: $2,000 

(200% gain on original capital)

Loss: $1,000 (100% of original capital)

The entire position is liquidated; the trader loses everything

During the 2025 rally, leverage ratios hit yearly highs, and when markets reversed, over $2 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated within a single 24-hour period.

Investors chase narratives and hype

Many investors shy away from fundamentals and personal research and continue to chase viral narratives and stories. Memecoins and tokens with minimal utility are usually the go-tos because they attract billions during bull markets. Investors justify purchasing these tokens not through deep analysis but by believing others will pay higher prices, often exemplifying the greater fool theory.

Why Crypto Markets Amplify Fear and Greed

24/7 Global Trading

Traditional stock markets close on holidays, weekends, and overnight, giving emotions time to cool off. The crypto market, on the other hand, never sleeps. A widely spread narrative at 2 AM, whether true or false, can trigger global selloffs before most crypto stakeholders even know it. This continuous operation creates an uninterrupted cycle of fear and greed.

High leverage availability

High leverage means that traders can magnify gains and equally suffer devastating losses. Knowing that you could potentially rake in significant gains from small price movements with a leverage of 50x, 100x, or more, fuels a continuous cycle of greed. 

Social media and real-time narratives

Social media platforms like Telegram, X (formerly Twitter), and Reddit have become an integral part of the crypto economy. These are channels often used to propagate speculations, sentiments, and real-time narratives at unprecedented speed to millions of people. Orchestrated misinformation with high engagement can instantly shift market sentiment bullish or bearish.

Thin liquidity during stress events

During stress events, crypto markets often experience thin liquidity, meaning relatively small flows can cause outsized price movements. This mechanical fragility amplifies fear and greed.

Common Fear-Driven and Greed-Driven Market Phases

Blow-off tops

A blow-off top is a chart pattern in which an asset’s price and trading volume see a significant jump, followed by a sharp, dramatic decline. This phase is often characterized by parabolic price moves and euphoric sentiment. The disposition of market participants is one of widespread belief that “this time is different.” That line of action is narrative-driven rather than data-driven.

A chart describing Blow-off tops | Source: Tradervue

Sharp capitulation wicks

On price charts, a sharp capitulation wick appears as long downward candles, often accompanied by high volume. During this phase, fear dominates the market, prices drop violently, and sellers rush to exit, often liquidating leveraged positions at almost any cost. 

Capitulation wick | Source: Tradingview

Historically, sharp capitulations often mark short-term bottoms and potential rebounds, as overleveraged positions and fearful participants are flushed out. The question is: can you time this rebound? Maybe not, it remains unpredictable, as the market may just continue to accumulate losses.

Extended sideways fear phases

This is often referred to as the consolidation period for an asset and typically happens between extremes. The extended sideways fear phase gradually grinds through investor psychology. It is marked by a range-bound market, reduced participation, low confidence, and lingering skepticism that persists for weeks or even months. 

A chart showing Extended Sideways Fear

Euphoria during parabolic runs

The Euphoria phase is greed-driven and characterized by late bull markets. At this point in the market, investors believe that prices will continue to rise, causing them to ignore risks and take on speculative positions. The Euphoria phase historically precedes market corrections that erase substantial gains.

The Cycle of Market Emotions | Source: UK Investor Magazine

Indicators That Measure Market Sentiment

Fear and Greed (F&G) index

The Fear and Greed Index combines all investors’ feelings about the market in one number with a range of 0-100. It indicates whether investors feel frightened or greedy. When the index is low, investors are nervous and have low trading activity (risk-averse). 

Fear and Greed Index | Source: Capital.com

When the index is high, investors feel confident and/or are willing to take risks (risk-seeking). The index considers factors such as price movement, volatility, volume of trades, and investor sentiment into one overall score. The Fear and Greed index can indicate how emotional the market is; however, it does not indicate where the price of an asset will go next.

Funding Rates

Funding rates show which side of the market is using more leverage in perpetual futures. A positive funding rate means long traders pay short traders, indicating that the market is leaning bullish (perp. price > spot price). On the other hand, negative funding means short traders pay long traders, indicating that the market is leaning bearish (perp. price < spot price).

When funding rates become extreme, it suggests positions are crowded and highly leveraged. In those moments, even small price moves can trigger forced liquidations, often leading to sharp pullbacks or volatility spikes.

Open Interest

Open Interest (OI) is a tool that monitors the number of open positions in a specific crypto contract (futures or options). Simply put, OI provides traders and investors with information about interest and liquidity in a particular contract.

Rising open interest means new leveraged trades are being added.

If prices rise and open interest increases, it suggests growing confidence or greed.

If price rises while open interest falls, the move may come from positions closing rather than new buying.

Sudden drops in open interest usually signal liquidations, when fear forces traders out.

Social sentiment signals

A social sentiment indicator is an automated metric-driven tool that gauges public perceptions by analyzing the emotional tone of human-generated posts, comments, and mentions across social media platforms such as Reddit, X, and Telegram. If the overarching sentiment from social media is negative, that might prompt sell-offs and volatility spikes. Positive sentiments on the other hand could signal accumulation.

How Fear and Greed Affect Retail and Institutional Behavior

Retail emotional cycles

Retail investors are those individuals who trade with their personal money. This group of individuals often exhibits more impulsive, emotional responses to market movements. During fear phases, retail investors quickly sell volatile assets (typically memecoins and heavily speculative assets) and move their money into stablecoins or exit their positions entirely. The reverse is the case during a greed phase. Retail capital flows in the direction of meme tokens and altcoins in a bid for outsized returns. 

In essence, fear and greed lead retail investors to engage in momentum-following, narrative-driven behaviour. They hold through price increases and capitulate during declines.

Liquidity provision during stress

Retail investors frequently buy near peaks driven by greed and FOMO. But during fear-driven crypto sell-offs, they often panic and capitulate, creating buying opportunities for larger, more patient capital. This dynamic creates a wealth-transfer mechanism in which institutions often provide liquidity during periods of stress. They do so by absorbing retail selling and systematically benefiting from this predictable pattern.

So how do institutions benefit from emotional extremes? The idea is simple: when panic selling occurs, opportunities for discounted entry points arise. This is where institutional investors come in to accumulate assets for a low price with a target of strong long-term returns. Because this emotional cycle often repeats itself, institutions continue to benefit from its predictability. 

Institutions adopt a risk framework

Institutional investors such as hedge funds, asset managers, and family offices often take a structured risk management and longer time horizon approach to crypto. In terms of fund allocation, they push money to derivatives and to larger, established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

During a market downturn, institutional investors are less emotional and typically make limited changes to their portfolios, rather than reducing their positions to cut losses. This distinction in market reaction speaks to the risk appetite of both classes of participants.

Managing Emotional Bias as a Crypto Participant

Set predefined risk limits

Setting portfolio allocation limits, position sizes, and stop-loss limits prior to entering into a trade will help an investor put guardrails in place to prevent greed driven behavior.

Avoiding impulsive decisions

During peak fear or greed phases, the tendency to make impulsive decisions rises. Hence, it is a good approach to implement a waiting period between decision and execution, especially when making an unplanned trade that equals or exceeds your predefined limits.

Separating narratives from data

Always stick to verifiable data, not narratives. A token might surge on the hype of potential partnerships. It is the responsibility of an investor to verify the authenticity of those partnerships by seeking official communications from those involved. You must also be wary of social media hype, as it sometimes amplifies compelling narratives that may or may not reflect reality.

Long-term vs short-term mindset

Short-term is trading, and long-term is investment. Determining which category you fall into in advance matters significantly for emotional management. Traders, with a short-term mindset, actively react to market volatility. Investors, on the other hand, can often ignore it. An investor who purchased ETH as a 2-4 year position can weather a 35% price drop more easily than someone looking to cash out profits in a few weeks.

The Role of Fear and Greed in Crypto Cycles

Since the inception of Bitcoin, the crypto market has seen multiple boom-bust cycles, each accompanied by evolving technology, new narratives, participants, and changing regulatory frameworks. One thing, however, remains persistent: the psychological patterns of traders and investors.

During the fear phase, loss aversion has continued to drive panic selling, and in the greed phase, FOMO has continued to pull investors into late-stage rallies.

There are arguments that a mature crypto market, such as one with high institutional adoption, robust infrastructure, and regulatory clarity, may reduce the frequency of extremes. This, in actual fact, is true today.

Regulations are clearer, ETFs provide crypto exposure without actually holding crypto, and a lot more institutional money is flowing into the crypto market. However, as long as uncertainty, leverage, and human psychology coexist, fear and greed will remain a structural force in crypto, even though extremes may be nerfed.

Conclusion

Fear and greed are unavoidable features of the crypto market. They are structural features of an open, global, and emotionally responsive financial system. Understanding how these forces operate does not necessarily guarantee better outcomes, but it represents the first step toward more disciplined market participation. 

Knowing when the market is in a fear phase can prevent costly mistakes, such as capitulating at bottoms. Similarly, recognizing euphoric conditions can prompt appropriate risk management before corrections occur. Simply said, emotional awareness is a competitive advantage.

Sam Bankman-Fried is on the fourth day of a publicly chronicled challenge to his conviction, and his supporters are hoping the Trump administration will step in.  

The Biden administration has been repeatedly accused of being too harsh on the cryptocurrency industry, and supporters of crypto leaders in legal battles believe that the crypto-friendly Trump administration will review a lot of the cases. 

SBF is still appealing his conviction 

Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team is currently on day 4 of fighting to get his conviction overturned. They argue that the judicial process under the previous administration was flawed. 

The convicted executive has gone from questioning the legality of his conviction to the litigiation process that preceded it in recent days to commending the achievements of the Trump administration and its aggressive approach to economic growth.

For years, the crypto industry complained that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Biden administration were hostile. They claimed the government required companies to get licenses, but then refused to grant them, forcing many American-founded companies to move their operations offshore to places like the Bahamas or Dubai. 

Changpeng Zhao recently echoed the same complaint about the Biden administration’s DOJ on the All-In podcast. Cryptopolitan reported that he viewed the Department of Justice as being “uniquely aggressive” and attempting to stall innovation. 

Now, the Trump administration is signaling that the companies that were run off are “welcome back in America.” 

SBF cited how liquid prediction markets were mostly based offshore due to strict oversight by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) before the Trump admin returned to office. Now, recent court rulings and a more hands-off approach from the current executive branch have allowed these markets to become available to American citizens.

President Trump has frequently pointed to “great jobs numbers” as proof that his economic plan is working. He argues that by expanding business tax breaks, the government is successfully pulling investment back to U.S. soil. 

However, President Trump told The New York Times in a January interview that he has no plans to pardon Bankman-Fried. The president also ruled out pardons for music producer Sean Combs and former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez.

The Trump administration has overhauled crypto landscape

Gary Gensler, who was known for being “tough on crypto” has left his position at the SEC and been replaced by pro-innovation successor, Paul Atkins. Several Bitcoin and Ethereum-based financial products are seeing faster approval times since the change.

The Trump administration is attempting to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” by creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve and ensuring that stablecoins are regulated in a way that keeps the dollar strong. 

Supporters of SBF and other crypto figures in legal trouble hope that this new “Golden Age” of crypto will lead to a review of past prosecutions. They argue that many “crimes” were actually just a result of confusing and contradictory rules that were impossible to follow.

Critics of the era, however, warn that total deregulation could lead to more collapses like the one seen with FTX. The Trump administration has stated that clear rules are the best way to protect people.

The screenshot of a post by President Trump that SBF attached showed the POTUS stating that since the U.S. is the strongest country in the world, it should have the lowest interest rates on its bonds. 

The president continues by stating that the United States currently pays hundreds of billions of dollars every year just in interest on its debt. By strengthening the economy and demanding better terms, the government could save at least $1 trillion per year in interest costs.

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Decentralized finance is a fast-paced environment, and individuals that follow technical development tend to discover the largest opportunities prior to making an appearance on the mainstream stage. Whereas most projects tend to rely on the hype of social media, there is a silent move towards protocols to be developed that establish real infrastructure at first. 

One particular new crypto project has already managed to overcome one of the significant milestones, demonstrating its usefulness and technical safety to an increasingly large world audience. It is picking up quickly as time to be an early participant starts to run out. The viewers of the charts have observed a gradual rise that is an indication of in-depth faith in the future of the platform.

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is a new crypto protocol that is meant to transform how people access liquidity and generate interest. It eliminates the banking institution through automated smart contracts. The essence of the system is a dual-market lending system to meet various financial requirements.

The former is the Peer-to-Contract (P2C) market. This is designed in a manner that is fast and efficient. As an illustration, a user is able to deposit USDT into a common pool. This pool then will have the borrowing by others, in real time where the depositor gains interest. 

The second one is the Peer-to-peer (P2P) market. This is geared towards tailor-made offers. To provide an example, a lender and a borrower are free to make their own specific interest rates and terms on a loan on a niche asset.

This protocol has already secured more than $20.5 million in investments. Better still the size of the community, which has shot to over 19,000 individual holders, is more impressive. Such a massive base is vital in that it guarantees that the protocol will be deep in liquidity and will have users by the time the protocol is launched. The trust has also been increased by the recent introduction of the V1 protocol on the Sepolia testnet, as it is possible to view the code in action before the mainnet.

MUTM Growth and Supply Dynamics

The MUTM token has long-term stability economics. There are a total number of 4 billion tokens in the project. Of this, 1.82 billion (45.5%) have been earmarked to be given out at the presale community level at an early stage. There are more than 840 million tokens which are sold so far, almost a half of all the allocated tokens have been sold.

MUTM has taken a systematic course of appreciation since its inception. It began at an extremely low price of $0.01, and the price has already increased by 300% at this point. It implies that by this stage, the participants in the first round are already in a position to increase by 500%, within the time frame when the token will be officially launched at the price of $0.06.

MUTM is at Phase 7, with the price being fixed at $0.04. The second stage will be the price increase by approximately 20%. This step up mechanism is imperative as it sets up a definite advantage to the quick acting people. Each sell-out brings the project one step further to its launch in the eyes of the public, so the present point of entry is one of the last opportunities to have tokens before the market swamps it.

Security and Global Trust

The last element of the puzzle of any serious DeFi project is security. This has been a priority area by Mutuum Finance who has gone ahead to complete major independent reviews. CertiK has given the project a high trust rating of 90/100 token scan, which proves that its token contract is reliable.

Moreover, the team concluded an entire audit with Halborn Security. Halborn is a global company that has secured some of the largest companies in crypto. Their check-up went through all sections of the lending rationality and liquidation systems. 

A Bug Bounty of up to $50,000 is underway in order to further secure it. This would motivate professional developers to discover and disclose any small bugs before the majornet release. This kind of transparency is not common and it provides the investors with the tranquility that they require.

Despite the first weeks of 2026, investors are in a hurry. Mutuum Finance is not simply a token; it is a financial infrastructure that proves it works. It is cutting an enormous niche in the DeFi arena through the integration of the safety of the Ethereum network and a versatile dual-market approach. The project is now in the ideal position to take its next big crypto jump as the V1 protocol testnet is live and the supply is steadily decreasing.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

Tens of thousands of people have downloaded what they believed were useful AI tools for their browsers, only to give hackers a direct path into their most private online activity, including emails.

According to LayerX, over 260,000 Chrome users installed at least 30 malicious browser extensions masquerading as AI helpers. These claimed features, like chat support, email drafting, and content summaries, but in reality, they were quietly siphoning data in the background.

Trusted AI names used as cover

The timing was not random. With people eagerly adopting AI tools for both work and personal use, attackers seized on that excitement to slip in under the radar. The bogus extensions claimed ties to familiar AI services such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok, brands that inspire instant recognition and confidence.

Although they went by different names, displayed varied logos, and carried distinct descriptions, all 30 extensions were fundamentally identical beneath the surface. They ran the same underlying code, requested the same broad permissions, and funneled data to the same concealed servers.

LayerX researchers described the approach as “extension spraying”, flooding the store with near-identical variants to evade detection and removal by Chrome Web Store moderators. The strategy paid off: several even earned “featured” placement, boosting their apparent legitimacy and helping rack up more installations.

What made these extensions particularly insidious was their method of operation. Instead of performing any genuine AI processing locally on the user’s device, they pulled in hidden full-screen overlays hosted on attacker-controlled servers, one confirmed domain being tapnetic.pro.

This setup allowed the operators to alter the extension’s behavior on the fly, without ever submitting updates through Google’s review process. Users had no way to spot the shifts.

Once active, the extensions could extract text, page titles, and other elements from any site a person visited, including protected pages that required logins, such as workplace portals or personal accounts, and relay everything to remote servers.

Gmail users in the crosshairs

Fifteen of the 30 extensions zeroed in on Gmail users specifically. LayerX dubbed this group the “Gmail integration cluster.” Marketed under separate names and pitched for different uses, all 15 shared the exact same code targeting Gmail. It injected scripts directly into Gmail’s interface, repeatedly grabbing the text of any open conversations visible on screen.

In simpler terms, full email content, including drafts and entire threads, could be pulled from Gmail and shipped off to the attackers’ servers. The report added that using Gmail’s built-in AI tools, such as smart replies or message summaries, sometimes triggered even greater capture of content, sending it beyond Google’s ecosystem.

This fits into a broader and worsening pattern. LayerX pointed out that only a month prior, they exposed 16 other extensions designed to steal session tokens from ChatGPT accounts, impacting over 900,000 users. In another case, two AI sidebar extensions leaked chat histories from DeepSeek and ChatGPT, affecting an additional 900,000 installs.

With Chrome boasting roughly 3 billion users globally and Gmail serving 2 billion, the browser’s extension ecosystem makes an especially tempting target for this kind of operation.

Anyone who is worried they’ve been hit can check LayerX’s published list of the malicious extensions. Simply head to “chrome://extensions” in your browser to inspect installed items and uninstall anything questionable. Enabling two-step verification on accounts is another smart step right now.

Zargarov delivered a blunt caution: “As generative AI continues to gain popularity, defenders should expect similar campaigns to proliferate.” Security professionals emphasize that the safest route is relying on AI features already integrated into trusted apps and platforms, rather than rolling the dice on unfamiliar third-party extensions.

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Gold tanked up to 4.1% before trimming some of that drop. Silver crashed 11%, and copper sank 2.9% as traders reportedly dumped metals to free up cash or cover losses elsewhere.

Dow plunged 530 points, or 1.1%, led by a brutal 11% drop in Cisco after weak guidance. The S&P 500 also fell 1.1%. Nasdaq sank 1.5%, with heavy losses in tech.

Bitcoin slid another $1,000 to $65K, continuing its recent losing streak. Risk appetite took a hit across the board.

A new wave of AI agents went live on Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana, using the ERC-8004 token format. The agents launched within weeks of launching the new on-chain standard.

AI agents are having a revival on-chain, with a new wave of tools on Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana. Some of the agents also boosted the previous leader, Virtuals Protocol. 

Previous agentic launches relied on tokenized agents with a predetermined personality. Several agents survive from that stage, especially crypto data and news aggregators. Some assets from the first wave of AI agent coins are still active, with a total valuation of over $2.9B. 

What makes ERC-8004 AI agents different?

The protocol proposed to create tools to discover, select, and interact with agents based on predetermined boundaries. This allows ERC-8004 agents to compete in a fully AI-driven economy. 

The agents can, in theory, fulfill small tasks like ordering a pizza or completing more demanding estimations. Developers can choose multiple mechanics for vetting agents, such as reputational systems with feedback, validation via staking, zero-knowledge proofs, or trusted execution environment (TEE) oracles. 

The standard was launched just as AI agents were tested for more independent behaviors and skills. Tools of on-chain verification can now be deployed to vet the available agents and have mechanisms to catch unwanted behaviors. 

Unlike the previous wave of Virtuals Protocol and other AI agents, the goal this time is to go beyond tokenized speculation and into real-world tasks. Agents have been released into copies of social media, similar to Moltbook. The agents also arrived just in time to tap the new infrastructure for interacting with humans.  

Nearly 21K agents launch on multiple chains

Just weeks after the ERC-8004 standard was tested, the network already carried 20,928 agents. Only a handful made it to the leaderboard with higher rankings. The network drew in over 15,000 users. 

The revival of agent creation is yet to show the real use cases and profitability of agents. However, the inflow of new users shows there is still demand for decentralized apps, and Ethereum still gets attention as a venue for new types of transactions. 

Previously, Virtuals Protocol and other agentic frameworks hosted interactions between agents in closed systems. The ERC-8004 standard, along with a unique ERC-721 NFT for each agent, means the AI bots have a wider area of potential influence. 

In the early stages, agents are deployed to newly built frameworks like LobKill, similar to the Moltbook environment. Transactions are saved on the blockchain for a verified record of each bot. 

The space still has to solve the problem of spam and the dependence on established social media as a venue for the bots. There is also no clear standard on token usage, as agent infrastructure is still fragmented. Most of the activity is experimental, testing if bots can become reliable users, avoiding risks such as wallet exposure.

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A key Senate committee voted Thursday to approve a plan that would break through the red tape that has slowed the development of satellite-based broadband across the United States, potentially reshaping internet access for millions of Americans in rural places.

The Senate Commerce Committee passed the measure following amendments pushed by Senator Maria Cantwell, the panel’s top Democrat. Her office said the changes were designed to ensure the Federal Communications Commission keeps a close eye on new satellites before they get the green light, a nod to concerns that the approval process could move too fast without proper checks.

Cruz and Welch lead the push

The bill was first introduced in January by Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, a Republican, and Democratic Senator Peter Welch. Their goal was to give satellite companies clearer rules to work with while simultaneously opening up faster internet to parts of the country that have long gone without it.

Cruz has argued the current FCC application process is stuck in the past and not built to handle today’s pace of satellite launches. “We have more rocket launches and satellite deployments today than ever before,” he said.

“However, innovative companies that seek to expand broadband access to Americans are facing a regulatory process that is outdated, leading to massive delays in the deployment of new satellite technologies.”

The timing of the bill’s advancement is difficult to ignore. Just under two weeks ago, Elon Musk’s SpaceX filed a request to launch a constellation of one million satellites that would circle the Earth and use solar power to run artificial intelligence data centers in orbit.

That filing, submitted on January 30, marked one of the most sweeping proposals ever put before federal regulators. The company already has roughly 9,500 satellites in service and recently won FCC approval to deploy another 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites, pushing its total network even further.

The surge in satellite applications has created a backlog at the FCC that the new legislation is directly aimed at addressing. Analysts say that by clearing the bottleneck, approval timelines could shrink from years to months, potentially speeding up deployments by 30 to 50 percent based on the size of existing backlogs.

According to FCC figures, about 19 million Americans in rural areas still lack access to high-speed internet, and backers of the bill say faster satellite licensing is one of the most direct ways to address that.

Concerns over interference remain

Still, not everyone is comfortable with the idea of imposing a rigid clock on the approval process. Cantwell raised red flags about a system that could effectively hand out permits through government inaction.

“I’m very anxious about a process, particularly with interference, that just says negligence by the FCC gets you your permits for a million satellites,” she said during committee debate.

Her office added that the final version of the bill ensures FCC experts, not a blanket timeline, decide which applications qualify for faster review. “We all want faster licensing, but we made sure the FCC’s experts set the rules for what gets fast-tracked, not a one-size-fits-all shot clock that treats a ground antenna the same as a million satellite constellations,” her office said.

The bill still requires the FCC to confirm that newly approved satellites will not disrupt signals for existing users, and to determine whether untested designs warrant additional scrutiny before moving forward.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has thrown its support behind the legislation, calling it a necessary update to keep American companies competitive. Industry forecasts put the global satellite sector on track to contribute $1 trillion to the world economy by 2040.

The drive comes as China files a request with the International Telecommunication Union for more than 200,000 satellites, the largest such petition on record, adding urgency to the United States’ attempts to maintain its space leadership.

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While Ethereum (ETH) continues to consolidate, new investors looking to get into the crypto market are searching for alternative buys. One new crypto, Mutuum Finance (MUTM), has gained strong momentum as investors jump in to secure discounted prices. This has resulted in over $20 million raised in the token’s presale, where more than 19,000 investors have participated.

Ethereum Faces Short-Term Pressure Below Key Support

Recently, Ethereum (ETH) broke below the long-term support trendline. This move has seen Ethereum gain bearish momentum as the price continues to trade below the descending resistance trendline. As Ethereum continues to trade below $2,000, it is expected to reach the $1,800 region as sellers continue to gain control in the market. This makes Ethereum an unattractive buy for new investors seeking strong upside in 2026. 

P2C and P2P Lending 

Mutuum Finance offers users the opportunity to enjoy the efficiency of Peer-to-Contract (P2C) as well as Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending. In the P2C model, users can deposit popular cryptocurrencies like USDC or ETH into a pool to earn interest on their investment. For instance, if a user decides to deposit $20,000 into a P2C pool earning 10% APY, the user can earn $2,000 as interest on their investment. This way, the user can have $22,000 in a year without doing anything. Borrowers can borrow from the pool by depositing as collateral 150% or more of the borrowed amount.

On the other hand, the P2P model is geared towards more speculative or niche assets that may not be appropriate for lending pools. For instance, a user may need $15,000 in cash but is holding a volatile cryptocurrency like PEPE. They can connect with a P2P lender who is willing to lend $7,500 in USDC, collateralized by the PEPE. If the borrower and the lender can come to an agreement, the borrower gets the liquidity they need while still benefiting from the potential upside of the PEPE cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, the P2P lender earns $487.50 in interest after the loan is repaid.

Mutuum Finance has come up with several strategies geared towards engaging early investors and the community at large. For instance, the daily leaderboard recognizes the top buyer of the day and rewards them with a $500 MUTM bonus. Additionally, a $100,000 giveaway will see the distribution of $10,000 in MUTM tokens among ten randomly selected winners.

A Promising Early-Stage DeFi Opportunity

For those looking to invest in DeFi projects with high growth potential but want to get in early, Mutuum Finance presents an attractive investment opportunity. The protocol enables users to lend, generate yields via mtTokens, and manage risks. With 19,000 token holders and over $20.48 million raised to date, Mutuum Finance has shown impressive traction. Since its presale launch at $0.01 during Phase 1, the token has risen 4x to its current price of $0.04 during Phase 7. 

With subsequent presale phases set to raise its price even higher until an exchange listing price of $0.06, those investing during this phase stand to reap gains long before open market adoption. Take the example of an investor who puts $2,000 into the presale today. Their position will grow by $1,000 to $3,000 by the time of the exchange debut. This means the earliest investors stand to see the biggest gains. 

While Ethereum is facing short-term challenges, a new crypto sensation has taken over as a new DeFi crypto to invest in during 2026. With its presale currently priced at just $0.04, Mutuum Finance (MUTM) presents a strong investment opportunity for new crypto investors looking to get involved. With 300% gains already available to those who have backed its presale to date, Mutuum Finance is fast becoming known as the next crypto to explode.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://mutuum.com/ 

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance 

On-chain data shows that the Bitcoin crash resulted in record realized losses of $ 3.2 billion. The asset also saw $1.5 billion in daily net losses at the time.

​The historic realized loss in Bitcoin’s history occurred when the BTC price dropped from $70,000 to $60,000 on February 5. The data came from Glassnode’s Entity-Adjusted Realized Loss metric, which tracks the USD value of coins moved that were sold below their acquisition price.

Could Bitcoin’s drop be a sign of capitulation?

Bitcoin has officially recorded the largest realized loss event in its history.

As per Glassnode, the Feb 5 crash from $70K to the low $60Ks locked in $3.2B in realized losses, eclipsing the Terra Luna collapse.

This metric measures the USD value of coins actually sold below… pic.twitter.com/tnkVZwYLwt

— Cryptopolitan (@CPOfficialtx) February 12, 2026

The realized loss on February 5 exceeded the $2.7 billion recorded during the LUNA collapse in 2022. The capitulation occurred rapidly and with heavy volume, racking losses from many Bitcoin holders.

​The sell-off was also triggered by a wave of liquidations, forcing traders to close positions to reduce losses. On-chain data showed that more than $1 billion in BTC positions were liquidated that day. Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG Australia, stated that the drop to $60,000 was a capitulation-type low, arguing that it’s a catalyst for a sustained rebound.

​Source: Glassnode. Entity-Adjusted Realized Loss chart showing Bitcoin’s realized losses.

​Bitcoin has slightly rebounded in the past few days, trading at $67,543 at the time of publication. BTC has also surged by more than 1.7% over the past 24 hours, but has lost nearly 29% over the past 30 days. Bitcoin has also lost more than half of its value in three months from its all-time high of above $126,000 in October.

Market participants are looking at Bitcoin’s historical pattern of rallying to new all-time highs after its four-year halving. Steven McClurg, CEO of Canary Capital, said he expects BTC to drop to around $50,000 in the summer before rebounding in the fall.

“2026, I expect to be a bear leg to the four-cycle. We have experienced several four-cycles since Bitcoin launched, and this is no different than any other.”

-Steven McClurg, CEO of Canary Capital.

Nick Puckrin, Investment Analyst and Co-Founder of Coin Bureau, acknowledged that the crypto market is currently in full capitulation mode. He also argued that the sell-off is not a short-term correction, but will take months. The entire crypto market has struggled for months since the record crash last October, leaving investors less keen on the market.

Deutsche Bank analysts argued that the broader crypto market decline was driven by massive withdrawals from institutional ETFs. On-chain data showed that ETFs recorded outflows of more than $3 billion in January, with $2 billion and $7 billion outflows recorded in December and November, respectively.

Stanchart lowers Bitcoin forecast for 2026

Standard Chartered’s Head of Digital Asset Research, Geoff Kendrick, argued that Bitcoin’s downturn is driven by weaker U.S. economic momentum and lower expectations for a Fed rate cut. He also noted that declining crypto ETF holdings have erased a key source of demand in the market.

Kendrick expects Bitcoin to drop to $50,000 before rebounding later in the year, arguing that crypto prices will undergo a final capitulation in the next few months. The financial institution also lowered its Bitcoin target for 2026 from $150,000 to $100,000, citing the risk of further investor capitulation.

The drop in crypto prices comes as Wednesday’s U.S. jobs report dashed hopes that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates at its next policy meeting. Fed Chair Jerome Powell also signaled earlier this month that the Fed would maintain a data-dependent approach in adjusting rates at around 3.50%-3.75%.

The CME FedWatchTool revealed that there’s a 92.1% probability that the central bank will cut rates by a quarter percentage point in its March 18 policy meeting. U.S. President Donald Trump also nominated Kevin Warsh, expected to be hawkish towards the industry, to lead the Fed.

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Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has revealed the company’s AI assistant, QVAC. This initiative is Tether’s entry into the decentralized AI space, focusing on privacy and hardware accessibility rather than centralized cloud computing.

Paolo Ardino shared a short demo on his X. He shows the tool running entirely on a local device. The assistant created and assigned tasks in Asana using simple natural language commands.

Testing Tether's QVAC AI Assistant
many skills already supported via MCP, using Asana in the example below (on a sub-average laptop GPU)
100% local inference/reasoning
soon opensource pic.twitter.com/sYi91QhjVC

— Paolo Ardoino 🤖 (@paoloardoino) February 12, 2026

The system uses “100% local inference and reasoning.” The demo ran on a laptop with a below-average GPU. That detail caught attention because most AI tools rely on powerful cloud servers. The assistant runs directly on the user’s device.

It doesn’t send data to cloud servers. This approach fits the crypto philosophy of user control and privacy. Many cloud AI tools collect and store user data. QVAC aims to avoid that issue by keeping everything local.  This matters more in finance and crypto, where users value control. The move also puts Tether into the growing AI race. 

Tether plans to introduce its first AI applications based on QVAC

The system’s internal thinking process was reflected through the model thinking toggle buttons before the tool call process. The metrics displayed in the terminal for the model’s efficiency included a time of 1062.1 ms to generate the first token and a speed of 34.6 tokens per second.

The assistant uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This system allows it to connect to different tools and services. It can add new “skills” without changing the core model.

The company plans to introduce its first AI applications based on QVAC. Tether said it wants to create a decentralized AI ecosystem and usher in an era of unlimited intelligence. The firm’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, argued that AI will make critical decisions in people’s lives, but the infrastructure is currently fragile, invasive, and opaque.

Previously, the blockchain-enabled platform highlighted that QVAC’s modular architecture allows developers to build and extend applications using small, composable components. Tether added that its peer-to-peer networking facilitates direct device-to-device communication and collaboration without reliance on centralized servers. 

This will be possible through a consumer app for local on-device AI processing, called QVAC Workbench. So far, Tether has invested more in telecommunications, energy production, and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Tether first launched QVAC AI in May and further expanded the QVAC Genesis II AI Dataset to 148 billion tokens in December.

The firm stated that its architecture allows the QVAC ecosystem to scale to trillions of AI agents and applications without points of failure while delivering a first-of-its-kind Infinite Intelligence swarm, cryptopolitan reported.

The upcoming open-source release will be the ultimate test of whether this tool can attract interest from the broader developer community and provide a feasible path for decentralized digital assistants.

Tether expands its assets that back USDT

Tether’s USDT continues to dominate with a market capitalization of $184 billion, according to DefiLlama data. USAT, the stablecoin firm’s US-domiciled outfit that launched last month, had a circulating supply of just $20 million.

It has expanded the assets that back its flagship, market-leading stablecoin, USDT. Between September 2024 and November 2025, the share of “high risk” assets, such as gold and Bitcoin, backing USDT rose from 17% to 24%, while the share of US Treasury bills fell from 81% to 75%, according to S&P Global.

According to Bo Hines, CEO of Tether’s US arm, Tether could soon become one of the top 10 buyers of US Treasury bills. USDT now has roughly $185 billion in circulation and serves an estimated 530 million users, adding about 30 million new users each quarter. 

To back this supply, Tether holds more than $122 billion in the US Treasury bills, accounting for over 83% of its reserves. At current levels, Tether ranks among the top 20 global holders of U.S. government debt, between major sovereign nations like Germany and Saudi Arabia.

Tether has become one of the world’s largest holders of gold, rivalling countries and multinational banks. Last year, it also became the third-largest shareholder in Adecoagro, Argentina’s largest producer of milk and rice. 

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The United States Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Missouri, recently held a speech at the Economic Forum of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to discuss monetary policy and the economic outlook of the country for 2026.

The President and CEO of the Kansas City Fed, Jeffrey Schmid, gave a speech on Wednesday to a large group of local business leaders, policymakers, economists, and financial professionals. The Kansas City Fed is one of twelve regional Reserve Banks that help shape national monetary policy. The speech was held at the Economic Forum of Albuquerque, an annual event where various parties convene to discuss both regional and national economic matters. The main focal point of Schmid’s speech was to convey where the U.S. economy currently stands and is headed going into the new year.

Schmid had a rather positive outlook on the direction of the U.S. economy in 2026 despite the current uncertainty that has shaken up financial markets. Key talking points of his speech beyond his overall economic outlook included productivity trends and AI, inflation and monetary policy, and the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet. He also addressed supply versus demand-driven growth, demand dynamics, and how price shocks should be interpreted.

Jeff Schmid’s speech and 2026 U.S. economic outlook

Schmid opened the speech by talking about the Kansas City Fed’s role in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s regional structure, addressing local economic information for their region, and how it helps shape national monetary policy. From there, he broadened his scope to the overall economic outlook of the U.S. in 2026. Schmid stated that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 4.4% in the third quarter of 2025, and other available data from the end of last year showed the economy remained resilient through the end of 2025. This was mainly led by consumer spending and AI-related investments.

He took a rather cautious stance when speaking on inflation, essentially stating that you can’t assume it will fall because of strong GDP numbers. On one hand, he stated that supply-driven economic growth, which can be boosted by factors like increased AI-driven productivity, is disinflationary. Demand-driven growth, on the other hand, is not. This happens when consumer spending increases, credit expands, and financial conditions loosen. Inflation has been running above the Fed’s target for close to five years. This suggests that while demand could still be strong, the economy may also continue to be running above sustainable capacity.

When determining the proper course for monetary policy, Schmid believes that it is important to understand the source of economic growth. Strong GDP numbers do not justify rate cuts if the growth is demand-driven. However, if this growth is supply-driven, monetary easing would be justified. This being the case, Schmid believes the Fed must refrain from easing monetary policy until the source of U.S. economic growth is determined.

Artificial Intelligence, monetary policy, and Fed balance sheet

Jeff Schmid believes recent productivity trends allude to economic growth that is at least partially supply-driven. He stated that even though hiring remained low in 2025, productivity still increased without payrolls doing the same. This could reflect the large-scale adoption of AI and how businesses have been able to cut costs through its utilization while still boosting output.

However, Schmid doesn’t believe there is enough data to support this. Instead, he attributed the situation to a “low-hire/low-fire/low-quit labor market,” while stating that business investment in AI has contributed to demand-driven economic growth. Schmid remains optimistic that AI and other technological innovations will lead to a “non-inflationary, supply-driven growth cycle” in the future.

Regarding monetary policy, Schmid supported the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision to pause rate cuts in January. He emphasized that it is their job to keep inflation near 2% and maintain full employment. As inflation is currently running closer to 3%, he believes it is appropriate to maintain a relatively restrictive stance towards monetary easing to prevent sustained inflation. The central bank’s response to inflation will ultimately determine whether price shocks will be temporary or lasting.

Jeff Schmid’s overall position on the Fed balance sheet is that it should grow only to maintain rate control and liquidity and should eventually be downsized as time progresses. He believes the Fed currently has too large a footprint in financial markets and that it needs to continue winding down on mortgage-backed securities to focus on a smaller, Treasury-focused balance sheet in the future.

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The Royal Government of Bhutan transferred 100 Bitcoin worth $6.77 million to  QCP Capital’s WBTC merchant deposit address (bc1qt) on Thursday. Although the motive of the transaction remains unknown, it suggests that the government is taking actionable steps to sell some of its Bitcoin holdings.

On Thursday, the Royal Government of Bhutan transferred 100 Bitcoins, worth $6.77 million, to a WBTC merchant deposit address (bc1qt). The transaction extends the government’s BTC sell-off as it manages its crypto portfolio.

Government of Bhutan transfers 100BTC to QCP, onchain data shows

The Royal Government of Bhutan sent 100 $BTC worth $6.77M to QCP Capitalhttps://t.co/q4dW3qJBT5 pic.twitter.com/73yBiNght0

— Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) February 12, 2026

The transaction suggests the government is actively managing its cryptocurrency holdings, potentially engaging in liquidity management or preparing for sales into liquid markets. The transaction does not confirm an outright sale. However, the movement of significant BTC amounts to institutional market makers like QCP Capital indicates strategic financial activity, possibly in response to falling Bitcoin prices and miner capitulation.

Onchain data shows that the government’s crypto portfolio is valued at $381.56 million, with the majority of its holdings being Bitcoin. The government holds Bitcoin worth $381.51 million, with Ethereum accounting for $49.56k and being its second-largest crypto holding.

Many countries acquire Bitcoin through seizures linked to criminal activity. However, Bhutan is among the few countries that have taken a different approach to its cryptocurrency holdings. The country has primarily acquired Bitcoin through state-sponsored crypto mining, with operations commencing in 2019. The country’s mining operations use renewable hydroelectric power as an eco-friendly energy source.

Bitcoin’s recent price decline has not favoured mining activities. A previous Cryptopolitan coverage reported that Bitcoin’s recent price decline below $70k triggered miner capitulation. According to the report, Bitcoin was trading about 20% below its estimated production cost, putting intense pressure on mining operations. 

According to data from Checkonchain, the average cost to produce one bitcoin at the time of reporting was around $87,000. The data currently shows that Bitcoin is still trading below its production price. The difficulty regression model or estimated average production price currently sits at $79.253K. 

The BTC price dip has forced miners into uncharted territory, as they capitulate to remain afloat amid unprofitability at current prices. Most Antminer S21-series machines have shut down, and miners are now forced to sell their crypto holdings to cover operating expenses and energy costs while servicing existing debt. The intense pressure on Bitcoin mining could be the inspiration behind the government’s recent BTC transfers.

Institutions exert more selling pressure on BTC as prices remain below $70K

Source: Arkham Recent BTC transactions by the Royal Government of Bhutan

The data from Arkham Intelligence also shows that the Royal Government of Bhutan initiated a similar transaction involving 100 Bitcoin, worth $8.31 million, to the same QCP merchant address two weeks ago. The government also transferred $1.5 million in USDT to Binance’s Hot wallet.

The Royal Government’s extension of the Bitcoin sell-off aligns with intense selling pressure from institutional-grade investors. According to data from SosoValue, institutions drew $276.30 million from US spot exchange-traded funds on February 11. These funds still hold a substantial amount of Bitcoin, equivalent to $5.76 billion or 6.35% of the asset’s total market capitalization.

Bitcoin has been under intense selling pressure since the start of the year. The crypto asset is currently trading at $67,186, after briefly touching $60,074 on Friday last week. According to CoinMarketCap data, the crypto asset is down more than 30% from its $97,860 high this year and has declined by more than 23% YTD. Bitcoin’s current price is nearly 50% below its all-time high of $126,198, recorded on October 6 last year. Experts from 10X Research reported that Bitcoin’s current downtrend could continue, as investors are not yet fully positioned to reverse it.

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Google’s AI chatbot Gemini has become the target of a large-scale information heist, with attackers hammering the system with questions to copy how it works. One operation alone sent more than 100,000 queries to the chatbot, trying to pull out the secret patterns that make it smart.

The company reported Thursday that these so-called “distillation attacks” are getting worse. Bad actors send wave after wave of questions to figure out the logic behind Gemini’s responses. Their goal is simple: steal Google’s technology to build or improve their own AI systems without spending billions on development.

Google believes most attackers are private businesses or researchers looking to get ahead without doing the hard work. The attacks came from around the world, according to the company’s report. John Hultquist, who leads Google’s Threat Intelligence Group, said smaller companies using custom AI tools will likely face similar attacks soon.

Tech firms have thrown billions of dollars at building their AI chatbots. The inner workings of these systems are treated like crown jewels. Even with defenses in place to catch these attacks, major AI systems remain easy targets because anyone with internet access can talk to them.

Last year, OpenAI pointed fingers at Chinese company DeepSeek, claiming it used distillation to make its models better. Cryptopolitan reported on January 30 that Italy and Ireland banned DeepSeek after OpenAI accused the Chinese firm of using distillation to steal its AI models. The technique lets companies copy expensive technology at a fraction of the cost.

Why are attackers doing this?

The economics are brutal. Building a state-of-the-art AI model costs hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. DeepSeek reportedly built its R1 model for around six million dollars using distillation, while ChatGPT-5’s development topped two billion dollars, according to industry reports. Stealing a model’s logic cuts that massive investment to almost nothing.

Many of the attacks on Gemini targeted the algorithms that help it “reason” or process information, Google said. Companies that train their own AI systems on sensitive data – like 100 years of trading strategies or customer information – now face the same threat.

“Let’s say your LLM has been trained on 100 years of secret thinking of the way you trade. Theoretically, you could distill some of that,” Hultquist explained.

Nation-state hackers join the hunt

The problem goes beyond money-hungry companies. APT31, a Chinese government hacking group hit with US sanctions in March 2024, used Gemini late last year to plan actual cyberattacks against American organizations.

The group paired Gemini with Hexstrike, an open-source hacking tool that can run more than 150 security programs. They analyzed remote code execution flaws, ways to bypass web security, and SQL injection attacks – all aimed at specific US targets, according to Google’s report.

Cryptopolitan covered similar AI security concerns previously, warning that hackers were exploiting AI vulnerabilities. The APT31 case shows those warnings were spot-on.

Hultquist pointed to two major worries. Adversaries operating across entire intrusions with minimal human help, and automating the development of attack tools. “These are two ways where adversaries can get major advantages and move through the intrusion cycle with minimal human interference,” he said.

The window between discovering a software weakness and getting a fix in place, called the patch gap,  could widen dramatically. Organizations often take weeks to deploy defenses. With AI agents finding and testing vulnerabilities automatically, attackers could move much faster.

“We are going to have to leverage the advantages of AI, and increasingly remove humans from the loop, so that we can respond at machine speed,” Hultquist told The Register.

The financial stakes are enormous. IBM’s 2024 data breach report found that intellectual property theft now costs organizations $173 per record, with IP-focused breaches jumping 27% year-over-year. AI model weights represent the highest-value targets in this underground economy – a single stolen frontier model could fetch hundreds of millions on the black market.

Google has shut down accounts linked to these campaigns, but the attacks keep coming from “throughout the globe,” Hultquist said. As AI becomes more powerful and more companies rely on it, expect this digital gold rush to intensify. The question isn’t whether more attacks will come, but whether defenders can keep up.

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Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong laid out a spending plan on February 12 that puts artificial intelligence and financial market growth as the country’s future, as the government eyes a smaller budget surplus this year compared to last.

The government expects to end the coming financial year, which starts in April, with a surplus of SG$8.5 billion. That is well below the SG$15.1 billion surplus recorded in 2025.

Wong said last year’s figure was higher than anticipated as the economy grew faster than forecast, bringing in more corporate tax money, along with stronger sales of private vehicles and properties that pushed vehicle tax and stamp duty collections up.

A smaller but steady surplus

Even with a lower surplus, the government says it is on solid ground. The projected surplus works out to roughly 1% of the country’s GDP, enough to fund targeted programmes without drawing on the country’s reserves. Singapore has only drawn on those reserves twice before: once during the 2008 global financial crisis and again during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With trade tensions and rapid technological change shaking up industries, Wong said the 2026 budget is focused on making Singapore more competitive over the long run.

A large part of that plan centres on getting more companies and workers to use AI. Wong announced the creation of a “national AI council” that he will personally chair. “AI is a powerful tool, but it is still a tool. It must serve our national interests and our people,” he said. The council will oversee four focus areas: advanced manufacturing, connectivity, finance, and healthcare, with the aim of pushing Singapore toward becoming a leading AI hub.

Singapore will establish a national AI council | Source: @MOFsg

To help businesses make the shift, the government is launching a “Champions of AI” programme. It will offer tailored support to companies looking to use AI to change how they operate, covering both business transformation and staff training. Wong said companies that succeed under the programme would set standards for their industries and push others to follow.

Firms can also benefit from an expansion of the Enterprise Innovation Scheme, which already gives businesses a 400% tax deduction on qualifying costs. AI spending will now count under the scheme, though there is a cap of SG$50,000 (about $39,654) per year for 2027 and 2028.

On the worker side, Wong said every Singaporean can take steps to learn AI skills. The government will redesign its SkillsFuture website to make it easier for people to find AI courses that match their job needs and skill level. SkillsFuture gives Singaporeans credits to sign up for courses starting at age 25. Wong also acknowledged that while basic AI tools are free, more advanced features often come with a price tag. To help with that, people who complete selected AI training courses will get six months of free access to premium AI tools. “This will allow them to practice, experiment, and apply what they have learnt,” he said.

Boosting the stock market

On the financial markets side, the government announced it would add SG$1.5 billion (about $1.18 billion) to the Financial Sector Development Fund. Set up in 1999, the fund hands out grants to build Singapore up as a global financial centre.

The new injection follows a SG$5 billion Equity Market Development Programme announced in 2025. That programme has helped the Straits Times Index climb 22.67% last year, its best annual performance since 2009. Of the original SG$5 billion, SG$4 billion has already been placed with nine asset managers, with the rest due to follow in the second quarter of 2026.

The government also plans to make it easier for fast-growing companies to list on the stock exchange and to set up a dual-listing link between the Singapore Exchange and Nasdaq.

“These measures will enhance the depth and vibrancy of our public equities market and provide more pathways for enterprises to grow and scale from Singapore,” Wong said.

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The crypto market is entering a period of reassessment as major assets struggle to regain momentum. Ethereum remains a core pillar of the ecosystem, but recent price action has raised new questions among large investors. With ETH facing strong resistance and slower upside potential, crypto whales are beginning to look elsewhere. Their focus is shifting toward lower priced tokens that combine utility, early stage growth, and visible technical progress. This rotation does not signal the end of Ethereum’s relevance. Instead, it reflects how capital behaves when large networks mature and opportunities with higher upside emerge.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is currently trading near $2,000, a zone that has acted as a key resistance level in recent months. Its market capitalization remains above $240 billion, making it the second largest cryptocurrency in the market. Ethereum continues to power a wide range of decentralized applications, stablecoins, and on chain activity.

However, this scale also creates limitations. With such a high valuation, even strong inflows result in smaller percentage gains. For ETH to double in price, hundreds of billions in new capital would be required. Many investors now see Ethereum as a long term infrastructure hold rather than a high growth play. This is why whales are increasingly exploring lower cost tokens that offer more room for expansion.

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is a decentralized lending and borrowing protocol designed to support structured on chain finance. The platform is built around a dual market system that serves different user needs.

The Peer to Contract P2C model uses pooled liquidity. Users supply funds and receive mtTokens, which track earned yield over time. APY is variable and depends on demand. For example, if a pool offers 6% APY, supplying $10,000 could generate about $600 over a year, assuming usage remains stable.

The Peer to Peer P2P market, still under development, is intended to allow users to set custom borrow rates and loan types directly. Borrowing is over collateralized, with loan to value ratios typically around 70%, depending on the market. Risk is managed through automated liquidations that trigger if collateral value drops below required thresholds.

Security and Community Activity

Mutuum Finance is currently in Phase 7 of its token distribution. The MUTM token is priced at $0.04, below the confirmed $0.06 launch price. The presale has followed a structured path, with gradual price increases tied to development milestones.

Security has been a major focus. The protocol has completed a Halborn audit, adding an extra layer of confidence around its smart contract design. Ongoing testing and monitoring are part of the development process.

To keep engagement high, the project runs a 24 hour leaderboard that rewards active community participation. This approach helps build consistent activity rather than short bursts of attention driven by price alone.

V1 Protocol Launch and Stablecoin Plans

A major catalyst for growing interest is the V1 protocol launch on the Sepolia testnet, confirmed through official updates. This release allows users to interact with liquidity pools, mint mtTokens, and observe debt tracking and automated liquidation systems in a live test environment.

Looking ahead, the team has outlined plans to introduce a native stablecoin in a later phase. This feature is intended to allow users to mint a stable unit against collateral without selling their holdings, once development and testing are complete.

Phase 7 of the token distribution is progressing quickly, reflecting sustained demand as technical milestones are reached. For many whales, this combination of early stage pricing, active testing, and clear roadmap goals explains why attention is shifting away from large cap assets like Ethereum and toward emerging protocols with higher upside potential.

Ethereum’s growth profile has changed. As ETH struggles near key resistance, whales are increasingly positioning in projects that resemble Ethereum’s early build phase rather than its current scale. Mutuum Finance is gaining attention because it offers structured lending, visible technical progress, and early stage positioning. This is why it is becoming part of the broader capital rotation taking shape in the market today.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

Ripple has officially participated in the United States Federal Reserve’s public discussion process regarding the Reserve Bank Payment Account pilot proposal under Docket OP-1877. 

The fintech company is engaging in a conversation that could lead to non-bank financial institutions accessing central bank accounts without depending on intermediary commercial banks. 

Under OP-1877, the Fed governors stated, “Any institution that is legally eligible for Federal Reserve accounts or services (accounts and services) under the Federal Reserve Act would be eligible to request a Payment Account from a Reserve Bank. The Payment Account prototype does not seek to expand or otherwise change legal eligibility for access to accounts and services.”

Ripple says model aligns with transparency and financial stability goals

The initiative is currently in its exploratory stage. The docket OP-1877 concerns whether the Fed should provide specialized accounts to specific non-bank institutions. Ripple based its response on enhancing the safety, efficiency, and resiliency of the US payment system.

🚨 JUST IN: #Ripple Engages Fed Consultation on OP-1877 Payment Account Pilot. pic.twitter.com/egOHTZKu1g

— RippleXity (@RippleXity) February 12, 2026

“As a leader in enterprise blockchain, stablecoin and cross-border payment solutions, Ripple is committed to the safety, efficiency and modernization of the US payment system,” the company wrote. Ripple noted that changing account structures will likely reflect the increasing significance of real-time digital finance. 

Ripple stated that this model is consistent with regulatory objectives of transparency and financial stability. According to market analysts, for the RLUSD stablecoins, the initiative can minimize counterparty risk with the commercial bank. It can make the settlement process more reliable during periods of stress. 

This follows a robust growth as RLUSD. As reported by Cryptopolitan, the stablecoin reached a supply of $1.2 billion after 14 months of launch. This represents approximately a 10× year-over-year increase and reflects the stablecoin’s rapid traction.

The $1.2 billion milestone marks a 20% increase since RLUSD reached a supply of over $1 billion on the ETH blockchain in November. It hit this milestone just a few days after hitting $900 million in October of last year.

On-chain data showed that the supply of Ethereum’s RLUSD rose by 2.40% over the last seven days and by 11.54% over the last month. The supply of XRPL increased by 4.50% over the past month, driven by continued issuance and adoption across both networks.

RLUSD’s market capitalization is $1.52 billion, up 9.85% over the previous 30 days. There are 41,277 active holdings, including 3,206 active addresses, and a 30-day trading volume of $3.2 billion. 

Meanwhile, Cryptopolitan has reported that Binance has finalized the integration of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger network and is preparing withdrawals once liquidity conditions are met. In its public statement, Binance confirmed that the integration enables users to transfer RLUSD directly through the Ripple-made blockchain network. 

Overall, Ethereum led the stablecoin ecosystem, accounting for $163.6 billion of the total market capitalization. TRON came in second with $83.7 billion, Solana with $16.3 billion, BNB Chain with $12.7 billion, and Arbitrum with $7.7 billion.

XRP struggles below key resistance levels

Data from SosoValue shows that XRP ETFs recorded zero daily net inflows during their last trading session. This follows single-day inflows of $3.26 million on Feb. 11 and $6.31 million on Feb. 10. 

This silent movement of XRP funds reflects a pause in investor activity, possibly out of caution, even as market watchers pointed to potential recovery signals in XRP’s price.

Meanwhile, Ripple’s native coin has already broken support levels and failed to hold major resistance. Now, it is attempting a comeback after a 2% surge in the past 24 hours, as volume is also up almost 20% 

The main short-term support area sits between $1.34 and $1.28. Analysts expect high volatility inside this zone due to thin liquidity. If the market stabilizes in this range, XRP could find temporary support and attempt a recovery. However, the level may not hold if broader financial markets weaken.

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