Crypto Miners

UK picks #HSBC Orion for digital gilt pilot

The UK Treasury has selected HSBC’s Orion platform to power its Digital Gilt Instrument pilot, testing #blockchain based issuance of sovereign bonds.

The goal is faster settlement, lower operational friction, and modernized infrastructure for government debt markets.

If successful, the UK could become the first G7 nation to tokenize sovereign bonds at scale, pushing real world assets deeper into onchain finance.

#ZEROhash brings stablecoin payments to @monad

#ZEROhash has integrated the Monad network and USDC on #Monad into its platform, letting clients launch stablecoin payment services without running their own blockchain infrastructure or handling licensing.

That means companies using Zerohash, including platforms like Kalshi, Gusto, and Public, can build products like real-time funding, cross-border payments, B2B settlement, and onchain commerce using stablecoins.

Zerohash says Ethereum still dominates stablecoin activity on its platform, but demand across other chains is growing as payment use cases scale.

#Binance and Franklin Templeton are expanding their collaboration

Binance and Franklin Templeton have launched an institutional collateral program that allows eligible clients to use shares of Franklin Templeton’s tokenized U.S. money market fund as off-exchange collateral when trading on #Binance

Assets remain custodied with a regulated third party, improving capital efficiency while helping manage counterparty risk, a key concern for institutions.

The move builds on Franklin Templeton’s push into tokenized real-world assets and Binance’s effort to strengthen its institutional trading infrastructure.

That means tokenized Treasuries can now be used as active trading collateral in crypto markets.

Ondo adopts @Chainlink for tokenized stocks in #defi

#OndoFinance has adopted Chainlink as its official oracle, delivering real time pricing for tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs like SPYon, QQQon and TSLAon.

The feeds now power DeFi use cases, with assets live as collateral on Euler for lending and borrowing. Pricing also accounts for corporate actions like dividends, strengthening onchain risk management and enabling near instant liquidations.

The move expands real world asset utility on Ethereum and signals deeper integration between institutional finance and DeFi infrastructure.

#blackRock is bringing BUIDL directly to #uniswap

BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury fund (BUIDL) will now be tradable onchain using UniswapX, working with Uniswap Labs and Securitize.

Access is still limited to whitelisted institutional investors via Securitize Markets, but this is the first time BlackRock is directly using DeFi trading infrastructure for one of its tokenized products.

BUIDL manages around $2.4B and is backed by U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents.

BlackRock also picked up an undisclosed amount of $UNI ,and the token jumped about 20% after the news.

#Tether launches USD₮ Directory

@Tether USDT has introduced the USD₮ Tether Directory, a public interactive map highlighting global integrations of its $186B+ stablecoin across exchanges, wallets, payments, and financial services.

Users can filter by category, supported assets, and product type. Projects can submit and claim their profiles, adding another layer of ecosystem transparency.

Built with The Grid, the directory documents verifiable $USDT usage across trading, remittances, and liquidity infrastructure.

A clearer view of where $USDT is actively integrated worldwide.

#Robinhood just launched the public testnet for Robinhood Chain

It’s a financial grade Ethereum Layer 2 built on Arbitrum, focused on tokenized real world assets and bringing financial services onchain with reliability, security, and compliance in mind.

Developers can now connect to the testnet using standard Ethereum tooling, with early infrastructure support from partners like Alchemy, Allium, Chainlink, LayerZero, and TRM.

The network supports seamless bridging, self custody, direct testing with Robinhood Wallet, and testnet only assets including stock tokens for integration testing.

Mainnet is expected later this year. The bigger picture is tapping into Ethereum’s DeFi liquidity while building institutional-grade tokenization infrastructure under the Robinhood brand.

#GoldManSachs now holds $1.1B in #bitcoin ETFs

Goldman Sachs disclosed roughly $1.1 billion in Bitcoin ETF exposure, according to recent filings, making $BTC its largest digital asset position.

Most of that sits in iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), with smaller positions in Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) and minor exposure to bitcoin-related equities. The filings also show options positions tied to IBIT.

In total, Goldman reported about $2.36B in crypto exposure, including roughly $1.0B in $ETH, $153M in $XRP , and $108M in $SOL , based on reported holdings across ETFs and related instruments.

#Tether just backed #LayerZero

@Tether USDT made a strategic investment into LayerZero Labs, the team behind the interoperability tech used for USDT0.

@LayerZero_Core’s protocol powers USDT0, the omnichain version of USDT that lets the stablecoin move onto chains where it isn’t natively issued. USDT0 stays 1:1 backed with $USDT and has already handled $70B+ in cross-chain transfers since launching earlier this year.

Tether says this is about betting on interoperability, especially as stablecoins start being used by things like AI agents and automated systems that need to move value across chains without friction.

#Safemoon Ex-CEO Braden Karony Sentenced to 100 Months in Prison

Karony received 100 months in U.S. federal prison after being convicted of securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering tied to SafeMoon.

Prosecutors showed he secretly siphoned millions from liquidity pools marketed as “locked,” while publicly promoting the project as safe for investors.

He must forfeit $7.5 million and multiple properties. SafeMoon collapsed nearly 99%, with investor losses reaching the hundreds of millions, closing one of crypto’s most notorious 2021 scandals.

TON Foundation just launched TON Pay

TON Pay is a new payments SDK that lets apps on TON accept crypto payments, starting with #Telegram Mini Apps and Telegram’s massive user base.

It handles onchain settlement, keeps fees low enough for micro-payments, and gives merchants a shared payments layer with dashboards, so they don’t have to build custom wallet or settlement logic.

Integrate once, and payments work across TON apps. Early access is already open.

#MegaETH launches mainnet with real time #Ethereum settlement

@megaeth went live on Feb 9, rolling out an Ethereum settled chain built for real time use. The network is designed for ultra low latency, targeting sub 10ms blocks and high throughput execution via its in memory SALT system.

The launch includes 50+ apps live from day one through the Rabbithole portal, Chainlink oracle integration, and a native USDM stablecoin to support low fee, high frequency activity.

#Tether now holds ~148 tonnes of physical gold worth over $23B, according to a Jefferies analysis.

That puts it ahead of countries like Australia and the UAE, ranking it among the world’s top 30 gold holders.

A clear signal of diversification beyond US Treasuries as Tether leans harder into hard asset backing amid macro uncertainty.

Goldman Sachs Warns of CTA Driven Selling Pressure

Goldman Sachs says up to $33B in S&P 500 selling could hit this week from commodity trading advisors, trend following funds that cut exposure when momentum turns, according to Bloomberg.

If weakness persists, CTA liquidations could reach ~$80B over the next month, even in flat markets due to portfolio resets, adding downside risk to US equities.

The note highlights how systematic equity sell offs can spill into risk assets, a dynamic often felt across crypto during periods of market stress.

Five Arrested in France Over Crypto Linked Kidnapping

French authorities arrested five suspects, four men and one woman, over the kidnapping of a 35 year old magistrate and her 67 year old mother near Lyon after criminals demanded a cryptocurrency ransom linked to the judge’s partner’s crypto investments.

The victims were held for roughly 30 hours and found injured but alive. Two suspects were caught while attempting to flee to Spain, showing a rapid cross-border law enforcement response.

The case adds to a growing pattern of crypto-related kidnappings in France, highlighting that physical security risks can extend well beyond digital wallets for high value holders.

#ENS is staying on Ethereum mainnet

ENS Labs is scrapping its planned Namechain L2 and deploying ENSv2 entirely on Ethereum instead.

The team says Ethereum’s base layer has scaled faster than expected, with ENS registration costs down sharply over the past year. Given that, running a dedicated L2 no longer made sense compared to staying on L1.

The shift also comes after Vitalik Buterin questioned the rollup-centric roadmap, pointing out that L2 decentralization has lagged while L1 kept improving.

ENSv2 will still work across L2s, but the core protocol is going back to mainnet.

Pump.fun is pushing further into trading infra

Pump.fun has acquired @TradeonVyper, a trading execution terminal, as it keeps expanding beyond just token launches.

Vyper’s team and infrastructure will be folded into Pump.fun’s Terminal product, and the standalone Vyper product will be sunset. The focus is improving cross-chain and EVM trading, including support for networks like Base.

#Vietnam moves toward taxing #crypto activity 🇻🇳

Vietnam’s Finance Ministry has proposed a 0.1% tax on crypto transfers for individuals using licensed platforms, mirroring stock trading taxes, while corporate crypto profits would face a 20% income tax.

The draft follows Vietnam’s 2025 laws formally recognizing digital assets, marking a shift from regulatory gray areas to structured oversight.

If adopted, the low transfer tax could incentivize use of licensed exchanges and influence how crypto trading migrates onshore.

#Bithumb disclosed a promotional system error on Feb 6 that mistakenly credited ~620,000 $BTC across 695 internal user accounts instead of small KRW rewards.

Trading was halted within ~35 minutes. About 1,788 $BTC was briefly sold before the freeze, with 99.7% of funds recovered internally and remaining losses covered by the exchange.

No onchain transfers occurred. This was an internal accounting glitch, not a wallet breach or blockchain issue.

We’ve seen a lot of posts going around about people “closing their #Binance accounts,” and at first glance they can look convincing. But once you slow down and look a little closer, the story doesn’t really hold up.

Many of these claims follow the exact same script, use the same screenshots, and even recycle AI-generated images. That’s usually a good sign you’re not looking at real user experiences, but coordinated noise meant to get reactions.

What’s more interesting is what the data shows at the same time. While these posts were circulating, #Binance recorded close to $0.7B in net inflows in a single day. That doesn’t line up with the idea of users leaving en masse or accounts being shut down across the board.

This is why verification matters so much right now. Screenshots and viral posts are easy to fake, especially with AI, but on-chain data reflects what users are actually doing.

Before reacting to social noise, it’s worth checking credible sources and looking at the data for yourself. It usually paints a much clearer picture than timelines ever do.