Cryptopolitan

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the imprisoned former CEO of FTX, has launched a fresh attack on what he calls “Biden’s lawfare machine,” claiming prosecutors prevented him from presenting evidence that would have cleared him of fraud charges.

In a series of posts on X published via a proxy, SBF aligned himself with Donald Trump and other defendants he says were victims of politically motivated prosecutions. The posts came in response to comments from Ryan Salame, former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, who is also serving time in prison.

Salame had reacted to news that law firm Fenwick & West agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging it helped facilitate FTX’s fraud. He claimed the firm had explicitly advised that Alameda Research did not need US money transmitting licenses for non-US work, the very issue for which he is imprisoned.

SBF says FTX was solvent

SBF, who is serving a 25-year sentence after being convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in November 2023, has repeatedly insisted FTX was solvent when it collapsed. “The money was always there, and FTX was always solvent,” he wrote in the thread.

However, Ryne Miller, FTX’s former general counsel, has refuted those claims. In October 2025, Miller stated that assets available when FTX filed for bankruptcy were nowhere near adequate and that the company’s founders were “fabricating asset lists” while desperately seeking new investors.

In his posts, SBF stated that prosecutor Danielle Sassoon wrote a 70-page document that had all the evidence but was excluded from trial because, according to him, the prosecutors didn’t want the jury to see it. 

He claimed they prohibited him from pointing out FTX was solvent.

He claimed Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over both his case and several Trump-related cases, “rubber-stamped everything Biden’s DOJ wanted” and prevented the jury from seeing the truth.

Allegations against prosecutors

In his posts, SBF accused the Biden administration of targeting him for multiple reasons. He wrote that the administration hated crypto, and he happened to be one of the faces of crypto in the US. 

SBF stated that his switch from being a Democratic Party donor to a Republican donor was another reason why he was hated. 

SBF also mentioned that his opposition to Gary Gensler, the former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair, was another reason for the hate he faced from the Biden administration. He wrote that he visited DC dozens of times to try to get power moved away from Gensler.

SBF also alleged that Salame faced bogus charges after refusing to testify against him. According to the posts, prosecutors threatened Salame’s pregnant fiancée, Michelle Bond, to force a guilty plea. Bond was subsequently indicted on campaign finance charges in August 2024. Salame received a 90-month sentence, more than three times the combined sentences of cooperating witnesses.

Sassoon, the prosecutor whom SBF claims was fired by Trump, resigned from the Justice Department in February 2025 rather than comply with orders to dismiss corruption charges against New York mayor Eric Adams.

In November 2025, she testified before a federal judge, denying allegations that she made Salame take the plea deal by promising not to prosecute his fiancée.

The timing of these posts coincides with SBF’s ongoing appeal, which hinges partly on his solvency argument. During trial, Kaplan ruled that whether assets could eventually be recovered was immaterial to fraud charges.

Why is SBF aligning with President Trump?

Once the second-largest individual donor to Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, contributing $5.2 million, SBF now praises the Trump administration. 

Some X users have called out SBF’s posts, stating that it is a play at getting a pardon. While there is no indication that the president plans to grant one, it won’t be the first time that the president has pardoned a convicted crypto founder serving their sentence.

There was a slight increase in the odds of SBF getting a presidential pardon from Trump in the prediction markets around his appeal hearing that occurred in November 2025.

Critics say SBF’s latest post is a revisionist attempt to change the narrative and the public’s perception of what caused FTX’s crash.

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In a recent exchange between Elon Musk and a user on X, the billionaire responded to criticism about how his companies receive substantial funding and subsidies from the government. 

It is not the first time a discussion of this nature has happened on X. However, Musk responded with his usual defense — pointing to results as the reason behind his success, not government handouts. 

Musk calls out a ‘clown’s analysis’ 

The exchange began with an X user accusing the US government of constantly throwing money at Musk even before he delivers on his promises and often after he reneged on them. 

This implies the company heavily relies on things like taxpayer funds, subsidies and contracts to build wealth and buff valuations, something Musk clearly did not like to hear. 

“Tesla $TSLA grants/subsidies essentially mirror SpaceX ‘contract money’ for Artemis moon trips that still never happened,” the X user who started the discourse wrote. “Basically the more Musk ramps up lies, the more the government indiscriminately throws money at him.” 

The post quickly did rounds, and before long, people were in the comment section sharing their opinions. One of the many who seemed to be on Musk’s side called the account out for lying, pointing out that SpaceX attracts all it does because it provides valuable launch services and offers a “far better deal for taxpayers than NASA or the Defense Department would have gotten from any other provider (Boeing, Russia, ULA, etc.).” 

It was that post that Musk responded to with a snarky comment, dismissing the opinion as a “clown’s analysis.” 

“Even if every bit of bullshit he says is true, it still amounts to less than 1% of the value of Tesla and SpaceX,” Musk asked. 

“Where did the other 99% come from?” 

That reply implies that, rather than handouts, Tesla and SpaceX create revenue in many other ways, which is what is really responsible for their current level of success. It frames everything both companies get from the government as negligible, just 1% out of the 100%. 

Musk’s companies continue to run hot

SpaceX has been in the headlines frequently since the year started because of significant new developments related to its funding and capital. 

At the start of the year, SpaceX secured $739 million in new national security launch contracts from the Pentagon. It was also awarded the full amount for US military launch missions, with no slice of the portion going to its competitors. 

It counts as a new government contract funding for launches and builds on past work between both entities. That news did not create as much ripple among critics as what happened at the beginning of this month. 

In the first week of February, SpaceX acquired Musk’s xAI in a major merger that valued the combined entity at around $1.25 trillion. This is a merger rather than a fresh cash infusion, but it also represents a huge consolidation of resources and value under SpaceX, while integrating xAI’s AI capabilities ahead of planned growth. 

SpaceX is also gearing up for its IPO, which is scheduled to potentially hold in mid-2026 and could help the company raise billions at a valuation as high as $1.5 trillion. If it happens, this would make it one of the biggest public offerings ever, and Musk’s critics will have fresh fodder to criticize Musk, who could have become the world’s first trillionaire by then.

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Oracle is flying with Aladdin on his mat today. The stock has rallied 13%, which makes it the biggest gainer on the day. That comes right after Amazon said it’s going to throw $200 billion into data centers, chips, and hardware this year.

That’s helped Oracle break out. It’s also the second week in a row that the stock has gone up. Still, even with this rally, Oracle is down around 50% from its highs in September.

The AI money is pouring in from every angle. Companies are spending like crazy. That includes Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft, which together are planning to put $650 billion into AI tools.

Some traders now think a slice of that spending might actually go to software names like Oracle. The stock is reacting hard today, but there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes.

Analysts disagree on Oracle’s future after debt program and AI bets

One reason Oracle is running today is that DA Davidson upgraded it to Buy. They gave it a new price target of $180, up from Neutral. The analysts said they believe a “revamped OpenAI” will come back stronger and keep pushing Google in AI.

They also said OpenAI now has enough money to meet its side of the deal with Oracle. That, in their view, clears Oracle’s biggest risk.

Gil, the analyst at Davidson, wrote, “Software isn’t dead. We believe companies will continue to pay for Oracle’s products and that they will not be vibe coded away.” He thinks software demand will stay steady, even in a messy market.

But not everyone’s feeling that bullish. Melius Research actually downgraded Oracle to Hold and kept a lower target at $160. While they say they respect Larry El for going bold here, they also say Oracle is sitting on a heavy load of debt and equity.

And they raised a serious question: “What should a stock sell for with no free cash flow until the 2030s?” Melius thinks Oracle should be priced more like an infrastructure business than a software firm.

Bernstein is still on the optimistic side but even they cut their price target to $313 from $339. They still rate the stock Outperform, though. Bernstein pointed to the $45 billion to $50 billion debt and equity program Oracle announced last Monday. That’s how they’re going to fund the huge AI data center build they promised last year. Bernstein said this funding will likely carry Oracle through fiscal year 2028.

Still, the entire software sector is under pressure. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF has dropped 28% from its highs in recent weeks. Traders are worried AI might actually cut into demand for traditional software. But some are betting the money from Big Tech’s AI boom will still flow into Oracle and others with cloud infrastructure.

Justin, an analyst at Bank of America, said cloud firms are facing tough macro risks, which could lead to stock volatility. But he also said, “Management teams seem confident in their ability to forecast demand, and that capacity will be fully utilized in 2026.”

And while cloud growth at Amazon and Alphabet was strong, David at UBS said their capex guidance came in way above what traders expected, and that’s what the market reacted to. But for Oracle, the cash pouring into AI infrastructure may finally be landing in its lap.

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While the goal of reaching a $4.50 target price may appear lofty, history has proven that cryptos with verified tech, tokenomics, and community engagement can provide investors with monumental returns. The following crypto analysis will highlight the key fundamentals that can potentially launch a new crypto like Mutuum Finance (MUTM) on a path towards monumental returns, making it a top crypto to buy.

Verified Protocol Functionality

First and foremost, investors need a verified protocol, and that’s exactly what they’re getting with the recent launch of the Mutuum Finance V1 protocol, currently under public verification on the Sepolia testnet. This moves the project from being a concept to a working product. During the testnet, investors can verify and interact with Mutuum Finance’s lending protocol, specifically interact with its mtTokens, debt tokens, and the automated liquidator bot. The tokens supported during this testnet are ETH, LINK, USDT, and WBTC. This level of transparency and verification prior to mainnet launch creates a tremendous level of trust, a key requirement that must be met by any new crypto looking to capitalize on future value appreciation.

Current Presale Phase Drives Price Appreciation

The current market phase is a key determinant in reaching long-term crypto success, and in the case of MUTM, investors are currently in the presale phase, in phase 7 at a $0.04 price. While investors can expect a gain as they near the $0.06 launch price, the key catalysts that can potentially drive an 8x return at launch lie in projected exchange listings and key project features such as dual lending, over-collateralized lending, and a buy-and-redistribute mechanism. These drive demand and make Mutuum Finance desirable for investors even post-launch. These features, as well as predicted value generation post-launch make it a prime time for investors to get in and have a chance at being a top crypto asset to invest in for growth and appreciation.

Historical Precedent For Growth

The roadmap to $4.50 becomes apparent when understanding the sustainable growth factors and historical precedents. For example, XRP in the year 2017 traded for under $0.01 before the confluence of utility narratives and market cycles propelled the asset to $3.84, a 38,000% increase. Mutuum Finance has its own catalyst in the form of a fee-sharing economy.

Part of all fees within the protocol buys back MUTM tokens, allocating them to mtToken stakers. Therefore, if an investor stakes $3,000 within the protocol, they not only earn interest on their investment but also a proportionate share of all the token buybacks. This creates a compounding effect in that the growth of the protocol leads to an increase in rewards for investors, creating a logical pathway towards increasing token value.

A Confluence of Factors for a Major Breakout

The predicted growth of the MUTM token from its current levels to the figure of $4.50 is based on a series of factual events that have already been tested in the form of a live protocol, a presale phase before the token is listed on exchanges, and a tokenomics model in which the growth of the protocol directly translates into the demand for the token. This is the same confluence of factors that has propelled the success of top crypto projects in the past. For those seeking the next big success story in the crypto market, Mutuum Finance offers a data-driven opportunity in the form of newly launched crypto projects with a clear and justified path for explosive growth.

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

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

FG Nexus has announced that it will be implementing a 1-for-5 reverse stock split in an effort to attract institutional investors and improve its trading liquidity despite its low price. 

To remedy its falling stock value and attract institutional interest, FG Nexus has announced that it will be implementing a reverse stock split, reducing its authorized shares from 900 billion to 180 billion. 

The FG Nexus stock is down almost 100% over the last six months.

FG Nexus is down almost 100% over the last year. Source: Google Finance

FG Nexus announces a reverse stock split 

FG Nexus Inc. officially announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a one-for-five reverse stock split set to take effect on Friday, February 13, 2026. 

The reverse split will automatically convert every five shares of current common stock into one share of new common stock. For example, a person who owns 100 shares before the split will own 20 shares afterward. 

In preparation for the change, the common stock has been assigned a new CUSIP number: 30329Y403. However, the company’s common stock will continue to be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under its existing ticker symbol, “FGNX.”

Kyle Cerminara, the Chairman and CEO of FG Nexus, explained that the goal is to make the stock more appealing to institutional investors who often avoid stocks with very low prices. By consolidating the shares, the company hopes to see a proportional increase in the price of each share. 

As of today, the company has 32,776,218 shares of common stock outstanding. After the split becomes effective, that number will drop to approximately 6,555,243 shares. Furthermore, the number of common shares that the company is authorized to issue will be reduced from 900 billion to 180 billion. 

The company stated that no fractional shares will be issued. Instead, the company’s transfer agent, Broadridge Financial Solutions, LLC, will provide a cash payment in place of that fractional share. 

Will the reverse split affect the value of previous investments?

Investors often worry during reverse splits about whether or not they are losing money, but the total value of the investments stays the same. The rights and privileges attached to the common stock also remain exactly the same. 

Recent market data shows that FG Nexus’s share price dropped significantly from a 52-week high of over $41 to recent lows near $1.93. 

The company is part of a growing group of companies that use cryptocurrency as a primary treasury asset and has explicitly stated that it wants to be a “gateway to digital-asset-powered finance.” This strategy includes staking its Ethereum (ETH) holdings to earn rewards and building a platform for the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs).

As of late January 2026, FG Nexus reported holding 37,594 ETH. The company has also been very active in buying back its own shares. Between late 2025 and early 2026, the firm repurchased nearly 10 million shares. 

CEO Kyle Cerminara has argued that buying back shares when they trade below the company’s net asset value (NAV) is a great way to increase the value for remaining owners.

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XRP is taking a hit. The token has broken below its aggregate cost basis, and that triggered panic across the board. A big chunk of holders are now dumping their bags, not to lock in profits, but to cut losses, according to data from Glassnode.

The Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR), using the 7-day EMA, has collapsed from 1.16 in July 2025 to 0.96 right now. If that number is above 1, they’re walking away richer. If it’s under, like it is now, XRP holders are bleeding.

This is the first time profitability has turned negative since mid-2025. And according to Glassnode, it looks a lot like what happened between September 2021 and May 2022, when the SOPR stayed under 1 and the market just dragged sideways for months.

Retail holders are dumping XRP while whales hold tight

Right now, XRP’s price sits around $1.42, but whales’ wallets are quiet. Whale-to-exchange flow is still low, which means they’re not dumping. That’s important. It tells you that the selling is mostly coming from retail investors.

The same thing happened back in December 2025 and January 2026. SOPR was low, price kept dropping, but the big wallets stayed silent. It’s the smaller holders who are panicking.

Back in March and April 2025, whale flows were also quiet, and price stayed soft. Then in July, things suddenly bounced hard.

But when profit-taking kicked in, whales dumped fast. They waited for the top. That pattern matters now. Because the whales are still not selling. They’re waiting.

Even with the price sliding, XRP Ledger is still running big numbers. Messari’s data shows average daily transactions at 1.83 million in Q4 2025, up 3.1% from the quarter before. Active addresses dropped to 49,000.

But while payments fell 8.1% to around 909,000, offer creation rose to 42% of the entire mix. That means people are still trading and using the network, even with the loss pressure.

Ripple’s bigger plan is focused on tokenized real-world assets. It’s not about just DeFi numbers anymore. XRPL is being shaped to support tokenized cash, high-grade collateral, and real settlement flows. There’s been real growth here. RWA.xyz reported about $21.41 billion in represented value and nearly $23.87 billion distributed. The tokenized U.S. Treasuries value is now at $10.0 billion.

Ripple wants to pull more of that volume toward XRPL. The plan includes compliance tools built into the network and delivery-versus-payment support. That’s how they’re positioning themselves to handle the next wave of tokenization.

McKinsey expects tokenized markets to grow to $2 trillion by 2030, though BCG and ADDX threw out a much bigger number; $16.1 trillion.

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Bitcoin mining operator NFN8 Group Inc. and its subsidiaries have gone down the dreaded path of formally filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company seeks court protection from creditors after running into financial challenges due to a fire outbreak at its Texas facility.

NFN8 made the Chapter 11 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. This move comes as a shock to many who have witnessed the company’s rapid growth in recent years. 

Fire, leases, and increased pressure on mining margins

NFN8’s bankruptcy filing can be traced to multiple events over the past year. Beginning with the fire outbreak at its leased facility in Crystal City, Texas, which cut mining capacity by a little over 50%. 

The fire incident happened at, perhaps, the worst of times for NFN8; a period where global mining profitability was dwindling due to compressed hashprice – a measure of mining revenue per unit of computational power – following the April 2024 Bitcoin halving.

NFN8’s operational model (a sale-leaseback equipment financing program involving more than 250 counterparties) became unsustainable after a major dip in revenue. Also, the company’s ongoing legal & tax issues have added more strain on its finances.

To keep its head above water, NFN8 secured $2.75 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Twelve Bridge Capital LLC to keep essential operations running during the court-supervised sale of assets.

At its peak, NFN8 operated over 5,000 Bitcoin mining machines in Texas and Iowa as the industry expanded in the late 2010s and early 2020s. The company had to fight through periods of uncertainty when Core Scientific, a key hosting partner, went bankrupt in 2022. 

However, the combo of catastrophic events and lower hashprice finally brought NFN8 to its knees.

What’s next for NFN8? 

NFN8’s filing will look to preserve whatever value is left in the company while ensuring an orderly process of liquidation, which aims to preserve value and avoid disorderly liquidation. 

The process involves marketing the company’s assets to prospective bidders, with the hope of getting the best return for stakeholders.

What does this mean for Bitcoin mining profitability?

Looking across the industry, NFN8’s situation simply reflects the growing trend of lower rewards for miners, causing miners to depend more on Bitcoin’s market price and transaction fees to cover operational costs.

All of this can be traced back to the April 2024 block subsidy halving, which cut rewards from 6.25 BTC per block to 3.125 BTC. Also, hashprice has fallen to a historically low figure of $33 per petahash per day over the last couple of months, adding even more pressure on miners

However, it can be argued that bankruptcies such as NFN8’s actually bode well for the larger mining ecosystem. Because it helps move assets from so-called “weaker” operators into the hands of more efficient operators. 

While there has been an 11% difficulty drop in mining recently, it still costs around $87,000 to mine one Bitcoin, and transaction fees as a share of miner revenue fell from 7% to 1% after 2024, making the broader picture look rather bleak.

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OpenAI is racing to secure up to $100 billion in fresh capital as the artificial intelligence company grapples with mounting expenses and growing threats from rivals.

People close to the matter say the money could push the firm’s worth to roughly $830 billion, more than what Argentina produces in a year.

Those involved expect talks to gain traction over the next two weeks. The size of the round signals more than ambition. Leaked internal papers obtained by The Information show OpenAI facing a $14 billion shortfall in 2026, with total red ink climbing to $115 billion by 2029. The company does not expect to turn a profit until sometime in the 2030s.

Massive computing project backs funding push

The fundraising plan calls for investments in two separate phases. Microsoft and Nvidia are set to put in money first, with Amazon discussing a commitment that could go as high as $50 billion.

The timing lines up with OpenAI’s Stargate venture, a $500 billion computing project built with SoftBank and Oracle. That effort aims to harness 10 gigawatts of electricity and deploy millions of processors to power what the company hopes will become artificial general intelligence.

User numbers climb despite pressure

Chief executive Sam Altman has worked to keep employees and investors confident even as financial strain builds. He wrote to staff on Friday that ChatGPT is “back to exceeding 10% monthly growth,” according to an internal Slack message that CNBC reviewed. Around 800 million people now tap into the service each week. But rivals are gaining ground. Google Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude have both pulled in users, with Gemini seeing a bump in web visits after Apple added it to its Intelligence features.

OpenAI rolled out GPT-5.3-Codex last week in an attempt to stay ahead. The company bills it as its first “agentic” coding tool, meaning it goes beyond simple suggestions. The software can tackle complex jobs on its own, fixing bugs across entire code libraries and handling software launches without human help.

Engineers at OpenAI used early builds of GPT-5.3-Codex to develop the final version, relying on it to troubleshoot training sessions and review test outcomes. The model also became the first to earn a “High capability” label under the firm’s Preparedness Framework for cybersecurity. That classification forced the company to add extra protections against automated hacking attempts.

Super Bowl sparks public feud

Tensions between OpenAI and Anthropic spilled into public view during Super Bowl LX. OpenAI ran a one-minute commercial aimed at developers, while Anthropic took shots at its competitor’s plan to show ads. One Anthropic spot depicted a “short king” asking for workout tips, only to get hit with promotions for shoe lifts. The ad closed with a pointed message: “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.”

Altman fired back on X, labeling the ads “deceptive” and “dishonest.” Still, OpenAI moved forward with ad testing inside ChatGPT on Monday. The company tried to soften potential blowback by publishing its “Ads Principles.”

Only users on the Free and “Go” tiers, the latter costing $8 each month, will see sponsored content. Those paying for Plus, Pro, Team, or Enterprise subscriptions will not encounter any ads. The company also promised to keep ads away from conversations involving health, mental health, or politics. Sponsored messages will show up in a marked box at the bottom of the screen and are meant to stay separate from the chatbot’s actual responses.

As fundraising discussions pick up speed, OpenAI faces pressure to show it can make money from its massive user base through these new ad options and business tools. At the same time, it needs to justify the enormous spending required to compete in the race toward artificial general intelligence.

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As big businesses scramble to provide updated products before the approaching Christmas season, ByteDance’s weekend debut of its newest artificial intelligence tool for creating videos sparked new excitement in China’s technology markets.

The business made Seedance 2.0 available on its Jimeng AI platform to a select few users. Testers of the beta version said that, in comparison to previous iterations, the software creates amazingly realistic video material with fluid camera work and improved visual coherence.

Audio advances drive market gains

One standout improvement involves how the system handles audio. Previous models required users to add sound separately after creating videos. The updated version simultaneously creates background noise and conversation to go with the images. Testers emphasized “physics-based realism,” citing precise depictions of motions such as objects falling and character mouth movements that are synced across eight languages.

Market reaction came swiftly on Monday. Huace Media shares climbed roughly 7 percent, while Perfect World gained about 10 percent. COL Group’s stock jumped to its maximum allowed daily increase of 20 percent as investors bet on artificial intelligence boosting traditional media production.

The release comes during what industry watchers describe as a critical period for China’s artificial intelligence industry. Many companies are preparing to launch flagship products.

Source: @alex_prompter

The push to announce new tools before the Lunar New Year reflects fierce worldwide rivalry among leading technology firms competing for user attention during 2026’s opening months, especially after prominent American companies Anthropic and OpenAI made their own major announcements.

Alibaba prepares flagship model release

On Sunday, someone from Alibaba Cloud’s development team submitted pull requests on Hugging Face and GitHub for an upcoming collection of models. Alibaba Cloud handles artificial intelligence and cloud operations for Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the South China Morning Post.

These platforms let programmers share and work together on software code that anyone can access and modify. The centerpiece is Qwen-3.5, arriving nearly a year after Qwen-3’s debut. The earlier version became the world’s most widely used open-model family throughout 2025 thanks to its solid performance, flexible licensing, and broad applications. Information shared through the pull requests indicates Qwen-3.5 will feature two versions, one with 9 billion parameters and another with 35 billion parameters, both offering multimodal capabilities for the first time.

Parameters represent the variables that determine a model’s capabilities and get fine-tuned during development. Higher numbers typically mean stronger performance. Multimodal means the system can work with various data types, such as text, pictures, and sound. Both versions will incorporate the company’s updated architecture, which first appeared in September through an experimental model named Qwen3-Next. Competition has grown more complex with the rise of “agentic” features. Moonshot AI, based in Beijing, recently introduced its Kimi K2.5 model.

This version includes an “agent swarm” function that lets users activate as many as 100 sub-agents for handling multiple tasks simultaneously. The approach follows moves by other startups, including Zhipu AI, which launched GLM-Image, a model allegedly developed using only Chinese-manufactured chips to work around international export limitations.

This year’s “Lunar New Year wave” represents a turning point from the testing phase of artificial intelligence toward widespread integration. Chinese companies are using the holiday season’s heavy internet traffic to draw users into AI-centered platforms.

The aggressive timing demonstrates a developing market where multimodal functionality and open-source availability have become China’s main strategies against American proprietary systems. The emphasis has shifted away from simply building larger models toward specialized agentic abilities and operational efficiency.

China’s AI industry is quickly moving away from experimental models (LLMs) and toward “agentic” ecosystems, which value multi-tasking, real-world processes over raw parameter quantity. In order to circumvent international export restrictions, this generation of flagship releases demonstrates a purposeful emphasis on localized hardware self-sufficiency and open-source dominance.

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Solana (SOL) has managed to consolidate its position as one of the top coins in the crypto market, with a potential target of reaching the $300 mark in 2026. However, with a growing inclination towards new coins that may offer better growth potential, investors are increasingly looking towards Mutuum Finance (MUTM) that may be able to offer better growth potential. The project offers real utility through its dual lending system, and this makes it the best crypto to buy for investors looking beyond established coins like Solana.

Solana Price Analysis

Solana (SOL) has managed to move higher from a recent dip, with investors stepping in to stabilize prices. The current move is expected to reach a resistance point at $88-$89, with prices being pulled back due to increased selling pressure at that point. Overall, it is being stated that the current move is a consolidation phase, with prices being maintained above a trendline. Hence, it is quite apparent that investors may be able to get better returns from newer projects such as Mutuum Finance (MUTM).

Mutuum Finance V1 Protocol

The deployment of the Mutuum Finance V1 Protocol marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the protocol from theory into real-world testing. With the protocol now live on the Sepolia testnet, users can actively engage with basic mechanisms and explore its functionalities in a live setting. This phase of testing allows the developers to gauge the effectiveness of the protocol in real conditions. For investors, this phase of testing is extremely important. This is because they get to interact with the DeFi crypto before committing their hard-earned funds.

How Mutuum Finance Unlocks Liquidity Without Asset Sales

Mutuum Finance has been created with the intention of providing liquidity to crypto holders without the need for selling their assets. This is done by allowing users to pledge the assets they hold and use them as collateral. This helps the users unlock the liquidity they might require for other purposes. Mutuum Finance has created a two-tiered model of lending that can be used for both standardized and customized loans.

In the context of a pooled lending system, users contribute their assets to a common liquidity reserve that operates under a smart contract. Borrowers access the assets in the reserve through a deposit of collateral, with borrowing limits determined by loan-to-value ratios. A user depositing digital assets worth $5,000 under a loan-to-value ratio of 65% would be able to access a loan of up to $3,250 while maintaining a buffer against sudden market movements.

Direct Lending via Peer-to-Peer Markets

Along with pooled lending, Mutuum Finance is also building out a layer of peer-to-peer lending markets, which allow lenders and borrowers to directly interact with each other. This facilitates more customized loan contracts, where interest rates and other factors may be different from what’s available in pooled markets. In such markets as well, there are rules for collateralization of loans, which help mitigate default risk for lenders. For example, a lender and borrower may agree on a six-month SHIB loan with an interest rate of 15%.

Early-Stage Investment and Growth Potential

For those seeking early-stage investment in the DeFi sector, Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is an attractive investment opportunity. Currently in the 7th stage of its presale, the token is priced at $0.04. The biggest gains go to those who invest the earliest. Early predictions point to the token hitting $0.50 within weeks of its launch on exchanges. This forecast is drawn from the token’s strong demand during presale, successful testnet launch, and multiple passive income streams for DeFi users. 

Hitting $0.50 will deliver a 12.5x ROI for an investor who buys MUTM today. If they, however, wait to get in during the exchange listing at $0.06, the ROI will shrink significantly to just 8x. This has created a strong urgency amongst investors. The presale has seen nearly 19,000 participants and has raised in excess of $20.43 million. This is an indication of the confidence the market has in the protocol.

Staking Incentives

The roadmap for Mutuum Finance also proposes an incentive system that relies on fees as a means to reward users who stake within the system. A portion of the fees paid for lending activities will be used to purchase MUTM tokens from the market. These tokens will then be allocated to users staking their mtTokens in the safety module. This rewards users for helping secure the protocol.

While Solana eyes $300, the real play for significant upside potential lies in Mutuum Finance (MUTM). This DeFi crypto offers a live lending platform that allows users to borrow without selling and earn yields automatically. For those evaluating the market, it’s clearly the best crypto to buy for real-world use cases with high growth potential and strong early adoption.

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

Website: https://mutuum.com/ 

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance 

The Rosen Law Firm, a US-based securities class action firm, has initiated an investigation into potential securities claims linked to the major exploit that rocked Balancer on November 3, 2925. 

Rosen has alleged that Balancer may have issued materially misleading business information to the public and its investors prior to the incident. 

Rosen encourages Balancer investors to reach out 

The law firm claims in a recent announcement that it is investigating potential securities claims on behalf of investors and has urged those who purchased Balancer cryptocurrency to reach out, as they may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. 

This is in preparation for the class action Rosen is seeking to launch in hopes of recovering investor losses. 

Those who wish to join the prospective class action have been urged to reach out via its official channels for information on the class action. 

Rosen is confident in its ability to pursue justice and has clients throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. 

The Law Firm claims it was ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for the number of securities class action settlements in 2017 and has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013. 

What happened with the Balancer exploit? 

The Balancer exploit occurred on November 3, 2025, and according to Cryptopolitan reporting at the time, Balancer, a decentralized finance protocol, was hit in a major attack where the attackers made away with more than $100 million in digital assets, according to blockchain security firms. 

Security researchers at PeckShield and Cyvers also flagged the incident, warning that funds linked to the attacker’s wallet were still being siphoned. 

The attack was sophisticated and targeted a vulnerability in Balancer’s V2 smart contracts, specifically the arithmetic precision/running errors in pool invariant calculations, plus access control issues in the vault system. The protocol responded to the attack by pausing operations as parts of the exploit involved cross-chain elements. 

The breach allowed the attackers unauthorized manipulation of balances and drainage across chains in a short time. Some funds were reportedly recovered by whitehat actors, and Balancer outlined reimbursement plans for affected liquidity providers. 

That outline was made in late November, and the team pledged to distribute $8 million from the recovered assets to those affected. The plan would involve non-socialized distribution, meaning the funds go only to LPs in the specifically affected pools rather than broadly across the protocol. 

It also emphasized pro-rata based on Balance Pool Token holdings at pre-exploit snapshot blocks and in-kind reimbursement with whitehats who were entitled to 10% bounties for their help. 

While the proposal moved through community review and governance discussion stages, there has been no widespread confirmation of full payouts or distributions as of February 2026.

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GOOG stock is rallying right alongside the VIX. That doesn’t usually happen. The VIX tracks fear in markets, so when it’s going up, stocks are usually falling down, especially the big boys.

GOOG is up by 2% today, and the VIX is up 1.2%, per data from Google Finance.

So why the green candles for Google, you wonder? Well, it is all about a historic debt sale. Alphabet is raising cash in a way we haven’t seen from a tech company in decades.

Alphabet is about to sell a 100-year bond, priced in British pounds. It’s selling five different bond chunks in sterling. One of them will not mature until the year 2126.

And listen, this is the first time any tech company has tried something like this since Motorola did it in 1997. Usually, it’s governments or colleges that issue these century bonds.

Companies don’t touch them, because a hundred years is too long to plan for when you’re in tech.

Big Short’s Mike Burry already made this comparison in a post on X, making it clear that he is bearish on GOOG, though keep in mind that this is the guy who has called 20 of the past 2 market crashes.

Alphabet is preparing for record debt sale, sending shares up

The 100-year bond is just one piece. Alphabet is also selling $20 billion worth of US dollar bonds, way more than the $15 billion people expected. Demand for this deal went crazy. Orders crossed $100 billion at the peak. This is now one of the biggest corporate bond offerings ever. And it’s all because of the AI race.

The bond that matures in 2066 is being sold at a tighter premium. Earlier, it was 1.2 percentage points above Treasuries. Now it’s just 0.95 percentage points. That means buyers are accepting less payout. They’re chasing anything tied to AI, and Alphabet is right in the middle of it.

Last week, Alphabet said it’s planning to spend up to $185 billion on capital projects this year. That’s more than what it spent in the last three years put together. Most of this money is going into building data centers and buying AI chips. Morgan Stanley’s Brian Nowak said on CNBC that Alphabet might even spend $250 billion by 2027.

Several banks are helping run the bond sale. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America are handling the US side. Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, and Wells Fargo are involved too. All of them kept their mouths shut when asked about the deal.

Tech companies are cutting cash flow to keep up with AI growth

Last year, the four biggest US internet companies pulled in $200 billion in free cash flow, which is actually down from $237 billion in 2024. All this AI investment is eating into profits. But they’re still loaded with cash. By the end of the last quarter, these four companies had over $420 billion combined, just sitting in cash or equivalents.

That’s a huge edge over AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic, which are fast and flashy, but they don’t have Alphabet’s wallet.

Deutsche Bank analysts said last week that Alphabet’s spending is building what they called a “meaningful moat.” That’s a nerdy way of saying they’re trying to block out competitors.

Big companies continue testing AI tools that build apps just by typing a few words, which, of course, takes serious computing power. Cloud providers like Alphabet are seeing massive demand for that power, as it’s pushing them to invest even more.

Still, not everything is smooth. Some folks are worried. If OpenAI stumbles, it could hit the entire market hard. That company has over $1.4 trillion in AI deals lined up. If things go wrong there, the mess could spread.

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The White House is set to hold a closed-door summit between top banking and crypto executives on February 10 focused on stablecoin policy. The goal of this meeting is to find common ground between the two parties over issues that have stalled progress with the CLARITY Act.

Tension has been running high in Washington as traditional finance and crypto industry leaders struggle to reach a deal to pass the CLARITY Act. Incremental internal meetings are now being held by the White House to resolve differences between the two parties. Tuesday’s meeting will be the second of this nature, after little progress was made during the first on February 2.

The main point of contention between banking and crypto firms is whether stablecoin issuers should be allowed to pay interest to holders. This issue has been one of the biggest disputes preventing progress with the CLARITY Act.

Present at this meeting will be top executives from major banks like JPMorgan, who see yield-bearing stablecoins as an existential threat to their industry. Their main concern is that these assets will create a form of unregulated parallel banking, leading to capital flight from traditional banks. They argue that this will cause great damage to the overall U.S. economy.

On the other side of this argument are crypto firms, who believe that eliminating stablecoin interest payments will stifle innovation as global competition over decentralized finance is accelerating. Tuesday’s meeting will allow both camps to further present their arguments, as pressure mounts from the White House for a deal to be reached before the end of the month.

The CLARITY Act and tension between industries

The CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633) is a proposed bill by the U.S. Congress aimed at establishing a clear and comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets while still allowing for innovation. It was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in July of 2025, but has since hit multiple roadblocks in being passed by the Senate. While there is a large bipartisan appetite for clear digital asset regulation amongst Senate lawmakers, progress with the bill has hit gridlock over one key issue: the legal treatment of interest-bearing stablecoins.

Yield-bearing stablecoins are a type of digital asset typically pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar. Unlike traditional stablecoins, these digital assets generate passive income through interest payments to holders. Traditional financial institutions view these interest-bearing stablecoins as a risk to their balance sheets, as they offer much greater yield than traditional bank deposit rates. Crypto industry leaders argue that prohibiting stablecoin interest payments stifles innovation and severely limits consumer choice. They view the current position of traditional finance on this issue as a way for the banks to maintain their control over the U.S. financial system.

The White House steps in to mediate the tension

This issue over stablecoin policy has intensified competition between the two industries of banking and cryptocurrency, evolving into a battle over the future structure of the U.S. financial system. As both sides stand firm on their positions, the White House has emerged as the mediator through a series of closed-door meetings between industry leaders and the White House Cryptocurrency Committee. The first meeting was held last week, consisting of a mix of industry and trade group representatives, where they attempted to outline a compromise that could unfreeze the CLARITY Act. This meeting was more exploratory and laid the groundwork for Tuesday’s discussion. Unlike the first, high-level banking executives and crypto industry leaders are expected to be present for this next round of negotiations.

The White House has put pressure on both sides of this issue to reach a conclusion by the end of the month to prevent the CLARITY Act from losing traction in the Senate. This raises the stakes for some form of provisional agreement to be reached by both parties at Tuesday’s meeting, although the outcome is uncertain. Progress will likely take shape if an outline is created in favor of both parties, showing how yield-bearing stablecoins can be regulated without destabilizing the banking system.

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BYD has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, going after billions in tariff refunds and directly challenging Donald Trump’s decision to use emergency powers to slap new taxes on imports.

The case, filed January 26 at the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, argues that Trump had no legal ground to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify these border taxes.

This is the first time a Chinese automaker has sued the U.S. over tariffs. Four BYD subsidiaries in the U.S. say the IEEPA doesn’t actually allow for tariffs at all. Their legal filing says, “the text of IEEPA does not employ the word ‘tariff’ or any term of equivalent meaning.”

The company says it had to file the suit to make sure it can recover the money it already paid. It wants all of it back. No rounding, no compromise.

BYD challenges legality of tariffs in court

The case is happening while the U.S. Supreme Court is also reviewing whether Trump’s tariff program is even legal. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said last week the court is moving slowly because the case could change everything.

“The stakes are enormous,” he said. And yeah, BYD is watching that closely. But they’re not waiting. They’ve filed separately to make sure they don’t miss out on any refund opportunities if the Supreme Court rules against Trump.

Even though BYD doesn’t sell passenger cars in the U.S., it’s got plenty of business in the country. Its U.S. operations include commercial trucks, buses, solar panels, batteries, and energy storage tech. BYD North America runs a plant in Lancaster, California, where about 750 people work.

Trump, now the 47th president of the United States after winning the 2024 election, has said Chinese cars are a “threat” to the future of the U.S. auto industry. But he’s also said that if a Chinese company wants to build in the U.S., he’d be fine with that. Well, BYD is doing exactly that, and still got hit with tariffs.

The court case is listed as No. 26-00847, and it’s becoming a major piece of the wider tariff backlash coming from global companies. Thousands of firms operating in the U.S. have already filed similar challenges.

BYD expands solid-state battery tech as Tesla stumbles in Europe

While the lawsuit grabs headlines, BYD isn’t slowing down on the tech side either. It’s made real progress on sulfide-based solid-state batteries.

The company says it’s improved fast-charging and battery life, with limited production expected to start in 2027. Its investor relations team said that sulfide electrolytes are a big focus, and they’re testing different approaches.

At the 2025 Solid-State Battery Forum in China, BYD’s lithium battery CTO said these new batteries might eventually cost the same as regular ones. That would be huge. The plan is to start using solid-state batteries in test vehicles by 2027 and go big after 2030.

That’s not all. BYD is also building a third-gen sodium-ion battery platform. Reports say it can handle up to 10,000 charge cycles. Commercial rollout will depend on demand and how customers want to use it. The company is clearly trying to cover all angles, working on both lithium and sodium battery tech at the same time.

Meanwhile, BYD keeps gaining ground on Tesla in Europe. Sales data from ACEA, the European car industry group, show BYD tripled its new car registrations in December to 27,678. For the whole year, it hit 187,657. Tesla dropped 20% in December and fell 27% for the year to 238,656 units. So while Tesla still sold more, the gap is closing fast.

BYD’s rise in Europe is no accident. Its lineup of cheap electric and hybrid vehicles has started eating into the market share of brands like Volkswagen and Tesla. No one’s safe.

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Mining companies are booming despite the slowdown of BTC and the crypto market. The leading mining stocks are still rising on expectations of their pivot into AI. 

Crypto mining companies are still inviting market enthusiasm, driven by their pivot from BTC mining to AI. The sector shows that relationships with crypto may be a benefit to the companies. Some are sitting on legacy BTC treasuries, acquired at a lower mining price. 

The companies managed to use BTC to finance their expansion into AI data centers, securing electricity for upcoming data centers. 

Are crypto mining companies still undervalued? 

The chief narrative driving BTC mining companies is that they are still undervalued. The shares of IREN and other leading crypto mining companies rallied in the past day, with most of the US-based companies in the green. 

Crypto mining stocks were mostly in the green, despite the ongoing BTC price weakness. | Source: CompaniesMarketCap

At the same time, BTC is showing signs of being oversold and undervalued at levels just below $70,000. However, the worsening crypto sentiment may make traders shift to mining companies as a source of growth. 

Most mining companies are also passive treasury holders, but MARA shares have not benefited from the reserves, as they are among the worst performers. IREN still drives the strength of crypto mining stocks, currently hovering around $45.52.

Will crypto miners capitulate? 

The rising prices of crypto mining stocks raised the issue of mining capitulation to cut losses. Currently, some miners may be producing at a cost higher than the market price. This does not apply to all miners, and some legacy operations may still be profitable. 

Miner reserves show the period of holding through volatility is now over. Miners hold 1.8M BTC, down from 1.89M in the past few months. 

The main source of selling may be the reserves of Mara, as well as Cango’s stash of over $700M in BTC. The pivot to AI and high-compute data centers may be one of the reasons to drain miner treasuries. While BTC has dropped by 50% from its highs, treasuries are still capable of supporting further expansion into new AI data centers. 

The capitulation may not be due to the weakness of BTC, but due to demand for AI, and potentially covering some of the debt from building data centers. 

Recently, Cango sold 4,451 BTC, retaining 3,645 BTC in its reserves. Other miners are mostly retaining their remaining balance, but Cango aimed to boost its balance sheet with around $305M in BTC, dedicated to capital expenses. 

The selling is not haphazard for now, and miners have not shown real signs of capitulation or abandoning the network. Hashrate recovered to 963 EH/s, showing the already built BTC centers are often profitable enough to keep running even at a lower price range. The winter slowdown of mining from hydroelectric power is still not a sign of capitulation, and some pools even increased their total hashrate.

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After Ethereum delivered a powerful 300% run in 2025, many investors are now asking where the next wave of upside could come from. With ETH entering a more mature phase and larger price moves becoming harder to achieve, attention is shifting toward newer crypto opportunities that are still priced under $1. Analysts are closely watching a small group of emerging protocols that combine working technology, early adoption, and clear growth paths. These lower-priced assets are gaining traction as traders look for stronger upside potential heading into 2026.

Ethereum (ETH) Ceiling in 2026

Ethereum (ETH) is considered the support of the decentralized world, yet its size is becoming an obstacle to investors who want to see an additional 300% gain within a brief timeframe. ETH is currently trading at around 1,700 and has a market capitalization of over 233 billion and is under heavy opposition.

Technical charts indicate that the bearish trend line is of a major type with resistance at $2,200 and secondary wall at $2,800. To get ETH to two times its current level would take new capital in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

This dragging of the large-caps has seen many seeking cheaper tokens that have greater upside potential. As ETH becomes a store of value and an institutional settlement layer, it is no longer able to have the same risk-to-reward ratio as a high-performance protocol at its beginning. The investor is shifting towards projects that have audited security along with vigorous revenue based growth patterns.

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is addressing this slowdown by building a professional lending system powered by efficient Layer 2 technology. One of its core features is the Peer-to-Contract (P2C) model. Users supply assets to shared pools and receive mtTokens, which automatically grow in value as activity on the platform increases.

In the P2C setup, if a user deposits $10,000 in stablecoins, they receive mtTokens that represent their share of the pool. As borrowing activity increases, the value of those mtTokens rises through earned yield. This allows passive income to build over time without any manual actions.

For users who want more control, the protocol is also developing a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) market. This option allows participants to agree on fixed or variable rates and clear Loan-to-Value (LTV) limits. For example, widely used assets like ETH or BTC may support an LTV of around 75%, meaning $10,000 in collateral could allow access to up to $7,500 in liquidity. If market moves push a position below safe levels, an automated liquidation system activates to protect the pools and keep the platform stable.

MUTM Presale and Security Integrity

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) has a positive momentum that is indicated by its presale performance. The project has realised up to $20.4 million and there are more than 19,000 holders who are already secured. In keeping with the transparency levels, the protocol has a 24-hour leaderboard on the dashboard, where the community can monitor the best performers and the general funding statistics in real-time.

In addition to that, the Halborn security audit has already been passed through and this is already a stamp of approval to the smart contracts in the project. It is an important consideration to institutional whales who are ever more transferring funds to the MUTM ecosystem, which is regarded as a safer, high-growth alternative to the overcrowded top-tier assets.

Beta Launch and Phase 7

The highway to the official price of $0.06 is speeding up. Phase 7 of the presale is currently sold off more than 14%, and MUTM cost only $0.04. This is a 50% take off compared to the launch price, a very significant period to anyone who wants to benefit by gaining as much position as possible before the token goes to global markets.

Even the beta protocol launch on the Sepolia testnet has proven that the platform can support high-frequency lending and borrowing. As part of its future strategy to liquidate more, with stablecoin plans in the roadmap, Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is setting itself as a major competitor to the old DeFi platforms. 

With Phase 7 selling out rapidly, the possibility of entering prior to anticipating the post-launch price discovery is becoming slimmer, as this is the most talked-about crypto opportunity in the market listed below $1 in 2026.

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

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

The Ethereum ecosystem’s dependence on centralized stablecoins is forcing it to face a fundamental reckoning.

Vitalik Buterin, the network’s co-founder, has questioned popular stablecoin strategies in decentralized banking. He believes that many of the products currently on the market do not function as DeFi should. He made it clear in his remarks on X that the business has strayed from its primary objective of distributing risk, as opposed to merely profiting from centralized assets.

Buterin was certain that DeFi needed to change how risk was distributed and managed. Not only generate income from tokens owned by traditional companies, but it should also provide the decentralized risk management that DeFi was intended to.

He specifically criticized “USDC yield” products, saying they over-rely on centralized issuers and do not adequately reduce the dangers of having one company in charge. He noted that these lending models do not provide the decentralized risk management that DeFi was intended to, although he did not specifically mention any platforms.

Source: @VitalikButerin

Alternative models for stablecoin design

The Ethereum co-creator did not completely dismiss stablecoins. He outlined two different approaches that he thinks work better with DeFi’s original purpose. The first is a stablecoin backed by Ether using algorithms. The second is a stablecoin backed by real-world assets but with extra collateral to protect it.

Buterin clarified that the majority of people might acquire the stablecoin by borrowing against their cryptocurrency holdings with an ETH-backed alternative. Transferring risk from a single issuer to open markets is crucial. “The fact that you have the ability to punt the counterparty risk on the dollars to a market maker is still a big feature,” he stated. This places more faith in open markets than in a single company.

However, Buterin stated that if constructed appropriately, stablecoins that use real-world assets might still function. One unsuccessful investment would not destabilize the entire system when these coins have sufficient additional support and distribute their holdings widely. Holders are less at risk. He is more concerned with ensuring that they are protected by a robust, decentralized safety net than he is with utilizing any external resources.

Major platforms heavily dependent on USDC

The figures demonstrate the extent to which centralized stablecoins are used in current lending. Currently, there is over $4.1 billion in USDC in the Ethereum protocol on Aave’s primary Ethereum platform. The market is valued at approximately $36.4 billion overall, of which $2.77 billion has been borrowed, according to the dashboard data from the protocol. Critics call this a “single point of failure” that runs counter to distributed ledgers.

This shift is already being tested by the Sky Protocol (formerly MakerDAO), which estimates that its USDS supply will reach $21 billion by the end of 2026. Using a pipeline of various real-world asset yields, Sky is attempting to show that overcollateralized models are scalable enough to pose a significant threat to USDC’s market dominance.

Now, DeFi is stuck in a legacy trap. Many protocols sacrificed actual freedom for inexpensive liquidity in their pursuit of quick growth, ultimately becoming heavily dependent on centralized stablecoins. That’s where things get a little complex: it’s tough to call something “autonomous” when the entire base remains accountable to a corporate headquarters. If DeFi is meant to be a long-term solution, these centralized components should be considered as temporary support rather than the glue that keeps the system together.

Buterin’s recent comments build on his earlier criticism. On January 11, he argued that Ethereum needed more resilient stablecoins. Plans that overemphasize centralized companies and national currencies should be avoided, he said.

During the discussion, he stated that stablecoins need to address long-term problems, including unstable currencies and faltering regimes. They must also be resistant to pricing feed manipulation and coding faults. His main objective for DeFi is to develop self-sufficient, autonomous systems. He anticipates that the community will see past the short-term benefits and build something resilient to downturns in the physical and digital industries by encouraging risk-spreading mechanisms.

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CME announced the beginning of Cardano, Stellar, and Chainlink futures. The relatively older altcoins arrive just as CME posted peak trading volumes in January. 

CME announced the long-awaited futures for Cardano, Stellar, and Chainlink. The three altcoins were prominent during previous altcoin bull markets, but are now more subdued following the 2026 downturn. 

Despite this, CME adds more crypto assets following the trading record in January. CME has also shown confidence in the crypto market by announcing a CME coin. 

The futures were announced first on January 15, selecting crypto coins that were relatively stable, but barely broke out during the 2025 bull market. The new futures will offer ADA futures equivalent to 100,000 ADA, or micro-futures for 10,000 ADA. 

Cardano futures are now live on @CMEGroup.

A monumental step for institutional adoption. https://t.co/CYtyCJ9ilF pic.twitter.com/Sudj4npZn0

— Cardano Foundation (@Cardano_CF) February 9, 2026

The contracts for Chainlink will be for 5,000 LINK and 250 LINK. Stellar Lumens will trade in futures for 250,000 XLM or 12,500 XLM. 

Cardano, Stellar and Chainlink still trade near lows

Following the CME futures news, ADA traded at $0.26, ranked 13th among crypto assets. 

LINK traded near its lows at $8.68, ranked 18th among crypto assets. Despite the key role of Chainlink for oracle data in DeFi and exchanges, LINK traded as a utility token, failing to break out to $50 again. 

XLM traded at $0.15, remaining within its usual range. Stellar’s ambitions to rival Ripple brought it more significant exposure, but the project lagged in adoption. 

The biggest problem for Cardano and Stellar is that they lag behind other protocols in building an app-based economy or attracting developers. Stellar only carries $172M in value locked, while Cardano drew in $127M. Both chains spoke of their institutional appeal, and Stellar had multiple partnerships for cross-border payments, including with IBM. 

Despite this, the assets did not regain the initial appeal of their early pumps. Cardano spent most of its time preparing for hard forks, while the chain was barely used for apps. 

CME adds cult tokens, but will they gain mass appeal? 

ADA, XLM, and LINK have behaved as cult tokens in the past few years, becoming some of the most widely mentioned tickers. Despite this, newer crypto-native cohorts have shifted to new asset types. 

CME futures may be used to hedge the risk of actual tokens, similar to using more complex derivative strategies for BTC. 

On social media, the mindshare of ADA fell by 26% in the past day to 0.2%. The mindshare of XLM rose by 50% up to 0.1%. LINK has the highest mindshare of the three at 0.4%, recently increasing by 68%. 

ADA is not yet oversold, based on its RSI index, and is showing a ‘wait’ signal. XLM is showing overbought signals, while LINK sentiment is neutral, but the token shows a ‘sell’ signal. The tokens track the overall bearish market sentiment, and the CME futures may be used to offset the downside risks.

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Strategy is buying the dip as the broader crypto market capitulates. A recent company filing with the U.S. SEC revealed that the company purchased 1,142 Bitcoin between February 2 and February 8 for approximately $90 million. 

Michael Saylor’s U.S.-based software firm, Strategy, has added more Bitcoin to its balance sheet amid ongoing crypto market turmoil. The firm purchased an additional 1,142 BTC for $90 million between February 2 and February 8, 2026, according to the company’s filings with the U.S. SEC. 

Strategy now holds 714,644 Bitcoin valued at  $49.44 billion

Strategy retains its position as the leading corporate Bitcoin holder in the world, with 714,644 Bitcoin in its books, valued at $49.44 billion as per Bitcoin’s current price of $69,000. According to data from Bitcoin Treasuries, the company’s total BTC holdings have an average cost price per BTC of $76,052. 

With the current BTC prices, Strategy’s crypto holdings are down 9.05%. Strategy’s stock MSTR is down 14.24% in the last month and has declined by 11.20% YTD, according to data from Google Finance. The stock price appears to move in tandem with Bitcoin’s overall trajectory, which has been bearish over the last few weeks.

Bitcoin is down 3.16% over the last 24 hours, shedding 11.71% over the last 7 days. The asset is trading below the $75k support level that held before the election rally driven by Trump’s new pro-crypto administration. The digital asset is down more than 20% since the year began and has declined by more than 45.38% since it hit its all-time high of $126,198 on October 6. 

Strategy’s previous purchase occurred between January 26 and February 1. During this time, the company purchased 855 Bitcoin for $75.3 million at an average price of $87,974. The company completed a similar purchase the previous week, during the period from January 20 to 25, involving 2,932 BTC, valued at $264.1 million at an average price of $76,040.

Just joined @CNBC to talk #Bitcoin, $MSTR, and $STRC. Conviction in our @Strategy is strong. More to come. pic.twitter.com/9eUvEUub8L

— Phong Le (@phongle) February 6, 2026

During an interview, Strategy’s CEO, Phong Le, said that the company remains bullish on Bitcoin. When asked to speak to shareholders about the ongoing crypto winter, he said they should hold on, since the crypto asset is just correcting, and that Bitcoin downturns are normal. He referenced the 2022 bear market, which saw BTC prices correct by 75% from $68k to $16k. The executive projected that, over the next seven years, Bitcoin will reach $1 million and its correction will be limited to 25% to $700,000.

When asked about the company’s Bitcoin purchases at declining prices, Le said that Bitcoin’s underlying prices do not determine when Strategy will buy Bitcoin. He explained that the company is more focused on the future prices of the crypto asset.

Whales buy the dip as smaller investors and miners capitulate

Strategy’s recent Bitcoin purchases align with an ongoing trend among whales who have been aggressively purchasing the crypto asset as it continues to dip. A previous Cryptopolitan coverage cited onchain data and reported that whales bought 66,940 Bitcoin on February 6 and transferred the crypto assets into accumulation addresses. The purchase marks the most significant single-day inflow since 2022. 

The news comes after Bitcoin capitulation spiked last week, triggering more sell-off in the market. More than 30,000 small retail wallets holding less than a full BTC sold all their holdings in less than 24 hours, despite Strategy and other DATs buying Bitcoin.

Miners also showed signs of capitulation when Bitcoin slid below $70k. The report also noted that the researchers and analysts predict the downtrend will continue for some time, citing the lack of a bullish catalyst to revive interest in the crypto market and the significant outflows from spot U.S. Bitcoin ETFs in recent weeks. 

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