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Steak ‘n Shake has announced that sales have climbed since it started letting customers pay with Bitcoin nine months ago. At the time, the move marked one of the most aggressive cryptocurrency pushes in the fast-food industry.

In its recent announcement, the national burger restaurant said sales increased, highlighting that its decision to accept digital currency payments has paid off. The company started taking Bitcoin in May 2025 and now holds about $15 million worth of the asset as part of its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. “Our same-store sales have risen dramatically ever since,” the company said in a statement marking the nine-month anniversary of its Bitcoin program launch.

Stake ‘n Shake unveils its BTC reserve

The fast food chain, which operates hundreds of locations across the United States and several European countries, reported saving almost half its usual transaction costs within just two weeks of accepting Bitcoin. That is compared to traditional credit card processing fees that typically chop restaurant profits. By the end of October 2025, Steak ‘n Shake became the first big US restaurant chain to set up a dedicated Bitcoin reserve.

The company said it saw a 15% jump in sales at existing stores thanks to cryptocurrency-friendly customers. The restaurant accepts Bitcoin through Lightning Network, which lets transactions happen faster and cheaper, a move that was backed by Block co-founder Jack Dorsey when the restaurant announced it.

All Bitcoin payments customers make for burgers and shakes go straight into the company’s reserve fund. That money then gets used to pay employee bonuses in Bitcoin, creating what the company calls a “decentralized, cash-producing operating business.” Steak ‘n Shake has kept adding to its cryptocurrency stash. After an initial $10 million position, the chain bought another $10 million worth on January 16 and $5 million more on January 27.

The latest purchase brings its total holdings to roughly 168.6 Bitcoin. The company also ran promotions like the “Bitcoin Burger” that gave customers small amounts of Bitcoin when they bought certain menu items. For every “Bitcoin Meal” sold, the chain donated 210 satoshis, tiny fractions of a Bitcoin, to support open-source Bitcoin software development.

Customers shut down ETH adoption moves

In late January, Steak ‘n Shake announced it would give hourly workers at company-owned stores a Bitcoin bonus worth 21 cents per hour starting March 1. But the offer drew complaints because employees can’t touch the money for two years, and franchise workers don’t get it at all. The restaurant’s owner, Biglari Holdings, hasn’t disclosed if Bitcoin will become part of its overall corporate money strategy.

This suggests that the cryptocurrency push is specific to the Steak ‘n Shake brand rather than a company-wide financial plan. Sales numbers back up the strategy so far. The chain reported 18% growth at existing stores in 2026 and “double digits” growth last year, beating most competitors. Steak ‘n Shake plans to open locations in El Salvador, where Bitcoin is legal money.

The company attended Bitcoin events in San Salvador last November and announced expansion plans shortly after. The chain briefly asked customers if it should accept Ethereum, another cryptocurrency, but quickly pulled the survey after angry responses. “Our allegiance is with Bitcoiners,” the company said. The transaction fee savings alone could justify the move; restaurants operate on thin profit margins where every percentage point counts.

The post Steak ‘n Shake registers sales jump amid BTC payment option first appeared on Coinfea.

Fuze, a leading digital assets infrastructure provider in the UAE, has expanded into the Kingdom of Jordan after winning approval to join the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) regulatory sandbox for Financial technology and innovation (JoRegBox).

Within the sandbox, Fuze will be allowed to test digital financial products in a real operating environment with real customers, under the supervision and oversight of CBJ. Fuze will be collaborating with regulators to build seamless, compliant digital asset solutions aimed at serving regulated banks and fintech in Jordan.

Fuze earns approval to enter Jordan

The Fuze announcement was made at an official ceremony hosted by His Excellency Dr. Adel Al-Sharkas, Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan, alongside Deputy Governors His Excellency Mr. Ziad Asa’ad Ghanma and His Excellency Dr. Khaldoun Abdullah Al-Wshah, and the Chairman of the Jordan Securities Commission, His Excellency Mr. Emad Abu Haltam, amongst other senior officials.

Mohammed Ali Yusuf (Mo Ali Yusuf), CEO of Fuze, said, “We are humbled and privileged to be selected by the Central Bank of Jordan to support the advancement of virtual assets within the Kingdom. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Jordan’s regulated financial institutions and explore compliant ways to enhance financial services and enable the population to safely trade and own digital assets.”

In late 2025, UAE-regulated Fuze partnered with the Remit Now, Pay Later platform Jazari to support cross-border money movement using compliant blockchain technology to modernize the region’s $200 billion remittance market.

The post Fuze earns spot in Central Bank of Jordan’s Fintech Sandbox first appeared on Coinfea.

Unionmark Investia Holdings has recently introduced an updated list of assets, significantly expanding the choice for its clients. Now, the platform’s users can use the most relevant instruments to preserve and increase their funds. Among the key asset classes are currencies, stocks, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, etc., the selection of which is constantly growing. The diversity of assets allows investors to flexibly form portfolios, taking into account their individual preferences and goals.

Thanks to this expansion, clients have access to a wide range of strategies. Some prefer to focus on short-term trading, using assets that provide dynamic opportunities for making deals, while others choose long-term investments focused on stable growth. Regardless of the chosen approach, the availability of a large number of options makes it possible to find optimal solutions for each market participant. Thus, platform users can create balanced portfolios that match their individual financial plans.  

In addition, the availability of various assets allows for flexible management strategies. Clients can analyse trends, take into account market indicators, and use advanced analytical tools for decision-making. The availability of many investment areas makes the trading process more convenient and efficient.

Support at Every Stage

To ensure that clients can make the most of new opportunities, Unionmark Investia Holdings offers the assistance of a team of professionals. The specialists are ready to provide useful recommendations to both beginners and experienced investors. Those who are just learning how to trade receive detailed strategies and personalised advice, while experienced users can use additional analytical materials to improve their approaches. The high qualifications of the company’s experts make their recommendations especially valuable.

In addition, the team of specialists provides a comprehensive analysis of the current market situation, helping clients make informed decisions. An important element of working with clients is a personalised approach that takes into account the level of training and individual financial goals of each investor. Regardless of the experience, platform users can count on professional support and high-quality analytics.

Clients can familiarise themselves with various learning information that helps them deepen their knowledge and better understand the specifics of trading. For the convenience of users, detailed materials are provided, covering the most important aspects of working with financial instruments.

Innovative Trading Platform

Unionmark Investia Holdings provides its clients with access to a modern platform that is characterised by high speed and stability. It is designed to offer convenient access to the market from any device. This allows users to respond instantly to current trends and use all the opportunities for profitable transactions. The platform interface is intuitive and adapted for various levels of training. It provides flexible analysis tools, charts, indicators and other functions that contribute to effective trading.

Additionally, the platform offers the ability to customise the trading space to individual needs. Users can adapt the interface, choosing convenient tools. Thanks to this, each investor gets the opportunity to use the platform as efficiently and comfortably as possible.

Results

The expansion of the list of assets, professional support and a convenient platform create optimal conditions for effective trading for Unionmark Investia Holdings clients. The company is constantly working to offer only the most popular and relevant solutions, helping investors achieve their financial goals.

Thanks to a comprehensive approach to service development, Unionmark Investia Holdings provides access to a variety of assets and creates conditions for comfortable and effective trading. Regardless of the level of training, each client receives tools that allow them to effectively manage their investments and use all available opportunities in the financial market. Unionmark Investia Holdings continues to improve its platform and expand its range of services, offering clients even more tools to achieve financial success. Functionality development, analytical support and a wide selection of assets make trading convenient and accessible for every user.

Disclaimer. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Cryptopolitan.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.

The post Unionmark Investia Holdings Offers new Assets for Trading first appeared on Coinfea.

February 10, 2026, Liberland – The Free Republic of Liberland will host its 11th Anniversary Celebration from April 10 to 13, 2026, in Liberland Ark Village, Serbia. The event will focus on refining the constitution for the world’s first blockchain-based meritocracy assisted by AI agents, with discussions on innovations in blockchain, governance, and longevity. Attended by citizens, international guests, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and media, the gathering will include a conference, startup competition, and site visits.The program begins on April 10 with registration and a welcome networking session. On April 11, the conference features an opening ceremony and an address by President Vít Jedlička, followed by keynote sessions on crypto, governance, and innovation. A longevity block will address plans to establish a longevity clinic in Serbia as part of Liberland’s development. The day ends with a gala dinner and party. 

On April 12, participants will join a tour to Liberland, boat trip on the Danube, or explorative walk in Ark, and on Independence Day, April 13, the inauguration of a new house will take place and a 5km independence run. The event also includes a startup competition where ventures will pitch to global venture capitalists, investors, and advisors. Tickets are available at anniversary.ll.land.

About LiberlandThe Free Republic of Liberland, situated between Croatia and Serbia on the Danube River, was established in 2015 on land abandoned by all state actors in an unresolved territorial dispute, claimed by Vít Jedlicka. Originating from a border dispute, its 7 km territory is now the third smallest sovereign state after the Vatican and Monaco. Liberland’s motto, “To live and let live,” reflects its commitment to personal and economic freedom. The Constitution ensures limited governmental interference in its citizens’ lives.

Press Contact:Samuela DavidovaPress SecretaryPhone: +995 571 063 463Email: press@liberland.org

To Live and Let Live

Disclaimer: The content within the Sponsored Insights and Press Release category has been provided by our partners and sponsors. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of our website. While our team takes care to share valuable and reliable content, we do not take responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or validity of any claims made in these sponsored articles and Press Releases. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and due diligence before making any decisions based on the information provided in Sponsored Insights.

The post World’s First Blockchain Meritocracy Hosts Global Innovations Summit for Liberland’s 11th Year first appeared on Coinfea.

Animoca Brands has received a license as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). 

This license will enable Animoca to provide broker-dealer and asset management services to institutional and qualified investors in the emirate, which is a major Web3 firm headquartered in Hong Kong. 

This step is regarded as a part of the overall approach of Dubai to transform into a digital assets hub.

New partnership with RootsStock Labs

Similarly, in another related development, Animoca Brands has collaborated with Rootstock Labs to develop Bitcoin-native treasury solutions for Japanese corporations. 

The partnership is to equip businesses in Japan with the capability of managing their digital assets better. 

With the help of the institutional Bitcoin infrastructure of Rootstock, the collaboration will adjust the platform to the needs of the Japanese market.

Dubai strengthens its position as a Crypto hub

The license of the VASP of Animoca Brands is approved at a time when Dubai is making its mark as one of the major crypto hubs in the world. 

The emirate has been working on developing a friendly atmosphere for digital-asset companies. This is especially true through the clear operating structures and clear regulations, which make the region more appealing to foreign investors. 

This is a strategic action that puts Dubai at the level of competition in the global digital asset environment.

Nevertheless, the license does not apply to the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and restricts the field of activities of Animoca. 

Nevertheless, the license enables the company to increase its services in Dubai and elsewhere, and institutional growth in Web3.

Animoca’s strategic move for institutional clients

Yat Siu, the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, stressed the importance of the expansion of the company to institutional Web3 services. 

He emphasized that the institutional clients of Dubai are of key importance to the strategy and growth of Animoca. 

Siu has lauded regulatory encouragement of VARA and has promoted the area of Dubai as one of the most progressive and supportive areas to develop crypto.

The focus on institutional clients is in line with the long-term objectives of Animoca to improve its Web3 asset portfolio. 

The purchase of the VASP license will allow the business to offer advanced services to the qualified investors to assist them in managing and expanding their digital holdings more efficiently.

A regulatory environment that fosters growth

Dubai’s dedication to establishing a strong regulatory framework for digital assets is one of the issues that appeals to industry players. 

The clear guidelines provided by the VARA provide comfort to companies that aim to work in an effective way. 

This development is an indication that transparent laws are emerging as one of the most important elements of digital-asset companies that want to expand worldwide.

The licensing of Animoca is an advance towards the Dubai objective to compete with other major financial jurisdictions. 

With the increasing demand for regulated digital asset services, the regulatory model of the emirate is likely to be the benchmark of other hubs in the world.

The fact that Dubai grants a VASP license to Animoca Brands highlights the emirate’s motives to be a major destination for digital asset firms. 

Animoca Brands has a promising future in terms of increasing its services to institutional investors with the support of clear regulations and well-established institutional support. 

The increased attention to controlled spaces underlines the significance of regulation in the changing digital asset industry.

The post Dubai Licenses Animoca Brands to Expand Institutional Web3 Services first appeared on Coinfea.

Authorities in Dubai have arrested an Israeli national in connection with the killing of a Russian crypto figure and his wife. According to reports, authorities have continued to unravel a case that has drawn the attention of the global crypto community.

According to reports, the United Arab Emirates authorities had previously detained Michael Greenberg, also known as Mike Green, about three months ago. Authorities mentioned Greenberg is described as a private investigator based in Thailand. While Greenberg is not suspected of carrying out the crime, the police have alleged that he had some sort of involvement in the killing of Roman Novak and his wife.

Israeli linked to murder of Russian crypto holder and his wife

According to reports, Greenberg is under investigation for ties to eight individuals already arrested in connection with the case. Russian investigators reportedly found some crucial information on the suspects’ mobile phones that eventually led to their arrest in Dubai.

Roman Novak, the murdered Russian national, had allegedly raised $500 million through a fraudulent crypto application before going on the run. He had previously been convicted in 2020 in St. Petersburg for fraud linked to investment and crypto projects. Novak got a sentence of six years in prison. However, after his release in 2023, he moved abroad and reportedly carried on with his fraudulent activities.

Russian authorities noted that Novak and his wife were reported missing after their relatives were unable to contact them. Reports suggest that the couple’s driver last saw them on Oct 2 2025. He allegedly dropped them near a lake in the Hatta area close to the Oman border. The meeting was described as a meeting with potential investors. The duo was lured under the pretext of an investment meeting to a rented villa.

Wrench attacks reach a new high worldwide

The alleged offenders then attacked the couple as they failed to provide access to their crypto wallets. Investigators believe that the suspects discovered the wallet was empty, which led to the couple being allegedly killed and dismembered. Their remains were reportedly found on Oct 3. Russian and Emirati authorities are said to have traced the suspects’ movements using surveillance footage and phone signals.

They tracked them in Oman and later in South Africa before disappearing on Oct. 4. This massive case is unfolding at a time when the global crypto community is witnessing rising violence against crypto holders and builders. Law enforcement agencies across different countries have reported an increase in what they have now been describing as “wrench attacks.”

In May 2025, masked assailants attempted to abduct family members of the chief executive of Paris-based crypto exchange Paymium in broad daylight. Earlier in 2025, David Balland, co-founder of hardware wallet maker Ledger, was abducted in France. His partner also got captured in a ransom attempt involving crypto, but police managed to rescue the pair. Other incidents have been reported in France, Italy, and the United States.

The post Israeli arrested over murder of Russian crypto figure and his wife first appeared on Coinfea.

Alibaba Cloud has launched Qwen-3.5, its next-generation open artificial intelligence model, which the company claims can compete “with state-of-the-art leading models.” The company unveiled the latest iteration of its AI large language model Qwen on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The new 3.5 series models were made available first on Alibaba’s consumer AI app on Monday afternoon, followed by an official announcement made on blogging platform X around 10:00 AM GMT. The launch comes during a week in which several Chinese AI firms released the new versions of their AI systems, as Beijing continues to feed its ambitions to surpass the West in AI capabilities.

Alibaba releases Qwen-3.5 with multimodal AI expansion

According to Alibaba Cloud’s GitHub notes, Qwen-3.5 includes a unified vision-language foundation trained on trillions of multimodal tokens. The system can now process text, images, and structured inputs within a single framework.

During development of the new LLM version, the company used an efficient hybrid architecture and Gated Delta Networks with sparse Mixture-of-Experts routing to increase throughput, limit latency, and reduce computing costs. The model has also increased its linguistic support to 201 languages and dialects to expand its deployment worldwide.

A variant named Qwen-3.5-Open-Source was also released, featuring 397 billion parameters and a 256,000-token context window for longer reasoning chains and document processing. Despite releasing most of its AI LLM models as open source, Alibaba continues to keep its largest Max-series models closed for its commercial ecosystem.

The official X account of the Alibaba Qwen development team posted performance charts alongside the announcement, comparing Qwen-3.5 to GPT-5.2, Claude Opus 4.5, and Google’s Gemini 3 Pro. In the GPQA Diamond category, which measures graduate-level reasoning, Qwen-3.5 scored 88.7, coming third among the other LLMs.

China reiterates its ambition to leapfrog the US in the AI war

In IFBench, a test evaluating instruction-following accuracy, Qwen-3.5 recorded a score of 76.5, outperforming all the other models. The results place Alibaba’s model within striking distance of proprietary competitors such as Gemini, GPT-series systems, and Claude models in multilingual and agent-based workloads.

Meanwhile, Alibaba Group’s shares fell 2.93% in global trading following the announcement, with the stock quoted at $25,160.00 as of February 13. The decline also extended to a five-day drop of nearly 6%, according to Google Finance data. China’s equity markets are closed for the Lunar New Year holiday from February 16 to February 23, with trading set to resume on February 24.

Over the past year, Chinese technology firms have doubled down on creating open-weight models, which is much different from the closed development approaches seen in Silicon Valley companies. Nearly every major Chinese AI developer introduced updated systems in the past seven days, with Alibaba’s DAMO Academy launching RynnBrain, a separate AI model aimed at robotics applications.

The post Alibaba unveils Qwen-3.5 model as stock drops by 2.93% first appeared on Coinfea.

Aave is advancing a long-term strategy to expand decentralized finance beyond scarce assets into productive real-world sectors. 

The protocol’s leadership says this shift could unlock trillions in new on-chain economic activity.

Abundance assets drive a new DeFi thesis

Aave is positioning decentralized finance as a funding layer for what it calls abundance assets. 

These assets are linked to productive infrastructure rather than limited financial instruments. 

The vision was outlined by founder Stani Kulechov, who projects up to $50 trillion in tokenized value by 2050.

The thesis argues that future DeFi growth will not depend on government bonds or traditional real estate. Instead, it will focus on sectors that scale with demand and innovation. 

These include renewable energy, energy storage, robotics, vertical farming, advanced manufacturing, and semiconductors.

Data from RWA.xyz shows about $25 billion in real-world assets already on-chain. Most of that value sits in Treasury bonds and listed equities. 

Kulechov views this as an early stage of a much larger transition. He believes capital markets are seeking new forms of collateral that support growth and liquidity.

Tokenization boosts capital efficiency

Kulechov estimates solar energy alone could reach $15 trillion to $30 trillion in tokenized value by 2050. 

He says tokenization allows infrastructure projects to recycle capital faster. A $100 million solar project, once tokenized, could free up $70 million for new investments.

This structure allows debt financiers to fund multiple projects using the same capital. Token holders can trade positions instead of waiting years for project completion. 

According to Kulechov, this improves liquidity and reduces capital lockups common in infrastructure finance.

On-chain depositors gain access to diversified yield with scalable exposure. Solar assets can be held, traded, and redeployed within shorter time frames. 

The model also applies to battery storage, robotics in labor markets, and lab-grown food systems.

Kulechov argues that abundant resources may outperform scarce ones over time. 

He expects tighter margins and lower returns from traditional assets. 

Products backed by productive infrastructure could offer stronger returns with lower long-term risk.

Brand refocus sharpens Aave strategy

Alongside the roadmap, Aave Labs announced it is closing its Avara umbrella brand. 

The move is intended to streamline operations and focus on its core lending protocol. 

Avara included projects such as the Family crypto wallet and the Lens social platform.

Kulechov said the Family wallet is shutting down after limited adoption. 

The team concluded that mass users need savings and yield features, not basic wallets. 

Ownership of Lens has been transferred to Mask Network, with Aave taking a smaller advisory role.

Market data shows Aave trading at $126.26, down 3.4 percent over 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. 

Most activity on the protocol involves USDt, Ether, and wrapped Ether lending and borrowing.

The strategy reflects Aave’s intent to anchor DeFi in real economic output. 

By targeting abundant assets, the protocol aims to reshape how global capital is deployed. 

The approach signals a broader viewing of blockchain finance as infrastructure, not speculation.

The post Aave targets a $50 trillion abundance economy through tokenized real-world assets first appeared on Coinfea.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence bot Grok has seen a rise in its market share despite its regulatory issues. xAI is under pressure from regulators on many continents after its chatbot Grok created AI-generated, inappropriate pictures of actual people.

Despite the issues, the company claims significant user growth amid a major merger with SpaceX. Last month, Grok flooded the X social media platform with AI-altered images of real individuals after users requested them. The episode sparked outrage worldwide and triggered investigations by governments and regulators. Although X announced restrictions that stopped Grok’s own account on the platform from creating such images, Reuters confirmed earlier this month that the chatbot itself still generates them when users ask it to.

Grok market share jumps amid regulatory woes

The impact has spread to three major jurisdictions. The European Union opened a formal investigation against Grok after estimations revealed that it had created millions of deepfake photos in only a few days. The EU might levy substantial fines. The Japanese government has requested improvements from X and submitted written inquiries, citing concerns over the generation of inappropriate images.

In the United States, California has gone one step further and issued a cease-and-desist order to xAI, ordering the business to stop producing such content. However, despite the controversy, Grok’s numbers tell a different story in terms of audience growth. The chatbot’s share of the U.S. market jumped to 17.8% last month, up from 14% in December and just 1.9% in January, according to data from research firm Apptopia.

The figure puts Grok in third place among chatbots used in the United States, behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT in first and Google Gemini in second. ChatGPT’s US market share fell drastically to 52.9% last month, down from 80.9% in January of the previous year. Gemini moved in the other direction, increasing its share to 29.4% from 17.3% throughout the same time.

Grok made considerable progress on a worldwide scale. According to Similarweb data, the chatbot, up from 271.2 million the previous month, surpassed its Chinese competitor DeepSeek. These findings come against the background of phenomenal industry-wide expansion, with Apptopia statistics suggesting a 152% year-over-year growth rate in the chatbot market.

Grok’s success may be attributed largely to its deep integration with the X platform. The chatbot appears in the app’s navigation bar and is available in several tiers of X’s premium membership plans, guaranteeing constant exposure to the platform’s user base. The growth matters financially for xAI, which has been burning through cash to build the computing infrastructure needed to compete with better-funded rivals in Silicon Valley. The company launched roughly three years ago.

The post Grok sees rise in market share despite regulatory backlash first appeared on Coinfea.

The PancakeSwap V2 pool for OCA/USDC on BSC was exploited in a suspicious transaction. The attack resulted in the loss of almost $500,000 worth of USDC market, drained in a single transaction.

According to reports from Blockchain security platforms, the attacker exploited a vulnerability in the deflationary sellOCA() logic, giving them access to manipulate the pool’s reserves. The final amount the attacker got away with was reportedly approximately $422,000.

The exploit involved the use of flash loans and flash swaps combined with repeated calls to OCA’s swapHelper function. This removed OCA tokens directly from the liquidity pool during swaps, artificially inflating the on-pair price of OCA and enabling the drainage of USDC.

Hackers drain PancakeSwap V2 OCA/USDC

The attack was reportedly executed via three transactions. The first to carry out the exploit, and the following two to serve as additional builder bribes. “In total, 43 BNB plus 69 BNB were paid to 48club-puissant-builder, leaving an estimated final profit of $340K,” Blocksec Phalcon wrote on X about the incident, adding that another transaction in the same block also failed at position 52, likely because it was frontrun by the attacker.

Flash loans on PancakeSwap allow users to borrow significant amounts of crypto assets without collateral; however, the borrowed amount plus fees must be repaid within the same transaction block. They are primarily used in arbitrage and liquidation strategies on the Binance Smart Chain, and the loans are usually facilitated by PancakeSwap V3’s flash swap function.

In December 2025, an exploit allowed an attacker to withdraw approximately 138.6 WBNB from the PancakeSwap liquidity pool for the DMi/WBNB pair, netting approximately $120,000. That attack demonstrated how a combination of flash loans and manipulation of the AMM pair’s internal reserves via sync() and callback functions is capable of being used to completely deplete the pool.

The attacker first created the exploit contract and called the f0ded652() function, a specialized entry point into the contract, after which the contract then calls flashLoan from the Moolah protocol, requesting approximately 102,693 WBNB. Upon receiving the flash loan, the contract initiates the onMoolahFlashLoan(…) callback.

The first thing the callback does is find out the DMi token balance in the PancakeSwap pool to prepare for the pair’s reserve manipulation. It should be noted that the vulnerability is not in the flash loan, but in the PancakeSwap contract, allowing manipulation of reserves via a combination of flash swap and sync() without protection against malicious callbacks.

The post PancakeSwap V2 OCA/USDC pool on BSC hacked for $422k first appeared on Coinfea.

Binance France CEO David Prinçay was the victim of a poorly executed home invasion in Val-de-Marne on Thursday. According to local police reports, three masked men who were allegedly armed broke into a residential building early on February 12, around seven o’clock, in an attempt to find Binance’s local CEO.

The reports revealed that the robbers first forced their way into another resident’s home to get directions to the correct apartment. According to police, the suspects took two cell phones and fled after failing to find him. The trio did not stop there. A Vaucresson resident who had just been hit on the head with a gun butts by multiple masked guys contacted police in the Hauts-de-Seine department at 9:15 a.m.

Police apprehend suspects following Binance France CEO kidnap attempt

The Vaucresson resident reported hearing them say, “The address isn’t right,” and “Stéphane lives at number 41.” Later, checks would verify that a cryptocurrency entrepreneur actually lived at number 41. Then the three men ran away. The exact address was used to track down the two pilfered cell phones. CCTV footage also showed that the identical vehicle seen in the Val-de-Marne department that morning was being used by the criminals.

French outlet RTL reported that Police units from Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Yvelines, and the transport police were called in, along with the Parisian BRB (Brigade de Répression du Banditisme, or Organized Crime Unit). According to the report, the track revealed the trio boarded a train to Lyon after being readily followed on public transit. Later, the suspects were captured at Lyon Perrache train station after the Lyon BRI received an urgent alert, and they were placed under arrest.

France has faced a steady increase in so-called “wrench attacks,” where attackers employ threats or physical force to get access to cryptocurrency holdings. On September 5 of last year, Cryptopolitan reported that French authorities detained seven suspects in relation to the abduction of a Swiss man, aged 20. The report revealed that the victim was rescued by 150 military police officers who reportedly carried out a special operation in Valence.

The military police officers found him in a residence close to the city’s high-speed train station. In another Cryptopolitan report dated June 20, 2025, David Baland, a co-founder of Ledger, was abducted, had a finger amputated, and was held hostage before being freed. The same month, a young man was kidnapped while his girlfriend was out shopping. She later received a video call from his phone. Instead of him, a man appeared on the screen and told her to wait outside the house with a bag containing 5,000 euros ($5,750) in cash and a Ledger wallet that had an undetermined amount of cryptocurrencies for his release.

The post Binance France CEO targeted in violent home invasion first appeared on Coinfea.

Anthropic saw its user base increase by 11% after its Super Bowl ad bashing rival OpenAI went viral. According to BNP Paribas, visits to the Claude chatbot maker’s website jumped 6.5%, pushing Anthropic into the top 10 free apps on the Apple Store to beat competitors Meta, Gemini, and OpenAI.

According to the data analyzed by BNP Paribas, OpenAI’s daily active users also saw a 2.7% bump post-game, and Google’s Gemini added 1.4%. AI brand ads took center stage at the Super Bowl, reaching an audience of about 125 million in the U.S. alone. However, Claude’s user base still lags behind those of ChatGPT and Gemini.

Meanwhile, the rivalry between Anthropic and OpenAI added a new layer with the dueling ads as the AI firms head toward potential IPOs later this year. Both companies have become more publicly vocal in recent weeks, with executives openly slurring each other’s businesses.

Anthropic wins the AI Super Bowl war with snarky and

BNP Paribas said Anthropic’s cheeky Super Bowl ad, which indirectly took aim at OpenAI, led to the highest increase in visits and users, beating all other AI firms to win the “AI Super Bowl.” Meta, Google Gemini, OpenAI, and Anthropic all aired commercials during the Super Bowl in the battle for more customers. Paul Smith, chief commercial officer at Anthropic, said his company is focused on growing revenue rather than spending money.

He also noted that Anthropic is even less interested in flashy headlines. The senior Anthropic executive, speaking during an AI partnership signing with Man Group, took a light swipe at OpenAI’s spending and plans to test ads in ChatGPT. “It was a conscious decision not to include ads in Claude. Advertising would take Anthropic in directions where you’re optimizing for the wrong things,” he said.

Smith also said his company is “unconflicted” because it does not run ads, focusing instead on selling its AI to businesses. He added that, without ads, Anthropic can focus on areas such as making AI models more intelligent, trusted, helpful, and safe. The AI firm has committed $50 billion to building data centers in the U.S., but it is also buying compute from Google and Microsoft.

Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, has also reinforced a do-more-with-less mindset and said the company is taking a more disciplined approach to spending than others. Smith pointed out that Anthropic is looking to buy compute as close to the correct amount as possible, without going too much or too little. He emphasized that his company is not buying ahead of demand.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded in a lengthy X post, calling Anthropic’s Super Bowl funny but deceptive. He further stoked the fire in an interview with the tech news show TBPN, reiterating that Anthropic was clearly being dishonest. Altman emphasized that his company would never run ads in the way Anthropic depicted them, adding that OpenAI users would definitely reject that.

The OpenAI boss also threw small jabs at Anthropic, claiming that more Texans use ChatGPT for free than the total number of people who use Claude in the U.S. He noted that Anthropic offers an expensive product to rich people. Individual plans for ChatGPT range from free to $200 a month, while Anthropic’s individual plans for Claude range from free to $100 a month.

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Figure Technology, one of the biggest blockchain lending platforms, has verified that it has experienced a data breach that happened when one of its employees fell victim to a social engineering attack. 

The situation played to the advantage of the hackers who illegally accessed company files, and as a result, 2.5GB of data was leaked. 

The hacking organization ShinyHunters has accepted the responsibility, and they have said that the data was leaked because Figure did not act on their demands. 

Meanwhile, in another attack on a decentralized finance platform, Step Finance, on the Solana blockchain, one of the users stole more than $29 million in SOL tokens.

Figure technology’s breach and response

Figure Technology has accepted that the attack occurred because one of the employees was a victim of a social engineering attack. 

The attacker manipulated the employee psychologically by convincing him to have access to files in the company system. 

Following the discovery of the breach, Figure immediately stopped the unauthorized access and went on to hire a forensic firm that helped to investigate the affected files. 

One of the company representatives said that the company is collaborating with the involved parties and providing free credit checks to the people who were affected by the breach.

The incident was attributed to ShinyHunters, a famous black-hat hacking organization. 

The figure declined to accommodate the demands of the group, and hence, 2.5GB of stolen data was released, as per the group. 

In defense, Figure said the files that were compromised in the breach were not widespread, and the company has implemented measures to ensure that no more incidents occur. 

With this notwithstanding, the spokesperson did not give more information about the nature of the files or the actual number of the breach.

Growing concerns over cybersecurity

The Figure incident is part of a bigger movement of cybersecurity issues within the world of technology. 

The firm, in a report by Chainalysis, admitted that scams using cryptocurrencies, including social engineering, resulted in an estimated loss of 17 billion the previous year. 

The emergence of AI-driven fraud and impersonation methods has contributed to the fact that such attacks are more authentic and prevalent, further exposing the companies operating in the field to greater risks. 

Also, the threat of data breaches remains extremely high to businesses, where in the last year alone, more than 8,000 security incidents were reported.

According to the experts in the industry, social engineering techniques are increasingly becoming more advanced, and companies face greater difficulty in securing their sensitive data. 

The attack on Figure illustrates that there is a need to have a good training and awareness program to train the employees on what to do to prevent such attacks.

Step Finance suffers significant losses

In another case, Step Finance, one of the leading applications in the Solana blockchain network, declared that its treasury wallets were breached. 

Hackers had managed to steal about 261,854 SOL tokens, and it was worth close to $29 million during the theft. 

The platform has verified the breach, and it is currently looking into the reason. Nevertheless, Step Finance has not revealed the nature of the breach, which was caused by smart contract vulnerability, access control, and other factors.

The site, though did not provide any specifics, but assured its users that it is seeking the help of the cybersecurity experts to solve the issue. 

It is still not clear whether user funds that were not in the affected treasury wallets were compromised. 

The speculation about the breach has led to panic among the community, as many of them are in need of understanding what happened concerning the incident.

Both violations point to the increasing security risks of blockchain-related companies and decentralized financial systems. 

Since cyberattacks are increasingly becoming sophisticated, companies need to be keen to protect their data and systems. 

The recent events in Figure Technology and Step Finance indicate that the blockchain world faces constant threats, which prove the necessity to continue spending on cybersecurity.

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Grayscale has submitted a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to turn its AAVE token trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). 

The firm intends to trade the ETF on the Arca of the NYSE. 

This is a filing, which was submitted on February 13, 2026, as a follow-up on the application submitted by Bitwise, which was the first of its kind seeking to have an AAVE ETF approved.

Bitwise wins AAEE ETF race

Bitwise, which is a notable competitor in the crypto asset management industry, outdid Grayscale by filing its AAVE ETF proposal in December 2025. 

Bitwise submitted the paperwork on 11 different funds at the time, which would make it a pioneer in the growth of crypto-related ETFs. 

Even though Grayscale was late to file, the move by the company indicates that it is committed to being competitive in the constantly changing cryptocurrency market.

AAVE’s market position and investor interest

AAVE is the native token of the Aave protocol, a major participant in the area of decentralized finance (DeFi). 

The protocol enables borrowing and lending of crypto assets. 

The market capitalization of AAVE is around 1.8 billion, which makes it a major token in the crypto space. 

The token price currently stands at 119.02, which is 4.87% higher than the price in the past 24 hours.

Although that has increased lately, AAVE hit its highest point in April 2021 of $661.69. 

Analysts opine that the frenzied popularity of AAVE among investors is driving the popularity of associated financial products. 

Presently, the European markets have investment products such as the 21Shares AAVE ETP and the Global X AAVE ETP. 

The introduction of this AAVE ETF by Grayscale aims to record this increased investor popularity, which is a substantial achievement in the history of the token.

Grayscale’s ETF strategy and expansion plans

Grayscale has the record of transforming closed-ended trusts into ETFs. 

The legal case the firm won against the SEC concerning its Bitcoin Trust in the past removed the pavement to other ETFs on spot bitcoin in the United States. 

The suggested Grayscale AAVE ETF will have a 2.5% sponsor fee, in terms of the net asset value, which will be paid in AAVE tokens. 

The company also plans to employ Coinbase as a prime broker and custodian, which will further enhance the company’s infrastructure.

Also, Grayscale has stated that it plans to change the NEAR Trust into an ETF. 

The move comes after it filed a Form S-1 with the SEC in January 2026. 

NEAR Trust offers the institutional investors indirect access to the NEAR Protocol token. 

In line with this, Grayscale will transition NEAR Trust out of over-the-counter markets and onto NYSE Arca with the purpose of enhancing access and liquidity.

The fact that Grayscale has registered to change its AAVE Trust to an ETF indicates how the company continues to keep up with the competition in the cryptocurrency world. 

Grayscale is striving to increase its crypto products and keep its leadership in the digital asset management market, which is being led by Bitwise. 

The proposal of the AAVE ETF is a ground-breaking move in the Grayscale mission, which is larger, giving the company innovative investment solutions to an area of the DeFi sphere that is thriving.

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United States authorities have charged a man from Wolcott, Connecticut, in court over a $1 million crypto fraud scheme. The suspect is facing a 21‑count federal indictment after authorities say he defrauded investors of nearly $1 million in a cryptocurrency scheme.

In their reports, authorities added that most of the funds were allegedly lost gambling on an offshore platform instead of being invested as promised. Prosecutors claim that a 24-year-old Elmin Redzepagic stole from multiple victims in a crypto scam. Between May 2021 and March 2025, victims were coerced into sending funds in several digital assets to wallet addresses controlled by Redzepagic.

Connecticut man charged in crypto scam

Authorities say Redzepagic presented himself as a trusted crypto investor who could generate big profits, and people believed him enough to send him their money. Prosecutors say Redzepagic kept the con going by reassuring investors that their money was growing quickly because of his investments. However, instead of investing, authorities claim he kept it for himself and even sent a large portion of it to an offshore gambling website.

Federal officials say the scheme went on for years, and many people lost all their money. In the official announcement from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, prosecutors said a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Redzepagic with 21 counts of alleged fraud. They said the victims were misled for a long period before authorities brought the case to court because the scheme began around May 2021 and continued through March 2025.

Prosecutors allege that the suspect took the money people gave him for crypto investments and transferred it to an offshore gambling platform called Stake.com. Authorities say Elmin had no intention whatsoever of using the funds as he had promised investors he would. Investigators also said Redzepagic used Stake.com to receive and hold investor money and create crypto wallet addresses.

Suspect lost the funds on a gambling website

Prosecutors say Redzepagic also made several false statements during an interview with IRS Criminal Investigation agents in September 2023. So they charged him with additional offenses on his rap sheet for attempting to mislead the investigators. Following the investigations, authorities charged Redzepag with a crime. This led to a federal grand jury in New Haven returning an indictment on January 20, 2026, and charging Redzepag on 21 counts.

He was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, eleven counts of international money laundering, and three counts of making false statements to IRS investigators. Prosecutors say each count of wire fraud and money laundering can carry a maximum sentence of 20 years, while each count of false statement can carry a maximum sentence of 5 years.

Redzepagic pleaded not guilty in federal court in Hartford, and the judge set a $500,000 bond, allowing him to remain free as the case moves forward. Prosecutors also said Redzepagic is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, so an indictment is only an accusation. The IRS Criminal Investigation Division is leading the investigations, and Assistant US Attorney Susan Wines will be at the forefront of the prosecution.

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Strategy (STRC) saw an uptick in its price after the latest market downturn. The STRC preferred stock returned above $100, allowing more selling and potential BTC purchases. After two weeks of dormancy, Strategy’s STRC returned to above $100 valuations.

At this price range, Strategy can sell more preferred shares, boosting its ability to not skip weekly BTC purchases. STRC is one of the solutions for tapping the MSTR common stock facility, which has led to fast dilution. However, Strategy tries to sell STRC in a tight range, with new additions only when the price rises above $100. In this price range, selling STRC slightly decreases its value, while leaving Strategy with extra funds for BTC purchases.

STRC jumps above $100 after weeks of dormancy

The STRC preferred stock still has to pay out 11.25% in mandatory monthly dividends, which puts a dent into Strategy’s cash pile. For now, Strategy has set up reserves to serve its obligations and debt while waiting for a better time for BTC. On Thursday, STRC rose above $100, entering the range between $99 and $101, at which Strategy may extend selling.

In the past week, Strategy achieved $13M in STRC volume above $100 on Wednesday, and another $193M on Thursday. This amount was enough to buy 49% of the BTC mined in the past week. In total, STRC sales may allow for the purchase of 1,557 BTC. For now, this amount is relatively small and does not affect the market, which sees even bigger selling pressure.

Despite this, STRC is heavily advertised, and some investors may switch to the preferred dividend stock at a time of higher market volatility. STRC supporters claim the undervalued BTC is a call to switch to the preferred stock. For some, the dividend is used to buy the dip on BTC, while retaining their initial value. In this way, the cash reserves of Strategy are also redirected into BTC, while awaiting a recovery.

Supporters may use STRC for compounding or waiting out a bull market in BTC. The success of Strategy’s preferred stock still depends on a BTC bull market. In the long term, Strategy expects BTC performance to offset the dividends paid for STRC. However, Strategy will still require cash, and for now, no cash has been raised from BTC sales. Strategy has claimed its playbook can survive as long as BTC stays above $8,000, by securing accessible capital through STRC and, more recently, the Euro-denominated SATA.

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Outflows of bitcoin miners also rose to 48,774 BTC, equivalent to $3.2 billion in two days, which shows considerable activity in times of market turbulence. 

The on-chain data indicate that these big transfers are not always indicative that miners are selling due to capitulation fears.

Massive BTC movement recorded in early February

Source: CryptoQuant Bitcoin Miner Outflow (Total) All Miners

The 28,605 BTC transferred in the wallets of Bitcoin miners over the first day was equivalent to $1.8 billion, and the second day, 20,169 BTC was equivalent to $1.4 billion. 

This constitutes some of the biggest single-day outflows since November 2024. 

The deals involve transfer to exchanges, internal wallets, and other parties, and the implication is that the outflows are not necessarily spot market sales. 

This trend corresponded to the fall of the price of Bitcoin to the range of $62,200 and its recovery to the range of 66,485.

Miners did not sell at the same pace

According to financial reporting done by leading mining companies, the sales that were made were significantly less than the outflows that were being reported. 

Companies such as CleanSpark, Cango, and DMG Blockchain Solutions claimed to have mined hundreds of BTC in January but sold minimal portions. 

CleanSpark has mined 573 BTC and sold 158.63 BTC, whereas Cango mined 496.35 BTC and sold 550.03 BTC. LM Funding America had mined 7.8 BTC, with zero sales. 

Other companies’ sales were not reported by others, but it is estimated that none have moved the amount of Bitcoin that was transferred on February 5 and 6. 

This is an indication that the massive outflows are mainly internal or strategic transfers as opposed to mass liquidations.

Miners face pressure below production cost

Bitcoin miners are working under stress with the prices not exceeding the cost of production. 

According to the information on Checkonchain, the current cost of producing one BTC is $79, 242, whereas the trading price is $66, 485. 

This is a tough environment for the miners who are not profitable at present levels. 

The Royal Government of Bhutan has also given up 100 BTC to QCP Capital, potentially to manage their liquidity, suggesting that state-sponsored miners are busy moving their holdings during market volatility. 

Since it was selling at 97,860 on January 14, Bitcoin has dropped by over 30% due to the continued selling and the increased cautiousness in the market.

Although on-chain flows have been massive, miner outflows are not market capitulation. 

Transfers are a manifestation of strategic management, internal mobility, and selective sales. 

Bitcoin miners are going through a phase of unprofitable time, and a massive outflow is not the only indicator of panic selling.

The post Bitcoin miner outflows hit $3.2 Billion amid price volatility first appeared on Coinfea.

Lending protocols are increasingly becoming the target of DeFi exploits as hackers focus on platforms with large vaults. 

Over the past year, these protocols recorded 67 attacks, making them the most exploited type of DeFi application. With $53 billion in reported value locked, lending platforms remain highly attractive to attackers seeking high-value targets.

Technical vulnerabilities drive major losses

The main cause of losses in lending protocols is technical error. 

Smart contract bugs led to the majority of incidents, accounting for $526 million lost across 48 events. 

Compromised private keys or multisig wallets were the second largest contributor. 

Even audited protocols experienced significant losses, with $515 million affected. 

This highlights the persistent risk in permissionless, on-chain lending.

Protocols often rely on complex smart contracts to manage loans, collateral, and interest payments. 

Flash loans can amplify vulnerabilities, allowing attackers to manipulate markets or trigger liquidations. 

Some platforms use new tokens for interest, which exposes them to minting exploits. 

Price manipulation and oracle errors also contributed to $65 million in losses across 13 incidents, showing multiple attack vectors remain unprotected.

High-value vaults attract hackers

Lending protocols hold significant amounts of stablecoins and major cryptocurrencies such as ETH and BTC, making them primary targets. 

Smaller protocols and specific vaults are often exploited first. 

Projects like Moonwell suffered attacks due to flaws in pricing data and Oracle integration, emphasizing the risks even in well-known platforms.

Unaudited code remains a major weakness. Among the top 30 DeFi hacks historically, 58.4 percent resulted from unaudited smart contracts. 

Out-of-scope exploits caused $193 million in losses, and unaudited contracts lost $77 million across 24 incidents in the past year. 

These figures underline the importance of thorough auditing, though audits alone cannot eliminate risk due to complex on-chain interactions.

User-Focused Attacks Continue to Rise

Hackers also target users through cloned decentralized exchanges. 

These platforms appear legitimate but hold deposits and charge extra fees for withdrawals. End users remain vulnerable as the DeFi ecosystem expands, highlighting the need for careful interaction with new protocols. 

Permissionless access allows rapid growth but exposes investors to sophisticated exploits.

Lending protocols continue to face elevated risks due to technical vulnerabilities and high-value vaults. Smart contract bugs, flawed oracles, and price manipulation remain the top causes of losses. 

Despite audits and security measures, permissionless and complex on-chain systems make exploits likely. As DeFi usage grows, lending platforms will remain a key focus for attackers, requiring ongoing vigilance from developers and users.

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Solana is at the forefront of the Web3 and Web2 payment environment, with an annual transaction volume increasing by an impressive 755%. 

On-chain data shows that the network has had over $1.8 billion worth of payments, which is more than any other major platform.

Explosive growth in B2B transactions

Solana leads payments growth across all platforms, at +755% YoY. While blockchains are winning growth (+755% on $6.5B), TradFi still owns volume (PayPal processes $1.8T). https://t.co/9bW2qfzIlA pic.twitter.com/k0BlKxdckJ

— Artemis (@artemis) February 11, 2026

According to the data provided by Artemis, the volume of B2B payments at Solana increased nine times within 16 months and reached 3.84 billion. 

The fast adoption of the network speaks of its capability to support large transactions. 

Comparatively, the volume of stablecoin payments increased 137% annually in August 2025, with the highest proportion being B2B payments. 

The network is highly efficient, and this has made Solana one of the preferred choices of businesspeople who are in need of transporting money in a reliable and fast manner.

Spot trading volume surges

Impressive growth in spot trading has also been realized by Solana. In January 2025, the network reported that it had registered 1.6 trillion in spot trading volume, making it the second in the world after Binance, which registered 7.2 trillion. 

According to on-chain statistics, Solana was the largest exchange with 11.92% of the overall world spot market, surpassing Coinbase, Bybit, and Bitget, among the largest exchanges in the world. 

Decentralized exchange data of DefiLlama confirms that Solana dominated Ethereum and BSC in 2025 and reached its highest of $313.91 billion in January. 

The network had a trading volume of more than 1.5 trillion by the end of the year, and Ethereum had 950 billion.

Price declines affect SOL holders and validators

SOL has experienced a lean beginning to 2026, although network activity is high. 

The token has lost over 35% this year to date and traded at 82.38 at the time this is being written; it is down 9% in the last seven days. 

This has affected the treasury companies greatly, with Forward Industries having 6.9 million SOL worth 564.38 million, and Solana Company has 2.3 million SOL worth 187.8 million. 

In February, the net outflows in Spot SOL ETFs were over $10 million, but a few short-term inflows were also reported.

The number of network validators has also plummeted at an extremely high rate, and the day-to-day count has dropped to under 800, the lowest since 2021. 

Solana Foundation is reported to have reorganized the requirements of validators to remove those nodes that are not performing and enhance network stability and reliability.

The fact that Solana is leading in the number of payments and trading operations highlights its expanded importance in both Web3 and Web2 worlds, despite market volatility making investor trust and the number of validators a question.

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Securities and Exchange Chairman Paul Atkins has addressed questions over the agency’s decision to temporarily halt its case against Tron founder Justin Sun. He talked about the case at a congressional briefing, reiterating the commitment of the SEC towards transparency and regulatory clarity.

The SEC chair noted that, according to litigation rules, active cases cannot be discussed in public. Regarding the Justin Sun issue, which has been on the agency’s radar for about 11 months, he said it has become an issue of a larger debate of crypto enforcement and political influence. The SEC boss also noted that the agency is working with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in relation to the proposed CLARITY Act.

SEC Chair pressed over Justin Sun’s enforcement pause

During the hearing, Democratic lawmakers stepped up their questioning. Representative Maxine Waters, ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, challenged Atkins about the agency’s handling of the Justin Sun investigation. The SEC filed a suit against Sun in 2023, alleging unregistered securities offerings and manipulative trading practices.

The lawsuit included over 600,000 transactions of washing designed to inflate TRX token volumes. In February 2025, both the SEC and Sun’s legal team jointly applied for a stay in proceedings. Waters said that while the SEC was considering ways to resolve the issue, Sun built relationships within President Trump’s political orbit through World Liberty Financial Inc.

She also questioned whether those connections had any bearing on the agency’s decision to cease enforcement activity. She also cited allegations from Sun’s former girlfriend pointing to the evidence of TRX manipulation. Atkins refused to comment on the specifics of the cases on the basis of legal restrictions. He told lawmakers he would provide them a confidential briefing and said he would engage further “to the extent the rules allow.”

When asked if the SEC is to continue to focus on fraud in crypto markets, he said the agency acts where securities laws apply. The Justin Sun case on hold comes amid a retreat from high-profile crypto enforcement actions. Over the past year, the SEC has dropped or wound down cases against Coinbase, Binance, Ripple, Kraken, and Robinhood. The SEC leadership has criticized the former administration’s approach as regulation by enforcement.

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