Cryptopolitan

Ford is putting a $5 billion bet on its next generation of electric vehicles, with a $30,000 electric truck built on a new Universal EV platform.

The company said Tuesday that this platform will use a growing technology that Tesla already commercialized in the U.S. with the Cybertruck.

This plan comes as electric vehicle costs remain high, mostly because of the battery. Ford says the battery makes up about 40% of total vehicle cost and more than 25% of total weight.

Instead of adding more battery to calm range anxiety, Ford is targeting efficiency across the whole vehicle.

Ford revisits turbo strategy, turning its focus to smaller batteries

Up until the early 1970s, carmakers followed one rule for gas vehicles. More power meant a bigger engine. Bigger engines meant more weight, more cost, and worse fuel economy. Then the fuel crisis in the mid-1970s changed the game. Automakers needed both power and fuel savings. The turbocharger stepped in.

The first racing use appeared in 1962. The real mainstream shift came in 1973 with the BMW 2002 Turbo.

That car showed that a smaller engine could deliver strong output. The turbo used wasted energy to create more compression. A small engine could act like a larger one.

In 2011, Ford introduced EcoBoost on the F-150 pickup in the U.S. Many doubted buyers would accept smaller turbo engines in trucks. Sales later surged. Today, nearly 75% of F-150 trucks are sold with turbocharged engines, and almost all Ford gas vehicles offer a turbo option.

Ford now draws a parallel with EVs. Adding more battery increases cost and weight. It also creates what the company calls a major physics challenge. The new bet is system integration.

Ford is moving power electronics in-house and building full charging stack

Ford defines electrical architecture as the blueprint for how power and signals move through a vehicle, saying, ” Power conversion within an electric vehicle platform can account for a surprising amount of wasted energy in a vehicle while charging or even taking energy from the 400V battery and converting it to 48V for the low-voltage devices.”

Many of these functions are usually sourced to outside suppliers. Each supplier adds its own housing, fasteners, and connectors. That increases cost and weight.

In 2023, Ford brought its high-voltage power electronics architecture and design in-house. The company acquired Auto Motive Power, or AMP. Engineers from AMP joined the team. They had prior experience in power conversion and energy management for global EVs already on sale.

For the first time, customers will use a fully electric charging ecosystem designed internally by Ford with its own software. Hardware, including bi-directional charging, comes from the same integrated team working on the platform and vehicle, which Ford says reduces charging time, extends battery life, and lowers total ownership cost.

The work goes beyond introducing Ford’s first 48-volt low-voltage system. The new hardware and software helped cut the mid-size electric truck’s wire harness by 4,000 feet. It also made it 22 pounds lighter than one of Ford’s first-generation EVs.

Ford said, “We know there will be skeptics, just like there were when Ford introduced the turbo on the F-150. Other companies will claim that they’ve tried much of this before. But physics isn’t proprietary. We’re creating a truly integrated electric vehicle platform, not a single part that can be easily copied.”

If the strategy works, Ford says it will offer a family of EVs priced to compete with top global vehicles, including gas models. The company acquired Auto Motive Power, or AMP. It also says progress is underway and more details will follow.

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President Donald Trump is touting potentially major tax refunds ahead of the 2026 filing season, claiming that millions of Americans could see their refunds rise by over 20% due to his signature tax overhaul, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

In a post on his social platform, Trump said that taxpayers will receive “substantially greater than ever before” refunds when they file their 2025 tax returns this spring.

Trump pointed to provisions in the law that cut or eliminate taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits for seniors, and introduced new deductions.

Donald Trump explains tax changes that could increase refunds

Trump explained that his “One Big Beautiful Bill” includes tax relief measures that will help people retain more of their tax money throughout the year.

Americans will now have fewer costs counted when they calculate their annual taxes because the law removes federal taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits for seniors. It also allows people to deduct any interest on car loans. Because of these changes, people may owe less tax when they file their returns and receive a larger refund once the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) processes their filings. 

The refunds may even be more than 20% higher for certain taxpayers because of the combined effect of these tax relief measures.

The new bill retains tax cuts and changes how the government spends money

Under the new bill, people will continue to pay lower taxes in the future because it retains several tax cuts first introduced under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. These cuts were set to expire in 2025 but will remain in effect under the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

The tax cuts allow people to keep more of the money they earn from their jobs, businesses, or other work-related activities, reducing the total tax they owe at the end of the year. This is directly related to the amount of refund they can get when they file their tax returns.

This bill also allocates funds to national defense and border security while cutting spending in some government programs and Medicaid. This helps to redistribute public funds in different sectors of the economy.

This means the upcoming tax-filing season may be the largest in the US, especially given the bill’s direct impact on 2025 tax returns. People must file their returns by the 15th of April, 2026, and the changes made to the bill are likely to appear during the 2026 filing season.

After filing their returns, the refund process begins. The IRS says that if people file their returns online and use direct deposit to receive their refunds, they will receive them within 3 weeks of processing.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the total package could add as much as $3.3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next ten years, depending on current forecasts. However, this legislation could also spur economic growth and lead to more refunds for taxpayers in the coming tax seasons.

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Ross Gerber prominent Wall Street investor is calling on Tesla to sell its electric vehicle business to rival Rivian, saying the Tesla name has become a liability rather than an asset.

Gerber said on Monday that Tesla’s brand has fallen so far that it is now working against the company. Writing on X, he said: “Unfortunately the value of Tesla’s brand has been reduced to a negative. Tesla would sell more cars if they changed their name and sold the EV business to Rivian.”

Gerber is not alone in this view. Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, has also said that Musk’s political activities have damaged how people see the Tesla brand.

Rivian has said it will announce official pricing for the R2 on March 12. The vehicle was recently spotted in Fairbanks, Alaska, during cold-weather testing, and photos showed it charging at a Tesla Supercharger station in the city.

On the Tesla side, Musk confirmed that production of the Cybercab is set to begin in April, with the company also touting changes to its manufacturing process.

Rivian posts surprise profit, shares jump 27%

Rivian delivered a shock to the market last week when it reported far stronger results than analysts had expected. Shares in the Irvine, California-based company jumped 27% on Friday after the announcement, with investors seeing the numbers as a sign that Rivian may finally be on its way to lasting profitability after years of heavy losses.

For 2025, Rivian reported a gross profit of $144 million, a major turnaround from a net loss of $1.2 billion in 2024.

“It’s a turnaround for the ages,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. “The past few years have been very frustrating for investors.”

Rivian said the improvement came from stronger software and services revenue, higher average selling prices, and lower costs per vehicle.

Rivian delivered 42,247 vehicles in 2025, down from a record 51,579 the year before, and produced 42,284 over the same period. It still recorded a net loss of $432 million for the year on its automotive operations, though that was an improvement from 2024. The company said it expects to deliver between 62,000 and 67,000 vehicles this year.

Rivian also said Amazon now has more than 30,000 custom-built electric delivery vans running in the United States and parts of Europe. The vans are part of a deal that calls for Amazon to have 100,000 of the purpose-built vehicles on the road by 2030.

The delivery van has been in production largely unchanged since late 2021. Its biggest update came in 2023 when Rivian switched to a lithium iron phosphate battery pack and an in-house electric motor. The company is now planning a broader refresh for the van, which has led segment sales in the United States, boosted in large part by the Amazon contract.

Tesla’s profits fall for second straight year

Tesla, by contrast, reported its second straight year of falling profits last month. The Austin-based company’s net income dropped 46% in 2025, coming in at $3.8 billion.

On Sunday, Daniel Milligan posted a video on X tagging Elon Musk and Tesla’s VP of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, saying his Tesla “tried to drive” him into a lake while running Full Self-Driving version 14.2.2.4.

My Tesla tried to drive me into a lake today! FSD version 14.2.2.4 (2025.45.9.1)@Tesla @aelluswamy pic.twitter.com/ykWZFjUm8k

— Daniel Milligan (@lilmill2000) February 16, 2026

In the video, Milligan sets a destination on the map, activates FSD, and the car heads straight onto a boat ramp before he hits the brakes.

Milligan then posted a follow-up video the next day to show the incident was not a one-off. “Here is a video I took inside the car to prove I didn’t fake it. It’s repeatable at night,” he wrote. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

The videos have drawn fresh attention to questions about how reliable FSD actually is. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe into the technology in October last year, covering over 2.88 million Tesla vehicles after receiving reports of more than 50 traffic safety violations and multiple accidents.

Milligan is not the only one raising concerns. Gerber has also criticized FSD, calling it “annoying” and saying it does not work properly in sunny weather. Gerber was also using version 14.2.2.4 at the time.

Musk, meanwhile, has continued to tout Tesla as having the largest autonomous vehicle fleet in the world. Investor Gary Black of the Future Fund LLC says Tesla stock could rally once the company announces it is running hundreds of unsupervised Robotaxis in Austin and other cities.

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Kraken has joined ICE Chat to scale up AI-assisted messaging for institutional crypto trading, with the platform’s global user base hitting 5.7 million. 

Through ICE Chat, institutional clients can now directly interact with Kraken’s trading desk using advanced messaging tools, reflecting the growing adoption of AI-assisted systems in digital asset markets.

The integration also connects Kraken’s OTC desk to ICE Chat, the Intercontinental Exchange’s platform used by over 120,000 traders worldwide,  including banks, brokers, asset managers, and trading desks, to exchange insights and execute trades efficiently.

Thanks to the integration, these institutions can tap into Kraken via a system seamlessly integrated with their daily trading operations. Institutional traders can negotiate crypto trades, request pricing, and execute large trades directly with Kraken’s OTC desk via ICE Chat. 

Kraken says it is the first cryptocurrency exchange approved to integrate with ICE Chat. This makes crypto trading part of an existing institutional communication network, allowing large financial players to participate more easily in digital asset markets. The companies said they would expand the integration further over time. The move is part of a wider strategy to embed crypto trading into traditional financial infrastructure, enabling institutions to access digital assets using established tools and workflows.

ICE is a major global market infrastructure provider offering exchange, clearing, data, and technology solutions across financial markets. The announcement also comes after Kraken made a recent pledge to support US President Donald Trump’s proposed “Trump Accounts,” a savings program for Americans under 18. 

ICE drives growth in crypto and tokenized assets

Over the past year, Intercontinental Exchange has increased its activity in the crypto and blockchain sectors. The company is looking beyond its core exchange business into blockchain data services, prediction markets, and crypto payments. 

ICE teamed up with Chainlink, a blockchain oracle provider, in August. The idea was to bring foreign exchange and precious metals data onchain. With Chainlink-related solutions, the first of its kind in a global network, the collaboration brings ICE’s Consolidated Feed — which pulls pricing data from over 300 global exchanges and marketplaces — into the fold as well. That allows blockchain applications to access verified market data from traditional financial markets. 

In October, ICE invested $2 billion in Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market platform. The deal is said to have valued Polymarket at $9 billion after the investment. This was followed in December by ICE entering discussions to support MoonPay, a crypto payments company seeking a reported $5 billion valuation in its latest funding round. 

ICE’s investment in MoonPay was not disclosed. What has been revealed is that ICE not only provides the physical infrastructure for digital assets but also takes financial stakes in companies operating in this world of cryptocurrency. Kraken integration is part of ICE positioning itself as a bridge between traditional finance and blockchain-based markets.

Major exchanges push forward with tokenized trading

Other leading US exchanges are also exploring tokenization. Nasdaq submitted a request to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September. The filing asked for approval to list tokenized stocks under a proposed rule change.

In January, the New York Stock Exchange unveiled plans to develop a 24/7 trading platform for tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The plan would bring together elements of the exchange’s Pillar matching engine with blockchain-based systems for post-trade settlement.

The project is subject to regulatory approval. All of which together indicates that big financial institutions are taking digital assets more seriously. Kraken is leveraging a large, established institutional trading community by bringing its OTC desk to ICE Chat.

Meanwhile, ICE and other exchanges are deepening their presence in the blockchain marketplace. Integration between traditional and digital finance may become more common as the two converge. 

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Stablecoin platform Bridge, which was acquired by Stripe last year, has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to become a federally chartered national trust bank. 

A national trust bank charter would enable Bridge to become a major participant in the stablecoin ecosystem. Stablecoins are digital currencies designed to maintain stable value, often backed by reserve holdings such as U.S. dollars. With federal permission, Bridge would be able to safely store digital assets for its customers, issue its own stablecoins, and monitor the funds that hold those stablecoins. 

The approval would bolster Bridge’s ability to cater to businesses that seek to employ digital dollars, Bridge said. These are financial institutions, fintech companies, crypto firms, and enterprises seeking faster, easier payment options. If Bridge operated under a federal umbrella, these customers would be more confident that it would adhere closely to regulations and compliance standards. 

Bridge said that becoming a nationally chartered trust bank would create “the regulatory backbone” companies need to deploy stablecoins securely and at scale. The same federal oversight could ease the process for traditional financial institutions to partner with Bridge, too, as many banks prefer to work with regulated institutions. 

Crypto firms accelerate push for federal charters as regulators open doors

Bridge isn’t the only company applying for federal approval. Other large crypto firms are also seeking charters from the OCC, including Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. 

All of these companies reportedly received conditional approvals in December, showing federal regulators are willing to recognize crypto companies in the broader context of banking. Only Anchorage Digital Bank has gone through the process and secured a national trust bank charter, which it did in 2021. 

The Anchorage decision was a milestone at the time — though progress has been mixed since then due to regulatory conservatism and worries regarding crypto risks. 

But momentum has started to pick up again. The new approvals suggest regulators prefer to push crypto companies into the regulated financial system rather than exclude them.

New stablecoin law gives crypto firms a clearer path to regulation

Bridge said its compliance systems are designed to comply with the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, also known as the GENIUS Act. Signed last year, this law establishes the legal framework for issuing stablecoins and overseeing them in the U.S. The law includes measures that will increase transparency, toughen reserve requirements, and ensure safe and reliable assets for stablecoins. 

It also provides federal regulators with a clearer scope to oversee firms involved in stablecoin issuance and custody. Bridge’s conditional endorsement puts it in a position to make use of this new regulatory framework. 

Bridge could provide stablecoin services in compliance with national banking standards by operating as a federally chartered trust bank. The move is part of a broader trend among crypto companies to legitimize themselves through regulation. 

Instead of playing in an uncertain legal environment, many corporations’ current mindset is that federal charters provide a means to build trust, especially to lure institutional clients. Now, the crypto banking has been met with some skepticism. 

Those who object are concerned that cryptocurrency companies could operate as banks, adding new risks to the financial system if allowed to do so. Regulators are therefore moving very slowly, with conditional approvals, while being careful to adopt a very specific approach. 

Bridge’s progress could help strengthen Stripe’s position in digital payments. Stablecoins are also becoming a more rapid and cost-effective substitute for traditional cross-border payment systems. If approved, Bridge could help Stripe’s digital dollar infrastructure expand and reach more customers worldwide. 

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Figma is partnering with Anthropic and launching Code to Canvas, a feature that converts code generated in AI tools like Claude Code into fully editable designs inside Figma. Users who build working interfaces by prompting an AI agent can bring that interface straight into Figma’s canvas.

Figma announced the feature Tuesday. It links AI coding tools with Figma’s workflow so teams can refine the design, compare options side by side, and align on design decisions. Figma is betting that agentic coding tools like Claude Code have not eliminated design. The risk is that Figma is creating a better on-ramp to a highway it no longer controls.

Code to Canvas turns AI-produced interface code into designs teams can adjust inside Figma. You build an interface with Claude Code, then bring it into the canvas and keep working.

Anthropic makes Sonnet 4.6 the default in Claude and Cowork

On Tuesday, Anthropic rolled out Claude Sonnet 4.6 and said it is better at using computers, coding, design, completing knowledge work tasks, and processing large amounts of data. For Anthropic Free users and paid Pro users, Sonnet 4.6 now serves as the default within the Claude chatbot and the Claude Cowork productivity tool.

The press release said: “Claude Sonnet 4.6 is our most capable Sonnet model yet. It’s a full upgrade of the model’s skills across coding, computer use, long-context reasoning, agent planning, knowledge work, and design. Sonnet 4.6 also features a 1M token context window in beta.”

It also said: “For those on our Free and Pro plans, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is now the default model in claude.ai and Claude Cowork. Pricing remains the same as Sonnet 4.5, starting at $3/$15 per million tokens.”

The company said improved consistency and instruction following made developers with early access prefer Sonnet 4.6 over Sonnet 4.5 by a wide margin. It also said they often preferred it to Claude Opus 4.5, the company’s smartest model from November 2025.

“The model certainly still lags behind the most skilled humans at using computers. But the rate of progress is remarkable nonetheless. It means that computer use is much more useful for a range of work tasks—and that substantially more capable models are within reach.”

-Anthropic

Sonnet 4.6 tests allegedly show 70% preference for users, says Anthropic

Anthropic said that in Claude Code, early testing found users preferred Sonnet 4.6 over Sonnet 4.5 about 70% of the time. Users reported that Sonnet 4.6 read the context before modifying code and consolidated shared logic rather than duplicating it.

“Users even preferred Sonnet 4.6 to Opus 4.5, our frontier model from November, 59% of the time. They rated Sonnet 4.6 as significantly less prone to overengineering and “laziness,” and meaningfully better at instruction following. They reported fewer false claims of success, fewer hallucinations, and more consistent follow-through on multi-step tasks,” said Anthropic.

Sonnet 4.6’s 1M token context window can hold entire codebases, lengthy contracts, or dozens of research papers in a single request.

The company pointed to the Vending-Bench Arena evaluation, which tests how well a model can run a simulated business over time, and it includes competition where models face off to make the biggest profits. Sonnet 4.6 invested heavily in capacity for the first ten simulated months, spending significantly more than competitors, then pivoted sharply to focus on profitability in the final stretch. The timing of the pivot helped it finish well ahead of the competition.

On safety, Anthropic said it ran extensive evaluations and found Sonnet 4.6 to be as safe as, or safer than, other recent Claude models. Its safety researchers said Sonnet 4.6 has “a broadly warm, honest, prosocial, and at times funny character, very strong safety behaviors, and no signs of major concerns around high-stakes forms of misalignment.”

Beyond computer use, Anthropic said Sonnet 4.6 improved on benchmarks across the board and approaches Opus-level intelligence at a price point that makes it practical for more tasks. It said the system card covers capabilities and safety-related behaviors, with a summary, a comparison to other recent models, and a table of popular benchmark results.

Early customers reported broad improvements, with frontend code and financial analysis standing out. Customers described visual outputs from Sonnet 4.6 as more polished, with better layouts, animations, and design sensibility than previous Sonnet models. They also said they needed fewer rounds of iteration to reach production-quality results.

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Eric Trump announced today that American Bitcoin Corp, the Trump family-backed mining and treasury firm, now formally holds 6,000 Bitcoin in its reserves, becoming one of the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holders in less than 6 months of public trading.

The firm’s co-founder and chief strategy officer (CSO) Eric Trump made the announcement on February 17, 2026, on his X account, stating that American Bitcoin had reached “an incredible milestone” by surpassing 6,000 BTC “in under 6 months since our Nasdaq debut.”

According to blockchain data from Arkham Intelligence, American Bitcoin now holds 6,072 BTC, good enough to be among the top-20 publicly traded Bitcoin treasury holders globally.

Source: Arkham Intelligence

Mining-to-treasury model delivers rapid accumulation in under 6 months

American Bitcoin’s growth trajectory has been moving with some record velocity, growing by approximately 217 BTC in January alone.

This accumulation strategy was a mix of mining output and direct market purchases, which the firm called a “mining to treasury” pipeline designed to outperform traditional mining operations that sell their production to cover costs.

According to industry analysts, American Bitcoin’s partnership with Hut 8 Corp (who owns an 80% stake in the venture) currently delivers between 8 and 10 BTC daily through a mining facility that’s the size of five football fields.

Eric Trump, who also serves as the Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder of ABTC, visited the facility recently and emphasized the company’s mission to build a “strategic bitcoin reserve” by retaining mined Bitcoin rather than liquidating it to cover operational costs.

ABTC also reported a Bitcoin yield of approximately 116% from its September 2025 Nasdaq debut till late January 2026. Bitcoin yield measures growth in holdings from mined or purchased coins (calculated separately from capital raising activity), meaning that the growth of ABTC’s holdings reflects actual Bitcoin accumulation as opposed to dilutive equity financing.

Hyperscale Data crosses 600 BTC

American Bitcoin’s milestone achievement is part of a broader wave of corporate treasury Bitcoin accumulation. Hyperscale Data, based in Las Vegas, announced today as well that its Bitcoin treasury had reached 600.5299 Bitcoin (valued at approximately $41.3 million).

Speaking on this achievement, Hyperscale Data’s Executive Chairman, Milton “Todd” Ault III, stated that “Surpassing 600 Bitcoin is a significant milestone that underscores our commitment to our Bitcoin treasury strategy.”

The AI data center company’s assets are split between subsidiaries Sentinum (554.4002 BTC) and Ault Capital Group (46.1711 BTC), with the latter acquiring 4.6024 BTC in the open market just last week.

However, there is something unusual about Hyperscale Data’s position. Apparently, the company’s combined cash, restricted cash, and Bitcoin holdings (worth approximately $87.6 million combined) represented 135.82% of the company’s market cap based on its February 13th closing stock price.

This suggests that the firm’s liquid assets alone are more than the entire equity valuation, a disconnect that the management attributed to the market failing to reflect balance sheet strength in the share price.

The company targets deploying at least 5% of allocated cash each week into Bitcoin purchases through a dollar-cost-averaging strategy. Hyperscale Data has stated its goal is to reach $100 million in Bitcoin on its balance sheet, meaning current holdings represent roughly 41% of that target, with significant accumulation still planned.

DDC surpasses 2,000 BTC with 74.8% growth since January

Global Asian food platform DDC Enterprise also announced today that it had acquired an additional 80 Bitcoin, bringing its corporate treasury up to 2,068 BTC. This latest purchase marked DDC’s sixth consecutive week of Bitcoin accumulation and represented a 74.8% increase in holdings since the year started.

“This milestone is not about a single trade– it reflects disciplined execution and long-term treasury strategy,” stated Norma Chu, the founder, chairwoman and CEO of DDC. The company revealed that its average acquisition cost for the Bitcoin reserve now stands at $84,944 per coin, providing context for its cost basis since the market trades around $70,000.

According to analysts, DDC opted for gradual accumulation instead of costly one-off acquisitions, thus allowing it to broaden exposure while managing its risk and liquidity. This approach contrasts with other treasury firms that reported large unrealized losses due to the volatility of the market.

For example, mining firm Hive Digital Technologies posted an impressive 219% year-on-year revenue growth but recorded a $91.3 million net loss due to revaluation and adjustments.

The increase in corporate Bitcoin treasury activity in early 2026 highlights a maturing market dynamic where public companies are starting to view Bitcoin more as a strategic reserve asset than a speculative one.

While stock prices for a lot of treasury firms remain volatile, the speed of accumulation continues to increase, with American Bitcoin’s 6,000 BTC milestone, Hyperscale’s 600 BTC, and DDC’s 2,000 BTC milestones all happening within days of each other this month as Bitcoin tries to stabilize above $70,000.

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Pump.fun has been making moves to get public opinion out of the dumps and the enterprise just launched its latest initiative — the Cashback Coins feature, which is supposed to address talk of how some token deployers don’t deserve to claim creator fees. 

With the mechanism, users are given the ability to decide whether a token truly deserves Creator Fees or whether it makes more sense to reward the traders of the token.

In the post sharing the new development, Pump.fun insisted that Creator Fees are a net positive for helping teams, creators & founders grow & succeed. 

“However, many tokens achieve success without a team or project lead, thereby disproportionately rewarding token deployers who don’t deserve the fees,” the post reads. “Now, traders can choose to engage with tokens they feel the most aligned with, ultimately letting the market decide who gets rewarded and where the bar is set.” 

How the cashback feature works 

The way it works is simple; coin creators are now mandated to choose between Trader Cashback or Creator Fees before launch. Cashback Coins directs all the Creator Fees to the traders, and once launched, the decision will remain unchanged forever. 

This means that, unlike Creator Fee coins, Cashback Coins will not support CTOs. However, Cashback Coins will forever reward their respective traders & holders. Creator Fee coins are similarly locked forever.

It should be noted that this new initiative will only be applicable to new coins, rather than already deployed projects. 

Pump.fun’s redemption arc 

Since Pump.fun became active, tokenization has skyrocketed, and so has the failure rate of tokenized projects. According to a January report from Coingecko, 11.6 million cryptocurrency projects failed in 2025, the highest number of failures recorded in a single year. 

Those failures account for 86.3% of all project closures between 2021 and 2025. The report also stated that the drop in token survivability may be linked to overall market volatility throughout the year. However, there was no doubt about the fact that meme coins were affected the most as low-effort tokens launched on platforms like Pump.fun dominated new listings.

Pump.fun has been working hard to resist accusations of being an extractive machine. In response to the criticisms, the team has made a number of iterations to the Pump.fun product, and the Cashback Coins feature is the latest development. 

It seemed to work at first, but at the start of this year, the platform’s cofounder, Alon, openly admitted that the first iteration of the dynamic first system was doing more harm than good. 

Alon claimed it was encouraging the creation of low-risk tokens over trading, which posed a risk to long-term liquidity. It was replaced with a more market-driven approach that required traders to decide on fee applicability. 

In the same January, the platform rolled out fee sharing and controls, which allowed creators to split fees across up to 10 wallets, with transferable ownership and better tools for teams/CTO admins.  

The team has also been working hard on the mobile UX, while introducing features such as the movers feed, one-click trading and price alerts to encourage usage and keep things fun and accessible. 

Still no airdrop though 

Amid the recent developments from the Pump.fun platform, there hasn’t been much about the $PUMP airdrop. 

The airdrop was one of the platform’s main draws for users, but while the $PUMP token has been launched, there is barely any news about an upcoming airdrop. All the community has to go on are the teasers from 2024 and 2025 from the cofounders. 

The team has instead chosen to focus on shipping new features like the Cashback Coins feature and buybacks, positioning them as the primary method of reward for the ecosystem, as it reduces the supply and supports the price.

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Iran has partially closed the Strait of Hormuz, and state media said the action was taken under “security precautions” while the Revolutionary Guard carried out military drills inside the waterway.

The Strait sits between Oman and Iran, and it is the most critical oil route on Earth.

This is the first time Iran has shut parts of the Strait of Hormuz since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Tehran with military action in January.

The waterway links crude producers in the Middle East to buyers across Asia, Europe, and the United States. In 2025, about 13 million barrels per day passed through it, which is roughly 31% of global seaborne crude flows, based on data from Kpler.

Even a partial restriction of Hormuz raises risk premiums. Shipping insurance costs will surge, and global oil markets will spike too, making life hard for average people all around the world.

Iran conducts drills as nuclear talks continue

At the same time, the United States and Iran held talks in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear program. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke after the meeting. Abbas said both sides reached an understanding of the “guiding principles.” He also said progress does not mean a final agreement is close and that more work is still needed.

The International Energy Agency released its monthly oil report on Monday. The agency said world oil demand will grow more slowly than expected this year. It also warned that the global market still faces a sizeable surplus despite supply outages in January.

The IEA projected that global supply will exceed demand by 3.73 million barrels per day in 2026. That equals almost 4% of world demand. It is larger than other forecasts. The IEA said, “Escalating geopolitical tensions, snowstorms and extreme temperatures in North America, and Kazakh supply disruptions sparked the reversal to a bullish market.”

At the same time, the agency stated that “economic uncertainties and higher oil prices” are weighing on consumption.

World oil demand is now expected to rise by 850,000 barrels per day this year. That figure is 80,000 barrels per day lower than last month’s estimate. It is also below the projection from OPEC. Supply has grown faster than demand. OPEC+, which includes Russia and other allies, began increasing output in April 2025 after years of cuts. Producers such as the United States, Guyana, and Brazil also lifted production.

OPEC+ paused output hikes for the first quarter of 2026. Eight members will meet on March 1 to decide whether to resume increases in April. In January, global oil supply fell by 1.2 million barrels per day to 106.6 million barrels per day due to outages in Kazakhstan and other areas. The IEA lowered its 2026 supply growth forecast to 2.4 million barrels per day from 2.5 million.

OPEC+ pumped 43.3 million barrels per day in January, down 160,000 from December. That level remains well above the IEA estimate for demand for OPEC+ crude, which stands at 39.7 million barrels per day in the first quarter and 39.6 million in the second.

Data published by OPEC on Wednesday showed a much smaller surplus in the second quarter and a supply deficit in 2026 overall if output stays at January levels, based on Reuters calculations.

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Siding with a large platform against state gaming regulators attempting to shut it down, the U.S. commodities watchdog has entered a heated court battle about who actually has the authority to control prediction markets.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission supported Crypto.com in its dispute with the Nevada Gaming Control Board by submitting court documents to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday. Lawyers for the federal government contend that only Washington, not states that consider these betting-style platforms like traditional casino gaming, may regulate them under commodity trading regulations.

Agency chairman vows to defend federal authority

The move marks a clear shift under Chairman Michael Selig, who assumed leadership and promptly signaled he intends to block state overreach. In a recent Wall Street Journal piece, Selig wrote that these markets let people hedge against real financial risks and should be viewed as regulated contracts rather than gambling.

He cited about 50 ongoing court cases nationwide targeting firms such as Kalshi, Polymarket, Coinbase, and Crypto.com. When states step in independently, he contended, it breeds inconsistency and undermines the national framework.

Selig reinforced his stance in an online video, noting the commission has regulated these kinds of markets for over two decades. He described how everyday individuals rely on them to offset losses tied to weather shifts or energy price swings. “We will see you in court,” he declared, underscoring the agency’s commitment to defending what it sees as fair, orderly markets.

The Trump administration appears to favor this federal-preemption stance, resisting state-level efforts to restrict or outlaw the platforms. Operators insist their systems function differently from conventional sportsbooks, which they say removes them from certain state gambling laws and specific federal tax obligations.

State officials take the opposite view. They classify these platforms as unlicensed wagering operations. Nevada blocked Kalshi and Polymarket from offering contracts after launching lawsuits, though those disputes remain under appeal.

Tennessee and New York have also acted, issuing cease-and-desist letters or warnings about violating gambling statutes. New York Attorney General Letitia James labeled platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket as bets “masquerading” as contracts, asserting they offer users virtually no meaningful safeguards.

Betting activity reaches record levels

The conflict is unfolding against a backdrop of surging wagering. A NerdWallet poll of 2,000 U.S. adults revealed 20% had placed sports bets in the previous year, up sharply from 12% in late 2023. Research has tied online sports betting to declining credit scores and rising debt, fueling concern about financial harm to participants.

Prediction markets themselves have exploded in scale. Leading sites like Kalshi and Polymarket have recorded peak trading volumes. On Super Bowl Sunday alone, over $1 billion in wagers flowed through, while annual figures have soared into the tens of billions, largely fueled by sports-related activity.

In February, twenty-three Democratic senators wrote to the CFTC voicing deep unease. Led by Adam Schiff and Catherine Cortez Masto, they urged the agency to avoid court interventions and reaffirm prohibitions on contracts tied to sports events, armed conflict, terrorism, or assassinations. They feared unchecked expansion might invite large-scale gambling abuses.

Selig promised to reevaluate whether the commission should become involved in lawsuits and create more specific regulations for prediction markets after he took office. He supported the agency’s jurisdictional knowledge.

Federal supervision might promote innovation and provide consistent national norms, allowing for more effective risk management than just conjecture.

However, without strong protections against manipulation and growing consumer debt, customers’ financial problems may worsen, especially because sports betting accounts for the majority of activity.

The courtroom battle will probably settle whether states or federal authorities hold the reins over a fast-growing, multi-billion-dollar industry.

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The Russian government may start blocking access to foreign cryptocurrency exchanges as soon as it regulates crypto trading in its jurisdiction in a few months’ time, according to industry watchers.

The warning comes amid restrictions on messaging apps, video-sharing sites, and social media networks based abroad, which recently affected popular platforms like Telegram, WhatsApp, and YouTube.

Meanwhile, the appetite of Russian financial firms for crypto profits has been growing, and they are already indicating their intentions to divert some of the massive flow of fees that’s currently leaving the country toward their own platforms, once the Russian crypto framework is in place.

Moscow may ban major coin trading venues in 2026

Russia is gearing up to begin adopting legislative changes that should properly regulate various crypto-related activities in the country by July 1, including investment and exchange, replacing a temporary solution that currently governs official operations with digital assets in its economy.

Regulators in Moscow gradually softened their stance on the matter in a pivotal 2025, with the Bank of Russia initially proposing an “experimental legal regime” for crypto transactions last spring and then legalizing the offering of crypto derivatives to “highly qualified investors” at the end of May.

In late December, the monetary authority announced a brand-new regulatory concept that suggests recognizing cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as “monetary assets” and expanding investor access to include even ordinary Russians, albeit under some limitations.

Analysts interviewed by leading Russian business news outlet RBC believe access to well-established global exchanges such as Bybit or OKX, for example, may be restricted when Moscow starts issuing licenses to domestic platforms.

According to Nikita Zuborev, senior analyst at the crypto exchange aggregator Bestchange.ru, that’s a likely development. He believes that as soon as Russia launches its own service providers, it will start to fight off major competitors. He elaborated:

“We expect Roskomnadzor to begin blocking websites of crypto exchanges not registered in Russia as early as this summer.”

The measures to be employed are likely to be the same as those currently targeting YouTube. Russia’s telecom and media watchdog recently deleted its domain, and that of Meta’s messenger WhatsApp, from its DNS servers, effectively cutting off access to them for Russian residents.

Zuborev warned that if foreign platforms are not allowed to obtain Russian licenses or at least permitted to operate as agents for domestic exchanges and brokers, a large portion of the existing market will move to the shadow economy, fragment, and become almost impossible to regulate.

Russia may follow in the footsteps of ally Belarus

What’s even more likely is a “Belarusian” scenario, thinks Dmitry Machikhin, lawyer and founder of BitOK, a provider of AML and KYT solutions for crypto businesses.

Belarus allows only companies registered as residents of its High-Tech Park (HTP) hub to process cryptocurrency transactions. In 2024, Minsk prohibited its citizens from buying and selling coins on foreign platforms.

He doubted, however, that it would be possible to enforce a similar ban, giving Binance as an example. At least a million Russians are still clients of the world’s largest digital-asset exchange, he pointed out, even after it officially pulled out of the country’s market.

Ignat Likhunov, founder of the law firm Cartesius, which specializes in providing legal advice in the crypto space, highlighted the lack of real levers to exert influence over foreign exchanges, which are not in a rush to comply with any requirements.

The authorities will probably restrict access to such platforms and to exchanges supporting sanctions against Russia and its citizens for various, including economic, reasons, he added.

Non-compliance with domestic data protection law could serve as grounds for blocking, too, as most of these trading services store the personal information of Russian citizens on servers located in Europe or the United States.

One thing is sure, Russia will try to put its hands on at least some of the commissions that foreign exchanges currently charge on its citizens and businesses, which amount to an estimated $15 billion.

Established financial players like the Moscow Exchange, which will be able to provide crypto services using their existing licenses under the upcoming rules, have already indicated they intend to do so.

Recently quoted by the business daily Vedomosti, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of MOEX, Sergey Shvetsov, said Russia’s largest stock market plans to attract crypto turnover as soon as the law allows it.

The finance ministry in Moscow revealed last week that the total volume of Russian crypto transactions is already reaching 50 billion rubles (over $647 million) daily, as reported by Cryptopolitan.

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Gemini Space Station Inc., the crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, has revealed in an SEC Form 8-K filing that its Chief Operating Officer (COO) Marshall Beard, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Dan Chen, and Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Tyler Meade are all exiting their positions immediately. 

A replacement is not expected to be named for the COO position, with those duties expected to now be directed to Cameron Winklevoss. The other two roles already have interim replacements on hand 

The announcement comes days after the exchange revealed plans to lay off about 25% of its workforce and pull out of several countries, including the UK. 

Leadership overhaul at Gemini

The COO, Marshall Beard, not only stepped down from his position but also resigned from the board of directors. However, the company claims that his resignation did not happen because of a disagreement with Gemini regarding its operations, policies, or practices. 

His position will remain vacant as Gemini reportedly has no plans to appoint a successor. From here on out, Cameron Winklevoss, one of the company’s cofounders, will assume many of Beard’s responsibilities, particularly the revenue-generation functions, in addition to his current role. 

The CFO position will be taken over by Danijela Stojanovic, who has been acting in the Interim position since May 2025. She is a licensed CPA with experience working in senior finance roles at Blue Apron and PwC. Her compensation will include a $450,000 base salary and a restricted stock unit award of 132,275 shares vesting over two years.  

Kate Freedman, a former Associate General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, has been tapped as Interim CLO/General Counsel. 

The three departing executives are expected to enter separation agreements with the company, which could include limited transition services in exchange for continued base salary and benefits. 

No explicit reason has been given for what is going on, but experts are describing it as a major leadership shakeup linked to post-IPO cost-cutting measures and strategic retrenchment. 

Gemini unveiled plans to cut workforce and wind down global operations 

News of the shakeup in Gemini’s executive structure comes 12 days after the company revealed it is cutting up to 25% of its workforce and ending operations in the United Kingdom, European Union, and Australia.

The layoffs are expected to impact about 200 employees across Gemini’s operations in the US, Europe, and Singapore, and the Winklevoss twins have defended the cuts by claiming they would allow Gemini to “double down on America” and serve US customers.

“These foreign markets have proven hard to win in for various reasons, and we find ourselves stretched thin with a level of organizational and operational complexity that drives our cost structure up and slows us down,” the twins said in a blog post. “And we don’t have the demand in these regions to justify them.”

The crypto exchange has said it expects to be done with the layoffs and end operations in the aforementioned overseas markets by the first half of the year. All of this is happening months after Gemini went public via IPO.

Since the IPO, the stock has declined sharply, with preliminary 2025 figures showing significant net losses and operating costs that outpace revenue growth.

Gemini stock price. Source: Yahoo Finance

The GEMI stock is down almost 14% on the day, according to Yahoo Finance.

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Ahmedabad’s Crime Branch has arrested six people across two separate cybercrime investigations this month, one linked to a cryptocurrency fraud worth nearly Rs 100 crore (or about $11 million), and another involving a gang that swapped out real products from online deliveries with fakes.

The consecutive busts coincide with alarming national cyber fraud statistics. Online frauds cost Indians Rs22,495 crore ($2.48 billion) in 2025 alone, and the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal received over 24 million complaints. The sum exceeds Rs 55,000 crore due to cumulative losses from prior years.

For two years, a software specialist avoids capture

Officers from the Crime Branch detained Sujit Shankarrao Dev, also known as Sujit Shankarrao Jadav, on February 17, 2026. He was a Satara, Maharashtra-born software specialist who had been residing in the Naroda area of Ahmedabad.

Dev became a wanted man in 2021 when a complaint was filed against him by the Dahisar police in Mumbai. He had promised residents of the Dahisar region four times their original investment in bitcoin and mining programs. He had the savings of more than a hundred people. By the time the group vanished, they had accumulated about Rs 100 crore.

He managed to stay out of reach for nearly two years. Officers eventually tracked him down using electronic surveillance and tip-offs from the Mumbai police. He was arrested near Ahmedabad Airport.

In addition to provisions 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act, Dev is currently charged under sections 406, 420, 34, and 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code.

Investors throw aside prudence in response to promises of guaranteed big profits. Money was transferred through anonymous digital wallets, stored in cold storage, or sent overseas. Investigators are still working to find the people who assisted Dev in running the scam and track down the money.

Gang targeted major e-commerce platforms

Authorities discontinued an investigation aimed at customers who made purchases on websites such as Flipkart and Amazon almost a week prior to Dev’s arrest.

The organization ran a “switch and scam” scheme. To intercept packages in transit, members often posed as delivery workers or worked with actual couriers. Expensive gadgets like laptops, smartphones, and smartwatches were removed from their packaging and swapped out for dummies or fakes.

The packages appeared to be unharmed when they were delivered after being resealed. The real products were quietly put up for sale somewhere else.

Five men were arrested: Ramlal, also known as Romil Gahlot, 27; Manoj Kumar Mali, 30; Bharat Kumar Sundesha, 25; Vishal Hasmukhbhai Panchal, 29, from Surat; and Vishal Kanjibhai Bavri from Ahmedabad.

Police recovered genuine and counterfeit goods worth more than Rs 20.5 lakh (specifically, items including eight genuine mobile phones, 25 dummy phones, three dummy earbuds, 12 dummy gaming processors, a camera lens, and an electric hair dryer, valued at around Rs 20.52 lakh).

Two others from Jalore, identified as Rishipal Bhati and Vinod, are still being looked for.

With obvious ties to Rajasthan, the gang operated in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat. The case highlights weaknesses in online companies’ delivery and return policies.

Rather than demanding unboxing footage or seal integrity, many businesses rely primarily on customer complaints. It is estimated that between 9 and 15 percent of all returns are fraudulent.

A wider problem

Both cases demonstrate how well-organized cybercrime networks have grown in India, attracting individuals from various states and using wildly disparate tactics to target victims. A significant amount of cyber losses in 2025 were caused by cryptocurrency investment fraud, and delivery and return schemes are still coming up with new ways to take advantage of the system.

Police warned people to be wary of any offer of assured profit. Only platforms that are regulated should be used for investments. It is recommended that internet customers record themselves opening deliveries. The national helpline can be reached at 1930 if someone suspects fraud.

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Nakamoto has signed agreements to acquire both BTC Inc. and UTXO Management GP, LLC., in order to create a system that attracts investors while also providing asset management services. 

The acquisition was completely funded by 363,589,816 shares of Nakamoto Inc.’s common stock. The total value of the transaction is approximately $107 million, according to the company’s statement. 

Nakamoto to acquire BTC and UTXO 

Nakamoto Inc. formally announced on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, that it has entered into definitive merger agreements to acquire BTC Inc and UTXO Management GP, LLC.

This acquisition is expected to be finalized within the first quarter of 2026, provided that all standard closing conditions are met.

Nakamoto Inc. previously had the option to acquire these companies through a Marketing Services Agreement (MSA) that was assumed during its merger with Nakamoto Holdings last year, and the company’s shareholders had already approved the terms of this option. 

Following the approval, the three companies worked together on several marketing projects. 

Nakamoto then exercised its option to buy BTC Inc, while BTC Inc simultaneously made use of its own option to bring UTXO Management into the fold. Because of previous approvals, no further shareholder vote is needed to complete the deal.

The transaction uses a set price of $1.12 per share, which was established in the original MSA. In total, securityholders for BTC Inc and UTXO Management will receive 363,589,816 shares of Nakamoto common stock. 

The shares were priced at $0.2951 when the market closed on February 13, 2026, so the combined value of these shares is roughly $107,295,354.

As of today, Nakamoto’s stock (NAKA) is trading around $0.30 per share.

BTC Inc is based in Nashville and owns 27 different media brands that reach a combined audience of about 6 million people through various social media platforms. BTC Inc is most famous for organizing The Bitcoin Conference and for owning Bitcoin Magazine. 

BTC Inc. also runs a platform called Bitcoin for Corporations that helps businesses adopt Bitcoin as a treasury asset. This division also maintains a five-year partnership with Strategy Inc. to provide educational content and networking events for corporate leaders.

UTXO Management acts as the advisor to 210k Capital, LP., a hedge fund that specializes in Bitcoin-related securities, derivatives, and private investments. 

Tyler Evans, who serves as the Chief Investment Officer for both Nakamoto and UTXO, noted that the goal is to use Nakamoto’s public platform to build up value across the entire Bitcoin ecosystem.

How will this acquisition change Nakamoto Inc.’s business model?

With the acquisition, Nakamoto Inc. is no longer a holding company but rather a diversified “Bitcoin operating company.” David Bailey, the company’s Chairman and CEO, explained that the vision is to own a portfolio of businesses that can grow alongside Bitcoin. 

By owning both the media that informs the community and the investment firm that funds new projects, Nakamoto creates what they call a “flywheel.”

In Nakamoto’s new model, BTC Inc will provide global distribution and reach to attract companies and investors. UTXO will then provide the financial expertise to help those investors and the company itself allocate capital efficiently. 

The profits from these businesses are expected to provide “recurring earnings” to strengthen Nakamoto’s balance sheet. The funds will be used for buying more Bitcoin and making more strategic acquisitions.

The Bitcoin treasury strategy has been adopted by many public firms, including Strategy Inc., which recently announced that it now holds 713,502 Bitcoins, which they acquired for about $54.26 billion. In 2025 alone, they raised $25.3 billion to buy more Bitcoin.

Other companies like Hyperscale Data, Inc. reported that its Bitcoin treasury reached over 600 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $41.3 million. Hyperscale Data noted that their Bitcoin and cash holdings now exceed their entire market capitalization by over 136%.

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The President of France, Emannuel Macron, met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi today to deepen strategic and economic ties between the two nations. This meeting is part of a wider shift in geopolitical alignments amid global economic uncertainty.

The President of France traveled to India this week to meet with the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The goal of this visit by French President Macron is to strengthen cooperation with India by creating new strategic and economic agreements. It is also part of an effort by India to attract more foreign capital to its blossoming economy. Today’s meeting between the two leaders was held in Mumbai and resulted in the announcement of widespread bilateral cooperation across a multitude of sectors.

Over a dozen new agreements are reported to have been signed between the two nations, including expanded cooperation across defense, trade, technology, energy, critical minerals, scientific research, and more. The two leaders have agreed to meet on an annual basis to discuss and improve this newfound strategic partnership, ushering in a promising new era of diplomacy between the nations. This shift comes amid growing geopolitical tensions, particularly between the United States, China, and Europe, leading countries like France to diversify their economic partnerships.

Strategic realignment in a changing world order

This new economic alignment between India and France has widespread implications that could prove greatly beneficial to both countries in the long term. The largest order of operations was on a military alliance, as both nations renewed their defense cooperation agreement. This resulted in the announcement of accelerated cooperation in emerging defense technologies and the expansion of defense industrial collaboration. This also marks a turning point for India, which has been largely dependent on Russia for its military capabilities.

The new defense deal with France is a huge step towards Indian military independence from Russia, as it allows them to greatly expand defense production at home through French investment. India recently purchased $40 billion USD worth of military equipment from France, reportedly including over 100 advanced fighter jets.

India and France also amended a key tax agreement to greatly reduce barriers to cross-border investment and business operations between the two nations. This will allow a newfound capacity to foster French-Indian business innovation. Additional agreements between the two nations included the expansion of institutional partnerships in science and technology, aerospace manufacturing, critical metals and minerals, and clean energy. Emmanuel Macron will continue his three-day diplomatic visit to India by attending the 2026 AI Impact Summit in New Delhi later this week.

The emergence of India as a strategic partner for Western nations

France’s new economic alliance with India is part of a larger, recent effort by Western nations to strategically align with the country. India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world, and their success is expected to continue in the new year. India’s Economic Survey 2026, which was released ahead of the country’s Union Budget 2026, projected GDP growth of 7.4% for the country’s 2026 financial year. These factors, along with favorable tax incentives for manufacturing, a robust, skilled young workforce, and cheap labor costs, make India an attractive target for long-term investment by Western countries.

There is also a larger effort by the West to diversify investment away from China to mitigate supply chain risks. India has emerged as a much more favorable and reliable candidate for economic partnerships, as the country’s politics align more in favor of those of Western nations. As China continues to solidify itself as a global superpower, increased investment in India by the U.S. and Europe reduces reliance on their Chinese adversary and can create balance in the region.

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Japanese internet-based financial conglomerate SBI Holdings has responded to earlier allegations regarding its connection with XRP. The company has denied claims that it holds $10 billion in XRP tokens. It states that its exposure to Ripple’s ecosystem is through a 9% equity stake in Ripple Labs, valued at $4 b based on recent valuations.

With this clarification in place, reports indicate that the multinational financial services firm had addressed earlier doubts about a massive XRP reserve. This move underscores robust institutional confidence and commitment to Ripple. Moreover, it demonstrates SBI’s continued strategic alliance with the cross-border payments provider.

Analysts see the size and nature of the equity stake as a significant institutional commitment to Ripple.

Several individuals raised concerns over SBI Holdings’s investment in Ripple

SBI Holdings’ CEO, clearing up a misunderstanding about the company’s $10 billion holdings in XRP, noted that the core investment lies in its substantial equity stake in Ripple Labs.

This rumor recently made headlines after an anonymous X social media user under the username Ledger Man praised SBI Holdings’ expansion into crypto in Singapore via the acquisition of Coinhako, Singapore’s leading digital asset platform.

When users mentioned that the Japanese financial services conglomerate held approximately $10 billion in Ripple tokens, several individuals responded. To prevent any further spread of the rumors, Kitao swiftly corrected the misinformation in the post. He began by denying the $10 billion XRP rumor. He clarified that SBI’s actual exposure is through a 9% ownership in Ripple Labs, not a direct, large-scale holding of the digital asset.

“Instead of $10 billion in XRP, it’s actually about 9% of Ripple Labs. This means our hidden asset could be much larger,” he said. Following this statement, analysts argued that Kitao’s phrase “hidden asset” suggests that SBI views its Ripple holdings as undervalued, especially if regulatory clarity and continued growth drive up the XRP issuer’s value.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that this incident shows how fast misinformation spreads in crypto, especially when people confuse equity investments with token holdings.

Several firms embrace tokenization in their operation

Just recently, Ripple made public its partnership with Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc, a major British insurance and savings group. The primary goal of this collaboration is to evaluate the integration of tokenized traditional funds onto the XRP Ledger. With this move, Ripple secures its first-ever partnership with a European investment management firm.

The two firms said in a statement that Aviva Investors seeks to utilize XRPL, an open-source, decentralized, public blockchain, to facilitate the issuance and management of tokenized funds.

At this point, sources clarified that this project illustrates Aviva Investors’ inaugural venture into tokenized fund structures, with significant expansion projected for 2026 and beyond.

Nigel Khakoo, Ripple’s Vice President of Trading and Markets, decided to comment on this matter. He noted that “Tokenization is shifting from testing to widespread use,” further noting that, “We think that creating tokenized fund structures can bring significant technological improvements to the investment industry, and we anticipate seeing this fully realized in the next ten years.” 

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Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) renewed his claim that FTX was solvent at the time of its collapse. In the latest post, he cited a sworn declaration from the exchange’s former head of data science. This comes in with SBF’s pursuit of a new trial from prison.

In a post on X made via proxy, SBF brought Dan Chapsky’s memo to the notice. He mentioned that no one was more qualified to assess the company’s financial position. However, Chapsky had been hired by bankruptcy lawyers to calculate whether the exchange was solvent.

FTX had $8B liquidity gap but was ‘still solvent’

According to the post, Chapsky’s declaration mentions that FTX’s international arm faced an $8 billion liquidity shortfall on Nov. 11, 2022. Despite this, the platform remained solvent because its assets exceeded customer deposits. He added his opinion on the given the nature and value of the assets in FTX’s possession on November 11.

The declaration further added that international customers could have been repaid within months, not years. If the exchange did not get into omnibus bankruptcy proceedings and abruptly shut down. Bankman-Fried said this view was validated by findings from the bankruptcy court’s independent examiner.

FTX was always solvent.

No one in the world is more qualified to comment on this than Dan Chapsky.

Dan was Head of Data Science at FTX. When the bankruptcy lawyers wanted to know if FTX was solvent, Dan was who they hired to calculate the answer.

In a new sworn declaration,… pic.twitter.com/hKZVp7nEsE

— SBF (@SBF_FTX) February 17, 2026

Earlier, SBF had claimed that fresh evidence shows that Biden’s DOJ threatened several witnesses into silence or led them to change their testimony. He asked for his conviction to be thrown out. He added that Judge Lewis Kaplan should recuse himself from this motion. 

He stated that companies were forced offshore under Biden, while under the Trump administration, they’re welcome back in America. He pointed out that under Democrats, companies that needed licenses were refused. Meanwhile, under the new administration, that has changed, and the DOJ is no longer indicting entire industries.

SBF bets on new evidence

SBF is serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud tied to FTX’s collapse, and now he is bidding for a new trial. In this case, he even filed a motion in Manhattan federal court Pro Se. This suggests that he is representing himself. The request for a new trial was filed by his mother, Barbara Fried. She had argued that new witness testimony could undermine the prosecution’s case.

The filing highlighted the absence of testimony from former FTX executive Ryan Salame. He fought his own legal battle and was later convicted on federal charges. Salame had claimed he reached an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors that would shield his wife. But she was later charged with allegedly taking illegal campaign contributions in her congressional campaign.

SBF’s new bid argues that new evidence and witness accounts could challenge the narrative presented at trial. However, appellate judges have previously shown skepticism about that line of argument. The November hearing saw members of the appeals panel question whether solvency was central to the case.

FTX’s fallen token FTT posted some gains amid the fresh claims. FTT price is up by more than 13% in the last 7 days, but it is still down by 99% from its all time high of $85 recorded on September 9 2021. FTT is trading at an average price of $0.373 at the press time.

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Bitcoin has been stuck in a tight range around $68,000 for several days now, showing little sign of a decisive breakout.

The leading cryptocurrency recently wrapped up a session close to $68,030 after pushing as high as $69,061 only to retreat to $67,703 amid solid trading activity that surpassed $31 billion.

Right now Bitcoin sits near $67,300, marking a small drop of about 0.5% from the previous day. That level leaves it roughly 46% off the all-time peak of $126,000 reached back in October.

Why the October crash changed everything for institutional investors

On October 10 a sharp downturn liquidated $19 billion worth of leveraged bets throughout crypto, setting off widespread selling pressure that hammered prices across the board. Smaller altcoins bore the worst of it, with many plunging 80% to 90% and failing to claw back much ground since then.

Kevin O’Leary, the well-known investor and Shark Tank figure often called “Mr. Wonderful,” believes the October wipeout fundamentally altered how big players view the space.

“Back in October when everything melted, Bitcoin got slaughtered and the rest of the market was wiped out, some coins down 80–90% and they never recovered,” O’Leary said in recent comments shared on X and in media interviews.

“Why? Because institutions finally did the math and realized if you want 90% of the upside and volatility in crypto, you only need Bitcoin and Ethereum.”

O’Leary himself acted on that view last month by slashing 27 positions from his crypto holdings. He narrowed his focus to what he terms the “Two Girl Dance”, Bitcoin and Ethereum, while also putting money into the energy infrastructure needed to run those networks.

In his eyes, the altcoins that got dumped were simply low-quality and carried too much unnecessary risk for serious portfolios.

That kind of repositioning mirrors what many professional managers are doing. Major funds seem to be stepping away from riskier tokens and concentrating instead on the two biggest names by market cap. Even with that tighter approach, their combined exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum still adds up to meaningful amounts.

Quantum computing fears and the road to clearer regulation

A big reason institutions stay on the sidelines involves worries about quantum computing. In theory, future quantum machines might break through the elliptic curve cryptography that protects Bitcoin. O’Leary brought this up again in posts and video segments this month, pointing out that the possibility alone is enough to make portfolio managers cap their crypto bets at around 3% until more solid solutions appear.

The Bitcoin developer community isn’t sitting idle. They recently incorporated Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 360, known as BIP-360, into the official BIP repository. This introduces a fresh output format called Pay-to-Merkle-Root, or P2MR.

The change eliminates a particular spending route in Taproot addresses that could become a weak point against quantum attacks, all while leaving script-based features fully available. People following the space see this as a solid first move to strengthen defenses, with additional improvements likely on the way.

At the same time, some of the larger platforms in the industry have formed dedicated teams to keep an eye on evolving cryptographic challenges over the long haul.

When it comes to rules and oversight, O’Leary remains hopeful. He expects Congress to approve legislation that spells out a proper market structure for crypto ahead of the midterm elections.

Right now, the market feels like it’s paused. Bitcoin trades in the neighborhood of $67,700 without sellers dumping in fear or buyers rushing to pile in. Most institutional players look ready to hold steady and watch how the regulatory situation unfolds alongside progress on addressing quantum risks before they commit larger sums.

That cautious stance makes sense given the mix of factors at play. The October events exposed how fragile leveraged plays can be, especially outside the top assets.

At the same time, the promise of better rules could open doors wider, while the quantum discussion reminds everyone that long-term tech threats deserve attention.

Until then, the narrow range around current levels feels likely to persist.

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The S&P 500 is down 0.5%, the Nasdaq Composite is off 0.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped 188 points, or 0.4%, as Wall Street opens the week in the red after another losing stretch.

Bitcoin is holding steady around $67,213, hovering near $67K even as equities struggle.