The GENIUS Act and MiCA will split stablecoins into cash and shadow deposits
Stablecoins are increasingly defined
not by claims of being fully backed but by who can actually redeem at
par during a crisis. The core risk is shifting from whether reserves
exist to whether they remain legally and operationally accessible when
trust breaks down, as seen during the Silicon Valley Bank episode when
USDC briefly lost its peg due to temporary reserve inaccessibility.
Regulators are now embedding this lesson into law. The GENIUS Act in the
United States establishes strict rules for payment stablecoins,
including tight reserve requirements and a prohibition on
yield-for-holding to prevent bank-like run dynamics. In contrast,
Europe’s MiCA framework focusses on legally enforceable redemption
rights and introduces mechanisms to restrain stablecoins that grow into
systemically important payment rails.
Together, these regimes are shaping a
two-tier stablecoin market. The most tightly regulated tokens will
resemble digital cash, supported by statutory redemption rights,
high-quality liquid reserves and strict limits on yield features. Other
designs may function like cash in normal conditions but behave more like
credit instruments during stress, particularly where rewards programs,
wrappers or cross-border multi-issuance structures introduce hidden
fragilities. The critical evaluation metric becomes legal priority and
liquidity under panic conditions, including whether redemption rights
apply universally, whether reserves remain reachable during banking
disruptions and whether jurisdictional differences could create run
magnets. Stablecoins are evolving into financial institutions where
legal architecture, not branding, determines whether a peg survives
systemic shocks. Source
Miner Offloads $305M Bitcoin as Network Difficulty Sees Sharp Decline
Bitcoin mining conditions worsened in
late January and early February as network difficulty fell 14.1% across
two consecutive downward adjustments, signalling that less efficient
mining equipment was being taken offline. This shift coincided with a
roughly 25% drop in Bitcoin’s price, which briefly touched $60,000
before recovering toward $70,000. Despite the tougher environment and
shrinking margins, on-chain data indicates that miners are not engaging
in widespread selling. Aggregate transfers from miners to exchanges have
remained stable, with daily flows near recent norms and no sustained
spikes suggesting forced liquidations.
Amid these pressures, publicly traded
miner Cango disclosed the sale of 4,451 BTC worth approximately $305
million, framing the move as balance sheet strengthening rather than
distress. Profitability metrics, including the Puell Multiple, point to
elevated stress levels, reflecting miner revenues below historical
averages. This dynamic typically encourages liquidity preservation and
selective reserve sales instead of expansion. The adjustment phase is
currently manifesting through hashrate reductions rather than aggressive
dumping, though analysts warn that a renewed decline below $60,000
could intensify financial strain and trigger additional sales across the
sector. Source
UK regulator takes High Court action against HTX over crypto promotions
The UK Financial Conduct Authority has
initiated legal proceedings against cryptocurrency exchange HTX,
alleging the firm illegally promoted crypto asset services to British
consumers in violation of financial advertising regulations. The case,
filed in the Chancery Division of the High Court, follows the FCA’s
adoption of the Financial Promotions Regime, which imposes strict
requirements on how crypto-related services can be marketed in the
United Kingdom. The regulator obtained permission to serve proceedings
outside the UK and through alternative methods, noting that HTX is
incorporated in Panama.
The FCA stated that HTX continued
advertising crypto services across multiple social media platforms
despite prior warnings, describing such unauthorised promotions as a
criminal offence. The regulator emphasised that its rules are intended
to protect consumers from misleading marketing while supporting a
sustainable crypto market. In response, the FCA has asked social media
companies to restrict HTX’s accounts for UK users, requested removal of
the exchange’s apps from UK app stores and placed the firm on its
Warning List, cautioning consumers that they lack regulatory protection.
Source
Bitmine Ignores $7.8B Paper Losses, Buys $83M Worth of ETH as Market Dips
BitMine, the Ethereum-focused treasury
firm chaired by Tom Lee, expanded its holdings with roughly $83 million
in ETH purchases during a period of heightened volatility and price
weakness. On-chain data indicates the firm acquired two separate blocks
of 20,000 ETH through institutional platforms, adding to a series of
large weekly purchases. The company now holds approximately 4.32 million
ETH at an average acquisition cost far above current market prices,
leaving its position with substantial unrealised losses. Despite this,
Lee has characterised the downturn as a market dislocation rather than a
reflection of deteriorating network fundamentals, pointing to metrics
such as elevated transaction activity.
Ethereum’s price continues to struggle,
posting steep declines over weekly and monthly timeframes, while
on-chain flows reveal contrasting behaviour among major holders. Some
large entities have exited positions and realised significant losses,
whereas BitMine has maintained an accumulation strategy, emphasising the
absence of debt obligations that might force liquidations. At the same
time, declining ETH reserves on exchanges suggest a broader reduction in
readily available sell-side liquidity, highlighting a split market
dynamic between capitulation-driven selling and long-term conviction
buying. Source
White House crypto bill talks ‘productive,’ but no deal yet
Discussions at the White House between
crypto industry representatives and banking groups over stablecoin
provisions in a proposed crypto market structure bill were described as
productive but failed to produce an agreement. The meeting, the second
in recent weeks, focused heavily on stablecoin rewards and yield
payments, an issue that continues to divide the two sides. While crypto
advocates pointed to bipartisan momentum for legislation defining
regulatory oversight of digital assets, progress has slowed after the
Senate Banking Committee struggled to secure sufficient support.
Momentum was further weakened when Coinbase withdrew its backing due to
provisions that would ban yield payments tied to stablecoins.
Banking lobbyists maintained that
yield-bearing stablecoins could threaten traditional bank deposits and
broader financial stability, arriving at the meeting with principles
advocating prohibition rather than negotiating specific bill language.
Major banking associations called for continued discussions, emphasising
the need to balance financial innovation with safety and soundness.
Meanwhile, industry voices argued against revisiting prior legislation
that already restricted stablecoin issuers from paying yield directly,
warning that renewed disputes could delay broader market structure
reforms. Source
UK central bank taps companies for distributed ledger settlement
The Bank of England has launched the
Synchronisation Lab, a six-month industry experimentation initiative
designed to explore how tokenized assets could be settled using
synchronised, atomic settlement in pounds sterling. The pilot will
involve 18 selected participants testing delivery-versus-payment and
payment-versus-payment mechanisms between the Bank’s next-generation
real-time gross settlement core ledger, RT2, and external
distributed-ledger platforms. Conducted in a non-live environment
without real money, the program aims to validate design choices for
synchronised settlement, evaluate interoperability between central bank
money and tokenized assets, and inform the potential development of a
live RTGS synchronisation capability. The participants include banks,
market infrastructure providers, fintech firms, and decentralised
technology companies examining use cases such as tokenized securities
settlement, collateral optimisation, foreign exchange, and digital-money
issuance.
Web3-focused firms including Chainlink
and UAC Labs will test decentralised coordination models for
synchronised settlement, while companies such as Ctrl Alt and Monee will
focus on settlement for tokenized gilts and securities. Other
participants will explore conditional margin payments and digital-money
issuance and redemption workflows, alongside established players like
Swift and LSEG. The initiative reflects a broader global trend, as
central banks increasingly examine tokenization, programmable
settlement, and digital currencies. Recent efforts include research from
the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Bank for International
Settlements on smart contracts for monetary policy, Singapore’s BLOOM
initiative for tokenized liabilities and stablecoins, and CBDC trials
across Australia, the UAE, and China-led cross-border projects. Source
CZ: Binance Leads Major Stablecoins, Not Just USD1
Binance users reportedly hold about 87%
of the circulating supply of USD1, a stablecoin linked to World Liberty
Financial, a crypto venture backed by members of President Donald
Trump’s family. Data cited from Arkham Intelligence indicates Binance
controls roughly $4.7 billion of the token’s $5.4 billion supply, a
level of concentration that exceeds the exchange holdings seen for other
top stablecoins. The figures sparked criticism from industry observers,
who raised concerns about custody risk and questioned whether USD1 was
designed for broad market use. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao dismissed
the controversy, arguing that Binance typically holds the largest share
of most major stablecoins due to user demand rather than preferential
treatment.
The debate unfolded alongside broader
scrutiny of Zhao and Binance, including lingering attention following
Zhao’s 2025 presidential pardon tied to earlier compliance violations.
Binance executives have also pointed to what they describe as
coordinated fear, uncertainty, and doubt campaigns, citing incidents
involving AI-generated impersonation accounts and analysis alleging
organised smear efforts. Market data continues to highlight Binance’s
dominant position, with reports showing the exchange captured
significant shares of global spot and derivatives trading volume and
held the majority of combined USDT and USDC reserves across major
platforms, reinforcing Zhao’s claim that large stablecoin balances on
Binance are typical. Source
Markethive Supergroups: The Hub for Marketing Campaigns and Lead Nurturing
Markethive Supergroups are presented as
customisable, integrated environments that combine social networking,
e-commerce, and marketing automation into a unified system designed for
entrepreneurs and businesses. They function as branded storefronts and
community hubs where advertising funnels, capture pages, splash pages,
and newsfeeds work together to streamline lead generation, engagement,
and conversion. The system emphasises synchronised marketing
capabilities, including email campaigns, content distribution,
broadcasting tools, shopping cart integration, and collaborative
blogging features, while providing administrators with activity tracking
and performance reporting across member actions, traffic flows, and
promotional efforts.
The framework also incorporates
incentive mechanisms such as token airdrops and vanity promo codes,
alongside a structured referral system that attributes sign-ups through
profile links, permalinks, or rotator links. Cooperative advertising
tools allow members to pool resources for shared campaigns with
automated share allocation and tracking, supported by vendor management,
URL shortening, website rotators, keyword monitoring, and backlink
verification. Overall, Supergroups are positioned as an all-in-one
marketing and lead nurturing ecosystem aimed at scaling outreach,
improving collaboration, optimising traffic distribution, and
strengthening community-driven business growth. Source
Ledger adds OKX DEX integration for on-device token swaps
Ledger has integrated OKX DEX into its
wallet app, allowing users to perform multichain token swaps directly
within a self-custodial environment while maintaining hardware-level
security. The integration provides access to OKX DEX’s aggregated
liquidity, with trades routed through OKX’s X-Routing technology to find
efficient execution paths across numerous decentralised exchanges. All
transactions are signed on the Ledger device, ensuring private keys
never leave the hardware wallet. The rollout is gradual, initially
reaching roughly 20% of users without requiring firmware or app updates.
At launch, swaps are supported on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base,
Polygon and BNB Chain, though cross-chain and cross-seed swaps are not
enabled.
The move comes amid broader industry
momentum toward public listings. Reports in January suggested Ledger was
exploring a US IPO that could value the company above $4 billion,
although the firm declined to confirm. Other crypto companies are also
pursuing or considering listings, including Securitise, which reported
sharp revenue growth ahead of its blank-check merger plans, and Copper,
which was said to be evaluating options despite downplaying IPO
intentions. Kraken is likewise expected to go public in 2026 after
confidential SEC filings, though recent reports indicate executive
changes, including the removal of its chief financial officer. Source
Tokenized commodities market crosses $6B amid gold’s historic rally
The tokenized commodities market has
surged past $6.1 billion after climbing 53% in less than six weeks,
driven overwhelmingly by gold-backed digital assets. Tether Gold and
Paxos-issued PAX Gold dominate the sector, together accounting for more
than 95% of total market value. Since the start of the year, roughly $2
billion has flowed into tokenized commodities, marking one of the
fastest expansions within the broader real-world asset tokenization
space. Year-on-year growth now stands at 360%, significantly outpacing
tokenized stocks and funds, while positioning tokenized commodities at
over one-third the size of the tokenized funds market and far ahead of
tokenized equities.
The rapid growth aligns with gold’s
powerful price rally, which has seen the metal climb more than 80% over
the past year and recently establish new highs before stabilising above
$5,000. Tether has reinforced its commitment to tokenized gold through a
major investment in Gold.com, aiming to integrate its XAUt token and
potentially enable physical gold purchases using stablecoins. In
contrast, Bitcoin has struggled to regain momentum following a sharp
correction, fuelling debate over whether the asset behaves more like a
high-risk technology stock than a traditional safe haven. Market
observers note that Bitcoin’s divergence from gold during this period
has challenged the long-standing digital gold narrative. Source
Robinhood’s Ethereum Layer-2 Network Enters Public Testnet Phase
Robinhood has launched a public testnet
for its Ethereum layer-2 network, Robinhood Chain, allowing developers
to experiment with applications and provide technical feedback. The
initiative aims to create a controlled environment to evaluate the
network’s capabilities as it integrates with Robinhood’s brokerage
services. The company is particularly focused on exploring how tokenized
assets, including stock tokens introduced in Europe last year, can
align with traditional financial workflows. The testnet targets
developers experienced with products like perpetual futures exchanges
and lending platforms, as well as institutions interested in leveraging
the network to offer their own products.
Robinhood is positioning its layer-2
network not just for scaling Ethereum, but as a foundation to expand its
services and reshape aspects of its systems. Unlike competitors such as
Coinbase and Kraken, which build on Optimism, Robinhood Chain is
modelled on Arbitrum’s technology, designed to support
developer-friendly applications and tokenization projects. The company
is proceeding cautiously with tokenized asset rollouts in the U.S.,
awaiting regulatory guidance from the Securities and Exchange
Commission, while aiming to enable round-the-clock trading with crypto
as the underlying infrastructure. Source
LayerZero unveils ‘Zero’ chain with Citadel Securities, ARK Invest backing
LayerZero Labs is launching a new
layer-1 blockchain called Zero, targeting institutional financial
markets with a planned fall 2026 debut. The network is designed to scale
up to two million transactions per second by using zero-knowledge
proofs and the zero-knowledge virtual machine Jolt to overcome
traditional blockchain throughput limits. Zero will feature three
permissionless environments called zones, with interoperability provided
by the LayerZero token, ZRO, across more than 165 blockchains. The
architecture aims to advance blockchain capabilities significantly, with
the company claiming it could bring large-scale economic activity
on-chain.
The project has secured backing from
ARK Invest, Citadel Securities, and Tether’s investment arm, with ARK
CEO Cathie Wood joining Zero’s advisory board alongside executives from
the New York Stock Exchange and BNY Mellon. Several institutions,
including Google Cloud, Intercontinental Exchange, and the Depository
Trust & Clearing Corporation, are exploring Zero for applications
ranging from micropayments and AI-driven trading to clearing
infrastructure and tokenized collateral. Decentralised trading platform
Global Token Exchange also plans to build its treasury layer on Zero,
highlighting broad institutional interest in leveraging the network’s
scalability and cross-chain interoperability. Source
Crypto Wallet Giant MetaMask Tops Santiment’s New Development Activity Rankings – Here Are the Other High-Scoring Projects
MetaMask has claimed the top position
in Santiment’s latest rankings for overall development activity,
reflecting significant recent contributions on GitHub. Layer-1
blockchain Hedera (HBAR) came in second, followed by Dfinity’s Internet
Computer (ICP) in third, with Chainlink (LINK) and Starknet (STRK)
rounding out the next two spots. Cardano (ADA), Safe (SAFE), DeepBook
(DEEP), Sui (SUI), and Aptos (APT) completed the top ten, showing shifts
in rankings compared to the previous month as Santiment tracks notable
development activity rather than routine updates.
Santiment’s methodology focusses on
meaningful GitHub events that indicate active project development,
excluding minor or routine changes. The firm emphasises that sustained
development activity can be a key indicator of a project’s vitality and
reduces the likelihood of abandonment, offering investors and users
insight into which crypto projects are actively building and innovating.
Source
Robinhood Q4 earnings miss as crypto revenues decline
Robinhood reported record net revenues
of $1.28 billion for Q4, falling short of analyst expectations of $1.34
billion despite a 27% year-over-year increase. Crypto revenues declined
sharply, dropping 38% to $221 million amid a prolonged crypto market
downturn, while net income fell 34% to $605 million, with earnings per
share slightly exceeding estimates at 66 cents. Following the earnings
release, Robinhood shares dropped nearly 8% in after-hours trading,
reflecting investor disappointment, and the stock has fallen more than
42% since its October peak.
Over the full year, Robinhood’s net
revenues rose 52% to $4.5 billion, and net income grew 35% to $1.9
billion. While crypto trading volumes increased modestly by 3% to $82.4
billion, equity and options volumes grew more substantially, with
equities up 10% to $710 billion and options contracts up 8% to 659
million. Robinhood’s new prediction markets and other transaction-based
products surged to $147 million in Q4, a 375% increase year-over-year,
surpassing equity-trading revenue for the first time. CEO Vlad Tenev
emphasised that the company remains committed to building its “Financial
SuperApp.” Source
Bithumb’s Bitcoin Blunder Puts Burden on Users as Legal Case Favors Civil Recovery
South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb is
working to recover Bitcoin mistakenly distributed during a promotional
event that credited users with roughly $43 billion in BTC instead of
Korean won. While most of the funds were quickly frozen or reversed,
some were withdrawn or sold before the error was contained, prompting
scrutiny from regulators and raising questions about liability. Legal
experts say Bithumb’s strongest path to recovery lies in civil claims
under unjust-enrichment law, which could compel recipients to return
Bitcoin received without a lawful basis, though outcomes may depend on
whether users knew or should have known the credits were erroneous.
Criminal liability is considered less straightforward, as the error
stemmed from internal mishandling rather than hacking or fraud.
Bithumb has announced a compensation
plan, including reimbursement with a bonus for users who sold Bitcoin at
the incorrect rates, and reports that 99.7% of the overpaid funds have
been recovered. The incident has drawn attention to weaknesses in
internal controls across South Korean exchanges and is accelerating
regulatory efforts to strengthen oversight, including requirements for
proof-of-reserves and limits on major shareholders’ stakes. Observers
note the error highlights the challenges of finality and accountability
on centralised platforms, and policymakers are expected to tighten
frameworks to prevent similar incidents in the future. Source
Crypto’s ‘age of speculation’ may be ending: Galaxy’s Novogratz
Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz says the era
of high-risk, high-reward crypto speculation is giving way to steadier
returns as institutional investors replace retail traders chasing
outsized gains. He pointed to past events such as the 2022 FTX collapse,
which caused a sharp Bitcoin decline and a breakdown in market trust,
and the October 10 leverage flush, which wiped out many retail traders
and market makers, as examples of how volatility can disrupt speculative
narratives. Novogratz emphasised that crypto has traditionally thrived
on stories and rapid gains, but these narratives are harder to rebuild
once trust is shaken.
Looking ahead, Novogratz expects the
industry to focus on practical applications like tokenized real-world
assets, offering lower but more predictable returns. While some
speculative trading will continue, the broader trend is toward using
crypto infrastructure to deliver financial services globally and to
integrate real-world assets into markets. Industry voices, including
Chainlink’s co-founder and Lightspark CEO David Marcus, echoed this
sentiment, noting that the holder base for Bitcoin is shifting and that
long-term believers in crypto as a market hedge are likely to remain
secure amid these structural changes. Source
Article Source https://markethive.com/group/2674/blog/newdevelopmentshappeningintheblockchainspace11022026
Disclaimer: These
articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not
offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or
any other advice.
Featured Image - Source: Pixabay
