Day: February 12, 2026

Strategy to Push Preferred Stock to Boost Bitcoin Buys: CEO

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Bitcoin treasury company Strategy will further lean on its preferred stock sales to acquire Bitcoin, shifting from its strategy of selling common stock, says CEO Phong Le. “We will start to transition from equity capital to preferred capital,” Le told Bloomberg’s “The Close” on Wednesday. Stretch (STRC) is Strategy’s perpetual preferred stock, launched in July, and is aimed at buyers looking for stability by offering an annual dividend of over 11%.  STRC is the company’s fourth perpetual preferred offering, launched to finance its Bitcoin (BTC) purchases. It’s an alternative to…

Aster to launch layer 1 mainnet in March with privacy-first features

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Aster, a decentralized perpetual exchange endorsed by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, plans to launch Aster Chain’s mainnet in March, the team announced on X on Wednesday. Aster Chain mainnet in March. Privacy is good. Aster is good. 🥷 — Aster (@Aster_DEX) February 12, 2026 The rollout, part of the company’s 2026 roadmap, is designed to boost Aster’s infrastructure with a dedicated network for its on-chain products as well as tools for builders and integrated fiat on/offramps. The layer 1 testnet went live in early February 2026 after initial whitelisted testing…

Ethereum Set For V-Shaped Recovery, Fundstrat’s Lee Says

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Fundstrat head of research Tom Lee said he expects Ether to rebound quickly following recent declines, arguing the asset has experienced eight such recoveries since 2018. “A lot of people are frustrated, but keep in mind that Ethereum, since 2018, has fallen more than 50% eight times,” said Lee at a conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday.  Last year, Ethereum fell 64% from January to March, he added.  “But eight out of eight times, Ethereum has had a V-shaped bottom. So it has recovered 100% of the time within almost…

WhatsApp Accuses Russia of Restricting Access for Millions of Users

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WhatsApp, the messaging app owned by social media giant Meta, has accused Russia of attempting to block access for millions of its users in an attempt to push them towards its state-owned alternative. “Trying to isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communication is a backward step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia. We continue to do everything we can to keep users connected,” the company said in an X post on Wednesday. Moscow’s state-backed platform Max was launched in March 2025 by Russian…

Dogecoin (DOGE) Stumbles Lower, Market Awaits Trend Shift Signal

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Aayush Jindal, a luminary in the world of financial markets, whose expertise spans over 15 illustrious years in the realms of Forex and cryptocurrency trading. Renowned for his unparalleled proficiency in providing technical analysis, Aayush is a trusted advisor and senior market expert to investors worldwide, guiding them through the intricate landscapes of modern finance with his keen insights and astute chart analysis. From a young age, Aayush exhibited a natural aptitude for deciphering complex systems and unraveling patterns. Fueled by an insatiable curiosity for understanding market dynamics, he embarked…

Crypto Lender BlockFills Paused Withdrawals Amid Market Fall

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Institution-focused crypto lending platform BlockFills announced it halted customer deposits and withdrawals last week as Bitcoin and the broader crypto market continued to tumble.  The suspension, which remains in effect, was intended to protect clients and restore liquidity on the platform, BlockFills said in an X post on Wednesday. Last week’s market tumble saw Bitcoin fall another 24% from $78,995 to $60,000. Blockfills said the withdrawal and deposit halt came “in light of recent market and financial conditions.” “Management has been working hand in hand with investors and clients to…

Thailand Approves Bitcoin For Derivatives Trading Markets

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Thailand’s government on Tuesday approved the Finance Ministry’s proposal allowing digital assets to be used as underlying assets in the country’s derivatives and capital markets. The move aims to modernize Thailand’s derivatives markets in line with international standards, strengthen regulatory oversight and investor protection, and position itself as a regional hub for institutional crypto trading, the Bangkok Post reported. The country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will amend the Derivatives Act to enable these new asset classes, which include Bitcoin (BTC) and carbon credits.  “The decision to formally recognize digital…

Ethereum Leaders Propose New System to Protect AI Privacy

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Ethereum Foundation AI lead Davide Crapis and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin have proposed a way to use zero-knowledge proofs and other methods to ensure that a user’s interactions with large language models are private, while preventing spam and abuse.   API calls occur every time a user sends a message to a software application, such as an AI chatbot. Crapis and Buterin said in a blog post on Wednesday that a core challenge for both users and providers is privacy, security and efficiency. “We need a system where a user…

XRP Price Steadies Above Support, Break Higher Or Fade Again?

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Aayush Jindal, a luminary in the world of financial markets, whose expertise spans over 15 illustrious years in the realms of Forex and cryptocurrency trading. Renowned for his unparalleled proficiency in providing technical analysis, Aayush is a trusted advisor and senior market expert to investors worldwide, guiding them through the intricate landscapes of modern finance with his keen insights and astute chart analysis. From a young age, Aayush exhibited a natural aptitude for deciphering complex systems and unraveling patterns. Fueled by an insatiable curiosity for understanding market dynamics, he embarked…

UK Treasury taps HSBC’s Orion blockchain to pilot first G7 digital gilt

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The initiative aims to accelerate settlement times and reduce costs in government bond trading. The UK Treasury has selected HSBC Holdings, Europe’s largest bank by assets, and Ashurst, a prominent international law firm, to lead a pilot program for digital gilt, a move that could make the UK the first G7 country to issue sovereign bonds directly on a blockchain. The pilot will take place in the Bank of England’s digital sandbox, providing a regulated environment to test tokenized government securities. Digital gilts are government bonds issued as digital tokens…