Day: February 18, 2026

$1.78M ‘Vibe-Coded’ Oracle Bug Puts AI-Coauthored Contracts Under Scrutiny

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Moonwell, a decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol deployed on Base and Optimism, was exploited for about $1.78 million after a pricing oracle for Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH (cbETH) returned a value of about $1.12 instead of $2,200, creating a mispricing that attackers were able to use for profit. Moonwell said in an incident post-mortem that a governance proposal executed on Sunday misconfigured the cbETH oracle by using the cbETH/ETH exchange rate alone, causing the system to report cbETH at about $1.12. The protocol said liquidation bots and opportunistic borrowers exploited…

Grayscale debuts SUI Staking ETF on NYSE

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Grayscale Investments has rolled out a new exchange-traded product that gives investors exposure to SUI, the native token of the Sui Network, while seeking to generate returns through network staking, according to a Wednesday announcement. The fund, called Grayscale Sui Staking ETF, trades on NYSE Arca under the ticker GSUI. Operating as a passive vehicle, it aims to track the value of SUI held, including any SUI earned through staking once eligibility conditions are met. The ETF charges a 0.35% annual management fee, though Grayscale is waiving this charge for…

AMLBot Says Social Engineering Drove 65% of Crypto Incidents in 2025

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About two-thirds of crypto incidents investigated by blockchain analytics company AMLBot in 2025 were driven by social engineering rather than technical exploits, according to a report based on the company’s internal casework. AMLBot said 65% of the incidents it reviewed last year involved access and response failures, such as compromised devices, weak verification and delayed detection, instead of vulnerabilities in blockchains or smart contracts. The company said its analysis draws on about 2,500 internal investigations and should not be read as an industrywide measure of crypto crime, according to a…

ECB eyes digital euro pilot in 2027 and rollout in 2029

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The European Central Bank (ECB) is aiming to begin pilot testing of the digital euro in mid-2027, with initial issuance targeted for 2029, according to Executive Board member Piero Cipollone speaking at an Italian Banking Association executive meeting today. The ECB, which oversees monetary policy for the eurozone, entered its technical readiness phase in November 2025 after completing two years of preparatory work. The current stage focuses on building infrastructure, testing components, and engaging with payment providers and merchants. A 12-month pilot involving selected banks, retailers, and central bank staff…

Lagarde May Leave ECB Early as Digital Euro Enters Key Phase

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European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde is considering leaving before her eight-year term ends in October 2027, the Financial Times reported, citing a person “familiar with her thinking.”  Lagarde, who took office in November 2019, is said to be weighing an early exit ahead of France’s April 2027 presidential election so that outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz can agree on a successor, the FT reported Wednesday. An ECB spokesperson pushed back on the report, telling Cointelegraph: “President Lagarde is totally focused on her mission and…

Wells Fargo Says YOLO Trade Could Send $150B Into Bitcoin And Risk Assets

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US tax filers may see bigger refunds in 2026 compared with previous years, a development one Wall Street strategist said may boost risk appetite for digital assets and tech stocks preferred among retail investors. In a note cited by CNBC, Wells Fargo analyst Ohsung Kwon said the coming refund wave may help bring back the so-called “YOLO” trade, with as much as $150 billion potentially flowing into equities and Bitcoin (BTC) by the end of March. Kwon said the extra cash could be most visible among higher-income consumers. “Speculation picks…

Bitcoin ETFs Post $105M Outflows As Hong Kong Buyer Emerges

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US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted $104.9 million in net outflows on Tuesday in the first trading session this week. Total trading volume in spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs fell to just over $3 billion, down nearly 80% from a record $14.7 billion on Feb. 5, reflecting a continued slowdown in trading activity, according to SoSoValue data. Daily flows in US spot Bitcoin ETFs since Feb. 9, 2026. Source: SoSoValue The outflows came as another round of institutions reported their Bitcoin ETF holdings for the fourth quarter of 2025, with…

Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund Exits ETHZilla as Ether Treasuries Strain

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Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund has fully exited Ether treasury company ETHZilla, according to a Tuesday filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  Entities linked to Thiel now report owning zero shares in the company in a 13G amendment filed on Tuesday, after disclosing a 7.5% stake on Aug. 4, 2025.  At that time, the group beneficially owned 11,592,241 shares of what was then known as 180 Life Sciences Corp., representing 7.5% of the 154,032,084 shares outstanding and worth about $40 million based on trading…

Peter Thiel sells entire stake in Ethereum treasury ETHZilla

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Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist who co-founded PayPal and Palantir Technologies, and his Founders Fund have completely divested from ETHZilla, a firm that holds Ethereum as its core treasury asset, according to a new SEC filing. Thiel reported acquiring a 7.5% stake in ETHZilla last August. The investor group also disclosed holding over 9% of BitMine Immersion, the largest Ethereum treasury firm. The investors sold their entire stake in ETHZilla as of Dec. 31, 2025. Their departure marks a reversal from an earlier position that had been viewed as…