Month: February 2026

Kraken, CMT Digital, and Fidelity’s arm invest in crypto options platform STS Digital

admin

STS Digital, a Bermuda-regulated digital asset trading firm serving institutional clients, has secured $30 million in a round led by CMT Digital, according to a Thursday announcement. Payward, the parent company of exchange operator Kraken, also participated alongside Arrington Capital, BitRock Capital, Strobe Ventures, and Fidelity’s affiliated investment arm, F-Prime. Established in 2022, STS Digital offers trading in spot markets, options, and structured products across more than 400 digital assets through multiple access channels. The fresh capital will be used to grow the firm’s spot and options infrastructure, enhance its…

Citi to integrate Bitcoin into traditional finance via bank-grade custody

admin

Citi is preparing to roll out infrastructure aimed at integrating Bitcoin into traditional finance, according to Nisha Surendran, who leads the bank’s digital asset custody development. Speaking at Strategy World, an event hosted this week by Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy, Surendran said the initiative is part of Citi’s effort to “make Bitcoin bankable” through custody, key management, and integration into existing financial systems. “Later this year, Citi will be launching our infrastructure that integrates Bitcoin into traditional finance,” Surendran said. “We’re going to start with core custody and safekeeping capabilities,…

Middle East Tensions Drive Flight to Gold as Investors Exit Equities, BTC

admin

Rising tensions in the Middle East are pushing investors toward safe-haven assets, with gold demand climbing as investors flee equities and crypto markets. On Wednesday, reports revealed that Iran has sharply increased crude oil exports, with shipments from Kharg Island reaching roughly 20.1 million barrels between Feb. 15 and Feb. 20, about three times January’s level, as a preemptive supply release and a hedge against possible disruption if tensions with the United States escalate. At the same time, increasingly hawkish US rhetoric regarding Iran’s nuclear program has raised expectations of…

Bitcoin Price Eyes $80,000 Liquidity Grab as ETFs Resume Buying BTC

admin

Bitcoin (BTC) tapped $70,000 during Wednesday’s New York session as bulls targeted sell liquidity. Key takeaways: BTC price support must hold above a key trendline at $68,000 for the rebound to continue. $80,000 is a key level to watch as the next big liquidation cluster above. Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows attracted half a billion dollars in inflows on Wednesday. BTC/USD hourly chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView Bitcoin must close week above $68,000 Data from TradingView showed the BTC/USD pair at $68,480 on Bitstamp. This is just above the 200-week exponential moving average…

Indiana Crypto Rights Bill Heads for Governor’s Signature

admin

Indiana lawmakers sent a bill to Governor Mike Braun that would expand legal protections for cryptocurrency users and require certain state retirement and savings plans to offer a self-directed brokerage option with at least one crypto investment choice. House Bill 1042 (HB1042) for the “regulation and investment of cryptocurrency” cleared the legislature on Wednesday, with 59 lawmakers voting in favor and 33 against, according to data from Legiscan. The bill seeks to protect Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency investor rights, ban discriminatory crypto taxes and open the door for digital asset…

Gate Secures Malta PSD2 License for EU Payment Services

admin

Crypto exchange Gate has secured a Payment Institution license in Malta, a license under the European Union’s PSD2 framework, giving the crypto exchange a regulated foothold to offer payment services across the bloc alongside its existing crypto permissions. The company said Thursday that its Malta-based entity, Gate Technology, received the license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Gate said the approval supports its strategy of linking traditional payment infrastructure with Web3 services in Europe. The authorization adds payment capabilities to Gate’s existing EU crypto permissions. On Oct. 1, 2025,…

Bitcoin ETFs Gain Momentum as BlackRock Leads Inflows

admin

US spot Bitcoin funds extended their rebound Wednesday as BTC reclaimed $68,000, pulling in $506.5 million in inflows, the largest daily total since Feb. 2. Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are nearing a potential first week of inflows after five weeks of net outflows totaling $3.8 billion, with weekly inflows now at $560.4 million, according to SoSoValue data. The gains mark two consecutive days of inflows, hinting at a possible upside following a massive February sell-off that wiped out $20 billion in net assets. Weekly flows in US spot Bitcoin…

OCC Stablecoin Proposal Targets Yield, Sets Stage for CLARITY Act

admin

The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has dropped a 376‑page proposal to implement the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act that looks to settle the ongoing stablecoin yield fight. The proposal is open to public comment for 60 days from Wednesday’s publication date, and sets out detailed rules for permitted payment stablecoin issuers under the OCC’s jurisdiction. Supervised entities would be barred from paying any form of interest or yield, whether in cash, tokens, or other consideration, “solely in connection with the…

Whale Loses $8.2M in ARC Liquidation on Lighter as Protocol Contain Losses

admin

A big crypto trader lost $8.2 million after a leveraged bet on the ARC perpetuals market unraveled on the decentralized derivatives platform Lighter, forcing the exchange to tap its backstop liquidity and trigger auto-deleveraging to manage risk. In a series of posts on X, the platform explained that the whale built a very large long position over several days, pushing total open interest in the ARC (ARC) market to about $50 million, while about 600 traders and market makers took the opposite side. The trade began to fail when ARC’s…

AllUnity Launches Swiss Franc Stablecoin CHFAU

admin

AllUnity, a stablecoin platform backed by Deutsche Bank, has launched a new stablecoin denominated in Swiss francs (CHF). After introducing its euro-pegged EURAU stablecoin last year, AllUnity is rolling out CHFAU, a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the franc, the company said in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on Thursday. Initially available to institutional and professional investors, CHFAU launches on the Ethereum blockchain as an ERC-20 token, with plans to expand to additional networks later this year. CHFAU enters the market fully aligned with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA)…