Из жизни альткоинов

В феврале майнеры вывели с криптовалютных бирж в общей сложности 36 000 биткоинов. Только с крупнейшей торговой платформы, Binance, выведено более 12 000 BTC, подсчитали аналитики CryptoQuant.

Zashi, the flagship mobile wallet built by Zcash’s original engineering team, is rebranding to “Zodl” as its developers formally operate outside the Electric Coin Company (ECC) structure. The change matters less as a cosmetic refresh than as a signal: the same builders are continuing product work, but under a new corporate banner after a governance rupture that spilled into public view in early January.

Zcash Wallet Zashi Renamed Zodl

In a post on X dated Feb. 16, the wallet team said the next app update will rename Zashi to Zodl “without impacting the user experience,” stressing there is “no action required” from users. “It’s a new brand for a new chapter, but everything else stays the same: the wallet, the team behind it, and our commitment to Zcash,” the announcement read. “We’re moving forward with clarity and purpose, and this change reflects the building momentum.”

The post also tied the rebrand to a broader organizational reset. “In January of this year, the entire Electric Coin Company (ECC) team, the original creators of Zcash and Zashi, left ECC and formed a new company,” it said, naming the new entity Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) and positioning Zodl as the “Zcash flagship wallet.” The team framed the move as a way to pursue growth “without reliance on the Zcash development fund,” while keeping continuity on shipping and support.

On mission, the wallet team used language that will be familiar to long-time Zcash followers, explicitly anchoring the product roadmap to privacy-first payments. “We envision a world without mass financial surveillance. A world where law-abiding people can transact freely and privately, without fear that their data will be exploited or weaponized,” the post said. “There is no sovereignty without privacy. Our banner has changed, but our mission has not.”

The immediate practical effect for users is limited: the same app is expected to update in place, with branding changes rolling out across channels, including the Discord support presence. The more consequential change is governance and ownership context: the wallet is now explicitly presented as a product of ZODL rather than ECC, after weeks of public dispute about who could control, finance, and potentially commercialize consumer-facing efforts around Zashi.

The Background Story

The break traces back to a late-2025 clash between ECC leadership and Bootstrap, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that governs ECC. In early January, former ECC CEO Josh Swihart said board actions left the team no viable path inside the existing structure. “Unfortunately, decisions made by four of Bootstrap’s board members forced every person at ECC to exit the company, very quickly,” Swihart wrote on the Zcash Community Forum on Jan. 9. “I wish we hadn’t been forced to move so quickly. But we had no choice. This is a serious matter. It is not a game. And as you see, the consequences, severe.”

Bootstrap, for its part, has argued the flashpoint was a proposed transaction to move Zashi into a for-profit structure and attract outside capital, which it says had to be handled as a related-party deal involving nonprofit-controlled assets.

In a public statement and accompanying timeline, Bootstrap described talks around external investment and “alternative structures to privatize Zashi” intensifying in late October 2025, then accelerating in December amid rushed deadlines, incomplete documentation, and legal constraints tied to nonprofit fiduciary duties. The timeline states that matters “rapidly escalated” around Dec. 20 when the board was presented with a Jan. 1 deadline to approve a deal, followed by leadership departures in early January and the broader team exit shortly after.

At press time, Zcash traded at $284.34.

Криптобиржа Nexo, управляющая активами на $11 млрд, сообщила о возвращении в США и намерении предложить клиентам сервисы для управления ликвидностью и портфелями цифровых активов.

Канадский бизнесмен и ведущий шоу Shark Tank Кевин О’Лири (Kevin O’Leary) заявил, что крупные компании боятся увеличивать покупки биткоинов из опасений насчет будущих возможных квантовых атак на блокчейн Биткоина.

Сооснователь Эфириума Виталик Бутерин назвал Эфириум нейтральной технологией, не принадлежащей ни ему, ни какой-то одной группе разработчиков. Для использования блокчейна людям не обязательно соглашаться с его, Бутерина, личными взглядами.

Инвестор и автор книги «Богатый папа, бедный папа» Роберт Кийосаки (Robert Kiyosaki) заявил, что мир стоит на пороге «крупнейшего обвала фондового рынка в истории». Писатель напомнил, что еще в 2013 году в другой книге, «Пророчество богатого папы», он писал о грядущем масштабном крахе и призывал вкладываться в криптовалюту.

Kraken, the crypto exchange, said it will fund “Trump Accounts” for every baby born in Wyoming in 2026, a pledge that ties a private firm to a new federal savings program named after US President Donald Trump.

The move was announced on the Wyoming floor by Senator Cynthia Lummis and later confirmed by Kraken spokespeople.

Reports say the program will give each eligible child a $1,000 seed from the US Treasury; Kraken’s additional contribution is intended to top up that start. Details on how Kraken will allocate its money remain fuzzy.

“We picked Wyoming as our global HQ because it leads with thoughtful, responsible crypto policy,” Kraken’s co-CEO Dave Ripley said.

“We want to keep investing back in the community we call home. Starting early matters, and innovation should make long-term financial opportunity more accessible and affordable,” he said.

Big news for our home state: @KrakenFX is sponsoring @TrumpAccounts for every baby born in Wyoming in 2026.

We picked Wyoming as our global HQ because it leads with thoughtful, responsible crypto policy. We want to keep investing back in the community we call home. Starting…

— Dave Ripley (@DavidLRipley) February 16, 2026

State Law And Company Motives

Reports note Wyoming has passed laws and rules favorable to crypto firms, which helped draw Kraken’s global operations to the state.

Company leaders praised the state’s legal clarity. Some observers view the sponsorship as a vote of confidence in Wyoming’s approach to finance and technology, while other commentators see a political signal as much as a charitable act.

Why This Is Unusual

The arrangement mixes public policy and corporate money in a way few expected. A federal account gets a private backer. That raises basic questions about custody, investment choices, and the path those savings will take over years.

At present, it’s not publicly confirmed whether Kraken’s funds will be held in traditional assets, stablecoins, or other crypto instruments. Families who accept the accounts may later choose how the money is used when children reach maturity.

Market And Regulatory Threads

Reports say the announcement landed amid a wider easing of enforcement and a friendlier tone from federal policymakers this year, which many in the crypto sector welcomed.

Kraken itself has faced enforcement scrutiny in the past, and its new pledge comes at a time when regulators and lawmakers are talking about how to fold crypto into mainstream finance.

Some analysts warn that corporate ties to government programs can invite extra oversight, while supporters argue such partnerships expand access to capital for families.

Voices On Both Sides

Supporters call the plan practical and forward-looking. They argue that a small deposit at birth, boosted by private sponsors, can compound into meaningful savings by adulthood.

Critics question motives and transparency. They want clear rules about investment strategy, fee structures, and who controls the accounts. A number of civil groups and local news outlets have asked for formal disclosures from Kraken and the state to settle those uncertainties.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Децентрализованный протокол ZeroLend, обеспечивавший кредитование в криптовалюте на разных блокчейнах, объявил о прекращении деятельности спустя три года работы. Причина — «экономически невыгодные условия»: проблемы с ликвидностью на блокчейнах и растущие угрозы безопасности.

Аналитики инвесткомпании Paradigm заявили, что майнинг несведущие люди часто воспринимают только как потребителя электричества, тогда как на самом деле он является участником энергорынка, помогая балансировать сеть.

Управляющая целевым капиталом Гарвардского университета компания Harvard Management объявила о сокращении своей доли в спотовом биткоин-ETF от BlackRock. Причина — высокая волатильность первой криптовалюты.

Почти четверо из десяти пользователей криптовалют (39%) получают доход в стейблкоинах, а 27% используют их для повседневных платежей, показал опрос компании YouGov, охвативший 15 стран мира.

Цикличная модель роста и спада биткоина ослабевает, и в ближайшие годы ключевую роль на крипторынке будут играть институциональные инвесторы, считают аналитики компании по управлению активами WisdomTree.

Shiba Inu has put its long-trailed SOU recovery framework into production, opening claims for users affected by last year’s Shibarium bridge exploit and turning those claims into transferable, on-chain NFTs on Ethereum. The launch matters because it moves the project’s compensation effort from a promised structure into a live system with visible balances, payout mechanics, and a secondary-market option for anyone who wants liquidity now.

The SOU concept itself isn’t new. In a year-end letter dated Dec. 29, 2025, Shibarium developer Kaal Dhairya introduced “SOU: Shib Owes You” while stressing it was “Not live yet, beware of scammers,” describing it as a system where “every affected user has an SOU NFT — an on-chain, verifiable record of exactly what the ecosystem owes them.”

Shiba Inu ‘Shib Owes You’ Goes Live

That warning is now being replaced by a go-live announcement. Via X, the official Shiba Inu account wrote:

“SOU is live. Introducing SOU (Shib Owes You) an onchain NFT built as a good-faith effort to support impacted users with payouts, donations, and occasional rewards. Transparent. Tradable. On-chain. You can transfer it, split it, merge it, or trade it on marketplaces. Claim your SOUs: https://shib.io/sou”

In Shib’s documentation, the system is framed as an attempt to make the recovery ledger public, auditable, and mechanically enforced rather than tracked in private databases. “SOU (Shib Owes You) is more than just a name; it is a commitment,” the docs say.“It represents the Shib ecosystem’s dedication to making users whole through a transparent, audited, and on-chain recovery system. Activity Notifications: The system provides a real-time activity feed, notifying the community whenever a new donation is received or a payout is distributed, ensuring complete visibility into the recovery progress.”

The mechanism hinges on two balances: “Original Principal,” the immutable historical record of what a user lost, and “Current Principal,” which declines as payouts are claimed or contributions flow in. The docs also draw a hard distinction between debt repayment and incentives. “Payout” reduces principal as compensation, while a “Reward” is additive and “No Change” to the owed balance, positioning rewards as bonuses on top of repayment rather than substitutes.

SOU is also designed to be a financial instrument, not just a receipt. Claims can be merged or split to manage position sizing, transferred between wallets, or sold on marketplaces, effectively enabling a market in discounted claims for users who don’t want to wait for recovery flows.

Shib’s docs also describe a funding model that routes ecosystem revenues and community donations into a common pool, with donations applied proportionally across affected claims, and optional creator fees on secondary sales directed back to payouts or rewards.

The backdrop is the September 2025 Shibarium bridge incident, where Shib’s own security update said “unauthorized validator signing power” was used to push a malicious exit through the PoS bridge, enabling withdrawals of multiple assets.

At press time, Shiba Inu traded at $0.00000656.

YouTube-блогер Логан Пол (Logan Paul) продал редкую карточку Pokémon Pikachu Illustrator за $16,5 млн. Сделка стала одной из крупнейших продаж коллекционных карт в истории и вызвала серьезные споры о дроблении токенизированных активов.

На фоне усиления пессимистичных настроений среди трейдеров и инвесторов рынок биткоина приближается к точке разворота, считают эксперты финансовой компании Matrixport.

Криптотрейдинговая компания и поставщик ликвидности Wintermute объявила о запуске внебиржевой торговли (OTC) токенизированным золотом для институциональных клиентов. Пользователям станут доступны операции с токенами PAX Gold (PAXG) и Tether Gold (XAUT).

After emerging as a major political player in the 2024 elections, the cryptocurrency industry is once again preparing to flex its financial muscle—this time ahead of the 2026 midterms. 

Two years ago, crypto-focused super political action committees helped shape key races as President Donald Trump and Republican majorities in the House and Congress secured victories. 

Now, with digital asset prices under pressure and Congress still debating the landmark CLARITY Act, the industry is ramping up spending in an effort to protect and expand its influence in Washington.

Fairshake Enters 2026 With $193M

According to reporting by The Hill, Fairshake—the leading super Political Action Committee (PAC) network aligned with the crypto sector—entered 2026 with more than $193 million in cash on hand, already identifying priority races for the current cycle. 

It is reportedly supporting Republican Representative Barry Moore in Alabama’s Senate race and working to unseat Democratic Representative Al Green in the House. 

Leonard Kostovetsky, an associate professor at Baruch College and a vocal skeptic of crypto, said the strategy resembles what the industry deployed two years ago. “It’s going to be similar to the previous cycle where they will kind of flex their muscles to show the political power of the crypto industry,” he said.

The industry’s political footprint expanded significantly during the 2024 election cycle, when crypto-aligned groups poured millions into competitive primaries and closely watched races. Federal filings show that Fairshake and its three affiliated organizations spent nearly $180 million during that cycle alone.

Beyond elections, the industry has secured at least one significant legislative victory. Lawmakers passed the GENIUS Act, which established a regulatory framework for dollar-backed stablecoins. 

Yet the more comprehensive market structure legislation—widely viewed as the industry’s top priority—remains unfinished. The proposed bill would provide long-sought clarity for digital asset businesses. Although the House passed its version, the measure has stalled in the Senate.

Crypto Groups Push For Regulatory Clarity

As Congress debates this broader framework, crypto-affiliated political groups have wasted no time engaging in midterm contests. Defend American Jobs, one of Fairshake’s partner PACs, announced this week that it would spend $5 million to support Moore’s Senate campaign in Alabama. 

Meanwhile, another affiliated PAC, Protect Progress, revealed plans to invest $1.5 million to oppose Green in the Democratic primary for Texas’s newly redrawn 18th Congressional District. 

The group cited Green’s voting history on crypto-related measures, arguing that he has sought to “stop American innovation in its tracks.” Green voted against the GENIUS Act and the House’s CLARITY Act.

Ohio-based Democratic strategist Jeff Rusnak questioned whether crypto groups should be permitted to deploy what he described as essentially “unregulated money” in federal elections. 

Yet, industry advocates counter that their political engagement is aimed at fostering responsible regulation rather than avoiding it. A source familiar with the Fairshake network argued that election spending has helped move policymakers toward creating clearer rules. 

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Перед введением обязательной биометрической идентификации при выдаче микрозаймов активизировались нелегальные кредиторы, предлагающие займы в криптовалютах. Об этом сообщил член комиссии Общественной палаты России Евгений Машаров.

Владелец консалтинговой компании Edelman Financial Services Рик Эдельман (Ric Edelman) в подкасте Altcoin Daily предположил, что к 2030 году биткоин может достичь $500 000, но при одном условии.

Crypto lender Nexo has officially reentered the United States market, marking a return three years after it withdrew operations and paid a $45 million fine to settle charges with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

The company confirmed on Monday that 2026 represents its formal comeback to the US, positioning the move against a backdrop of more crypto-friendly policies and a notable shift in regulatory tone at the SEC.

New SEC-Compliant Structure, Bakkt Partnership

Nexo previously exited the country following regulatory clashes that culminated in a 2023 SEC order over “unregistered offering” of a crypto asset lending product. As part of that settlement, the company agreed to discontinue the product for US investors. 

In a statement to Reuters, a Nexo spokesperson emphasized that the firm complied fully with the order. “Nexo discontinued the product covered by the 2023 SEC order for US investors as required,” the spokesperson said.

The company’s renewed US strategy is structured differently from its earlier model. According to Nexo’s Monday disclosure, the relaunch is being carried out through partnerships with regulated entities to ensure compliance with American securities laws. 

The firm said its investment and credit products are now delivered within a US-compliant framework, including, where applicable, through an SEC-registered investment adviser for advisory services. 

As part of this relaunch, Nexo has also partnered with Bakkt, a publicly traded US-based digital asset platform designed to support institutional-grade risk management and regulatory compliance. 

The company’s updated offering includes flexible and fixed-term yield programs that allow clients to earn returns through investment structures. Nexo is also rolling out an integrated exchange, enabling users to buy and sell digital assets. 

In addition, the firm is reintroducing crypto-backed credit lines, allowing customers to access liquidity without selling their digital holdings. These credit products feature flexible repayment options and support multiple forms of collateral.

Nexo Denies Trump Family Ties

Nexo’s return comes amid broader political and regulatory developments in the United States. Reuters reported that the company hosted Donald Trump Jr at a “Trump Business Vision 2025” event held in Sofia, Bulgaria, last April. 

The event has drawn attention, given increased scrutiny surrounding crypto-related business dealings connected to the Trump family under the current administration.

When asked by Reuters about the relationship between those interactions and the company’s US relaunch, Nexo denied any connection. The spokesperson stated that the decision to return to the American market was “based on our ability to offer products in a compliant structure” and was unrelated to its contacts with the Trump family. 

The company further clarified that its sports sponsorships and event participation have no bearing on its regulatory standing or operational approval in the United States.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com