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Balaji Srinivasan is once again making the most provocative version of a privacy argument and he’s pinning it to a specific chain: Zcash. In a Feb. 18 video shared on X, Srinivasan framed the stakes in stark terms: “The choice is clear. It’s Zcash or communism,” tying the rise of AI-enabled surveillance to what he described as a renewed appetite for wealth seizure.

In a follow-up post, he argued that AI has shifted surveillance from a state-scale project to something closer to an on-demand service. “Any scrap of information online can now be integrated, digested, and synthesized…by any state or stalker capable of running an AI model…to form a dossier more complete than anything the Soviets could ever dream of,” he wrote.

Srinivasan’s prescription was blunt: “There will be no single silver bullet. But anything you haven’t encrypted can and will be used against you.”

Srinivasan anchored his “communism requires surveillance” claim in an historical example meant to make a modern point about data exhaust. “In 1918, in the midst of the Bolshevik Revolution, Lenin gave an order to murder 100 nearby ‘kulaks,’” he said, emphasizing that such an order “required a list”: names, locations, and a population that couldn’t easily move.

His argument is that the internet reverses that asymmetry if encryption becomes the default. “Today, neo-communism is rising once again. But the Internet could change the game,” he said. “No full list, if we encrypt it. No fixed location, either. They can’t hit what they can’t see.”

Those themes carried into a longer discussion on the Never Say Podcast, where Srinivasan connected privacy to basic operational freedom. “If you’re under surveillance, you’re not sovereign,” he said. “If every move is being tracked…you don’t have the advantage of surprise. You can never launch something. You can never have private deliberations.”

Arjun Khemani, a 19-year-old Zcash researcher on the episode, echoed the AI angle from the user side: “Especially with AI, being able to recognize where you are exactly…you can’t have freedom without privacy,” he said, arguing that broadcasting every transaction and context signal is “not… the world that I want to live in.”

The choice is clear. It’s Zcash or communism.pic.twitter.com/4sAG9WG0jA

— Balaji (@balajis) February 18, 2026

Zcash As A Scaling Bet, Not Just A Privacy Stance

Srinivasan’s pitch wasn’t limited to privacy-by-principle. He positioned Zcash as a technical response to where he thinks the market has landed on scalability: on-chain throughput wins, and routing complexity loses.

Asked why “Zcash must scale” is a “moral imperative,” Srinivasan contrasted Bitcoin’s scaling reality: exchanges, custodians, and database entries with the decentralization promise many users think they’re buying. “Lightning…they’ve been saying, ‘Lightning is going to be there any day now’ for 10 years,” he said, arguing that real-world deployments tend toward “a hub and spoke topology” resembling traditional finance rails. “Within a bank, it’s fast…between banks, they do settlement,” he added, describing a dynamic he sees mirrored in major Lightning implementations.

From there, he argued crypto has effectively segmented into layers: Bitcoin for immutability and brand, Ethereum for programmability, and Solana for straightforward on-chain execution at scale. The opening he sees for Zcash is combining “Solana-like scalability” with private transactions, leaning on zero-knowledge proofs as “compression technology” as much as secrecy. “It’s what a lot of people wanted Bitcoin to be,” he said.

Srinivasan also stressed that privacy doesn’t necessarily replace transparency, it complements it. He argued that Bitcoin’s public ledger can be a feature for proof-of-reserves narratives, while Zcash’s private-by-default design targets a different threat model. His bottom line is coexistence, not conquest: “It’s possible that Bitcoin… and Zcash coexist because Bitcoin is transparent and Zcash is private,” he said, while suggesting “this could be Zcash’s moment.”

At press time, ZEC traded at $259.18.

The XRP Ledger has just activated one of its most anticipated upgrades. According to XRPScan, the Permissioned DEX amendment was enabled on February 18, 2026 at 10:58:10 AM UTC after 82.35% of validators voted in favor.

This is the second amendment to go live on the Ledger in less than a week, following the activation of the Token Escrow (XLS-85) amendment on February 12. XRP enthusiasts are happy with the development, as evidenced by various posts on the social media platform X. However, what does a Permissioned DEX actually mean for everyday users?

Permissioned Dex Is Bigger Than A Simple Upgrade

Ripple enthusiasts and executives have repeatedly stated that the largest obstacle to institutional adoption of decentralized exchanges is compliance. Without permissioning tools, even Ripple itself could not fully utilize certain XRPL functionalities in regulated environments.

A Permissioned DEX is still a decentralized exchange, but with controlled access. A Permissioned DEX is where anyone can trade freely, but creators of the DEX restrict participation to verified entities. This means that banks, payment providers, and regulated financial institutions can take advantage of a Permissioned DEX to trade, provide liquidity, and settle transactions inside an environment where all participants are known and approved.

Decentralized networks like the Ledger are permissionless, meaning anyone can participate without authorization or approval from a gatekeeper. However, as nice as that may sound, the reality behind this structure is that traditional financial institutions cannot transact on open systems with anonymous counterparties due to compliance, AML, and regulatory obligations. They must know who they are trading with, maintain audit trails, and prevent exposure to illicit activity. A permissioned environment solves that barrier without removing the decentralized foundation of the ledger itself.

The Ledger already had built-in DEX functionality, fast settlement, low fees, and deterministic execution. The new amendment adds the compliance layer that large financial institutions need before deploying huge amounts of capital into the XRP ecosystem.

What Does This Mean For XRP Users?

Therefore, the launch of Permissioned Dex on the XRP Ledger is another obstacle to mass institutionalization that has been removed. According to an enthusiast known as Nick on the social media platform X, once the market structure bill is passed this year, then every other single obstacle to mass institutionalization of the Ledger will be removed. 

According to another analyst on X known as Stern Drew, the upgrade is huge because permissioned liquidity unlocks institutional participation, the missing bridge between traditional finance and blockchain rails. This is expected to be reflected in the price action of the altcoin moving forward. 

However, the analyst noted that it might take time for institutions to actually deploy liquidity until the CLARITY ACT and DNAOnChain’s zk-credential system go live. Nonetheless, the first permissioned offer has already been created on the XRP DEX.

Cardano’s price may be in a downward action due to a weakening crypto environment, but there has been a resurgence in buying activity from both retail and institutional investors across the sector. This resurgence in buying activity is indicated by the steady purchase by Grayscale, one of the leading treasury companies in the world.

Grayscale Makes More Cardano Allocations

Despite its persistent pullback in price over the past few months, institutional interest in Cardano (ADA) appears to be strengthening once again. According to a recent report from Dave, a crypto enthusiast, Grayscale Investments has increased its exposure to ADA after a fresh purchase.

With its steady allocation move, the ADA weighting in the company’s Smart Contract Fund now sits at over 20.12% from its prior level of 19.50%. This marks another consecutive rise and signals that investors are once again confident in the altcoin’s long-term fundamentals, as they attentively examine high-conviction holdings in the cryptocurrency market.

As ADA secures a larger share within the firm’s holdings, the allocation can also be seen as strategic positioning for what’s ahead. It is worth noting that the latest allocation was conducted just a week after the previous one. 

During the period, the firm’s ADA allocation moved from 19.50% to 19.55% in the smart contract fund. There are speculations that the move could be linked to recent rapid momentum and integration work around Bitcoin Decentralized Finance (DeFi) within the Cardano ecosystem. 

Dave highlighted that this is taking place as Cardano bolsters its push into the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem. The purpose of his move is to restore external BTC liquidity on the network via non-custodial Collateral, stablecoin-based credit, and lending structures built to avoid fragility driven by liquidation. 

Furthermore, Cardano’s smart contract layer makes this possible, and this approach clarifies why large asset managers would be covertly expanding their exposure. Thus, institutions that need predictable, non-liquidating borrowing, and retail users looking for high-quality yield on idle Bitcoin could be able to utilize the network.

The Projects On The Leading Network Are Just Real Ones

Currently, the activity across the Cardano ecosystem is decreasing at a remarkable pace. Mintern, a market expert and Chief Meme Officer (CMO) of Minswap, has reported a sharp drop in the number of projects launched on the network since 2021.

In 2021, the number of projects on the network skyrocketed with more than 100 projects within the year, signaling confidence in the network’s scalability, governance model, and long-term roadmap. Meanwhile, in 2026, the projects have fallen, leaving only the real ones. 

Mintern noted that the network is now advancing with Midnight building privacy-focused rails for long-term adoption, not short-term speculation. Amid the reduced network activity, the main question circulating across the community is who is still building in 2026.

A staggering $117 million worth of XRP has just shifted hands on the Ripple blockchain in a transaction that has left even seasoned crypto watchers wondering about the wallets involved. According to data publicly shared by crypto analyst Ripple Bull Winkle, on-chain records include timestamps, exact amounts, hashes, and transaction fees, but nothing about the identities of the sender or receiver.  

Analyst Reveals Under-The-Radar XRP Transfer

A massive 81 million XRP, valued at roughly $117 million, was transferred on the Ripple network, and the identities behind it remain unknown. Ripple Bull Winkle revealed the move in a post on X, sharing screenshots of on-chain data from Whale Alert showing millions of the token shifting between two crypto wallets with no labels, no exchange involvement, and no public trace. 

Notably, the large-scale transfer took place on Tuesday, February 17, drawing the crypto community’s attention for its sheer scale and anonymity. According to Ripple Bull Winkle, transactions of this size never happen by accident. He suggested that the movement was deliberate, hinting at strategic positioning rather than a routine transfer. 

The analyst also noted that the lack of identifiable wallets also fuels speculation that a whale may be accumulating XRP ahead of an event or market shift, though nothing is certain yet. He further remarked that “someone knows something,” implying that insiders or large holders may be acting on information not yet visible to the broader crypto market. 

Interestingly, Ripple’s blockchain logs confirm the transfer and provide the wallet addresses involved, but reveal nothing about who orchestrated the substantial transfer. The timing of the transaction amid the broader decline in the XRP price adds another layer of intrigue. Notably, the altcoin has been in a pronounced downtrend for months, dropping from 2025 highs above $3 to under $1.5 at the time of writing. This steep decline has been driven by a combination of market factors, including sell-side pressure. 

Commenters on Ripple Bull Winkle’s post have speculated that the 81 million XRP transfer could signal upcoming selling. At the same time, they also caution that the move may have no deeper significance and could simply be a wallet-to-wallet transfer for security or operational purposes.

The Trend Remains Largely Bearish

In a more price-focused analysis, market analyst Crypto Tony stated that XRP’s current trend is “most certainly bearish.” This assessment comes as the cryptocurrency continues to break key support zones and trade below former resistance levels. 

Crypto Tony indicated that the altcoin’s price could continue its downtrend, potentially declining further toward $1.38. At its current price of 1.42, this would represent a significant correction of approximately 2.8%. Notably, the analyst has highlighted a resistance level above $1.5 on his accompanying chart, suggesting XRP could revisit this area if it regains bullish momentum. 

While buying interest in Ethereum may be losing momentum, the staking ecosystem has been experiencing significant growth over the past few months. Following a period of steady rise, the quantity of ETH locked away in staking contracts has reached a critical landmark that could impact its market outlook.

Over Half Of All Ethereum Now Staked

Ethereum’s price has fallen below the $2,000 mark once again as Wednesday drew to a close. During the waning price action, the network seems to have reached a historical inflection point, as shown by the massive staking ecosystem growth.

In an X thread, Everstake, a leading and responsible validator, has outlined a crucial landmark for ETH, which could play a role in shaping its future. ETH staking activity just exploded, with more than half of the entire supply being locked away in staking, marking the first time in its history. With the switch to proof-of-stake, Ethereum’s staking participation has increased steadily. However, its economic design enters a new phase when it surpasses the 50% of all supply.

Everstake’s report is solely derived from data from Santiment, a popular on-chain data analytics platform. Data from the platform shows that the proof-of-stake contract on Ethereum now controls 50.18% of the total historical ETH issuance. Beyond just being a remarkable figure, it represents a key milestone in the project’s 11 history. In other words, this implies that the majority of ETH is no longer circulating or active in the market.

When over 50% of the supply is being locked away in staking contracts, the liquid supply reduces, and fewer coins become available for trading. Such patterns often ignite sentiment as they decrease selling pressure and create a market sensitivity to new demand. At the same time, the development indicates conviction from long-term holders. 

Users are determined to secure the network rather than carry out trades in short-term volatility. Everstake remains confident that this is a structural shift for Ethereum. It’s reducing supply coupled with steady or growing demand points to robust price dynamics for ETH over time. “It doesn’t guarantee an immediate pump, but it changes the foundation the price is built on,” the firm stated.

A Market That Has Fallen Into Cold Levels

After an analysis of the MVRV Z-Score, RVT, and NUPL, Alphractal disclosed that the Ethereum market temperature is near cold levels. Specifically, this key metric measures whether the market is overheated or oversold, providing insights into risk-elevated periods and when asymmetry favors long-term positioning. 

When it gets close to zero or falls below, it indicates that the market has calmed down. Historically, readings below 0 typically precede a phase where risk and speculative are flushed, increasing the potential for long-term accumulation even as price declines. 

These zones underscore periods of reduced unrealized profits, triggering a balanced valuation and removing emotional excess from the market. In the past, major expansion phases have been preceded by extended positions in cold temperature zones, as weaker participants gradually exit and stronger hands progressively accumulate.

Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, has warned of another crash that could also affect Bitcoin and Ethereum. He further revealed that he will be accumulating these crypto assets as they will ultimately provide a safe haven during the crash. 

Kiyosaki Puts Spotlight On Bitcoin and Ethereum, Amid Warning Of A Crash 

In an X post, the finance author revealed that he has been accumulating gold, silver, Bitcoin, and Ethereum as he prepares for an imminent stock market crash. He reiterated that this crash will be the biggest in history. He further suggested that those holding BTC, ETH, and precious metals will realize significant gains when this crash occurs. 

Related Reading: Bitcoin Ready To Bounce Again? The Major Accumulation Trend You Should Be Aware Of

Kiyosaki also mentioned that he is bullish on BTC and is buying more as the price declines amid the current crypto market downtrend. He noted that Bitcoin’s capped supply gives it an edge, as there will only ever be 21 million BTC, and most of this supply is already in circulation. This limited supply could lead to significant price appreciation as demand potentially outweighs supply during a potential stock market crash, as the author predicts. 

Kiyosaki revealed that he will be buying more BTC as people panic and sell into the coming crash. He added that market crashes are priceless assets going on sale, suggesting that investors should be looking to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum as their prices decline during this bear market. 

It is worth noting that Kiyosaki had previously predicted that Bitcoin could reach $1 million by 2030. He suggested at the time that the leading crypto could reach this target amid a potential economic collapse. The finance author has also mentioned several times how the government continues to print more money, which makes those holding fiat poorer. 

Bitcoin Over Gold

In another X post, Kiyosaki said that he would pick Bitcoin over gold if he had to choose only one asset. He noted that gold is infinite and that when the price rises, gold miners will dig more, thereby increasing its supply. On the other hand, the author noted that Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million, meaning that miners cannot increase the supply once they reach this limit. 

He added that this means that the Bitcoin price should only continue to go up as demand outpaces supply. Like BTC, Ethereum could also see a supply squeeze as most of the altcoin’s supply continues to be staked. On-chain analytics firm Santiment revealed that Ethereum’s proof-of-stake contract address now holds over half of ETH’s supply for the first time in the coin’s history. 

At the time of writing, the BTC price is trading at around $66,800, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Representatives from crypto and banking groups returned to the White House on Thursday in another attempt to resolve the key dispute holding up the long‑awaited crypto market structure legislation known as the CLARITY Act. 

Despite the Senate Banking Committee’s positive vote on its part of the legislation, the bill has already faced delays and is now stalled due to disagreements about whether stablecoin issuers and platforms should be allowed to offer yield or rewards to users.

Coinbase, Ripple Signal Progress

At the center of the debate is a push from some senators and banking industry representatives to include language in the legislation that would prohibit companies from paying customers rewards for holding stablecoins on their platforms. 

Some crypto advocates remain hopeful that lawmakers may draw a distinction between yield for holding stablecoins and rewards for using them, similar to the incentive programs long offered by credit card companies. They argue that usage‑based rewards should be treated differently from interest payments.

Following Thursday’s meeting, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal described the discussions as productive. “The dialogue was constructive and the tone cooperative. More to come,” Grewal wrote in a post on X. 

Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, echoed that sentiment, saying on social media that participants worked through specific legislative language and that discussions would continue in the coming days. “Let’s get this right and make the US the crypto capital of the world!” Alderoty wrote.

90% Chance Crypto Bill Passes By April 

The renewed negotiations come shortly after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed growing confidence that the bill will advance. Garlinghouse said he now believes there is a 90% chance the legislation will pass by the end of April. 

“I had said a couple weeks ago, I thought end of April — at the time, people thought that was a little optimistic,” he noted, referencing the meeting at the White House involving leaders from both the crypto and banking sectors.

The White House has set a March 1 deadline for resolving the dispute over stablecoin rewards, adding urgency to the talks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reinforced that timeline last week, urging Congress to move forward with the legislation this spring.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

A revised cycle framework is drawing increased attention after a market technician detailed where Bitcoin sits within its broader structural progression. The assessment maintains that price has not transitioned into a bottoming phase. Instead, the market is positioned within a transitional range that typically develops before a deeper accumulation zone forms. Based on this structure, the next accumulation phase is projected to begin below $40,000.

Bitcoin’s Redistribution Signals Dominate Post-Peak Structure

In his breakdown, the analyst presented a chart mapping the full cycle progression from the 2022 bear market lows near $16,000 through the subsequent bull expansion. The initial stage represents classic accumulation, where long-term participants built exposure while sentiment remained subdued.

As the price advanced, two consolidation pauses emerged along the uptrend. The analyst identifies these as reaccumulation phases — temporary absorption zones where supply was redistributed without disrupting bullish structure. Stronger participants added positions while weaker holders rotated out, enabling the broader markup to continue with structural support.

The framework then tracks the transition into distribution at the cycle highs. Here, supply began transferring from early entrants to late buyers, limiting further upside. Once this transfer matured, price rolled into markdown — the decisive decline that followed the peak.

According to the analyst, the market has since progressed from markdown into redistribution. While both redistribution and accumulation appear as sideways ranges, he stresses they serve different structural roles. Redistribution forms after a breakdown, not at macro lows. Price may stabilize, but underlying control remains tilted toward sellers.

Volume dynamics reinforce that position. Participation has contracted rather than expanded, signaling limited demand conviction. Instead of clear absorption, the range reflects supply being repositioned gradually. The structure projects stability outwardly while internally preparing for potential continuation lower.

Why The Bitcoin Next Accumulation Zone Sits Below $40,000

The analyst’s projection is anchored in historical cycle order. Prior market structures followed a consistent progression: accumulation at lows, reaccumulation during the advance, distribution at highs, redistribution after decline, and only then a fresh accumulation base.

Within that sequence, the current range aligns with redistribution. Because this phase refreshes selling pressure, it typically resolves with an additional downward leg before a durable floor forms. The charted path reflects this expectation, outlining further downside once the range completes.

The projected destination sits below $40,000. That region is identified as the zone where structural conditions may begin to resemble true accumulation. Characteristics would include prolonged consolidation, easing downside momentum, and visible long-term demand absorption: signals not yet present in the current environment.

The analyst does not frame this zone as an instant reversal point but as the foundation-building stage that historically precedes macro expansions. In that context, redistribution represents a process rather than a conclusion.

Structurally, the cycle remains in transition. Until redistribution fully exhausts supply, the groundwork for the Bitcoin next bullish phase is unlikely to be finalized. The framework, therefore, positions sub-$40,000 as the level where accumulation and the next cycle launchpad are expected to take shape.

After losing more than half its value from the 2025 peak, XRP has entered a period of calm that may prove temporary. Analysts say the current consolidation phase near $1.40 coincides with several rare market conditions, from key inflation data to multi-year technical confirmations, that could influence the asset’s next major move.

Related Reading: Coinbase CEO Sees ‘Win-Win’ Outcome For Delayed Crypto Market Structure Bill

At the center of attention is upcoming U.S. inflation data, alongside growing debate among analysts over whether XRP is forming a long-term base or preparing for another corrective leg.

Macro Data and Market Liquidity Take Center Stage

XRP has been trading around the $1.40–$1.45 region as investors await the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report, the inflation gauge closely monitored by the Federal Reserve. The data, published by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, could influence expectations around interest rates.

Recent real-time inflation estimates suggest cooling price pressures, raising hopes that monetary conditions could eventually ease. Analysts note that softer inflation could support crypto through improved liquidity, while stronger-than-expected data may strengthen the dollar and weigh on speculative assets.

Market commentators increasingly argue that XRP’s performance is tied less to crypto-specific developments and more to broader financial conditions. Several analysts say liquidity has yet to fully return to markets following the 2025 cycle peak, suggesting volatility may persist in the near term.

Technical Structure Signals a Pivotal Phase

From a technical perspective, XRP remains in a broader downtrend after falling more than 60% from its July 2025 high near $3.66. However, recent price action has drawn attention after a sharp drop to $1.11 successfully retested a multi-year breakout level formed in late 2024.

Analysts describe the current $1.30–$1.80 range as historically underdeveloped, meaning the market may be building structural support before a larger move. Fibonacci projections cited by traders outline potential upside targets near $5 and, in extended scenarios, much higher levels if bullish momentum returns.

Short-term indicators still show sellers maintaining a slight edge, though downside momentum has slowed compared with earlier in the year.

Forecast Revisions Reflect Mixed Outlook

Institutional expectations remain divided. Standard Chartered recently lowered its 2026 XRP price forecast from $8 to $2.8, citing challenging market conditions. Despite the downgrade, the bank maintained optimistic longer-term projections extending toward the end of the decade.

Meanwhile, some analysts warn the market may not have reached a full cycle bottom yet, pointing to historical patterns that suggest consolidation could continue through 2026. Others highlight recurring macro structures that previously preceded major rallies.

Related Reading: Russia May Block Global Crypto Exchanges Ahead Of New Regulatory Framework – Report

According to market data from CoinMarketCap and derivatives analytics by CoinGlass, XRP remains under pressure but is showing signs of stabilization. Analysts say the market now reflects a clash between short-term weakness and longer-term optimism, with global liquidity likely to determine the next move.

Cover image from ChatGPT, XRPUSD chart from Tradingview

On-chain data has sparked intense discussion and concern in the crypto market after revealing that XRP supply on Coinbase has plunged by 90% while reserves on Binance have fallen to their lowest levels since 2024. This sharp decline coincides with speculation that the world’s largest asset management company, BlackRock, may be quietly accumulating significant amounts of the token through crypto exchanges. 

XRP On Coinbase Decline As BlackRock Investment Rumors Intensify 

Crypto commentator Ledger Man ignited the debate earlier this Tuesday in a post on X, highlighting concerns about Coinbase’s declining XRP reserves and the growing speculation surrounding BlackRock’s potential involvement with the cryptocurrency. He suggested that the sharp reduction in the altcoin held on Coinbase could point to large-scale off-exchange accumulation. 

Ledger Man claimed that BlackRock may be buying substantial amounts of XRP through Coinbase. According to his estimates, the asset management giant may already control between 200 million and 400 million XRP if the withdrawals are tied to institutional buying. 

While the claims have not been confirmed, the extent of its exchange decline is hard to ignore. A 90% drop in supply on one of the largest US exchanges signals either aggressive self-custody moves or major institutional transfers, and Ledger Man leans towards the latter. 

Given BlackRock’s expanding footprint in digital assets, speculation about a potential investment in the cryptocurrency is hardly surprising. Over the years, the asset management giant has steadily deepened its involvement in the crypto market, fueling rumors that it may be expanding its exposure beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum products. 

In particular, after launching spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, speculation spread across the crypto community that BlackRock may be setting its sights on an XRP ETF next. However, those claims ultimately proved to be false. 

Notably, the altcoin, with its established cross-border payment focus and diverse use cases, could fit into a longer-term portfolio strategy for many organizations, as seen in recent investment activity by Goldman Sachs. However, the cryptocurrency remains a largely speculative and volatile asset. 

Binance Reserves Crash To 2024 Levels

As supply on Coinbase fell by 90%, XRP reserves on Binance also plummeted, reaching their lowest level since early 2024. According to CryptoQuant data shared by market analyst Ripple Bull Winkle, a whopping 700 million XRP has left Binance since its November 2025 peak. 

At current prices, the analyst noted that this substantial amount represents hundreds of millions of dollars withdrawn from exchange wallets. The scale of the outflow has raised concerns about large holders’ intentions, whether they are preparing for long-term accumulation or short-term trading. 

Ripple Bull Winkle framed the recent development in simple terms, highlighting that investors typically sell on exchanges, but move assets off these platforms when they plan to hold. In that context, declines in exchange reserves could indicate reduced immediate sell pressure on XRP.

Solana’s (SOL) latest price action is drawing increased attention from traders as derivatives data and technical indicators converge around a critical level.

With SOL trading near $80 after a sharp decline, futures markets are showing signs of stress, while broader ecosystem developments present a contrasting longer-term narrative. The coming sessions may determine whether the current pullback stabilizes or evolves into a deeper correction.

Futures Market Pressure Builds Around Key Support

Recent derivatives data show mounting liquidation risk as leveraged bullish positions unwind. According to market analytics, falling open interest alongside negative funding rates suggests traders are closing positions rather than adding new exposure. This typically signals weakening confidence in short-term price recovery.

As SOL approaches the psychologically important $80 mark, long liquidations have accelerated. Forced selling in futures markets can amplify downward moves, creating a feedback loop where declining prices trigger additional liquidations.

Analysts note that a confirmed break below $80 could expose lower support zones near $75 and potentially the $70–$60 range if bearish momentum persists.

Technical structures reinforce the cautious outlook. A weekly head-and-shoulders pattern and a developing bear flag on lower timeframes both point to downside risks, with some projections targeting the $50–$57 region if support fails.

Mixed Signals From Technical Indicators and Market Sentiment

Despite persistent selling pressure, some indicators suggest the market may be nearing exhaustion. RSI readings hover close to oversold territory, historically a zone where short-term rebounds can occur. However, momentum indicators and trend strength measurements still favor sellers.

Funding rates turning negative also reveal a shift in positioning, with short exposure increasing across derivatives markets. Data referenced by Santiment shows declining social activity and fading speculative interest compared with 2025 highs, reflecting cooler sentiment across the Solana ecosystem.

Short-term resistance remains clustered between $83 and $90, while failure to reclaim those levels keeps the broader downtrend intact.

Institutional Growth Offers Longer-Term Support

While price action remains fragile, network fundamentals continue to show expansion.

Research from Messari indicates that RWA value on Solana grew nearly 59% quarter-over-quarter to reach $1.1 billion. Much of the increase has been driven by tokenized treasury products, including funds linked to BlackRock and yield products from Ondo Finance.

Total value locked on the network is also approaching $10 billion, highlighting continued institutional experimentation with tokenized finance despite market volatility.

For now, traders remain focused on whether buyers defend the $80 level. A successful hold could stabilize sentiment and reduce liquidation pressure, while a decisive breakdown may set the stage for another wave of selling across the Solana market.

Cover image from ChatGPT, SOLUSD chart on Tradingview

The Ethereum Foundation’s protocol track leads published a new “Protocol Priorities Update for 2026” on Feb. 18, outlining how core R&D will be organized this year and what the next upgrade cycle is expected to emphasize.

Ethereum’s Priorities In 2026

The update looks back at 2025 as a high-throughput year for mainnet changes, anchored by two network upgrades. Pectra shipped in May, Fusaka followed in December with PeerDAS on mainnet. Alongside those upgrades, the community increased the mainnet gas limit from 30 million to 60 million, calling it the first significant jump since 2021.

The main change is organizational. “Now that those milestones are behind us, we have the opportunity to think about how we organize our work at a slightly higher level,” the authors wrote. For 2026, Protocol work is grouped into three tracks: Scale, Improve UX, and Harden the L1, each with named leads.

The Scale track, led by Ansgar Dietrichs, Marius van der Wijden, and Raúl Kripalani, merges last year’s “Scale L1” and “Scale Blobs” initiatives into one effort. The foundation frames this as a pragmatic consolidation, because execution capacity, networking, and consensus changes tend to land in the same client code and influence each other.

On the roadmap, the update highlights continued gas limit increases “toward and beyond 100M,” supported by block-level access lists via EIP-7928 and ongoing client benchmarking. It also flags “the scaling components of Glamsterdam,” including enshrined PBS through EIP-7732, repricings, and further blob parameter increases.

Beyond that, the Scale track includes pushing a zkEVM attester client from prototype toward production readiness, and longer-run state scaling work that spans near-term repricing and history expiry through to binary trees and statelessness.

The Improve UX track, led by Barnabé Monnot and Matt Garnett, narrows in on two areas the foundation calls the most leverage for 2026 usability: native account abstraction and interoperability.

On account abstraction, the update positions EIP-7702 as a step toward an endpoint where smart contract wallets become the default without bundlers, relayers, or extra gas overhead. It points to proposals including EIP-7701 and EIP-8141, described as “Frame Transactions,” as work that moves smart account logic deeper into the protocol itself.

That UX roadmap is also tied to security direction. The foundation argues native account abstraction provides a cleaner migration path away from ECDSA-based authentication, and says parallel proposals aim to make quantum-resistant signature verification meaningfully cheaper inside the EVM.

Interoperability work builds on the Open Intents Framework with the stated goal of “seamless, trust-minimized cross-L2 interactions,” supported by faster L1 confirmations and shorter L2 settlement times.

The new Harden the L1 track, led by Fredrik Svantes, Parithosh Jayanthi, and Thomas Thiery, is framed as insurance policy work that preserves Ethereum’s core properties while scaling continues.

The update ties security efforts to Svantes’ Trillion Dollar Security Initiative, including post-quantum readiness and execution-layer safeguards like post-execution transaction assertions and “trustless RPCs.”

On censorship resistance, Thiery’s scope includes FOCIL via EIP-7805 and extensions that touch censorship resistance for blobs, statelessness work labeled VOPS, and the development of measurable censorship-resistance metrics. Jayanthi’s remit covers devnets, testnets, and client interoperability testing, which the foundation says becomes more critical if Ethereum moves into a faster fork cadence.

Looking ahead, the foundation targets Glamsterdam for the first half of 2026, with Hegotá planned later in the year. The stated ambition bundles parallel execution, significantly higher gas limits, enshrined PBS, continued blob scaling, and progress on censorship resistance, native account abstraction, and post-quantum security, with more track-level updates promised as the year unfolds.

At press time, Ethereum traded at $1,968.

Террористические и экстремистские группировки, а также «криминальные организованные сообщества» стали все чаще эксплуатировать цифровые активы для совершения преступлений, заявил президент России Владимир Путин.

Американский сенатор-республиканец Берни Морено (Bernie Moreno) заявил, что продвигаемый администрацией президента США Дональда Трампа законопроект CLARITY о разделении полномочий финансовых регуляторов будет принят через пару месяцев.

US senator Elizabeth Warren has sent a sharp note to regulators, warning against any move that could let public money shore up the crypto market. She argues such steps would hand a windfall to the richest holders in the sector and risk fueling public anger.

Reports say her letter was aimed at preventing what she calls an unfair transfer of wealth from everyday taxpayers to well-connected crypto owners.

Calls For Clear Boundaries

Warren’s message was short on technical detail but heavy on tone. She told officials to avoid buying or guaranteeing crypto assets, and to steer clear of emergency facilities that might prop up prices.

Her stance puts political pressure on supervisors who face a choice between market calm and public scrutiny.

A Private Forum, A Public Question

Reports note that the push came as a new crypto forum was held at Mar-a-Lago, where industry figures and policy allies gathered. The event was hosted by World Liberty Financial, which is linked to US President Donald Trump.

That coincidence gave extra weight to worries about conflicts and how any help might look if delivered while a president-linked firm is active in the space.

Seized Assets And Limits

At a federal oversight meeting, questions were raised about what officials could do. During that session, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked pointed questions about whether the Treasury could intervene or use seized assets in ways that would affect markets.

He said the government is keeping Bitcoin it obtained through seizures, calling those holdings an asset of the US rather than taxpayer money.

The point was pressed by Congressman Brad Sherman, and the discussion took place under the umbrella of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was also on the list of recipients of Warren’s letter, reflecting how the issue crosses agencies.

Bitcoin Price Movement

Bitcoin has recently fallen below important levels of support, with prices falling below $67,000-$70,000 due to risk-off sentiment in the market.

The overall risk-off sentiment in the market has been driven by increasing geopolitical tensions, specifically in the Middle East, which has seen Bitcoin prices fall alongside equities and other risk-related assets.

Traders are closely observing the current price action as it tests short-term levels of support, which are indicative of the impact of global events on the sentiment of the cryptocurrency market.

Despite the challenging environment, some investors have cited the ability of Bitcoin to withstand previous geopolitical events, which have seen overall trends and macro forces re-emerge after periods of initial market volatility.

Political Stakes And Public Money

Warren frames the debate as a fairness test. Any program designed to steady crypto would, in her view, be felt first by the wealthiest insiders — the exact group she singled out.

She warned that even talk of special facilities or guaranteed purchases would inflame voters and create the impression that officials are protecting a narrow economic class.

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView

Societe Generale’s digital-asset arm SG-FORGE has launched its euro stablecoin, EUR CoinVertible, on the XRP Ledger, extending a deployment that already spans Ethereum and Solana and putting another bank-issued, compliance-forward asset into the XRPL ecosystem.

Cassie Craddock, Ripple’s UK & Europe managing director, celebrated the go-live in a post that leaned heavily on the “institutional” framing. “Delighted that EUR CoinVertible is live on the XRP Ledger! A win for the ecosystem. Proud to have Ripple’s custody tech powering this milestone,” she wrote.

XRP Ledger Lands Major TradFi Win

In its February 18, 2026 press release, SG-FORGE described the XRPL integration as part of a “multi-chain deployment strategy,” explicitly positioning the ledger alongside Ethereum and Solana rather than as a one-off experiment. The firm said it expects the move to “increase adoption” by tapping XRPL’s scalability, speed, and low costs on what it called a “secure and decentralized Layer 1 blockchain.”

That line matters because it clarifies the target user: not retail “stablecoin tourists,” but institutions that care about predictable settlement characteristics and operational risk. In parallel messaging shared on social channels, SG-FORGE framed the choice in plain infrastructure terms, performance, cost, and architecture, rather than community affinity or token narratives.

Ripple’s involvement is not merely promotional. SG-FORGE said the XRPL launch is “supported by Ripple’s custody solution,” and it flagged follow-on paths that sound tailored to professional trading and treasury workflows: potential integration into Ripple’s product suite and use of EUR CoinVertible as trading collateral.

Craddock echoed that institutional positioning in the release itself, describing SG-FORGE as “a pioneer… market-leading crypto-assets offering.” She added: “Ripple is proud to have played a part… providing proven and trusted technology.”

Ripple staff also used the moment to underline how these launches tend to happen in practice. One Ripple employee, Luke Judges, wrote that the partnership is real and added: “A top 10 European bank with $1.8TN in assets does not follow XRP ledger community norms or niceties and has their own compliance reqs & timescale for announcements.”

For SG-FORGE, the XRPL rollout also reads like a delivered roadmap item. Back in November 2024, the firm publicly signaled its intent to deploy its MiCA-aligned euro stablecoin on XRPL to broaden adoption, language that closely matches the rationale in today’s announcement.

Jean-Marc Stenger, CEO of SG-FORGE, framed the XRPL go-live as a continuation of that regulated product push. “The successful launch of EUR CoinVertible on the XRP Ledger is a new step. We look forward to further innovation and expanding the reach,” he said.

At press time, XRP traded at $1.42.

Участник исполнительного совета Европейского центрального банка (ЕЦБ) Пьеро Чиполлоне (Piero Cipollone) на заседании исполнительного комитета Итальянской банковской ассоциации сообщил, что до конца марта европейский финансовый регулятор проведет отбор поставщиков платежных услуг (PSP) для цифрового евро.

Прокуратура Южной Кореи получила от неназванного хакера биткоины на сумму около $21,4 млн, которые были украдены из кошелька с конфискованными криптовалютными активами.

Сыновья президента США Эрик Трамп и Дональд Трамп-младший назвали криптовалюту быстроразвивающейся альтернативой традиционным валютам, а значит, и американским долларам.

В регионах Северо-Кавказского федерального округа за прошлый год российские силовики закрыли 128 майнинг-ферм — втрое больше, чем годом ранее. Ущерб от кражи электроэнергии превысил 1 млрд рублей, увеличившись по сравнению с 2024 годом на 42,6%, сообщили «Россети Северный Кавказ».