Coinbase said Thursday it has secured a conditional bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The charter is subject to OCC requirements before full approval and would allow Coinbase to operate under a federal banking framework once conditions are met.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have filed lawsuits against Illinois, Arizona, and Connecticut, seeking to shield prediction markets from state-level oversight. The agencies argue these products are subject to federal regulation only, not state rules. Over the past year, more states have moved to challenge prediction-market platforms, contending that sports-themed offerings are not event contracts under the CFTC's authority but effectively unregulated sports betting under a different label.

Bitcoin (BTC) is approaching a pivotal technical test as on-chain data points to a meaningful change in large-holder behavior. CryptoQuant data shows wallets holding 1,000–10,000 BTC have shifted from accumulation to net selling. Over the past 12 months, these whale cohorts have reduced holdings by 188,000 BTC, reversing the 2024 buildup when they added more than 200,000 BTC. The 365-day trend suggests the move reflects a broader distribution phase rather than short-term noise. Exchange-flow signals are also turning heavier. CryptoQuant indicates a sharp jump in active addresses sending BTC to exchanges over recent days, led by short-term holders and traders. Rising exchange deposits typically increase near-term supply available to sell. Selling is not confined to whale wallets. Mining firm Riot Platforms recently sold an additional 500 BTC, valued at roughly $34.13 million, adding to circulating supply and reinforcing downside pressure alongside whale distribution. Spot markets are now focused on a key demand zone between $62,000 and $65,000, an area that has acted as support in recent sessions. Holding this range could help absorb the supply overhang and keep the broader bullish structure intact. A clean break below would suggest sell pressure has overwhelmed demand and could open the door to a deeper correction. Final Summary: Whale holdings are down 188,000 BTC, pointing to a structural shift toward distribution. With miners and large holders contributing to supply, the $62,000–$65,000 zone has become the market's key support level.

SpaceX has confidentially filed for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg reported, setting the stage for a potential listing as early as June 2026. The company is seeking to raise as much as $75 billion as it ramps up funding for Starship development, Starlink expansion and broader infrastructure investment. Bloomberg said SpaceX submitted a draft registration statement under rules that allow companies to begin SEC review privately before launching a public marketing campaign. Key terms including pricing and share allocation are expected in subsequent filings. For the underwriting syndicate, SpaceX has tapped Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, according to the report. The company is also weighing a dual-class share structure that would preserve outsize voting control for insiders, including CEO Elon Musk. If the capital raise reaches $75 billion, it would far exceed Saudi Aramco's $29 billion IPO in 2019. Axios reported that such an offering could imply a debut valuation above $1.75 trillion, potentially making SpaceX the first company to list with a market capitalization over $1 trillion. Axios also said SpaceX may set aside up to 30% of shares for individual investors, a higher-than-usual retail allocation for a major IPO. The IPO push comes as Musk's businesses undergo structural shifts. SpaceX recently acquired xAI, forming a combined entity valued at $1.25 trillion, Axios said, while noting investors would have limited historical financial data under the merged structure. SpaceX has indicated IPO proceeds would be directed toward increasing Starship launch cadence, expanding space-based data infrastructure and supporting development of a lunar base, alongside continued Falcon 9 operations and further global rollout of the Starlink satellite network. As the process advances, SpaceX is likely to face heightened regulatory scrutiny, including around executive communications during the IPO period.

The International Monetary Fund said the Federal Reserve may have limited room to cut interest rates in 2026, even as U.S. inflation continues to ease toward the central bank's target.

The FBI has formally designated a suspected Chinese cyber intrusion into its internal surveillance management system as a "major incident" under federal law, the government's most severe cybersecurity classification. The breach was first detected on February 17 after analysts observed abnormal log activity. Officials said the attackers targeted an unclassified network used to administer court-authorized wiretaps and intelligence surveillance warrants. The affected environment held law-enforcement sensitive information, including call metadata, pen register and trap-and-trace returns, and personally identifiable information tied to subjects of active FBI investigations. Investigators believe the intruders entered through the infrastructure of a commercial ISP vendor rather than by directly compromising FBI systems, a supply-chain pathway resembling the "Salt Typhoon" campaign that hit major U.S. telecom providers in 2024. Former FBI cyber-division officials noted that the FISMA "major incident" threshold is rarely applied to the bureau's own systems. The classification requires notification to Congress and reflects the FBI's assessment that both personal-data exposure and acute national-security risks are involved. The White House, NSA, DHS, and CISA are participating in the investigation. The incident is the second major breach of U.S. law-enforcement data reported under the current administration.

Circle, the issuer of USDC, has introduced cirBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin token designed to be backed 1:1 by BTC with on-chain, verifiable reserves. The company said the product is being built to plug into Circle's existing infrastructure and integrate across the broader DeFi ecosystem. A launch date has not been announced. The announcement places Circle into the wrapped Bitcoin market, long led by WBTC but recently clouded by trust questions tied to BitGo's custody changes that brought Justin Sun-linked entities into the picture. Circle, a regulated public company (NYSE: CRCL), could reshape institutional and DeFi demand for tokenized Bitcoin if its verifiable-reserve approach gains traction. Circle has been expanding aggressively, including the launch of its Arc Layer 1 blockchain and the Circle Payments Network, alongside deepening ties with Visa, Mastercard, and major financial institutions. A wrapped Bitcoin product broadens Circle's stablecoin and tokenized-asset stack, reinforcing its push to serve as core infrastructure for on-chain finance.

Coinbase has secured conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to charter a federally regulated trust company focused on cryptocurrency custody.

Blockchain data show that 361,353,370 USDC, worth about US$361,371,437, was transferred from Coinbase Institutional to an unidentified wallet.