On Wednesday, a Federal Reserve staff working paper proposed treating crypto as a distinct asset class for setting initial margin in uncleared derivatives, citing higher volatility and a poor fit with SIMM categories. It recommends separate risk weights for floating coins like Bitcoin and Ether and pegged stablecoins, plus a benchmark index to calibrate those weights.

In the first two months of 2026, RLUSD's market cap reached $1.5 billion, and Binance completed integration on the XRP Ledger to broaden access. According to Token Terminal, RLUSD's supply on Ethereum climbed to $1.2 billion, while the article highlights moves by Tether and Circle that set up a more competitive stablecoin landscape.

On 12 February 2026, HM Treasury appointed HSBC's Orion digital asset platform to support the UK's Digital Gilt Instrument pilot within the Digital Securities Sandbox. The program will issue a short-dated, digitally native UK government bond to test blockchain-based issuance, settlement, and secondary trading without altering the existing gilt auction framework. The initiative aims to gather data on efficiency, costs, and risk management as part of wider sovereign debt tokenization trends.

BlockFills, a Susquehanna-backed crypto lender and trading venue serving about 2,000 institutions, has halted client deposits and withdrawals. In a Feb 11, 2026 update, the firm called the step temporary and cited recent market and financial conditions. Clients can still open and close positions in spot and derivatives under limited circumstances.

On Thursday, Bitcoin and Ether hit intraday lows of $66,171 and $1,912. Bloomberg analysis indicates ETH spot ETF holders face steeper losses, with assets at $11.27 billion versus $30.5 billion and an estimated $3,500 cost basis, while BTC ETFs sit at $85.76 billion, down from a $170 billion peak in October 2025.

On Thursday, Monness, Crespi, Hardt issued a rare double downgrade on Coinbase Global Inc., cutting the leading U.S. crypto exchange's stock directly from "Buy" to "Sell." The firm expects prolonged crypto market weakness to persist for more than a year and has lowered its forecasts for Coinbase's revenue, EBITDA and EPS, even after the share price has already fallen about 50%. Additional downgrades and reduced price targets from other Wall Street analysts have deepened concerns over Coinbase's valuation and future performance.

China's market regulator introduced a five‑chapter, 28‑article pricing guideline to rein in auto price wars and tighten compliance for manufacturers, dealers, and online platforms. Passenger car sales fell 19.5% in January 2026, and CAAM estimates price competition erased 471 billion yuan ($65 billion) of industry output over three years.

Binance has finalized the conversion of $1 billion in SAFU stablecoin reserves into Bitcoin, acquiring a total of 15,000 BTC within 30 days of its prior plan. The exchange says the fully BTC-denominated fund, valued at $1,005,000,000 at completion, is backed by a commitment to top it up if volatility pushes its worth below $800 million.