PA Daily｜Three senior executives at Gemini collectively resign months after IPO; Dragonfly completes fundraising of $650 million for its fourth fund
Today’s News Highlights:
Laurore Ltd becomes the largest new holder of BlackRock Bitcoin ETF, with Jane Street close behind
Market News: Silicon Valley investment giant Peter Thiel exits Ethereum treasury company ETHZilla
Strategy adds 2,486 Bitcoin, bringing total holdings to 717,131 BTC
Wintermute: BTC finds support at the 200-week moving average; a restart of the rally requires macro clarity
He Yi: The crypto industry has experienced four “listing cycle” eras, with platform pricing power and market structure continuously reshaping
Dragonfly completes its fourth fundraise, totaling $650 million
Stake completes $31 million Series B funding, led by National Bank of the UAE
Crypto exchange Gemini’s three senior executives leave collectively months after IPO
Macro & Regulation
Arizona Senate Finance Committee passes Digital Asset Strategic Reserve Fund Bill
According to Cointelegraph, Arizona’s Senate Finance Committee approved SB1649 with a 4-2 vote, now forwarding the bill for review by the Rules Committee.
Federal Reserve officials debate rate cuts and reopening scenarios, with inflation risks as the main obstacle
According to Jin10, Chicago Fed President Goolsbee said Tuesday that if inflation continues to fall toward the 2% target, there could be more room for rate cuts this year. He warned that service sector inflation remains high, but if tariff-related price hikes are one-off, policymakers might have room to adjust. On the same day, San Francisco Fed President Daly said the Fed still needs to suppress inflation, and while AI might help, moderate or slightly restrictive policies are crucial. Fed Governor Michael Barr’s stance is more hawkish, stating that given ongoing risks to inflation, the next rate cut may be a long way off.
CFTC claims exclusive federal regulatory authority over prediction markets
According to The Block, the CFTC stated in a recent court filing that, under congressional authority, it has “exclusive jurisdiction” over futures and event contracts, including prediction markets, criticizing some state efforts as overreach. The CFTC submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit regarding the lawsuit between Crypto.com and Nevada. Previously, Crypto.com’s prediction market business sued Nevada to block the platform from offering sports event contracts; the lower court ruled these contracts are outside CFTC jurisdiction, and Crypto.com has appealed.
Prediction market platform Kalshi sued in Nevada
According to Business Insider, Nevada regulators have formally sued prediction market platform Kalshi, seeking a court order to stop it from operating an “unlicensed sports betting business.” They also noted Kalshi’s rapid growth, with trading on Super Bowl Sunday 27 times higher than last year. The company declined to comment but said it has requested federal court jurisdiction, arguing only federal law applies to prediction markets, and the state’s enforcement actions are based on the same issues under federal review.
IMF: Japan likely to raise interest rates twice this year and once next year
According to Jin10, the IMF said Japan should avoid cutting consumption tax to prevent fiscal risks. In its latest statement on Japan’s Fourth Review, the IMF warned that “authorities should avoid lowering consumption tax, as this non-targeted measure would erode fiscal space and increase fiscal risks.” It forecasts that by refinancing maturing debt at higher yields, Japan’s interest payments on public debt will double by 2031 compared to 2025. The IMF cautioned that “high and persistent debt levels, coupled with worsening fiscal balances, make Japan vulnerable to shocks,” aligning with Japanese government estimates.
Iran proposes suspending uranium enrichment and reaching commercial agreements with the US to facilitate a nuclear deal
According to WSJ, diplomats from Iran, the US, and neighboring regions report Iran’s proposals include suspending uranium enrichment, transferring some uranium stockpiles abroad for third-party custody (e.g., Russia), and engaging in commercial cooperation with the US. These are closer to core issues but still do not meet Trump’s demand for “full and thorough cessation” of enrichment. Trump has repeatedly expressed hope for a deal that prevents Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, while deploying a large military presence near Iran’s waters in case negotiations fail.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps conducts exercises at the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil transit route through which about 20% of the world’s oil passes. Supreme Leader Khamenei warned in a live speech on his website that “more dangerous than US warships are weapons capable of sinking them,” and noted ongoing Geneva talks, adding that the US “may face a heavy blow from which it cannot recover.”
German Central Bank President: Euro-stablecoins could enhance Europe’s payment system independence
Joachim Nagel, President of the Bundesbank, stated that euro-pegged stablecoins could provide Europe with more independence from the upcoming US dollar-pegged stablecoins under the GENIUS Act.
Nagel supports issuing a euro-pegged CBDC and euro-denominated payment stablecoins. In a speech at the US Chamber of Commerce’s New Year reception in Frankfurt, he said EU officials are pushing for retail CBDC issuance. He believes euro-stablecoins can help Europe become more independent in payment systems and solutions.
His comments did not mention the risks he raised last week at the Euro50 Group meeting, where he warned that if dollar-stablecoins dominate over euro-stablecoins, it could severely damage domestic monetary policy and weaken European sovereignty.
UK stablecoin issuer Agant: UK crypto legislation may come into effect by 2027
Andrew MacKenzie, CEO of UK-based stablecoin issuer Agant, said the UK’s crypto regulatory framework is on the right track but progressing too slowly to support the country’s ambition to become a global digital asset hub.
He noted that the UK government has repeatedly promised to position London as a global crypto and digital asset center, but comprehensive legislation covering stablecoins and broader crypto activities is unlikely to be approved by Parliament until later this year, with full enactment possibly delayed until 2027.
Agant plans to issue a stablecoin called GBPA, fully backed by GBP. The company is already registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), indicating its focus on institutional investors rather than retail crypto markets. GBPA aims to serve as infrastructure for institutional payments, settlement, and tokenized assets.
Project Updates
Market News: Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel exits Ethereum treasury firm ETHZilla
AggrNews reported on X that Peter Thiel has exited ETHZilla, a treasury company related to Ethereum. Thiel’s investment team previously acquired a 7.5% stake through an entity.
Grayscale: Sui Staking ETF to trade on NYSE Arca tomorrow
Grayscale announced via Twitter that its supported SUI staking ETF, Grayscale Sui Staking ETF (GSUI), will begin trading tomorrow on NYSE Arca, providing direct investment opportunities in SUI, including its potential staking rewards, with an average annual yield of 1.7%–3.3%.
Anthropic expects to pay at least $80 billion over three years to Amazon, Google, and Microsoft for running Claude AI on cloud servers
According to The Information, Anthropic’s optimistic forecast is that by 2029, it will pay at least $80 billion to Amazon, Google, and Microsoft for cloud hosting of its Claude AI system. This is not the only revenue source for these tech giants; they also earn from customers purchasing Anthropic’s AI products, which is growing rapidly. In 2024, Anthropic paid about $1.3 million in AI sales commissions to cloud providers.
Cloudflare clarifies no current issues or outages
Jin10 reported that Cloudflare clarified there are no ongoing issues or outages. Earlier, monitoring site DownDetector showed problems with multiple services, including YouTube, Google, Amazon, and Cloudflare.
Decentralized SocialFi platform Zora launches attention market on Solana and recruits “Attention Economists”
Cointelegraph reported that Zora launched a new Attention Market on Solana, allowing traders to buy and sell trending keywords, topics, tags, and trends. Users can create “Trends” before they explode and track profit/loss in real time. Co-founder Jacob Horne said that creating a Trend costs 1 SOL to prevent spam, and Trends do not offer creator rewards, but pairs under Trends can earn creator incentives.
Monad Foundation acquires open-source blockchain data indexing framework Ponder
Monad announced it has acquired Ponder, a blockchain data indexing open-source framework. The purchase amount was not disclosed. The Ponder team will join Monad to contribute at the protocol, open-source tools, and standards level, supporting applications leveraging Monad’s performance and decentralization.
Arkham: JELLYJELLY open interest surges, possible group manipulation suspected
Arkham posted on social media that JELLYJELLY’s open interest has surged, possibly indicating manipulation attempts. Monitoring shows open interest on OKX and Bybit spiked, alongside moderate accumulation on MEXC, KuCoin, and Bitget. JELLYJELLY’s 24-hour price up 24%, currently at $0.069.
Data from Coinglass shows 24-hour futures volume for JELLYJELLY at $104 million, spot volume only $1.45 million, with a market cap of about $68.2 million.
BVNK obtains Malta’s MiCA CASP license, advancing compliant crypto services in EEA
Financefeeds reported that BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure provider, received a Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) license from Malta’s MFSA, allowing it to offer regulated digital asset services under the EU’s MiCA framework across the EEA. This approval strengthens BVNK’s role as a regulated bridge between traditional euro payments and stablecoin settlement, targeting compliant cross-border solutions.
Gemini’s three senior executives leave months after IPO
Bloomberg reported that Gemini’s COO, CFO, and General Counsel are leaving immediately. According to filings, Marshall Beard, Dan Chen, and Tyler Meade are departing. Beard, also a Gemini board member, has resigned from the board; the company states their departure is not due to disagreements.
BinanceAlpha airdrop at 18:00 today, threshold 242 points
Officially, BinanceAlpha will conduct an airdrop at 18:00 today. Users with at least 242 Alpha points can claim tokens on a first-come, first-served basis until the pool is exhausted or the event ends. More details forthcoming.
Analysis & Opinions
Analysis: Ethereum in “Narrative Vacuum,” institutional capital and privacy features are key future variables
Forbes reports that industry insiders see Ethereum currently in a “narrative gap,” where markets tend to price in uncertainty in the absence of clear long-term value logic. The main past narrative focused on Layer 2 scaling, with the mainnet emphasizing security, decentralization, and lean architecture—drawing capital and developer resources. Now, attention shifts toward zero-knowledge tech and privacy at the base layer, causing valuation misalignments among investors built on old models. Full on-chain transparency poses practical challenges for institutional funds, as large enterprises and funds prefer not to be tracked in real-time. To attract trillions in institutional capital, protocol-level privacy will become a critical competitive factor.
Renowned “Black Swan Fund” founder warns: S&P 500 could crash after reaching 8,000 points
According to Jin10, Mark Spitznagel, founder and CIO of Universa Investments, said US stocks’ rally is far from over—at least for now. In a recent letter to investors, he predicted that over the next year, markets will stay in a “golden girl zone”—with declining inflation and interest rates, slowing but not recessionary economy, and euphoric sentiment—leading to continued gains and a sharp rally. He added that “the biggest bubble in human history” is now in its final phase. Spitznagel’s hedge fund, nearly 20 years old, specializes in tail risk hedging to protect portfolios from major crashes.
Vitalik Buterin: Network-layer anonymity is a key missing piece in privacy infrastructure
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin tweeted that network-layer anonymity is a long-missing critical component of privacy tech, essential for improving on-chain and off-chain privacy primitives. While privacy solutions now cover on-chain privacy and zero-knowledge applications off-chain, network-layer anonymity remains a significant gap. In some use cases, low bandwidth but high latency sensitivity requires balancing low latency with high anonymity, which will be vital for future tech development.
He Yi: The crypto industry has experienced four “listing cycles,” with platform pricing power and market structure continuously reshaping
He Yi, co-founder of Binance, posted on X an article titled “Listing Cycle Evolution,” responding that: “From a platform perspective, the first phase was the wild period when many projects failed; Binance then started restricting investors & project token unlocks by milestones or time. The second IEO era saw liquidity concentration, giving Binance more say, advising projects on low-price TGE to benefit retail, and not charging listing fees—a win-win. The bear market introduced leverage and derivatives, leading to the ‘golden era’ nostalgia. The third era saw AMMs changing DEXs, VC emergence, and industry professionalization, diluting CEX pricing power and raising compliance standards, leading to airdrops.”
He Yi: BNB has yielded a total return of 5354x, Binance will stay committed long-term
He Yi also posted that Binance’s BNB has returned 5354 times since launch over eight years, with many users benefiting from Binance, BNB, and BNB Chain ecosystems, forming a solid community foundation. She thanked “Binance angels” volunteers, some of whom have contributed for 5–8 years. She emphasized Binance’s “harmonious growth” philosophy, quoting game theory: “The best approach in complex environments is ‘be nice to me, I’ll be nice to you’.” Binance aims to exist long-term, avoiding trouble but not fearing it. She reminded users to do their own research (DYOR) before investing.
Coinbase CEO: Traditional finance still misperceives crypto; company underestimated by Wall Street
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted that traditional finance shows clear polarization toward crypto. Some leading institutions are actively embracing crypto, with five global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) already collaborating with Coinbase, and about half of large firms accelerating crypto initiatives and hiring talent. As regulation clarifies, acceptance from traditional finance continues to grow.
Wintermute: BTC finds support at 200-week MA; a macro clear signal needed for rally
According to Wintermute’s report, as spot volume shrinks, leverage drives short-term volatility. Without “structural buyers” (long-term funds absorbing sell-offs), markets see sharp swings both ways. Technically, BTC is supported near the 200-week MA, historically a bottom indicator in bear markets. Wintermute believes that until macro signals clarify, each rebound is a risk-off opportunity rather than a momentum chase. The key to resuming the uptrend depends on macro clarity; the 200-week MA holds, and no structural damage appears, so once uncertainty lifts, recovery could be faster than current sentiment suggests. Currently, the market is range-bound, leaning downward; leverage dominates, with $70,000 as a near-term resistance. A recovery might occur in late 2026, but patience is needed as most participants may be exhausted.
Analyst: Crypto VC funding from 2023–2025 roughly matches 2022’s total fundraising
Crypto influencer Edgy tweeted that 85% of tokens issued in 2025 are in loss. Many VC-backed projects only break even or are heavily loss-making. Galaxy Research charts show that in Q2 2022, crypto VCs raised nearly $17 billion across over 80 new funds; now, VC investment returns have declined since 2022, with new fund counts at five-year lows, and last quarter’s fundraising at only 12% of Q2 2022. Moreover, the $8.5 billion invested last quarter was not new capital but residual from 2022. Total deployment from 2023–2025 is roughly equal to 2022’s annual fundraising. The pattern of raising, issuing, and retail selling is ending. Edgy believes that as VC influence wanes, projects with real users and revenue will prevail, leading to fairer issuance and less insider dumping.
Investment & Funding
AI startup Temporal completes $300 million Series D, led by a16z
Reuters reports that AI agent startup Temporal announced closing a $300 million Series D at a $5 billion valuation, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with Lightspeed, Sapphire Ventures, and Sequoia participating. The funding aims to build a platform addressing reliability challenges in complex, long-running AI workflows. Customers include OpenAI, Snap, Netflix, and J.P. Morgan.
Sports prediction platform PRED raises $2.5 million seed round, led by Accel
Officially, PRED, a sports prediction trading platform built on Base, announced it completed a $2.5 million seed round led by Accel, with Coinbase Ventures’ Base Ecosystem Fund (BEF) and Reverie also participating. PRED claims execution times of just 200 ms, closer to financial exchanges than traditional sports betting. It is currently in internal testing with invite-only registration.
Dragonfly completes its fourth fundraise, totaling $650 million
According to Fortune, crypto VC Dragonfly has closed its fourth fund at $650 million. Managing Partner Haseeb said it’s their largest fund yet, believing the crypto revolution is still in early exponential growth. He added, “Payment proxies, on-chain privacy, tokenization of everything—the crypto landscape is about to explode, and we want to back the founders leading the charge.”
Stake raises $31 million Series B, led by Emirates NBD
Digital real estate investment platform Stake raised $31 million in Series B, led by Emirates NBD, with Mubadala, MEVP, Property Finder, STC NICE, Wa’ed Ventures, GFH Partners, and Ellington Properties participating. Funds will be used for AI, tokenization, and new product development. Previous rounds totaled $5 million seed, $8 million A, and $14 million A, with $31 million now raised in B, totaling $58 million.
Institutions
Strategy adds 2,486 BTC, total holdings now 717,131 BTC
Officially, Strategy announced it bought 2,486 BTC for about $168.4 million at an average of $67,710. As of February 16, 2026, Strategy holds 717,131 BTC, having invested roughly $54.52 billion, with an average cost basis of about $76,027.
Laurore Ltd becomes the largest new holder of BlackRock Bitcoin ETF, with Jane Street second
According to Jeff Park, CIO of ProCap, the latest 13F filings show Laurore Ltd as the largest new position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), with about $436 million in holdings, solely in IBIT. Jane Street is the second-largest IBIT holder in Q4 2025. Notably, Laurore Ltd has no official website or disclosed background, and no prior holdings; its structure is a Ltd entity.
Charles Schwab increases holdings of Strategy stock by over 91,000 shares, worth $168 million
BitcoinTreasuries reported that Charles Schwab, managing assets of $12 trillion, increased its holdings of Strategy (MSTR) by 91,859 shares, reaching a total of 1.27 million shares valued at $168 million.
K3 Capital-related address withdrew 20,000 ETH from Binance 8 hours ago
Arkham monitoring shows that a K3 Capital-related address withdrew 20,000 ETH from Binance about 8 hours ago, worth approximately $40.1 million.
Trump Meme coin team sent 9.089 million TRUMP tokens to BitGo custody wallet
Onchain Lens detected that Trump Meme coin’s team transferred 9.089 million TRUMP tokens to BitGo custody, valued at $31.45 million.
Trump family crypto project World Liberty Fi withdrew over 313 million WLFI from Binance in the past 11 hours
Onchain Lens reports that the Trump family’s World Liberty Fi address withdrew 313.31 million WLFI from Binance in the last 11 hours, worth about $33.76 million.
Laurore Ltd deposits 1,701 BTC and 22,661 ETH into Coinbase
Lookonchain tracked that the Laurore Ltd ETF address recently transferred 1,701 BTC (about $115.2 million) and 22,661 ETH (about $44.5 million) into Coinbase Prime.
Key Data
Gold and silver spot and futures prices rise across the board, NY gold hits $4,950/oz
Spot gold and silver prices continue upward, with spot gold surpassing $4,930/oz (+1.09%), NY gold reaching $4,950/oz (+0.90%). Spot silver hits $75/oz (+2.03%), NY silver up 2.00% to $75.05/oz.
CoinShares: Assets under management to reach $7.4 billion by end of 2025, with $21.5 million dividend
GlobeNewswire reports CoinShares’ latest financials show total AUM of $7.4 billion by December 31, 2025, with physical digital asset ETPs totaling $2.8 billion (despite crypto market declines, $662 million net inflow in H2 2025). The board also approved a $21.5 million dividend, paid per share at $0.33, before completing the merger with Vine Hill Capital.
Data: Ethereum on-chain RWA assets surpass $15 billion
Token Terminal reports that Ethereum-based RWA assets—including tokenized funds, commodities, and equities—exceed $15 billion, up about 200% YoY.
Major whale “pension-usdt.eth” deposits 30 million USDC into HyperLiquid for 3x leveraged long BTC
Arthur Hayes deposited 1,000 ETH (~$2 million) into CEX 10 hours ago, and again bought 2,600 ETH (~$5.16 million). The whale “pension-usdt.eth” deposited 30 million USDC into HyperLiquid to open a 3x long BTC position.