MarketWhisper

OpenClaw, the open-source AI agent framework founded by Peter Steinberger, has confirmed that the project's Discord server has completely banned discussions of Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency-related topics. Offenders will be directly banned. Steinberger stated that the reason for this rule is the large influx of cryptocurrency scammers into the community who have been harassing members, severely disrupting normal technical discussions among developers.

Regulatory chief Robert DeNault of the prediction market platform Kalshi announced that Kalshi plans to publicly disclose a series of insider trading disciplinary notices to users within the next few weeks, as a result of months of clearing a backlog of suspicious transactions; CEO Tarek Mansour confirmed that the monitoring system "Poirot" has completed over 200 investigations, with some cases already handed over to law enforcement agencies.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller issued a statement in Washington, indicating that whether he supports a rate cut in March depends mainly on the upcoming February non-farm payroll report. Waller confirmed that non-farm employment increased by 130,000 in January, higher than the market expectation of 65,000, but also emphasized that "one month's good data does not constitute a trend," and is not enough to confirm that the labor market has entered a steady recovery track.

Blockchain intelligence platform TRM Labs and banking infrastructure company Finray Technologies announced a partnership in February 2026, integrating Finray's compliance decision engine XZiel with TRM Labs' blockchain intelligence tools to create a unified system that can monitor both cryptocurrency and fiat transactions simultaneously, providing institutions with real-time risk alerts and compliance management across asset classes.

White House Digital Asset Advisor Patrick Vitter outlined a compromise draft of the bill to representatives from the cryptocurrency industry and banking sector. The core provision bans companies from earning yields on idle stablecoin balances, shifting the discussion toward activity-based reward mechanisms linked to transactions or network participation. Data from the Polymarket prediction platform shows that the probability of the bill passing this year has dropped to 44% at one point.

U.S.-listed cryptocurrency mining company Bitdeer disclosed in its weekly production report on February 20, 2026, that its Bitcoin holdings have officially been reduced to zero, completing the planned eight-week asset reduction program, selling off approximately 2,000 Bitcoins held since the end of last year. Chairman and CEO Wu Jihan later stated on the X platform that having zero holdings currently does not mean that future holdings will remain the same.

Blockchain monitoring organization Onchain Lens data shows that well-known investor Machi Big Brother (Huang Licheng, Machi Big Brother) was fully liquidated from Bitcoin and Ethereum long positions during the market turbulence on February 23 when Bitcoin fell below the $65,000 mark, resulting in a total loss exceeding $27 million. The New Year film he invested in, "Kung Fu," also ended up losing money.

The High Court of the United Kingdom held an asset disposal hearing on February 16 to 17 regarding the Blue Sky Grey Money Laundering Case involving over 60,000 Bitcoins. More than 11,300 Chinese victims plan to submit claims for recovery, accounting for only about 8.8% of the total 128,409 victims. According to the UK's Proceeds of Crime Act, all victims can register evidence and assert their recovery rights at the High Court before May 22, 2026.

Research organization Citrini Research released the "Global Intelligence Crisis" report, which received over 22 million views on the X platform on February 23, 2026, and is considered one of the partial catalysts for the collective sell-off of software and payment stocks on that day. IBM plummeted 13.1% that day, marking its largest single-day decline in 25 years.

An investment company in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, that provides cryptocurrency settlement services, has approximately 20 clients who have reported their USDT accounts being hacked starting from January 2026. The total loss amounts to 2.67 million USDT, equivalent to about 20.87 million HKD. After an investigation, the police arrested 34-year-old network engineer Cai on February 23 on suspicion of theft. He is suspected of unauthorized access to the company's database and viewing customer account information.

The Central Bank of Brazil officially advanced the regulatory framework for institutional virtual asset service providers (VASP) in February 2026. Based on Resolutions No. 519–521 issued in November 2025 and effective February 2, 2026, it established the licensing process for cryptocurrency companies and plans to implement related regulations in phases until 2027.

President Trump plans to implement a 0% capital gains tax on all Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investments. Once this policy is enacted, it will fundamentally change the investment cost structure of the cryptocurrency market and have a profound impact on retail investors, institutional investors, and industry talent allocation. The policy details are still to be clarified, including the scope of applicable assets and holding period requirements.

The last week of February 2026, the cryptocurrency market will see a total token unlock of over $317 million, including more than $62 million worth of restricted tokens from the three major projects Jupiter (JUP), Humanity (H), and Grass (GRASS). The JUP unlock this time amounts to 253 million tokens, which is more than 4.7 times its regular monthly release of 53.47 million tokens.

Coinbase launches Agentic Wallets, an on-chain wallet solution designed specifically for AI Agents, allowing AI Agents to independently hold funds and perform on-chain operations without human intervention. Solana's official account then retweeted lobster.cash, a Solana-based AI Agent autonomous payment solution developed by Crossmint.

A wallet traceable back to the Satoshi era from the early days of Bitcoin's inception has become active again after nearly 15 years of silence, transferring all 11,300 Bitcoins (equivalent to approximately $750 million) to an exchange-related address. Blockchain data shows that this transfer is one of the largest single movements from early miner wallets in recent years. Since the beginning of 2026, Bitcoin has declined by approximately 20%.

The Third Branch of the Thai Immigration Bureau recently arrested a Chinese man (alias Mr. Duan) in a luxury residential area in Bang Phli, Samut Prakan Province. He is suspected of leading the BHE Exchange cryptocurrency platform scam, which affected over 20,000 victims and resulted in estimated losses of more than $128 million (approximately 900 million RMB). The suspect fled China in 2024 and has been hiding in Thailand. Chinese authorities have issued an arrest warrant for him on charges of fraud.

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT posted a teaser on the X platform on February 24, announcing that on February 26 he will reveal a major insider trading investigation targeting "one of the most profitable companies" in the cryptocurrency industry, but did not disclose the name of the target company. The news has generated significant market attention, with the Polymarket betting market accumulating over $2.2 million in trading volume within a few hours.

Multiple institutional investors have disclosed through their latest quarterly 13F filings that they have significantly reduced or completely exited their MicroStrategy (MSTR) holdings, including Angeles Wealth Management and Wealth Watch Advisors, both of which announced a 100% exit. Although MSTR's stock price rebounded about 30% after hitting a bottom in early February, it still declined by a total of 19% over the past month.

The DeFi platform Step Finance based on the Solana blockchain announced on February 24, 2026, that it will cease all operations immediately. The shutdown was caused by a security breach in the treasury on January 31, which resulted in approximately 261,854 SOL (worth about $29 million) being stolen. After evaluating all financing and acquisition options, the company was unable to find a viable solution.

XRP closed down 2.95% on February 23, trading at $1.3522, hitting a three-week low, with the overall crypto market plunging 3.80%. Anthropic's Claude Code has sparked market concerns over AI disrupting tech stock profits; Trump immediately imposed an additional 10%–15% tariff globally following the Supreme Court ruling, adding dual pressure that dragged down the entire crypto asset sector.