Gate Cryptocurrency News and Market Analysis

Bitcoin has struggled to stay above the $72,000 mark over the past week, as traders weigh whether a renewed institutional bid is at hand or merely a temporary pause in a broader risk-off cycle. While price action remains choppy, a dramatic shift sits in the derivatives market: aggregate open

In a high‑profile enforcement action, Paxful, the peer‑to‑peer crypto exchange, was ordered to pay $4 million after admitting it knowingly profited from criminals who used its platform due to lax anti‑money laundering controls. The Department of Justice outlined that Paxful pleaded guilty in

Bloomberg Intelligence data shows the average spot Ethereum ETF investor is sitting on a 43% unrealised loss, with an estimated cost basis of \$3,500 and ETH now trading near \$1,950. That is more than double the 21% drawdown suffered by Bitcoin ETF holders. Despite \$5.3 billion in paper losses, ETF outflows have been surprisingly modest—net inflows have only shrunk from \$15 billion to below \$12 billion—suggesting holders are refusing to capitulate. The question is not whether they ca

SEC Chair Paul Atkins told the Senate Banking Committee on February 12, 2026, that prediction markets are a "huge issue" requiring potential joint oversight with the CFTC. The \$63.5 billion sector—dominated by Kalshi and Polymarket—has quadrupled in size since the 2024 election cycle, triggering federal jurisdiction questions and state lawsuits over unlicensed sports betting. Atkins asserted the SEC already has "enough authority" to act without new legislation, marking the first major s

Prediction Platform Polymarket recently launched a new feature that allows users to place bets on cryptocurrency price movements every five minutes. This event indicates a growing demand among traders and investors for real-time crypto sentiment data. The target users for this feature are day traders and crypto enthusiasts seeking a fast-paced trading experience, as Bitcoin's recent price decline has become increasingly volatile, intensifying short-term fluctuations.

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has approved Abu Dhabi First Bank's UAE Dirham stablecoin DDSC, which is now live on the Layer 2 blockchain ADI Chain. DDSC will be used for payments and collections, settlement, fund operations, trade supply chain flows for institutional and government entities, as well as providing programmable financial services for regulated entities.

The Argentine Congress removed the digital wallet salary option from the labor reform bill, with banking industry lobbying influencing the Senate vote. Most Argentinians support the freedom to choose where to deposit their salaries. Argentina's current laws require employees to deposit their wages into traditional bank accounts, but digital wallet adoption has grown significantly over the past decades. A 2022 survey by the Central Bank of Argentina found that only 47% of Argentinians have a bank account, mainly due to long-standing distrust of the traditional banking system.

Federal Reserve researchers published a working paper on February 11, 2026, recommending that crypto assets be removed from traditional SIMM categories and assigned their own risk weights for uncleared derivatives margin requirements. The proposal separates floating cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum from pegged stablecoins, and introduces a 50/50 benchmark index to calibrate volatility-driven collateral levels. This marks the first formal acknowledgment by the U.S. central bank

JPMorgan estimates Bitcoin’s production cost has dropped to \$77,000 from \$90,000 since January, driven by a 15% decline in mining difficulty—the steepest since China’s 2021 ban. Historically a soft price floor, this level suggests miner capitulation is nearing its end. The bank remains bullish on 2026, forecasting institutional inflows, not retail speculation, to fuel the next rally, and reiterates its \$266,000 long‑term Bitcoin target.

The Ethereum Foundation account and the Chain Abstraction Team have launched the Ethereum Interoperability Layer (EIL), a multi-chain interoperability framework based on the ERC-4337 account abstraction standard. It addresses the three major pain points of cross-chain interactions: repeated authorization, Gas fee shortages, and long wait times. Using Merkle tree technology, it enables single-signature multi-chain execution. XLP cross-chain liquidity providers can stake 1 ETH and be subject to permissionless confiscation.

Ramil Ventura Palafox, CEO of Praetorian Group International, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on February 13, 2026, for operating a \$200 million Bitcoin Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 90,000 investors worldwide. Palafox promised daily returns of up to 3% through fake AI Bitcoin arbitrage trading while spending millions on luxury cars, homes, and designer goods. The sentencing marks one of the largest crypto fraud prosecutions to date and reinforces that courts are treating digital asset s

In September 2025, automotive parts manufacturer First Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court, with only $12 million remaining in its bank accounts. The largest creditor, Raistone, claims that $2.3 billion in assets have vanished into thin air, and the total debt could be close to $12 billion. The case is expected to go to court in July 2026. Analysts compare the event to a potential Lehman Brothers moment.

Standard Chartered has slashed its 2026 Bitcoin forecast to \$100,000—down from \$150,000—and warned prices could slide to \$50,000 in the coming months. Persistent ETF outflows, unrealised losses among institutional buyers, and a hostile macro environment are driving the bank’s second downgrade since December. While near-term pain is expected, analysts insist the downturn is more orderly than 2022 and leave 2030 targets untouched. For investors, the message is clear: capitulation may not be ove