Buterin says Ethereum and AGI should prioritize intentional, safe progress over unchecked acceleration or pure capability races. He highlights privacy tools like local LLMs, ZK payments, and TEEs to enable trustless AI use without identity leakage. Ethereum could act as an economic

The U.S. CFTC's February 2026 letter enhances stablecoin regulation, allowing national trust banks to issue dollar-pegged tokens as margin collateral. This aligns with the GENIUS Act, fostering federal oversight. Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin can integrate seamlessly, enhancing market efficiency and legitimizing blockchain assets, while XRP's role strengthens as transactions grow. Overall, this represents significant progress towards a regulated, innovative financial system.

The CFTC revised guidelines to include national trust banks as stablecoin issuers, aligning with the FDIC framework and excluding algorithmic stablecoins. This change complies with the regulatory framework of the Genius Act@E1@, strengthens the compliance of the stablecoin market, helps establish legitimate financial models, and enhances investor confidence.

White House February 10 Second Stablecoin Negotiations, Banks and Crypto Gathered. The core dispute: Can stablecoins pay interest? Crypto companies claim to offer better options, while banks oppose due to fears of trillions in potential losses. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Wells Fargo are negotiating with crypto companies like Coinbase, Ripple, Circle, with officials mediating. This is related to the CLARITY Act, which was blocked in the House and Senate due to bank opposition.

A South Korean court sentenced Jong-hwan Lee, CEO of a crypto asset management firm, to three years in prison for manipulating digital asset prices for illicit profit, totaling about 7.1 billion won. Lee also faced fines and asset seizure, marking the first enforcement under the new Virtual Asset User Protection Act.

_South Korea deploys AI to detect crypto manipulation in real-time, analyzing trades by the second._ _FSS targets whale schemes, pump-and-dumps, and social media fraud with automated detection tools._ _New Digital Asset Basic Act brings licensing rules for exchanges, operators, and

US regulators have taken a decisive step toward refining digital asset oversight. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission(CFTC) expanded eligible stablecoin issuers to include national trust banks, correcting an unintended gap in its December guidance. This update aligns stablecoin regulation

South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced its 2026 work plan, which will introduce an AI monitoring system to implement real-time surveillance of crypto assets, targeting high-risk manipulation activities. At the same time, the second phase of legislation for the Digital Asset Basic Act will be launched to enhance information disclosure and exchange regulations. Additionally, South Korea will cautiously open up leveraged ETFs, protecting retail investors through education and restriction measures.

_The Altgeld Gardens district becomes the nation’s first state-backed community cryptocurrency savings program when Illinois proposes the Community Bitcoin Reserve Act._ On February 5, 2026, Illinois lawmakers declared the first cryptocurrency bill. Senator Jones proposed the Community Bitcoin R

_CFTC guidance now permits national trust banks to issue payment stablecoins for derivatives collateral use._ _Updated rules align stablecoins with the GENIUS Act and expand regulated access across U.S. financial markets._ _FDIC proposals and CFTC relief signal deeper stablecoin