Cointelegraph.com
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Cointelegraph.com - 21:56 Feb 16, 2026
Joachim Nagel said euro-pegged stablecoins would offer the bloc more independence from US dollar-pegged coins soon to be allowed under the GENIUS Act. Joachim Nagel, president of Germany’s central bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, supported the introduction of a euro-pegged central bank digital currency (CBDC) and euro-denominated stablecoins for payments. In remarks prepared for a speech at the New Year’s Reception of the American Chamber of Commerce in Frankfurt on Monday, Nagel said EU officials were “working hard” toward the introduction of a retail CBDC. Euro-denominated stablecoins, according to the central bank president, could also contribute to “making Europe more independent in terms of payment systems and solutions.” “Notably, a wholesale CBDC would allow financial institutions to make programmable payments in central bank money,” said Nagel. “I also see merit in euro-denominated stablecoins, as they can be used for cross-border payments by individuals and firms at low cost.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 21:30 Feb 16, 2026
Ether is down 20% in February, but a developing bullish setup below $2,000 and growing upside liquidation clusters hint at a quick rebound. Ether (ETH) opened the week with a drop below the psychological $2,000 level, placing the altcoin into a 20% loss for February. Still, onchain data shows long-term investors accumulating ETH and rising network usage. Now, analysts are examining how ETH’s technical outlook and the derivatives data align with its emerging demand to determine if a prolonged rally above $2,000 is possible. Key takeaways: Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 20:39 Feb 16, 2026
The cryptocurrency investment firm says Bitcoin mining is being unfairly lumped with AI data centers, arguing miners act as flexible grid demand, not constant energy drains. The rapid buildout of AI data centers has revived a long-running debate over energy consumption, with critics arguing that large computing operations, including Bitcoin mining, strain power grids and drive up electricity prices. As Cointelegraph previously reported, the surge in AI data center construction has fueled local resistance in several US regions, with residents and lawmakers raising concerns about power demand and rising electricity costs. Bitcoin (BTC) mining has increasingly been linked to the broader debate over high-density computing infrastructure. In a recent research note, crypto investment firm Paradigm pushed back on that narrative, arguing that Bitcoin mining is frequently misunderstood and often mischaracterized in public energy debates. Rather than treating mining as a static energy drain, Paradigm frames it as a par... -
Cointelegraph.com - 20:20 Feb 16, 2026
The relief rallies in Bitcoin and several major altcoins are stalling near their respective overhead resistance levels, signaling that the bears remain in control. Key points: Bitcoin remains under pressure as bears are selling on rallies near the $74,508 resistance The bears are mounting a solid defense in several major altcoins at higher levels, indicating a negative sentiment. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 20:07 Feb 16, 2026
The addition is the first crypto company to be licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission since June 2025, when the regulator approved Hong Kong BGE. Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has added another company to its list of formally licensed cryptocurrency trading platforms, according to a Friday announcement. The SFC’s list of licensed virtual asset trading platforms includes Victory Fintech Company Limited as the latest of now 12 cryptocurrency and blockchain entities on the Hong Kong regulator’s website. The addition of Victory marked the first time since June 2025 that the SFC had approved a crypto trading platform in Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong has been known for some time as a particularly strict jurisdiction in for crypto companies to operate in, authorities have been pursuing unlicensed virtual asset trading platforms as a criminal offense since June 2024. Many exchanges that had previously been operating in Hong Kong shut down, while others like OKX and Bybit withdrew thei... -
Cointelegraph.com - 19:20 Feb 16, 2026
Demand from Bitcoin accumulation addresses reached a new high, with analysts citing a futures market CME gap as a prediction point for their higher short-term price targets. Bitcoin (BTC) saw a sharp dip below $67,400 during the Monday session open, after it rallied above $70,000 over the weekend. An immediate recovery may come at the back of BTC order book data, which shows aggressive bid positioning, and onchain data pointing to a rise in long-term accumulation. Analysts now say the move may extend toward the $80,000–$84,000 region, with order book liquidity playing a key role in the next move. Key takeaways: Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 18:20 Feb 16, 2026
Bitcoin round-tripped gains after a spike to $70,000 as liquidity traps began to characterize BTC price action on the US bank holiday. Bitcoin (BTC) took out long and short positions during Monday as low-volume trading sparked short-term volatility. Key points: Bitcoin sees low-time frame manipulation clear both longs and shorts on the US bank holiday. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 17:37 Feb 16, 2026
The management company behind the university’s $56.9 billion endowment opened a new position in BlackRock's spot Ether ETF, while reducing its Bitcoin ETF stake by 21%. The Harvard Management Company, which manages the eponymous university’s endowment, has reduced its stake in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund and opened a new position in the asset management company’s Ether ETF. In a Friday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Harvard’s endowment reported that it had reduced its position in the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin (BTC) Trust ETF to $265.8 million as of Dec. 31 from $442.9 million in Q3 2025. The investments marked the company offloading more than 1 million shares of the ETF, to 5.4 million in Q4 from 6.8 million in Q3. In addition to the 21% reduction in its Bitcoin position, the Harvard Management Company reported a new investment with exposure to Ether (ETH). According to the SEC filing, the endowment purchased more than 3.8 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Ethereu... -
Cointelegraph.com - 17:35 Feb 16, 2026
Tokenized real-world assets added 13.5% in 30 days, led by increasing activity on Ethereum, Arbitrum and Solana, even as the broader crypto market lost $1 trillion in value. Demand for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) continued to grow over the past month, even as broader cryptocurrency markets faced heavy selling pressure, underscoring the sector’s resilience and growing institutional footprint. The total value of onchain RWAs increased 13.5% over the past 30 days, according to data from RWA.xyz. The increase reflects both higher asset issuance, meaning more tokenized securities brought onto public blockchains, and growth in the number of unique wallet addresses holding these assets, signaling expanding participation. As of Feb. 16, all major blockchain networks tracked by RWA.xyz recorded increases in tokenized asset value, led by Ethereum, with roughly $1.7 billion in net growth, followed by Arbitrum at $880 million and Solana at $530 million. The figures refer to the increase in total onchain value of t... -
Cointelegraph.com - 16:18 Feb 16, 2026
South Korea’s regulators are deploying AI systems to monitor crypto trading, flag manipulation and strengthen digital asset enforcement. South Korea is transitioning crypto market surveillance to AI-driven systems, in which algorithms automatically detect suspicious trading activity, replacing manual processes. The new detection model employs a sliding-window grid search technique, scanning overlapping time segments to spot abnormal patterns such as unusual volume surges. Through 2026, the Financial Supervisory Service plans to enhance AI capabilities with tools to detect coordinated trading account networks and trace manipulation funding sources. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:37 Feb 16, 2026
Nexo exited the US in 2022, citing regulatory hostility toward the crypto industry from federal and state financial regulators. Nexo is set to relaunch its digital asset services and crypto exchange platform in the US on Monday, more than three years after it left the market following battles with federal and state regulators. Now, citing improved regulatory clarity for digital assets in the US, the rebooted Nexo platform will offer flexible and fixed-term yield programs, a spot cryptocurrency exchange, crypto-backed credit lines and a loyalty program for US users, Nexo head of communications Eleonor Genova told Cointelegraph. The platform’s trading infrastructure will be provided by Bakkt, a US-based digital asset platform focused on serving institutional clients. Genova said: Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:26 Feb 16, 2026
Ray Dalio warns that the rules‑based order is now over, putting monetary debasement, dollar risk and neutral, permissionless financial rails back at the center of the macro conversation. Ray Dalio warned that the post-World War II order has “officially broken down,” with the world now sliding into what he bluntly calls a “law of the jungle” phase, where power, not rules, decides outcomes, and crypto investors are using the moment to renew the case for assets designed to operate outside state control. In his latest article on X describing both internal and external disorder, the Bridgewater Associates founder wrote that great powers are now locked in a persistent “prisoner’s dilemma.” They must either escalate or look weak across trade, technology, capital flows and, increasingly, military flashpoints, making what he calls “stupid wars” frighteningly easy to trigger. That external disorder tends to collide with internal stress, Dalio said. When economies are under strain and wealth gaps are wide, governments ... -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:08 Feb 16, 2026
The CLARITY Act moved quickly through the House of Representatives since it was introduced in June 2025 but has been plagued with delays in the Senate. The crypto industry and investors are awaiting the completion of the US CLARITY Act, which has been delayed amid partisan politics and industry concerns. The bill would rewrite the rules of the road for the crypto industry, from which agency oversees it to regulations for decentralized finance (DeFi). Currently, lawmakers in the US Senate are hammering out the details, with significant points of contention. Democrats want a bipartisan bill with ethics provisions and a bailout prohibition that Republicans roundly rejected. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 12:10 Feb 16, 2026
Metaplanet reported about $40 million in operating profit but still recorded a $619 million net loss amid the Bitcoin price drop. Japanese public company Metaplanet reported explosive revenue growth after pivoting its business around Bitcoin, with the cryptocurrency now accounting for most of its operating activity. According to its fiscal year 2025 earnings report, revenue climbed to 8.9 billion Japanese yen ($58 million) from $7 million a year earlier, a 738% year-on-year increase. The surge followed the launch of the company’s Bitcoin (BTC) income operations. “We launched the Bitcoin Income business in Q4 2024. Since then, this strategy has become our primary revenue source and is expected to remain a core driver of profit growth,” the company wrote. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:09 Feb 16, 2026
Binance said an internal review with external counsel found no sanctions violations and that it continues to meet its regulatory obligations under monitoring and oversight. Crypto exchange Binance pushed back against a recent report by Fortune, rejecting allegations that it enabled sanctions-violating transactions tied to Iran and fired compliance investigators who raised concerns. Fortune reported Friday that internal investigators at Binance discovered more than $1 billion in transfers linked to Iranian entities moving through the platform between March 2024 and August 2025. The transactions were said to involve Tether’s USDt (USDT) stablecoin on the Tron blockchain. Citing unidentified sources, the report claimed that at least five investigators, several with law-enforcement backgrounds, were later fired after documenting the activity. The outlet also reported that additional senior compliance staff had departed the company in recent months. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 10:41 Feb 16, 2026
Bitcoin market analysis focused on liquidations and the wick to $59,000 for signs of the next significant BTC price move on lower time frames. Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week at an important crossroads as analysis sees the chance for a new short squeeze Bitcoin closes the week above a key 200-week trend line, leading to fresh belief in a trip to $75,000. Liquidations stay elevated, with a trader noting that longs should be in the driving seat going forward. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 09:59 Feb 16, 2026
Crypto funds saw $173 million outflows last week as Bitcoin and Ether slipped, while XRP and Solana bucked the trend across global markets. Crypto investment products failed to attract enough inflows last week to reverse negative sentiment and clocked a fourth consecutive week of outflows. Crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) recorded $173 million in outflows, following the previous week’s $187 million, according to a CoinShares update on Monday. Although the last two weeks brought relatively minor losses, total outflows over the past four weeks now amount to about $3.8 billion, while total assets under management (AUM) stand at about $133 billion, the lowest since April 2025. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 09:42 Feb 16, 2026
Onchain analyst Willy Woo says markets are starting to price in the quantum threat, putting 4 million “lost” BTC and a 12‑year valuation uptrend versus gold into question. Onchain analyst and early Bitcoin adopter Willy Woo is warning that increasing attention to quantum computing risk is starting to weigh on Bitcoin’s long-term valuation case against gold. Woo argued in a Monday X post that markets had begun to price in the risk of a future “Q‑Day” breakthrough — shorthand for the moment when a powerful enough quantum computer exists to break today’s public key cryptography. Roughly 4 million “lost” Bitcoin (BTC) — coins whose private keys are presumed gone — could be dragged back into play, Woo argued, if a powerful quantum computer could derive private keys from exposed public keys, undermining part of Bitcoin’s core scarcity narrative. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 09:12 Feb 16, 2026
OKX secured a Malta payment institution license to support EU-compliant stablecoin services, including OKX Pay and the OKX Card. Cryptocurrency exchange OKX expanded its regulatory footprint in Europe, securing a license for stablecoin payments. OKX has obtained a Payment Institution (PI) license in Malta, the company told Cointelegraph on Monday. The authorization is issued under the European Union’s payments framework and is designed to bring OKX’s payment products into line with requirements under the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2). Under these rules, crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) offering payment services involving stablecoins must hold either a PI or Electronic Money Institution (EMI) authorization. OKX’s PI license comes more than a year after the exchange received a MiCA license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) in January 2025. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 07:22 Feb 16, 2026
Dubai’s regulator approved the license on Feb. 5, allowing Animoca Brands to target institutional and qualified investors under the oversight of Dubai’s VARA. Animoca Brands has secured a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), clearing the way for the company to broaden its crypto operations across the Middle East. The license allows the Hong Kong-founded Web3 investor and platform developer to offer broker-dealer services and investment management related to virtual assets in and from Dubai, excluding the Dubai International Financial Centre, according to a Monday announcement. The services are aimed primarily at institutional and qualified investors. “This licence enhances our ability to engage with Web3 foundations as well as global institutional and qualified investors within a well-regulated framework,” said Omar Elassar, managing director for the Middle East and head of global strategic partnerships at Animoca Brands. Read more
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