Cointelegraph.com
Source:
https://cointelegraph.com
Found 8179 news
-
Cointelegraph.com - 13:04 Feb 18, 2026
The exploit saw the Moonwell protocol exploited for $1.78 million after cbETH was mispriced at $1.12 instead of about $2,200, intensifying debate around AI-co-authored smart contracts. Moonwell, a decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol deployed on Base and Optimism, was exploited for about $1.78 million after a pricing oracle for Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH (cbETH) returned a value of about $1.12 instead of $2,200, creating a mispricing that attackers were able to use for profit. Moonwell said in an incident post-mortem that a governance proposal executed on Sunday misconfigured the cbETH oracle by using the cbETH/ETH exchange rate alone, causing the system to report cbETH at about $1.12. The protocol said liquidation bots and opportunistic borrowers exploited the mispricing, leaving roughly $1.78 million in bad debt. The pull requests for the affected contracts show multiple commits co-authored by Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6, prompting security auditor Pashov to publicly flag the incident as an exampl... -
Cointelegraph.com - 12:38 Feb 18, 2026
Social engineering and impersonation-related scams were the most frequent attack vectors targeting crypto investors in AMLBot’s investigations last year. About two-thirds of crypto incidents investigated by blockchain analytics company AMLBot in 2025 were driven by social engineering rather than technical exploits, according to a report based on the company’s internal casework. AMLBot said 65% of the incidents it reviewed last year involved access and response failures, such as compromised devices, weak verification and delayed detection, instead of vulnerabilities in blockchains or smart contracts. The company said its analysis drew on about 2,500 internal investigations and should not be read as an industry-wide measure of crypto crime, according to a Wednesday report shared with Cointelegraph. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:22 Feb 18, 2026
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is reportedly weighing an early exit from the bank just as the EU enters a crucial phase for the digital euro. European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde is considering leaving before her eight-year term ends in October 2027, the Financial Times reported, citing a person “familiar with her thinking.” Lagarde, who took office in November 2019, is said to be weighing an early exit ahead of France’s April 2027 presidential election so that outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz can agree on a successor, the FT reported Wednesday. An ECB spokesperson pushed back on the report, telling Cointelegraph: “President Lagarde is totally focused on her mission and has not taken any decision regarding the end of her term.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 10:59 Feb 18, 2026
A Wells Fargo strategist said bigger US tax refunds may revive retail risk-taking by late March, potentially sending fresh cash into Bitcoin and momentum stocks. US tax filers may see bigger refunds in 2026 compared with previous years, a development one Wall Street strategist said may boost risk appetite for digital assets and tech stocks preferred among retail investors. In a note cited by CNBC, Wells Fargo analyst Ohsung Kwon said the coming refund wave may help bring back the so-called “YOLO” trade, with as much as $150 billion potentially flowing into equities and Bitcoin (BTC) by the end of March. Kwon said the extra cash could be most visible among higher-income consumers. “Speculation picks up with bigger savings…we expect YOLO to return,” wrote Wells Fargo analyst Ohsung Kwon in a Sunday note seen by news outlet CNBC. “Additional savings from tax returns, especially for the high-income consumer will flow back into equities, in our view,” he added. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 10:24 Feb 18, 2026
US spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to see slowing outflows as investors and analysts examine Q4 2025 filings showing which institutions bought and sold crypto ETFs. US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted $104.9 million in net outflows on Tuesday in the first trading session this week. Total trading volume in spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs fell to just over $3 billion, down nearly 80% from a record $14.7 billion on Feb. 5, reflecting a continued slowdown in trading activity, according to SoSoValue data. The outflows came as another round of institutions reported their Bitcoin ETF holdings for the fourth quarter of 2025, with Jane Street ranking as the second-largest buyer of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) in Q4, buying $276 million. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 08:47 Feb 18, 2026
A new SEC filing shows Peter Thiel-linked Founders Fund entities now own zero ETHZilla shares, after disclosing a 7.5% stake in 2025. Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund has fully exited Ether treasury company ETHZilla, according to a Tuesday filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Entities linked to Thiel now report owning zero shares in the company in a 13G amendment filed on Tuesday, after disclosing a 7.5% stake on Aug. 4, 2025. At that time, the group beneficially owned 11,592,241 shares of what was then known as 180 Life Sciences Corp., representing 7.5% of the 154,032,084 shares outstanding and worth about $40 million based on trading at around $3.50 per share in early August. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 06:16 Feb 18, 2026
Kalshi is looking to have Nevada’s lawsuit heard in federal court, again asserting it is subject only to federal commodity exchange laws. The US state of Nevada has sued Kalshi after the prediction market company lost its court challenge to stop the state’s regulator from taking action over its sports prediction markets. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday denied Kalshi’s bid to stop Nevada’s gaming regulator from taking action on its sports event contracts, removing a block on the regulator launching a civil suit against the company. After the decision, the Nevada Gaming Control Board promptly filed a civil enforcement action in state court against Kalshi, which it said sought to block the company “from offering unlicensed wagering in violation of Nevada law.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 06:10 Feb 18, 2026
Multiple technical, onchain and exchange-traded product data points suggest $1.12 was the generational bottom for XRP. Is it time for a trend reversal? XRP (XRP) recovered 50% to a high of $1.67 from its 15-month low of $1.12 reached on Feb. 6. While the altcoin’s intraday price of $1.43 remains more than 60% below its multi-year high of $3.66, several metrics suggest that the local low at $1.12 could be the new bottom with XRP price set for a sustained recovery. Key takeaways: XRP supply on exchanges has dropped to a five-year low as holders moved tokens to self-custody, possibly signaling reduced selling pressure. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 05:50 Feb 18, 2026
The rewards model follows months of criticism that too few Pump.fun traders were breaking even on the platform, let alone profiting. Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun has rolled out a new feature that shifts rewards toward memecoin traders rather than its deployers — a tweak to its fee model that once generated over $15 million in a single day at its peak. In a post to X on Tuesday, Pump.fun said the platform’s memecoin creators can now decide whether a token “truly deserves” Creator Fees, or whether it’s best to redirect rewards to traders engaging with the token through “Cashback Coins.” Pump.fun’s original model features Creator Fees, giving token creators 0.3% of all fees generated by the tokens they launch. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 05:31 Feb 18, 2026
Arthur Hayes warns that AI-related job losses will spark a credit crisis, forcing central banks to print money, which will drive Bitcoin to new all-time highs. The divergence between Bitcoin and tech stocks is a warning sign of a potential artificial intelligence-driven credit crisis that could lead to more central bank money printing, says Arthur Hayes. “Bitcoin is the global fiat liquidity fire alarm. It is the most responsive freely traded asset to the fiat credit supply,” said the crypto entrepreneur in his latest blog post on Wednesday. Hayes went on to caution that the recent divergence between Bitcoin (BTC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index “sounds the alarm that a massive credit destruction event is nigh.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 03:30 Feb 18, 2026
Two more ETF issuers have filed prospectuses for six US election prediction market ETFs, allowing investors to gain exposure to election outcomes. Exchange-traded fund issuers Bitwise and GraniteShares have filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to launch funds tied to event contracts on the outcome of US elections. Bitwise filed a prospectus on Tuesday for a new lineup of ETFs branded PredictionShares, comprising six prediction-market-style ETFs listed on NYSE Arca. The first two funds will pay out if either a Democrat or a Republican wins the US presidential election in November 2028. The next two will pay out if either Democrats or Republicans win the Senate in November 2026, and the final two if either party wins the House. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 01:27 Feb 18, 2026
The ZORA token gained 6.2% to $0.022 over the last 24 hours as Zora announced its new attention markets product. Decentralized SocialFi platform Zora has launched its new attention markets platform on Solana, allowing traders to speculate on which buzzwords, hashtags, trends and topics will go viral online. “Trade what’s trending. Take positions on any topic, idea, meme, or moment before it breaks,” Zora’s newly launched platform states. One of Zora’s founders, Jacob Horne, said on Tuesday that it costs 1 Solana (SOL), currently $85, to deploy a “Trend,” aimed at disincentivizing spam. Trends have no creator rewards. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 23:09 Feb 17, 2026
Ether adoption grows as major endowments shift capital, BlackRock launches a staking ETF and Ethereum's real-world asset dominance highlights TradFi investor interest. Key takeaways: Institutional sentiment is shifting toward ETH as elite funds reallocate capital from Bitcoin to Ether ETFs. BlackRock’s ETH ETF pairs secure staking with a low 0.25% fee, creating a major win for mainstream crypto access. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 21:50 Feb 17, 2026
While still subject to final approval, the regulator's nod would enable Bridge to offer stablecoin and digital asset services to businesses. Stablecoin platform Bridge, owned by the payments processor Stripe, said it had received conditional approval to operate as a federally chartered national trust bank under the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). In a Tuesday notice, Bridge said it had received conditional approval from the banking regulator, allowing the company to “operate stablecoin products and services under direct federal oversight” once fully approved. Bridge said the charter would allow it to offer custody of digital assets, issue stablecoins and manage stablecoin reserves. “Our compliance framework already positions Bridge to be GENIUS ready,” said the company, referring to the stablecoin bill signed into law in July 2025. “Now achieving a national trust bank charter will provide our customers the regulatory backbone they need to build with stablecoins confidently and at scale.” R... -
Cointelegraph.com - 21:45 Feb 17, 2026
The Dutch electronic money issuer will act as a BIN sponsor for fintech partners, linking regulated dollar- and euro-denominated tokens to mainstream card rails. Dutch payments company Quantoz Payments has become a principal member of Visa, enabling it to issue virtual debit cards backed by its regulated e-money tokens and sponsor third-party fintechs seeking to offer stablecoin-linked payment products across Europe. Under the agreement, Quantoz will be able to issue Visa-branded virtual cards tied to balances held in its USDQ, EURQ and EURD e-money tokens, allowing users to spend those funds online, in stores and through mobile wallets. The company will also act as a BIN sponsor, enabling fintech partners to embed card issuance directly into their platforms. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 21:15 Feb 17, 2026
Third-quarter results show revenue growth despite lower Bitcoin prices, alongside new AI computing contracts, as HIVE continues to expand beyond its core mining business. HIVE Digital Technologies delivered a record fiscal third quarter despite weaker Bitcoin prices, suggesting that its expansion into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing is offsetting broader crypto-market headwinds. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025, HIVE reported $93.1 million in revenue, a 219% increase from a year earlier. Gross operating margin expanded more than sixfold year over year to $32.1 million, representing about 35% of revenue. The strong performance came even as Bitcoin (BTC) prices declined about 10% during the quarter and network difficulty rose about 15%, conditions that have pressured mining margins across the industry following the 2024 halving. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 20:30 Feb 17, 2026
The gap between new and old Bitcoin whales continues to widen as BTC trades below $68,000. Will young whales continue to accumulate, or will older whales capitulate first? Bitcoin’s (BTC) price continued to consolidate near $68,000 on Tuesday, but sustained weakness below this level may generate additional sell pressure from the newest cohort of large holders. While the long-term whales remain in profit, short-term whales are sitting on sizeable unrealized losses. One analyst highlighted how this pressure may impact BTC’s price, as other indicators point to a continued downtrend. Key takeaways: Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 19:45 Feb 17, 2026
Traders map out their desired price targets for Bitcoin if the $70,000 level continues to function as a resistance zone. Is there any hope for the bulls? Bitcoin (BTC) analysts mapped out the key BTC price levels to watch as the market’s focus shifted to the $58,000 to $65,000 zone as the last line of defense. Bitcoin is currently wedged between the 200-week simple moving average (SMA) at $68,300 and the 200-week exponential moving average (EMA) at $58,400. Generally, in Bitcoin’s trading history, major BTC bottoms have formed between the 200-week SMA and EMA, according to analyst Jelle. This suggests that Bitcoin is possibly forming a bottom between these trendlines. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 19:15 Feb 17, 2026
Bitcoin has formed a classic bearish pattern on its daily chart, and if confirmed, a price drop to $56,000 could be on the cards. Key takeaways: A developing bear pennant keeps a BTC price drop toward $56,000 in play. Rising whale inflows to Binance further the downside outlook. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 19:03 Feb 17, 2026
The integration gives ICE Chat users direct access to the exchange's OTC crypto liquidity, embedding digital asset trading within established institutional workflows. US-based crypto exchange Kraken has integrated its over-the-counter desk with Intercontinental Exchange’s ICE Chat, enabling institutional traders to access Kraken’s crypto liquidity directly through a messaging platform widely used across global financial markets. ICE Chat connects more than 120,000 market participants, including banks, brokers and trading desks that use the system for real-time deal negotiation and execution. The integration allows those clients to communicate directly with Kraken’s OTC desk within their existing trading workflows. Kraken said it is the first cryptocurrency platform approved to connect to ICE Chat, placing its crypto liquidity alongside traditional asset classes within established institutional communications infrastructure. Read more
8179 items