Crypto-funded super PAC Fairshake has begun intervening in Illinois Democratic House primaries, booking ads tied to the 7th District. Inquiry forms dated mid-February confirm the purchases, and filings reviewed this week show activity before the general election. Targets include candidates linked to SB 1797, passed in August 2025.

Following a Sunday selloff, Ethereum is trying to stabilize, but analysts say the bounce remains corrective and unconfirmed. More Crypto Online notes that a decisive impulsive five‑wave advance or a break above the weekend high is needed, while Lennaert Snyder highlights $1,929, $1,946, $2,015 and $2,107 as key reference points.

Ether has struggled to reclaim $2,500 since Jan. 31, but several institutional signals could improve sentiment. According to US Securities and Exchange Commission filings on Monday, Harvard's endowment added a $87 million position in BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust as BlackRock updated its Staked Ethereum ETF to retain 18% of rewards with a 0.25% expense ratio. Ethereum also leads a RWA market that has surpassed $20 billion.

DeepSeek AI outlines potential price paths for XRP, Pepe and Shiba Inu by late 2026, referencing current market levels and on-chain ecosystem trends. Its scenario analysis suggests XRP could approach $8, PEPE around $0.000024 and SHIB near $0.000115 if technical structures and adoption catalysts unfold favorably. These projections imply several-hundred-percent gains from recent prices but remain speculative and dependent on broader crypto conditions.

XRP fell 7.5% to an intraday low of $1.45 after about 50 million tokens were sold on South Korean exchange Upbit in under 24 hours. Shiba Inu is struggling to hold the $0.00000666 area following a failed rebound, while Bitcoin has broken a 12-year valuation pattern against gold, raising concerns about a long-lasting "Quantum Discount" scenario.

Since the start of February, Bitcoin miners have withdrawn more than 36,000 BTC from exchanges, with over 12,000 BTC leaving Binance and the rest spread across other platforms. Daily outflows reportedly surged to more than 6,000 BTC on one day, while long-term holders accumulated 380,104 BTC in 30 days, even as Bitcoin's price briefly approached $60,000 and dropped over 28% in a month.

By February 2026, Bitcoin was down more than 20% for the quarter and struggled to clear $68,000. On 16 February, Capital B raised €0.4 million, issued 601,000 shares at €0.67, and purchased six BTC, bringing its total to 2,834 BTC. Corporate treasuries have accumulated well over 1 million BTC across the past 18 months.

Iran has partially closed the Strait of Hormuz during Revolutionary Guard drills under security precautions, according to state media. About 13 million bpd—roughly 31% of global seaborne crude—transit the passage, based on Kpler data, while the IEA's Monday report projects a 3.73 million bpd global oil surplus in 2026.