Stablecoin

The Bank of England has set up a six-month Synchronisation Lab to test synchronized settlement of tokenized assets in British pounds using its next-generation RTGS core ledger, RT2. Starting in spring 2026, 18 firms from market infrastructure, banking, fintech and decentralized technology will explore delivery-versus-payment and payment-versus-payment use cases across tokenized securities, collateral, foreign exchange and digital money.

On February 9, 2026, the TON Foundation announced TON Pay, a wallet‑agnostic SDK that embeds native crypto payments inside Telegram Mini Apps for Toncoin (TON) and Tether (USDT). The toolkit streamlines settlement and checkout flows within Telegram to support everyday transactions. Toncoin traded near $1.35 as the rollout began, with short‑term indicators signaling weak momentum.

On February 10, 2026, Hong Kong-licensed broker Victory Securities said it permanently disabled buying and deposits for users identified as Mainland China residents, while keeping "withdrawal-only" access. The firm described the move as the final step in a phased plan to meet SFC expectations after earlier restrictions on address certifications and certain tokens.

NBK Chairman Timur Suleimenov said on Tuesday that Kazakhstan will establish a national crypto-custodial service by May, according to statements quoted by Zakon.kz. He noted the legal framework was largely completed in 2025 and that regulated crypto circulation will start in 2026. Officials also outlined plans for a strategic reserve that could reach $1 billion and confirmed a $350 million NIC allocation for coin purchases.

On February 10, Ripple highlighted an expanded collaboration with UAE bank Zand to explore initiatives such as RLUSD support, and previewed its February 11 XRP Community Day. XRP-focused spot ETFs show cumulative net inflows above $1.23 billion, while XRP rebounded from a February 6 low of $1.11 to about $1.42, a 3% weekly gain.

The European Union's proposed 20th package of sanctions over the war in Ukraine seeks to blacklist two Kyrgyz banks accused of handling crypto-related transactions for Russia and to restrict selected dual-use exports to Kyrgyzstan. The draft measures also extend to banks in Tajikistan and Laos, ports moving Russian oil in Georgia and Indonesia, additional metals import bans, and further penalties on Russia's digital ruble platform and crypto service providers.

On February 10, 2026, Visa began settling stablecoin transactions directly on the Ethereum network in live production, according to the report. The quiet rollout moves part of a major payment rail on-chain, targeting faster, programmable settlement and lower operational friction. The shift highlights Ethereum's growing role in institutional payments and stablecoin use.

On February 10, 2026, the International Monetary Fund used its official X account to warn that stablecoins could spur currency substitution and capital flight in weaker economies, highlighting regulatory gaps and consumer‑protection risks. The ESRB in September 2025 backed limits on multi‑issuance stablecoins, while Ripple's Monica Long expects broader adoption and forecasts 50% of Fortune 500 firms will have crypto exposure by end‑2026.

Chris Dixon of a16z Crypto and Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly set out opposing views on whether crypto can scale beyond finance. In 2025, venture funding surpassed $20 billion, with Q4 contributing $8.5 billion across 425 deals, while DeFi metrics showed a TVL near $99.07 billion and stablecoin supply above $307 billion. Their exchange frames finance as the most validated use so far.

Binance reportedly holds about 87% of the Trump‑linked USD1 supply, or $4.3B of the 5.36B tokens in circulation, as of the update on February 10, 2026. The exchange waived conversion fees in December 2025 and announced $40M in USD1 rewards on Jan. 22, while Binance US shows just $1,119 of USD1 exposure.