Stablecoin

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.

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.

The Israeli Crypto Blockchain & Web 3.0 Companies Forum launched a lobbying drive on Feb. 3 in Tel Aviv to ease rules on stablecoins and tokenization and streamline tax compliance. According to KPMG, the proposed reforms could add 70,000 jobs and 120 billion shekels ($38.36 billion) to GDP by 2035, while forum leaders cite strong public uptake of digital assets.

In February, USDT’s market share revisited the 8.50%–9.00% band that previously aligned with Bitcoin’s bear‑market lows, according to TradingView. The same signal is appearing again in 2026, while BTC’s weekly RSI dipped below 30 and price rebounded near the 200‑week SMA, improving odds of a near‑term bottom around $60,000.

On February 9, 2026, Vitalik Buterin criticized USDC yield strategies on X, arguing they fail to decentralize risk and reflect DeFi drifting from its purpose. He favored ETH-backed or overcollateralized stablecoins that push counterparty risk to markets. According to the protocol's dashboard, Aave's main Ethereum market holds over $4.1B in USDC, underscoring reliance on centralized issuers.