Bitcoin wallets holding less than 0.1 BTC have increased their share of supply by about 2.5% since Bitcoin reached its all-time high last October, marking the highest proportion since mid-2024, on-chain data from Santiment show. Over the same period, addresses holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC saw their combined holdings decline by roughly 0.8%, while Bitcoin's price continues to fluctuate around the mid-$60,000 range. Market sentiment views this retail accumulation as potential bottom support and a driver of short-term momentum, but a more durable rebound would require large holders to shift from distribution to net accumulation, the report notes.

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded over $125 million in net weekly outflows, reflecting institutions reducing BTC exposure amid recent price volatility, Cointelegraph reported on Feb. 21, 2026. The consistent outflows suggest a defensive stance from professional investors navigating shifting macroeconomic conditions, interest rate expectations and liquidity trends. Analysts cited by Cointelegraph noted that longer-term ETF inflows into Bitcoin remain intact, and future inflows could quickly restore confidence if broader financial conditions stabilize.

SBI Holdings launched Japan's first on-chain security token bonds totaling JPY 10 billion ($64.52 million) for retail investors, the company announced yesterday. The bonds are issued, managed and settled entirely on blockchain via BOOSTRY's "ibet for Fin" platform, where SBI digitally registers and tokenizes the instruments instead of using Japan's conventional securities settlement systems; investors will trade them on the START proprietary trading system operated by Osaka Digital Exchange, with secondary market trading scheduled to begin on March 25, 2026. Bondholders will receive XRP tokens equivalent to their subscription amount shortly after payment confirmation, and eligible investors must hold an SBI VC Trade account and complete required procedures by May 11; additional XRP rewards will be paid on interest payment dates in March 2027, March 2028 and March 2029.

Vitalik Buterin rejected a proposal to let Ethereum "slowly die," saying the chain could migrate via smart contracts within five years, Odaily Planet Daily reports. He backed a coupled extension and outlined four major upgrades to improve censorship resistance, ZK-friendliness, and simplicity.

Vitalik Buterin said he is building a "cypherpunk principled" Ethereum layer as an addition to the current system, targeting stronger censorship resistance and deeper zero-knowledge integration. The Ethereum co-founder also aims for leaner consensus at the base layer, which he said could happen within five years or sooner with AI assistance.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on Feb. 21 rejected a community proposal to sideline the current Ethereum protocol through fragmentation and rebuild a RISCV-based chain, BlockBeats reports. He said he aims to develop a "cypherpunk-pure, non-ugly Ethereum" as a tightly integrated extension of the existing network, with seamless interoperability and migration via smart contracts within five years. Buterin outlined four major upgrades to be implemented incrementally, similar to the previous Merge, focusing on state tree optimization, Lean consensus, ZKEVM verification, and VM changes to improve censorship resistance, ZK-friendliness, and simplicity.

The White House has set a March 1 deadline to advance the CLARITY Act crypto market structure bill, with a draft agreement confirming that idle stablecoin balances cannot earn yield, participants in this week's meetings said. Lawmakers, regulators, and industry representatives including Coinbase, Ripple, a16z, trade groups, and national banking associations reviewed language that allows activity-based rewards while placing enforcement authority with the SEC, Treasury, and CFTC, which could impose fines of up to $500,000 per day for violations. The talks also covered a potential deposit outflow study for payment stablecoins and broader rules on custody, exchange supervision, token classification, and agency roles, with legal officers from Coinbase and Ripple describing the session as productive. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said he sees a 90% chance the bill will pass by the end of April, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Congress to complete the legislation this spring, with negotiations expected to continue over the next week to finalize a framework by March 1.

XRP whales holding between 10 million and 100 million tokens accumulated 3.17 billion XRP worth $4.5 billion since Oct. 1, 2025, raising their share to 17.04% of circulating supply, the highest on record, Santiment data show. Their balances rose from 7.89 billion to 11.06 billion XRP, with 2.49 billion added between Nov. 8 and 28, 2025 alone. Addresses holding 100,000 to 10 million XRP reduced their combined balance by 3.03 billion over the same period, from 13.12 billion to 10.09 billion. The accumulation coincided with XRP falling 61.2% from its July 2025 all-time high of $3.66 to $1.42, with the token posting four consecutive monthly declines since October and a 13.33% drop in February.

Ethereum spot ETFs posted a combined net inflow of $17.2 million on Feb. 20 (Eastern Time), SoSoValue data show. BlackRock's ETHA led with a single-day net inflow of $1.7826 million, raising its cumulative net inflow to $11.875 billion, while 21Shares' TETH recorded $687,700 in daily net inflow and $17.0904 million in total net inflows. Fidelity's FETH saw the largest single-day net outflow of $2.4531 million but maintains a cumulative net inflow of $2.465 billion. As of the latest data, Ethereum spot ETFs manage $11.141 billion in total assets, with an ETF net asset ratio of 4.68% and aggregate historical net inflows of $11.525 billion.