On Thursday, Austria's Financial Market Authority barred KuCoin EU from onboarding new clients or signing new products, citing shortcomings in AML, CTF and sanctions oversight. The action comes months after Austria granted the exchange a MiCA licence, and KuCoin says it has already paused onboarding and begun recruiting to restore key compliance roles.

Strategy executed its 100th Bitcoin purchase, adding 592 BTC for about $39.8 million and lifting its holdings to 717,722 BTC. The transaction, disclosed in a US SEC filing on Monday, was funded by selling 297,940 Class A shares via an at-the-market program, with the new coins bought at an average $67,286 per BTC.

On February 23, 2026, SBI Holdings launched a 10 billion yen ($64.5 million) three-year bond fully managed on-chain and offering semiannual coupons of 1.85%–2.45% plus XRP-based rewards. The minimum subscription is 100,000 yen, and trading is scheduled to start on March 25, 2026, via the Osaka Digital Exchange's START platform, aiming to attract retail and SME investors to regulated tokenized securities.

Solana's SOL has dropped nearly 40% over the past month, briefly hitting about $77 before rebounding above $80. Analysts including Ali Martinez and Sjuul warn that resistance near $110 and a January 2022 sell signal raise downside risks, with key support at $76 and potential paths toward $53, $35, $23 or even around $4.

On Feb. 21, on-chain metrics flagged a sharp surge in XRP deposits to Binance led by large holders. According to CryptoQuant contributor Darkfost, more than 31 million XRP flowed in, dominated by the 100k–1M and >1M cohorts, increasing near-term sell-side risk while Bitcoin remains rangebound. XRP briefly fell to $1.33 before trading around $1.3947.

According to crypto analyst Kevin, in recent years Bitcoin has aligned more with software stocks than with any other market. Market watcher Super฿ro sees a bullish setup but warns of a possible bear pennant that could target below $50,000, while holding recent lows could open a recovery toward the $70,000 range. CW adds that an IFP golden cross over the 90-day moving average may signal upside.

On February 23, 2026, Vanda Pharmaceuticals shares surged to $8.17 in premarket trading, up 41.84% from the prior close after the FDA cleared its new drug BYSANTI for adult Bipolar I manic episodes and schizophrenia. The approval, Vanda's second since December 2025, extends patent protection to 2044 and supports plans for a commercial launch in Q3 2026, boosting sentiment around the company's growth prospects.

In 2025, global funding rounds of $50 million or more reportedly totaled about $300 billion, down from over $500 billion at the height of the 2021 boom, with the number of qualifying companies falling to 1,440. According to Crunchbase data, private equity and crossover funds such as Tiger Global and SoftBank Vision Fund sharply cut their mega-round participation, while traditional venture capital firms reclaimed the lead by deal count. AI-focused financings dominated the largest raises, including a $40 billion round for OpenAI, a $14.3 billion deal for Scale AI, and a $13 billion round for Anthropic.