After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a core element of Donald Trump's tariff program, about $8.2 billion in imported goods have been left in legal uncertainty as customs systems have yet to adjust. Importers are facing delays, potential overpayment of duties, and confusion over refunds, while the White House has moved to impose a new 15% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen about $3.8 billion in outflows over the last five weeks, with net redemptions continuing through Feb. 20. Ether products recorded nearly $123 million in withdrawals across five consecutive weeks, while Solana funds drew roughly $14 million in inflows and XRP saw smaller additions. The pattern points to investor rotation from BTC and ETH toward select altcoins.

According to Santiment, XRP's realized losses climbed to $1.93 billion in the latest week, marking the largest drawdown since late 2022. While this capitulation-style selling has previously coincided with market bottoms, analysts now split between bold upside scenarios and more cautious views, even as XRP trades around $1.44 and benefits from institutional initiatives such as on-chain bonds and stablecoin launches on its ledger.

On February 19, 2026, Standard Chartered lowered its end-2026 price target for XRP to $2.80 from $8 and left its 2030 projection at $28. The bank also pared targets for Bitcoin to $100,000, Ethereum to $4,000, and Solana to $135 amid short-term market pressures.

Developers are deploying AI agents to monitor and secure smart contracts after crypto platforms lost over $3.4 billion to hacks in 2025. OpenAI's EVMbench now tests whether these systems can detect, fix, or even exploit live blockchain vulnerabilities. Early findings show AI is more effective at exploitation than safe remediation, raising concerns it could empower both defenders and attackers across decentralized finance.

Coinbase plans to migrate Base onto a unified, internally managed software stack that replaces its prior dependence on Optimism's core technology and external tooling. The move will let Base package its own client binary, target up to six hard forks per year, and introduce Base-specific governance, security council signers, and fee systems. As Base gains more control over upgrades and infrastructure, Optimism faces reduced influence over one of its largest Layer 2 ecosystem partners.

The White House is preparing another high-level meeting with U.S. banks and crypto firms to address unresolved rules on stablecoin yields after talks on February 3, 2026 ended without agreement. The dispute focuses on whether dollar-pegged stablecoins can offer interest-like rewards, with banks warning of up to $500 billion in potential deposit outflows by 2028 while crypto companies argue such returns are fair and necessary to keep users from unregulated products.

BlackRock updated its iShares Staked Ethereum Trust filing, indicating that investors will keep 82% of gross staking rewards while the sponsor and prime execution agent receive 18%. According to a U.S. SEC document dated Tuesday, February 17, the fund also carries an annual sponsor fee of 0.12%–0.25%, with Coinbase supporting staking operations.

Kraken became the first crypto exchange approved to connect its OTC desk to ICE Chat, enabling AI-assisted messaging for institutions. The company reports a global user base of 5.7 million, and the link plugs Kraken into a network used by over 120,000 market participants to negotiate pricing and execute large trades.