Ether is being watched for a rare milestone after posting a negative Q4 2025 and a losing Q1 2026, with Q2 now in progress and ETH up more than 11% so far this quarter. Exchange metrics and relative performance have added pressure, even as some point to institutional accumulation and ETF inflows as signs sentiment may be stabilizing.

On February 23, ZachXBT alleged Axiom Exchange staff misused internal data for insider trading. Roughly three hours before his report, two newly created wallets staked a combined $59,800 on a prediction market and netted about $109,000. According to Lookonchain, twelve addresses collectively gained approximately $1.02 million; Axiom said on February 26 it revoked access and began an internal probe.

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.

On February 21, 2026, IoTeX disclosed that a private key tied to a token safe was compromised, enabling unauthorized asset transfers. On-chain data indicates roughly $8.8 million drained across multiple tokens, with funds moved into ETH and partially bridged to Bitcoin. IoTeX said preliminary assessments suggest the actual loss could be significantly lower than rumors.

On February 17, 2026, HIVE Digital Technologies reported a record fiscal third-quarter revenue of $93.1 million, up 219% year over year and 7% from the prior quarter. According to its release, digital mining revenue reached $88.2 million as average hashrate climbed 41% to 22.9 EH/s, while net loss totaled $91.3 million due to $57.4 million in accelerated depreciation.

On February 10 2026, Indian MP Raghav Chadha criticized the government for imposing a 30% capital gains tax and 1% TDS on crypto while denying virtual digital assets any clear legal status or investor safeguards. He warned that this policy mix has driven about ₹4.8 lakh crore in trading offshore, with roughly 120 million Indians using foreign platforms and around 180 crypto startups relocating, and urged asset-class recognition for VDAs, a domestic regulatory sandbox, stronger AML rules and a blockchain-based national property register.

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.

Newly unsealed US Justice Department emails indicate Jeffrey Epstein met then NYDFS superintendent Ben Lawsky in 2014 as New York drafted the BitLicense, finalized in 2015. The records mention Epstein floated a pro Bitcoin tax idea but show no evidence he shaped the final rule. The disclosures arrive as part of the wider Epstein Files release in late 2025 and early 2026.

On February 2, 2026, debate around XRP intensified after May 2018 messages mentioning Gary Gensler and a July 31, 2014 Blockstream email resurfaced. Posts tagged "EpsteinFiles" make influence claims, but no evidence links Epstein to SEC actions. XRP fell almost 15% to $1.62 at press time.