On February 18, 2026, Morgan Stanley filed for a national trust bank charter in the United States to provide federally supervised custody, safekeeping, and transfer services for digital assets. If approved, the structure would let the firm segregate client crypto holdings under OCC oversight and expand its wealth management offering into regulated token storage and related infrastructure.

Tether invested $200 million in Whop at a $1.6 billion valuation, aiming to move stablecoin use beyond exchanges and into digital marketplaces. Whop will integrate Tether's Wallet Development Kit to support USDT and USAT payments with self-custodial wallets and on-chain settlement. The deal targets creators and software vendors seeking dollar-denominated payments without reliance on card networks.

Bitdeer Technologies Group has exited balance sheet Bitcoin exposure, selling its entire 943 BTC treasury and disposing of 189.8 BTC produced over one week. According to Bitdeer's weekly update, the move marks a pivot toward liquidity management in a tighter post-halving environment for miners.

BitGo and Figure have completed what they describe as the first issuance, settlement, and trading of tokenized equity securities on Figure's SEC-registered Alternative Trading System in the U.S. The transaction used blockchain-based settlement with institutional custody to represent equity ownership on-chain, aiming to reduce clearing friction and settlement risk within a regulated market structure. The firms say the model compresses the traditional equity lifecycle by enabling near-instant reconciliation instead of multi-day clearing cycles.

The Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (FCAT) launched an institutional‑grade Decentralized Verifier Network on LayerZero, adding a new option for cross‑chain message validation. FCAT said the DVN is live on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Polygon, Avalanche and Solana, with Ondo Finance named as the first production integrator.

Circle states that 2025 marks a pivotal year for stablecoin regulation, as major financial centers start integrating regulated digital dollars into the traditional system. The firm says legal frameworks such as the GENIUS Act are enabling institutions to move USDC from small-scale pilots into real-world use across payments, treasury, and capital markets.

Polymarket introduced five-minute Bitcoin prediction markets that settle immediately when each window closes, letting participants wager on BTC finishing higher or lower. At launch, the product focuses on price direction and runs on a near-continuous schedule, with outcomes derived from trusted pricing feeds. The format may draw high-frequency strategies and automated traders.

Solana rose as Bitcoin stabilized above $68,000, with derivatives open interest climbing across major venues. The advance followed a reclaim of intraday structure and improving on-chain activity, as active addresses trend back toward late‑2024 highs. Traders are watching acceptance above the $85–$90 area as a potential sign that selling pressure is easing.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has established an Innovation Advisory Committee and appointed executives from Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, Ripple, Chainlink, Uniswap Labs, Crypto.com, CME Group, Nasdaq, and Intercontinental Exchange. The committee is tasked with advising on digital assets, derivatives markets, decentralized finance, tokenization, and blockchain-based settlement, signaling deeper regulatory integration of crypto into U.S. market oversight.