On February 2, 2026, the U.S. State Department authorised a potential $9 billion sale of Patriot missile systems to Saudi Arabia, following Defence Security Cooperation Agency approval on January 31. The package covers up to 300 Patriot MIM-104E GEM-T missiles plus associated equipment and training, with Raytheon as the main contractor, and still requires congressional review.

HYPE has surged over 40% to $32 as Hyperliquid defies the broader crypto sell-off, powered by record $1.3 billion daily on-chain gold and silver trading and a fee-driven buyback engine that channels up to 97% of revenue into HYPE demand. With HyperEVM now hosting 35+ protocols, $639 million in TVL at Kinetiq, and over 42% of supply staked, HYPE is increasingly viewed as a revenue-backed DeFi asset rather than a purely speculative altcoin.

Hong Kong plans to grant its initial batch of stablecoin licences by March 2026 after the Hong Kong Stablecoin Ordinance came into force on August 1, 2025. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is reviewing 36 applications, with officials stressing stringent standards on risk management, reserves and use cases under a "proactive yet prudent" regulatory stance.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has challenged Wall Street over the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Clarity Act, arguing that limits on stablecoin yields could alter competition and shift bank funding. He highlighted the risk around $6.6 trillion in deposits and received support from Stripe CEO Patrick Collison. The debate also draws on prior proposals that allowed stablecoin issuance while blocking direct interest to users.

On February 2, the European Commission opened infringement procedures against 12 EU member states for not transposing Directive (EU) 2023/2226 on crypto asset tax transparency into national law. The directive, which must be applied by 2026, imposes new reporting duties on crypto-asset service providers and is expected to raise compliance costs ahead of full implementation.

On 2 February 2026 at 01:41, bitcoin slipped below $76,000 before stabilizing near $76,800 as risk appetite faded. Major altcoins fell and the total crypto market cap was around $2.58 trillion, while the Crypto Fear & Greed Index printed 18 and Coinglass tallied about $460 million in 24‑hour liquidations.

In January 2026, BYD's vehicle sales fell to 210,051 units, a drop of about 30% from 300,538 a year earlier, as domestic demand weakened after China's EV subsidy cuts and holiday effects. The company offset part of the decline by exporting 100,482 vehicles, nearly half of its monthly total, and plans to increase overseas shipments by roughly 25% this year. Chinese brands, including BYD, expanded their presence in Europe's EV and hybrid market in 2025, while high US tariffs kept them out of American showrooms.

On Friday, the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC blacklisted UK-registered exchanges Zedcex and Zedxion for facilitating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps transactions. The move also put Iranian financier Babak Morteza Zanjani back under sanctions after his 2024 death sentence commutation. Treasury said Americans are prohibited from dealing with the newly sanctioned entities.