Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse forecasts a 90% chance the U.S. Digital Asset Market Clarity Act will pass by the end of April, citing a March 1 White House target for stablecoin negotiations. He contrasted this with prediction markets near 78% by year end and argued clearer SEC–CFTC roles could ease headwinds for utility tokens such as XRP.

Bitcoin is trading near $67,400 while defending the $66,000–$65,729 support zone amid rising geopolitical risk. According to Polymarket, bettors assign a 61% chance of a U.S. strike on Iran this month, and CryptoQuant data shows Short-Term Holder SOPR below 1.0. A daily close beneath support could refocus attention on $60,000.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve's January 2026 meeting indicate officials would consider raising rates again if inflation remains above target, challenging earlier expectations for steady cuts. The Fed held the policy rate at 3.5%–3.75% after three reductions in late 2025, a stance that could weigh on Bitcoin and broader crypto markets as higher-for-longer rates threaten liquidity and ETF inflows.

Robinhood's new Layer-2 testnet built on Arbitrum processed 4 million transactions in its first seven days, as confirmed by CEO Vlad Tenev. The network is positioned as infrastructure for tokenized stocks, ETFs, and onchain financial services, following six months of private testing. Despite a 38% year-over-year decline in Q4 2025 crypto revenue, the company is expanding its tokenization and 24/7 trading stack with partners such as LayerZero, Chainlink, and Alchemy.

On February 18, 2026, World Liberty Financial (WLFI) advanced about 20% to trade near $0.118, challenging the $0.12 resistance. On-chain data indicated a new wallet withdrew 25 million tokens (~$2.75M) ahead of the Mar‑a‑Lago World Liberty Forum. According to Onchain Lens, 313.31M WLFI worth $33.76M moved off Binance within 11 hours, alongside volume surging over 120%.

On February 18, 2026, the full exit of Founders Fund from ETHZilla was confirmed. ETHZilla shares traded near $3.20 in premarket, almost 7% lower and 97% below the $107 peak. The firm sold $40 million in ETH for buybacks and $74.5 million to manage debt, and is shifting toward tokenized real‑world assets.

On Friday, Polygon collected around $407,100 in fees, overtaking Ethereum's roughly $211,700, marking its first recorded lead. A burst of Polymarket activity drove the shift, with about $15 million bet on a single Oscars market and over $1 million in fees generated in seven days. Typical transaction costs were about $0.0026 on Polygon versus ~$1.68 on Ethereum.

Germany's Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel voiced support for euro-denominated private stablecoins and a wholesale CBDC under the EU's MiCA framework, speaking in Frankfurt. He argued these tools are needed to reduce reliance on USD-dominated payment rails and improve cross‑border efficiency. The stance marks a policy pivot toward building competitive euro options.

On February 17, 2026, President Donald Trump signaled that a comprehensive U.S. crypto market structure bill is close to passage, after prior Senate efforts had stalled. The proposed framework, which includes S. 3755 and H.R. 3633, would divide responsibilities between the SEC for securities and the CFTC for commodities, and grant exchanges a 180 day provisional registration period once enacted.