Indiana lawmakers are advancing House Bill 1042, which would open self-directed crypto investment options within certain public pension plans and permit state investments in crypto ETFs. The measure, heard in the Senate Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee on February 5 2026, also curbs local restrictions on crypto activities while a separate bill targets scams linked to virtual currency kiosks by imposing licensing, fee caps, identity checks, and refund requirements.

VivoPower said in a Wednesday press statement it will transfer part of its Ripple Labs stake to South Korea's Kweather Co., taking a 20% position valued at $4.3 million. A spokesperson said the remaining Ripple shares are slated for Lean Ventures at prevailing market prices and subject to Ripple Labs' internal approvals.

Nasdaq has proposed a "fast entry" rule to admit newly listed large companies to the Nasdaq 100 after 15 trading days, replacing the current wait of at least 3 months, with implementation after the March quarterly rebalance if approved. According to Cryptopolitan, potential IPOs include SpaceX, at a possible $1.3 trillion valuation, and AI firm Anthropic.

On February 4, 2026, Bitcoin hovered near its weakest levels since Trump's election win, falling 15% in a week and nearly 20% over a month. Key figures including Bitget's Gracy Chen and Binance's CZ highlighted downside risks, while the Fear & Greed Index hit 17; SoSoValue reported Bitcoin ETF assets below $100 billion with notable fund outflows.

Crypto PR firm Chainstory said in a study released Tuesday that more than 60% of 2,893 industry press releases were linked to high‑risk or confirmed scam projects. It found only about 2% met publication standards for genuinely newsworthy updates, as paid wire services and niche outlets often guarantee placement with limited editorial checks.

Coinbase halted XRP trading in January 2021 after the SEC sued Ripple. Newly released documents indicate Jeffrey Epstein invested $3 million in Coinbase in 2014 as part of a $75 million round, prompting online speculation, though no evidence ties that investment to the delisting. Related emails and commentary have rekindled debate over exchange decisions and regulatory pressure.

Arbitrum said it regained access to its governance X account late Tuesday evening after hackers took it over earlier in the afternoon. The team plans to review security procedures following posts that promoted a fake airdrop. Separately, a Jan. 5 incident involving two Arbitrum-linked projects led to an estimated $1.5 million in unauthorized withdrawals.

On February 3, 2026, U.S. investigators opened a probe into crypto platforms suspected of facilitating Iranian sanctions evasion, according to Ari Redbord at TRM Labs. TRM Labs estimates about $10 billion of crypto activity in Iran in 2025, while Chainalysis reports $7.8 billion received by Iranian wallets, and Elliptic says the central bank bought at least $507 million in USDT.

On February 3, 2026, Ripple said it is supporting Billiton Diamond and Ctrl Alt in a UAE push that has brought tokenized certified polished diamonds worth over AED 1 billion ($280 million) to the XRP Ledger. According to a Tuesday press statement, Ctrl Alt will mint the assets and the platform records certification and inventory on-chain, with VARA approval pending. The effort is backed by DMCC.