Bitcoin and Ethereum led a sharp market pullback as leveraged longs were forced out across major venues. Over the past 24 hours, around $600 million in positions were liquidated, with longs dominating, while BTC slid from the mid-$67,000s toward $64,000 and ETH fell from near $1,950 below $1,850. Broad declines hit large caps as stablecoins held steady.

Binance reported that its sanctions-linked trading exposure as a share of overall volume fell from 0.284% in January 2024 to 0.009% by July 2025, while connections to major Iranian exchanges also declined sharply. The exchange's update follows reports alleging over $1 billion in transactions tied to Iranian counterparties and claims that staff were removed after raising compliance concerns, accusations Binance rejects.

USD1 briefly slipped to about $0.994 before recovering, as WLFI alleged a coordinated attack involving compromised co‑founder accounts, misinformation and short pressure. WLFI associates say the stablecoin is fully backed 1:1, but no public proof‑of‑reserves or audit has been released. A report by ZachXBT is slated for February 26, 2026.

World Liberty Financial said early Monday it faced a "coordinated attack" aimed at USD1, its stablecoin. According to CoinGecko, USD1, which has nearly $4.8 billion in market value, briefly slipped off its $1 peg before returning to parity. Speculation also rose around a Feb. 26 report teased by ZachXBT, though any connection to WLFI remains unverified.

On February 23, 2026, analysts Geoff Kendrick and John Davies projected the stablecoin market cap to reach $2 trillion by end‑2028, implying $800 billion to $1 trillion in additional demand for U.S. Treasury bills. They also estimated total new T‑bill demand near $2.2 trillion when Federal Reserve purchases and mortgage‑backed securities reinvestment are included.

On Feb. 23, Bitcoin and leading altcoins weakened as U.S. equities digested a 15% global tariff threat tied to U.S. President Donald Trump. BTC slipped below $65,118 on Monday and ETH fell under $1,897, while SPX, DXY, XRP, BNB, SOL, DOGE, BCH and ADA show key support and resistance levels that could define near‑term direction.

The Austrian Financial Market Authority has ordered KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH to stop taking on new customers and issuing new products or contracts starting 19 February 2026, while existing activities remain subject to stricter oversight. The regulator's intervention, less than three months after granting MiCA authorization on 27 November 2025, follows identified deficiencies in anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and sanctions controls, including missing key compliance officers. The restriction is temporary rather than a license revocation and will remain until KuCoin EU appoints qualified personnel and restores full compliance.

On Feb. 17, the company disclosed an additional Bitcoin purchase of roughly $168 million, and Michael Saylor now hints at buying more as total holdings reach 717,131 BTC. XRP Ledger successful transactions have climbed about 40%, with daily counts nearing 2.5 million. Shiba Inu closed February 2026 around a $3.6 billion market cap amid its 589 trillion supply.