On February 16 2026, an analysis examined whether current crypto infrastructure can adequately support neobanks and bank-like services. The discussion highlighted unresolved conflicts around stablecoin issuers paying interest, the dominance of card-based products, and the risks of DeFi lending and fake platforms. It also noted that despite user-friendly crypto cards and wallets, complexity, regulation, privacy exposure on public chains, and intense competition still hinder fully fledged crypto neobanks.

On 16 February 2026, Animoca Brands received a virtual asset service provider license from Dubai's VARA, allowing it to operate crypto broker-dealer and investment services in the emirate. Around the same time, Arkham Intelligence tracked a newly created wallet allocating about $2.75 million in USDC into WLFI, highlighting renewed speculative flows into emerging tokens.

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has obtained a Payment Institution license in Malta under the European Union payments framework to support its stablecoin-based services. The authorization aligns products such as OKX Pay and the OKX Card with MiCA and PSD2 requirements and follows the firm's earlier MiCA license from the Malta Financial Services Authority in January 2025. The OKX Card, launched in late January, enables users to spend stablecoins including USDC and USDG.

R3E Network has released neo-rs v0.7.2, a Rust-based implementation of the Neo N3 blockchain node and CLI tools, on Feb. 12 with targeted fixes for RPC issues during initial node synchronization. The update resolves a cold-start problem affecting the getnativecontracts method and significantly improves execution-spec validation on local neo-rs instances. Neo-rs and the associated NeoRust SDK now offer a comprehensive Rust toolchain for running Neo infrastructure and building applications across Neo N3 and Neo X.

AxLabs released neow3j v3.24.1 on Feb. 12, aligning the Java/Kotlin/Android SDK and devpack with Neo-CLI v3.9.1 and the Neo 3.9 protocol. The update modernizes storage APIs, expands PolicyContract and native contract support, and introduces NEP-24, NEP-26, and NEP-27 standards alongside new StdLib utilities and infrastructure changes. StorageContext-based methods are now deprecated ahead of their planned removal in version 3.25.0.

On February 16, 2026, at the Consensus Hong Kong conference, policymakers outlined steps to bolster the city's digital asset market, including a perpetual contract framework and plans to grant the first stablecoin licenses next month. Regulators SFC and HKMA signaled willingness to engage industry, while major firms said they are implementing or exploring blockchain. Executives added that clearer direction is encouraging for investment.

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao argues that insufficient onchain privacy is preventing broader use of cryptocurrencies for payments, saying transparent payrolls and expenses deter enterprises. He previously told All-In Podcast host Chamath Palihapitiya that such openness can pose physical security risks. Avidan Abitbol and Eran Barak contend that business confidentiality needs and advancing AI make privacy tools increasingly essential.

According to Bloomberg, a Florida federal judge entered a default judgment awarding Kevin O'Leary $2.8 million in his defamation suit against former crypto influencer Ben 'BitBoy' Armstrong. The case centers on late March 2025 X posts alleging O'Leary and his wife were murderers; the court entered default on six defamation-per-se claims and Armstrong did not mount a defense.