Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said in an X post that prediction markets are tilting toward "unhealthy" short-term speculation and should evolve into hedging platforms that stabilize consumer prices. He proposed onchain markets, guided by local LLMs, to build personalized baskets of contracts tied to household expenses.

On February 14 2026, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a long X post criticizing how prediction markets are evolving toward short-term, dopamine-driven bets. He argued that platforms are increasingly favoring crypto price and sports wagers with little long-term informational or societal value, diverging from his more positive view in December 2025. Buterin now urges a pivot toward generalized hedging tools that help manage real-world risks instead of focusing on ultra-short-term gambling-style products.

On Feb. 14, 2026, Vitalik Buterin cautioned that prediction markets are skewing toward short-term crypto and sports bets and urged a shift to long‑term hedging tools. He outlined using markets to offset real‑world risks and stabilize purchasing power. Over the past year, sector volumes grew roughly fourfold, according to CertiK.

X outlined plans on February 14, 2026 to let users execute stock and crypto trades directly from their feeds by tapping ticker symbols like $BTC or $TSLA. The in-feed tool is part of a broader push that includes money-transmission licenses in more than 40 U.S. states, a Visa payments tie-up, and internal tests of the X Money wallet.

On February 14, 2026, researchers at iVerify reported a mobile spyware platform called ZeroDayRAT that can fully compromise Android and iOS devices. The tool is reportedly sold on Telegram and lets attackers control phones, capture GPS data, access notifications from banking and crypto apps, and intercept SMS one-time passwords. Victims are infected through links in smishing texts, phishing emails, fake app stores, and messaging apps.

The government of the Marshall Islands launched a Universal Basic Income program in November 2025 that delivers quarterly payments to citizens via a mobile wallet linked to its USDM1 tokenized bond. Hong Kong, Thailand and the Marshall Islands are also testing tokenized government debt and onchain social benefits to cut settlement delays and fees, while experts warn that AML, sanctions and KYC rules remain major hurdles.

X head of product Nikita Bier said Smart Cashtags will arrive within weeks, enabling stock and crypto trading directly from the timeline. The feature, first previewed Jan. 11 with a February target, will show live pricing for on-chain assets and smaller-cap tokens, while X also plans tighter enforcement against spammy crypto apps.

On February 13, 2026, Tomasz Stanczak announced on X he will step down as Ethereum Foundation co-executive director, effective at the end of February 2026. Leadership will continue under Hsiao-Wei and newly appointed co-ED Bastian Aue, while Stanczak shifts to a more technical builder role focused on agentic Ethereum and open-source AI.