On 12 February 2026, HM Treasury appointed HSBC's Orion digital asset platform to support the UK's Digital Gilt Instrument pilot within the Digital Securities Sandbox. The program will issue a short-dated, digitally native UK government bond to test blockchain-based issuance, settlement, and secondary trading without altering the existing gilt auction framework. The initiative aims to gather data on efficiency, costs, and risk management as part of wider sovereign debt tokenization trends.

BlockFills, a Susquehanna-backed crypto lender and trading venue serving about 2,000 institutions, has halted client deposits and withdrawals. In a Feb 11, 2026 update, the firm called the step temporary and cited recent market and financial conditions. Clients can still open and close positions in spot and derivatives under limited circumstances.

On Thursday, Bitcoin and Ether hit intraday lows of $66,171 and $1,912. Bloomberg analysis indicates ETH spot ETF holders face steeper losses, with assets at $11.27 billion versus $30.5 billion and an estimated $3,500 cost basis, while BTC ETFs sit at $85.76 billion, down from a $170 billion peak in October 2025.

On Thursday, Monness, Crespi, Hardt issued a rare double downgrade on Coinbase Global Inc., cutting the leading U.S. crypto exchange's stock directly from "Buy" to "Sell." The firm expects prolonged crypto market weakness to persist for more than a year and has lowered its forecasts for Coinbase's revenue, EBITDA and EPS, even after the share price has already fallen about 50%. Additional downgrades and reduced price targets from other Wall Street analysts have deepened concerns over Coinbase's valuation and future performance.

China's market regulator introduced a five‑chapter, 28‑article pricing guideline to rein in auto price wars and tighten compliance for manufacturers, dealers, and online platforms. Passenger car sales fell 19.5% in January 2026, and CAAM estimates price competition erased 471 billion yuan ($65 billion) of industry output over three years.

Binance has finalized the conversion of $1 billion in SAFU stablecoin reserves into Bitcoin, acquiring a total of 15,000 BTC within 30 days of its prior plan. The exchange says the fully BTC-denominated fund, valued at $1,005,000,000 at completion, is backed by a commitment to top it up if volatility pushes its worth below $800 million.

Coincheck Group N.V. reported Q3 revenue of $915 million and net income of $2.6 million, reversing a $98.5 million loss. According to the company, CEO Gary Simanson will resign on March 31, with 3iQ's Pascal St-Jean to take over on April 1. The quarter included $83 million from its Aplo acquisition.

On 12 February 2026 it was reported that crypto venture capital funding exceeded $2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, with January alone bringing in $1.4 billion. Capital largely favored infrastructure plays such as stablecoin platforms, institutional custody and real‑world asset tokenization, while trading, compliance and security firms also secured notable rounds. The trend highlights a more selective market where institutions concentrate on payment rails, custody and on‑chain credit rather than speculative token bets.