On February 17, 2026, Solana-based launchpad Pump.fun introduced a Trader Cashback option that lets token creators redirect rewards away from the 0.3% Creator Fees toward active traders, with the choice locked in at launch. Terminal said Cashback Coins accrue on every trade. The rollout follows a 75.6% slide in monthly fees to $31.8 million in January from $148.1 million in January 2025.

SocialFi platform Zora has launched an attention markets product on Solana, allowing users to trade on trending topics and memes, while charging 1 SOL to deploy new "Trends". Following the announcement, the ZORA token rose 6.2% to $0.022 over the last 24 hours, even as the broader crypto market slipped 1.2%.

Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov expects decentralized finance to tap into as much as $50 trillion in tokenized "abundance assets" such as solar energy by 2050, potentially creating a new collateral class for onchain lending. He argues that shifting from scarce assets like bonds and real estate toward tokenized infrastructure, including solar, batteries and robotics, could boost capital efficiency and returns, even as AAVE's token price remains far below its 2021 peak.

Israeli authorities detained a military reservist and a civilian after allegedly using classified information to bet on Polymarket about strikes on Iran. Prosecutors plan charges including security offenses, bribery, and obstruction, while reports indicate a June 2025 betting account earned over $152,300, though its link to the arrests remains unclear.

In January, CFTC chair Mike Selig launched the Innovation Advisory Committee with 12 charter members, later expanding it to 35 members on Thursday. The enlarged panel is now majority composed of crypto-related executives, including CEOs from Coinbase, Ripple, Gemini, Solana Labs, Uniswap and several major financial market operators, who will advise on emerging products and platforms.

Institution-focused crypto lender BlockFills halted customer deposits and withdrawals last week while Bitcoin dropped from $78,995 to $60,000. The firm says the ongoing suspension aims to protect clients and restore liquidity, though trading to open and close positions in spot and derivatives remains available to affected institutional users.

On Wednesday, Coinbase said it introduced Agentic Wallets, a crypto wallet infrastructure that lets AI agents spend, earn and trade with user-defined permissions. The feature builds on AgentKit and routes payments via x402, which has reportedly processed 50 million transactions, and supports operations on Base, including 24/7 liquidity management and automated rebalancing.

Former SafeMoon CEO Braden Karony has been sentenced in February 2026 to 100 months in prison for diverting $9 million from the platform's liquidity pool in 2021 to fund personal luxury purchases. He was also ordered to forfeit about $7.5 million, while ex-CTO Thomas Smith has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing, and platform creator Kyle Nagy remains at large. The case adds to a growing list of high-profile crypto executives convicted over misconduct during the 2021‑2022 market cycle.

On Tuesday, Bitcoin mining rig maker Canaan saw its Nasdaq-listed shares slide 6.87% to $0.56, extending its decline away from the $1 level it must regain by July to avoid a potential delisting. This came even as the firm reported fourth-quarter revenue of $196.3 million, up 121.1% year-on-year, record computing power shipments and a Bitcoin treasury that reached 1,750 BTC alongside 3,950 ETH.