On February 16, 2026, Mantle activated the ERC-8004 standard on its mainnet to add on-chain trust and identity for autonomous AI agents. The Mantle token declined 4% over the past 24 hours to $0.6347 and has dropped nearly 40% year to date. The upgrade introduces reputation, identity, and validation registries intended to support cross-platform economic participation.

On February 16, 2026, Binance CEO Richard Teng denied allegations that the exchange fired compliance investigators or breached sanctions tied to more than $1 billion in Iran-linked USDT activity. Fortune reported on February 13 that at least five investigators were dismissed after flagging transactions between March 2024 and August 2025 using USDT on Tron.

Mirae Asset Group has agreed to purchase a 92% stake in South Korean crypto exchange Korbit for $93 million in a cash-only deal approved on February 5. The transaction comes as regulators increase scrutiny of local exchanges and banks reassess real-name account partnerships following the recent Bithumb incident.

XRP generated $1.2 billion in 24-hour trading volume on major South Korean exchanges, far exceeding Bitcoin and Ethereum in local activity. Upbit reported processing more than $1 trillion in XRP volume in 2025, while the token's price has fallen 4.5% to $1.46 after a short 38% rally to $1.55 between February 6 and February 15.

On February 16, South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service said it will expand its AI-driven VISTA platform by adding an Nvidia H100 GPU using a 170 million Korean won ($117,640 USD) budget, aiming to improve real-time detection of market manipulation. The agency targets completing the hardware addition by the second quarter and is advancing algorithms to spot suspicious accounts and abnormal trading patterns.

Rivian shares climbed 27% on Friday to close at $17.73 after the company reported a 2025 gross profit of $144 million, reversing a prior $1.2 billion loss. The automaker produced 42,284 vehicles, delivered 42,247, and posted full-year revenue of $5,387 million, while software and services sales surged 222% to $1,557 million. Rivian also outlined plans for its lower-priced R2 model, ongoing layoffs, and new autonomy and AI features including its RAP1 chip and Universal Hands-Free system.

On February 13, 2026, the Digital Chamber published a principles framework on stablecoin yields, warning that Section 404 in a Senate draft would bar rewards for merely holding payment tokens unless specific exemptions are preserved. As White House-facilitated talks stalled, the group backed disclosures and compliance controls while favoring transaction-linked incentives over passive payouts.

On February 12, three masked men allegedly broke into a residential building in Val-de-Marne looking for Binance France CEO David Prinçay but left after failing to locate him and stealing two phones. The suspects were later traced via the stolen devices and CCTV, arrested at Lyon’s Perrache train station, while separate incidents helped highlight France’s growing share of global crypto-related “wrench attacks”, which caused $40.9 million in confirmed losses in 2025.

Global electric vehicle registrations fell 3% in January to 1.2 million units, as policy changes in China and the U.S. weighed on demand and prompted major automakers to rein in EV ambitions. China saw a 20% decline to under 600,000 units and North America a 33% slide to just over 85,000, while Europe’s EV sales rose by double digits to more than 320,000 units and other regions nearly doubled registrations. Honda’s third-quarter profit dropped 61% to ¥153.4 billion in the wake of U.S. tariffs, even as rivals like Hyundai push ahead with new EV and hybrid models to meet EU emissions rules.