The European Central Bank plans to begin selecting EU-licensed payment service providers in the first quarter of 2026 for a limited digital euro pilot. Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said the 12-month test is slated for the second half of 2027 and will include a small group of PSPs, merchants, and Eurosystem staff.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $104.9 million in net outflows on Tuesday, while total trading volume slipped to just over $3 billion from the $14.7 billion peak on Feb. 5. In Q4 2025, Hong Kong-based Laurore disclosed a $436.2 million single purchase of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF, alongside major position changes by institutions such as Jane Street, Brevan Howard and Mubadala Investment.

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.

On Wednesday, ARK Invest led by Cathie Wood bought 433,806 Robinhood shares for about $33.8 million, along with additional Bullish and Circle stock totaling roughly $16 million, while the three names traded lower. Over the same session, US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $276.3 million in net outflows and total Bitcoin ETF assets fell to $85.7 billion amid broader crypto market weakness.

The European Union is preparing a 20th sanctions package that aims to prohibit all cryptocurrency transactions with Russia and shut down Russia-linked crypto channels. The plan includes restricting access to Russian crypto platforms such as A7 and its ruble-pegged stablecoin A7A5, while also targeting additional regional banks. Some analysts argue that fully enforcing such a broad ban will be difficult due to decentralized liquidity and the ability to swap tokens through onchain pools.

Crypto exchange-traded products saw $187 million of weekly outflows, while trading activity climbed to a record $63.1 billion. Selling pressure moderated after recent declines, even as Bitcoin briefly touched $60,000 on Coinbase. Bitcoin products led withdrawals; XRP drew $63 million of inflows, with smaller gains for Ether ($5.3 million) and Solana ($8.2 million).

ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, executed its first Coinbase sale of 2026 by offloading 119,236 COIN shares worth about $17.4 million after the stock fell roughly 37% year-to-date. Around the same time, the firm bought 716,030 Bullish shares for approximately $17.8 million, reflecting a notable portfolio shift as crypto markets retreat.

On Tuesday, spot Bitcoin ETFs posted $272 million in net outflows, pulling assets under management below $100 billion for the first time since April 2025, according to SoSoValue. Bitcoin fell under $74,000 and the crypto market cap declined from $3.11 trillion to $2.64 trillion over the past week, per CoinGecko, while Ether-, XRP- and Solana-linked ETFs saw $14 million, $19.6 million and $1.2 million in inflows.

ING Germany, the retail arm of ING Group, is broadening crypto investment access by listing Bitwise crypto ETPs and VanEck crypto ETNs that track Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP and other major tokens. From February, clients can trade Bitwise products on Xetra with no execution fees on orders from 1,000 euros and also use them in fee-free savings plans, while VanEck offers 10 single-asset and two basket ETNs.