Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, said on Feb. 13 that the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act could unlock trillions of dollars in institutional capital currently awaiting entry into the digital asset market, Yahoo Finance reports. The House passed its version of the Clarity Act last July, while the Senate is advancing its own draft, including a Commodity Futures Trading Commission section moved through the Agriculture Committee and an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission section under discussion in the Banking Committee. Witt noted that negotiations remain focused on contentious issues such as stablecoin rewards and potential deposit flight from community banks, token taxonomy, decentralized finance oversight, and concerns that the SEC could take on too much authority from the CFTC. He characterized regulatory clarity and clearly defined jurisdictional boundaries as central to enabling greater institutional participation while addressing bipartisan concerns over stablecoin regulation and agency oversight.

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Andy Kim asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Feb. 15 to assess whether a $500 million investment by UAE government-affiliated entities in crypto firm World Liberty Financial should be subject to review by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS), BlockBeats reports. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that G42, backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed of the Abu Dhabi royal family, acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial through Aryam Investment 1, and said some funds flowed to the Trump family and its affiliates, which the Trump side denied knowledge of. In their letter, the senators questioned whether the transaction could grant foreign governments access to user data, noted G42's past collaborations with Chinese companies, and asked the Treasury to clarify by March 5 whether a review has begun or recommendations have been made to the President. World Liberty Financial issues the USD1 stablecoin, lists Donald Trump and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as honorary cofounders, and a company spokesperson previously said neither individual was involved in UAE-related transactions; USD1's circulating supply has exceeded $5 billion since its March 2025 launch.

Figure Technology, a Nasdaq-listed blockchain-based lender, confirmed a data breach on February 13, 2026, after attackers used social engineering to compromise an employee and access internal files, TechCrunch reports. The company is notifying affected individuals and offering free credit-monitoring services after leaked samples revealed personally identifiable information including full names, home addresses, dates of birth and phone numbers. ShinyHunters claimed responsibility on its dark-web leak site, stating it published roughly 2.5 gigabytes of data allegedly taken from Figure's systems after the company refused to pay a ransom. The breach follows Figure's September IPO, which raised about $787.5 million at $25 per share, and the January 2026 launch of its OPEN platform on the Provenance blockchain for issuing real shares on-chain and enabling direct lending of pledged equity.

Arizona lawmakers advanced proposal SCR1033 this week, which encourages state retirement systems to evaluate Bitcoin and digital-asset ETFs for pension funds. The measure cites growing institutional adoption and member best interests as key considerations.

Brazil's Congress has revived Bill 4501/2024 to create a Strategic Sovereign Bitcoin Reserve known as RESbit, authorizing the acquisition of up to 1 million BTC over five years at an estimated cost of about $68 billion, the proposal shows. The revised text permits tax payments in Bitcoin, bans the sale of confiscated BTC, and enables accumulation beyond open-market buying by retaining taxes paid in Bitcoin and holding shares of spot Bitcoin ETFs during emergencies, with management split between the central bank and the Ministry of Finance. The plan expands an earlier draft that capped purchases at 5% of foreign reserves, links Bitcoin reserves to Drex, promotes domestic mining and corporate holdings, and sets Executive Branch regulation within 180 days of enactment, while the Internal Revenue Service would have 12 months to build technical infrastructure and the central bank must publish semiannual reports to Congress, according to the bill.

Josh Sterling joined CoinGape CEO Sunil Sharma to discuss crypto legality, prediction markets, utility tokens backed by real-world assets, and offshore platforms for US users, according to Voice of Web3. The post said some answers were lawful and others fell into grey areas, with a full episode coming soon.

The Netherlands House of Representatives on Thursday voted 93-75 to advance legislation imposing a 36% capital gains tax on savings and most liquid investments, including cryptocurrencies, with implementation targeted for the 2028 tax year, according to the official tally. The bill, which still requires Senate approval, would apply to bank savings, crypto holdings, most equities and returns from interest-bearing instruments, with the levy assessed even on unrealized gains. Critics warn the policy could spur investor relocation and capital outflows; entrepreneur Denis Payre cited France in the late 1990s after similar policies, and crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe called the plan misguided. Data shared by Investing Visuals show an investor starting with €10,000 and contributing €1,000 monthly over 40 years could accumulate roughly €3.32 million without the tax, while under the proposed 36% levy the ending value would be about €1.885 million, a reduction of roughly €1.435 million.

White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt said on Feb. 14, 2026, that banks should not fear yield-bearing stablecoins and called for compromise as CLARITY Act negotiations continue, Cointelegraph reports. The proposed bill aims to define oversight roles for crypto markets, with lawmakers negotiating key details including stablecoin supervision and potential restrictions on yield offerings. Some stablecoin issuers pay yield to users, raising concerns among traditional banks that such products could draw deposits away from the banking system; Witt said regulatory clarity can support coexistence and cooperation rather than confrontation.