Crypto World
The momentum trades of 2026 are breaking with gold, silver and South Korea down big
TOPSHOT – A saleswoman adjusts gold jewellery for sale at a shop in Lianyungang, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province on December 24, 2025. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images) / China OUT
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This year’s hottest trades — gold, silver and South Korea — are down big amid fears the war in Iran could go on for longer than expected.
Here are the moves.
- Gold prices slide: Spot gold was last down more than 5% to $5,041.81 per ounce, with gold futures dropping 5% to $5,049. They’re still up more than 16% this year.
- Silver prices tumble: Futures tied to the commodity fell more than 8% to $81.23 per ounce. They remain higher by 15% year to date.
- South Korea down huge: The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) plunged 14%, though it remains higher by nearly 30% year to date.
Each of these trades were huge momentum plays in 2026, catching a bid as investors nervous about their exposure to U.S. large-cap tech sought out asset classes that could better perform the market. After all, the S&P 500 shot up 64% on a cumulative basis over the last three years; it’s down 1% this year.
Gold, silver and South Korea each have their own appeal. Investors are optimistic that gold’s upward trajectory remains intact as central banks around the world diversify away from the U.S. dollar, with many confident bullion could soon top $6,000 an ounce. Silver is expected to benefit from tight supply-demand dynamics, and has big industrial use cases around AI.
EWY, 1-day
South Korea’s outperformance this year largely has to do with the worldwide demand for memory, which has especially lifted the shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix that account for a huge part of the country’s Kospi index. The two memory powerhouses are up more than 50% and 44% year to date, respectively.
Yet all three trades unwound alongside the broader market Tuesday as the prospect of a deepening conflict in Iran revived inflation fears, as oil prices spiked higher. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, topped $84 a barrel, while WTI crude jumped to above $77.
Even gold was caught up in the selling frenzy, odd for a safe haven asset usually turned to during times of crises. But investors appeared indiscriminate in dumping assets they fear may have gone too far, too fast.
Trump family-backed American Bitcoin said Tuesday it has expanded its fleet of Bitcoin mining machines, increasing its computing capacity as competition among large-scale miners intensifies.
The company has acquired 11,298 new application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners, which are expected to add about 3.05 exahashes per second (EH/s) to its operations once it is deployed at its Drumheller, Alberta site this month.
The purchase will boost American Bitcoin’s fleet size to 89,242 miners, representing about 28.1 EH/s of owned capacity.
The additional machines are rated at about 13.5 joules per terahash, a measure of energy efficiency that can influence operating margins in an industry where electricity costs are a primary expense.
The expansion increases American Bitcoin’s share of the global Bitcoin network’s total hashrate, modestly improving its probability of earning block rewards. However, higher computing power does not automatically translate into higher revenue. Mining profitability remains dependent on Bitcoin’s market price, network difficulty levels and energy costs.
Network difficulty stands at 144.40 T, meaning that 144.40 trillion hashes are needed to find a valid block hash, according to CoinWarz. It has been at that level since Feb. 19.
Shares of American Bitcoin were little changed following the announcement before trading lower into Tuesday’s session, broadly in line with weakness across equity markets.
Related: Bitcoin mining’s 2026 reckoning: AI pivots, margin pressure and a fight to survive
Bitcoin-heavy treasury strategy carries risk
American Bitcoin, which went public last year through a reverse merger with Gryphon Digital Mining, has adopted a Bitcoin-centric corporate strategy that extends beyond mining operations.
In addition to expanding its hashrate, the company has accumulated more than 6,000 Bitcoin (BTC) on its balance sheet, according to industry data. The strategy mirrors a growing trend among mining companies that retain a significant portion of the Bitcoin they mine rather than sell it immediately, effectively using production to build long-term exposure to the asset.
Holding large Bitcoin reserves can amplify gains during price rallies, strengthening the company’s balance sheet and potentially enhancing shareholder value. However, the strategy also increases exposure to price volatility.
That risk became evident in the fourth quarter, when American Bitcoin reported a net loss of $59 million. The loss was largely driven by a $227 million non-cash mark-to-market adjustment reflecting Bitcoin’s price decline during the period. Such accounting adjustments do not represent realized losses but can materially impact reported earnings.
Related: Bitcoin miners chase 30 GW AI capacity to offset hashprice pressure
In a key move connecting traditional and digital finance, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) added Hidden Road Partners CIV US LLC to its NSCC Market Participant Identifiers directory.
Effective March 2, 2026, the NSCC update allows Ripple Prime to route institutional post-trade volumes directly onto the XRP Ledger (XRPL). Notably, the move bridges traditional market infrastructure with blockchain settlement.
XRPL Moves Deeper Into Wall Street Infrastructure
According to the DTCC notice dated February 27, 2026, the update is part of broader changes to participant lists for insurance processing. It also reflects NSCC updates across OTC, corporate, municipal, and UIT products.
As a result, Hidden Road appears under clearing broker code 0443 with executing broker alpha “HRFI,” approved specifically for OTC trades. The inclusion sets the stage for Ripple Prime to integrate traditional clearing infrastructure with blockchain settlement.
The integration enables Ripple Prime to combine NSCC’s centralized clearing, risk management, and settlement services with the XRPL’s speed and low transaction costs. Also, the arrangement could compress settlement times and improve capital efficiency across a system handling over $2 quadrillion annually.
In line with its growth strategy, Ripple acquired Hidden Road in April 2025 for $1.25 billion, marking one of the largest deals in digital assets history. Rebranded as Ripple Prime in October 2025, the platform now offers multi-asset prime brokerage. It provides clearing, financing, and OTC spot trading for XRP and RLUSD stablecoins.
Before the acquisition, Hidden Road cleared $3 trillion yearly for more than 300 institutional clients across FX, derivatives, and digital assets. Ripple plans to migrate post-trade activities to the XRPL, using RLUSD as collateral to streamline cross-margining between traditional and crypto markets.
An Important Development?
Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz described the development as one that “seems important” on social media, noting its potential impact on XRPL adoption. Industry experts suggest the integration may boost settlement speed and institutional access while embedding blockchain deeper in U.S. financial infrastructure.
Beyond Ripple Prime, the DTCC notice also highlighted other updates. These include Summit Wealth Group joining insurance processing on March 9, 2026, and U.S. Securities International Corp. changing its clearing broker from NFSC to SWST.
Meanwhile, firms including Azzad Funds and Bain Capital Private Credit retired, with reassignments ensuring continuity of clearing and settlement operations.
The post Wall Street Meets XRPL: Why Ripple’s Latest DTCC Integration ‘Seems Important’ appeared first on CryptoPotato.
TLDR
- CFTC Chairman Mike Selig said the agency will issue guidance on U.S. crypto perpetual futures within weeks.
- He stated that earlier regulatory approaches pushed crypto derivatives activity and liquidity offshore.
- Selig said the CFTC aims to establish professional perpetual futures products in the United States.
- He confirmed that the agency will clarify its approach to decentralized finance developers.
- Selig announced that the CFTC will soon release guidance on prediction markets.
U.S. regulators plan to outline a path for domestic crypto perpetual futures within weeks. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig said the agency will issue guidance soon. He spoke at a Milken Institute event in Washington and stressed faster action.
CFTC Moves to Establish Perpetual Futures Framework
Selig said crypto perpetual futures developed offshore because U.S. regulators avoided clear industry rules. He stated that prior policies pushed firms and liquidity outside the country. He added that the CFTC now works to bring professional futures products back to U.S. markets.
He said the agency expects to release guidance within the next month. “We expect to announce that very soon,” Selig told attendees. He explained that he can act independently because he is currently the only commissioner serving on the five-member CFTC panel.
He said the agency will define how it treats decentralized finance developers. He noted that past enforcement actions created uncertainty for DeFi builders. He added that the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission coordinate their digital asset efforts under “Project Crypto.”
Selig and SEC Chairman Paul Atkins appeared together on stage. They emphasized a unified regulatory strategy for digital assets. They also said they support innovation exceptions to allow crypto experimentation without enforcement action.
SEC and CFTC Seek Clear Standards and Legal Certainty
Selig said the CFTC will issue guidance on prediction markets soon. He promised clear standards for firms offering event-based contracts. He said the agency also plans a broader rulemaking process to formalize that position.
He stated that guidance alone remains easy to reverse. Therefore, the agency aims to secure a more durable regulatory framework. He said oversight disputes continue with state gambling regulators over sports contracts.
Event contract firms such as Polymarket and Kalshi face scrutiny from state authorities. Selig said federal and state regimes can operate in parallel. “They can exist in parallel,” he told the audience.
Atkins addressed limits on agency authority during the same event. He said the SEC needs clearer statutory backing from Congress. “We really do need statutory certainty,” Atkins stated.
He explained that a U.S. Supreme Court decision reduced agency authority in court disputes. He said agencies now face stronger legal challenges to policy actions. He noted that Congress continues work on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
- BNB gets institutional boost from YZi Labs amid broader market price weakness.
- This $100 million infusion arrives as BNB price holds near $630
- Commitment highlights institutional faith in BNB’s utility and yield potential.
BNB price hovers near $630 as investor jitters mount amid escalating US/Israel-Iran tensions.
The negative sentiment across crypto and risk assets aside, YZi Labs has announced a fresh $100 million commitment to Hash Global’s BNB Holdings Fund.
Can this move help the bulls hold onto gains?
BNB gets institutional boost
YZi Labs, formerly Binance Labs, announced a $100 million strategic investment into Hash Global’s BNB Holdings Fund, building on prior support for the compliant yield vehicle launched in June 2025.
Ella Zhang, Head of YZi Labs, highlighted BNB as a “foundational utility asset with attractive yield, powering the future of financial infrastructure,” inviting traditional capital for its structural returns and growth.
The fund has delivered strong performance, posting 32.5% returns since inception through diversified revenue streams including BNB price appreciation, launchpad allocations, airdrops, and custody yields, with bi-weekly liquidity for investors.
This move signals deepening institutional adoption, amid continued interest from private wealth platforms and high-net-worth individuals.
Despite price weakness and notable ecosystem downsides, BNB looks to be attracting investment from individuals seeking regulated exposure to the token.
KK, founder of Hash Global, noted:
“BNB’s institutionalization should not be viewed merely as portfolio inclusion, but as a structural alignment between capital and ecosystem development. The ecosystem co-building model is the defining feature that differentiates BNB from other digital assets.”
BNB price outlook
Current market data shows BNB trading around $629, down 3% in the last 24 hours.
Prices are also down in the past week and month, but BNB has held steady within this range since dipping from above $700 in February.
Downtrend weakness remains as Bitcoin struggles to break $70,000 amid headwinds from the intensifying US/Israel-Iran conflict.
With reports of further strikes and risks of the conflict spilling across the region, cryptocurrencies could dip even further. On Tuesday, BNB dropped from highs of $651 amid such fresh derisking.
If extreme fear grips sentiment, with odds rising of a deeper war, prices may retest support around $550. Lower demand reload zones lie in the $450-$500 range.
However, if bulls hold onto gains above immediate support, resilience could see prices bounce higher.
BNB’s ecosystem strength, including BNB Chain’s growing daily transactions, real-world asset adoption and investment inflows, provides a buffer.
The institutional inflows could counter prevailing macro fears and help buyers keep bears off.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said that “stablecoins are the most popular virtual asset used in illicit transactions,” including Iran and North Korea, and therefore calling for stricter oversight of stablecoin issuers in a 42-page report published Tuesday.
In January 2026, the global watchdog said it found stablecoins accounted for most illicit onchain activity. It estimated there was approximately $51 billion in illicit stablecoin activity relating to fraud and scams in 2024.
In its March 2026 report, the task force again warned dollar-pegged tokens have become a key vehicle for illicit finance. It cited a Chainalysis report that said stablecoins accounted for 84% of the $154 billion in illicit virtual asset transaction volume in 2025. The report highlighted cases involving North Korean and Iranian actors using stablecoins such as USDT for proliferation financing and cross-border payments tied to sanctioned activity.
TRM Labs released a report mid-February saying that in 2025, illicit entities received $141 billion in stablecoins, the highest level observed in five years. The report noted that overall stablecoin activity exceeded $1 trillion per month on several occasions last year. Sanctions-related activity accounted for 86% of illicit crypto flows, the report said, with bad actors mostly relying on stablecoin platforms.
The FATF said peer-to-peer transfers via unhosted wallets present a “key vulnerability” because these types of transactions can occur without anti-money laundering controls.
While stopping short of calling for blanket blacklisting, the FATF urged countries to impose anti-money laundering (AML) obligations on stablecoin issuers and consider requiring tools such as wallet freezing and banning or restricting functions embedded in smart contracts.
With stablecoins now exceeding $300 billion in market value, FATF warned regulators must act quickly to close compliance gaps as adoption accelerates.
The total open interest (OI) for XRP futures across major crypto exchanges has plunged 70% from its peak five months ago, settling at $203 million on March 3, 2026.
The sharp drop in unsettled contracts mirrors levels seen in April 2025, a period that immediately preceded a significant price rally for the digital asset, raising questions about whether the market is once again flushing out excess leverage.
Open Interest Collapse Mirrors April 2025 Setup
Data compiled by market analyst Amr Taha shows that XRP’s aggregate open interest has cratered from $660 million in October 2025 to just $203 million today.
Binance, the dominant venue for XRP derivatives, has seen its OI dip below $270 million, a threshold last witnessed on April 8, 2025. Smaller platforms have also seen activity shrink considerably, with Bitfinex and BitMEX now holding just $4.3 million and $3 million in XRP open interest, respectively.
“Historically, such phases have aligned with local bottoms, as excessive leverage is flushed out and market conditions reset,” Taha noted.
Open interest tracks the total number of outstanding futures and perpetual contracts that remain open. According to the market watcher, a sudden dip alongside falling prices often suggests traders are closing positions or being liquidated as leverage unwinds.
The analyst suggested that the current combination points to forced liquidations and voluntary exits rather than new speculative build-up.
“Traders are either closing positions voluntarily or being liquidated due to margin calls,” he wrote.
The derivatives reset comes at a time when geopolitical tensions are rattling markets. On March 2, analyst Darkfost reported that 472 million XRP, worth about $652 million, flowed into Binance following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Such large exchange inflows can signal positioning for potential selling, adding pressure to spot prices, and XRP swung from $1.43 down to $1.27 during the weekend turmoil, allowing BNB to leapfrog it to once again become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
Volatility Spikes as Price Trends Lower
Separate data highlighted by Arab Chain on March 2 shows XRP’s 30-day realized volatility on Binance reaching 1.16, its highest level since March 2025.
Realized volatility measures the annualized standard deviation of daily returns over a 30-day period, and a reading at this level means daily price swings have widened significantly compared to recent months.
At the time of writing, the Ripple token was trading around $1.35, having dipped nearly 2% in the last 24 hours. It also remains down almost 17% over 30 days and about 50% within the past year. Furthermore, the asset is 63% below its all-time high of $3.65, which it reached in July 2025.
However, there might be a positive aspect to consider in the current situation. As Taha pointed out, the April 2025 drop in Binance open interest coincided with a major bottom near $1.80, which was followed by a rally that eventually took XRP to its most recent all-time high.
The post XRP Open Interest Falls 70% to Yearly Lows: What Does it Mean for Ripple’s Price? appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Pi Network price is suddenly doing better than top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, XRP, and Solana this year, driven by key catalysts like the potential Kraken listing and the upcoming validator rewards distribution.
Summary
- Pi Network price has retreated by about 17% this year.
- It has done better than other popular cryptocurrencies.
- The team has made some major announcements this year.
Pi Coin (PI) token has dropped by 17% this year, while Bitcoin (BTC) is down by 23%. Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and Solana (SOL) have dropped by 35%, 27%, and 33%, respectively.
Top reasons why Pi Network is beating top coins
The coin has done well in the past few weeks, driven by some key catalysts. For one, the coin celebrated its first anniversary in February. While the price remains much lower than its all-time high, the developers highlighted key milestones, including on KYC, where millions of people have moved to the mainnet.
Pi Network price has also done better than top rivals as investors reacted to the news of the potential listing by Kraken. Odds of a listing jumped after the company added it to its listing roadmap page. This means that the listing may happen any time this year.
Additionally, the developers have started pushing the much-anticipated upgrade to v23. The first three stages have already completed, with the remaining ones happening in the next few weeks. This upgrade will lead to more improvements, including security and speed improvements.
Meanwhile, Pi Network price has also done well ahead of the upcoming validator rewards distribution, which are expected to happen later this month. Also, the developers are working on native token, an automated market maker, and decentralized exchange tools.
Pi Coin price faces major risks
Still, Pi Coin price faces major risks ahead. The most notable one is that it is highly inflationary. It has no burning mechanism, and millions of tokens are unlocked daily. Data shows that over 1.4 billion tokens will be unlocked in the next 12 months.
Pi Network also faces the centralization risk, where the foundation holds over 90 billion tokens. It also makes all decisions, with the community members having no say on major decisions.
Additionally, the recent Pi Network may be a dead-cat bounce as we experienced in May last year when the team teased of a major announcement. The announcement turned out to be the $100 million ecosystem fund launch. While this was an important announcement, it pushed the token lower as investors were expecting a potential exchange listing.
Pi Network is still a ghost chain with no much activity in its ecosystem. A year after the mainnet launch, there is no major application in the network.
SoFi Technologies has partnered with Mastercard to enable settlement in its dollar-backed stablecoin, SoFiUSD, across Mastercard’s global payments network, allowing issuers and acquirers to settle card transactions using a bank-issued digital dollar.
Under the agreement, SoFi Bank N.A. plans to settle its own Mastercard credit and debit transactions in SoFiUSD, while SoFi’s payments technology platform Galileo will give client banks and card issuers the option to use the stablecoin for transaction settlement across the number two processor’s network.
The company said SoFiUSD is the first stablecoin issued by a US nationally chartered and insured deposit bank on a public, permissionless blockchain and would allow transactions to be settled 24 hours a day, seven days a week across Mastercard’s network.
SoFiUSD, launched in December, is issued by SoFi Bank, an OCC-regulated insured depository institution, and is backed 1:1 by cash reserves. Mastercard’s Multi-Token Network is expected to support the stablecoin alongside fiat currencies, tokenized deposits and other digital assets.
The companies said they will also explore additional use cases, including cross-border remittances, business-to-business transfers, programmable treasury applications and stablecoin-enabled card programs, subject to regulatory requirements and Mastercard network rules.
The move comes as Mastercard has been increasingly active in the stablecoin space. In November, the company partnered with Thunes to expand stablecoin wallet payouts through Mastercard Move, enabling near real-time transfers to regulated stablecoin wallets via Thunes’ Direct Global Network.
Related: SoFi reports record Q4 revenue as crypto trading resumes late in quarter
Rival Visa expands stablecoin settlement and payout infrastructure
Mastercard is not alone in integrating stablecoins into its payments infrastructure, with biggest processor Visa also widening its use of digital dollars across settlement and payout services.
In September, Visa began testing stablecoin-based cross-border settlement, launching a Visa Direct pilot that allows select banks to pre-fund international transfers using Circle’s USDC (USDC) and (EURC). The payments giant later expanded support to four stablecoins across four blockchains, enabling conversion into more than 25 fiat currencies.
Visa has also moved into direct stablecoin payouts. In November, it introduced a Visa Direct pilot allowing businesses to send funds straight to recipients’ stablecoin wallets, giving freelancers and marketplaces the option to receive USD-backed tokens instead of traditional bank transfers.
That expansion extended overseas last month when Netherlands-based Quantoz Payments became a principal Visa member, enabling it to issue Visa-branded debit cards backed by its regulated e-money tokens and support fintechs offering stablecoin-linked products in Europe.
The total stablecoin market cap at the time of writing was about $311.28 billion, per DefiLlama data. Transaction volumes grew to a record $969.9 billion in August 2025, with forecasts nearing $1 trillion monthly by December 2026, CoinLedger reported in September.
Magazine: Would Bitcoin really be at $200K if not for Jane Street? Trade Secrets
Bermuda’s disciplined path to an onchain economy
When Bermuda announces its ambition to become the world’s first fully onchain national economy with support from Circle and Coinbase, you could picture a dramatic, quick overhaul. However, that is not the case.
To be a fully onchain economy, Bermuda has not taken a hard route, which might involve instantly building government services and pushing merchants to accept digital payments. Instead, the island is following a cautious path of well-thought-out, regulated innovation in finance.
The island intends to begin with carefully designed pilots. It will work through licensed and supervised institutions, share the results with transparency and only expand when the systems prove reliable and effective. The goal is to position “onchain” as dependable, everyday infrastructure rather than a radical, quick shift.
What fully onchain means (and what it doesn’t) in this context
As outlined in the announcement at the World Economic Forum, Bermuda is focusing on rolling out digital asset infrastructure across government departments, local banks, insurers, businesses and everyday consumers.
The early emphasis appears to be on stablecoin-powered payments and expanded financial tools rather than abruptly replacing traditional systems.
Here’s what “fully onchain” does not include:
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No legislation making crypto or stablecoins legal tender
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No prohibition on cards, bank wires, cash or other conventional payment methods
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No immediate push for the population to switch to self-custody wallets.
Bermuda’s approach is pragmatic; it focuses on establishing the efficacy of the infrastructure before broadening its reach.
Did you know? Bermuda was among the first jurisdictions to allow insurers and reinsurers to experiment with blockchain record-keeping, long before “onchain economy” became a buzzword.
Credentials of Bermuda for running this experiment
The Bermuda Monetary Authority has built a framework that encourages innovation. This enables Bermuda to execute complex experiments with speed, transparency and accountability.
Bermuda’s regulatory container for crypto
Bermuda has spent years building a robust, supervised framework for digital asset activities. The cornerstone of this system is the Digital Asset Business Act (2018), which empowers the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) to license and oversee firms in this space. This matters because turning an economy “fully onchain” is not just a technical endeavor; it is a holistic effort involving consumers, compliance, risk management and operations.
The BMA’s tiered licensing system — Class T (for pilot/beta testing), Class M (modified requirements for a limited period) and Class F (full operations) — is designed for staged progression.
Firms can start small, test concepts under supervision, demonstrate safety and viability, and scale when ready. This structure supports controlled pilots rather than blanket mandates, allowing regulators to contain risks, gather data and refine rules iteratively.
Smaller systems can iterate faster
Unlike large economies with cumbersome legacy payment systems, deeply ingrained consumer habits and fragmented political interests around money, a compact jurisdiction like Bermuda can move faster. Coordinating across government agencies, key merchants, regulated financial institutions and local stakeholders becomes simpler when the initial focus is narrow.
Rather than overhauling the entire economy, this approach focuses on stablecoin-based flows for things like government fees, permits or targeted disbursements. This combination of strong regulation and agility positions Bermuda to run a structured, evidence-based experiment.
Did you know? Bermuda’s economy relies heavily on cross-border transactions, from insurance premiums to reinsurance settlements, making it unusually sensitive to payment delays. This is one of the reasons blockchain rails appeal more for efficiency than ideology.
Why testing beats mandates for an onchain transition in Bermuda
While Bermuda’s aim is a long-lasting, widely accepted integration of digital assets into its national financial system, “mandates” could risk slowing or complicating the effort.
Mandates invite swift resistance
Pushing widespread use of crypto could lead to immediate pushback over privacy concerns and create an impression of government overreach. People may feel as if changes are being forced on them.
Bermuda’s public statements emphasize a measured, step-by-step approach, and its leadership intends to build confidence first and then broaden access.
Government payments require reliability
Trustworthy execution of government payments requires a series of processes:
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Secure onboarding and identity verification
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Processing refunds, disputes or clear non-reversible rules
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Accurate reconciliation, auditing and reporting
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Robust fraud monitoring and responsive customer support
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Controlled vendor onboarding and procurement safeguards.
Pilots allow agencies to trial these processes under strict controls that include limited volumes, vetted providers and specific use cases. This ensures all factors related to transactions function seamlessly before integrating critical public services.
Financial stability and consumer safeguards remain central considerations
Stablecoin-based systems face some specific real-world challenges. These include expectations around redemptions and liquidity, risks from overreliance on one issuer or platform, potential outages, regulatory lapses and user exposure to scams or errors.
Controlled testing enables the government to isolate and manage these risks and gather hard evidence on what fails. It can determine what users find confusing, where vulnerabilities emerge and which protections truly work.
Banking partners prefer predictability over disruption
Modern financial systems rely heavily on established banking networks and correspondent relationships, particularly for international transactions. A sudden mandate could signal regulatory uncertainty or an attempt to bypass traditional rails.
Bermuda’s strategy demonstrates alignment with existing compliance standards rather than a radical break from them. It leverages supervised intermediaries, tiered licensing under the Digital Asset Business Act and infrastructure from players like Circle and Coinbase.
Did you know? Unlike countries experimenting with crypto as legal tender, Bermuda’s population already has near-universal banking access, so onchain pilots are aimed at optimization and not financial inclusion emergencies.
What problem an onchain pilot in Bermuda aims to solve
Bermuda’s initiative positions onchain infrastructure as adequate for everyday uses. It is designed to cut friction, reduce costs and streamline value transfer in areas where traditional systems are slow and expensive.
Official announcements and reporting focus initially on stablecoin payments and merchant enablement. The policy targets real transactional and operational improvements rather than speculative or investment-driven use cases.
When stablecoins enable fast, low-cost settlements that integrate seamlessly into existing merchant systems and reduce payment overhead, onchain may function as a practical utility. People and businesses adopt it because it performs better, not because of regulation or hype.
How a pilot could work in practice in Bermuda
Public details describe initial pilots in government agencies, alongside broader private-sector enablement. Here is a scenario of how a phased pilot might unfold:
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A specific government department selects a limited use case, such as a permit or refund process.
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Approved, licensed providers handle payment acceptance, built-in compliance checks and integration.
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Residents and merchants join voluntarily through user-friendly interfaces, with straightforward fiat off-ramps and dedicated support.
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The program measures clear objectives such as settlement speed, cost per transaction, fraud incidence, customer support volume, merchant participation rates and user feedback.
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Data from the pilot guides the next steps: Scale up successful elements, refine pain points or adjust or pause as needed.
This methodical, evidence-driven rollout stands in sharp contrast to broad mandates. It prioritizes controlled experimentation to build reliability and trust before wider adoption.
Partners in Bermuda’s initiative, not a mandate
Bermuda’s initiative is built around active collaboration with Circle and Coinbase. These companies are providing the underlying stablecoin infrastructure, enterprise-grade tools and support for education and user onboarding.
This partnership serves two practical purposes:
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Execution capability: Running reliable, national-scale digital payments and onboarding flows demands sophisticated engineering, security architecture and operational capacity that most governments do not maintain internally.
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Trust and integration: Working with well-known, regulated firms lowers friction for local banks, insurers and larger merchants who already recognize and trust these names, making adoption smoother.
Relying on major partners also introduces a significant risk: concentration around one or two providers. This issue can be addressed early through a thoughtful pilot, contingency planning and interoperability considerations.
Frameworks for adoption: Balancing innovation with institutional integrity
To ensure an onchain economy is welcome and not resisted, the supporting rules and transparency matter as much as the technology itself. Key elements include:
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Optionality: Conventional payment methods (cards, bank transfers, cash) must remain fully available at every stage.
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Transparency: Clearly communicate the pilot’s scope, any associated fees and regular, public reporting on performance metrics.
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User protections: Provide straightforward risk disclosures, scam-awareness education, accessible support channels and simple complaint/escalation paths.
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Privacy and compliance clarity: Explain exactly what data is collected, who can access it, under what legal basis and how it is protected.
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Resilience measures: Build in provider redundancy, documented incident-response procedures and timely communication during any outages or disruptions.
Bermuda’s emphasis on education and onboarding in its public statements signals that sustainable adoption is earned through usefulness and trust.
Most exchange tokens don’t get talked about until they’ve already made their move. WBT, the native coin of European crypto exchange WhiteBIT, is a textbook example. It spent the better part of 2023 trading under $6 with almost zero mainstream attention. Now it sits above $50, ranks inside the top 15 by market cap, and has quietly outperformed some of the most hyped tokens in the market over the past three years.
So what changed? And more importantly, is there still room to run?
A Slow Build, Then an Explosion
WBT launched in August 2022 and immediately landed in the middle of a brutal bear market. It’s all-time low hit around $1.90 in late 2022, and for most of 2023, it barely moved, closing the year near $5.78. Not exactly the kind of chart that gets people excited.
But things began to change in 2024, when WBT began steadily climbing from $6 to $24 by the year’s end, a quiet 4x that most of Crypto Twitter completely missed. Then, in 2025, the token accelerated, blowing past $30, $40, and $50, eventually touching $65.30 on November 18, 2025. From its lowest point to its highest, that’s over 3,000% in roughly three years.
As of February 2026, WBT is consolidating around $50 with a market cap above $10 billion. On-chain data from earlier this month shows 99.52% of the circulating supply is in profit, which is a rare position for any crypto asset.
Adding to the institutional credibility, WBT was included in the S&P Crypto Indices at the end of 2025, a milestone that puts it on the radar of fund managers and institutional allocators who rely on index inclusion as a baseline for asset legitimacy.
The Engine Behind the Price
Price doesn’t move in a vacuum. Behind WBT’s chart is a business that’s been scaling aggressively.
WhiteBIT is the largest European cryptocurrency exchange by web traffic. It was founded in 2018, and by the end of 2025 its parent entity W Group reported serving over 35 million customers globally with a total capitalization of $38.9 billion. The exchange now operates across multiple regions, recently launching WhiteBIT US as a New York-based entity and entering Saudi Arabia through a cooperation agreement focused on blockchain infrastructure and CBDC development.
WBT isn’t just a token to trade, but is woven into everything on the platform. Holding it unlocks up to 90% off taker fees, 100% off maker fees, free daily ERC 20 withdrawals, boosted referral rates, and staking rewards. That kind of utility creates a natural demand: more users on the platform means more people with a reason to hold WBT.
On the supply side, the tokenomics include a hard cap of 400 million tokens with no future minting. The exchange also runs weekly token burns, gradually compressing the circulating supply, which currently sits around 214 million. Deflationary pressure plus growing demand is a combination that tends to push price in one direction.
Big Brand, Bigger Ambitions
WhiteBIT has made moves that most exchanges in its tier haven’t even attempted. A three-season partnership with FC Barcelona started in 2022. In 2025, they added a global partnership with Juventus FC, complete with kit sleeve branding and a dedicated Crypto Fan Zone for supporters.
These aren’t just marketing stunts but signal the kind of institutional credibility that attracts larger players. WhiteBIT now serves over 1,300 institutional clients with solutions spanning OTC trading, liquidity provision, custody, and Crypto-as-a-Service. The WhiteBIT Nova debit card processed over $50 million in its first year. WhitePool, their mining operation, climbed into the top 15 globally.
Each of these developments feeds back into WBT demand.
What to Watch From Here
WBT is currently sitting about 25% below its all-time high. The consolidation around $50 after a massive run is healthy, but the next move depends on a few key factors.
On the bullish side: the US launch is still in its early stages, the Saudi expansion opens a massive new market, weekly burns continue to tighten supply, and a broader crypto bull cycle could lift all boats. As of today, Kraken has also added WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) to its Tokens Launching Soon roadmap on its official listings page, signaling upcoming support on one of the world’s largest exchanges, a potential catalyst for fresh demand.
On the cautious side: exchange tokens are directly tied to platform performance. Increased competition, regulatory shifts, or a prolonged market downturn could slow things down.
Either way, the data makes one thing clear. WBT’s move from $3 to $65 wasn’t luck. It was built on real users, real utility, and real growth. Whether you’re watching it or holding it, this is a token worth understanding.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.
The post WBT Did a Quiet 15X While Everyone Was Watching Meme Coins appeared first on Cryptonews.
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