SEC Chair Paul Atkins has defended the agency’s enforcement shift as lawmakers question why Justin Sun’s case was paused.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins is facing scrutiny from lawmakers as the agency moves to reshape its cryptocurrency regulatory framework.

Democrats are questioning potential links between industry actors and President Donald Trump amid a broader decline in enforcement actions.

SEC Scrutinized Over Tron Case

During a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Democratic members zeroed in on the SEC’s decision to pause its case against Tron founder Justin Sun. Representative Maxine Waters pointed to what she described as a sweeping rollback of prior crypto enforcement actions after Trump entered the White House and new SEC leadership took over last year.

Waters referenced the regulator’s 2023 lawsuit against Sun, in which he was accused of organizing the unregistered sale of crypto securities tied to the TRX and BTT tokens and manipulating trading volumes.

Later in February 2025, the SEC asked the federal court overseeing the case to issue a stay, which paused the proceedings. Since that decision, Sun has become a major financial supporter of Trump-linked crypto ventures, purchasing billions of WLFI tokens, making him the largest backer of World Liberty Financial.

Waters also highlighted a more recent claim by his alleged former girlfriend, who publicly suggested she possesses evidence of TRX manipulation.

Atkins declined to address specifics of the case, telling lawmakers he could not comment on individual enforcement matters. He added that he would be open to further discussion in a confidential setting “to the extent the rules allow me to do that.”

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When asked whether the agency ever acts to protect investors in ways that could negatively affect Trump-affiliated businesses, he responded, “As far as what the Trump family does or not, I can’t speak to that.”

Trump’s Ties to Binance

Lawmakers also raised concerns about other high-profile litigation the SEC dropped last year, including cases against Binance, Ripple, Coinbase, Kraken, and Robinhood.

In May 2025, the financial watchdog ended its lawsuit against Binance, which it had sued in 2023 for offering unlicensed services and misrepresenting trading controls. Trump later also pardoned Zhao, while a stablecoin issued by WLF was used by an Abu Dhabi investment firm for a $2 billion investment in Binance.

“Explain to me how this happens without any enforcement action,” Representative Stephen Lynch said. “The reputational damage that the SEC is suffering right now is unbelievable. And you’re in the seat, sir. It’s your responsibility. I’m just asking for an explanation.”

The SEC Chair defended the regulator, saying it has a “robust enforcement effort” and continues to bring cases. However, data from Cornerstone Research shows that its overall legal actions fell 30% in 2025, while crypto-related cases dropped 60%.

Atkins, who became the organization’s chair in April 2025 after Gary Gensler’s departure, is known for criticizing the previous aggressive approach and framing his leadership as a move away from litigation-heavy tactics.

Israel is attempting to prosecute a reserve soldier who allegedly used military secrets to place bets on security operations via Polymarket. 

Polymarket offers a multitude of markets on various military operations, from bets on the outcome of the Ukraine/Russia war, to more specific targeted missile strikes against various countries. 

Israel’s Shin Bet security agency announced today that the soldier — who is facing court along with an alleged civilian accomplice — used “classified reports” accessed via their military role to help make bets that could threaten Israel’s national security.

The pair is charged with numerous security offences, as well as bribery and obstruction of justice. Several people were arrested, but only two have been charged so far.

A lawyer representing the soldier told Bloomberg that the indictment is “flawed,” adding that the charge of harm to national security has been dropped.

They added, however, that he’s still believed to have used confidential information without permission.

Pair might be connected to $150K Polymarket winnings on Israel-Iran strikes

It’s unknown which prediction markets the two bet on, or if they made any profits. There are suspicions, however, that they could be linked to the Polymarket account “ricosuave666.”

This account made over $150,000 betting on Israel’s strikes against Iran in 2025, and reportedly got each prediction correct across a war that lasted 12 days.

Israeli authorities then opened up an investigation into these bets. 

Previous cases involving the leaking of military secrets led to an Israeli soldier reportedly being sentenced to 27 months in jail in 2023.

The individual passed on confidential information to users on social media so that they could gain credibility and popularity online.

Web3 security firm CertiK honored for its contribution in web3 security and compliance at the 2026 SiGMA AIBC Eurasia Awards.

CertiK, the web3 security services provider, received an award for “Best Security & Compliance Solution 2026” at the SiGMA AIBC Eurasia Awards ceremony on February 10, 2026. 

The award is a recognition of the firm’s efforts in driving the crypto industry towards compliance and institutionalization. The SiGMA AIBC Eurasia Awards, jointly created by SiGMA and AIBC, is an award for the digital technology and innovation industries in the Eurasia region. It focuses on areas such as AI, blockchain, web3, and compliance security, and is well-known across the region. 

Other award winners included web3 companies, including Crypto.com, OKX Wallet, Avalanche, and Cointelegraph.

The award comes at a time when CertiK has been expanding its presence in the Middle East since the launch of its branch in Abu Dhabi in 2025. According to the firm, it has launched a localized team recruitment drive to address the demand for security services in the Middle Eastern markets. 

The company’s focus in the region has shifted to providing “institutional-level” security services. The goal of this service model is to provide banks, sovereign wealth funds, and large multinational corporations with security measures that meet traditional financial security requirements through advanced engineering capabilities and a tight defense matrix.

Since launching the branch in Abu Dhabi, CertiK has partnered with Abu Dhabi regulators, participated in roundtable discussions on the framework for virtual asset regulatory activities in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), and offers services to local regulators via its security platform Skynet Enterprise.

According to CertiK, its services assist regulators in assessing the potential impact of abnormal events on corporate entities and the broader financial ecosystem, and promote the development of security compliance and innovation in the digital economy.

Key takeaways:

• Ether exchange-traded funds saw $71 million in inflows, signaling strong institutional appetite.

• Weekly decentralized exchange volume doubled to $20 billion, narrowing the revenue gap with Solana.

Ether (ETH) price failed to sustain levels above $2,000 on Thursday, leaving traders to weigh the potential catalysts for a market turnaround. While optimism has waned since the crash to $1,745 on Friday, both exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows and ETH derivatives metrics are showing early signs of a reversal. 

Traders now question if there is enough momentum for a bounce back toward $2,400.

US-listed Ether ETFs recently broke a three-day streak of outflows, attracting $71 million in fresh capital between Monday and Tuesday. Crucially, assets under management have stabilized at $13 billion, which is sufficient to maintain institutional interest. Ether ETFs currently average over $1.65 billion in daily trading volume, a level of liquidity that enables participation by the world’s largest hedge funds.

To put Ether ETFs in perspective, the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE US)— the largest in the US energy sector — trades an average of $1.5 billion per day. That instrument tracks a combined $2 trillion market capitalization across companies such as Exxon (XOM US), Chevron (CVX US), ConocoPhillips (COP US), The Williams Companies (WMB), and Kinder Morgan (KMI US).

ETH metrics and ETF inflows signal potential market recovery

While institutional appetite for Ether ETF trading is a positive indicator, it does not guarantee that demand for ETH derivatives is inherently bullish.

On Wednesday, the annualized premium (basis rate) of ETH futures remained below the 5% neutral threshold. This lack of demand for bullish leverage has been a constant theme for the past three months. However, the indicator has stabilized at 3%, even as the ETH price hit its lowest level in nine months. These derivatives markets are displaying moderate resilience, which remains an encouraging sign for Ether investors.

Related: Denmark’s Danske Bank allows clients to buy Bitcoin and Ether ETPs

Ether’s price weakness has driven Ethereum’s Total Value Locked (TVL) to $54.2 billion, down from $71.2 billion one month prior, according to DefiLlama data. Reduced deposits in the network’s smart contracts represent a major risk, as lower chain fees diminish the native staking yield. Moreover, Ethereum’s supply burn mechanism remains dependent on excessive demand for blockchain processing. 

Despite these worsening conditions, demand for Ethereum decentralized applications (DApps) has been gradually improving throughout 2026.

Weekly decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes on the Ethereum network surged to $20 billion, up from $9.8 billion one month prior. This increased activity caused DApps revenue to reach $26.6 million in the seven days ending Feb. 8, providing a healthy indicator of ETH demand. While Solana remained the clear leader with $31.1 million in weekly DApps revenue, the gap between the two networks is narrowing.

Those monitoring Ether price performance exclusively fail to see that ETH onchain metrics and derivatives have displayed resilience, especially as inflows into Ether ETFs resumed. While it might take a couple of weeks for investors to fully regain confidence, there are strong indicators that a near-term rally toward $2,400 is possible.