Coinbase is being quietly eclipsed by Hyperliquid, whose trading volume is nearly double that of Coinbase.

The prominent decentralized perpetual futures exchange, Hyperliquid, has surpassed Coinbase in terms of trading volume, according to Artemis. The data revealed that Hyperliquid recorded $2.6 trillion in trading volume, compared with Coinbase’s $1.4 trillion within the same timeframe.

This represents nearly double the notional volume of Coinbase.

Hyperliquid vs. Coinbase

Findings shared by Artemis also disclosed that the year-to-date price performance highlights a stark contrast between the two platforms. Hyperliquid has gained 31.7% so far in 2026, while Coinbase has declined by 27.0%. This resulted in a divergence of 58.7% over just a few weeks.

Coinbase is one of the most established centralized exchanges in the world, while Hyperliquid is still an emerging decentralized player in the space. Following the significant gap in both trading activity and asset performance, Artemis described it as a sign that the market is paying attention to the decentralized perpetuals exchange’s rapid growth.

Throughout 2025, the platform generated $822 million in revenues. So far this year alone, it recorded $79.1 million in revenues.

Meanwhile, open interest on Hyperliquid, over the past 24 hours, stood at $4.1 million.

Amid rapid growth, Ripple announced that its Ripple Prime brokerage platform will now support Hyperliquid. This would allow institutional clients to access Hyperliquid’s on-chain derivatives while cross-margining exposure across other assets, including cleared derivatives, OTC swaps, fixed income, forex, and digital assets, under a single counterparty.

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Michael Higgins, international CEO of Ripple Prime, said the integration merges decentralized finance with traditional prime brokerage, improving liquidity access and trading efficiency. The move comes as Hyperliquid continues to see billions in daily volumes, as the platform sees growing influence in the decentralized perpetual futures market.

HYPE Shorting Controversy

Hyperliquid’s popularity has not been without controversy. In December, the exchange confirmed that a former employee, dismissed in early 2024 for insider trading, was behind large short positions in its native HYPE token. On-chain analysis verified that the wallet responsible executed leveraged shorts totaling over $223,000, including $180,000 in HYPE at 10x leverage.

The platform reiterated its zero-tolerance policy for insider trading and said employees and contractors are prohibited from trading HYPE derivatives.

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) options have surged to new heights, surpassing gold ETFs in both open interest and trading volume. As of February 10, IBIT options reached a total of 7.33 million active contracts, positioning it as the ninth-largest options market in the U.S. This marks a significant shift, as Bitcoin gains momentum over traditional assets like gold.

The surge in IBIT options highlights a growing interest in cryptocurrency. This uptick has coincided with Bitcoin’s strong performance, outpacing gold in recent trading sessions. As Bitcoin continues to rise, the surge in IBIT options reflects broader market trends, with investors responding to changing global risk sentiment.

BlackRock Bitcoin ETF’s Growing Dominance in the Options Market

The rise of IBIT options points to a shifting preference towards Bitcoin-based assets. With 7.33 million IBIT contracts now open, Bitcoin has solidified its position in the options market, surpassing even gold ETFs like SPDR Gold Shares (GLD). By contrast, GLD options currently sit at 6.44 million, showing a distinct advantage for Bitcoin in this space.

IBIT options have recorded impressive trading volumes, with over 284 million shares traded, resulting in more than $10 billion in notional value. This represents a notable increase from the previous record set in November. The growing volume and interest reflect a clear trend of Bitcoin gaining ground in the financial market.

The put/call ratio for IBIT options is currently 0.64, indicating a more balanced market outlook compared to gold’s ratio of 0.50. As Bitcoin continues to rise, its options market is becoming increasingly influential, while interest in gold begins to wane. This shift signals a broader change in market sentiment, with Bitcoin gaining prominence over gold.

Bitcoin Options Outpace Gold Amid Global Market Shifts

Bitcoin options have experienced significant growth, while the price of gold has weakened. A resurgence in global risk appetite has caused gold prices to ease, as equity indices show positive performance. This shift in sentiment has been attributed to anticipation surrounding upcoming U.S. economic data, including jobs reports and CPI inflation figures.

Despite expectations that gold could hit new highs in the coming years, Bitcoin continues to outperform it in terms of market sentiment. BNP Paribas has projected that gold could reach $6,000 by 2026, but Bitcoin has maintained a stronger position in the current market. This shift in favor of Bitcoin reflects a reassessment of traditional safe-haven assets.

As market conditions change, the growing focus on Bitcoin-based assets like IBIT may continue to challenge traditional investments such as gold. With Bitcoin rising in prominence, it could represent an increasing share of investor portfolios, reshaping the landscape for safe-haven investments.

Bitcoin’s Performance in the Face of Increased Volatility

Despite a 30% crash in the market recently, Bitcoin has shown remarkable resilience. This volatility has sparked ongoing debates regarding Bitcoin’s future, especially in comparison to gold. However, some analysts believe that Bitcoin’s volatility could attract more investors if market conditions continue to favor riskier assets.

JPMorgan’s Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou noted that Bitcoin’s volatility relative to gold has decreased to a record low of 1.5. This reduced volatility ratio makes Bitcoin more attractive to investors looking for higher returns. As Bitcoin’s volatility continues to drop, it may attract a new wave of interest from risk-seeking investors.

With this shift in market dynamics, Bitcoin’s recognition as a significant asset is growing. Many experts suggest that Bitcoin’s price may rally toward $266,000 once the current negative sentiment dissipates. This potential for growth signals that Bitcoin could become even more appealing to investors in the near future.

Spot Bitcoin ETF Sees Record Inflows Despite BlackRock ETF Redemptions

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) has seen a surge in options activity, but its overall performance has been mixed. On February 6, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $144.9 million in net inflows, signaling renewed interest in cryptocurrency. This marks a positive reversal after a period of outflows, demonstrating a shift in sentiment towards Bitcoin.

However, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF faced redemptions of $20.9 million, signaling a less favorable outlook for the ETF itself. Despite this, the IBIT ETF remains an influential player in the market. The growing activity in Bitcoin options, along with fluctuating ETF inflows and outflows, suggests that Bitcoin’s role in traditional financial markets is evolving.

This discrepancy between inflows and redemptions highlights the complexity of investor behavior in the cryptocurrency space. While Bitcoin options gain in popularity, the ETF market remains volatile. Nonetheless, the rise in Bitcoin options is a strong signal that Bitcoin is establishing itself as a dominant asset in global financial markets.

LayerZero, a cross-chain interoperability protocol, has announced the launch of a new Layer 1 blockchain, dubbed Zero, that aims to address “long-standing scalability challenges” in blockchain, according to a press release shared with The Defiant.

The new blockchain — backed by heavyweight collaborators including Citadel Securities, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and Google Cloud — is positioned as core infrastructure for financial markets, rather than just another platform for crypto apps, the developers said.

Alongside the launch, LayerZero said Citadel Securities, a multi-billion-dollar market maker, is making a strategic investment in the network’s ZRO token. ARK Invest is also coming on board as a holder of LayerZero equity, as well as its native token.

The Defiant reached out to LayerZero to clarify the funding terms, but didn’t receive a response by press time.

Citadel Securities is exploring how Zero could be used across trading, clearing, and settlement workflows, per the announcement. Meanwhile, DTCC said it’s looking into using the new network for tokenized securities and large-scale collateral management.

ICE, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, said it’s also evaluating using Zero as it adapts its infrastructure for 24/7 tokenized markets. Meanwhile, Google Cloud will be joining as a partner “to explore how to enable AI agents to make micropayments,” per the press release.

LayerZero said it has also formed an advisory board that includes ARK Invest founder and CEO Cathie Wood, alongside current and former executives from ICE and BNY Mellon.

Earlier today, stablecoin giant Tether also announced a strategic investment in LayerZero, though the funding size wasn’t disclosed.

How Zero Works

At the technical level, the team behind Zero says the network employs a different approach from many blockchains, especially around consensus. Rather than requiring “every node to replicate the same work,” by validating transactions and updating the blockchain ledger, Zero uses zero-knowledge proofs to separate transaction execution from verification.

That design, combined with what the team describes as advances in compute, storage, and networking, allows Zero to potentially reach as many as 2 million transactions per second (TPS) across multiple “zones,” which the team describes as permissionless environments owned and governed by the network itself.

For context, Ethereum currently operates at around 20-30 TPS, while Solana boasts over 3,000 TPS.

According to the press release, Zero will be launched with three initial zones, including a general-purpose Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) environment, a privacy-focused payments setup, and a trading-oriented zone covering multiple asset classes. The network will be permissionless, with LayerZero’s native token used for governance.

ZRO is currently trading around $1.80, flat today but up about 21% in the past 30 days.

LayerZero Labs on Tuesday unveiled Zero, a new blockchain aimed at powering institutional-grade financial markets, alongside a strategic investment from Citadel Securities into ZRO, the network’s native token and governance asset.

ARK Invest is also investing in LayerZero’s equity and ZRO token, with CEO Cathie Wood joining a newly formed advisory board alongside ICE executive Michael Blaugrund and former BNY Mellon digital assets head Caroline Butler, the company said in a press release. The size of the investments were not disclosed.

The announcement signals a deeper push by traditional market infrastructure players into blockchain-based trading, clearing and settlement, as scalability and performance constraints have long limited real-world adoption.

Tether Investments, the investment arm of the leading stablecoin issuer, has also made a strategic investment in LayerZero Labs, it said earlier on Tuesday.

Citadel Securities said it is working with LayerZero to evaluate how Zero’s architecture could support high-throughput workflows across trading and post-trade processes. The firm’s investment in ZRO adds to growing institutional interest in LayerZero, which is best known for operating one of crypto’s largest interoperability networks.

After years of pilot projects and cautious experimentation, large financial institutions are moving more decisively into crypto as infrastructure improves and regulatory clarity advances. Asset managers, exchanges and clearing houses are increasingly viewing blockchains not as speculative rails but as potential upgrades to legacy systems, particularly for trading, settlement and collateral management. The shift reflects a growing belief that crypto-native technology is maturing enough to support real-world financial markets at scale.

Zero is designed around LayerZero’s first-of-its-kind heterogeneous architecture, which uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to separate transaction execution from verification. The company claims the design can scale to roughly 2 million transactions per second across multiple zones, with transaction costs approaching a millionth of a dollar and effectively unlimited blockspace.

Zero-knowledge proofs let blockchains verify that a statement is true without revealing the underlying data, preserving privacy while ensuring validity.

LayerZero said the system delivers step-change improvements across compute, storage, networking and cryptography, allowing different zones to be optimized for specific use cases rather than forcing all nodes to perform identical work.

The project is launching in collaboration with several major institutions. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) said it will explore using Zero to enhance the scalability of its tokenization and collateral initiatives, while Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is examining applications tied to 24/7 trading and tokenized collateral. Google Cloud is partnering with LayerZero to explore blockchain-based micropayments and resource trading for AI agents, reflecting growing interest in programmable money for machine-driven economies.

“Zero’s architecture moves the industry’s roadmap forward by at least a decade,” said Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero Labs, in the release. “We believe we can actually bring the entire global economy onchain with this technology.

The blockchain is set to debut with three initial zones: a general-purpose Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) environment, a privacy-focused payments system, and a purpose-built trading venue. ZRO will anchor network governance and security, while LayerZero’s interoperability stack links Zero to more than 165 blockchains.

Read more: Robinhood is investing in crypto trading platform Talos at $1.5 billion valuation

Robinhood (HOOD) said revenue from crypto-related transactions fell 38% year over year in the fourth quarter, highlighting how lower digital asset prices continue to curb trading activity even as platforms push deeper into the sector.

The trading app reported $221 million in revenue from crypto trades, down from $358 million a year earlier, according to its latest earnings report. The decline came despite Robinhood’s efforts to make crypto a bigger part of its business.

Over the past year, the company has rolled out new crypto features and expanded its offerings. Robinhood launched crypto transfers across more regions, allowing users to move assets on and off the platform. It also added a large slate of new trading tokens, expanding beyond the small set of major coins it once limited customers to. The company has pitched these moves as steps toward becoming a broader gateway into digital assets rather than a simple trading app.

That strategy has yet to shield crypto revenue from market swings. Lower prices tend to dampen trading, especially among retail investors who drive much of Robinhood’s volume.

The crypto slowdown stood in contrast to Robinhood’s broader business. Overall transaction-based revenue reached $776 million, a 15% increase from the year prior. Gains in equity and options trading helped offset the drop in crypto, pointing to a more balanced revenue mix than in past cycles.

The company reported EPS of $0.66 in the fourth quarter, topping Wall Street estimates for $0.63, but revenue of $1.28 billion fell short of forecasts for $1.33 billion.

Shares are lower by 7.7% in after-hours trading, continuing a plunge that began around the time crypto topped in early October 2025. Trading at $79, the stock’s now down nearly 50% from that record high.

Competitor Coinbase (COIN) is set to report earnings on Thursday. Analysts expect it to post lower trading volume and weaker revenue, reflecting the same market conditions that hit Robinhood’s crypto business. COIN is lower by 1.6% after hours on the HOOD results.

CZ said Binance holding 87% of USD1 reflects user demand, arguing the exchange dominates most major stablecoins.

Binance users hold about 87% of USD1, the Trump-linked stablecoin, according to a Forbes report published on February 9, 2026, putting most of the token’s circulating supply on a single exchange.

The concentration has drawn criticism online, but Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao says the figures reflect user demand across stablecoins rather than special treatment tied to politics.

Exchange Dominance Draws Focus

The Forbes report found that Binance controls roughly $4.7 billion of the $5.4 billion USD1 supply, based on Arkham Intelligence data. That is a higher share than any single exchange holds of other top-10 stablecoins, with Forbes noting that the holdings include both Binance-controlled wallets and customer balances, though it remains unclear how much belongs to the exchange itself.

World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture backed by several members of President Donald Trump’s family, launched the token in March 2025, with CZ among the first to publicly share the news.

Trump is also listed as co-founder emeritus, and several entities affiliated with him are entitled to a large share of proceeds from the project’s governance token, WLFI.

The custody concentration drew criticism from independent researcher Molly White, who told Forbes it creates “theoretical risk” if assets become tied up in legal or operational disputes. Corey Frayer, a former adviser to the SEC chair, went further, questioning whether USD1 was designed to function as a broad stablecoin at all.

However, Zhao responded on social media, writing,

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“Binance (users) hold the largest % of most stablecoins (USDT, USDC, USD1, U … you name it) compared to all other CEXs. Not news.”

The backlash around the token sits within wider scrutiny of Zhao and Binance. The former CEO received a presidential pardon in October 2025 after pleading guilty in 2023 to compliance failures tied to anti-money laundering controls.

His attorney said in a November 2025 interview that the case was regulatory in nature and rejected claims of political favors.

A Pattern of FUD and Market Reality

The discussion is also happening amid what CZ and Binance executives are describing as a coordinated campaign of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD).

Earlier in the month, Zhao exposed a fake social media account with 863,000 followers that used AI-generated images of him to first pose as a supporter and then spread negative sentiment. Furthermore, a separate AI analysis report alleged a “deliberately organized and coordinated smear campaign” against the exchange.

Market data suggests Binance’s dominance extends far beyond one stablecoin, especially considering that a CryptoQuant report from January showed Binance captured 41% of spot trading volume and 42% of Bitcoin perpetual futures volume among top exchanges in 2025.

According to the report, the exchange also held 72% of the combined USDT and USDC reserves on major platforms, a context that supports Zhao’s argument that large user holdings on the exchange are typical.

During the Super Bowl, Logan Paul appeared to place a $1 million bet on the New England Patriots via Polymarket, a crypto prediction market platform. Polymarket shared a clip of Paul “checking Polymarket at the Big Game,” but observers quickly noticed that the YouTube star’s account had no funds.

As a result, the supposed bet was never actually possible.

As Protos reports, crypto sleuth ZachXBT reviewed the top holders of the market and confirmed that none matched Logan’s purported wager.

He called the stunt “yet another Logan Paul scam,” likely referencing Paul’s previous CryptoZoo project, which lost investors tens of thousands of dollars and resulted in multiple ongoing lawsuits. Speculation also arose about an undisclosed relationship between Paul and Polymarket, with ZachXBT noting that the WWE talent had livestreamed attempts to promote the platform, which he described as “inorganic.”

Polymarket’s prediction markets, along with rival platform Kalshi, face legal scrutiny in U.S. courts. Polymarket recently filed a lawsuit against Massachusetts to prevent the state from shutting down its sports betting markets, arguing that federal law and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are the only authorities authorized to regulate such contracts.

Meanwhile, Kalshi has faced criticism online for marketing prediction markets as an easy way to make money. Crypto commentator “DeFi_Dad” echoed investor Warren Buffett and called the ads “rat poison squared,” warning that they mislead users into treating gambling as investing.

Nigel Eccles, CEO of crypto casino BetHog, echoed these concerns, saying Kalshi’s ads target young adults with messages encouraging risky gambling, raising ethical concerns about underage and problem gambling.

In the end, Paul avoided financial loss, as Seattle defeated the Patriots 29–13, but the incident underscores ongoing scrutiny around celebrity promotions of crypto prediction markets, the legality of these platforms, and the ethics of marketing gambling-like products to the public.

CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong 2026 is here. Over the next two days, more than 10,000 attendees will hear from over 350 speakers across five stages as they discuss tokenization, stablecoins, AI and more.

The conference comes just after crypto markets hit a period of intense volatility. Bitcoin BTC$68,622.11 crashed from over $95,000 to near $60,000 before rebounding to $70,000 within a few short weeks, swings that are familiar to longtime industry participants but jarring nonetheless.

Against this backdrop, we’ll hear from Hong Kong policymakers, including Chief Executive John KC Lee, legislator Johnny Ng and Securities and Futures Commission CEO Julia Leung about their work drafting crypto-focused policies for the special administrative region.

Industry leaders like Animoca’s Yat Siu, Solana Foundation’s Lily Liu and BitMine’s Tom Lee will present the crypto world’s current status and lay out the trends they expect to see in the coming months.

It may be that the crypto industry is now melding more with traditional finance, leaving some of its more esoteric products by the wayside. Consensus speaker Armani Ferrante told CoinDesk last month that blockchains are looking more like financial infrastructure than support tools for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or other projects.

Even so, the markets still need to mature to truly support institutional demand, Auros’ Jason Atkins told CoinDesk last month.

The institutions themselves — for example, Robinhood — are also looking more deeply into blockchain as a tool that can support financialization for institutional clients, the company’s head of crypto, Johan Kerbrat, said last month.