Crypto World
Create P2E Games Strategically That Can Actually Make Money
Play-to-earn or P2E game development has moved past the hype cycle. What once looked like a fast-money opportunity has evolved into something far more serious. It has matured into a serious digital business model where games operate as revenue ecosystems, community platforms, and asset economies.
Most P2E games don’t fail because the idea is bad. They fail because the business model is weak. Enterprises planning to create P2E games today are not chasing hype, they are looking for:
- New revenue channels
- Digital asset economies
- Community ownership models
- Long-term user engagement
- Monetizable ecosystems
The opportunity is real. However, profitability in the P2E model is engineered, not assumed. Some P2E games become thriving ecosystems, whereas others collapse within months. The difference is not luck. It is strategy, architecture, and execution.
If your goal is to create a P2E game that actually makes money, the approach must be strategic from day one. For enterprises considering P2E game development, understanding what actually drives profitability is the first step toward building a platform that lasts.
The Reality Check: Why Most Early P2E Games Failed
The early P2E wave taught the market expensive lessons. Projects focused on:
- Aggressive token rewards
- Fast user acquisition
- Speculative demand
Although these worked for a short time, they failed in the long run since they ignored the fundamentals:
- Gameplay quality
- Long-term economy modeling
- LiveOps planning
- Anti-cheat systems
- Retention mechanics
- Deflationary token supply
- Security safeguards
- Sustainable monetization
The result?
Short growth spikes followed by:
- Token crashes
- User churn
- Broken economies
- Damaged brand trust
For enterprises, these failures are not just technical, they are reputational and financial risks. Thus, the ones entering the P2E market today cannot afford to repeat these mistakes. They need to understand that the market is more mature. Players are more informed. Competition is far stronger. A profitable P2E ecosystem in 2026 must be engineered like a business platform, not a marketing experiment.
What “Actually Making Money” Means in P2E
Profitability in P2E game development does not mean:
- Paying players endlessly
- Printing tokens
- Relying on hype cycles
It means building a system where:
- Players spend because they enjoy the experience
- Assets hold perceived value
- The economy is balanced
- Monetization is diversified
- Engagement drives revenue
A profitable P2E ecosystem behaves more like a SaaS platform with an in-game economy than just a reward faucet.
Massive Opportunities Still Exist in P2E
In spite of early failures, enterprise interest in P2E is increasing. Serious organizations understand that massive opportunities still exist in the field and when designed correctly, P2E ecosystems unlock:
1. Community-Driven Growth
Players become stakeholders. Ownership increases emotional investment and retention.
2. Long-Term Monetization
NFTs, premium features, and marketplaces create recurring revenue streams.
3. Stronger User Loyalty
Ownership models keep users engaged beyond traditional game cycles.
4. New Business Models
P2E enables creator economies, branded ecosystems, and digital asset markets.
5. Data-Driven Engagement
On-chain data enables precise user behavior insights.
For enterprises, P2E game development is not just gaming. It is a hybrid of product, platform, and community economy.
Want to Build Revenue-Generating P2E Games?
The Foundations of a Profitable P2E Game
Successful P2E platforms share structural similarities. They are not built around rewards. They are built around retention and sustainability.
1) Gameplay is the Core Product
A P2E game that is not fun is a short-term campaign, not a business. Enterprises building profitable ecosystems invest heavily in:
- Core gameplay loops
- Skill-based mechanics
- Progression systems
- Competitive elements
- Social interaction layers
When players stay for gameplay, earnings become an enhancer rather than the sole driver. This, in turn, plays a significant role in stabilizing user behavior and protects the economy from volatility.
2) Tokenomics is Treated as Financial Architecture
Tokenomics is not a whitepaper exercise. It is economic engineering. A profitable model requires:
- Controlled emissions
- Utility-driven demand
- Multiple token sinks
- Governance logic
- Long-term value design
Poor token design is one of the fastest ways to destroy a P2E ecosystem. Enterprises that invest in proper modeling build economies that survive market cycles.
3) Monetization is Multi-Layered
Relying only on token rewards is a risky affair. High-performing P2E ecosystems diversify revenue through the following to create stability and predictable revenue.
- NFT asset ownership
- Cosmetic upgrades
- Battle passes
- Subscription access
- Marketplace fees
- Brand collaborations
- Licensing opportunities
4) Infrastructure is Built for Scale
Viral success can break weak systems. Enterprise-grade P2E platforms require the following, without which user growth becomes a liability instead of an asset.
- Hybrid on-chain/off-chain architecture
- Low-latency backend systems
- Secure wallet integrations
- High-throughput transaction handling
- Cloud-native scaling pipelines
5) LiveOps is Treated as a Business Function
P2E ecosystems are not “launch and forget” products. They require:
- Seasonal updates
- Reward tuning
- Economy balancing
- Event-driven engagement
- Real-time analytics
- Continuous content rollout
This keeps engagement high and helps prevent economic stagnation.
The Hidden Risks Enterprises Must Consider
Many organizations underestimate the complexity of P2E game development. The hidden risks include:
- Token inflation destroying value
- Bot farming draining rewards
- Security vulnerabilities in smart contracts
- Regulatory uncertainty
- Player churn from poor balance
- Infrastructure overload during growth spikes
These risks do not appear in pitch decks. However, they determine success or failure. Enterprises that address these early gain a major advantage.
The Ideal Framework to Create Profitable P2E Games in 2026
Step 1: Start with Economic Modeling
Before development begins, simulate:
- Token flows
- Reward velocity
- User growth scenarios
- Sink mechanisms
This prevents structural weaknesses.
Step 2: Prioritize Retention Design
Design loops that encourage daily, weekly, and long-term engagement. Retention drives lifetime value more than rewards.
Step 3: Use Hybrid Blockchain Architecture
Keep high-frequency actions off-chain for speed and cost efficiency while maintaining on-chain ownership.
Step 4: Invest in Security Early
Security is not optional. Audits, anti-cheat systems, and wallet safeguards protect both users and brand reputation.
Step 5: Plan LiveOps Before Launch
A profitable ecosystem is continuously managed, not static.
Why Professional P2E Game Development Matters
Building a profitable P2E ecosystem requires multidisciplinary expertise:
- Game design
- Blockchain engineering
- Tokenomics modeling
- Security architecture
- LiveOps strategy
- Compliance awareness
It is exactly the reason why enterprises increasingly work with experienced P2E game development partners. A professional partner helps avoid costly missteps and accelerates time-to-market with scalable architecture.
Final Thoughts: Profitability is Engineered, Not Promised
The era of speculative P2E hype is over. The next generation of winners will be enterprises that treat P2E game development as a serious business model, backed by strong design, technical depth, and long-term planning.
Well-built ecosystems generate:
- Sustainable revenue
- Loyal communities
- Scalable digital economies
Antier works with enterprises & studios to design and create P2E games engineered for sustainability, security, and profitability, not short-term hype. It is because in 2026, successful P2E games are not the ones that promise the most. They are the ones that are built to last and not fade away with the trend.
Frequently Asked Questions
01. What is the main reason most play-to-earn (P2E) games fail?
Most P2E games fail due to weak business models rather than bad ideas, often resulting from a lack of strategic planning and execution.
02. What should enterprises focus on when developing P2E games today?
Enterprises should focus on creating new revenue channels, digital asset economies, community ownership models, long-term user engagement, and monetizable ecosystems.
03. How does profitability in P2E game development differ from early P2E models?
Profitability in P2E game development today requires a strategic approach that prioritizes gameplay quality, long-term economy modeling, and sustainable monetization, rather than relying on aggressive token rewards or hype.
The Governance Exploit Nobody Is Pricing In. Bridges get hacked. That’s old news. We’ve seen the carnage: nine-figure exploits, drained liquidity, emergency shutdowns, Twitter threads filled with “funds are safu” copium.
From Ronin Network to Wormhole, bridge exploits have become a recurring tax on innovation. But here’s the uncomfortable truth. The next systemic risk in crypto probably won’t be a bridge exploit. It’ll be a governance exploit enabled by cross-chain voting power. And almost nobody is pricing it in.
The Shift: From Asset Bridges to Power Bridges
Cross-chain infrastructure has evolved.
We’re no longer just bridging tokens for yield. We’re bridging:
Protocols increasingly allow governance tokens to exist on multiple chains simultaneously — often via wrapped representations or omnichain token standards (like those enabled by LayerZero Labs).
This improves capital efficiency and participation.
But it also introduces a new attack surface:
The separation of voting power from finality.
The Core Problem: Governance Is Local. Voting Power Is Not.
Governance contracts typically live on a single “home” chain.
But voting power can be represented across multiple chains.
This creates a dangerous gap:
-
Tokens are locked on Chain A
-
Voting power is mirrored on Chain B
-
Governance decisions are executed on Chain A
If the system relies on cross-chain messaging to sync voting balances, any delay, exploit, or manipulation in that messaging layer becomes a governance vector.
You don’t need to drain liquidity.
You just need to distort voting power long enough.
And governance proposals often pass with shockingly low turnout.
The Attack Path Nobody Talks About
Let’s walk through a hypothetical.
Step 1: Acquire or Manipulate Voting Power Cross-Chain
An attacker:
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Borrows governance tokens
-
Bridges them to a secondary chain
-
Exploits a delay in balance updates
-
Or abuses inconsistencies in wrapped token accounting
In poorly designed systems, the same underlying tokens may temporarily influence voting in multiple domains.
Even if briefly.
Even if “just a bug.”
Governance doesn’t need hours. It needs one block.
Step 2: Flash Governance
We’ve already seen governance flash-loan exploits in DeFi.
The most infamous example? The attack on Beanstalk in 2022.
The attacker used flash loans to acquire massive voting power, passed a malicious proposal, and drained ~$182M.
Now imagine that dynamic — but across chains.
Flash-loaned tokens → bridged representation → governance vote → malicious proposal executed → unwind.
All before the watchers even understand what happened.
Step 3: Proposal Payloads as Weapons
Governance proposals can:
If cross-chain voting power is compromised, the proposal payload becomes the exploit.
No bridge drain required.
Just governance “working as designed.”
Why Markets Aren’t Pricing This Risk
Three reasons.
1. Everyone Is Still Fighting the Last War
After major bridge hacks, teams hardened signature validation and multisig thresholds.
But governance-layer risk is subtler.
It doesn’t show up as “TVL at risk” on dashboards.
It shows up as “who controls protocol direction.”
That’s harder to quantify.
2. Voting Participation Is Low
Many DAOs struggle to get 10–20% participation.
Which means:
You don’t need 51%.
You need slightly more than apathy.
Cross-chain voting power distortions don’t need to be massive. They just need to be decisive.
3. Composability Multiplies Complexity
Modern governance stacks combine:
-
Delegation contracts
-
Token wrappers
-
Cross-chain messaging
-
Snapshot systems
-
Execution timelocks
Each layer introduces potential inconsistencies.
And composability means failures cascade.
Where the Real Risk Lives
This isn’t about one protocol.
It’s systemic.
The more governance tokens become:
The more fragile governance assumptions become.
If a governance token is:
You’ve built a multi-dimensional voting derivative.
And derivatives break under stress.
Ask TradFi. They have scars.
The Governance Exploit Nobody Is Pricing In
Markets price:
-
Smart contract risk
-
Bridge exploit risk
-
Oracle manipulation risk
But they do not price:
Cross-domain voting synchronization risk.
No dashboards are tracking:
-
Governance message latency
-
Cross-chain vote desync windows
-
Wrapped-token vote inflation
-
Double-counted delegation
Yet these variables may determine who controls billion-dollar treasuries.
What Builders Should Be Doing (Now)
If you’re designing cross-chain governance:
1. Separate Voting Power from Bridged Liquidity
Avoid naïve 1:1 mirroring without strict finality checks.
2. Introduce Vote Finality Windows
Require:
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Cross-chain state verification
-
Message settlement delays
-
Proof-of-lock confirmations
Before votes are counted.
3. Use Decay or Cooldowns on Newly Bridged Tokens
Voting power shouldn’t activate instantly after bridging.
If tokens just moved chains 5 seconds ago, maybe they shouldn’t decide protocol destiny.
4. Simulate Governance Stress Scenarios
Run adversarial simulations:
If your governance model breaks under simulation, it will break in production.
What Investors Should Be Asking
Before allocating to a multi-chain DAO:
-
Where does governance live?
-
How is voting power mirrored?
-
Can voting power be double-counted during bridge latency?
-
What happens if the messaging layer stalls?
-
Is there a time lock between the vote and execution?
If the answers are vague, the risk is real.
And it’s not priced in.
The Inevitable Wake-Up Call
Crypto learns through catastrophe.
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Smart contract exploits → audits became standard.
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Oracle exploits → TWAP and redundancy
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Bridge hacks → validator hardening
Governance-layer cross-chain exploits are likely next.
And when it happens, it won’t look like a hack.
It’ll look like a proposal that “passed.”
That’s the scary part.
Final Thought
Cross-chain infrastructure is powerful. It enables capital mobility, global participation, and modular design.
But it also decouples authority from location.
And when authority becomes fluid across chains, attackers don’t need to steal funds.
They just need to win a vote.
That’s the governance exploit nobody is pricing in.
And by the time the market does, it’ll already be too late.
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Global financial services firm Payoneer is the latest in a growing number of companies that have filed for a national trust banking charter in the US, which could enable it to issue a stablecoin and provide various crypto services.
Payoneer said on Tuesday it filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form PAYO Digital Bank, a week after it partnered with stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge to add stablecoin capabilities to its platform that is mainly focused on cross-border transactions.
Payoneer said that it is seeking to issue a GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoin, PAYO-USD, to serve as the holding currency in Payoneer wallets, in addition to allowing customers to pay and receive stablecoins.
OCC approval would also enable Payoneer to manage PAYO-USD reserves, offer custodial services and enable customers to convert between the stablecoins into their local currency.
“We believe stablecoins will play a meaningful role in the future of global trade,” said Payoneer CEO John Caplan.
The OCC gave conditional approval to Crypto.com for a charter on Monday, adding to the banking charters won by crypto companies Circle, Ripple, Fidelity Digital Assets, BitGo and Paxos in December.
Related: Better, Framework Ventures reach $500M stablecoin mortgage financing deal
The Trump family’s World Liberty Financial also applied for one in January to expand the use of its USD1 (USD1) stablecoin, but is still awaiting a decision.
Crypto trading platform Laser Platform also submitted an application in January, while Coinbase has been awaiting a decision on its application since October.
Stablecoins ideal for business cross-border transfers: Payoneer
Payoneer said OCC approval would allow it to offer its nearly two million customers, which are mostly small and medium-sized businesses, a regulated stablecoin solution to simplify cross-border trade.
“This offering will help advance the use of the USD in global trade, reduce barriers for American companies competing internationally, and expand the dollar’s presence across non-dollar payment corridors,” it said.
In December, Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said that new entrants to the federal banking sector was “good for consumers, the banking industry and the economy [as] they provide access to new products, services and sources of credit to consumers, and ensure a dynamic, competitive and diverse banking system.”
Magazine: Did a Hong Kong fund kill Bitcoin? Bithumb’s ‘phantom’ BTC: Asia Express
Bitcoin price is attempting a recovery near $65,000 as the Coinbase Premium turns positive despite recent exchange-traded fund outflows.
Summary
- Bitcoin price prediction leans towards trend reversal as the Coinbase Premium flips positive.
- The metric indicates strong U.S. demand returning after recent ETF outflows.
- Price must reclaim key resistance to confirm a stronger recovery.
Bitcoin was trading at $65,907 at press time, up 3.4% in the last 24 hours. The move follows a drop to $62,900 within the past week, where buyers stepped in.
Even with the bounce, Bitcoin (BTC) is still down 24% over the past month and about 50% below its October 2025 all-time high of $126,050.
Trading activity increased during the recovery. Spot volume reached $46 billion, up 22% day over day. In derivatives markets, CoinGlass data shows futures volume up 6.2% to $74.8 billion, while open interest slipped 0.1% to $43.9 billion.
This suggests some traders are closing positions rather than adding aggressive leverage.
Coinbase premium turns positive
On Feb. 25, the Coinbase Premium Index turned positive for the first time in 40 days, hitting 0.0525%, according to CoinGlass.
The index measures the price difference between Coinbase and global exchanges. A positive reading means Bitcoin trades slightly higher on Coinbase, which often reflects stronger U.S. demand.
This shift comes at a time when U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded heavy outflows, with roughly $3.8 billion exiting recently. That contrast is important. While ETFs have seen capital leave, the premium suggests some U.S. buyers are stepping back in through exchange flows.
In past cycles, sustained positive premiums have aligned with accumulation phases and relief rallies. However, a single flip does not confirm a trend change. Traders will watch if the premium widens and holds over several sessions.
Bitcoin price prediction: Is the trend reversing?
Bitcoin is attempting to stabilize after a sharp corrective phase. On the daily chart, price is still trading below its short-term trend pivot near the mid-Bollinger band around the high -$67,000 area.
That zone now acts as the line that separates a relief bounce from a stronger recovery attempt.
Momentum indicators show improvement from oversold conditions, with the relative strength index climbing from sub-30 levels earlier in February. Bulls have not yet completely taken back control, though, as the RSI is still below the midpoint.
The recovery might reach the low -$70,000 area if the Coinbase Premium holds positive and Bitcoin breaks through the mid-band resistance with growing spot volume. A move into that zone would shift short-term structure and increase confidence that the trend has reversed.
On the other hand, failure to reclaim resistance would keep the price vulnerable to another pullback toward the mid -$64,000 area. A break below that support would raise the risk of a deeper move toward $60,000.
TLDR
- Binance has relaunched tokenized stocks trading through a partnership with Ondo Finance on Binance Alpha.
- The platform lists 10 tokenized U.S. stocks, ETFs, and commodity-linked products.
- Users in the United States cannot access the new tokenized stock offerings.
- Binance previously halted a similar service in 2021 after regulatory scrutiny in Europe.
- Ondo Finance has recorded over $550 million in locked value and $11 billion in cumulative trading volume since September 2025.
Binance has relaunched tokenized stocks trading through a new partnership with Ondo Finance. The exchange will list 10 tokenized U.S. stocks, ETFs, and commodity-linked products on Binance Alpha. The move marks Binance’s return to this market nearly five years after halting a similar service.
Binance and Ondo Finance Launch Tokenized Equities on Alpha
Binance has partnered with Ondo Finance to introduce tokenized versions of major U.S. equities on Binance Alpha. The platform operates within Binance Wallet and targets early-stage digital asset offerings. Users can trade blockchain-based versions of Apple, Google, Tesla, and Nvidia shares.
The lineup also includes the Invesco QQQ ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq index. Binance confirmed that users in the United States cannot access these tokenized stocks. Jeff Li, Binance’s vice president of product, said, “Our users now have even more convenient ways to explore and trade tokenized stocks.”
Binance Alpha allows access to projects before they reach the centralized spot marketplace. The company positions the platform as a gateway for higher-risk digital assets. Through this structure, Binance expands product access while keeping trading within its wallet ecosystem.
Ondo Finance issues the tokenized equities listed on the platform. The company focuses on bridging traditional financial assets with blockchain networks. Binance integrates these tokens directly into its wallet infrastructure.
Binance previously launched tokenized stocks in April 2021, starting with Tesla shares. The exchange later added Coinbase, Strategy, Microsoft, and Apple to the offering. However, regulators in the United Kingdom and Germany raised compliance concerns.
The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority and Germany’s BaFin reviewed the product structure. Following regulatory scrutiny, Binance discontinued the service within months. The company has now resumed tokenized equities through its collaboration with Ondo Finance.
Last month, Binance stated that it was considering a renewed push into tokenized equities. The latest listings on Binance Alpha confirm that plan. The rollout follows growing activity in blockchain-based stock trading platforms.
Tokenized Stocks Market Expands Across Exchanges
Tokenized stocks have grown across crypto exchanges and traditional brokerages. The sector’s total value approaches $1 billion, according to recent market data. Ondo Finance reports more than $550 million in locked value.
The company also recorded $11 billion in cumulative trading volume since September 2025. Other exchanges, including Kraken, Bybit, and Gemini, have introduced similar products. Robinhood has also launched tokenized equity trading services.
Traditional exchanges have also outlined plans involving stock tokens. Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange have presented proposals tied to blockchain-based trading models. These developments align with Binance’s renewed entry into tokenized equities through Ondo Finance.
The biggest Bitcoin ATM operator in the US has begun phasing in a new requirement for users to provide identification for every transaction at its crypto ATMs amid increasing pressure from regulators and lawmakers for operators to curb illicit activity.
Bitcoin Depot said on Tuesday that it began the rollout earlier in February across the company’s US network ATMs, with the goal of helping to detect suspicious activity in real time and eliminate misuse by bad actors, such as account sharing, identity theft, and account takeover.
“Continuous verification allows us to detect suspicious activity based on customers, locations, or transaction amount before a transaction is approved,” Bitcoin Depot CEO Scott Buchanan said in a statement.
Bitcoin Depot implemented ID requirements in October, but only for all new users to its service. Buchanan said that “by requiring identity verification at every transaction, we are taking an additional step to strengthen security, protect customers, and maintain the integrity of our services.”
The US is the largest hub for Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs, with Coin ATM Radar listing 31,360 machines, accounting for 78% of the worldwide total. Bitcoin Depot is the market leader in the country with 9,019 kiosks.
Bitcoin Depot faces state-level lawsuits
Scammers have long used crypto ATMs as a way to receive funds from unwitting victims, as the kiosks are widespread and their transactions are irreversible, leading regulators and lawmakers to crack down on crypto ATM operators.
The advocacy organisation, the American Association of Retired Persons, reported in February that 17 US states have passed laws requiring crypto ATM operators to implement protections, including daily transaction limits, fraud warning signs, and licensing requirements.
Related: Crypto ATM limits and bans sweep across US: Here’s why
Bitcoin Depot has caught the ire of state regulators, as Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell sued Bitcoin Depot earlier this month, alleging the company has not implemented sufficient safeguards to prevent scams. Campbell is seeking a court order to bar Bitcoin Depot from processing large transactions without additional user protections.
In January, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey reached a $1.9 million settlement with Bitcoin Depot to reimburse individuals who lost money to scams while using the company’s ATMs.
Last year, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird launched a lawsuit against both Bitcoin Depot and its rival Coinflip, alleging the operators failed to implement adequate protections to prevent scams.
Magazine: 6 massive challenges Bitcoin faces on the road to quantum security
Mastercard is hiring a Director of Crypto Flows to lead stablecoin-linked card issuance, scale DeFi payment flows, and rewrite network rules for Web3 transactions.
The job posting, first surfaced by crypto journalist Frank Chaparro on Feb. 24, signals a structural push beyond the pilot-stage experiments the payments giant has run so far.
The Timing That Writes Itself
Days earlier, Citrini Research published “The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis,” a doomsday scenario that rapidly went viral on Substack. The report maps a chain reaction in which AI agents progressively dismantle fee-based intermediaries — and payment networks sit squarely in the blast radius. Citrini specifically names Mastercard’s Q1 2027 earnings as a potential inflection point, the moment when agentic commerce begins routing around card interchange via stablecoins.
The logic is straightforward. When AI agents transact on behalf of consumers, a 2-3% card interchange fee becomes an irrational cost. Stablecoin rails settle the same transaction for near zero. In that world, Mastercard doesn’t lose to a competitor. It loses to a protocol.
The gap Mastercard needs to close
The vulnerability is not hypothetical. Stablecoins transferred $18.4 trillion in value in 2024, surpassing both Visa ($15.7 trillion) and Mastercard ($9.8 trillion) in raw volume, according to Artemis Analytics. The comparison is imperfect — much of that is trading, not payments — but the directional signal is clear.
Mastercard’s own CEO, Michael Miebach, told analysts in January that the company is “leaning in” to stablecoins and agentic commerce, calling the latter a trend in which “the train is leaving the station.” Yet he framed stablecoins as “another currency we can support within our network.”
That framing is precisely what Citrini challenges. The doomsday thesis is not that stablecoins replace card payments at today’s checkout counter. It is that a new category of commerce — machine-to-machine, micropayment-dense, 24/7 — will emerge entirely outside the card network’s design envelope.
Building rails or getting routed around
The new role suggests Mastercard is beginning to internalize this risk. Mastercard has laid the groundwork: onboarding multiple stablecoins onto its network in June 2025, expanding Circle’s USDC settlement across the Middle East and Africa, and reportedly pursuing a $2 billion acquisition of crypto infrastructure startup zerohash.
But the gap with Visa persists. Visa’s on-chain stablecoin settlement reached an annual run rate of $3.5 billion by late 2025. Crypto-native issuers like Rain and Reap built their card programs primarily on Visa rails, with Rain scaling to over $3 billion annualized after securing direct Visa membership. Industry analysis suggests Visa’s early crypto-native alignment translated into share, while Mastercard’s exchange-focused approach generated less volume.
Coincidence or confirmation
Regardless of whether Mastercard’s hiring push was triggered by Citrini’s report, the more important reading is that the diagnosis is converging. A research outfit writing from 2028 and a payments giant hiring in 2026 point at the same fault line. Card networks that cannot accommodate stablecoin-native commerce will be bypassed, not disrupted.
The canary, as Citrini wrote, is still alive. The question is whether Mastercard is building a bridge to close the gap—or just hiring someone to watch it widen.
CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.
The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 1816.14, down 2.0% (-36.33) since 4 p.m. ET on Monday.
One of the 20 assets is trading higher.
Leaders: ICP (+1.2%) and NEAR (-0.3%).
Laggards: BCH (-4.2%) and SUI (-2.5%).
The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.
The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking a portion of its treasury holdings, marking a significant shift in how the organization manages its ETH reserves.
Summary
- The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking its treasury, starting with a 2,016 ETH deposit and planning to stake approximately 70,000 ETH in total.
- Staking rewards will be directed back to the foundation’s treasury to help fund core operations, including protocol R&D, ecosystem grants and community development.
- The validator setup uses open-source tools from Attestant, including Dirk and Vouch, with a focus on distributed signing, minority clients and multi-jurisdiction infrastructure.
Ethereum Foundation puts treasury to work with 70K ETH staking plan
In a post on X, the foundation said it has made an initial deposit of 2,016 Ethereum (ETH) and plans to stake approximately 70,000 ETH in total, with staking rewards directed back into its treasury. The move follows a Treasury Policy announced last year and is designed to both support network security and help fund the foundation’s core operations.
The staking setup is being implemented using open-source tools developed by Attestant, including Dirk and Vouch.
Dirk functions as a distributed signer, allowing validators to be operated across multiple jurisdictions and reducing the risk of a single point of failure.
Vouch enables the use of multiple consensus and execution client pairings, helping mitigate client diversity risks, a key concern for Ethereum’s decentralization model. The foundation said its validator setup incorporates minority clients and a mix of hosted infrastructure and self-managed hardware spread across several regions.
The announcement comes at a notable moment for Ethereum. Recently co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold roughly $7 million worth of ETH amid a broader price pullback, sparking discussion about treasury management and market signals.
At the same time, the foundation has been expanding ecosystem support through new grant initiatives, including updates to its Ecosystem Support Program aimed at funding protocol research, community development and public goods projects.
By staking a portion of its holdings, the foundation is effectively putting dormant ETH to work, generating yield while reinforcing validator participation. The move aligns the treasury more closely with Ethereum’s proof-of-stake design and provides an additional funding stream for long-term development efforts without relying solely on asset sales.
Payment processing firm Stripe is reportedly considering an acquisition of all or parts of its rival PayPal Holdings.
Stripe is in early talks and has expressed preliminary interest in PayPal or parts of its business, though no deal is guaranteed, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
It comes as Stripe, which enables enterprises to accept payments, make payouts, and automate financial processes, said on Tuesday that it was valued at $159 billion in a tender offer to shareholders and employees, a 74% jump from a year ago.
The move comes as PayPal has been reportedly struggling to compete with the likes of Google Pay and Apple Pay, which are embedded in consumer smartphones.
Stripe president John Collison told Bloomberg that “PayPal has had, obviously, a tough time over the past few years, and the landscape has changed quite a bit with Apple Pay and Google Pay and everything like that.”
“I can’t talk about any, you know, M&A [mergers and acquisitions] hypotheticals, but they’ve definitely had a tough time,” he added.
PayPal stock gains on the day
PayPal is also in leadership transition, with new CEO Enrique Lores set to take over on March 1 following the ouster of Alex Chriss, amid missed earnings estimates and slowing payment volumes.
Related: PayPal draws takeover interest following 46% stock slide: Report
PayPal stock (PYPL) gained 6.74% on Tuesday to end the day trading at $47.02, according to Google Finance. However, shares in the payments platform have declined almost 20% since the beginning of this year and are down 85% from their 2021 all-time high of just over $300.
PayPal, Stripe have serious stablecoin ambitions
PayPal began offering crypto trading in the US in 2020 and launched its own stablecoin PYUSD in 2023. The dollar-pegged asset has gained traction in recent months with its market capitalization topping $4 billion for the first time on Feb. 14.
Stripe has also been dabbling in crypto with its stablecoin platform Bridge, which received conditional approval to operate as a federally chartered national trust bank under the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Feb. 17.
Stripe first offered stablecoin-based accounts globally in May 2025. A merger could see the new entity become a serious player in the stablecoin market.
Magazine: Bitdeer sells all Bitcoin, Metaplanet rejects misconduct claims: Asia Express
Bitcoin fell below 200-week EMA, over 52% off peak, risking death-cross capitulation.
Summary
- BTC closed last week under the 200-week EMA, a key confluence zone tied to post-halving re-accumulation range highs, after three weeks of elevated sell volume and weak demand.
- Analysts warn BTC may retest the underside of the 200-week EMA as new resistance, echoing 2018 and 2022 structures that triggered a second bearish acceleration wave.
- BTC has dropped over 52% from its October top and approaches a 3-day 50/200 SMA death cross by late February, historically followed by an additional 45%-52% drawdown.
Bitcoin (BTC) closed the week below a critical support level, falling beneath that threshold for the first time since early February and reaching a two-week low, according to market data. Analysts have warned that the cryptocurrency could face additional downward pressure.
Analyst Rekt Capital stated that Bitcoin closed last week below the 200-week Exponential Moving Average (EMA), which sits at the center of a major confluence zone. The 200-week EMA aligns with the Post-Halving Re-accumulation Range highs, while the Post-Halving Re-accumulation Range lows define the broader structure of Bitcoin’s current range, according to the analyst.
Over the past three weeks, the cryptocurrency attempted to develop a demand region around this area, which was previously a major supply area, Rekt Capital noted. The analyst stated that this level has not historically been a structurally reliable support, noting that it previously acted as a 10-month resistance.
“In the current structure, we have seen three consecutive weeks of elevated sell-side volume in this region, with limited meaningful buy-side response,” the analyst stated in a post. The imbalance led to a weekly close below the 200-week EMA, losing it as support in this timeframe, according to the analysis.
Rekt Capital stated that there is a strong probability that Bitcoin will press back toward the underside of that EMA to attempt turning it into new resistance. If the underside retest holds, the structure would shift from defending the support to confirming the resistance at this level, the analyst said. The analyst added that if that level begins to act as resistance, downside continuation will become increasingly probable.
The analyst also noted that Bitcoin’s recent performance aligns closely with its price action in prior cycles. In 2018 and 2022, a weekly close below the 200-week EMA acted as a structural trigger to the second wave of bearish acceleration, according to the analysis. “Bitcoin would attempt to reclaim the level, turn it into resistance, and then dissipate lower. That pattern is now attempting to replicate itself,” Rekt Capital stated.
Analyst Ali Martinez pointed to the cryptocurrency’s historical performance on the three-day chart, stating that this has been one of Bitcoin’s key timeframes from a macro perspective. Martinez said market observers must watch the upcoming interaction of the 50-day and 200-day Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), as the crossover between these two indicators on the three-day timeframe has historically preceded the final leg down of the bear market.
Bitcoin dropped approximately 50% to 72% from its cycle tops in past cycles before death crosses took place in subsequent years, according to historical data. Following those SMA crossovers, the cryptocurrency experienced another 45% to 52% decline, Martinez noted. Bitcoin has fallen more than 52% from its October peak and is approaching a potential death cross on the three-day chart by the end of February, according to the analyst.
“If history repeats — even partially — this could signal the beginning of the final leg down of this cycle,” Martinez stated. The analyst predicted that another substantial correction from current levels could follow, placing the cryptocurrency’s target near lower support levels. “If the cross confirms, it becomes a level to take very seriously,” Martinez said.
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