OpenAI has unveiled a benchmarking framework aimed at measuring how effectively AI agents can detect, mitigate, and even exploit security vulnerabilities in crypto smart contracts. The project, titled “EVMbench: Evaluating AI Agents on Smart Contract Security,” was released in collaboration with Paradigm and OtterSec, two organizations with deep exposure to blockchain security and investment. The study assesses AI agents against a curated set of 120 potential weaknesses drawn from 40 smart contract audits, seeking to quantify not just detection and patching capabilities but also the theoretical exploit potential of these agents in a controlled environment.

Key takeaways

• EVMbench tests AI agents against 120 vulnerabilities culled from 40 smart contract audits, emphasizing vulnerabilities sourced from open-source audit competitions.
• Among the models tested, Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6 led with an average detect award of $37,824, followed by OpenAI’s OC-GPT-5.2 at $31,623 and Google’s Gemini 3 Pro at $25,112.
• OpenAI frames the benchmark as a step toward measuring AI performance in “economically meaningful environments,” not just toy tasks, highlighting the real-world implications for attackers and defenders in the crypto security landscape.
• The researchers note that smart contracts secure billions of dollars in assets, underscoring the strategic value of AI-enabled tooling for both offensive and defensive activities.
• Industry observers have tied these developments to broader discussions about AI-driven payments and the role of stablecoins in everyday transactions, with major executives predicting growing agentic usage in the coming years.
• The context for such work is underscored by 2025’s crypto-security incident data, which shows a continued flow of funds through vulnerabilities and attacks, reinforcing the demand for robust AI-enabled auditing and defense mechanisms.

Detect awards for AI agents are detailed in the OpenAI PDF accompanying the study, which also describes the evaluation methodology and the scenarios used to simulate real-world smart-contract risk. The authors emphasize that while AI agents have evolved to automate a wide range of routine tasks, assessing their performance in “economically meaningful environments” is essential to understanding how they’ll perform under pressure in production systems.

“Smart contracts secure billions of dollars in assets, and AI agents are likely to be transformative for both attackers and defenders.”

OpenAI notes that it expects agentic technologies to broaden the scope of payments and settlement, including stablecoins used in automated workflows. The discussion around AI-enabled payments extends beyond security testing to the broader question of how autonomous systems will participate in daily financial activity. The company’s own projections suggest that agentic payments could become more commonplace, grounding AI capabilities in practical use cases that touch everyday consumer transactions.

In tandem with the benchmark results, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire has publicly forecast that billions of AI agents could be transacting with stablecoins for everyday payments within the next five years. That view intersects with a recurring theme in crypto circles: the potential for crypto to become the native currency of AI agents, a narrative that has gained notable attention from industry leaders and investors alike. While such predictions remain speculative, the underlying trend is clear—AI automation is moving from the lab to the transaction layer, where it could reshape how value moves across networks.

The study arrives at a moment when crypto security continues to be a significant risk factor for investors. The data point about 2025’s assault on crypto funds—where attackers pulled roughly $3.4 billion—highlights the urgency of improved tooling and faster, more reliable patching mechanisms. The EVMbench framework is positioned, in part, as a way to measure whether AI agents can meaningfully contribute to defensive capabilities at scale, reducing exploitation opportunities and accelerating threat mitigation.

To build the benchmark, researchers drew on 120 curated vulnerabilities spanning 40 smart contract audits, with many weaknesses traced back to open-source audit challenges. OpenAI argues the benchmark will help track AI progress in recognizing and mitigating contract-level weaknesses at scale, offering a standardized way to compare future AI models as they evolve. The study also provides a lens into how AI might be applied to normalizing risk assessment across a wide range of smart-contract architectures, rather than focusing solely on isolated cases.

Smart contracts weren’t built for humans: Dragonfly

In a contemporaneous thread on X, Haseeb Qureshi, a partner at Dragonfly, argued that crypto’s promise of replacing property rights and traditional contracts never materialized not because the technology failed, but because it was never designed with human intuition in mind. He has highlighted the persistent fear associated with signing large transactions in an environment where drainer wallets and other attack vectors remain a constant threat, in stark contrast to the comparatively smoother experience of traditional bank transfers.

Qureshi contends that the next phase of crypto transactions could be enabled by AI-intermediated, self-driving wallets. Such wallets would monitor risk, manage complex operations, and autonomously respond to threats on behalf of users, potentially reducing the friction and fear that characterize large transfers today.

“A technology often snaps into place once its complement finally arrives. GPS had to wait for the smartphone, TCP/IP had to wait for the browser. For crypto, we might just have found it in AI agents.”

The broader takeaway from this thread is that AI agents may play a critical role in transforming how people interact with crypto—shifting from manual, error-prone transactions to automated, risk-aware processes that can scale with adoption. As AI agents begin to demonstrate more competence in handling security concerns, users could see improved reliability and resilience in decentralized finance workflows, even as the underlying technologies continue to mature.

What to watch next

• Publication and independent replication of the full EVMbench dataset across additional AI models and architectures.
• Broader adoption of AI-assisted auditing workflows by auditors, exchanges, and DeFi projects looking to bolster security postures.
• Explorations into agentic wallets and autonomous payment flows, including regulatory and compliance considerations for AI-managed assets.
• Follow-up benchmarks comparing more AI systems as new versions roll out, tracking improvements in detection accuracy and patching speed.

Sources & verification

• OpenAI: EVMbench: Evaluating AI Agents on Smart Contract Security — PDF: https://cdn.openai.com/evmbench/evmbench.pdf
• OpenAI: Introducing EVMbench — https://openai.com/index/introducing-evmbench/
• Crypto security losses in 2025 (reporting coverage): https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-3-4-billion-losses-2025-wallet-hacks
• Dragonfly: Haseeb Qureshi on AI and crypto UX (X post): https://x.com/hosseeb/status/2024136762424185208
• China’s AI lead and crypto implications (analysis): https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-ai-lead-future
• AI Eye — IronClaw and AI bot developments in Polymarket coverage: https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/ironclaw-secure-private-sounds-cooler-openclaw-ai-eye/

Key figures and next steps

The EVMbench study demonstrates that large language models and related AI agents are beginning to perform meaningful security work in the smart contract space, with clearly quantifiable differences across models. Claude Opus 4.6’s lead in average detect awards signals that certain architectures may be more adept at spotting and mitigating vulnerabilities within complex contract logic, while others trail, offering a spectrum of capabilities that researchers will likely want to refine. The inclusion of multiple industry partnerships in the project underscores the growing consensus that AI-enabled security and automated risk management could become essential to scale in decentralized environments.

As the field evolves, observers will be watching for how quickly AI agents can transition from detection to remediation, and whether these agents can operate reliably in live systems without introducing new risks. The conversation about AI-driven wallets and autonomous payments touches on a broader set of questions around security governance, user consent, and regulatory alignment. If the trajectory suggested by OpenAI and its partners continues, AI-assisted tools could become a core component of future crypto infrastructure, changing both the risk calculus and the user experience in meaningful ways. The next round of benchmarks, alongside real-world deployments, will help determine how quickly this vision materializes and what safeguards must accompany it.

The launch of the new Sui-focused exchange-traded product marks another step in institutional crypto expansion. Asset manager Grayscale Investments will begin trading its Sui Staking ETF today, offering investors regulated exposure to SUI along with staking rewards.

Grayscale’s Sui staking ETF debuts with institutional backing

This product emerged from Grayscale’s amended SEC filings, where the firm outlined plans to convert its existing Sui Trust into a fully regulated exchange-listed ETF that holds SUI tokens directly and reflects their market value.

The trust was originally formed as a Delaware Statutory Trust and now transitions into an ETF structure while retaining its focus on the Sui ecosystem.

The ETF is designed to track the price of SUI while also capturing any staking rewards that may be earned through eligible staking activities on the Sui blockchain. The structure aims to reduce the challenges of direct token custody by using institutional custodians and service providers.

Technical signals show weak momentum despite stabilization

Despite the positive headline, SUI’s price action remains cautious. On the daily chart, SUI is trading near $0.97 after a prolonged pullback from early January highs near $1.90. The broader structure shows a clear downtrend, with lower highs and lower lows dominating over the past six weeks.

The 50-day simple moving average sits at approximately $1.39 and continues to slope downward. Price remains well below this level, confirming that bearish momentum has not fully reversed.

Any sustained recovery would first need to reclaim the psychological $1.00 level and then break above $1.05, which has acted as short-term resistance during the recent consolidation.

On the downside, immediate support rests near $0.90. Below that, the early February swing low around $0.85 is the key level to watch. A break under $0.85 would likely open the door to deeper losses.

The Chaikin Money Flow indicator is currently around -0.02. This reflects slightly negative capital flows but shows improvement from the sharp outflows seen earlier this month. The gradual move toward the zero line suggests selling pressure is easing, though not yet replaced by strong accumulation.

If ETF-driven optimism attracts fresh inflows, SUI could attempt a move toward $1.20 in the coming weeks. However, confirmation requires stronger volume and a decisive break above short-term resistance.

Ethereum has crossed a symbolic threshold, with more than half the total ether (ETH) issued now held in its proof-of-stake (PoS) contract for the first time in the network’s 11-year history, Santiment said in a post on X that has been met with criticism.

The onchain analytics firm on Tuesday said that 50.18% of all ETH issued historically is now sitting in the staking deposit contract. The figure reflects cumulative ETH that has flowed into the contract since staking was introduced ahead of the network’s 2022 transition from proof-of-work to PoS.

According to CoinDesk data, the total supply of ether is 120.69 million tokens. Bitmine, the world’s largest ether-focused treasury firm, has 4.29 million ETH, of which 2.9 million is staked. According to Arkham data, the largest holder is the Eth2 Beacon Deposit Contract with 77.1 million or over 60% of the total supply. It holds the most because it serves as the central, mandatory gateway for staking to secure the blockchain. Beacon is followed by Binance with 4.1 million ETH, BlackRock with 3.4 million and Coinbase with 2.9 million.

While the tokens are staked, they cannot be transferred or traded. Withdrawals have been enabled since the Shanghai upgrade in 2023, allowing validators to exit and return ETH to circulation.

That distinction prompted some analysts to caution against interpreting the 50% figure as a permanent supply lock.

‘Inaccurate and materially misleading’

“The post is inaccurate, or at least materially misleading,” Luke Nolan, senior research associate at CoinShares, told CoinDesk. “It references the one-way deposit contract used for ETH staking, but does not account for withdrawals. While ETH is sent into that contract when validators stake, it is not a permanent sink.”

Since withdrawals were enabled, ETH can exit the validator set and re-enter circulation, meaning that looking at the deposit contract balance alone can overstate the amount effectively staked, Nolan said.

“There is also an important nuance around the numbers being cited,” he added. “It is not correct to suggest that over 80 million ETH are currently staked. Roughly 80 million ETH have passed through the staking contract historically, but the amount actively staked today is closer to 37 million ETH, which is around 30% of the current circulating supply. That distinction materially changes the narrative.”

Aleksandr Vat, BizDev at Ethplorer.io, agreed with Nolan and provided CoinDesk with supporting data reinforcing that distinction.

The Beacon deposit contract balance on the Etherscan tracker, currently around 80.97 million ETH, reflects cumulative deposits since launch and does not decrease when validators exit. Withdrawals are processed by minting ETH back to execution-layer addresses rather than subtracting from the deposit contract itself, Vat said.

According to active staking metrics, approximately 37,253,430 ETH are presently staked, based on data from Ethplorer and CryptoQuant, implying that staking represents 30.8% of the total supply.

Santiment’s 50% figure appears to compare the cumulative Beacon contract balance to historically issued supply prior to EIP-1559 burns, Vat said. While that may be mathematically consistent depending on the denominator used, it does not represent the amount of ETH currently locked or removed from circulation, he noted.

Ethereum matures into ‘digital bond’

Even so, the milestone highlights how central staking has become to Ethereum’s economic design, Vineet Budki, partner and CEO at Sigma Capital, told CoinDesk. As participation rises, a larger share of ETH earns yield through validator rewards, reinforcing its positioning as a yield-bearing crypto asset, he said, adding he sees the development as evidence of Ethereum’s maturation into what he called a “digital bond.”

“Ethereum’s milestone of 50% staked supply marks its evolution into a digital bond, where the network’s security is fueled by long-term conviction rather than short-term speculation,” Budki said. “By locking half the total issuance in a one-way vault, the protocol has engineered a structural supply crunch.”

Budki also pointed to accelerating network activity, including a 125% year-over-year increase in daily transactions, a doubling of daily active addresses and an increase in tokenized real-world assets, much of it occurring on layer-2 networks that settle back to Ethereum’s base layer.

Nolan noted, however, that recent validator growth has been concentrated among large participants.

“A significant portion of recent validator entries has been driven by large entities such as Bitmine and U.S.-listed ETFs, which have taken up a notable share of the entry queue,” he noted.

With staking levels continuing to climb, the debate shows just how Ethereum’s supply metrics, and how they are presented, can significantly shape market narratives, Budki concluded.

Key insights:

• GSUI ETF approved via SEC 8-A filing, begins NYSE Arca trading on February 18 with staking-based yield exposure.
• Fund charges 0.35% fee but waives it for 3 months or until $1B AUM threshold is reached.
• SUI rose by 7% after the announcement; derivatives data shows mixed sentiment despite growing institutional interest.

Grayscale Investments’ Sui Staking ETF will start trading on NYSE Arca on February 18 under the ticker GSUI after the 8-A filing became automatically effective with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Grayscale’s 8-A Filing for Sui Staking ETF. Source: U.S. SEC

The listing gives investors regulated exposure to the SUI token and staking rewards without directly holding crypto assets, marking a significant expansion of exchange-traded products tied to alternative Layer-1 blockchains.

GSUI ETF Framework, Fees, and Key Institutional Participants

The management fee on the fund is 0.35%. Grayscale Investments Sponsors LLC has foregone the entire fee for up to 3 months or until assets under management reach $1 billion. The ETF aims to generate yield by staking SUI tokens deposited in the trust.

The key market participants include Jane Street Capital and Virtu Americas, which act as authorized participants, while JSCT, Virtu Financial Singapore, Galaxy Digital Trading Cayman, and Flowdesk will provide liquidity. Additionally, the Bank of New York Mellon serves as transfer agent and administrator, while Coinbase functions as the prime broker, and Coinbase Custody Trust Company holds the assets.

The product was previously available on OTCQX in 2025. Moving to NYSE Arca broadens access for traditional investors who want blockchain exposure without managing wallets or private keys.

SUI Market Reaction and Price Movement

SUI rose about 7% after news of the ETF surfaced, but later traded at $0.968, down 0.88% on the day. The 24-hour range stood between $0.954 and $0.987, while trading volume fell roughly 22% amid wider crypto-market uncertainty ahead of macroeconomic data, including the Federal Reserve’s FOMC minutes.

Derivatives data showed mixed sentiment. Total SUI futures open interest rose about 1% to $509 million, though short-term positions fluctuated across exchanges. In a post on X, analyst Ali suggested a potential 15% rally toward $1.16 based on a technical breakout pattern.

$SUI is breaking out of an Adam & Eve pattern, opening the door to a 15% rally toward $1.16. pic.twitter.com/2qtjppCzxw

— Ali Charts (@alicharts) February 14, 2026

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GSUI Launch Signals Expansion of Staking-Based Crypto ETFs

GSUI ETF enables investors to receive staking rewards in a regulated environment, blending conventional finance with blockchain yield systems. The launch also increases institutional visibility for the Sui network, a Layer-1 blockchain designed to support high-throughput Web3 apps.

Grayscale entering into staking-based exchange-traded products is an indication of a wider trend in diversified crypto ETFs that are no longer limited to Bitcoin and Ethereum. With more adoption, analysts believe that there will be better liquidity and involvement in smaller ecosystems of digital assets.

What happens next?

GSUI will begin trading on NYSE Arca, with market participants watching early inflows and their impact on SUI liquidity and price dynamics. This indicates an expanding competition in the wider crypto ETF market.

TLDR:

• Polygon Labs acquired Sequence to eliminate wallet fragmentation blocking institutional stablecoin payment adoption at scale. 
• Sequence Smart Sessions sandbox app-level permissions, reducing signature prompts while preserving non-custodial wallet security controls. 
• Timed recovery keys in Sequence prevent silent account takeovers, meeting enterprise security standards for production payment systems. 
• Polygon’s low fees and fast finality make Sequence’s cross-chain smart wallet features viable for real-world payment infrastructure.

Polygon Labs has acquired Sequence, a non-custodial smart wallet provider built for ecosystems and apps. The move brings together enterprise-grade wallet infrastructure and high-efficiency blockchain rails.

Together, the two aim to remove long-standing blockers preventing institutions from launching production-ready stablecoin payment products.

The combination addresses key pain points around authentication, recovery, permissions, and compliance controls that have slowed adoption in real-world payment environments.

Wallet Fragmentation Has Long Blocked Production Payment Systems

Account fragmentation remains one of the most persistent problems for payments teams building on blockchain. Users often end up with multiple wallet addresses depending on which app they used to sign in, leading to stranded balances and inconsistent account states. This creates operational complexity that few enterprise teams can manage at scale.

Traditional wallets were designed for asset custody, not operational money movement. A single private key controlling all permissions creates an all-or-nothing authority model.

Any move to delegate access or automate transactions increases risk without clear boundaries, making compliance reviews difficult.

Recovery presents an equally serious problem. Simple recovery paths open the door to silent takeovers. Stronger recovery processes introduce friction that leads to failed transactions and increased support costs. Neither option suits a production payment environment.

Polygon recently shared how this acquisition changes the equation for institutions: “With the recent acquisition of Sequence by Polygon Labs, there’s now a robust, enterprise-grade wallet offering, in conjunction with widely-adopted, highly-efficient blockchain rails.”

Operations teams also struggle to reason about fund controls. Without a clear model for who can move money, under what conditions, and for how long, compliance teams cannot complete proper security reviews or respond effectively to incidents.

Sequence Brings Smart Sessions and Sandboxed Permissions to Polygon

Sequence addresses these problems through a set of features designed specifically for payment-grade environments.

Smart Sessions allow each app to operate within sandboxed, clearly defined permissions rather than broad approvals. Users set session limits upfront, reducing signature prompts without sacrificing control.

Timed recovery keys add another layer of security. They provide time-based recovery mechanisms that prevent silent account takeovers, a critical requirement for any financial application handling real funds.

Hardware-isolated signing and verifiable attestations meet the expectations of enterprise security teams.

For developers, Sequence provides SDKs across Web, Mobile, Unity, and Unreal, with built-in flows for authentication, session management, and transaction handling.

Ecosystems can launch branded wallets on their own domains with admin controls for chains, branding, and session policies.

Polygon’s role in this setup is to provide fast finality and low, predictable transaction costs. That reliability makes features like Smart Sessions and cross-chain behavior viable at scale.

Together, Sequence and Polygon aim to turn wallet infrastructure from a blocker into a production-ready foundation for stablecoin payment products.

TLDR

• Bitcoin whale holdings have increased by 3.4% over the past two months, reaching 3.1 million BTC.
• The surge in whale accumulation follows a sharp 7% drop in Bitcoin’s price before December 2025.
• Darkfrost notes that whale buying behavior typically occurs during market corrections, signaling future recovery.
• Despite a 46% decline from Bitcoin’s all-time high, whales view the current price as a favorable accumulation zone.
• Bitcoin faces continued selling pressure, with price fluctuations remaining between $66,615 and $68,434.

Bitcoin whales are increasing their holdings of the cryptocurrency, as price fluctuations continue. Data from CryptoQuant Analyst Darkfrost shows that whale Bitcoin accumulations have risen by 3.4% over the past two months. This uptick, following a significant drop in November 2025, suggests that large investors are taking advantage of current price levels. At present, Bitcoin’s price remains volatile, but whale activity indicates a strong belief in future growth.

Bitcoin Whale Accumulations Show Growth

Whale holdings of Bitcoin have seen a steady increase since mid-December 2025. According to CryptoQuant Analyst Darkfrost, these accumulations have gone up by 3.4%. The total amount of Bitcoin in whale wallets has reached 3.1 million BTC, a rise from 2.9 million BTC. Despite the volatile market conditions, Bitcoin whales are clearly acting on these price fluctuations.

The trend marks a significant rebound after a sharp decline in Bitcoin’s price. Prior to December, Bitcoin saw a 7% drop, leading to a temporary halt in whale accumulation. The increase in whale Bitcoin holdings now reflects a more confident outlook. Darkfrost notes that this behavior is usually seen during market corrections and that whales tend to accumulate when prices are lower.

The last recorded whale accumulation occurred in April 2025. At that time, the market had experienced a large correction, with Bitcoin’s price falling below $80,000. However, this accumulation helped fuel a recovery, pushing Bitcoin’s price from $76,000 to an all-time high above $126,000. The return of buying activity now, even with Bitcoin still down by 46% from its ATH, signals that whales see this as a favorable accumulation zone.

Darkfrost argues that Bitcoin price is currently undervalued, which has led to increased buying pressure from whales. He believes that these investors are positioning themselves for future gains once market conditions improve. However, he also pointed out that, despite the growing demand, market forces are still influencing prices in the short term.

Bitcoin Faces Continued Sell-Off Pressure

Despite the increased whale activity, Bitcoin continues to face selling pressure. Darkfrost highlighted that while demand for Bitcoin remains strong, sell-offs are still affecting the market. Bitcoin’s price has been fluctuating between $66,615 and $68,434 over the past 24 hours, indicating ongoing uncertainty. As the market consolidates, traders are keeping a close eye on the broader trend.

In the midst of this, firms like Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc are continuing to show support for Bitcoin. While some experts point to a crypto winter, Saylor remains confident in Bitcoin’s long-term potential. The firm’s continued interest in Bitcoin reinforces the belief that the cryptocurrency will eventually overcome current price challenges.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s price was $67,469.58, reflecting a 0.44% drop in the last 24 hours. As the market remains volatile, it remains to be seen whether whale accumulation will continue to drive Bitcoin’s price upward.

Base, the Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain solution developed by Coinbase, is making a significant strategic shift by moving away from reliance on Optimism’s OP Stack.

Optimism’s OP token plunged 7% following the news.

Initially built on Optimism’s OP Stack, Base has decided to transition to its own codebase to gain greater control over its infrastructure and streamline upgrades. This move is expected to double the pace of its major upgrades to approximately six per year.

According to a blog post, the protocol will consolidate upgrades and changes internally, while continuing to collaborate with Optimism as an OP Enterprise client for support during the transition.

Optimism’s OP Stack is widely used by Layer 2 solutions, and Base’s transition might prompt similar moves by other industry players. Base is the largest Layer 2 by total value locked, with nearly $3.9 billion, according to DeFiLlama.

This article was generated with the assistance of AI workflows.

COIN gained in post‑Q4 earnings as 2025 volume jumped 156% despite Wall St skepticism.

Coinbase Global Inc. Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong has attributed Wall Street’s skepticism of the cryptocurrency exchange to a broader pattern of industries resisting disruptive technologies, according to statements the executive shared on social media following an analyst session.

Coinbase total volume continues to tip upward

Armstrong responded to questions about why traditional financial institutions continue to misunderstand Coinbase’s business model, comparing crypto skeptics to historical examples of incumbent industries dismissing new competitors. The CEO referenced the comparison between legacy taxi services and ride-sharing platforms as an analogy for the current dynamic between traditional finance and cryptocurrency firms.

According to Armstrong’s statements, five of the globally systemically important banks (GSIBs) have initiated partnerships with Coinbase, and approximately 50% of major financial institutions are actively engaging with cryptocurrency services. The remaining institutions have been slower to adopt the technology, Armstrong said.

The company reported total trading volume growth of 156% year over year in its fourth quarter and full-year earnings report. Coinbase’s crypto trading market share doubled in 2025, and assets on the platform have tripled over the past three years, according to the company’s financial disclosures.

Armstrong highlighted that Coinbase’s GAAP net income includes unrealized gains and losses on cryptocurrency holdings, suggesting investors examine adjusted net income metrics instead. By that measure, the company remained profitable in the most recent quarter despite market headwinds, the CEO stated.

The cryptocurrency exchange now operates 12 products each generating over $100 million in annualized revenue, according to Armstrong. Both USDC, a stablecoin product, and Coinbase One, a subscription service, reached all-time highs. Armstrong characterized this diversification as evidence the company has reduced its dependence on trading fee revenue.

The CEO told investors to evaluate companies based on stated objectives and execution results, noting Coinbase has delivered consistent financial performance for three consecutive years. Armstrong cited improving regulatory clarity as a favorable factor for the industry’s growth, along with increasing participation from governments, institutions, and retail investors.

Armstrong concluded that Coinbase remains well-positioned to benefit from ongoing transformation in the financial system, describing the company as underestimated by market consensus. The executive suggested this gap between market perception and company performance represents an opportunity for investors.

Wallet infrastructure firm Kresus Labs has raised approximately 18 billion won ($13 million) in investment from Hanwha Investment & Securities, one of South Korea’s largest financial institutions.

The investment follows a memorandum of understanding signed in December at Abu Dhabi Finance Week and is aimed at expanding Kresus’ enterprise digital wallet infrastructure, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platforms and onchain financial workflows.

The wallet and blockchain infrastructure firm develops digital asset tools for both consumers and institutions, including “seedless” wallet recovery technology and multi-party computation (MPC)-based security systems.

Seedless recovery refers to the means of restoring access to a digital asset stored in a wallet without having to use the traditional stream of 12-24 random words, which could prove a barrier to entry for some.

Kresus also operates wallet infrastructure and tokenization platforms designed to meet institutional compliance and operational requirements.

Hanwha plans to use Kresus’ technology to enhance its client-facing digital asset services and to develop tokenized versions of traditional financial products. For established financial firms, wallet security and compliant tokenization frameworks remain key barriers to deeper engagement with blockchain-based markets.

The raise underscores how capital continues to flow into infrastructure providers even when broader crypto markets are volatile. Rather than backing speculative tokens, institutions are increasingly targeting custody, security and tokenization layers that can plug into existing financial systems.

A relatively unknown crypto trader gained $7 million from shorting ETH while major investors suffered huge losses.

An anonymous trader known only as 0x58bro has accumulated $7 million in unrealized profits by shorting Ethereum (ETH) and a handful of other cryptocurrencies, according to data from on-chain intelligence platform Arkham.

What’s noteworthy about their success is that it has come at a time when several high-profile crypto personalities have suffered eight-figure losses betting on price increases.

The Quiet Whale Swimming Against the Current

Despite holding a portfolio valued at just under $13 million, 0x58bro maintains a minimal social media presence with just 1,300 followers on X. Arkham’s analysis shows the trader has generated the bulk of his profits from two positions: a $3.7 million gain shorting ETH and $1.45 million from shorting ENA, the governance token of Ethena Labs.

The trader’s wallet composition also revealed a strategic approach to the current market volatility. They hold over $7.5 million in Aave’s interest-bearing ETH token (aETHWETH) and $5 million in Aave’s USDC deposit token (aETHUSDC), suggesting they have positioned capital to earn yield while maintaining the flexibility to deploy it against further downside.

A smaller position of 10 million HANA tokens, currently worth close to $353,000, represents their only significant long exposure.

The timing of these short positions has proven critical, with Ethereum struggling to maintain momentum in recent weeks and prices hovering around the $2,000 psychological support level.

Market Backdrop Shows Leverage Risks and Speculation Cycles

While 0x58bro is profiting from market declines, other traders have faced catastrophic losses attempting to catch a falling knife. On-chain data shows that Machi Big Brother, a well-known crypto personality once worth nearly nine figures, has seen his Hyperliquid account value fall below $1 million. To meet margin calls on his long positions, he was forced to tap into PleasrDAO treasury funds deposited five years ago, with his total losses now standing at $28 million.

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The contrast extends to institutional players as well. For instance, Trend Research, the trading firm led by Liquid Capital founder Jack Yi, fully exited its Ethereum positions last week after accumulating about $1.34 billion in ETH at an average entry of $3,180. The exit locked in losses of approximately $869 million, according to Arkham data, coming just days after Yi publicly predicted ETH would reach $10,000.

While Trend Research was forced to unwind what was once Asia’s largest ETH long position, on-chain data from CryptoQuant shows that wallets with no history of outflows holding at least 100 ETH, known as “accumulation addresses,” are still buying through the downturn. These addresses now hold around 23% of Ethereum’s circulating supply and have maintained their accumulation even when prices were trading below their average cost basis.

Whether 0x58bro will maintain his short positions or join the accumulating addresses betting on a rebound remains unknown. But for now, the trader with 1,300 followers has outperformed an industry of influencers with millions watching their every move.