Tether announced a $100 million strategic equity investment in Anchorage Digital today, Feb. 5. The move is aimed at bolstering secure and regulated financial infrastructure within the cryptocurrency industry, according to a press release from Tether today, Feb. 5.

Anchorage Digital, recognized as the first federally chartered crypto-focused bank in the United States, both fiat banking services as well as crypto custody, staking, and stablecoin issuance, primarily for institutional clients. The bank obtained its charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in 2021, marking a pivotal moment in the regulation of digital assets in the U.S.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, emphasized the strategic alignment between Tether and Anchorage. “Our investment in Anchorage Digital reflects a shared belief in the importance of secure, transparent, and resilient financial systems,” Ardoino said in a statement.

Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, echoed the sentiment, noting that “Tether’s investment is a strong validation of the infrastructure we’ve spent years building the hard way.”

Anchorage is the issuer of Tether’s recently launched dollar-backed stablecoin for U.S. markets, USAT, designed to comply with the GENIUS Act. Tether is the issuer of the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, USDT, which represents just over 60% of the sector.

This article was generated with the assistance of AI workflows.

[PRESS RELEASE – Dubai, UAE, February 4th, 2026]

BNB Chain today announced its support for ERC-8004, a new on-chain identity standard designed to give autonomous AI agents verifiable, portable identity across platforms. The development represents an important step toward an open and scalable agent economy, where software can operate independently with persistent reputation, accountability, and user control.

Autonomous agents are software programs capable of making decisions, coordinating with other services, and carrying out actions on behalf of users. As these agents become more capable, they will need to operate beyond single apps or centralized platforms. For that to be possible, agents require a reliable way to prove who they are.

Under ERC-8004, an agent is no longer confined to one application or forced to restart its reputation every time it enters a new environment. Instead, it can maintain persistent identity as it moves across platforms, enabling other agents, services, and users to verify its legitimacy and track its history over time.

To complement ERC-8004, the BNB Chain community introduces BAPs (BNB Application Proposals), a new standard for the application layer. Unlike BEPs, which govern core protocol changes, BAPs define how apps work and communicate – covering interfaces, wallet and identity conventions, token and NFT standards, and app-to-app interoperability.

The first BAP, BAP-578, launches the Non-Fungible Agent (NFA) standard, enabling AI agents to exist as onchain assets that can hold assets, execute logic, interact with protocols, and be bought, sold, or hired. This marks the first step toward an open, predictable, and interoperable Agent Economy on BNB Chain.

Users can explore how to start building with ERC-8004 and BAP-578 on BNB Chain in the developer documentation HERE.

About BNB Chain

BNB Chain is a community-driven blockchain ecosystem that is removing barriers to Web3 adoption. It is composed of:

• BNB Smart Chain (BSC): A secure DeFi hub with the lowest gas fees of any EVM-compatible L1; serves as the ecosystem’s governance chain.
• opBNB: A scalability L2 that delivers some of the lowest gas fees of any L2 and rapid processing speeds.
• BNB Greenfield: Meets decentralized storage needs for the ecosystem and lets users establish their own data marketplaces.

Launch signals strategic move to provide trading execution and market data services to fintech platforms.

San Salvador, El Salvador, February 5, 2026 – Bitget Wallet, the everyday finance app, has launched Bitget Wallet API, marking a strategic expansion into business-to-business infrastructure as more fintech firms and digital asset platforms look to offer onchain trading services at scale. The API allows partners to access trading execution, market data, and cross-chain asset transfers through a single integration, reducing the need for companies to build and maintain complex backend systems internally. 

The move reflects a broader shift toward fintech platforms relying on specialized infrastructure rather than building full technology stacks in-house. BCG estimates B2B fintech services will grow at a 32% annual rate to reach $285 billion in revenues by 2026, alongside rapid growth in Wallet-as-a-Service and embedded finance. At the same time, decentralized exchange trading hit a five-year high in January 2026, with more than $400 billion traded, highlighting DEXs’ growing role as a core source of market liquidity.

“Onchain trading is reaching a wider audience, but the underlying infrastructure is still fragmented and difficult to operate at scale,” said Alvin Kan, COO of Bitget Wallet. “By making the same systems that run our consumer wallet available to partners, we’re supporting companies that want to build professional trading products without taking on unnecessary operational complexity. This makes a step beyond being solely a user-facing wallet toward supporting the broader financial ecosystem.”

At the core of the API is Bitget Wallet’s proprietary DEX-based trade execution engine, which currently handles about 80% of all trades executed within Bitget Wallet. The Trading API aggregates liquidity from 80 decentralized trading protocols and supports trading across Ethereum, Solana, Base, Polygon, Arbitrum, Morph and BNB Chain. By using intelligent routing to compare quotes across venues and select execution paths, the system is designed to improve pricing consistency and reduce failed trades. Bitget Wallet said recent transaction success rates across major networks have remained in the mid-to-high 90% range, with the service operating under a 99.9% availability target.

To support reliable execution, the API includes Sentinel, an automated monitoring system that continuously reviews liquidity sources and removes unstable or abnormal pools before trades are placed. Transactions are also routed through MEV-protected nodes, which are designed to limit interference such as front-running during periods of market volatility. These measures are intended to address common operational challenges faced by trading platforms as transaction volumes increase.

In addition to execution, the Market API provides real-time pricing and activity data across 33 blockchains, covering millions of cryptocurrencies as well as more than 200 widely traded stocks through tokenized market data. The service includes address-level insights, such as activity linked to experienced market participants, alongside automated risk indicators that help flag unusual assets or trading patterns. The API suite also includes a Cross-chain API, which allows assets to be converted and transferred between blockchains in a single process, with built-in tracking that gives users and platforms visibility into transaction progress from start to finish.

Users can visit the Bitget Wallet website for more information.

About Bitget Wallet

Bitget Wallet is an everyday finance app designed to make crypto simple, secure, and usable in daily life. Serving more than 90 million users worldwide, it offers an all-in-one platform to send, spend, earn, and trade crypto and stablecoins through blockchain-based infrastructure. With global on- and off-ramps, the app enables faster and borderless onchain finance, supported by advanced security and a $700 million user protection fund. Bitget Wallet operates as a fully self-custodial wallet and does not hold or control user funds, private keys, or user data. Transactions are signed by users and executed on public blockchains.

For more information, visit: X | LinkedIn | Telegram | YouTube | TikTok | Discord | Facebook

Crypto treasury companies are under growing financial stress after Bitcoin and Ethereum fell nearly 30% in a week, wiping out an estimated $25 billion in unrealized value across digital asset balance sheets.

Data tracking public crypto treasury firms shows that none currently hold assets above their average cost basis. The sharp drawdown has pushed most treasury strategies into loss territory at the same time, raising concerns about liquidity, financing, and long-term viability.

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Losses Spread Across the Entire Digital Asset Treasury Sector

The sell-off hit treasury-heavy firms simultaneously. 

Large holders recorded the deepest paper losses, dragging cumulative unrealized P&L sharply negative. The losses are unrealized, but the scale matters because it weakens balance sheets and equity valuations.

As a result, the market has shifted from rewarding crypto accumulation to pricing survival risk.

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Market Premiums Have Collapsed

A key stress signal is the collapse in market net asset value (mNAV), which compares a company’s equity valuation to the value of its crypto holdings.

Several major treasury firms now trade below an mNAV of 1, meaning the market values their equity at a discount to the assets they hold. This eliminates the ability to raise capital efficiently through equity issuance without dilution.

MicroStrategy, one of the largest corporate Bitcoin holders, trades below its asset value despite holding tens of billions of dollars in crypto. 

That discount limits its flexibility to fund further purchases or refinance cheaply.

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Liquidity Drives Bankruptcy Risk

Unrealized losses alone do not cause bankruptcy. The risk rises when falling asset prices collide with leverage, debt maturities, or ongoing cash burn.

Mining firms and treasury vehicles that rely on external financing face the highest exposure. If crypto prices remain depressed, lenders may tighten terms, equity markets may stay closed, and refinancing options could narrow.

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This creates a feedback loop. Lower prices reduce equity value, which limits capital access and increases pressure on balance sheets.

A Stress Phase, Not a Collapse

The current drawdown reflects forced deleveraging and tighter financial conditions rather than a failure of crypto assets themselves. 

However, if prices fail to recover and capital markets remain restrictive, stress could intensify.

For now, crypto treasury firms remain solvent. But the margin for error has narrowed sharply.

Key takeawys:

• Bitcoin fell below $63,000 as weak US job data and concerns over AI industry investments fueled investor risk aversion.

• Options markets show a 6% chance of Bitcoin returning to $90,000 by March.

Bitcoin (BTC) slid below $63,000 on Thursday, hitting its lowest level since November 2024. The 30% drop since the failed attempt to break $90,500 on Jan. 28 has left traders skeptical of any immediate bullish momentum. The current bearish sentiment is fueled by weak US job market data and rising concerns over massive capital expenditure within the artificial intelligence sector.

Regardless of whether Bitcoin’s slump was triggered by macroeconomic shifts, options traders are now pricing in just 6% odds of BTC reclaiming $90,000 by March.

On Deribit exchange, the right to buy Bitcoin at $90,000 on March 27 (a call option) traded at $522 on Thursday. This pricing suggests investors see little chance of a massive rally. According to the Black-Scholes model, these options reflect less than 6% odds of Bitcoin reaching $90,000 by late March. For context, the right to sell Bitcoin at $50,000 (a put option) for the same date traded at $1,380, implying a 20% probability of a deeper crash.

Quantum computing risks and forced liquidation fears drive Bitcoin selling

Market participants have reduced crypto exposure due to emerging quantum computing risks and fears of forced liquidations by companies that built Bitcoin reserves through debt and equity. In mid-January, Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, removed a 10% Bitcoin allocation from his model portfolio, citing the risk of quantum computers reverse-engineering private keys.

Strategy (MSTR US), the largest publicly listed company with onchain BTC reserves, recently saw its enterprise value dip to $53.3 billion, while its cost basis sat at $54.2 billion. Japan’s Metaplanet (MPJPY US) faced a similar gap, valued at $2.95 billion against a $3.78 billion acquisition cost. Investors are worried that a prolonged bear market might force these companies to sell their positions to cover debt obligations.

External factors likely contributed to the rise in risk aversion, and even silver, the second-largest tradable asset by market capitalization, suffered a 36% weekly price drop after reaching a $121.70 all-time high on Jan. 29. 

Bitcoin’s 27% weekly decline closely mirrors losses seen in several billion-dollar listed companies, including Thomson Reuters (TRI), PayPal (PYPL), Robinhood (HOOD) and Applovin (APP). 

US employers announced 108,435 layoffs in January, up 118% from the same period in 2025, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The surge marked the highest number of January layoffs since 2009, when the economy was nearing the end of its deepest downturn in 80 years.

Related: Next Bitcoin accumulation phase may hinge on credit stress timing–Data

Market sentiment had already weakened after Google (GOOG US) reported on Wednesday that capital expenditure in 2026 is expected to reach $180 billion, up from $91.5 billion in 2025. Shares of tech giant Qualcomm (QCOM US) fell 8% after the company issued weaker growth guidance, citing that supplier capacity has been redirected toward high-bandwidth memory for data centers.

Traders expect investments in artificial intelligence to take longer to pay off due to rising competition and production bottlenecks, including energy constraints and shortages of memory chips. 

Bitcoin’s slide to $62,300 on Thursday reflects uncertainty around economic growth and US employment, making a rebound toward $90,000 in the near term increasingly unlikely.