South Korea’s Bithum admitted Wednesday that severe flaws left the trading platform’s internal system wide open to potential sabotage and that it failed to prevent the mistaken transfer of $40 billion in bitcoin to customers, according to Reuters.

The blunder, which triggered the price of bitcoin to plunge by 17% on Bithumb, according to Reuters, consisted of the country’s second-largest crypto trading platform accidentally giving away 620,000 bitcoins to customers instead of just 620,000 won (roughly $428).

The Financial Supervisory Service said Sunday it will start investigations into “high-risk” practices that undermine market order, including large-scale price manipulation by so-called whales, trading schemes tied to suspended deposits and withdrawals and coordinated pump tactics fueled by social media misinformation. The watchdog also said it plans to build tools that automatically extract suspicious trading patterns at the second and minute levels, alongside text-analysis systems using artificial intelligence to flag potential market abuse.

Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won said the giveaway amounted to 15 times the crypto trading platform’s 42,000 bitcoins, mainly due to a 24-hour lag in processing transactions and delayed updates to its crypto holdings balance. “We are acutely aware of the deficiency in internal system control,” Lee told a parliamentary committee hearing recently.

The CEO admitted that Bithum’s policy of ensuring the volume of assets to be transferred matched its actual holdings failed, and that the amount was not earmarked in a separate account to ensure the transfer’s safety.

The exchange has recovered most of the bitcoin, although 1,786 that were sold within minutes before the exchange froze customers’ accounts are still missing, the Reuters report added. The customers who sold those missing bitcoin are legally bound to return them.

Members of parliament expressed dismay at the lack of government and corporate oversight in the country’s virtual assets market, which is one of the most active in the world by trading volume. According to a recent report, cryptocurrency has become a primary investment asset in South Korea, with investor numbers rising to 10 million and exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb generating revenues in the trillions of won.

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 1909.89, down 2.5% (-49.09) since 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

None of the 20 assets are trading higher.

Leaders: BCH (-0.5%) and UNI (-1.2%).

Laggards: APT (-4.1%) and BNB (-3.7%).

The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.

TLDR:

• Banks presented written prohibition principles limiting crypto’s ability to offer stablecoin rewards 
• Crypto industry demands broad definitions of permissible activities allowing competitive yields 
• Both sides described talks as productive but failed to reach compromise before March 1 deadline 
• Permissible account activities remain the main battleground between traditional and digital finance 

Crypto firms and banking institutions met for a second round of White House yield talks focused on stablecoin rewards. The session revealed clear battle lines between traditional finance and digital asset companies.

Banks arrived with written demands limiting crypto’s ability to offer yield products. Crypto representatives pushed for broader definitions, allowing competitive rewards programs.

No final agreement emerged despite productive negotiations between the opposing sides.

Banks Draw Red Lines on Stablecoin Rewards

Banking institutions presented formal “prohibition principles” at the White House meeting. The document outlined strict boundaries for stablecoin yield offerings.

Traditional banks view crypto rewards as direct threats to their deposit business. The written framework represents their minimum acceptable terms for any compromise.

Eleanor Terrett shared details from sources present during the negotiations. Banks initially refused to discuss any exemptions for transaction-based rewards.

The current proposal shows slight movement with language about “any proposed exemption.” This shift suggests banks recognize some flexibility may be necessary.

Major financial institutions coordinated their position through trade associations. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo participated in the talks.

Citigroup, PNC Bank, and US Bank also sent representatives. The Bank Policy Institute, American Bankers Association, and Independent Community Bankers of America joined the session.

Banking executives worry about losing customers to higher-yielding crypto products. They seek regulatory protections against what they consider unfair competition.

The prohibition principles aim to limit crypto’s advantages in the marketplace. Traditional finance wants clear rules preventing customer migration to digital platforms.

Crypto Industry Demands a Level Playing Field

Crypto representatives arrived with different objectives for the White House yield talks. Paul Grewal from Coinbase led arguments for broad permissible activity definitions. Miles Jennings from a16z emphasized the need for innovation-friendly frameworks. Stuart Alderoty from Ripple stated that “compromise is in the air.”

The crypto delegation included Josh Rosner from Paxos and Summer Mersinger from the Blockchain Association. Ji Kim of the Crypto Council also participated in negotiations.

These representatives coordinated positions across the industry. They presented a united front against banking restrictions.

Crypto firms argue that stablecoin yields reflect legitimate market activities. They want freedom to offer competitive products without excessive limitations.

The industry seeks definitions of permissible activities that enable diverse business models. Narrow definitions would effectively eliminate their competitive advantages.

Digital asset companies view the negotiations as existential for their business models. Stablecoin yields attract customers and drive platform adoption.

Restrictive regulations could undermine their growth strategies. The crypto side pushed back against banking demands for tight constraints.

Permissible Activities Become Main Battleground

The core dispute centers on defining what account activities allow yield payments. Banks want narrow definitions that limit crypto’s competitive scope.

Crypto firms advocate for broad parameters enabling various rewards programs. This gap separates the two sides despite productive discussions.

Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the President’s Crypto Council, facilitated the session. Senate Banking Committee staff attended to observe the negotiations.

The smaller meeting size enabled more direct confrontation of disagreements. Both sides could address specific concerns without large group dynamics.

Banking representatives argued that certain activities should prohibit yield offerings. They want restrictions protecting traditional deposit relationships.

Crypto firms countered that market-based yields should remain available. The definitional debate reflects deeper philosophical differences about financial services.

Sources described intense but professional exchanges during the White House yield talks. Neither side yielded on core principles during the session.

However, both parties agreed to continue negotiations in coming days. The March 1st White House deadline adds pressure to reach consensus.

Path Forward Remains Uncertain

Both camps acknowledged progress despite failing to reach final agreement. Banks appreciated crypto’s willingness to discuss specific frameworks.

Crypto representatives noted banking flexibility on exemption language. Nevertheless, substantial gaps remain between the positions.

Additional meetings will occur before the end of February. The White House has urged both parties to finalize terms by March 1st.

Banking and crypto sources indicated ongoing communication channels. The reduced meeting format may continue for future sessions.

Traditional banks must balance protecting their business with appearing reasonable. Crypto firms need workable regulations allowing competitive products.

Each side faces pressure from stakeholders to defend their interests. The coming weeks will determine whether compromise proves possible.

BlackRock, the world-wide largest asset manager, on Wednesday said it will make shares of its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, BUIDL, tradable on Uniswap, marking the asset manager’s first step into decentralized finance (DeFi).

As part of the move, BlackRock also disclosed a strategic investment in Uniswap and purchased an undisclosed amount of UNI, Uniswap’s governance token, which surged 25% on the news, now trading at $4.11.

BUIDL, which launched in 2024, is the largest tokenized U.S. Treasury fund on the market with nearly $2.2 billion in total value locked, according to data from rwa.xyz. It’s a blockchain-based fund backed 100% by U.S. Treasury bills and cash, offering yield on-chain.

Its arrival on Uniswap — one of the largest decentralized exchanges — means investors can now trade the tokenized fund in a peer-to-peer setting without a traditional intermediary.

To make this work, BlackRock partnered with Uniswap Labs and Securitize, a firm that handles the regulatory and compliance legwork of tokenizing real-world assets. BUIDL shares will be available through UniswapX, a trading system that sources quotes from approved market makers and settles trades on the blockchain. All users must be pre-qualified and whitelisted through Securitize, which will facilitate the transactions.

“This collaboration with Uniswap Labs alongside Securitize is a notable step in the convergence of tokenized assets with decentralized finance,” Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s global head of digital assets, said in a statement. “The integration of BUIDL into UniswapX marks a major leap forward in the interoperability of tokenized USD yield funds with stablecoins.”

DeFi platforms like Uniswap allow users to trade assets, borrow, or earn yield without relying on centralized financial institutions. Instead, they run on smart contracts — self-executing code stored on public blockchains.

Uniswap, in particular, is the largest decentralized exchange on Ethereum ETH$1,950.42. It lets users swap tokens directly from their wallets, often within seconds. By enabling trading of BUIDL, Uniswap expands beyond crypto-native assets into the world of tokenized government bonds.

The integration allows qualified investors to swap BUIDL 24/7 with approved market makers using stablecoins.

EUR/USD started a decent upward move above 1.1880. USD/JPY declined below 155.00 and is currently consolidating losses.

Important Takeaways for EUR/USD and USD/JPY Analysis Today

· The Euro found support and started a recovery wave above the 1.1850 resistance zone.

· There is a connecting bullish trend line forming with support at 1.1890 on the hourly chart of EUR/USD at FXOpen.

· USD/JPY is trading in a bearish zone below 156.00 and 155.00.

· There is a short-term bearish trend line forming with resistance at 154.65 on the hourly chart at FXOpen.

EUR/USD Technical Analysis

On the hourly chart of EUR/USD at FXOpen, the pair started a fresh increase from 1.1765. The Euro climbed above 1.1800 and 1.1850 against the US Dollar.

The pair even settled above 1.1880 and the 50-hour simple moving average. Finally, it tested the 1.1930 resistance. A high is formed near 1.1928, and the pair is now consolidating gains above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the 1.1765 swing low to the 1.1928 high.

Immediate support is near a connecting bullish trend at 1.1890 and the 50-hour simple moving average. The next area of interest could be 1.1835.

The main breakdown zone on the EUR/USD chart sits near the 76.4% Fib retracement at 1.1805. If there is a downside break below 1.1805, the pair could drop toward 1.1765. Any more losses might send the pair toward the 1.1720 low.

On the upside, the pair is now facing resistance near 1.1930. The next hurdle is 1.1950. An upside break above 1.1950 could set the pace for another increase. In the stated case, the pair might rise toward 1.2000.

USD/JPY Technical Analysis

On the hourly chart of USD/JPY at FXOpen, the pair started a steady decline from well above 157.20. The US Dollar gained bearish momentum below 156.00 against the Japanese Yen.

The pair even settled below 155.00 and the 50-hour simple moving average. There was a spike below 154.50 and the pair traded as low as 153.34. It is now consolidating losses with a bearish angle. Immediate resistance on the USD/JPY chartis near the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the 157.65 swing high to the 153.34 low at 154.35.

There is also a short-term bearish trend line forming at 154.5. The first barrier for the bulls could be near the 38.2% Fib retracement at 155.00.

If there is a close above the 155.00 level and the hourly RSI moves above 50, the pair could rise toward 156.00. The next key area of interest is near 156.60, above which the pair could test 157.00 in the coming days.

On the downside, the first major support is near 153.35. The next key zone is near 152.50. If there is a close below 152.50, the pair could decline steadily. In the stated case, the pair might drop toward 150.00.

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This article represents the opinion of the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand only. It is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation with respect to products and services provided by the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand, nor is it to be considered financial advice.

Network News

ROBINHOOD UNVEILS BLOCKCHAIN: Robinhood debuted the public testnet for its Ethereum layer-2 blockchain with plans for broader introduction later this year as the brokerage app aims to move more trading activity onchain. The new network, called Robinhood Chain, is built on Arbitrum and is designed to support tokenized real-world assets, including equities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Developers will be able to publicly build on the network for the first time after six months of private testing, ahead of a future mainnet launch, the company announced at CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference. With the chain, Robinhood aims to allow users to trade 24/7 and self-custody their assets in Robinhood’s own crypto wallet. Users will also be able to bridge across different chains and into decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on Ethereum, the company said. The timing comes as Ethereum’s core roadmap shifts more attention back to the base layer. Certain upgrades have already lowered transaction costs, and further improvements are expected to continue easing congestion, a development that weakens the case for layer 2s as a pure scaling necessity. Robinhood’s approach suggests it is already operating under that assumption. “I think Vitalik [Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum] was always pretty clear on this, that L2s were not just here to scale Ethereum,” said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s senior vice president and general manager of crypto, in an interview. “For us, it was never really about scaling Ethereum or doing faster transactions.” — Margaux Nijkerk & Krisztian Sandor Read more.

CITADEL SECURITIES BACKS LAYERZERO BLOCKCHAIN: LayerZero Labs unveiled Zero, a 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. The size of the investments was not disclosed. The announcement signals a deeper push by traditional market infrastructure companies 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 largest stablecoin issuer, also made a strategic investment in LayerZero Labs, it said. 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. 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. — Will Canny Read more.

MEGAETH MAINNET GOES LIVE: MegaETH, a high-performance blockchain built to make Ethereum applications feel nearly instant, debuted its public mainnet, entering an ecosystem mired in a fundamental debate over how Ethereum should scale. The project, which had pitched itself as a layer-2 “real-time blockchain” targeting more than 100,000 transactions per second (tps), would make onchain interactions feel closer to traditional web apps than today’s crypto networks. Ethereum works at less than 30 tps, according to Token Terminal. The release caps a rapid rise that has drawn both technical curiosity and major financial backing. The project’s development arm, MegaLabs, raised a $20 million seed round in 2024 led by Dragonfly. Last October, it announced a $450 million oversubscribed token sale backed by some of the most recognizable names in crypto, including Ethereum co-founders Vitalik Buterin and Joe Lubin. The sale was one of the largest crypto fundraises of that year. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

ENS SCRAPS LAYER-2 PLANS: ENS decided not to move forward with Namechain, a planned layer-2 rollup, marking another high-profile shift away from the once-dominant narrative that Ethereum’s future would be built primarily on L2s. Instead of its own rollup, ENS will now deploy the long-awaited ENSv2 upgrade exclusively on the Ethereum mainnet, citing dramatically lower gas costs and a broader change in Ethereum’s scaling philosophy. According to ENS founder and lead developer Nick Johnson, the original rationale for launching a bespoke rollup no longer holds. “The landscape has changed between when we first decided to pursue an L2,” Johnson said in an interview with CoinDesk. Two years ago, high gas prices made rollups the “official trajectory,” but Ethereum’s base layer has since scaled to the point where transaction costs are sustainable. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

In Other News

• Kraken sacked its chief financial officer, Stephanie Lemmerman, just as the crypto exchange prepares to publicly list in the U.S. in the early part of this year, according to two people familiar with the matter. Lemmerman joined Kraken from Dapper Labs in November 2024 and was the exchange’s CFO for one year and four months. She now has a strategic advisory role at Kraken, one of the people said. Robert Moore, formerly VP of business expansion, has basically taken over her job, the person said. An updated leadership page on the website of Kraken’s parent company, Payward Inc., lists Moore as deputy CFO. Lemmerman does not appear. Clearly, it matters that Kraken removed its CFO after lodging a confidential filing with U.S. regulators in November. That came just days after Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation, including $200 million from Citadel Securities. — Ian Allison Read more.
• Jump Trading plans to take a small stake in each of the prediction-market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The trading powerhouse, which has a significant focus on cryptocurrency, will gain the stakes in exchange for providing liquidity on the two platforms. Jump is set to take a fixed amount of equity in Kalshi, while its stake in Polymarket will grow over time depending on the trading capacity that the firm provides to the platform’s U.S. operation. Jump expanded into prediction-market trading in recent months, recruiting 20 staffers for that business, according to Bloomberg. — Jamie Crawley Read more.

Regulatory and Policy

• President Donald Trump’s U.S. bitcoin reserve doesn’t exist yet, and there is no mechanism in the federal government for the wholesale purchase of crypto. Keep that in mind when considering this weekend’s speculation about the price point that would cause the White House to push a buy button, thanks in large part to CNBC’s Jim Cramer. There is no such button. The president did order a “strategic reserve” established to hold bitcoin, but that didn’t make it spring into existence. The Treasury Department and crypto advisers spent months auditing the federal holdings of crypto (though White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt told CoinDesk last week that they still won’t share a number). But the process hit a snag: The advocates said they need Congress to establish the stockpile under law. The crypto sector’s new U.S. law for stablecoin issuers didn’t include it, nor does the sweeping crypto market structure bill currently grinding through the U.S. Senate. Clearing legislation through this Congress — even less controversial matters — is a tall order, and industry lobbyists are focused on the bill to finally establish market and oversight regulations for digital assets. A reserve may not even be second on the list of priorities, because crypto tax rules also beckon. — Jesse Hamilton Read more.
• Cryptocurrency exchange and wallet provider Blockchain.com won regulatory approval in the U.K. nearly four years after seemingly giving up. Blockchain.com was added to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) registry of licensed crypto companies on Tuesday under its trading name “BC Operations.” The London-based company elected to withdraw its application for FCA licensing in March 2022, having not won approval ahead of an impending deadline. Blockchain.com pivoted to its registered business in Lithuania. Registration in the U.K. allows Blockchain.com to carry out certain crypto-related activities in the U.K. provided it complies with money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules. — Jamie Crawley Read more.

Calendar

• Feb. 10-12, 2026: Consensus, Hong Kong
• Feb. 17-21, 2026: EthDenver, Denver
• Feb. 23-24, 2026: NearCon, San Francisco
• Mar. 24-26, 2026: Digital Asset Summit, New York City
• Mar. 30-Apr. 2, 2026: EthCC, Cannes
• Apr.15-16, 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
• Apr. 29-30, 2026: Token2049, Dubai
• May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
• Sept. 29-Oct.1, 2026: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
• Oct. 7-8, 2026: Token2049, Singapore
• Nov. 3-6, 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
• Nov. 15-17, 2026: Solana Breakpoint, London

Just before the complete exit, Yi predicted ETH would reach $10,000, and BTC would surpass $200,000.

Trend Research, the trading firm led by Liquid Capital founder Jack Yi, has fully exited its Ethereum positions, closing out what was once Asia’s largest ETH long, according to on-chain monitoring platform Arkham.

At its peak, Trend Research held approximately $2.1 billion in leveraged Ethereum long positions, accumulated by borrowing stablecoins against ETH collateral.

Bullish Tweets, Brutal Exit

Arkham data revealed that the firm closed its final ETH position on Sunday. The exit resulted in a total realized loss of roughly $869 million. Interestingly, the complete exit followed several days of position reductions as Ether’s price declined toward the $1,750 level, which triggered stress across leveraged positions in the market.

Notably, Yi had publicly reiterated his bullish outlook just days before the firm fully exited its ETH exposure. In a post on X published four days prior to the final exit, Yi said Trend Research remained “bullish on the next major bull market,” and even predicted that ETH would go beyond $10,000 and Bitcoin above $200,000. He described the firm as having made “partial adjustments to manage risk.”

Yi also addressed broader market conditions in the post, and spoke about the lack of liquidity and alleged platform-driven manipulation. Despite these concerns, he maintained that the long-term trajectory of the crypto industry remained intact. He further asserted that current prices represented an attractive entry point for spot positions when viewed on a multi-year horizon, while acknowledging that extreme volatility has historically forced many bullish traders out of positions before subsequent rebounds.

Accumulation Trend During Market Stress

Amidst the market turmoil, Ethereum “accumulating addresses” – defined as wallets with no history of outflows, balances of at least 100 ETH, and no association with exchanges, miners, or smart contracts – currently hold 27 million ETH, according to CryptoQuant’s analysis. This figure represents approximately 23% of Ether’s circulating supply.

CryptoQuant also found that the altcoin has traded below the realized price of these accumulating addresses only twice in its history. The first time was when the market hit a low in 2025, while the second has been unfolding since January 2026. This means that accumulating addresses have continued to add to positions despite recent price declines and the forced unwinding of leveraged trades

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Data analytics firm Arkham Intelligence says it plans to pivot its crypto exchange spin-off to a fully decentralized model amid struggles to attract enough trading volume to compete with its multi-billion-dollar rivals. 

That’s according to a report by CoinDesk.

Arkham’s founder, Miguel Morel, told CoinDesk, that Arkham “is becoming a fully decentralized exchange rather than a centralized exchange,” adding, “The future of crypto trading is decentralized, and that’s what we’re building towards.”

Arkham launched its exchange in late 2024 with the aim of competing with the likes of Binance and other established crypto exchanges for retail interest. 

The exchange saw over $677 million in trading volume across February 2025, however, since then, it’s struggled to push daily trading volume beyond $22 million.

Read more: Arkham accused of misrepresenting Zcash data in viral post

Big-name exchanges such as Coinbase and Bybit, however, pull in billions of dollars worth of trading volume with Binance averaging tens of billions on most days. 

The Arkham token (ARKM) has fallen by 2.6% in the last 24 hours and is down 82.4% since it was launched in 2023. 

Arkham Exchange volume kept alive by airdrop

Users on X noted how many crypto traders were just using the exchange to farm one of its airdrops. One user said, “Season 1 paid out, fomo marketing did its job and now they are sunsetting the platform 😂.” 

Arkham claims to have previously given away over $20 million for the Season 1 airdrop. It then tied its Season 2 airdrop to the newly launched exchange and rewarded trading activity with points that can be redeemed for ARKM. 

It claimed that the Season 2 airdrop was still ongoing back in April 2025. It’s unclear what will happen to the points accrued by users. 

Read more: Arkham ‘deanonymizes blockchains,’ obscures its own ARKM token sales

Late last year, Arkham announced that its exchange was getting its own app and that it was partnering with MoonPay to expand on its fiat on and off-ramps.

Arkham offers users dashboards that are able to track the crypto holdings of various entities, from the likes of Donald Trump’s “Trump Media” to Ethereum treasury firms like Bitmine.

It was founded by Morel in 2020 and is backed by the likes of OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Binance Labs, Bedrock, and Draper Associates.

Protos has reached out to Arkham for comment and will update this piece should we hear back.

Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news and investigations, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Welcome to our institutional newsletter, Crypto Long & Short. This week:

• Haider Rafique of OKX shares a firm study on the generational perspectives of crypto investing
• Top headlines institutions should pay attention to by Francisco Rodrigues
• Sky defies 2026 downturn in Chart of the Week

-Alexandra Levis

Expert Insights

Gen Z Trusts Code Over Bank Promises

By Haider Rafique, global managing partner, OKX

It’s no secret that the banking industry is worried about crypto disruption.

After months of intense lobbying, the Senate Banking Committee postponed its markup of market structure legislation, due in part to banks’ stance on stablecoin yield.

But it might not matter, because banks have a much bigger crisis on their hands: they’re completely missing out on younger consumers based on the basic principle of trust.

Given the behaviors we’ve observed on the OKX app around the world, we decided to conduct a study to understand generational perspectives in our evolving industry.

The key insights paint a clear picture: Gen Z and millennial consumers are nearly 5x more trusting of crypto compared to their boomer counterparts. Additionally, one in five Gen Z and millennial consumers say they have low trust in traditional financial institutions, while nearly three quarters (74%) of baby boomers maintain high levels of trust in the old system.

The “why” behind all of this is much deeper than viral trends and memecoins. This is a generation raised on open‑source code and real‑time dashboards who now expect the same transparency from TradFi.

And now, as the world moves on-chain and everything gets tokenized, it’s clear that young people see the digital economy as their stock market.

TradFi isn’t theirs. It belongs to their parents and grandparents.

A generation shaped by institutional failure

A recent FINRA and CFA Institute report suggests a sizable share of Gen Z investors now lean heavily into crypto relative to other assets — a behavioral signal that younger Americans are willing to look outside traditional channels when they don’t believe they’re getting transparency or competitive returns. According to the study, nearly 20% of Gen Z investors only hold crypto.

For banks, this should be a wake‑up call that trust is no longer something institutions can declare but something they must demonstrate.

Boomers built their financial lives in an era when institutions were the safest option available. Regulation meant protection, and trust was something you extended first and questioned later.

Gen Z has lived through the opposite. They came of age during the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, entered adulthood with high student debt and now face a housing market millions of units short alongside ongoing inflation.

They’ve also lived through years of policy whiplash on student loans, shifting repayment rules and weakened borrower protections. These reversals reinforced a simple lesson that institutional promises can change overnight. When trust is repeatedly tested, skepticism becomes rational.

Banks aren’t losing Gen Z to crypto; they’re losing them to trust.

Control over promises

That skepticism is reshaping what influences trust for younger generations. For boomers, security means regulatory oversight and the perceived stability of legacy institutions.

Contrarily, Gen Z consistently ranks platform security above regulation as the top driver of trust. For Gen Z, security is more personal and technical with direct ownership of assets, the ability to verify how systems work and the freedom to move value without intermediaries.

It’s why both Gen Z and millennials are 4x more bullish on crypto in 2026 compared to boomers. They can see transactions on-chain, self‑custody, audit protocols and understand the rules without waiting for a quarterly statement or a regulator’s update.

Transparency is central to this shift. Boomers tend to equate trust with regulatory approval, but Gen Z equates trust with visibility. They want to understand how decisions are made, how risks are managed and how incentives are aligned. They want clarity on fees, yields and conflicts of interest, and systems that are open by default.

Traditional banks have historically struggled here. Their value proposition was built in an era when limited transparency was often treated as a feature. And now, when a generation is accustomed to real‑time dashboards and proof of reserves, the idea of waiting for a monthly statement feels absurd. Transparency has become a baseline requirement for credibility.

The future of finance

Banks should be asking themselves: why do younger customers trust transparency more than tradition? Younger Americans want the stability of regulated finance paired with the transparency and control of digital assets, and they want products that reflect how they already interact with technology and money. The institutions that understand this shift and build for it will define the future of finance. The ones that don’t will continue to watch as younger Americans look elsewhere.

Headlines of the Week

Francisco Rodrigues

Markets stumbled this past week and miner capitulation intensified. That led to the steepest decline for Bitcoin’s mining difficulty since 2021, while corporate accumulation of cryptocurrencies and other assets continued and Russia moved closer to formalize crypto-backed lending.

Chart of the Week

Sky defies 2026 downturn

Sky has decoupled from the 2026 market downturn, outperforming BTC, CD5, and the CD20 index by 45%, 50% and 57% respectively YTD. This resilience is anchored by a consistent business model: January revenue surged 1.5x YoY to $19 million, fueling $10.4 million in YTD buybacks ($8.5 million in Jan; $1.9 million last week) and driving a flight to quality that pushed the USDS (Sky’s stablecoin) market cap from $5.8 billion to $6.5 billion.

Listen. Read. Watch. Engage.

Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc., CoinDesk Indices or its owners and affiliates.

• MYX Finance price dropped more than 30% to under $4 amid mounting selling pressure.
• The Relative Strength Index (RSI) suggests oversold conditions, potentially sparking a relief bounce.
• Downside is, however, the path of least resistance amid a technical breakdown.

MYX Finance (MYX) price has declined by more than 30% in the past 24 hours, hitting fresh lows under $4.

The Sequoia and Consensus-backed decentralized liquidity protocol ranked as the biggest loser among the top 100 coins on Wednesday, with its dramatic downturn extending the rot since prices sharply dropped from highs of $6.9.

As of writing on February 11, 2026, the token’s price hovered at levels last seen in early January.

MYX Finance price falls 30% as sell-off intensifies

There were sharp declines across the broader cryptocurrency market on Wednesday as Bitcoin fell to under $66k again.

But while Arbitrum, Bittensor, World Liberty Financial, and Jupiter all slipped, MYX Finance’s 30% drop over the period was the sharpest.

The bleeding pushed the token below the critical $4 threshold, with a return to $3.88 marking the biggest drop since the 48% mauling on October 10, 2025.

Why is MYX Finance price down?

MYX is crashing amid massive selling pressure. According to CoinMarketCap data, the altcoin saw a nearly 120% spike in daily trading volume as prices plummeted.

As noted, the sell-off comes as the broader crypto market jitters push sentiment into extreme fear territory.

Bitcoin’s struggle to hold above $70k, with sharp declines to $65k in the past 24 hours, has exacerbated the downside action.

Spooked holders are now dumping the MYX accumulated during the token’s rally to above $6.9 last month.

The price capitulation now has MYX Finance’s total value locked (TVL) down to $27 million. DeFiLlama also shows protocol fees, a key revenue driver, are also sharply down as institutional interest wanes.

Open interest in MYX perpetual futures contracts has slipped to $26 million, compared to over $182 million in October 2025 and $59 million in early January.

Technical analysis: What next for MYX?

From a technical perspective, MYX Finance’s trajectory is largely bearish.

The token has decisively broken below a multi-week ascending channel pattern on the daily chart, with the technical formation having supported its uptrend to year-to-date highs.

This breakdown, which could be confirmed by a close under the channel’s lower boundary, signals strong downside continuation.

Other indicators allude to the potential for further erosion of bullish momentum.

RSI on the daily chart is decisively sloping into oversold territory, but it’s not there yet to suggest room for bears to manoeuvre.

MYX price is also below a key ascending trendline from Nov. 2025, with psychological support at $3.60. If sellers drive MYX under $3.00, the next major demand reload zone will be $1.85.

On the upside, any short-term rebound faces formidable resistance at the $6.90 zone. Before that, bulls have to negotiate the mild overhead supply clusters around $4.80.