BlockFills, a Chicago-based crypto lender and liquidity provider, has temporarily halted client deposits and withdrawals.

The move comes as the crypto market continues to experience notable volatility, with asset prices trending lower.

Crypto Liquidity Provider BlockFills Stops Withdrawals and Deposits During Market Stress

BlockFills operates as a cryptocurrency solutions firm and digital asset liquidity provider. It serves approximately 2,000 institutional clients, including crypto-focused hedge funds and asset managers. In 2025, the firm handled $60 billion in trading volume.

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The company said in a statement posted on X that the suspension was implemented last week and remains in effect. According to BlockFills, the decision was made in light of “recent market and financial conditions” and is intended to “protect both clients and the firm.”

Despite the suspension of deposits and withdrawals, clients have continued to trade on the platform. BlockFills said users are still able to open and close positions in spot and derivatives markets, as well as select other circumstances.

The company also said management is working closely with investors and clients to resolve the situation and restore liquidity to the platform.

“The firm has also been in active dialogue with our clients throughout this process, including information sessions and an opportunity to ask questions of senior management. BlockFills is working tirelessly to bring this matter to a conclusion and will continue to regularly update our clients as developments warrant,” the statement read.

In the crypto industry, withdrawal freezes often trigger concern. The sector’s last severe downturn in 2022 saw several high-profile lenders, including Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager, FTX, and more, halt withdrawals before filing for bankruptcy.

Many of the crypto bankruptcies, such as those of FTX, BlockFi, and Three Arrows Capital, were interconnected, leading to a domino effect in the market. The events led to market destabilization and negatively impacted sentiment.

Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that temporary suspensions can also function as defensive measures during periods of intense market stress. At present, there is no publicly available evidence suggesting that BlockFills is insolvent.

Meanwhile, the suspension comes as some market participants warn of a renewed “crypto winter.” Since the start of the year, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization has declined by more than 22%.

Last Friday, Bitcoin fell to around $60,000, marking its lowest level since October 2024. The asset remains roughly 50% below its all-time high of approximately $126,000, recorded in October.

XRP Community Day has put Ripple’s token back in focus as traders look for catalysts amid a fragile market structure.

The community-led event highlights ecosystem updates, developer activity, and ongoing engagement around the XRP (XRP) Ledger. This could help refocus attention on fundamentals after weeks of price weakness.

While XRP Community Day is not tied to a single market-moving announcement, it often serves as a sentiment booster, particularly during consolidation phases.

Increased visibility, renewed social engagement, and discussion around XRPL use cases can act as short-term momentum drivers if broader market conditions cooperate.

XRP price action steadies near key support

XRP is trading near the $1.37–$1.38 zone at press time, attempting to stabilize after a steady pullback from highs above $1.60 earlier this month.

The price is holding near the middle-to-lower portion of the Bollinger Bands on the daily chart. The bands have started to narrow, signaling reduced volatility following the recent sell-off.

While XRP is no longer hugging the lower Bollinger Band, indicating that downside momentum has eased, price has struggled to reclaim the mid-band (20-day moving average). As long as XRP remains below this level, upside attempts are likely to face resistance.

A sustained move above the mid-band would open the door toward the upper band near the $1.45–$1.50 zone.

The Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) remains slightly below the zero line but has turned higher from recent lows, suggesting selling pressure is fading. A move back into positive territory would signal improving capital inflows.

A failure to do so could leave XRP vulnerable to a retest of support around $1.35, followed by $1.28 on a deeper pullback.

Exchange reserve data hints at supply dynamics

Moreover, CryptoQuant data shows XRP exchange reserves on Binance have declined recently, suggesting fewer tokens are being held on exchanges.

This trend typically points to reduced immediate sell-side pressure, as more XRP moves into private wallets rather than remaining available for spot selling.

While falling exchange reserves alone do not guarantee a rally, they can provide a supportive backdrop if demand picks up. Combined with community-driven attention from XRP Community Day, the supply-side dynamics could help limit downside risk in the near term.

Overall, XRP remains in a consolidation phase, with Community Day acting as a sentiment catalyst rather than a guaranteed breakout trigger. Traders will be watching whether XRP can defend the $1.35 support zone and reclaim resistance near $1.45 to signal a shift toward recovery.

As the XTI/USD chart shows, the price per barrel moved above the 4 February peak yesterday, marking its highest level since the start of the month. The bullish sentiment has been driven by geopolitical uncertainty. According to media reports:

→ The Trump–Netanyahu meeting in Washington on 10–11 February failed to ease tensions. Despite Omani mediation and statements suggesting a “near compromise”, no formal agreement has yet been reached.

→ Reports of a possible deployment of additional US carrier strike groups to the Middle East have added to market nerves. Any escalation could threaten supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for around 20% of global oil consumption.

While the fundamental backdrop remains tense and continues to support higher oil prices, the chart simultaneously points to vulnerability to a pullback.

Technical Analysis of the XTI/USD Chart

When analysing the WTI oil chart on 5 February, we:

→ used recent price swings to construct a broad ascending channel (shown in purple), noting that its lower boundary was acting as support;

→ suggested that the $65 level would become a key obstacle for bulls attempting to maintain upward momentum.

Recent price action supports this view, as:

→ if yesterday’s move above the 4 February high is treated as a bullish breakout, it appears to have failed — a potential bull trap;

→ a bearish engulfing reversal pattern has formed on the chart (indicated by the arrow).

It is noteworthy that many investment bank analysts consider current WTI prices to be overstretched, forecasting a decline towards the $57–59 range due to oversupply. However, such a scenario would likely require a reduction in geopolitical risk.

In light of the above, it is reasonable to assume that the initiative may now be shifting to the bears, who could attempt to push prices towards the lower boundary of the channel. The $64.40 level — which acted as resistance last week — now appears to offer local support.

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Binance did not cause the crypto market liquidation event on Oct. 10, but every exchange — centralized or decentralized — saw massive liquidations that day after China imposed rare earth metal controls and the U.S. announced fresh tariffs, said Binance Co-CEO Richard Teng.

About 75% of the liquidations took place around 9:00 p.m. ET, alongside two unrelated, isolated issues: a stablecoin depegging and “some slowness in terms of asset transfer,” Teng said Thursday at CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference.

“The U.S. equity market plunged $1.5 trillion in value that day,” he said. “The U.S. equity market alone saw $150 billion of liquidation. The crypto market is much smaller. It was about $19 billion. And the liquidation on crypto happened across all the exchanges.”

Some users were affected by this, which Binance helped support, he said, an action other exchanges did not take.

Binance facilitated $34 trillion in trading volume last year, he said, with 300 million users. Trading data does not indicate any massive withdrawals from the platform.

“The data speaks for itself,” he said.

Speaking more broadly, Teng said the crypto market was tracking broader geopolitical tensions but that institutions are still pouring into the sector.

“At the macro level, I think people are still uncertain about interest rate movements going forward,” he said. “And there’s always the trend of geopolitics, tension, etc. Those weigh on these assets, such as crypto.”

However, pointing to how the sector has changed over the past four to six years, Teng said long-term industry participants will have noticed that crypto prices move cyclically.

“I think what we have to look at is the underlying development,” he said. “At this point in time, retail demand is somewhat more muted compared to the past year, but the institutional deployment, the corporate deployment is still strong.”

Institutions are still entering the sector, even despite the market, he said, “meaning the smart money is deploying.”

Read more: Crypto’s $19 billion ’10/10′ nightmare: Why everyone is blaming Binance for the bitcoin crash that won’t end

As the chart shows, the Nikkei 225 index (Japan 225 on FXOpen) reached a historic high near 58,500 points on Monday. Bullish sentiment was driven primarily by political developments.

According to media reports, the rally followed the decisive victory of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) under Sanae Takaichi, who has signalled aggressive fiscal stimulus measures (a package exceeding $135 bn), food tax cuts, and the continuation of an accommodative monetary policy stance.

However, today the Nikkei 225 is showing signs of a pullback. It is possible that major market participants have begun taking profits amid the wave of optimism, as Takaichi’s victory had already been largely priced in, and official confirmation of a parliamentary supermajority may have acted as a trigger to close long positions.

From a technical perspective, a retracement also appears justified.

Technical Analysis of the Nikkei 225 Chart

It is worth noting that:

→ after the RSI moved into extreme overbought territory, it formed a bearish divergence with price;
→ price action itself produced a bearish triple top pattern.

As the decline unfolds, a local trendline (shown in purple) has shifted from acting as support to functioning as resistance.

In light of the above, it is reasonable to assume that an extended pullback could drive the Nikkei 225 towards the median of the long-term ascending channel.

In the event of a deeper correction, the support zone below the 56,000 level may come into play, where a previous bullish imbalance formed characteristics of a Fair Value Gap pattern.

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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.

ARK Invest, the investment firm led by Bitcoin bull Cathie Wood, snapped up a significant batch of crypto-linked stocks on Wednesday as BTC briefly dipped below $66,000.

ARK purchased 433,806 shares of Robinhood (HOOD) for approximately $33.8 million, according to a trade notification reviewed by Cointelegraph.

The asset manager also boosted its exposure to crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH) and USDC (USDC) issuer Circle (CRCL), acquiring 364,134 shares valued at $11.6 million and 75,559 shares worth $4.4 million, respectively.

The purchases came as all three stocks traded lower on the day, with Robinhood shares sliding nearly 9%, according to TradingView data.

ARK withheld from buying more Coinbase (COIN) shares after dumping $17 million of the stock last week.

Robinhood becomes top crypto holding in ARK’s flagship fund

ARK’s latest Robinhood acquisition coincided with the company’s official testnet launch of the Robinhood Chain, a permissionless layer 2 (L2) blockchain built for financial services and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

Earlier this week, Robinhood reported record net revenue of nearly $1.28 billion for the fourth quarter of 2025. While revenue surged 27% year over year, it fell short of Wall Street expectations of $1.34 billion, sending the stock down about 8%.

As of Feb. 11, Robinhood stands as the largest crypto-linked position in ARK’s flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), accounting for roughly 4.1% of the portfolio, or about $248 million, according to the fund’s data.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs mirror BTC weakness as inflows stall

Broader market weakness has spilled over into US spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which failed to sustain momentum after a three-day inflow streak.

According to SoSoValue data, Bitcoin ETFs recorded $276.3 million in net outflows on Wednesday, nearly wiping out weekly gains, which now stand at just $35.3 million. Total assets under management declined to $85.7 billion, the lowest level since early November 2024.

Ether (ETH) ETFs also posted losses, with daily outflows totaling $129.2 million. XRP (XRP) funds saw no inflows, while Solana (SOL) ETFs recorded modest inflows of roughly $0.5 million.

Related: Strategy CEO eyes more preferred stock to fund Bitcoin buys

At the time of publication, Bitcoin was trading at $67,227, up 0.4% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.

The latest pullback comes after analysts had pointed to a potential inflection point in crypto investment products following three consecutive weeks of outflows totaling more than $3 billion.

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