Crypto World
STON.fi Brings Bitcoin and Ethereum to TON DeFi
STON.fi, one of the leading AMM protocols on The Open Network (TON), announced that TON-native representations of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are now available within the ecosystem in a fully non-custodial DeFi format.
The integration gives TON users direct access to the two largest crypto assets, including the ability to swap them and provide liquidity, while maintaining full control over their funds.
BTC and ETH are represented on TON as wrapped assets issued in TON-native format, each fully backed 1:1 by the underlying tokens and managed through smart contracts. Ethereum is available as wrapped ETH (WETH), while Bitcoin is accessible via cbBTC, a Bitcoin-backed token issued by Coinbase and fully collateralized with BTC on a one-to-one basis. This structure allows both assets to be used across decentralized applications within TON ecosystem without interacting directly with their native blockchains.
Through STON.fi, users can deploy WETH and cbBTC across TON DeFi, including swapping and providing liquidity via WETH/USDt and cbBTC/USDt pools. At the same time, Omniston, STON.fi’s liquidity aggregation protocol, enables swaps to WETH and cbBTC from any TON-native token, routing liquidity across the ecosystem. Applications integrated with Omniston instantly gain access to WETH and cbBTC liquidity, enabling swaps across hundreds of TON-based dApps without additional integrations and expanding the range of available DeFi strategies within the ecosystem.
“Bringing BTC and ETH into TON DeFi is about expanding real utility, not just asset coverage,” said Slavik Baranov, CEO of STON.fi Dev. “This launch enables users to actively use Bitcoin and Ethereum inside TON ecosystem rather than holding them passively. By making these assets usable in TON-native DeFi, we’re strengthening the overall depth of the ecosystem.”
As TON continues to develop as a blockchain closely integrated with Telegram — a messenger used daily by hundreds of millions of people — access to major crypto assets directly within Telegram-native and TON-based applications has become a natural part of the ecosystem’s evolution. Bitcoin and Ethereum sit at the core of the global crypto economy, and their availability on TON allows users to access these assets directly within the apps they already use, without leaving the ecosystem, through decentralized and permissionless infrastructure.
To learn more about how WETH and cbBTC integration works on STON.fi, users can visit: https://ston.fi/eth-ton and https://ston.fi/btc-ton.
About STON.fi
STON.fi is one of the leading non-custodial swap dApps and a suite of swap-enabling protocols within The Open Network (TON) ecosystem, known for its deep liquidity, wide token coverage, and dominance in total value locked (TVL) and trading volume. With over $6.8 billion in total trading volume and more than 31 million operations, STON.fi dominates TON DeFi ecosystem in token coverage, liquidity depth, and active user participation. Backed by top investors such as CoinFund, Delphi Ventures, The Open Platform, Karatage, TON Ventures, and others, STON.fi continues to advance decentralized finance through open development and innovations such as Omniston — a decentralized liquidity aggregation protocol.
Ethereum accumulation addresses have witnessed a surge in daily inflows since Friday, suggesting growing confidence in Ether’s (ETH) long-term price trajectory despite its latest drop below $2,000.
Key takeaways:
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Ether’s drop below $2,000 has left 58% of addresses with unrealized losses.
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Accumulation addresses have absorbed about $2.6 billion in ETH over five days.
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Key Ether levels to watch below $2,000 include $1,800, $1,500, $1,200, and potentially $750–$1,000 in extreme scenarios.
58% of Ether addresses are now in the red
Ether’s 38% drop over the last month has seen it fall below key support levels, including the average entry price of accumulation addresses, the cost basis of spot Ethereum ETF investors, and the psychological level at $2,000.
The ETH/USD pair now trades 60.5% below its all-time high of $4,950, leaving a significant portion of holders underwater. This includes BitMine, the world’s largest Ethereum treasury linked to investor Tom Lee, which saw its paper losses swell to over $8 billion.
Related: Large demand zone below $2K ETH price gives signal on where Ether may go
With ETH trading at $1,954 on Wednesday, only 41.5% Ethereum addresses are in profit, while over 58% are in the red.
Ether’s current market price is also below the average cost basis of accumulation addresses currently at $2,580, suggesting that long-term holders are increasingly under strain.
ETF investors are also feeling the pressure. James Seyffart, senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, highlighted that Ethereum ETF holders are currently in a worse position than their Bitcoin counterparts.
With ETH hovering below $2,000, the altcoin trades well below the estimated average ETF cost basis of about $3,500.
Ether accumulation absorbs 1.3 million ETH in five days
Despite the sharp downturn, investor confidence has not fully eroded. Data from CryptoQuant showed Ethereum accumulation addresses have received 1.3 million Ether worth approximately $2.6 billion at current rates.
The “full-scale accumulation” of ETH began in June 2025, and is “proceeding even more aggressively,” CryptoQuant analyst CW8900 said in Wednesday’s Quicktake analysis, adding:
“The current price will likely appear attractive to $ETH whales.”
As a result, the total ETH held by these long-term holders reached a record 27 million. That marks a 20.36% gain so far in 2026 despite the ETH price declining 34.5% over the same period.
Accumulation addresses are wallets that continuously receive ETH without making any outgoing transactions. They may belong to long-term holders, institutional investors, or entities strategically accumulating Ether rather than actively trading.
Large spikes in inflows to these addresses often signal strong confidence in Ether’s long-term potential, with past trends showing that such surges frequently precede price rallies.
For example, on June 22, 2025, Ethereum accumulation addresses recorded a then-all-time high daily inflow of over 380 million ETH. Nearly 30 days later, ETH’s price rose by almost 85%. A 25% price rally followed November 2025’s inflow spike into the accumulation addresses.
Key ETH price levels to watch below $2,000
The ETH/USD pair extended its losses below $2,000, a key support level, which the bulls must reclaim to prevent further downside.
“$ETH failed to hold above the $2,000 level and is now going down,” crypto analyst Ted Pillows said in an X post on Wednesday, adding:
“The next key level is around the $1,800-$1,850 level if Ethereum doesn’t reclaim the $2,000 level soon.”
Fellow analyst Crypto Thanos shares similar views, telling followers to “get ready” for a $1,500 ETH price if $2,000 is not reclaimed by the end of the week.
Zooming out, LadyTraderRa said Ether is “definitely going” to retest the $750-$1,000 zone, based on past price action on the monthly candle chart.
Glassnode’s UTXO realized price distribution (URPD), which shows the average prices at which ETH holders bought their coins, reveals that below $2,000, key support levels for ETH sit at $1,880, $1,580, and $1,230.
As Cointelegraph reported, the ETH/USD pair could drop to $1,750 and then $1,530, after failing to hold above $2,100.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.
Clearer rules and improved technology are accelerating the convergence of traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized markets, driving established institutions into areas such as crypto derivatives, according to panelists at Consensus Hong Kong.
“Regulation is really important. It gives you the rails that you need to operate in,” said Jason Urban, global co-head of digital assets at Galaxy Digital (GLXY), who took part in the “Ultimate Deriving Machine” panel.
Other speakers, including executives from exchange operator ICE Futures U.S., crypto prime brokerage FalconX and investment company ARK Invest highlighted how developments in the U.S., such as the 2024 approval of spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and harmonization between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have flipped crypto from a speculative sideline to a portfolio staple.
The key takeaway is that derivatives are set to grease the path for trillions of dollars in institutional inflows to the market. The momentum goes well beyond bitcoin , the largest cryptocurrency by market value.
ICE Futures U.S. President Jennifer Ilkiw highlighted forthcoming overnight rate futures tied to Circle Internet’s (CRCL) USDC stablecoin, launching in April, and multitoken indexes as evidence of institutions looking beyond bitcoin for exposure to a range of tokens.
“It makes it very easy. It’s like, if you’re taking our MSCI Emerging Markets, there’s hundreds of equities in there. You don’t need to know every single one,” she said, citing demand from former crypto skeptics.
Josh Lim, the global co-head of markets at FalconX, stressed bridging traditional financial exchanges like the CME with liquidity pools in decentralized finance (DeFi) using prime brokerages for hedge-fund arbitrage and leverage.
“Hyperliquid, obviously has been a big theme for this year, and last year, we’ve enabled a lot of our hedge fund clients to access that marketplace through our prime brokerage offering,” Lim said, referring to the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) for derivatives.
“It’s actually essential for firms like us … to bridge this liquidity gap between TradFi and DeFi … That’s a big edge,” Lim said. Crypto innovations like 24/7 trading and perpetuals are influencing Wall Street.
ARK Invest President Tom Staudt called the debut of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. a milestone that slotted crypto into mainstream wealth managers’ portfolios and systems.
But he urged adoption of a true industry-wide beta benchmark — a broader market standard for measuring an asset’s risk and performance relative to the overall crypto market. There’s a need for a diversified index, rather than relying solely on a single reference point like bitcoin, he said.
“Bitcoin is a specific asset, but it’s not an asset class … You can’t have alpha without beta,” he said, pointing to futures as the gateway for structured products and active strategies.
inaction now is akin to “career suicide,” as real-world assets come onchain and demand participation, Urban said.
A New York federal court has dismissed a patent infringement suit brought by Bancor-affiliated entities against Uniswap, finding that the asserted claims describe abstract ideas that are not eligible for patent protection under US law. Judge John G. Koeltl of the Southern District of New York granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint filed by Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin Ltd. The ruling, issued on February 10, leaves room for the plaintiffs to amend within 21 days; absent a timely amendment, the dismissal would become with prejudice. While the decision represents a procedural win for Uniswap, it does not resolve the merits of the underlying dispute, which centers on whether the decentralized exchange’s technology infringes patented methods for pricing and liquidity.
Key takeaways
- The court applied the Supreme Court’s two-step framework for patent eligibility and determined the challenged claims relate to an abstract concept—the calculation of currency exchange rates for transactions—rather than a patentable invention.
- Even though the patents touch on blockchain-based automation, the judge found no inventive concept sufficient to transform the abstract idea into a patent-eligible application.
- The complaint was dismissed without prejudice, giving Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin Ltd. a 21-day window to file an amended complaint addressing the court’s concerns.
- Direct infringement, induced infringement, and willful infringement claims were all dismissed, with the court indicating the plaintiffs failed to plausibly plead that Uniswap’s code contains the patented reserve-ratio features.
- Despite the procedural success for Uniswap, the door remains open for reassertion if the plaintiffs can reframe the allegations to meet the patent-eligibility standard or otherwise articulate a viable infringement theory.
Market context: The ruling sits within ongoing debates over software and business-method patents in crypto, where courts have repeatedly scrutinized whether blockchain-enabled pricing and liquidity mechanisms constitute protectable inventions or abstract financial practices.
Sentiment: Neutral
Market context: The decision comes amid a broader climate in which courts assess blockchain-related claims under established tests for patent-eligibility, potentially influencing how crypto developers approach IP risk and claims enforcement.
Sources & verification: The memorandum opinion and order from Judge Koeltl (Feb. 10); the CourtListener docket for Bprotocol Foundation v. Universal Navigation Inc.; Hayden Adams’ X post reacting to the decision; the original Bancor-Uniswap patent dispute coverage and filings cited in the referenced materials.
Why it matters
The court’s analysis reinforces the notion that merely applying a conventional pricing algorithm within a blockchain framework may not suffice to render a claim patentable. By characterizing the disputed concepts as abstract ideas tied to currency exchange calculations, the ruling underscores the enduring legal distinction between mathematical formulas and patent-eligible tech implementations, even when those implementations run on decentralized networks. For Uniswap (CRYPTO: UNI), the decision protects the platform from an immediate patent-ownership challenge rooted in fundamental pricing logic that was already broadly implemented across digital asset exchanges.
From Bancor’s perspective, the dismissal—without prejudice—creates a strategic opening. The plaintiffs can attempt to adjust the pleading to address the court’s concerns, potentially reframing the claims to emphasize an “inventive concept” or to articulate a more concrete, non-abstract application tied to a particular technology environment. The outcome may influence later filings against other DeFi protocols if claim language can be refined to meet the legal standard, especially in cases where developers claim that specific programmable constraints or reserve mechanisms are patentable because they are uniquely tied to a given protocol.
Beyond the parties involved, the decision signals how the U.S. patent system balances the protection of crypto innovations against broad, abstract financial techniques. While it does not close the door on all IP actions in DeFi, it does remind developers and litigants that the mere use of blockchain infrastructure or smart contracts does not automatically render a broad abstract idea patent-eligible. The landscape remains nuanced, with the potential for future rulings to alter how similar claims are framed and prosecuted.
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The immediate post-decision commentary from Uniswap founder Hayden Adams, who publicly celebrated the outcome, reflects the high-stakes nature of these disputes for open-source, community-driven projects. Adams’ brief social post—“A lawyer just told me we won”—highlights how patent battles intersect with developer culture and the public perception of DeFi innovation.
What to watch next
- Whether Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin Ltd. file an amended complaint within 21 days, and how the revised claims address the court’s abstract-idea reasoning.
- Any subsequent court rulings that interpret or apply the “inventive concept” standard to parallel DeFi patent cases, potentially shaping future strategy for both plaintiffs and defendants.
- Whether additional documents—such as claim charts or technical specifications—emerge to support allegations of infringement tied to Uniswap’s protocol code.
- Possible settlements or alternative dispute-resolution steps if parties seek to narrow the dispute without protracted litigation.
Sources & verification
- Memorandum opinion and order by Judge Koeltl, February 10, Southern District of New York.
- CourtListener docket: Bprotocol Foundation v. Universal Navigation Inc. (docket page cited in filing history).
- Hayden Adams’ X post reacting to the ruling.
- Bancor’s patent infringement allegations against Uniswap as documented in prior coverage.
What the ruling changes for DeFi and IP strategy
Uniswap’s procedural win reinforces the importance of framing crypto innovations in terms of concrete technical improvements rather than broad economic practices. For developers, it underscores the need to articulate how a protocol’s specific architecture—beyond generic pricing formulas—contributes a novel, non-obvious technical solution. For plaintiffs, the decision emphasizes the necessity of tying claims to verifiable technical embodiments, such as particular code features or protocol configurations, that clearly differ from ordinary market operations.
What to watch next
Going forward, observers will closely track whether a revised complaint could survive the patent-eligibility hurdle and, if so, how the court will evaluate whether a claimed feature meaningfully transforms an abstract idea into patent-eligible subject matter. The interplay between public blockchain code and patented concepts is likely to remain a focal point as more DeFi projects navigate IP risk in a rapidly evolving regulatory and judicial environment.
Rewritten Article Body
Judicial decision reframes patent-eligibility in a DeFi dispute between Bancor-affiliated plaintiffs and Uniswap
In a decision that foregrounds the ongoing jurisprudence around crypto patents, a New York federal court ruled that Bancor-affiliated plaintiffs’ claims against the Uniswap ecosystem are directed to abstract ideas rather than concrete, patentable inventions. The Southern District of New York, applying the Supreme Court’s two-step framework for patent eligibility, concluded that the core concept—calculating currency exchange rates to facilitate transactions—lacks the inventive concept required to qualify for patent protection. The ruling focuses on US patent law’s limits, not on the operational legitimacy of Uniswap’s decentralized exchange (Uniswap), which remains a foundational player in the DeFi space.
The plaintiffs—Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin Ltd.—had alleged that Uniswap’s protocol infringed patents tied to a “constant product automated market maker” mechanism that underpins many liquidity pools on decentralized exchanges. The court’s analysis rejected the argument that merely implementing a pricing formula on blockchain infrastructure could overcome the abstract-idea hurdle. In its view, the use of existing blockchain and smart contract technologies to address an economic problem does not constitute a patentable invention. The court emphasized that limiting an abstract idea to a particular technological environment does not convert it into patent-eligible subject matter, and it found no further inventive concept that would transform the abstract idea into patentable territory.
Crucially, the memorandum explained that the asserted claims cover the abstract idea of determining exchange rates for transactions rather than a specific, novel technical improvement. The court highlighted that “currency exchange is a fundamental economic practice,” and that the claimed method amounted to nothing more than a mathematical transformation performed in a blockchain-enabled setting. The decision expressly notes that merely asserting a mathematical formula within a decentralized framework does not, by itself, generate eligibility. The ruling also rejected arguments that a particular linkage to reserve ratios in Uniswap’s code or ecosystem would rescue the claims from the abstract-idea category.
Beyond the abstract-idea assessment, the court dismissed the infringement theories levelled by the plaintiffs. It found that the amended complaint failed to plausibly plead direct infringement—specifically, that Uniswap’s publicly available code embodies the claimed reserve ratio constants. Claims of induced and willful infringement were likewise dismissed, with the court stating that the plaintiffs did not credibly show that Uniswap’s team had knowledge of the patents before the lawsuit was filed. The dismissal was without prejudice, preserving the option for the plaintiffs to file an amended pleading that could address these shortcomings.
The decision came with a notable public response: Hayden Adams, the founder of Uniswap, took to X to acknowledge the outcome, signaling a morale boost for developers and teams operating in the open-source DeFi space. The public posting underscored the practical impact of court rulings on the culture and momentum of decentralized finance development.
The procedural posture of the case remains in flux. While Uniswap’s legal team secured a favorable procedural ruling, the case is not over. The plaintiffs have 21 days to amend their complaint; failure to do so would convert the dismissal into one with prejudice, effectively ending the action barring any new claims. If Bancor and LocalCoin elect to proceed with an amended filing, the court will scrutinize whether the revised claims meet the patent-eligibility standard and sufficiently articulate any alleged infringement in a way that satisfies the pleading requirements set forth by the court.
In the broader context, the decision contributes to a growing body of decisions that caution against overbroad or abstract patent claims in the crypto and DeFi space. It reinforces the premise that software-driven financial concepts—however novel in a blockchain setting—must advance a concrete technical improvement to clear the patent bar. The outcome also signals that, for now, DeFi projects focusing on open, interoperable codebases may enjoy a degree of protection from aggressive patent assertions based on abstract pricing ideas, at least until a more precise standard for crypto-specific technology claims emerges in the courts.
HONG KONG — Hong Kong is ready to begin issuing the first of its stablecoin licenses next month, the Special Administration Region’s Financial Secretary said Wednesday.
Hong Kong will only issue a small batch of licenses initially, Hong Kong’s Paul Chan Mo-Po said Wednesday at CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference.
“In giving our licenses, we ensure that licensees have novel use cases, a credible and sustainable business model and strong regulatory compliance capabilities,” he said.
Hong Kong is also moving to finalize its licensing regime for custodian service providers, he said, and looking to introduce legislation this summer.
“Together with the framework already in place, this will ensure that our regulatory regime comprehensively covers the team of the digital asset ecosystem,” he said.
Speaking more broadly, Chan pointed to three trends in particular maturing at this moment: The growth of tokenized products in the real world, increasing interaction between decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional finance and the growing ties between artificial intelligence (AI) and digital assets.
“Tokenization initiatives are moving from proof of concept to real world deployment supported by more institutional adoption government bonds, money market funds and other more traditional financial instruments are increasingly being issued onchain, using digital ledgers to enhance settlement efficiency enable fractional ownership and unlock liquidity in assets that have traditionally been less liquid.”
He also pointed to increasing growth in AI.
“As AI agents become capable of making and executing decisions independently, we may begin to see the early forms of what some call the machine economy, where AI agents can hold and transfer digital assets, pay for services and transact with one another onchain,” Chan said.
How is XRP performing during bear markets and is a parabolic recovery rally inbound? Let’s find out what history has to say.
Ripple’s XRP is down 15% in the past seven days, 26% in the past fortnight, and over 40% in the past year. Clearly, it’s in a downtrend in what’s currently considered to be a bear market in the crypto industry.In the following, we will examine XRP’s price, some of its fundamentals, and try to figure out how it holds up during crypto winters.
After all, the popular saying is that we should “buy when there’s blood on the street,” and it feels like there’s plenty of blood on the streets right now. Just yesterday, for example, the popular Crypto Fear & Greed Index was at 7 points (Extreme fear). That’s right, we have rarely seen sentiment so depressed.
XRP During Crypto Winters
The first thing to consider when it comes to investing in cryptocurrencies is the type of coin you’re eyeing. XRP is an altcoin, meaning that it is inherently much more volatile than Bitcoin and, by extension, almost all of traditional finance. Unlike many other altcoins, XRP is tied to a large US-based corporation that is spending millions of dollars on marketing and other activities to generate value for its shareholders and users.
Ripple is building an “ultra-fast” settlement layer for banks and all sorts of financial institutions ot use, arguing that this is what the future holds. You know, no intermediaries, 24/7 access, etc. But what has this done for XRP exactly?
Well, its first pronounced crypto winter was felt back in 2018. After peaking above $3 and with Wall Street calling it the next coin to buy, XRP lost most of its value and traded close to $0.3 for most of the bear market.
Then came the bull market of 2021. In April of that year, the price surged to a high of around $1.7 and tracked most of the crypto market, attempting a double-top in November and eventually, once again, losing most of its value and plunging back toward $0.35 in spring 2022. XRP remained in a range around that level all the way until November of 2024, when it skyrocketed in value above $2, later achieving a new all-time high in July 2025.
In other words, bottom buyers enjoyed a nice return of close to 10x if they got in during the bear market ranges and sold around the top. Now, the price is repeating a similar pattern and is once again cooling down following a parabolic rally.
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At the time of this writing, XRP sits on a total market cap of around $85 billion, meaning that it’s hard to argue in favor of a face-melting, millionaire-making rally. However, if history is any indication, cycles exist, and Ripple’s native cryptocurrency has been somewhat tracking them, despite a year-long lawsuit that had supposedly suppressed its dollar value for a while.
What You Need to Know Next?
When it comes to the crypto markets, there are quite literally two types of assets – Bitcoin and everything else, where everything else tends to be a lot less sustainable in terms of price and staying power.
As I mentioned above, there’s a fully functioning, large-scale, US-based corporation behind XRP. Ripple is continually expanding its operations and product offerings. They have issued a stablecoin, RLUSD, and are actively obtaining additional licenses across major jurisdictions.
But XRP itself is not directly tied to the company’s success. The investment thesis, aside from its speculative nature, remains questionable, particularly as the industry matures and competition intensifies.
XRP holders do not receive anything – in fact, they’re buying a cryptocurrency that’s meant to transact. They also made this clear during the trial against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which argued that XRP is a security.
It does have a fixed supply, that’s true, but a lot of that supply is also concentrated in the hands of the company itself, which regularly sells it to fund operations.
So, is XRP a good investment right now? There has been a historic precedent in the altcoin producing face-melting rallies following periods of a prolonged downturn; there’s absolutely no denying that. However, history should never be used as an indication of what’s to happen next, and there might be another 90% of downside before any potential relief, so keep that in mind.
Naturally, none of the above is financial advice. It’s just an observation of XRP’s price performance in previous market cycles as well as its connection to Ripple.
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If there is a classic technology hype cycle attached to tokenization — the representation of any asset on blockchains like Ethereum — we are barely getting started.
That was the view of Min Lin, managing director of global expansion at Ondo, who pointed out the U.S. Treasuries market alone is worth $29 trillion. Adding in the global equities market pushes that value closer to $127 trillion, of which $69 trillion is in the U.S. alone, Lin said at CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference.
But while the numbers are dizzying, and there is no doubt demand from traditional finance to explore tokenized real world assets (RWAs), there has to be care and attention when it comes to matching the hype to real world utility, said Graham Ferguson, head of ecosystem at Securitize.
“It’s incumbent on us to figure out how we distribute these and I think, historically, we haven’t done a great job of ascribing utility to these assets,” Ferguson said. “We have all these assets that we could tokenize. We have tons of different choices. We have to, we have to figure out, how do we unite that hype, how do we bring that together.”
It’s important not to “jump the gun on the regulatory side of things,” Ferguson of Securitize pointed out. That said, the U.S. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is waking up to the idea that tokenization can form the plumbing of future markets, and does not mean just “isolated compliance islands.”
“We’ve been around for a while talking about the benefits of settlement when it comes to tokenization and programmatic compliance built into the token standard itself, transferability of these assets among KYC’d [know-your-customer] individuals,” Ferguson said. ”We’re really excited for the regulatory clarity. No pun intended.”
Ondo’s focus is on efficiency. The firm has been busy tokenizing stocks and EFTs and recently announced the introduction of Ondo Perps, whereby those tokenized equities can be used as collateral margin directly — rather than using stablecoins as collateral on exchanges or DEXs, Lin explained.
Essentially, these firms’ different approaches to tokenization involve two design choices: in the case of Ondo, it’s about quickly and easily wrapping assets in a token; with Securitize, it comes down to issuing securities natively on chain and smoothing out the jurisdictional compliance wrinkles associated with that process.
Securitze’s approach “has always been to do this in lockstep with regulators,” Ferguson said. “So in the US and the EU, or regulated as a transfer agent, as a broker dealer, and we’ve always kind of done things by the book,” he said.
This comes with challenges when working with DeFi protocols, Ferguson acknowledged, because of the need to track who the beneficial owner of an asset is at every point in time.
“In crypto and DeFi, we’re used to massive pools of assets, so we are fixated on figuring out ways of working with these protocols so that we’re able to implement the same tracking mechanisms that are required in order to trade and transfer securities. And so it’s not necessarily the most DeFi comfortable approach,” Ferguson said.
For Lin of Ondo, tokenization falls into either a permissionless camp and a permissioned camp.
For example, OUSG, the Ondo Short-Term US Treasuries Fund is available for a global audience, and is permissioned which means users are able to transfer this asset to whitelisted addresses only.
On the other hand, Ondo Global Markets tokenizes publicly traded U.S. stocks and ETFs, which is permissionless following a given compliance period, but is only available to investors outside the U.S.
“What we have done at Ondo is a wrapper model for our Ondo global markets products,” Lin said. “That permissionless approach allows for us to operate and transfer freely from peer to peer within DeFi. So you’re able to use DeFi protocols to be able to leverage those products in lending and collateral margin.”
When it comes to tokenizing anything and everything, there’s no doubt this wrapping approach will get results faster; Ondo was able to tokenize BitGo stock some 15 minutes after the firm started trading on public markets, for instance.
“This wrapper model is essentially allowing us to scale much quicker. Today, we have around 200 plus tokenized stocks and ETFs. We’re looking to be able to scale that to thousands,” Lin said. “The wrapper model has been widely adopted. Stablecoins are essentially wrapped U.S. dollars and we have adopted a very similar model.”
The Ethereum price is down more than 5% over the past few days and has now slipped below a key short-term structure. On February 10, ETH fell under $1,980 after failing to hold a narrow rebound channel. This move followed a sharp decline in DeFi activity and weakening institutional flows. Yet, despite the pressure, large holders have started adding again.
The question is simple: is this early accumulation, or just a temporary pause before another leg lower?
Pattern Break Confirms Weak ‘Big Money’ Support
Ethereum’s recent rebound from early February formed inside a bear flag. This structure acted like a short-term recovery attempt, not a trend reversal. On February 10, the price slipped below the lower boundary of the flag, triggering a pattern break with over 50% crash potential, as predicted in a previous Ethereum analysis.
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This move mattered because it happened alongside weak money flow.
The Chaikin Money Flow, or CMF, measures whether capital is entering or leaving an asset using price and volume. When CMF moves above zero, it often shows large-scale institutional-style buying. When it stays below, it signals weak participation.
Between February 6 and February 9, ETH bounced, but CMF never crossed above zero. It also failed to break its descending trendline. This meant the rebound lacked strong backing from large investors.
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In simple terms, the price moved up, but serious money did not follow strongly enough. When rebounds happen without strong CMF backing, they tend to fail. That is exactly what happened here. Once buying momentum stalled, sellers regained control and pushed ETH lower.
This confirms that the pattern break was not random. It was possibly supported by fading big money flows. But technical weakness alone does not explain the full picture.
DeFi TVL and Exchange Flows Reveal a Structural Problem
A deeper issue sits inside Ethereum’s DeFi activity.
Total Value Locked, or TVL, measures how much money is stored inside decentralized finance platforms. It reflects real usage, capital commitment, and long-term confidence. When TVL rises, users are locking funds. When it falls, capital is leaving.
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BeInCrypto analysts combined the TVL and exchange flow dashboards to show a clear pattern.
On November 13, DeFi TVL stood at $75.6 billion. At the same time, ETH traded around $3,232. The exchange net position change was strongly negative, indicating more coins were leaving exchanges than entering. Investors were possibly moving ETH into self-custody.
That was a healthy setup.
By December 31, TVL had dropped to about $67.4 billion. ETH fell to $2,968. Exchange flows flipped positive. Around 1.5 million ETH moved onto exchanges. Selling pressure increased. Now look at February.
On February 6, DeFi TVL touched a three-month low of $51.7 billion. ETH was near $2,060. Exchange outflows weakened sharply (the Net Position line reached a local peak). Even though net flows stayed slightly negative, buying pressure collapsed, as explained by the February 6 peak. This shows a repeating relationship.
When TVL falls, exchange inflows rise or outflows weaken. That means capital is shifting from long-term use toward potential selling.
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As of February 10, TVL has only recovered to around $55.5 billion, down almost $20 billion from the mid-November levels. That is still close to the three-month low. Without a stronger recovery, exchange-side pressure is likely to return. So the pattern break is happening while Ethereum’s core usage remains weak.
That is a structural problem, not just a chart issue.
Whale Accumulation and Cost Basis Explain the Ethereum Price Support
Despite weak technicals and falling TVL, whales have not fully exited.
Whale supply tracks how much ETH is held by large wallets, excluding exchanges. Since February 6, whale holdings fell from about 113.91 million ETH to nearly 113.56 million. That confirmed the distribution during the breakdown. But over the past 24 hours, this trend paused.
Holdings edged back up slightly, from 113.56 million ETH to 113.62 million, showing small-scale accumulation. This suggests that whales are testing support rather than committing fully.
The reason becomes clear when looking at cost basis data.
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Cost basis heat maps show where large groups of investors bought their coins. These zones often act as support because holders defend their entry prices. For Ethereum, a major cluster sits between $1,879 and $1,898. Around 1.36 million ETH were accumulated in this range. That makes it a strong demand zone.
The current price is hovering just above this area.
As long as ETH stays above this band, whales have an incentive to defend it. Falling below would push many holders into losses and likely trigger heavier selling. This explains the cautious buying.
Whales are not betting on a rally. They are possibly protecting a critical cost zone.
From here, the Ethereum price structure becomes clear.
Support sits near $1,960 and then $1,845. A daily close below $1,845 would break the main cost cluster and confirm deeper downside risk. If that happens, the next major downside zones sit near $1,650 and $1,500.
On the upside, ETH must reclaim $2,150 to stabilize. Only above $2,780 would the broader bearish structure weaken. Until then, rebounds remain weak.
A New York federal judge dismissed a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Bancor-affiliated entities against Uniswap, ruling that the asserted patents claim abstract ideas and are not eligible for protection under US patent law.
In a memorandum opinion and order dated Tuesday, Feb. 10, Judge John G. Koeltl of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint filed by Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin Ltd. against Universal Navigation Inc. and the Uniswap Foundation.
The court found that the patents are directed to the abstract idea of calculating crypto exchange rates and therefore fail the two-step test for patent eligibility established by the US Supreme Court.
The ruling marks a procedural win for Uniswap, but it is not final. The case was dismissed without prejudice, giving the plaintiffs 21 days to file an amended complaint. If no amended complaint is filed, the dismissal will convert to one with prejudice.
Shortly after the ruling, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams wrote on X, “A lawyer just told me we won.”
Cointelegraph reached out to representatives of Bprotocol Foundation and Uniswap for comment but had not received a response by publication.
Judge finds that patents claim abstract ideas
As previously reported, Bancor alleged that Uniswap infringed patents related to a “constant product automated market maker” system underpinning decentralized exchanges.
The dispute centered on whether Uniswap’s protocol unlawfully used patented technology for automated token pricing and liquidity pools.
Koeltl said that the patents were directed to “the abstract idea of calculating currency exchange rates to perform transactions.”
He wrote that currency exchange is a “fundamental economic practice” and that calculating pricing information is abstract under established Federal Circuit precedent.
The judge rejected arguments that implementing the pricing formula on blockchain infrastructure made the claims patentable, and said the patents merely use existing blockchain and smart contract technology “in predictable ways to address an economic problem.”
He said limiting an abstract idea to a particular technological environment does not make it patent-eligible. The court also found no “inventive concept” sufficient to transform the abstract idea into a patent-eligible application.
Related: Vitalik draws line between ‘real DeFi’ and centralized yield stablecoins
Complaint fails to plead infringement
Beyond patent eligibility, the court found that the amended complaint did not plausibly allege direct infringement.
According to the memorandum, the plaintiffs failed to identify how Uniswap’s publicly available code includes the required reserve ratio constant specified in the patents.
The judge also dismissed claims of induced and willful infringement, finding that the complaint did not plausibly allege that the defendants knew about the patents before the lawsuit was filed.
The dismissal without prejudice leaves open the possibility that Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin Ltd. could attempt to refile with revised claims.
Magazine: A ‘tsunami’ of wealth is headed for crypto: Nansen’s Alex Svanevik
Erik Voorhees, the early Bitcoin advocate and founder of ShapeShift, is making a bold pivot into gold.
The move comes as gold recovers following a 21% crash, with prospects for further gains if analyst projections are any guide.
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Erik Voorhees’ Gold Move Signals a Shift Beyond Bitcoin
Lookonchain reports that Voorhees created nine new wallets and spent $6.81 million in USDC. The Bitcoin OG purchased 1,382 ounces of PAXG, a gold-backed token just like Tether Gold, at an average price of $4,926 per ounce.
Voorhees, who entered the Bitcoin ecosystem in 2011 and later founded several of the earliest major crypto companies, has long championed Bitcoin as “digital gold.”
His latest purchases suggest a nuanced strategy to diversify into traditional safe-haven assets even while remaining a vocal advocate for crypto.
Analyst Jacob King notes that Voorhees’ move signals that some of crypto’s earliest adopters are hedging against potential market volatility by holding both physical and tokenized gold.
Gold prices have been holding steady above $5,000 per ounce, supported by strong central bank demand and inflows from gold ETFs. As of this writing, the gold price was trading for $5,048, up by almost 15% since bottoming out at $4,402 on February 2.
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According to Coin Bureau CEO and co-founder Nic Puckrin, the recent dip in gold prices reflects a temporary pause rather than a retreat. Puckrin cites upcoming US jobs and CPI data, which are likely to influence rate-cut expectations.
Gold Set for Breakout as Analysts Forecast $6,300+ Amid Strategic Dollar Shift
Elsewhere, technical analyst Rashad Hajiyev notes that gold is poised for a breakout after testing a critical resistance level, projecting a near-term breakout to around $5,200 per ounce before entering a range-bound phase.
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Meanwhile, Wells Fargo recently characterized the pullback as a healthy correction after a sharp rally, raising its 2026 gold target to $6,100–$6,300 per ounce. The multinational financial services firm cited geopolitical risks, market volatility, and sustained central bank demand.
“Buy the gold dip, Wells Fargo says. The recent pullback in gold is a healthy correction after a sharp rally,” wrote Walter Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, Daniel Oliver, founder of Myrmikan Capital, projects a longer-term surge to $12,595 per ounce, driven by central bank buying and concerns over a potential “government bond death spiral.”
Gold Outpaces Stocks as Macro Shifts and Crypto Moves Highlight Its Safe-Haven Appeal
Gold’s strong performance relative to equities is stark. Historical data shows gold surging 1,658% since 2000, compared to the S&P 500’s 460% gain.
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Even after factoring in dividends, the S&P’s total return of roughly 700% reflects gold’s value as a portfolio diversifier. This is especially true in periods of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty.
According to analysts, broader macroeconomic factors are driving gold’s rise. Sunil Reddy notes that US policy is quietly shifting away from maximizing dollar purchasing power toward reindustrialization and trade rebalancing.
This “softer dollar” approach is boosting demand for hard assets like gold and silver, signaling a strategic pivot rather than purely speculative buying.
Voorhees’ move into gold may reflect an awareness of these dynamics. By deploying millions into PAXG, the Bitcoin pioneer appears to be betting on gold’s continued relevance as a hedge against dollar weakness and a counterbalance to crypto market volatility.
Still, investors should conduct their own research and not rely solely on analysts’ projections.
The investment bank’s positions are through crypto ETFs, not direct token holdings.
The behemoth in investment banking published its Q4 2025 Form 13F disclosure, outlining its positions in four of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap.
Given the recent price declines in the digital asset space, their USD value has declined, but the disclosure still shows an interesting pattern.
Goldman’s Crypto Portfolio
🚨NEW: Wall Street investment bank @GoldmanSachs just revealed it holds $1.1B $BTC, $1B $ETH, $153M $XRP and $108M $SOL.
Goldman has representation at the White House meeting on stablecoin yield today. Its CEO David Solomon is scheduled to speak at @worldlibertyfi Forum in Palm…
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) February 10, 2026
The filing, which went viral on X yesterday, shows that Goldman has indirect exposure to approximately 13,740 BTC through the US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs. Since the filings reflect the value of the holdings at the end of the quarter, not the current value or the price paid upon purchase, there’s a significant discrepancy between what they are worth now and what they were reported to be then, due to the infamous crypto volatility.
At the end of Q4, the BTC position was valued at around $1.7 billion. Since then, the asset has declined by almost 50%, bringing these holdings’ current value to $920 million. Also, there’s a difference between Terrett’s post and today’s valuation as BTC tumbled once again this morning to under $67.000.
Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that this doesn’t represent a realized loss. Moreover, the filings indicated that Goldman has not reduced its BTC position.
Additionally, the investment bank now has exposure to three of the largest altcoins, including XRP and SOL, whose ETFs tracking their performance launched in Q4 last year.
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Wall Street Warming Up to Crypto?
As mentioned above, the filing was quickly reposted yesterday on social media, and the crypto community embraced it as a definitive sign of Wall Street and institutions putting billions in the digital asset market.
Big moves.
Goldman isn’t just talking crypto — they’re putting billions on the line. BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL all show serious institutional conviction.
With White House access and CEO appearances, crypto is clearly on Wall Street’s radar. 👀
— The Ripple Mo | XRP 🇺🇸 (@IXEIAH) February 10, 2026
The timing is also intriguing as the White House continues to work on a crypto bill, the CLARITY Act, which has faced some resistance from the banking industry. In fact, some commentators believe that Goldman’s filings being published now indicate the bank is “positioning” itself in a power move and should not be regarded as a simple transparency act.
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