LayerZero Labs on Tuesday unveiled Zero, a new 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 in a press release. The size of the investments were not disclosed.

The announcement signals a deeper push by traditional market infrastructure players 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 leading stablecoin issuer, has also made a strategic investment in LayerZero Labs, it said earlier on Tuesday.

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.

After years of pilot projects and cautious experimentation, large financial institutions are moving more decisively into crypto as infrastructure improves and regulatory clarity advances. Asset managers, exchanges and clearing houses are increasingly viewing blockchains not as speculative rails but as potential upgrades to legacy systems, particularly for trading, settlement and collateral management. The shift reflects a growing belief that crypto-native technology is maturing enough to support real-world financial markets at scale.

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.

Zero-knowledge proofs let blockchains verify that a statement is true without revealing the underlying data, preserving privacy while ensuring validity.

LayerZero said the system delivers step-change improvements across compute, storage, networking and cryptography, allowing different zones to be optimized for specific use cases rather than forcing all nodes to perform identical work.

The project is launching in collaboration with several major institutions. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) said it will explore using Zero to enhance the scalability of its tokenization and collateral initiatives, while Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is examining applications tied to 24/7 trading and tokenized collateral. Google Cloud is partnering with LayerZero to explore blockchain-based micropayments and resource trading for AI agents, reflecting growing interest in programmable money for machine-driven economies.

“Zero’s architecture moves the industry’s roadmap forward by at least a decade,” said Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero Labs, in the release. “We believe we can actually bring the entire global economy onchain with this technology.

The blockchain is set to debut with three initial zones: a general-purpose Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) environment, a privacy-focused payments system, and a purpose-built trading venue. ZRO will anchor network governance and security, while LayerZero’s interoperability stack links Zero to more than 165 blockchains.

Read more: Robinhood is investing in crypto trading platform Talos at $1.5 billion valuation

Robinhood (HOOD) said revenue from crypto-related transactions fell 38% year over year in the fourth quarter, highlighting how lower digital asset prices continue to curb trading activity even as platforms push deeper into the sector.

The trading app reported $221 million in revenue from crypto trades, down from $358 million a year earlier, according to its latest earnings report. The decline came despite Robinhood’s efforts to make crypto a bigger part of its business.

Over the past year, the company has rolled out new crypto features and expanded its offerings. Robinhood launched crypto transfers across more regions, allowing users to move assets on and off the platform. It also added a large slate of new trading tokens, expanding beyond the small set of major coins it once limited customers to. The company has pitched these moves as steps toward becoming a broader gateway into digital assets rather than a simple trading app.

That strategy has yet to shield crypto revenue from market swings. Lower prices tend to dampen trading, especially among retail investors who drive much of Robinhood’s volume.

The crypto slowdown stood in contrast to Robinhood’s broader business. Overall transaction-based revenue reached $776 million, a 15% increase from the year prior. Gains in equity and options trading helped offset the drop in crypto, pointing to a more balanced revenue mix than in past cycles.

The company reported EPS of $0.66 in the fourth quarter, topping Wall Street estimates for $0.63, but revenue of $1.28 billion fell short of forecasts for $1.33 billion.

Shares are lower by 7.7% in after-hours trading, continuing a plunge that began around the time crypto topped in early October 2025. Trading at $79, the stock’s now down nearly 50% from that record high.

Competitor Coinbase (COIN) is set to report earnings on Thursday. Analysts expect it to post lower trading volume and weaker revenue, reflecting the same market conditions that hit Robinhood’s crypto business. COIN is lower by 1.6% after hours on the HOOD results.

CZ said Binance holding 87% of USD1 reflects user demand, arguing the exchange dominates most major stablecoins.

Binance users hold about 87% of USD1, the Trump-linked stablecoin, according to a Forbes report published on February 9, 2026, putting most of the token’s circulating supply on a single exchange.

The concentration has drawn criticism online, but Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao says the figures reflect user demand across stablecoins rather than special treatment tied to politics.

Exchange Dominance Draws Focus

The Forbes report found that Binance controls roughly $4.7 billion of the $5.4 billion USD1 supply, based on Arkham Intelligence data. That is a higher share than any single exchange holds of other top-10 stablecoins, with Forbes noting that the holdings include both Binance-controlled wallets and customer balances, though it remains unclear how much belongs to the exchange itself.

World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture backed by several members of President Donald Trump’s family, launched the token in March 2025, with CZ among the first to publicly share the news.

Trump is also listed as co-founder emeritus, and several entities affiliated with him are entitled to a large share of proceeds from the project’s governance token, WLFI.

The custody concentration drew criticism from independent researcher Molly White, who told Forbes it creates “theoretical risk” if assets become tied up in legal or operational disputes. Corey Frayer, a former adviser to the SEC chair, went further, questioning whether USD1 was designed to function as a broad stablecoin at all.

However, Zhao responded on social media, writing,

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“Binance (users) hold the largest % of most stablecoins (USDT, USDC, USD1, U … you name it) compared to all other CEXs. Not news.”

The backlash around the token sits within wider scrutiny of Zhao and Binance. The former CEO received a presidential pardon in October 2025 after pleading guilty in 2023 to compliance failures tied to anti-money laundering controls.

His attorney said in a November 2025 interview that the case was regulatory in nature and rejected claims of political favors.

A Pattern of FUD and Market Reality

The discussion is also happening amid what CZ and Binance executives are describing as a coordinated campaign of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD).

Earlier in the month, Zhao exposed a fake social media account with 863,000 followers that used AI-generated images of him to first pose as a supporter and then spread negative sentiment. Furthermore, a separate AI analysis report alleged a “deliberately organized and coordinated smear campaign” against the exchange.

Market data suggests Binance’s dominance extends far beyond one stablecoin, especially considering that a CryptoQuant report from January showed Binance captured 41% of spot trading volume and 42% of Bitcoin perpetual futures volume among top exchanges in 2025.

According to the report, the exchange also held 72% of the combined USDT and USDC reserves on major platforms, a context that supports Zhao’s argument that large user holdings on the exchange are typical.

During the Super Bowl, Logan Paul appeared to place a $1 million bet on the New England Patriots via Polymarket, a crypto prediction market platform. Polymarket shared a clip of Paul “checking Polymarket at the Big Game,” but observers quickly noticed that the YouTube star’s account had no funds.

As a result, the supposed bet was never actually possible.

As Protos reports, crypto sleuth ZachXBT reviewed the top holders of the market and confirmed that none matched Logan’s purported wager.

He called the stunt “yet another Logan Paul scam,” likely referencing Paul’s previous CryptoZoo project, which lost investors tens of thousands of dollars and resulted in multiple ongoing lawsuits. Speculation also arose about an undisclosed relationship between Paul and Polymarket, with ZachXBT noting that the WWE talent had livestreamed attempts to promote the platform, which he described as “inorganic.”

Polymarket’s prediction markets, along with rival platform Kalshi, face legal scrutiny in U.S. courts. Polymarket recently filed a lawsuit against Massachusetts to prevent the state from shutting down its sports betting markets, arguing that federal law and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are the only authorities authorized to regulate such contracts.

Meanwhile, Kalshi has faced criticism online for marketing prediction markets as an easy way to make money. Crypto commentator “DeFi_Dad” echoed investor Warren Buffett and called the ads “rat poison squared,” warning that they mislead users into treating gambling as investing.

Nigel Eccles, CEO of crypto casino BetHog, echoed these concerns, saying Kalshi’s ads target young adults with messages encouraging risky gambling, raising ethical concerns about underage and problem gambling.

In the end, Paul avoided financial loss, as Seattle defeated the Patriots 29–13, but the incident underscores ongoing scrutiny around celebrity promotions of crypto prediction markets, the legality of these platforms, and the ethics of marketing gambling-like products to the public.

CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong 2026 is here. Over the next two days, more than 10,000 attendees will hear from over 350 speakers across five stages as they discuss tokenization, stablecoins, AI and more.

The conference comes just after crypto markets hit a period of intense volatility. Bitcoin BTC$68,622.11 crashed from over $95,000 to near $60,000 before rebounding to $70,000 within a few short weeks, swings that are familiar to longtime industry participants but jarring nonetheless.

Against this backdrop, we’ll hear from Hong Kong policymakers, including Chief Executive John KC Lee, legislator Johnny Ng and Securities and Futures Commission CEO Julia Leung about their work drafting crypto-focused policies for the special administrative region.

Industry leaders like Animoca’s Yat Siu, Solana Foundation’s Lily Liu and BitMine’s Tom Lee will present the crypto world’s current status and lay out the trends they expect to see in the coming months.

It may be that the crypto industry is now melding more with traditional finance, leaving some of its more esoteric products by the wayside. Consensus speaker Armani Ferrante told CoinDesk last month that blockchains are looking more like financial infrastructure than support tools for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or other projects.

Even so, the markets still need to mature to truly support institutional demand, Auros’ Jason Atkins told CoinDesk last month.

The institutions themselves — for example, Robinhood — are also looking more deeply into blockchain as a tool that can support financialization for institutional clients, the company’s head of crypto, Johan Kerbrat, said last month.

Bitget, the world’s largest Universal Exchange (UEX), announced the launch of zero maker fees and ultra-low taker fees for its stock perpetuals and precious metal perpetuals, effective from February 10 through April 30, 2026. The move positions Bitget as the lowest-cost venue in the market while offering one of the broadest selections of stock and metal perps.

The fee adjustment comes as global markets enter earnings season, a period marked by heightened volatility and frequent position adjustments. In such environments, trading costs and asset availability play a decisive role in execution efficiency.

Under the new pricing structure, maker fees for stock perpetuals have been reduced from 0.02% to zero, while taker fees have been lowered from 0.06% to as low as 0.0065%. For precious metal perpetuals, including gold-linked contracts, maker fees have also been set to zero, with taker fees discounted by up to 70%, subject to a minimum of 0.0065%.

“Earnings season is when trading costs and access really start to matter. Traders need the flexibility to move quickly without worrying about fees eating into every decision,” said Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget. “Our job is to remove friction and give people the tools they need to trade stocks and metals anywhere from the world 24/7.”

Bitget currently offers 33 stock perpetual trading pairs, spanning micro-caps to mega-cap equities, including major global technology stocks, alongside four precious metal perpetuals. The platform also supports one of the highest offerings of up to 100x on selected stock perpetuals, including pairs such as NVDAUSDT, TSLAUSDT, and GOOGLUSDT, offering one of the highest leverage ceilings available in the market.

Beyond cost efficiency, stock perpetuals lower the barrier to participation by allowing traders to gain exposure without purchasing full shares. This structure enables more flexible position sizing and capital allocation, particularly for users navigating short-term earnings or macro-driven price movements.

The update reinforces Bitget’s Universal Exchange model, which brings crypto, stocks and traditional market exposure together under a unified interface. By combining low fees, broad asset coverage, and capital-efficient structures, Bitget continues to position itself as the trading venue for traders moving across asset classes and market cycles.

To find out more, please visit here.

About Bitget

Bitget is the world’s largest Universal Exchange (UEX), serving over 125 million users and offering access to over 2M crypto tokens, 100+ tokenized stocks, ETFs, commodities, FX, and precious metals such as gold. The ecosystem is committed to helping users trade smarter with its AI agent, which co-pilots trade execution. Bitget is driving crypto adoption through strategic partnerships with LALIGA and MotoGP™. Aligned with its global impact strategy, Bitget has joined hands with UNICEF to support blockchain education for 1.1 million people by 2027. Bitget currently leads in the tokenized TradFi market, providing the industry’s lowest fees and highest liquidity across 150 regions worldwide.

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Risk Warning: Digital asset prices are subject to fluctuation and may experience significant volatility. Investors are advised to only allocate funds they can afford to lose. The value of any investment may be impacted, and there is a possibility that financial objectives may not be met, nor the principal investment recovered. Independent financial advice should always be sought, and personal financial experience and standing carefully considered. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Bitget accepts no liability for any potential losses incurred. Nothing contained herein should be construed as financial advice. For further information, please refer to our Terms of Use.

Goldman Sachs disclosed significant crypto exposure in its Q4 2025 13F filing, revealing more than $2.36 billion in digital asset holdings. 

The filing shows $1.1 billion in Bitcoin, $1.0 billion in Ethereum, $153 million in XRP, and $108 million in Solana, representing a 0.33% allocation of its reported investment portfolio.

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Banking Giant Embraces XRP Exposure

The disclosure places Goldman among the most exposed major US banks to crypto-linked assets, albeit still at a small percentage of total holdings. 

A closer look at the filing shows Goldman’s XRP exposure comes specifically through XRP exchange-traded funds, with holdings valued at approximately $152 million. 

US Spot XRP ETFs currently hold over $1.04 billion in total net assets. XRP ETFs have been trading for 56 days now, and they have only recorded 4 days of outflow. 

Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s most influential investment banks, advising governments and corporations on mergers, capital markets, and restructuring.

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As of early 2026, the investment bank oversees roughly $3.6 trillion in assets under supervision for institutional and private clients. It also operates large trading, asset management, and wealth management businesses. 

As a market bellwether, its portfolio disclosures often signal broader institutional sentiment.

Goldman Sachs Historical Bitcoin Stance

Historically, Goldman’s public stance on Bitcoin was skeptical. 

Before 2020, executives and research teams described Bitcoin as a speculative asset with limited use as money and no intrinsic cash flows. 

The firm consistently framed crypto as unsuitable for conservative portfolios and emphasized volatility and regulatory risk.

That position began to soften after 2020 as institutional demand increased. Goldman restarted its crypto trading desk, expanded derivatives access, and produced research acknowledging Bitcoin’s role as a potential inflation hedge, while still stopping short of endorsing it as a core asset class. 

Following the crypto winter in 2022, the firm again stressed infrastructure and counterparty risks.

More recently, Goldman has shifted toward cautious participation. It has engaged through ETFs, structured products, and tokenization initiatives, while maintaining that crypto remains speculative. 

A US federal judge sentenced Braden John Karony, the former CEO of SafeMoon, to 100 months in prison, following his conviction for fraud tied to the collapse of the once-hyped Solana token.

US District Judge Eric Komitee delivered the sentence after hearing emotional victim testimony and forceful arguments from prosecutors, who accused Karony of exploiting investor trust while secretly diverting funds.

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The court also scheduled a separate hearing on restitution and financial penalties for April 23.

“This Was a Massive Fraud”: Judge Rejects Defense Pleas

During sentencing, Judge Komitee dismissed defense arguments that Karony’s age and background should mitigate his punishment.

“This was a massive fraud,” the judge said, adding that Karony and his co-conspirators “went to great pains to earn the trust” of investors by repeatedly assuring them that a rug pull was impossible.

Victims described losing life savings, selling personal assets, and delaying home ownership and education plans. 

Several said they invested because Karony made himself highly visible and trustworthy, contrasting him with Bitcoin’s anonymous creator.

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Prosecutors sought a 12-year sentence, arguing Karony showed no remorse and understood the consequences of lying to investors. 

The judge ultimately imposed a shorter but still substantial sentence of 8 years and 4 months.

How SafeMoon Collapsed

SafeMoon launched in 2021 with promises of long-term rewards and a “locked” liquidity pool that executives claimed could not be accessed.

Federal prosecutors later alleged that those claims were false. 

According to the case, insiders retained control over the liquidity and misappropriated millions of dollars, while publicly assuring investors their funds were safe.

Authorities said Karony personally benefited from diverted assets while continuing to promote the token and deny any risk of a rug pull.

The prosecution framed the scheme as deliberate deception, not mismanagement or market failure. A jury agreed, convicting Karony on fraud-related counts earlier this year.

With today’s sentence, the SafeMoon case joins a growing list of crypto prosecutions where courts have treated broken trust and liquidity abuse as criminal theft, not innovation gone wrong.