Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is moving toward offering loans secured by cryptocurrency and said Friday it is prepared to coordinate with the country’s central bank on shaping the necessary regulatory framework, according to Reuters.

The lender has already tested the model in January. The bank issued the country’s first bitcoin-backed loan to one of its largest bitcoin miners, IntelionData, calling the transaction a pilot and suggesting it was keen to issue more in the future.

The volume of digital financial asset issuances on the platform hit 408 billion rubles (about $5.3 billion) in 2025 — an increase of 5.6 times versus 2024 (73 billion rubles, or $948 million) and 204 times greater than 2023 (2 billion rubles or $26 million).

Sberbank’s regulated digital financial asset (DFA) business expanded rapidly in 2025, with total issuance reaching RUB 408 billion ($4.9 billion), more than 5.6 times the 2024 level, while the bank’s own DFA holdings grew sevenfold in six months to RUB 185 billion ($2.2 billion).

The growth comes alongside a still-dominant traditional balance sheet: in December, Sber’s corporate loan portfolio stood at RUB 30.4 trillion ($365 billion), its retail loan book at RUB 18.8 trillion ($226 billion), and client deposits at RUB 33.1 trillion ($398 billion), highlighting the relatively small but fast-scaling role of tokenized assets within Russia’s largest lender.

When announcing the trial loan, Anatoly Popov, Sberbank’s deputy chairman, said the bank already offers clients structured bonds and digital financial assets with investments in bitcoin and ether. Popov also said the bank was currently testing decentralized finance (DeFi) instruments and supports the gradual legalization of cryptocurrencies within the Russian legal framework.

Another major lender, Sovcombank, became the first Russian bank to roll out crypto-backed lending on Feb. 5 to individuals and businesses legally holding bitcoin.

In December 2025, it reopened the cryptocurrency market to the public with new rules laid out by the country’s central bank. Officials expect to complete legislation governing crypto assets by July 1, 2026.

Sberbank said the planned lending program would target not only mining companies but also businesses that hold cryptocurrency on their balance sheets.

TLDR

• Blockratize Inc., the parent company of Polymarket, has filed trademark applications for the terms “POLY” and “$POLY.”
• The trademark filings cover various services, including digital token and cryptocurrency trading, as well as platform-as-a-service offerings.
• Both trademark applications were filed on February 4 and are currently listed as “live” and “pending” by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
• The filings were submitted on an “intent to use” basis, meaning the marks are not yet in active commercial use.
• Polymarket executives have previously confirmed plans to launch a native POLY token alongside an airdrop, but no official launch timeline has been provided.

Blockratize Inc., the parent company of the crypto-powered prediction platform Polymarket, has filed trademark applications in the U.S. for “POLY”. These filings, made on February 4, signal the company’s ongoing plans to launch a native token. The applications are currently listed as “live” and “pending,” suggesting the project is moving forward.

The trademark filings span multiple classes, covering digital token services, cryptocurrency trading, and platform-as-a-service offerings. This move aligns with previous statements from Polymarket executives about the potential launch of a native token, adding a formal legal step to their plans. While the filings don’t specify a timeline, they confirm ongoing preparations for the launch of the POLY token.

Trademark Filings Confirm Polymarket’s Token Plans

Polymarket’s trademark applications cover a range of services, including downloadable software for cryptocurrency trading and financial services. These filings have been submitted on an “intent to use” basis, meaning they are not yet in active commercial use. The company has also applied for digital token and cryptocurrency services as part of its broader market strategy.

While the trademark filings do not mention specific dates or mechanics, they do reinforce earlier statements from Polymarket executives. In October, Polymarket’s Chief Marketing Officer, Matthew Modabber, confirmed the company’s plans for the POLY token launch. Founder Shayne Coplan also teased the token’s release, with both executives noting that the U.S. app’s relaunch would take precedence over the token rollout.

Polymarket’s Expansion and Token Speculation

Polymarket has become one of the largest global venues for prediction markets, with $7.7 billion in trading volume last month. This growth has spurred anticipation for the POLY token, particularly as speculation around the launch continues to build. With the increasing popularity of prediction markets in politics, sports, and macro events, the token launch has captured the attention of the broader cryptocurrency community.

The company has secured significant investments, including a $2 billion deal with the Intercontinental Exchange, parent of the New York Stock Exchange. Polymarket has also formed strategic partnerships with major names like Google Finance, Yahoo Finance, DraftKings, and the National Hockey League.

XRP outperformed the broader cryptocurrency market on Friday, Feb. 6, rising nearly 20% over the past 24 hours.

The token was trading around $1.50, after briefly touching a high near $1.53, per The Defiant’s price page. XRP’s market capitalization now stands at about $91.3 billion. XRP also strengthened against Bitcoin (BTC), gaining more than 13% on the BTC pair, according to CoinGecko. Meanwhile, 24-hour trading volume climbed to roughly $16.5 billion.

The rally came as investor sentiment improved following a series of Ripple announcements this week, with the latest being the company teasing major upgrades to the XRP Ledger (XRPL) on Feb. 5.

In a blog post, Ripple outlined how new and upcoming features on the XRP Ledger would expand XRP’s real-world utility beyond payments. The company also said that XRP is increasingly being used across stablecoin settlement, FX, tokenized assets, and lending.

“With each use case, XRP’s role becomes more intertwined in institutional finance, either as the asset being moved, the bridge facilitating exchange, or the reserve currency backing network security,” the post reads.

Earlier this week, the team also announced that Ripple Prime added support for Hyperliquid – the largest decentralized perpetual futures platform by trading volume and open interest (OI), according to DeFiLlama. The move aims to provide institutional clients with on-chain derivatives liquidity through Ripple’s prime brokerage platform.

“At Ripple Prime, we are excited to continue leading the way in merging decentralized finance with traditional prime brokerage services, offering direct support to trading, yield generation and a wider range of digital assets,” said Michael Higgins, International CEO, Ripple Prime. “This strategic extension of our prime brokerage platform into DeFi will enhance our clients’ access to liquidity, providing the greater efficiency and innovation that our institutional clients demand.”

XRP’s rebound comes amid a broader market downturn that has stretched for weeks. Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading under $70,000 – a price point not seen since Nov. 2024. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) is currently changing hands at $2,000, down 25% on the week.

Cryptocurrency markets experienced a brutal sell-off this week as investor concerns grew over stagnating US liquidity following US President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve.

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded three consecutive days of outflows, with $431 million exiting on Thursday, according to data from Farside Investors. Bitcoin’s (BTC) price briefly dipped to $60,074 on Friday before recovering above $64,930 as of 7:49 a.m. UTC.

Warsh — who previously served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011 — is expected to continue the interest rate cut trajectory. His nomination may also signal that broader market liquidity is expected to “stabilize rather than meaningfully expand,” Thomas Perfumo, economist at crypto exchange Kraken, told Cointelegraph.

The industry recorded its 10th-largest liquidation event on Jan. 31, as more than $2.56 billion in leveraged positions were wiped out, according to derivatives data platform CoinGlass.

TRM Labs completes $70M investment round at $1B, becomes crypto unicorn

Blockchain intelligence platform TRM Labs completed a $70 million Series C funding round, valuing it at $1 billion, becoming the latest crypto company to reach unicorn status.

The investment round was led by seed investor Blockchain Capital, with participation from Goldman Sachs, Bessemer Venture Partners, Brevan Howard Digital, Thoma Bravo, Citi Ventures and Galaxy Ventures, according to a Wednesday news release.

TRM Labs seeks to equip public and private institutions with AI solutions that combat cybercrime. The company defends against illicit activities that increasingly rely on automation.

“At TRM, we’re building AI for problems that have real consequences for public safety, financial integrity, and national security,” wrote Esteban Castaño, co-founder and CEO of TRM Labs.

“This funding allows our world-class team — and the people who will join us next — to innovate alongside institutions on the front lines of the most consequential threats, and expand the potential of AI to meaningfully improve how our critical systems are protected.”

The $70 million round shows that capital is flowing into blockchain analytics platforms seeking to stop the spread of AI-fueled scams and cyberattacks, including from large traditional institutions.

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Avalanche tokenization hits Q4 high as BlackRock’s BUIDL expands onchain

Blockchain network Avalanche saw increasing institutional adoption across tokenized money market funds, loans and indexes in the fourth quarter, driving the value of real-world assets (RWAs) on the layer 1 to a new high.

The total value locked of tokenized RWAs on Avalanche rose 68.6% over the fourth quarter of 2025 and nearly 950% over the year to more than $1.3 billion, boosted by the $500 million BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) that launched in November, Messari research analyst Youssef Haidar said in a Jan. 29 report.

Fortune 500 fintech FIS partnered with Avalanche-based marketplace Intain to launch tokenized loans in November, further boosting Avalanche’s TVL, Haidar said. Intain enables 2,000 US banks to securitize over $6 billion worth of loans on Avalanche.

The S&P Dow Jones also partnered with Dinari, an Avalanche-powered blockchain, to launch the S&P Digital Markets 50 Index, which tracks 35 crypto-linked stocks and 15 crypto tokens on Avalanche.

Traditional finance firms are increasingly confident about experimenting with tokenization, as the Securities and Exchange Commission has become more open to crypto products over the past year.

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ParaFi Capital makes $35M investment in Solana-based Jupiter

Jupiter said it has secured a $35 million strategic investment from ParaFi Capital, marking the first time the Solana-based onchain trading and liquidity aggregation protocol has taken outside capital after years of bootstrapped growth.

The transaction involved token purchases at market prices with no discount and an extended lockup period and was settled entirely in Jupiter’s JupUSD stablecoin, the companies said. Financial terms beyond the $35 million investment were not disclosed.

The investment comes as Jupiter has processed more than $1 trillion in trading volume over the past year and expanded beyond swap routing into perpetuals, lending and stablecoins, according to the company.

The deal also included warrants allowing ParaFi Capital to acquire additional tokens at higher prices, a structure the companies said was intended to reflect long-term alignment. 

The investment follows a recent expansion of Jupiter’s product offerings. In October, Jupiter rolled out a beta version of its onchain prediction market developed with Kalshi, followed in January by the launch of JupUSD, a Solana-native, dollar-pegged stablecoin built in partnership with Ethena Labs.

Jupiter’s native token (JUP) was up around 9% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.

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Aave winds down Avara, phases out Family wallet in DeFi refocus

Aave Labs said it is sunsetting its “umbrella brand” Avara in the company’s latest move to refocus on decentralized finance and simplify its branding.

Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov posted Tuesday on X that Avara, a company encompassing projects including the Family crypto wallet and previously the social media platform Lens, “is no longer required as we go all in on bringing Aave to the masses.”

Kulechov said the Apple iOS-based Family crypto wallet was also being wound down as the team has “learned that onboarding millions of users requires purpose-built experiences, such as savings, rather than generic, open-ended wallet experiences.”

The move marks Aave’s latest effort to refocus on products such as its flagship lending protocol as the project handed stewardship of Lens to the Mask Network last month, with Kulechov saying Aave’s participation in the protocol would be reduced to an advisory role so it can focus on DeFi.

Kulechov said in his latest post that Aave was “now united as one team of world-class designers, engineers, and smart contract experts, aligned around a single mission: bringing DeFi to everyone.”

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Step Finance treasury wallets breached, $27M in SOL drained as STEP crashes 90%

Step Finance, a decentralized finance portfolio tracker on Solana, disclosed a security breach that led to the compromise of several treasury wallets, triggering a sharp sell-off in its native token.

“Earlier today, several of our treasury wallets were compromised by a sophisticated actor during APAC hours. This was an attack facilitated through a well-known attack vector,” the platform wrote in a post on X, adding that they have taken “remediation” steps.

Onchain data reviewed by blockchain security firm CertiK shows that roughly 261,854 Solana (SOL) (worth around $27.2 million) was unstaked and transferred from Step Finance-controlled wallets.

Step Finance has not yet confirmed the total scale of the losses. The team also did not disclose how the attacker gained access, nor whether the incident stemmed from a smart contract flaw, compromised keys or an internal access issue. It also remains unclear whether any user funds were affected, beyond protocol-owned assets.

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DeFi market overview

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the red.

The privacy-preserving Zcash (ZEC) token fell 35% to record the week’s biggest decline in the top 100, followed by the Story (IP) token, down 34% during the past week.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.