Xapo Bank’s Digital Wealth Report says borrowers are keeping Bitcoin-backed loans open longer during the product’s first year of activity. Bitcoin-backed borrowing at the Gibraltar-based Xapo Bank is increasingly being used for long-term financial planning rather than short-term liquidity, according to the bank’s 2025 Digital Wealth Report. Shared with Cointelegraph, the report says 52% of the Bitcoin-backed loans issued by Xapo in 2025 carried a 365-day term, with many of those loans remaining open even as new loan creation slowed later in the year. The bank, which primarily caters to high-net-worth individuals and private clients, said the trend reflects members using Bitcoin as collateral to unlock liquidity while preserving long-term exposure, rather than tapping loans for temporary cash needs. Read more
A Nevada judge has temporarily barred prediction market Polymarket from offering event contracts in the state, pushing back against claims that only the CFTC can police those markets. A Nevada state judge has temporarily forced onchain prediction market Polymarket to halt business in the state, with a ruling that challenges the industry’s argument that federal commodities law preempts state gambling rules. In a Thursday order seen by Cointelegraph, the court granted the Nevada Gaming Control Board a 14‑day temporary restraining order (TRO) against Polymarket operator Blockratize. The order bans Polymarket from offering event‑based contracts to Nevada residents while the case develops. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11. The order leans on Nevada gambling statutes, finding at this early stage that Polymarket’s sports and other event markets constitute unlicensed wagering rather than regulated financial products. Read more
XTB investment platform ended 2025 with record operating income of EUR506.7 million, up 16.4% on the year, and attracted 864,286 new clients, 73.4% more than 498,438 attracted in 2024.
Bitcoin price correlation with PMI sparked disagreement among analysts after the latter spiked above 50 for the first time since 2022. Bitcoin (BTC) may be set to gain from new macro tailwinds as US macro data sets up a “reflation” trade. Key points: US ISM PMI data for January breaks nearly three years of contraction. Read more