Crypto

Prediction market exposure is being packaged for public investors as the U.S. election cycle draws institutional interest.

The rewards model follows months of criticism that too few Pump.fun traders were breaking even on the platform, let alone profiting. Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun has rolled out a new feature that shifts rewards toward memecoin traders rather than its deployers — a tweak to its fee model that once generated over $15 million in a single day at its peak. In a post to X on Tuesday, Pump.fun said the platform’s memecoin creators can now decide whether a token “truly deserves” Creator Fees, or whether it’s best to redirect rewards to traders engaging with the token through “Cashback Coins.”  Pump.fun’s original model features Creator Fees, giving token creators 0.3% of all fees generated by the tokens they launch. Read more

The error allowed liquidators to repay roughly $1 of debt to seize cbETH collateral, leaving Moonwell with nearly $1.8 million in bad debt.

Arthur Hayes warns that AI-related job losses will spark a credit crisis, forcing central banks to print money, which will drive Bitcoin to new all-time highs. The divergence between Bitcoin and tech stocks is a warning sign of a potential artificial intelligence-driven credit crisis that could lead to more central bank money printing, says Arthur Hayes.  “Bitcoin is the global fiat liquidity fire alarm. It is the most responsive freely traded asset to the fiat credit supply,” said the crypto entrepreneur in his latest blog post on Wednesday. Hayes went on to caution that the recent divergence between Bitcoin (BTC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index “sounds the alarm that a massive credit destruction event is nigh.” Read more

The positive sentiment reflects strong and meaningful activity from the XRP community, despite the bears dominating the broader market.

Arthur Hayes warns Bitcoin's divergence from a flat Nasdaq signals an AI-driven credit crisis, but experts say the timeline is overstretched.

Two more ETF issuers have filed prospectuses for six US election prediction market ETFs, allowing investors to gain exposure to election outcomes. Exchange-traded fund issuers Bitwise and GraniteShares have filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to launch funds tied to event contracts on the outcome of US elections. Bitwise filed a prospectus on Tuesday for a new lineup of ETFs branded PredictionShares, comprising six prediction-market-style ETFs listed on NYSE Arca. The first two funds will pay out if either a Democrat or a Republican wins the US presidential election in November 2028. The next two will pay out if either Democrats or Republicans win the Senate in November 2026, and the final two if either party wins the House. Read more

The ZORA token gained 6.2% to $0.022 over the last 24 hours as Zora announced its new attention markets product. Decentralized SocialFi platform Zora has launched its new attention markets platform on Solana, allowing traders to speculate on which buzzwords, hashtags, trends and topics will go viral online. “Trade what’s trending. Take positions on any topic, idea, meme, or moment before it breaks,” Zora’s newly launched platform states.  One of Zora’s founders, Jacob Horne, said on Tuesday that it costs 1 Solana (SOL), currently $85, to deploy a “Trend,” aimed at disincentivizing spam. Trends have no creator rewards. Read more

The ruling clears a path for state action, leaving predictions-market operator Kalshi with limited options, according to one legal expert.

Bitcoin open interest has plunged 55% from its October 2025 peak, marking the steepest decline since April 2023 as traders unwind leverage.

Ether adoption grows as major endowments shift capital, BlackRock launches a staking ETF and Ethereum's real-world asset dominance highlights TradFi investor interest. Key takeaways: Institutional sentiment is shifting toward ETH as elite funds reallocate capital from Bitcoin to Ether ETFs. BlackRock’s ETH ETF pairs secure staking with a low 0.25% fee, creating a major win for mainstream crypto access. Read more

Crypto fans are living through turbulent times but global crypto adoption continues to progress quietly in the background. Here’s why XRP, Solana, and Dogecoin may be some of the savviest plays ahead of the next bull run.XRP (XRP): Ripple’s SWIFT Challenger Targets a $5 MoveWith a market cap exceeding $87 billion, XRP ($XRP) remains the […] The post Crypto Price Prediction Today 18 February – XRP, Solana, Dogecoin appeared first on Cryptonews.

When asked a carefully structured prompt, DeepSeek hints at the possibility of high upside this year for current HODLers of XRP, Pepe, and Shiba Inu, a timeline that may catch unprepared investors off guard.Below is a breakdown of how current technical signals and broader ecosystem developments may support DeepSeek’s bullishness.XRP ($XRP): DeepSeek Believes Ripple’s Roadmap […] The post China’s DeepSeek AI Predicts the Price of XRP, PEPE and Shiba Inu By the End of 2026 appeared first on Cryptonews.

More than 36,000 BTC left exchanges this month as miners shifted holdings to cold storage, hinting at bullish expectations ahead.

Elemental Royalty said investors will be able to receive dividends in Tether’s XAUT, establishing a novel use case for tokenized gold.

Bridge, the stablecoin firm of payments giant Stripe, was awarded conditional approval for a national trust banking charter.

Both Mubadala Investment Company and Al Warda Investments lifted investments in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) in the fourth quarter.

While still subject to final approval, the regulator's nod would enable Bridge to offer stablecoin and digital asset services to businesses. Stablecoin platform Bridge, owned by the payments processor Stripe, said it had received conditional approval to operate as a federally chartered national trust bank under the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). In a Tuesday notice, Bridge said it had received conditional approval from the banking regulator, allowing the company to “operate stablecoin products and services under direct federal oversight” once fully approved. Bridge said the charter would allow it to offer custody of digital assets, issue stablecoins and manage stablecoin reserves. “Our compliance framework already positions Bridge to be GENIUS ready,” said the company, referring to the stablecoin bill signed into law in July 2025. “Now achieving a national trust bank charter will provide our customers the regulatory backbone they need to build with stablecoins confidently and at scale.” R...

The Dutch electronic money issuer will act as a BIN sponsor for fintech partners, linking regulated dollar- and euro-denominated tokens to mainstream card rails. Dutch payments company Quantoz Payments has become a principal member of Visa, enabling it to issue virtual debit cards backed by its regulated e-money tokens and sponsor third-party fintechs seeking to offer stablecoin-linked payment products across Europe. Under the agreement, Quantoz will be able to issue Visa-branded virtual cards tied to balances held in its USDQ, EURQ and EURD e-money tokens, allowing users to spend those funds online, in stores and through mobile wallets. The company will also act as a BIN sponsor, enabling fintech partners to embed card issuance directly into their platforms. Read more

Russia’s recent messaging crackdown is the cleanest real-world stress test of decentralization in years, and it produced an awkward result. Roskomnadzor began throttling Telegram on Feb. 10, citing “non-compliance.” Two days later, authorities fully blocked WhatsApp, removing its domains from Russia's national registry and forcing users toward VPNs or MAX, a state-backed messenger that critics […] The post Russia’s censorship crackdown and WhatsApp ban expose the decentralization gap the crypto industry keeps missing appeared first on CryptoSlate.