Crypto

Social engineering and impersonation-related scams were the most frequent attack vectors targeting crypto investors in AMLBot’s investigations last year. About two-thirds of crypto incidents investigated by blockchain analytics company AMLBot in 2025 were driven by social engineering rather than technical exploits, according to a report based on the company’s internal casework. AMLBot said 65% of the incidents it reviewed last year involved access and response failures, such as compromised devices, weak verification and delayed detection, instead of vulnerabilities in blockchains or smart contracts. The company said its analysis drew on about 2,500 internal investigations and should not be read as an industry-wide measure of crypto crime, according to a Wednesday report shared with Cointelegraph. Read more

Your day-ahead look for Feb. 18, 2026

Bitwise's February announcement arrived as two moves packaged as one. The crypto asset manager announced a partnership with Morpho to launch curated yield vaults and simultaneously acquired Chorus One's institutional staking business. It looks like a deliberate assembly: curation mechanisms to filter protocol risk, infrastructure to deliver returns, and enough operational scaffolding to make the […] The post TradFi is selling crypto income on Wall Street but a hidden switch decides who gets in appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Founders Fund Exits Ethereum Treasury Firm ETHZilla, SEC Shows The post Peter Thiel Quietly Exits Ethereum Treasury Firm ETHZilla – Warning Sign for the DAT Model? appeared first on Cryptonews.

Once holding over 100,000 ETH, ETHZilla liquidated some to cover debt and repurchase stock.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is reportedly weighing an early exit from the bank just as the EU enters a crucial phase for the digital euro. European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde is considering leaving before her eight-year term ends in October 2027, the Financial Times reported, citing a person “familiar with her thinking.”  Lagarde, who took office in November 2019, is said to be weighing an early exit ahead of France’s April 2027 presidential election so that outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz can agree on a successor, the FT reported Wednesday. An ECB spokesperson pushed back on the report, telling Cointelegraph: “President Lagarde is totally focused on her mission and has not taken any decision regarding the end of her term.” Read more

Crypto firms serving Californians are mandated to secure DFAL licenses or file license applications by mid-2026.

Analyst warns Bitcoin nearing Phase 2 bear market as volatility and liquidity trends point to further downside risk across crypto markets.

A Wells Fargo strategist said bigger US tax refunds may revive retail risk-taking by late March, potentially sending fresh cash into Bitcoin and momentum stocks. US tax filers may see bigger refunds in 2026 compared with previous years, a development one Wall Street strategist said may boost risk appetite for digital assets and tech stocks preferred among retail investors. In a note cited by CNBC, Wells Fargo analyst Ohsung Kwon said the coming refund wave may help bring back the so-called “YOLO” trade, with as much as $150 billion potentially flowing into equities and Bitcoin (BTC) by the end of March. Kwon said the extra cash could be most visible among higher-income consumers. “Speculation picks up with bigger savings…we expect YOLO to return,” wrote Wells Fargo analyst Ohsung Kwon in a Sunday note seen by news outlet CNBC. “Additional savings from tax returns, especially for the high-income consumer will flow back into equities, in our view,” he added. Read more

BlackRock has sharpened the staking posture for its iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB), outlining a plan to keep most of the fund’s ETH staked and earning rewards rather than held in custody. In its latest amended filing, the sponsor said that under normal market circumstances, it would seek to keep 70% to 95% of […] The post BlackRock will skim 18% of staked Ethereum ETF rewards from investors — and ETHB exits could take weeks appeared first on CryptoSlate.

$150B in US Tax Refunds Could Fuel Fresh Crypto Inflows, Historical Data Suggests The post $150B in US Tax Refunds Could Fuel Fresh Crypto Inflows, Historical Data Suggests appeared first on Cryptonews.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to see slowing outflows as investors and analysts examine Q4 2025 filings showing which institutions bought and sold crypto ETFs. US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted $104.9 million in net outflows on Tuesday in the first trading session this week. Total trading volume in spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs fell to just over $3 billion, down nearly 80% from a record $14.7 billion on Feb. 5, reflecting a continued slowdown in trading activity, according to SoSoValue data. The outflows came as another round of institutions reported their Bitcoin ETF holdings for the fourth quarter of 2025, with Jane Street ranking as the second-largest buyer of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) in Q4, buying $276 million. Read more

A new SEC filing shows Peter Thiel-linked Founders Fund entities now own zero ETHZilla shares, after disclosing a 7.5% stake in 2025. Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund has fully exited Ether treasury company ETHZilla, according to a Tuesday filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  Entities linked to Thiel now report owning zero shares in the company in a 13G amendment filed on Tuesday, after disclosing a 7.5% stake on Aug. 4, 2025.  At that time, the group beneficially owned 11,592,241 shares of what was then known as 180 Life Sciences Corp., representing 7.5% of the 154,032,084 shares outstanding and worth about $40 million based on trading at around $3.50 per share in early August. Read more

Pi Network's native token is the top performer on a weekly scale, followed by STABLE and MORPHO.

Bitcoin Diverges From Nasdaq on Dollar Liquidity Risk: Hayes The post Bitcoin’s Divergence From Nasdaq Signals Dollar Liquidity Risk, Says Arthur Hayes appeared first on Cryptonews.

Moonwell DeFi Lender Hit With $1.8M Bad Debt From Oracle Error The post Oracle Error Leaves DeFi Lender Moonwell With $1.8 Million in Bad Debt appeared first on Cryptonews.

Crypto Lobby Launches Prediction Market Working Group The post Crypto Lobby Forms Working Group to Push for Prediction Market Regulatory Clarity appeared first on Cryptonews.

Coin Center Urges Senate to Protect Crypto Developer Bill The post Coin Center Pushes Senate to Preserve Crypto Developer Liability Protections appeared first on Cryptonews.

The demand for Ethereum staking has skyrocketed despite the asset price crashing back to bear market lows. 

[PRESS RELEASE – George Town, Cayman Islands, February 17th, 2026] Zircuit, a security-first digital asset company backed by YZiLabs, Dragonfly, and Pantera, today announced the launch of Zircuit Finance. Incubated by a team from Quantstamp, Zircuit Finance is a secure platform for institutional-grade strategies, a stablecoin vault designed to generate yield on USDC and USDT, […]