PA Daily News | ZachXBT accuses multiple Axiom employees of insider trading; Block is laying off 4,000 employees.

Today's top news highlights:

Proposed rules from the US OCC for stablecoin regulation: Stablecoin redemptions will not exceed 2 business days, and if daily redemptions exceed 10% of the circulating supply, the redemption period can be extended to 7 days.

ZachXBT: Multiple Axiom employees misused internal data for insider trading

Block is laying off 4,000 employees, nearly half of its workforce.

Magic Eden plans to close its Bitcoin and EVM markets and terminate its multi-chain wallet.

MEV Capital's assets under management shrank by 80% in four months, and its team was absorbed by Belem.

Telegram's built-in encrypted wallet, TON Wallet, now features Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT holding rewards.

Analysts: Bitcoin's rebound was capped by the $68,000 trendline; the bear market is not over yet.

Cryptocurrency trading platform STS Digital has raised $30 million in funding, led by CMT Digital.

Macro & Regulatory

Proposed rules from the US OCC for stablecoin regulation: Stablecoin redemptions will not exceed 2 business days, and if daily redemptions exceed 10% of the circulating supply, the redemption period can be extended to 7 days.

The draft law refines the GENIUS Act's prohibitions on stablecoin interest payments, focusing on restricting the indirect payment of returns to holders through third parties. The draft explicitly rejects two common circumvention methods, including the practice of issuer partners paying rewards to holders; for example, Paxos's PayPal stablecoin PYUSD, which involves PayPal paying rewards to users, was deemed non-compliant. The proposed rules require payment-type stablecoins to complete redemptions within two business days under normal circumstances, automatically extending to seven calendar days if daily redemptions exceed 10% of the circulating supply.

US lawmakers introduce new bill to protect crypto developers from criminal misuse.

According to a post by crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett, U.S. Representatives Scott Fitzgerald, Ben Cline, and Zoe Lofgren have jointly introduced a bipartisan "Blockchain Innovation Promotion Act of 2026," aimed at protecting software developers from the misuse of Section 1960 of the United States Code. The bill clarifies that Section 1960 applies only to entities that control customer funds, not just developers who write code. This distinction is precisely what the crypto industry (especially the DeFi sector) has been pushing for to be included in the Clarity Act.

US Senator Lummis retorts to SBF: The Clarity Act will make you spend more time in jail.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis responded to SBF's support for the CLARITY Act in a post on the X platform, stating that the bill would put SBF in prison for well over 25 years. Lummis emphasized that her legislation is completely different from the bill SBF attempted to buy off Congress in 2022, ignoring his opposition, and stated, "We don't need and don't want your support." SBF had previously stated that the CLARITY Act would be a milestone for the crypto industry and a major achievement for Trump, adding that he had advocated for similar legislation to free the crypto industry from Gensler's regulation.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Bowman: Ensure the banking system is well-equipped to support digital asset activity and encourage innovation in a responsible manner.

According to a post by Sarah Wynn of The Block, the Senate Banking Committee hearings on banking regulators have just begun. In her prepared testimony, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman stated that the central bank is committed to implementing the GENIUS stablecoin law and plans to “provide clarity on how digital assets are handled to ensure the banking system can adequately support digital asset activities.” Bowman stated, “As a regulator, my responsibility is to encourage innovation responsibly, and we must continuously improve our ability to oversee the risks that innovation may pose to safety and soundness.”

The former CEO of Goliath Ventures was arrested on suspicion of running a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme worth approximately $328 million.

According to Decrypt, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of Florida stated that Christopher Alexander Delgado, former CEO of crypto investment firm Goliath Ventures, has been arrested and faces charges of wire fraud and money laundering, which carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. The indictment alleges that Delgado lured victims with promises of monthly returns on investments in crypto liquidity pools, but the funds were used to pay returns to early investors, purchase luxury homes, and fund extravagant lifestyles. The monthly returns received by investors actually came from funds from later investors. Victims identified by law enforcement will receive notices of their rights.

Federal Reserve Governor Milan believes that interest rates need to be cut by about 1 percentage point this year, in four phases.

According to Jinshi News, Federal Reserve Governor Milan stated that he believes an interest rate cut of approximately 1 percentage point is needed this year, in four 25-basis-point cuts, implemented as soon as possible.

The number of Americans filing for initial jobless claims for the week ending February 21 was 212,000, compared to an expected 215,000.

According to Jinshi News, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending February 21 was 212,000, compared with an expected 215,000 and a revised previous figure of 208,000 from 206,000.

The head of Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange AAX is suspected of embezzling over HK$600 million and has been charged with four counts.

According to Hong Kong media outlet Hong Kong 01, the Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange AAX ceased operations in mid-November 2022 citing system maintenance and updates, leaving over 300 customers unable to recover nearly HK$100 million in assets. Hong Kong law enforcement investigations revealed that the platform's shutdown was allegedly caused through false information and illegal means. The person in charge fled Hong Kong with cryptocurrency wallets and private keys, but was later arrested upon returning. Hong Kong police stated today that a thorough investigation revealed losses totaling approximately HK$81 million to 191 victims. The AAX person in charge withdrew approximately HK$633 million worth of cryptocurrency after the platform's closure and has been charged with three counts of theft and one count of fraud.

Project Updates

Magic Eden plans to close its Bitcoin and EVM markets and terminate its multi-chain wallet.

According to Blockspace, Magic Eden plans to announce as early as February 27 that it will shut down the Bitcoin and EVM (NFT) marketplace in the first week of March; its multi-chain wallet will switch to "export-only" mode in mid-March and completely cease service in early April, with its business focus likely returning to the Solana ecosystem.

Coinbase will launch spot trading of Robo Token (ROBO).

According to Coinbase Markets, spot trading of Robo Token (ROBO) is expected to launch on the Coinbase platform on February 27th. The ROBO-USD trading pair will open at or after 5:00 AM Pacific Time, provided liquidity conditions are met, and users in supported regions will be able to participate in trading. ROBO will be available on coinbase.com, the Coinbase App, and Coinbase Advanced, and institutions can access it directly through Coinbase Exchange. The official announcement also disclosed that ROBO is an Ethereum network ERC-20 token and warned against transferring it through other networks to avoid asset loss.

Binance will launch ROBOUSDT perpetual contracts.

According to a Binance announcement, Binance Futures will launch USDⓈ-M ROBOUSDT perpetual contracts on February 27 at 16:45 (UTC+8), with a maximum leverage of 20x.

A new paper from DeepSeek proposes the DualPath inference system, which nearly doubles the agent's throughput.

Amidst the industry's eager anticipation for the next-generation flagship model, DeepSeek V4, the DeepSeek team has quietly released a new academic paper. This paper introduces an innovative inference system called DualPath, specifically optimized for large model (LLM) inference performance under agent workloads. By introducing a "dual-path read KV-Cache (similar to a memory cache)" mechanism, the storage network load is reallocated, increasing offline inference throughput by up to 1.87 times and online service agent runs per second by an average of 1.96 times. The paper's introduction states that large models are rapidly evolving from single-turn chatbots and independent inference models to agent systems—capable of autonomously planning, invoking tools, and solving practical tasks through multi-turn interactions.

Upbit will delist Nomina (NOM) on March 30th, but will retain the withdrawal channel for 30 days.

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit announced that it will terminate trading support for Nomina (NOM) on the NOM/KRW, NOM/BTC, and NOM/USDT trading pairs at 15:00 KST on March 30, 2026. Upbit stated that based on its assessment as a "model case for virtual asset trading support," NOM has several deficiencies in areas such as disclosure of important matters, transparency of governance procedures, substantive business operations, and sustainability, which may potentially harm users. It had already listed NOM as a trading caution item on February 12th. After review, the issues remained unresolved, and Upbit decided to delist it in accordance with its digital asset trading support termination policy.

SBI launches Japan's first trust-based yen stablecoin, JPYSC, with a planned launch in the second quarter.

Japanese financial group SBI Holdings and Startale Group have launched a yen-denominated stablecoin, JPYSC, with plans for issuance in the second quarter of this year, pending regulatory approval. The coin is issued through a trust structure by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, with SBI VC Trade as the primary distributor and Startale handling technology development. Targeting institutional and cross-border settlement scenarios, the project aims to provide a regulated yen alternative in a market dominated by US dollar stablecoins, and supports interoperability with traditional financial infrastructure and multiple blockchain networks.

TeraWulf's revenue is projected to increase by 20% to $168.5 million by 2025, but its losses are expected to widen significantly to $661.4 million.

According to The Block, Bitcoin mining company TeraWulf released its 2025 financial report, showing total revenue of $168.5 million, a 20.3% year-over-year increase. Approximately $16.9 million of this revenue came from its newly launched high-performance computing (HPC) leasing business. Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA showed a loss of $23.1 million, while net loss widened to $661.4 million from $72.4 million in 2024. The company stated that it has signed long-term data center leases covering 522 megawatts of critical IT load, corresponding to over $12.8 billion in contract revenue, and secured $6.5 billion in financing to support the construction of its HPC platform.

ZachXBT: Multiple Axiom employees misused internal data for insider trading

According to on-chain investigator ZachXBT, multiple employees of cryptocurrency exchange Axiom Exchange allegedly exploited access control vulnerabilities in internal tools since early 2025 to view sensitive user information and track private wallet activity, potentially engaging in insider trading. ZachXBT specifically named Broox Bauer as one of those involved. Founded in 2024 by Mist and Cal, Axiom completed its Y Combinator incubation in the winter of 2025, becoming one of the most profitable companies in the sector, generating over $390 million in revenue to date. ZachXBT stated that he was hired to investigate the platform's alleged misconduct after receiving a whistleblower report.

Later, when news was released, Axiom responded: access to the relevant tools has been removed and those responsible for the violations will be held accountable ; the insider address on Polymarket that bets on Axiom may point to a Pump.fun partner, but ZachXBT denied that the two parties had established any contact .

IoTeX releases proposal IIP-56: Completely abandon CIOTX across the network; attacked chains should switch to claims to regain IOTX.

According to an IoTeX announcement, due to an attack on the ioTube cross-chain bridge on February 20th and the unauthorized issuance of CIOTX on the Ethereum side, IoTeX plans to immediately deprecate CIOTX on Ethereum/Base/Solana and permanently close the relevant bridges. The attacker's minting will not be recognized. Eligible holders must submit their transaction hashes through the claims portal; after verification, IOTX will be issued on the IoTeX chain at a 1:1 ratio. BSC/Polygon/IoTeX are unaffected by the issuance and will reopen the bridges after an audit for users to migrate back to IOTX independently, before permanently delisting them. IoTeX will also notify CEX/DEX/DeFi to completely delist or remove CIOTX integrations.

Avalanche ecosystem accelerator Colony announced it will cease operations at the end of this quarter.

The Avalanche Ecosystem Fund and accelerator project Colony released an official Medium statement announcing that after five years of dedicated work in the AVAX ecosystem, the team has decided to cease operations at the end of Q1 2026. The statement cited factors such as weakening ecosystem growth and funding/project inflows, as well as changes in core technology and asset governance, making continued operation difficult. During the liquidation period, liquidity and community funds will not be used. The team's CLY tokens have not been sold or staked; a final distribution will be made to CLY stakers, and the front-end will be gradually shut down.

LayerZero DAO destroyed all remaining STGs, officially renaming them ZRO.

LayerZero co-founder Bryan Pellegrino stated that all remaining STG tokens held by the DAO have been destroyed via on-chain transactions, with Etherscan records showing approximately 303 million STG tokens transferred to a black hole address. The official statement confirms that STG is now equivalent to ZRO, and the token exchange contract remains open to all users for exchanging STG for ZRO.

Anthropic stated that it rejects the Pentagon's "final proposal".

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei stated that even if faced with being removed from the Department of Defense program, the company will not agree to the requirement of "all legitimate uses" and will cooperate with its smooth migration to other model suppliers.

Foreign media reports: PayPal and Stripe are not currently in negotiations, and PayPal has no plans to sell itself.

According to US financial media Semafor, PayPal (PYPL.O) and Stripe are not currently in negotiations. PayPal (PYPL.O) has no plans to sell itself.

Block is laying off 4,000 employees, nearly half of its workforce.

US fintech company Block is laying off 4,000 employees, nearly half of its workforce. The company is betting on artificial intelligence to transform future labor productivity. Following the layoffs, Block's stock price surged 22% in after-hours trading. Since 2024, Block has been restructuring its business model and staffing due to its lagging stock performance. Simultaneously, the company has invested heavily in developing AI tools to improve operational efficiency, including its own tool called Goose. In a letter, founder Jack Dorsey wrote, "Intelligent tools have redefined how we create and run companies. We've already seen this change within the company. A significantly smaller team, using the tools we've developed, can get more done and do it better."

MEV Capital's assets under management shrank by 80% in four months, and its team was absorbed by Belem.

According to The Block, on-chain asset management firm MEV Capital's assets under management (AUM) have declined by 80% from a peak of $1.5 billion in October 2025, to approximately $300 million as of February 25. This four-month asset shrinkage stems from the stablecoin de-pegging event on October 10th of last year, which triggered automatic liquidation of multiple protocols, resulting in a direct loss of over $10 million for the company. MEV Capital was heavily involved in yield strategies for the Elixir-issued deUSD stablecoin. The asset contraction led to a significant drop in revenue. The company's total protocol revenue in the first quarter of 2026 fell to $804,720, a decrease of 86.8% from $6.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 and a decrease of 92.4% from the peak of $10.62 million in the first quarter of 2025.

MetaMask and Mastercard launch payment cards in the US that support on-chain cashback.

According to The Block, Consensys' crypto wallet MetaMask has partnered with Mastercard to launch a "self-custodial" payment card in the US. Users can use it at Mastercard locations and it also supports Apple Pay and Google Pay. Unlike custodial cards that require funds to be deposited into an exchange account beforehand, the MetaMask Card allows users to retain control of their assets until the time of payment. The card is powered by Baanx. Cardholders will receive cashback rewards for payments made with the MetaMask stablecoin mUSD. Standard cardholders receive 1% cashback, while premium users can earn up to 3% cashback on their first $10,000 of spending each year.

Telegram's built-in encrypted wallet, TON Wallet, now features Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT holding rewards.

According to The Block, Telegram's embedded crypto wallet, TON Wallet, has announced on-chain yield options for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT holders. Users can deposit their assets into a "vault" to participate in on-chain strategies designed to generate floating yields. The USDT strategy, supported by Re7 DeFi strategies, offers up to 18% annualized returns; the ETH and BTC vaults extend the yield functionality to these two major crypto assets. This feature is implemented through TON Wallet, with integration from Morpho, TAC, and Re7.

Binance chose Greece as its EU regulatory base, submitting its application before the MiCA deadline.

According to Finance Feeds, Binance co-CEO Richard Teng revealed that the exchange submitted an application to Greek regulators last month to obtain an operating license under the EU's Crypto Asset Market Regulation (MiCA). MiCA requires crypto companies to obtain a license by July 2026 to operate within the EU. Teng stated that MiCA licenses are standardized throughout Europe, thus requiring consideration of multiple factors such as labor force, talent pool, and security. Greece is considered a suitable base for expansion within the EU. The crypto market has experienced significant volatility over the past year, with Bitcoin falling approximately 50% from its October high of $126,000. Teng noted that retail investor sentiment has weakened, but institutional participation remains stable, with "smart money, institutional funds, and long-term capital continuing to flow in."

Robinhood launches in Canton (CC)

According to official sources, Robinhood has launched on Canton Network (CC).

Huma Finance: HUMA Token Q3 Airdrop Now Available for Claim

Huma Finance announced on its X platform that the Q3 HUMA token airdrop is now open for collection and will close on March 26th at 21:00 (UTC+8). Withdrawing locked $PST or $mPST during the collection period will reduce the allocation for the next quarter. Q4 has also launched, with the Classic pool offering up to 13.4% annualized return and the Priority pool offering up to 21.5% annualized return. The next airdrop is expected in approximately three months.

Analysis & Opinions

Bitcoin analyst Willy Woo: This round of selling pressure may have temporarily subsided, and the bear market may continue until early 2027.

The market is likely to rebound to the mid-$70,000 level but will likely encounter resistance. A typical bear market bottom range is around $45,000. If the global macroeconomic environment weakens significantly, then $30,000 and $16,000 will be key support levels and the last lines of defense for maintaining a long-term bull market structure, respectively.

Analysts: Bitcoin's rebound was capped by the $68,000 trendline; the bear market is not over yet.

According to Cointelegraph, Bitcoin retreated to around $67,000 after failing to recover key support levels. Traders and analysts pointed out that the 200-week exponential moving average and the all-time high before 2021 are both acting as resistance. The 200-week EMA is currently "acting as resistance," and historical experience suggests that if the price continues to stay below this moving average, it will tend to move further down. Analysts are generally cautious about whether the bear market has ended. Rekt Capital stated that the shortest Bitcoin bear market in history lasted 365 days, while the current bear market has only lasted about 140 days, and any discussion about the end of the bear market "may be premature." Trader Roman pointed out that previous bear market cycles saw declines of nearly 80%, while the current decline from the October 2025 high is only about 53%, and there are no signs of reversal on the monthly and weekly charts.

Analysts refute rumors of "Jane Street selling Bitcoin at 10 a.m. daily," stating that Bitcoin is not easily manipulated.

According to Cointelegraph, analysts say data does not support market rumors that quantitative trading firm Jane Street manipulates Bitcoin prices through algorithmic selling at the opening of the US stock market each day. The allegations stem from a lawsuit filed by Terraform Labs' court-appointed administrator against Jane Street, accusing it of insider trading that exacerbated the collapse of the Terra algorithmic stablecoin ecosystem in May 2022. Some believe that Jane Street's holdings in the BlackRock IBIT ETF may have concealed a net short position through hedging not disclosed in public filings, and that it conducted coordinated algorithmic selling daily at 10:00 AM ET.

Binance Research: Market concerns about AI disrupting software may be excessive; Bitcoin is nearing a structural bottom.

According to Binance Research's latest weekly report, the US Supreme Court's tariff ruling initially increased uncertainty, but quantitative analysis suggests the direct impact may be quite limited, and the market may have exaggerated downside risks to inflation and economic fundamentals. Market concerns about AI disrupting software may be excessive. Once software stocks form a sustained bottom, the mechanical correlation between tech stocks and Bitcoin will subside. This week's Nvidia earnings report and Anthropic corporate partnership update may be early signs in this direction. Currently, Bitcoin and the global M2 money supply are experiencing the longest and largest divergence in history, stemming from three structural distortions: a weak dollar mechanically inflates the nominal value of M2 through exchange rate conversion; the approval of spot ETFs leads institutions to classify Bitcoin and software stocks as the same high-volatility tech factor; and persistently high real interest rates make money market funds a competitive alternative to risky assets.

Investment and Financing

Cryptocurrency trading platform STS Digital has raised $30 million in funding, led by CMT Digital.

According to Fortune magazine, STS Digital, a cryptocurrency options trading platform targeting institutional investors, has completed a $30 million funding round led by CMT Digital, with participation from Kraken, Arrington Capital, and Fidelity Investments. STS Digital offers options contracts for over 400 cryptocurrencies and acts as an options market maker, providing liquidity to asset pools. The company currently has nearly 50 employees, and its clients include the Uniswap Foundation. It projects its annual revenue will triple between 2024 and 2025. This funding round will be used to expand trading volume and hire more staff.

Bluprynt raises $4.25 million in seed funding, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Robinhood, and others.

According to The Block, crypto disclosure company Bluperynt has completed an oversubscribed $4.25 million seed funding round, led by Valor Capital Group, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Robinhood, Selah Ventures, Quona Capital, and Nubank co-founder Edward Wible, among others. Founded by Georgetown University professor Christopher J. Brummer, the company aims to provide simplified global compliance solutions for digital assets. Brummer likens the company's business to "tax software for compliance," helping banks, asset management firms, stablecoin issuers, and payment companies bring their core operations on-chain within regulated frameworks.

Foreign media reports: Whop receives $200 million investment from Tether, valuing the company at $1.6 billion.

According to TFN, global internet marketplace Whop has received a $200 million investment from Tether, valuing the company at $1.6 billion. Tether disclosed its strategic investment in Whop yesterday, but did not reveal the specific amount.

mechanism

Cardone Capital is preparing to tokenize approximately $5 billion in real estate assets.

According to CoinDesk, real estate investor Grant Cardone stated that his Cardone Capital is preparing to tokenize approximately $5 billion in real estate assets to provide investors with on-chain collateral and secondary market liquidity. The company previously announced plans to use real estate cash flow to purchase Bitcoin long-term, having already purchased 1,000 BTC in June of this year, and plans to continue increasing its holdings.

Important data

Bitcoin spot ETFs saw net inflows of $254 million yesterday, marking the third consecutive day of net inflows.

According to SoSoValue data, as of February 26th (Eastern Time), Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a net inflow of $254 million; IBIT saw a net inflow of $276 million, BITB saw a net inflow of $69.01 million, and FBTC saw a net outflow of $51.48 million; total AUM was approximately $85.937 billion, with a cumulative net inflow of approximately $54.828 billion.

BitGo: Over half of the top 25 US banks are piloting crypto services; global cryptocurrency holders number approximately 716 million.

According to a BitGo report citing A16Z data, approximately 60% of the top 25 U.S. banks by assets have offered or announced plans to advance Bitcoin/digital asset-related trading and custody services; there are approximately 716 million global cryptocurrency holders.

Deribit: Approximately $8.8 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum options will expire this Friday.

According to Deribit data, approximately $8.8 billion worth of cryptocurrency options will expire this Friday. Of this, Bitcoin options have a notional value of $7.8 billion, a put/call ratio of 0.76, and a maximum pain point of $75,000; Ethereum options have a notional value of $961 million, a put/call ratio of 0.77, and a maximum pain point of $2,200. Call options dominate the open interest for both assets, with Bitcoin having a significantly higher settlement notional value.

Address "0xfb7" transferred 23,500 ETH to FalconX, worth approximately $47.47 million.

A whale purchased another 8,033 ETH through Galaxy Digital, worth approximately $16.47 million.

Vitalik has sold almost all of the 19,318 ETH in his "0xfeb" wallet, leaving him with only 8.6 ETH.