Vitalik Buterin proposed a framework in which personal AI agents, trained on individual user values, could automate voting across thousands of DAO governance decisions. The design uses zero-knowledge proofs and secure computation to protect voter identities and prevent bribery, while prediction markets would filter spam proposals and AI agents would escalate only critical issues for human review. Buterin said personal LLMs could address the "attention problem" created by high governance volumes facing DAO participants.

Hyperliquid rose 6% to $29.23 on Friday after launching the U.S. Hyperliquid Policy Center, a nonprofit focused on regulatory clarity. Total value locked fell to $4.2 billion from $4.7 billion, while revenue dropped 55% to $11.83 million. A 9.92 million HYPE unlock worth $291 million is scheduled for March 6, representing 2.72% of total supply.

India recorded approximately $338 billion in cryptocurrency inflows between mid-2024 and 2025, topping Chainalysis' Global Crypto Adoption Index for three consecutive years, with nine of the top 20 nations in Asia including Pakistan (3rd), Vietnam, Japan and South Korea, Chainalysis data show. Stablecoins are gaining traction for remittances and business payments across the region, where World Bank data put the average cost to send $200 at 6.5% in 2025—a burden for Southeast Asia's roughly 24 million overseas workers and economies such as the Philippines where remittances represent 9% of GDP. Chengyi Ong of Chainalysis said stablecoins' lower volatility versus Bitcoin and low-cost transfers make them "the backbone of crypto activity," with monthly business-to-business stablecoin volumes rising from under $100 million in early 2023 to over $6 billion by mid-2025, per crypto analytics firm Artemis. In Pakistan, which has around 2 million freelancers and $38 billion in annual remittances, many receive payments in stablecoins and convert via exchanges or local merchants at fees of 1%–3%.

BlackRock filed an amended S-1 for its iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ticker ETHB), disclosing that 82% of staking rewards will go to fund investors, with the remaining 18% split between BlackRock and Coinbase, which will serve as staking execution agent. The trust plans to stake 70% to 95% of its ETH holdings, targeting an annual yield of approximately 3%, with the product expected to launch in H1 2026.

Total3, which tracks aggregate crypto market capitalization excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum, stood at around $713 billion on Feb. 22, down roughly 40% from its October 2025 peak and near mid-November 2024 levels, BlockBeats reports. The gauge had surged more than 91% following the Nov. 5, 2024 U.S. presidential election, climbing from approximately $600 billion to $1.16 trillion by December 2024, then easing to around $900 billion before briefly rebounding to $1.13 trillion on Jan. 18, 2025; it reached an interim high near $1.19 trillion in October 2025 before a sharp pullback broke the prior uptrend. Bitcoin experienced a maximum drawdown exceeding 50% from peak to trough, falling to around $60,000 before recovering to approximately $68,000, while Ethereum has declined about 60% from its historical high near $5,000 in August 2025. The CMC Fear & Greed Index registered 14 in "Extreme Fear" territory and had dropped to 5 on Feb. 5, one of the lowest levels on record.

The Ethereum validator queue currently lists 3,753,754 validators waiting to stake and 32 waiting to unstake. The figures reflect the latest validator queue counts for both staking and unstaking operations.

Pump.fun repurchased 683.9 million PUMP tokens using 16,813.70 SOL (about $1.42 million) yesterday, fees.pump.fun data show. The platform's PUMP buybacks, which began on July 15, have reached a cumulative value of $300,178,162, pushing the total repurchase amount above $300 million. These repurchases have reduced PUMP's circulating supply by 25.383%.

Vitalik Buterin converted 428.57 ETH into 850,178 GHO, ChainCatcher reports citing market sources. Since Feb. 2, he has sold a total of 7,386 ETH worth approximately $15.51 million at an average price of around $2,100 per ETH. The sources indicated he may continue these sales.

The cryptocurrency market is entering what analysts call "Altseason 3.0" as Bitcoin dominance weakens and capital rotates into major alternative assets, with large-cap volatility compressing and on-chain activity pointing to early accumulation, Crypto GEMs reported on February 19, 2026. Five assets—Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP, Solana, and Shiba Inu—are being closely watched for potential short-term gains if broader momentum builds. Ethereum continues to anchor decentralized finance with network upgrades improving efficiency, while Litecoin has seen renewed transaction activity as low-fee transfers remain relevant; XRP shows rising on-chain volumes after regulatory clarity in several regions, and Solana maintains strong developer engagement with liquidity metrics indicating improving stability. Shiba Inu remains sentiment-driven but increasingly supported by evolving community-led utilities, analysts add.