Aave's governance rift deepened on Wednesday when Aave Chan Initiative founder Marc Zeller released an "audit" disputing Aave Labs' financial transparency ahead of a proposed $51 million DAO funding round. Over the same period, Hong Kong announced plans to issue its first fiat-referenced stablecoin issuer licenses in March and outlined broader crypto regulatory measures.

Over the weekend, Bitcoin fell to $62,500, then rebounded to $68,000 with a 6% daily rise, according to CoinGecko. On February 25, 2026, analyst CW cited BTC CVD data indicating "explosive buying" from whales. Ethereum climbed more than 10% above $2,000, XRP advanced 7% to above $1.45, and the total crypto market cap grew by $150 billion in just over a day.

In an X post, BitQuant explained why many traders are avoiding Bitcoin and Ethereum around recent lows, noting reluctance to buy BTC at $65,000 amid geopolitical concerns. CryptoQuant recently warned of a deeper decline, highlighting $38,900 as the long-term holders' cost basis. According to the article, the U.S. president over the weekend proposed lifting the global tariff rate from 10% to 15%.

Circle Internet Group said on Wednesday that fourth-quarter 2025 revenue reached $770 million, up 77% year over year, with net income of $133.4 million or 43 cents per share. USDC's circulation climbed 72% to about $75.3 billion by year-end, and shares jumped more than 20% in early trading, while full-year 2025 revenue rose 64% to $2.7 billion.

On February 25, 2026, Intuitive Machines said it entered a definitive agreement to raise $175 million by selling Class A common stock, with closing expected on February 27. Shares fell about 16% to $15.80 in morning trading as dilution weighed on sentiment. Proceeds will fund satellite communications and data-processing networks following the January acquisition of Lanteris Space Systems.

On February 25, 2026, Coinbase criticized proposed UK stablecoin caps, saying the limits threaten $1.35 billion of its business. The Bank of England's draft would cap individual holdings at £20,000 and corporate holdings at £10 million and require issuers to keep most reserves in short-term government debt and central banks.

The crypto market is heading into a major Deribit expiry with $8.4 billion in open interest while Bitcoin trades near the $60,000 level and faces key U.S. macro data. Cardano has been listed on Bitstamp by Robinhood in Singapore as large ADA holders accumulate hundreds of millions of tokens despite a steep price decline, Peter Brandt has rejected calls for a rapid move to $150,000 in BTC, and Dogecoin has confirmed a weekly death cross below $0.15.

South Korean lawmaker Kim Seung-won is drafting amendments to the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business Act and the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users that would mandate disclosure by online "finfluencers." The proposal would require people who regularly promote or advise on financial products or virtual assets to reveal both their compensation and the type and amount of assets they hold, with potential penalties on par with market manipulation or insider trading.