Barclays Bank has sent information requests to selected technology vendors to evaluate building a blockchain platform for banking services such as payments, with potential applications including stablecoins and tokenized deposits, and aims to complete vendor selection as early as April, Odaily Planet Daily reports. Stablecoin use in payments is expanding, with annual volumes potentially exceeding $50 trillion by 2030, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Several banks are deploying blockchain systems; JPMorgan has launched JPM Coin, a deposit token for payments to institutional clients, while HSBC plans to expand tokenized deposit services to corporate clients in the U.S. and the UAE in the first half of this year.

The White House said there will be no pardon for SBF, WuBlockchain reports. U.S. Senators are probing Binance over $1.7 billion in Iran-linked funds, according to the outlet. Separately, Hong Kong is set to issue its first stablecoin licenses in March, and Circle reported $2.75 billion in annual revenue.

An unidentified whale wallet exchanged 5,263 ETH, valued at $10.4M, for 2,000 XAUT (tokenized gold) over the past four days, Lookonchain data show. The wallet address (0x83C0) routed 5,263 ETH via NEAR Intents before swapping into 2,000 XAUT, Tether Gold tokens representing physical gold. Lookonchain described the activity as a rotation from risk assets into a perceived safe-haven asset.

U.S. core producer prices rose 0.8% in January, surpassing December's 0.6% increase and sharply exceeding the 0.3% consensus estimate. Headline PPI advanced 0.5% month-over-month, beating expectations for a 0.3% gain. The data point to renewed inflation pressures that may curb optimism for sustained easing in price trends.

The U.S. Producer Price Index rose 0.5% month-on-month in January, above the 0.30% forecast and higher than the revised December reading of 0.4%, BlockBeats reports on Feb. 27. The January PPI increased 2.9% year-on-year, exceeding the 2.60% estimate, down from 3.00% in December. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.8% monthly, surpassing the 0.30% consensus and the revised prior reading of 0.6%.

US core Producer Price Index (PPI) registered 3.6%, overshooting the 3% market expectation, while headline PPI year-on-year came in at 2.9% versus a 2.6% forecast. PPI excluding Food, Energy and Trade components rose 3.4% year-on-year, highlighting stronger-than-expected underlying producer price pressures.

A newly created wallet address (0x83C0) has bridged 5,263 ETH worth $10.4 million through NEAR Intents over the past four days. The address subsequently swapped the bridged funds into 2,000 XAUT during the same period.

Major perpetual decentralized exchanges recorded lower trading activity over the past 24 hours on Feb. 27, with Hyperliquid's trading volume down approximately 15.5% from the previous day, DefiLlama data show. Hyperliquid posted approximately $6.03 billion in 24-hour volume, with total value locked around $4.24 billion and open interest near $5.48 billion, while Aster remained second at approximately $2.46 billion in volume, TVL about $1.06 billion and open interest around $1.87 billion. EdgeX recorded approximately $2.27 billion in 24-hour volume, TVL about $182 million and open interest around $104 million; Lighter logged approximately $2.08 billion, TVL about $870 million and open interest around $712 million; Grvt had approximately $1.27 billion, TVL about $95.76 million and open interest around $408 million; Pacifica posted approximately $718 million, TVL about $36.23 million and open interest around $61.6 million.

Coinbase announced it will launch perpetual futures trading for $ROBO on Feb. 27, 2026, subject to liquidity conditions. The ROBOPERP market will open in supported regions if liquidity thresholds are met, Coinbase said.