The European Central Bank, in a new working paper titled "Stablecoins and Monetary Policy Transmission" released on Tuesday, warns that rising stablecoin adoption is associated with declining retail bank deposits and weaker lending to firms. The study finds that as households and companies move funds from bank deposits into stablecoins, banks may face higher funding costs and monetary policy transmission to the real economy could be disrupted, especially given the dominance of US dollar-pegged stablecoins.

Qivalis, a consortium of 12 major European banks including ING, UniCredit and BBVA, is preparing to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026. The group is in advanced talks with crypto exchanges, market makers and liquidity providers to distribute the token, while member banks will also offer it directly. Qivalis plans full reserve backing, with at least 40% held in bank deposits and the remainder in short-term sovereign bonds from multiple euro-area countries.

Binance listed ten Ondo tokenized stocks, ETFs and commodities on its Binance Alpha platform following regulatory approvals in Abu Dhabi. The launch lineup includes AAPLon, NVDAon and QQQon, with additional assets planned. Alpha, introduced in late 2024, is separate from spot and futures, and these products are unavailable in the United States.

Over the weekend, Bitcoin fell below $65,000 before stabilizing on Monday, while Polymarket showed a 72% probability of BTC dropping under $55,000 with $1.2 million in volume. Bitcoin market capitalization decreased to $1.31 trillion, ranking 15th globally, and traders also priced 61% and 47% odds for dips below $50,000 and $45,000.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $165.8 million of outflows on Thursday, lifting weekly losses to $403.9 million and year-to-date redemptions to $2.7 billion. Analysts say 2026 is proving to be one of Bitcoin's weakest starts, with prices down roughly 22% YTD and IBIT leading weekly outflows at $368 million.

South Korean lawmakers criticized the Financial Services Commission after Bithumb mistakenly credited 620,000 BTC during a Feb. 6 promotion, triggering brief sell pressure. The FSC opened a probe on Feb. 10 and, initially due by Feb. 13, extended it toward the end of February; Bithumb said most assets were recovered, with 125 BTC ($8.6 million) still unrecovered.

After 360T integrated the Kraken-backed xStocks platform on Feb. 9, Deutsche Börse executive Carlo Kölzer said tokenization reflects an evolution in market infrastructure rather than a threat. He outlined a plan for a hybrid setup linking traditional and tokenized assets, while addressing regulatory questions and concerns over synthetic "paper Bitcoin" exposure.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $133.3 million in net outflows on Wednesday, taking weekly losses to $238 million, with BlackRock's IBIT accounting for $84 million, according to SoSoValue. Trading volumes slipped below $3 billion as sentiment stayed in "Extreme Fear" and BTC traded near $67,058, down about 24% year-to-date. Solana ETFs extended a six-day inflow streak, lifting year-to-date gains to roughly $113 million.

The European Central Bank plans to begin selecting EU-licensed payment service providers in the first quarter of 2026 for a limited digital euro pilot. Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said the 12-month test is slated for the second half of 2027 and will include a small group of PSPs, merchants, and Eurosystem staff.