Bitcoin ended February with its fifth consecutive monthly loss, only the second such sequence in its history, after dropping about 15% to roughly $63,000 before a rebound to $68,600 at the start of March. Some traders are increasing upside call option exposure ahead of the next Federal Reserve meeting, while analysts compare the current pattern to the 2018–2019 cycle that preceded a 308% rally and outline key support zones near $65,000 and $58,000.

CME Group has introduced cash-settled futures contracts linked to Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), and Stellar (XLM), with trading on these products beginning on February 9. With these additions, the exchange now lists futures on seven leading crypto assets, a set it estimates reflects more than 75% of total cryptocurrency market value. The firm also reported an average daily volume of 278,300 crypto derivatives contracts in 2025, equivalent to about $12 billion in notional value, and plans to launch a Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures product on March 16, subject to regulatory approval.

Hyperliquid is preparing HIP-6, a proposal for permissionless, on-chain token launch auctions tailored for new HIP-1 assets. According to James Evans of Reciprocal Ventures, the design adapts a continuous clearing model to Hyperliquid’s CLOB and automates liquidity seeding via HIP-2. At the time of writing, HYPE traded at $27.430, down 3% over the previous 24 hours.

Eleven Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee, led by Elizabeth Warren, sent a letter urging Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to examine Binance's operations. The request cites reports of illicit finance linked to Iran and potential conflicts with the exchange's 2023 settlement. Separately, Richard Blumenthal's February 24 letter flagged possible $1.7 billion Iran-related transactions; Binance denies sanctions violations.

Coinbase could become a major corporate winner from the GENIUS Act, the first broad U.S. crypto law signed in July 2025 that sets federal rules for stablecoin issuance. Bloomberg analysts Paul Gulberg and Samuel Radowitz estimate that Coinbase's USDC-linked revenue, which reached about $1.35 billion in 2025 after rising 48% from $911 million in 2024, might scale by two to seven times if dollar-pegged tokens gain wider use in payments. They also highlight that this interest-based income stream stayed resilient in late 2025, when Coinbase's overall quarterly revenue fell 20% amid a sharp crypto price downturn.

World Liberty Financial said early Monday it faced a "coordinated attack" aimed at USD1, its stablecoin. According to CoinGecko, USD1, which has nearly $4.8 billion in market value, briefly slipped off its $1 peg before returning to parity. Speculation also rose around a Feb. 26 report teased by ZachXBT, though any connection to WLFI remains unverified.

Bitcoin remains under $70,000, and a fresh analysis warns the market may not be forming a durable base. The study highlights three overlapping pressures: fading equity momentum, a structurally lower-volatility and higher-correlation regime shaped by ETF flows, and a Federal Reserve stance that is steady but not supportive. Together, these factors keep downside risks elevated.

According to a recent analysis by Fortune, Bitcoin and Ethereum are enduring one of their toughest year openings on record, with Bitcoin about 46% below its all-time high and Ethereum roughly 60% under its peak. Since January, the S&P 500 is up approximately 0.4%, the Dow Jones has gained 2.3%, and gold and silver have advanced around 17% and 14%, underscoring a divergence from crypto.

At the World Liberty Forum held this week at Mar-a-Lago, Eric Trump again projected that Bitcoin could eventually climb to $1 million per coin and said he has never been more optimistic about the asset's future. Donald Trump Jr. used the same event to denounce traditional banking as a "Ponzi scheme" and claimed that the Trump family moved into crypto after banks closed hundreds of Trump Organization accounts in early 2021. The brothers also alleged that other conservative clients were "debanked" and positioned their World Liberty Financial project as part of an effort to modernize finance, while Bitcoin traded around $66,258, roughly 50% below its $126,000 peak from last October.