Social platform X will bar creators from its revenue-sharing program for 90 days if they post AI-generated war footage without clearly labeling it as artificial. The rule, announced by X's head of product Nikita Bier, ties monetization eligibility to transparent AI disclosure and specifically targets videos depicting armed conflicts amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.

Sentient has launched Arena, a production-style benchmarking platform for testing AI agents on enterprise-oriented workflows, with Pantera Capital and Franklin Templeton's digital assets arm participating in the inaugural cohort. The platform evaluates agents on standardized tasks involving long documents, incomplete data and conflicting information, tracks failure categories such as hallucinations and missing evidence, and plans a public leaderboard, as firms across finance and crypto explore more autonomous AI systems.

U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted about $1.02 billion in net inflows from Tuesday to Thursday, while Bitcoin traded below its all-time high. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust led the rebound after five weeks of net outflows, and spot Ether and Solana ETFs also recorded positive flows over the same period. Several analysts noted that the roughly 50% drawdown in Bitcoin may be nearing exhaustion, although they warned a sharp V-shaped recovery remains unlikely.

In his 2026–27 budget speech, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan announced that HKMA subsidiary CMU OmniClear Holdings will build a digital asset platform to issue and settle tokenized bonds and later connect it with other regional tokenization systems. Chan also outlined plans to begin issuing the first fiat‑referenced stablecoin licenses in March and to introduce new licensing regimes and tax reporting rules for digital asset service providers.

United Kingdom-listed Bitcoin treasury firm Smarter Web has obtained a $30 million Bitcoin-backed credit facility from Coinbase Credit, secured by BTC held in Coinbase custody. The company plans to use the line to bridge equity settlement periods and accelerate Bitcoin purchases after fundraises, rather than as long-term debt financing.

Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov told Cointelegraph that decentralized finance protocols must move away from inflationary token emissions and focus on generating real revenue to sustain yields. He contrasted the 2020 DeFi summer and its triple‑digit APYs with today's environment, where users are more cautious and DeFi's total value locked has dropped from $158 billion on Aug. 23, 2025, to about $98 billion over the last six months. Egorov also argued that tokens should primarily support decentralization and governance, while durable onchain businesses compete on revenue generation and capital efficiency rather than headline yields.

Strategy executed its 100th Bitcoin purchase, adding 592 BTC for about $39.8 million and lifting its holdings to 717,722 BTC. The transaction, disclosed in a US SEC filing on Monday, was funded by selling 297,940 Class A shares via an at-the-market program, with the new coins bought at an average $67,286 per BTC.

In Virginia, a federal court sentenced Praetorian Group International chief executive Ramil Ventura Palafox, 61, to 20 years in prison for operating a Bitcoin-based Ponzi scheme that raised over $200 million from investors between December 2019 and October 2021. Prosecutors said the operation took in more than 8,198 BTC and over $201 million in total, caused at least $62.7 million in losses, and falsely promised daily returns of up to 3%.

Aave Labs has proposed a funding deal of about $50 million in stablecoins and AAVE tokens in exchange for directing all revenue from Aave-branded products into the Aave DAO treasury. The plan, which also seeks to ratify Aave V4 and create a brand foundation, has sparked governance concerns among community members over treasury risk and potential voting power concentration.