Nifty Gateway, the marketplace that once helped bring NFT drops to a wider audience, will stop running its marketplace on February 23, 2026. The company put the site into a withdrawal-only mode the same day it made the announcement, and users were told they must move any remaining funds and NFTs off the platform before that date.
Withdrawal Window Opens
According to the company, withdrawal tools are available now. Reports note users can pull USD or ETH balances through a linked Gemini Exchange account or send funds to their bank via Stripe.
Emails with step-by-step instructions will be sent to account holders, and a shutdown notice already appears on the Nifty Gateway homepage. The aim, as described by the owner, is to let people retrieve what they own before the platform goes dark.
Today, we are announcing that the Nifty Gateway platform will be closing on February 23, 2026. Starting today, Nifty Gateway is in withdrawal-only mode.
Nifty Gateway was launched in 2020 with the vision of revolutionizing digital art. Since launching, Nifty supported dozens of…
Based on reports from Gemini, the closure is meant to let the parent firm concentrate on building one bigger app for customers. The move highlights how interest and trading activity in many NFT markets have cooled from the highs seen in earlier years.
Some collectors and artists are left scrambling to rehome items they once sold or stored on Nifty Gateway.
End Of An Early Player
Nifty Gateway helped make buying NFTs easier for people who preferred credit cards and familiar checkout flows. It launched as a high-profile marketplace and hosted major drops from well-known creators.
The platform supported hundreds of millions in sales at its peak and played a clear part in bringing NFT art into mainstream headlines. Its exit marks the end of an important chapter for that wave of marketplaces.
What Owners Must Do Now
Owners should check their inboxes for the official instructions, confirm where their tokens are stored, and move assets before the deadline. If NFTs are stored in custodial wallets on the site, they will need to be transferred out.
USD and ETH balances should be withdrawn or moved into a connected Gemini account if that option suits the owner. Waiting past the closure date will reduce options.
A Quiet Turning Point
For many collectors, this will feel like another sign that the early boom years have passed. For creators, the change raises questions about where drops and secondary sales will happen next.
Gemini says it will keep supporting NFTs through its other products, including the Gemini Wallet, but the specific ways that creators and buyers reconnect with those audiences will depend on new tools and services that arrive in the next months.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
US-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds pulled funds for a fifth straight trading day, and the totals added up quickly. According to Farside data, about $103.5 million left on Friday, bringing the five-day sum to roughly $1.72 billion.
Bitcoin was trading near $89,160 at the time of these reports — still well below the $100,000 mark it last reached on November 13. This movement has sent a clear signal: many investors are stepping back right now.
ETF Flows And Who Is Selling
Reports note that ETF flows are often on the radar as a quick read on investor mood, but the picture is not always simple. Large outflows can reflect institutional rebalancing or tactical moves by funds, not only mass retail selling.
The US market had a four-day trading week because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, which may have concentrated trades into fewer sessions and amplified the numbers. Still, losing more than a billion dollars in a few days will get attention.
Market Mood And Metals
The wider mood has soured. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index registered an Extreme Fear score of 25, and sentiment trackers have been flashing caution. Reports say Santiment believes retail traders are pulling back while attention drifts toward more traditional assets.
Meanwhile, metals have been strong. Reports disclose that with gold trading near $5,000 and silver approaching $100, some market players feel Bitcoin has been left out of a rally that lifted metals, which has weighed on confidence in the crypto market.
Bitcoin Price Action
Bitcoin has struggled to find a steady rhythm over the past week. Prices slipped below the $89,000 to $90,000 range as traders reacted to fresh geopolitical tension and renewed trade worries, before stabilizing as nerves eased.
This was driven higher after some soft political indicators around tariff threats, only to substantiate the idea that markets rarely react to conflict but rather to changes in tone and expectations.
Signals That Could Matter
These movements illustrate how Bitcoin behaves more like a risk asset rather than an asset shelter, falling in tandem with equities when unexpected financial shocks hit the globe, before rebounding when the fever subsides to gather fresh buyers.
Current price patterns indicate caution, where traders are weighing short-term political risks against medium- and long-term macro patterns, as well as institutional interests.
There are some quieter indications that the rout could be losing steam. To this effect, there are assertions suggesting that supply distribution on-chain and social chatter can be circumstantial evidence showing there is less selling pressure.
Featured image from Money; Shutterstock, chart from TradingView
Africa is seeing a quiet shift in how people send and hold value. Mobile phones are central. According to Vera Songwe, a former UN under-secretary-general, millions who lack bank accounts can use stablecoins to protect savings and move money faster. That access matters in places where inflation has been high and bank fees are steep.
Use By Businesses And Everyday People
Reports have disclosed that stablecoins now make up around 43% of all crypto transaction volume in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria alone processed nearly $22 billion in dollar-linked stablecoin activity over a recent 12-month span.
That money is used for remittances, payroll and business settlements. Firms and market traders are among the biggest users, but many everyday people are joining in too.
In countries such as Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa, demand is driven by volatile local currencies and rules that limit access to dollars. Mobile money networks help push adoption along.
Stablecoins Speed Up Cross-Border Payments
Traditional remittances can be costly. At a World Economic Forum panel in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, Songwe noted that sending $100 through traditional money transfer services in Africa often costs around $6, making cross-border payments both slow and costly.
Stablecoins cut those costs and shorten wait times from days to minutes for many transfers. Small payments and wages can be settled quickly, and that speed changes how businesses plan cash flow.
Local Rules Are Changing Fast
Governments are reacting in different ways. Ghana passed a Virtual Asset Service Providers law to bring trading into a formal framework. On January 13, Nigeria required crypto platforms to link transactions to tax ID numbers, a move meant to bring activity into official records.
South Africa’s central bank has warned that stablecoins and other tokens could pose risks to financial stability as use grows. Policy is being written while users and tech firms keep pushing ahead.
Risks And The Road Ahead
High inflation remains a core reason people are turning to stablecoins. Reports say inflation has exceeded 20% in 12 to 15 countries since the pandemic, and that reality pushes people to look for alternatives to local notes.
Everyday Use, Measured Change
What started as a tech niche has grown into a practical tool for many across the continent. For small and medium businesses, the benefit is clear: faster settlements and lower costs.
For people without bank accounts, a smartphone can now open a route to store value in currencies less tied to local inflation. Adoption will likely keep rising, but how quickly it becomes part of mainstream finance will depend on stronger rules, better safeguards, and the continued spread of simple mobile services that people trust.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
With more stablecoin transfers in 2024 than Visa and Mastercard combined, the asset-pegged token is shifting from niche crypto instrument to a foundational e...
GameStop moved its entire Bitcoin stash into Coinbase Prime this month, according to blockchain trackers that monitor large transfers.
The wallet associated with the company sent a large deposit to the institutional arm of Coinbase, a platform used by big traders and companies.
Analysts watching on-chain flows immediately flagged the move as a likely setup for a sale, though no confirmed sell orders have been announced.
Big Move To Coinbase Prime
According to on-chain reports, GameStop holds 4,710 BTC that it bought last year, and that full balance was shifted into Coinbase Prime.
The company first bought the coins in May 2025 at prices that averaged near $107,900 per BTC, a buy that cost roughly $504 million at the time.
Moving a corporate treasury from cold storage to an active institutional account is often read as a step toward execution — to sell, hedge, or rebalance — but it is not the same as a sale itself.
GameStop throws in the towel?
Their on-chain wallets just moved all BTC holdings to Coinbase Prime, likely to sell.
Between May 14–23, 2025, they bought 4,710 BTC at an avg. price of $107.9K, investing ~$504M.
Reports say the math is simple and stark: selling now, with Bitcoin trading closer to the $90,000 area, would lock in a sizable loss versus the initial purchase price.
Several analytics firms put that figure near $76 million if the whole lot were sold at recent market levels. Some market watchers suggest the company could be doing tax-loss harvesting or trimming volatile assets on its books.
Others view it as a pragmatic adjustment to reduce treasury exposure to crypto swings. Still, defenders of the move point out that GameStop’s Bitcoin stake was never a core retail play; it was a treasury experiment meant to diversify.
How Much Has Already Moved
Not all outlets agree on timing or size of day-by-day transfers. Reports note that some transfers earlier this month added up to about half of the original position — roughly 2,396 BTC moved in smaller tranches before the full deposit was flagged.
On-chain sleuths track each shift, and those staggered movements can mean many things: a staged sale, an internal reorganization, or simply routing through a trusted custodian before any trades.
Market And Shareholder Reaction
Share action around GameStop has not mirrored the crypto chatter. While Bitcoin watchers focused on the wallet move, investors were also reacting to company news on other fronts, including fresh share purchases by CEO Ryan Cohen.
Featured image from PeterPhoto, chart from TradingView
A large investor shifted funds into tokenized gold this week, and Bitcoin felt the impact. Prices dipped while a whale quietly bought millions in XAUT, a gold-backed token, signaling a short-term move toward traditional hedges.
Whales Move Into Tokenized Gold
According to on-chain trackers, one address moved $1.53 million in USDC into Hyperliquid to buy XAUT. Reports note that the same wallet had earlier bought about 481 XAUT, a purchase worth roughly $2.38 million.
The address still holds close to $1.44 million in USDC, which suggests more purchases could follow. These moves were picked up on public blockchains and then flagged by analysts watching large transfers.
This kind of action can matter. When big players shuffle cash, smaller traders often take notice and hedge their bets. The shift is not proof of a long-term trend, but it shows that, at least for now, some large holders prefer gold exposure over extra crypto risk.
Whales are buying gold, not crypto.
~30 mins ago, whale 0x6B99 deposited 1.53M $USDC into Hyperliquid to buy $XAUT again.
Reports say gold has been moving sharply higher, with spot prices climbing close to $5,000 per ounce in global trading this week. Silver also rose above $100 per ounce, with intraday gold prints near $4,988 before settling.
Traders tie the surge to geopolitical tensions and the idea that interest rates may ease, which encourages money into metal-based stores of value.
A weaker dollar has also helped. Market chatter points to increased demand as investors seek steadier places to park capital while global politics and policy choices create more worry.
Bitcoin’s Price Action And Market Mood
Bitcoin traded around $88,653 at one stage, slipping about 1% on the day and nearly 30% below its prior cycle top. That gap is large. It has market participants questioning whether BTC will stay the go-to hedge during times of high stress. Some long-term holders remain confident. Others are watching liquidity and macro signals more closely.
Reports have disclosed renewed criticism from economist Peter Schiff, who argued that Bitcoin has underperformed versus gold since 2021.
He highlighted the opportunity cost for investors holding BTC while metals climb to record prices. Schiff wrote on social platforms that precious metals are outperforming and that this weak run for Bitcoin weakens its role as a store of value in the eyes of some.
What This Means For Crypto Investors
Short-term rotations like this often reflect risk preferences rather than permanent shifts. Some funds and wealthy individuals seek lower-volatility assets when headlines grow louder and policy paths look uncertain.
Others still view Bitcoin as a long-term play tied to scarcity and network effects. The current picture is a mix: metals are strong, tokenized gold is drawing attention, and crypto markets are reacting.
Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
Reports say Swiss banking giant UBS is planning to let a small group of its private bank clients buy and sell major cryptocurrencies. The step would open access to Bitcoin and Ethereum for people who have worked with the bank for years, not for every customer.
Private Clients First
According to a Bloomberg report, the service would start in Switzerland and be offered only to select private banking clients, with any wider rollout dependent on rules and demand. The move is careful and measured. It is being tested with a narrow set of clients before any wider push is considered.
How It Would Work
Reports note that UBS has been talking with outside firms about providing the trading, custody and compliance pieces needed to make crypto trading run smoothly.
Partners would likely handle technical tasks while UBS keeps the client relationship front and center. Those talks have been going on for months, and no final deals are said to be done yet.
Why Now
Wealthy clients have been asking for ways to own digital assets safely. UBS has run pilots on tokenized funds and has worked on blockchain payments before.
The bank’s size and reputation mean it can offer a more cautious path into crypto than many smaller players. At the same time, changes in regulation and the broader market have made the plan more realistic than it might have seemed a few years ago.
Based on reports, the initial offering would focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum. More coins could be added later, but that would depend on which assets meet the bank’s risk and compliance checks.
UBS will reportedly decide what custody model to use and whether it needs third parties for trade execution. No launch date has been set.
A Broader Trend
Banks from different countries are slowly giving rich clients more ways to touch crypto, but each does it in its own style. Some offer ETFs and funds. Some go further and let clients trade coins directly.
UBS’s cautious design fits a pattern where big banks move slowly, testing the systems before widening access. A handful of recent moves by other institutions show the same pattern.
What Comes Next
Reports note that regulators and client interest will help decide how fast this goes. If rules in the US and other places stay friendly and clients respond, the offering could broaden beyond Switzerland.
If not, the bank could keep the plan tightly limited. For now, the idea remains a plan under discussion rather than a product on the market.
UBS’s steps reflect growing demand from wealthy investors for safer ways to hold crypto through trusted firms. The bank’s careful progress shows how traditional finance is testing the waters without rushing in.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
XRP has begun attracting attention again after months of sideways trading. The coin has risen slightly over the past day, though it remains down for the week. Traders are pointing to familiar chart patterns, suggesting the quiet period may be nearing an end.
Traders Spot A Familiar Price Pattern
A fresh take on XRP came from DonWedge, who posted a half-day chart on TradingView. Though he kept it short – just “XRP looks good” – the message carried weight.
Instead of bold predictions, his analysis leaned on patterns. A downward-sloping channel draws the eye, much like one seen months before.
Shape echoes past rhythm. What stands out is how closely current movement tracks earlier behavior. The image tells part of the story; context fills in the rest. Time will show whether history bends toward repetition.
That old rise in XRP moved fast. Following that climb, it slipped into a steady decline lasting around half a year. Once sellers slowed their pace, the price jumped again without warning.
Fresh lows in XRP’s path hug the bottom stretch of a familiar range, pressure easing – some watchful eyes guess what comes next might climb.
Volume And Resistance Are Key
According to reports, the next major hurdle is a multi-month trendline resistance near $2.10. A clean daily close above this line, combined with rising volume, could signal the start of a new uptrend.
DonWedge projects that if the breakout occurs, XRP could aim for $4. From current levels, this would require a little over a 100% increase. Traders note, however, that moves without volume confirmation can fail, leading to false breakouts and extended consolidation.
Market Expert Projects A Telling Year
Based on reports, analyst ChartNerd says 2026 will be a “telling year” for XRP. He expects the coin either to confirm a strong breakout with fresh momentum or to fall below the structure it has defended for over a year.
After a macro breakout in Q4 2024, $XRP has been accumulating above its prior 2021 highs for over a year. The whole of 2025 was sideways, boring, and a test of even the most durable minds. 2026 is going to be the telling year. Compression typically leads to expansion. Buckle up. pic.twitter.com/QJb7JAmIkL
Lately, the sideways grind has worn thin for some investors – yet hints of resilience still flicker through the numbers. Breaking past $2.10 with force might spark what comes next, lining up with the pattern DonWedge laid out on his chart. Patience now may quietly pay off later.
A Breakout Might Shift What Happens Next
A sudden jump in price might push XRP toward $4 fast, provided it finishes above the trendline with strong movement. Higher goals are possible, yet reaching them means buyers keep stepping in without pause.
So far, things look cautious rather than certain. Traders will probably keep an eye on activity levels, holding back bigger moves until signs become clearer. What happens next might show if XRP surges again or just drifts sideways some more.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
South Korean authorities have come under scrutiny after a large stash of seized Bitcoin went missing during a routine check. The loss was discovered when officials found that some of the wallets that had been held as criminal evidence were empty.
According to multiple reports, the value of the missing Bitcoin is about 70 billion won — roughly $47.7–$48 million.
How Officials Found The Theft
Reports say the gap showed up during a routine audit of confiscated digital assets at the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office.
An internal check flagged transfers from wallets that had been marked as evidence, and investigators traced the movement back to external addresses. The office immediately opened an inquiry to determine how access was lost and whether any recovery is possible.
Initial findings point to a phishing scam as the trigger. According to local coverage, a staff member accessed a fraudulent website that impersonated a legitimate service, and that interaction exposed passwords and private keys.
Once the credentials were captured, the Bitcoin was moved out in transactions that cannot be reversed.
Security Lapses And USB Storage
Reports note that some of the access details for the seized assets were kept on portable drives rather than in hardened custody systems.
That practice appears to have made it easier for attackers to grab the keys once the phishing trap was sprung. Simple mistakes can cost millions when the asset is bearer-like and transfers are final.
The theft has raised hard questions about how state agencies handle crypto. Some experts say that the tools used by prosecutors were more suited to personal use than to government-level custody.
There are calls for stricter rules, multi-signature setups, and cold storage protocols that do not rely on easily copied passwords.
Tracing The Bitcoin
Blockchain records show the funds moving through several wallets after the initial transfer. That public trail gives investigators leads, but tracing tokens to a final cash-out point is often slow and requires cooperation from foreign exchanges and on-chain analytics firms. Reports say authorities are working with outside specialists to map the flow.
What Prosecutors Are Doing Next
The Gwangju prosecutors’ office has vowed a full probe, and officials are trying to reconstruct events step by step.
There are also signs that the incident will trigger a review of national procedures for holding seized digital property. Some lawmakers and legal experts have already called for clearer standards and oversight.
Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
Nathaniel Chastain, a former product manager at OpenSea, will not face a retrial after federal prosecutors chose to drop their re-review of his insider trading case.
Reports say the US Attorney’s Office reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Chastain that will lead to dismissal of the charges once the agreement runs its course.
What Prosecutors Decided
Prosecutors told a Manhattan federal court they would not retry Chastain following an appeals court ruling that tossed his earlier conviction.
Under the deferred prosecution deal, the government will dismiss the case about a month after notifying the court, and Chastain has agreed to forfeit roughly 15.98 ETH tied to the trades. He has already served three months in prison from his original sentence.
How The Appeals Court Changed The Case
According to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the jury in the first trial had been given the wrong instructions about what the wire fraud law covers.
The judges said confidential information only counts as property under the statute when it has commercial value to the employer, and jurors might otherwise convict someone for behavior that is unethical but not criminal. That legal point is at the heart of the reversal.
Reports note that prosecutors had called the matter the first-ever insider trading case tied to NFTs. Now, lower courts and enforcement teams will have to think carefully before using traditional fraud laws to police activity in NFT markets.
The ruling highlights a gap between old statutes and new kinds of online goods, which may push lawmakers to give clearer rules for how to treat confidential business signals related to crypto platforms.
OpenSea: The Case’s Earlier Chapters
Chastain was first charged in mid-2022 after prosecutors said he bought certain NFTs before they were featured on OpenSea’s homepage, then sold them after prices rose.
He was convicted at trial in 2023 of wire fraud and money laundering and received a sentence that included three months behind bars. The US Attorney’s Office originally described the scheme as a novel use of insider knowledge in digital markets.
With the deferred prosecution agreement in place for OpenSea, prosecutors can close this chapter without a new trial.
Chastain’s forfeiture of crypto assets and his already served time mean the government has secured some remedy, while the appellate decision leaves open big questions about when private business information can be treated as property for federal fraud charges.
Legal teams, judges, and regulators are likely to keep a close eye on how similar cases are handled in the future.
Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView
President Donald Trump only talked about medical cannabis in his Dec. 18 executive order directing marijuana be rescheduled. That's instructive, a seasoned attorney argues.
According to on-chain trackers, a big wave of old Bitcoin has started moving after long dormancy. Coins that sat untouched for more than two years have been transferred in numbers larger than what was seen during past peaks in 2017 and 2021.
CryptoQuant analyst Kripto Mevsimi said on-chain data shows that 2024 and 2025 marked the largest release of long-held Bitcoin supply ever recorded. He tracks “revived supply,” or coins that stayed dormant for more than two years before being moved.
That kind of movement usually means deep-pocketed holders are changing their plans, not small traders chasing a quick gain.
A Shift Without A Party
Reports say this release of long-held supply arrived with little fanfare. There was no mass retail mania. Prices did not spike in a frenzy. Instead, the transfers came during a stretch when the market has been under steady pressure from broader financial stress.
Some of those older coins were likely sold for profit. Some may have been moved for other reasons — custody upgrades, private trades, or to back financial products. On-chain signals show the coins moved, but they do not write the reasons on the blockchain.
Long-Term Holders Change Course
Based on reports from analysts tracking these flows, the pattern suggests a changing of the guard. Early adopters who held through multiple cycles and pointed to scarcity and self-control have been trimming positions.
New buyers are appearing who watch price swings and macro headlines. Institutions, fresh large accounts, and price-driven traders are now shaping much of the market’s short-term activity.
Global Risk Pressures Risk Assets
Reports have linked recent weakness in Bitcoin to rising global risk. Research ties part of the pullback to tariff moves by US President Donald Trump, which have pushed investors away from risky assets.
Tariffs can dent corporate profits, stir up inflation uncertainty, and change how the market views future rates — all of which hits sentiment. When big markets wobble, crypto often follows. That pressure helps explain why long-held coins moved without the usual hype.
New Buyers Step Forward
According To on-chain and price data, institutions and new “whales” are stepping into the gaps left by sellers. Bitcoin has been trading near the high $80k range, with recent figures around $89,140 as markets test demand. The old holders may have taken gains, but the market did not collapse. That shows there is still appetite, even if it is different from the past.
This cycle feels different because selling came without euphoria, and buying looks more tactical. That does not mean the story is over. The market might be shifting toward price-sensitive participants and outside financial forces.
Or the recent calm could be a pause before fresh buying. Either way, these on-chain moves matter. They change where the coins sit, and that changes how future price swings may play out.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Circle’s chief executive painted a brisk picture at Davos this week: autonomous software agents that act for people could be using stablecoins to pay for everyday things within three to five years.
He said these agents will need a money system that is stable, fast, and programmable. That, he argued, points to stablecoins as the likely choice.
AI Agents And Money
According to reports, Jeremy Allaire of Circle said “literally billions” of AI agents may be transacting on behalf of users in the near term.
“Three years, five years from now, one can expect that there will be billions, literally billions of AI agents conducting economic activity in the world on a continuous basis,” Allaire said during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He described work on new networks and tools aimed at letting software act like small businesses or helpers that buy services, settle bills, and tip content creators.
This idea is simple on the surface: software needs a reliable unit of account when it spends, and tokenized dollars can fit that role.
Building The Tools
Reports say companies across the crypto and tech world are racing to build the plumbing for this future. Circle is pitching USDC as a neutral payments layer that software can plug into.
Other firms are testing protocols that let a machine sign off on a payment when certain conditions are met. Some large tech groups are also exploring ways for their platforms to let software pay for services automatically. Progress is visible, but the path is not yet clear.
What Regulators Might Ask
Regulators will have questions. Reports note concerns about money flow, consumer protections, and where bank deposits sit if stablecoins grow rapidly.
At Davos, the CEO pushed back on the idea that stablecoins would drain bank deposits the way some fear, saying comparisons to other financial instruments are more fitting.
Still, lawmakers in the US and elsewhere are watching closely. Rules could move faster if policy makers see real volume coming from so-called agentic commerce.
New Networks, New Risks
Based on reports, the technical choices will shape both convenience and danger. If agents can move value at scale, fraud and theft risks may rise too.
Systems will need clear identity checks, fault handling, and ways to stop runaway payments. Some safety work is already under way, but much remains to be designed and tested.
Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
Reports say Capital One will buy stablecoin fintech Brex for $5.15 billion in a deal that mixes cash and stock. According to the bank’s release, roughly half of the price will be paid in cash and the other half in Capital One stock.
Regulators must still sign off. The two companies expect the transaction to finish by mid-2026, though that timing could shift if approvals take longer.
Brex Brings Cards, Software — And Stablecoin Plans
Brex began as a corporate card and expense tool for startups and has added services for larger firms.
Reports note the company moved quickly into payment tech last year when it announced plans to offer native stablecoin payments, letting customers send and accept dollar-pegged tokens with automatic conversion back into USD balances.
That bit of tech is a major part of why the deal matters to a bank that wants faster settlement options.
A Mix Of Old And New
This is not just about software. It is also a play for customers. Brex runs business accounts, serves big names in tech, and has built a set of tools that many businesses use daily.
Some of those clients moved business deposits to Brex after the 2023 banking turmoil, and those relationships are part of the package Capital One is buying.
The price tag looks smaller than Brex’s peak private valuation years ago, which shows how venture valuations have reset across the sector.
Why This Matters For Payments
Banks have been testing token-based rails and faster settlement for a while. By folding Brex into its operations, Capital One gains a ready platform that already experiments with stablecoin rails.
Real-time settlement for businesses can lower friction and could cut the waiting time for funds to clear. At the same time, regulators in the US and abroad are paying closer attention to token projects, so the new setup will run under tighter scrutiny.
Stablecoins have drawn growing attention across traditional finance after Congress approved major rules for the tokens last year.
Based on data from Coingecko, the total value of stablecoins has climbed over 18% to an all-time high of $315 billion since the GENIUS Act was passed in July 2025. USDT takes the lion share of the overall stablecoin market.
Leadership And Market Reaction
Reports note that Pedro Franceschi, Brex’s CEO, will continue to lead the unit after the sale, now inside Capital One.
Investors reacted calmly overall; Capital One’s shares dipped early but were supported by robust quarterly results announced at the same time. That earnings strength helped soften any sharp market moves.
Featured image from YouHodler, chart from TradingView
A little token that few people had heard of a year ago has become a big mover of money. Reports say the A7A5 stablecoin, launched as a rouble-linked coin, has processed the equivalent of $100 billion in transfers since it began moving at scale.
Elliptic Finds Rapid Growth And Large Volumes
According to analysis by Elliptic, A7A5 grew quickly after its launch and was used heavily for settlement between firms that could not rely on regular banks. The firm traced huge daily flows, with transaction totals rising into the billions and aggregate transfers passing major milestones.
Origins And Backing
A7A5 was set up in a way that tied it to rouble deposits and to a handful of private entities connected to Russia’s financial network.
Reports say the project was linked to a payments group and to banking partners that have been under western scrutiny. Some of the people and firms behind the token were later sanctioned by authorities in the US and the UK.
How The Money Moved
Transactions were concentrated on a small number of exchanges and on on-chain routes that made cross-border transfers possible without the usual banking rails.
In practice, the coin served as a bridge into other stablecoins and crypto markets. That routing let trade keep moving even when formal channels were closed to certain actors.
A7A5 Stablecoin Role In Sanctions Evasion Claims
Reports note that regulators and analysts view those flows as a tool that could help avoid sanctions. Regulators in several countries have taken action against linked platforms and individuals after patterns of transfers were uncovered.
Some of the design choices around the token made monitoring harder for a time, and in a few cases tokens were reissued in new wallets to muddy traces.
Market Reaction And The Wider Impact
Markets noticed. The token’s market cap surged, and exchanges that handled it saw sharply higher volumes.
Ordinary traders were not the main users; activity was often timed with business hours and weekdays, which suggested corporate or institutional flows rather than retail swaps. This type of pattern changed how people outside the region looked at crypto as a payments tool.
Authorities responded by blacklisting some addresses and platforms and by stepping up enforcement against those named in the network.
The moves show that a token can move a lot of value, but it can also draw regulatory heat and prompt countermeasures that affect every participant in the chain.
Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView
X is rolling out a feature called Starterpacks that will let new users follow ready-made groups of accounts tied to specific interests. It’s designed to make finding people to follow faster, and yes — that includes lists focused on Bitcoin and other crypto topics.
Reports say the company has spent months building these curated sets and plans to launch them in the coming weeks.
Starterpacks Include Crypto And Hundreds Of Categories
According To X’s product team, the feature will span more than 1,000 interest categories so people can join subject feeds without hunting around.
Some packs will pull together prominent Bitcoin commentators, active traders and market watchers so newcomers land in front of the right conversations quickly.
The idea echoes a feature that already exists on rival apps, but X’s lists are picked internally rather than built by users.
Over the last few months, we scoured the world for the top posters in every niche & country
We’ve compiled them into a new tool called Starterpacks: to help new users find the best accounts—big or small—for their interests
Reports note that crypto chatter on X cooled last year. Posts mentioning Bitcoin fell by a noticeable margin in 2025, according to platform watchers who track engagement.
That slide appears to have pushed product staff to make it easier to surface crypto creators again. The change is meant to reduce friction for users who want to jump into market talk without following dozens of accounts one by one.
A Look At How The Packs Work
Each Starterpack groups a small set of accounts around a theme. Users can accept a pack as a starting point and then add or remove people just like that.
Some packs will be regional, while others target hobbies or professional beats. The lists were assembled by the product team after a global search for active voices in each niche.
In practice, this means a newly joined user could pick a crypto pack and instantly follow a mix of analysts, podcasters and traders.
Community Reaction Has Been Mixed
Crypto users on X had already been vocal about visibility and moderation. A number of creators welcomed any effort that helps their posts reach new readers.
Other people worried that curated packs could favor certain voices over others or steer attention away from smaller accounts. Debate over how feeds are shaped is expected to continue as Starterpacks roll out.
What To Watch Next
Product updates will appear gradually. Reports say the rollout will start in the coming weeks, and X’s team will likely adjust the approach based on feedback.
For people who follow Bitcoin and crypto, Starterpacks could mean quicker discovery and more steady streams of market talk.
For the platform, it’s one more attempt to make joining feel less like starting from scratch.
Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView
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