^{Happy Friday! Welcome to the 7th instalment of the Coinbyte Weekly Wrap.}

The market experienced higher price volatility compared with last week, with BTC swinging between the low US$60,000s and US$70,000. It briefly fell below US$63,000 early in the week amid renewed concerns over President Trump’s tariff, before rebounding to approach US$70,000 and finishing the week up 1.8%. Altcoins, including Ether (+4.0%), Solana (+6.8%), Cardano (+6.8%), and Dogecoin (+2.1%), outperformed Bitcoin for the week, signaling a pickup in risk appetite and rotation into higher-beta tokens. Trading volumes across major cryptocurrencies also rebounded week over week, with USDT and USDC turnover rising about 10% to roughly US$107bn and US$19bn daily, respectively. U.S. spot crypto ETFs (including BTC, ETH, and SOL) recorded approximately US$519m in inflows as of 25 February, with 1,811 BTC purchased for the past seven days while Strategy acquired an additional 591 BTC.

This week saw further alignment between crypto infrastructure and traditional financial systems, driven by advances in stablecoins and tokenization. Meta plans to re-enter digital payments in 2026 with stablecoin integrations across its platforms, while Tether expanded into the creator economy through a strategic stake in Whop to enable on-chain payouts. Institutional adoption continued to broaden, with U.S. university endowments exploring bitcoin and ether ETFs as satellite allocations and Indiana advancing legislation to permit pension fund exposure to regulated crypto ETFs. On the regulatory front, the White House signaled support for limited stablecoin rewards in ongoing market structure negotiations, while the Federal Reserve proposed removing “reputational risk” from bank supervision—moves viewed as easing friction around crypto-related banking activity. In tokenization, DTCC and major financial firms executed the first cross-border intraday repo on the Canton Network using tokenized gilts, the SEC approved 24/7 trading for WisdomTree’s tokenized money market fund, and Dubai launched a regulated secondary market for tokenized real estate. Meanwhile, Solana began building high-speed infrastructure across Asia-Pacific to support institutional trading and future DeFi growth.

Performance

Newsflow

Stablecoin | Meta is planning to re-enter the stablecoin and digital payments space in the second half of 2026, including integrating stablecoin-based payments and a new digital wallet across its platforms with help from third-party providers. This move represents a renewed effort to leverage crypto-native payment infrastructure after its earlier Libra/Diem project was shelved, signalling Meta’s intention to embed cryptocurrency functionality into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp at scale. link

Institution | Endowment funds are increasingly considering allocating portions of their portfolios to cryptocurrencies as they prepare for weaker returns from traditional assets amid high equity valuations, tight credit spreads, and crowded private markets. Facing pressure on long-term payout models, some major universities such as Harvard and Brown have begun using bitcoin and ether ETFs as small, high-volatility satellite positions, signalling that digital assets are becoming part of the mainstream institutional toolkit. link

Regulation | Indiana lawmakers are advancing a “Bitcoin Rights” bill (House Bill 1042) that would permit certain public pension funds to invest in regulated bitcoin and other crypto ETFs, expanding digital asset exposure within the state’s retirement system. The legislation would also protect individuals’ rights to self-custody digital assets and restrict local governments from imposing discriminatory rules on crypto use or mining, signaling Indiana’s broader push to create a supportive legal framework for cryptocurrency. link

Regulation | The U.S. Federal Reserve has proposed eliminating “reputational risk” as a supervisory category in bank oversight, arguing that it is too subjective and can lead to inconsistent regulatory pressure. The move is seen as an effort to address crypto “debanking” by ensuring banks focus on measurable financial risks rather than discouraging relationships with legally operating crypto firms. link

Tokenization | A group of major financial firms, including DTCC, executed the first cross-border intraday repo on the Canton Network using tokenized U.K. government bonds, marking the first cross-currency transaction in which tokenized gilts were exchanged for tokenized deposits in a non-sterling currency with smart contracts embedding interest and risk terms. Proponents say that by enabling real-time, around-the-clock cross-border settlement, blockchain-based repos could unlock far more of the roughly $300 trillion in high-quality liquid assets for use as collateral and significantly improve market efficiency. link

Solana | Solana Company has begun building out a high-speed infrastructure network called the “Pacific Backbone” across the Asia-Pacific region to support the Solana blockchain’s growth and prepare SOL for its next “super cycle,” targeting institutional demand and improving access for market makers, high-frequency traders, and financial firms. The project will connect key hubs like Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong with low-latency systems and is designed to support staking, validation, trading services, and future DeFi products over the next 12–18 months. link

Stablecoin | Tether has acquired a $200 million strategic stake in digital marketplace Whop, which serves millions of users, as the platform integrates Tether’s Wallet Development Kit (WDK) to power stablecoin-based creator payouts and self-custodial wallets. The partnership will enable payments in USDT and other Tether-issued stablecoins, allowing creators to receive near-instant, on-chain settlements while expanding stablecoin adoption in the online creator economy. link

Tokenization | The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved WisdomTree’s plan to allow its tokenized money market fund to be traded 24/7 with instant settlement, rather than only during regular market hours. This regulatory green light enables investors to buy, sell and transfer shares of the digital fund around the clock, highlighting growing acceptance of tokenized financial products. link

Tokenization | Dubai has unveiled a regulated secondary market for approximately $5 million worth of tokenized real estate assets on the XRP Ledger, enabling investors to trade fractional property ownership that was previously issued as tokens in a pilot program. This move integrates blockchain technology with traditional property markets to enhance liquidity, transparency, and accessibility for real estate investment while positioning Dubai as a leader in tokenized real-world asset infrastructure. link

Regulation | The White House signalled support for limited stablecoin rewards in a major U.S. crypto market structure bill and urged banks to accept these incentives as part of ongoing negotiations, with the goal of advancing stalled legislation. The discussions focused on allowing certain reward programs tied to activity while avoiding features that resemble traditional deposit interest, as negotiators from government, banks, and crypto firms work toward compromise language in the bill. link

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