Polymarket Launches Bets Linked To Lunar New Year, Reportedly Hires Mandarin-Speaking Staff To Court China’s Punters

Cryptocurrency-based prediction platform Polymarket is looking to penetrate the Chinese market, despite the country’s stringent prohibitions on online gambling.

Polymarket Targets Asian Giant For Growth

Polymarket has recruited Mandarin-speaking employees and is offering bets related to the Lunar New Year to appeal to Chinese users, reported Rest of World, a technology-focused publication.

Justin Yang, who oversees Polymarket’s market entry strategy in Asia, said China has become a “very important geography for” the company.

Yang said Polymarket introduced several China-centric markets based on users’ feedback, including those tied to the Spring Festival Gala, which is broadcast…

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Coinbase CEO Addresses ETF ‘Paper Bitcoin’ Claims

Executives at Coinbase used a recent company ‘AMA’ call to address growing scrutiny around Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, defending the firm’s dominant role as a custodian and pushing back against claims that spot Bitcoin ETFs are backed by “paper Bitcoin” rather than real assets.

Responding to a question from Bloomberg’s James Seyffart, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the company holds a commanding share of the U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETF custody market, estimating Coinbase’s share at more than 80%. He framed that concentration as a competitive advantage rather than a risk.

“We do have pretty dominant market share in terms of custody for the ETFs. I see that as a…

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Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Trade Sideways In A Tuesday Muted Session

Bitcoin is holding around $68,000 level, reflecting broader market softness and persistent fear sentiment.

Cryptocurrency
Ticker
Price

Bitcoin
(CRYPTO: BTC)
$67,989.66

Ethereum
(CRYPTO: ETH)
$1,999.07

Solana
(CRYPTO: SOL)
$85.11

XRP
(CRYPTO: XRP)
$1.48

Dogecoin
(CRYPTO: DOGE)
$0.1020

Shiba Inu
(CRYPTO: SHIB)
$0.056567

Notable Statistics:

Coinglass data shows 83,760 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $196.52 million.
SoSoValue data shows net inflows of $15.2 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs on Friday. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net inflows of $10.3 million.
In the past 24 hours, top losers include pippin, MYX Finance and Quant.

Notable Developments:

Cathie… Read more on Benzinga

BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF Will Take 18% Of Staking Rewards—Here’s The Breakdown – BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) has filed an amended S-1 for its iShares Staked Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) Trust ETF, revealing an 18% cut of staking rewards split between the sponsor and prime execution agent.

The 18% Staking Fee Structure

The amended filing disclosed that the trust will pay an aggregate 18% of gross staking consideration as a “Staking Fee,” with the trust retaining the remainder. 

This 18% represents the combined total of two pieces: BlackRock’s staking-related portion and the prime execution agent’s share.

The prime execution agent can then pay portions onward to staking service providers.

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) serves as both the custodian through Coinbase Custody Trust Company…

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BitMine Buys Record 45,759 ETH—Can It Stop BMNR Breaking Below $15 Support? – BitMine Immersion (AMEX:BMNR)

BitMine Immersion Technologies (NYSE:BMNR) bought 45,759 Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) last week for over $90 million—its largest weekly purchase this year.

The Buying Spree Continues

BitMine’s total ETH holdings reached 4,371,497 tokens worth $8.7 billion at current prices, representing 3.62% of total ETH supply. 

The company also raised its cash pile to $670 million alongside a $200 million stake in Beast Industries, bringing total assets to $9.6 billion.

Staking generates meaningful revenue despite losses. BitMine has staked 3,040,483 ETH—69% of total holdings—generating $176 million in annualized rewards at a 2.89% yield. 

When MAVAN, the company’s proprietary staking solution,…

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Abu Dhabi, Jane Street Buy Billions In Bitcoin ETFs

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investment Company, disclosed a significant increase in its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), reporting ownership of 12.7 million shares valued at approximately $630.6 million as of December 31. 

This represents a 46% rise from the 8.7 million IBIT shares previously reported as of September 30. Mubadala manages a broad global portfolio spanning technology, healthcare, infrastructure, private equity and public markets, with assets under management exceeding USD 330 billion. 

The fund’s strategy aims to generate sustainable returns for the Government of Abu Dhabi and support economic…

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Satoshi’s Exercise For The Reader

The Bitcoin whitepaper is clear about Bitcoin’s core feature: it is permissionless. Anyone in the world can pay anyone by joining the peer-to-peer network and broadcasting a transaction. Proof of Work consensus even empowers anybody to become a block producer, and means that the only way to reverse a payment is to overpower everyone else through hashpower.

But Proof of Work only defines how to choose a winner amongst competing chains; it does not help a node discover it. A 51% attack – or a 100% attack – is much easier if an attacker can prevent nodes from hearing about competing chains. The job of discovery belongs to the peer-to-peer module, which juggles many contradictory…

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Strategy Buys 2,486 Bitcoin But MSTR Dives Another 3% – Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR)

Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) bought 2,486 Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) for $168.4 million between February 9 and February 16 at an average price of $67,710.

The Latest Purchase

Strategy funded the buy through two sources: $90.5 million in common stock sales and $78.4 million from STRC preferred stock sales. 

Total holdings now stand at 717,131 BTC acquired for $54.52 billion at a $76,027 average cost basis.

The math is painful. With Bitcoin at $68,000, Strategy sits underwater by roughly $8,000 per coin—a total unrealized loss of approximately $5.7 billion. 

Despite the loss, the company retains substantial capital-raising capacity: $7.88 billion remaining under common stock authorization and $3.54…

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Abu Dhabi’s Al Warda Raises Bitcoin ETF To 8.2M IBIT Shares

Abu Dhabi-based Al Warda Investments continued to expand its exposure to bitcoin through BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the fourth quarter of 2025, extending a strategy shift that began earlier in the year.

In a filing released today, Al Warda reported owning 8,218,712 shares of IBIT as of Dec. 31, up from 7,963,393 shares at the end of the third quarter. The increase follows a sharp Q3 buildup, when the firm more than tripled its stake and raised its bitcoin ETF exposure to $517.6 million.

Al Warda operates under the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC), part of Mubadala Investment Co., one of the region’s leading sovereign wealth groups. The council has rarely…

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