Huang Renxun has left Beijing, and NVIDIA has not disclosed whether Huang Renxun met with the DeepSeek founder.

**February 18 —** Per Coinglass data, Bitcoin traded within a narrow range on February 18. Funding rates across major centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) exchanges indicate the market remains broadly bearish. Ethereum, which had recently shifted back to neutral funding rates, has flipped negative again. Specific rate details are in the attached image. **BlockBeats Note:** Funding rates are fees set by crypto exchanges to keep perpetual contract prices aligned with underlying asset prices. They facilitate fund transfers between long and short traders (the platform does not charge this fee) and adjust holding costs/profits to maintain parity between contract and spot prices. **Key Benchmarks:** - 0.01% = baseline rate - >0.01% = broadly bullish - <0.005% = broadly bearish

Feb. 18 — ETF issuers Bitwise and GraniteShares filed applications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch event contract funds linked to U.S. election outcomes. Bitwise’s prospectus, filed Tuesday, outlines plans to list six prediction market-style ETFs on NYSE Arca under the “PredictionShares” brand. Each fund will track the party affiliation outcomes of the 2028 presidential election and 2026 congressional elections: The fund tied to a party will rise in value if that party wins, and suffer a “substantial loss in value” if it does not. Each fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in binary event contracts traded on CFTC-regulated exchanges. The contracts will settle at $1 if the specified outcome occurs, and $0 otherwise. Also on Feb. 18, GraniteShares filed prospectuses for six similarly structured funds linked to election results. Roundhill filed a similar fund application on Feb. 14. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted: “The fin

February 18 — Ethereum has hovered around the $2,000 mark for weeks now, with market watchers noting this signals the network’s current struggle with a “narrative rut.” Analyst Callan Sarre says: “For years, Ethereum’s core narrative has been straightforward: Layer 2 (L2) scaling, while the base layer remains lean and secure. Now that L2s handle billions in weekly transaction volume and fees are down 90%+, the question is: where does long-term value accrue?” Markets are pushing for zero-knowledge (ZK) tech and privacy features closer to the base layer. “For traders clinging to old models, it feels like the ground is shifting beneath their feet,” Sarre adds. Sarre highlights the tension between transparency and institutional demand: “Every Ethereum transaction is fully public today—something that doesn’t work for CFOs managing corporate treasuries or funds deploying nine-figure positions. To draw trillions in institutional capital, Ethereum must bake privacy into its protocol

Bridge announced Tuesday (Feb. 18) that it has received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank. The greenlight lets Bridge National Trust Bank issue stablecoins, custody digital assets, and manage reserve assets under federal oversight. This marks a key milestone for Bridge’s standing in the blockchain payments space, coming after its $1.1 billion acquisition by Stripe in 2024. Bridge noted the approval confirms its ability to build digital dollar products for businesses, fintechs, crypto firms, and traditional financial institutions within the federal framework. Bridge added its systems already meet compliance standards outlined in last year’s GENIUS Act. While the OCC, Federal Reserve, and FDIC haven’t released specific implementing rules for the law yet, related processes are ongoing. Bridge is among a growing number of firms developing stablecoin products within federal regulatory guardrails. La

February 18th Despite a Tuesday drop in BitGo’s share price, Mizuho Bank maintained optimism about the institutional-grade crypto custody firm in its first-ever research report on the company. Analysts Dan Dolev and Alexander Jenkins of Mizuho Bank labeled BitGo a “military-grade custodian,” pointing to its long-standing security track record and institutional client focus as key strengths in the fast-growing, competitive custody space. The report noted over 80% of BitGo’s revenue stems from recurring streams like custody and staking—rather than volatile trading—setting it apart from other crypto infrastructure firms. The analysts assigned BitGo an “Outperform” rating and a $17 price target, implying nearly 70% upside from its current share price of roughly $10.15. Mizuho forecasts revenue growth will accelerate as stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization boost institutional adoption. Still, BitGo’s shares have fallen roughly 44% since its January listing on the New

Feb 18: Arthur Hayes deposited 1,000 ETH (≈$1.99M) into Bybit 10 hours earlier, per LookOnChain monitoring.