Suspected Sonic Labs-Related Address Transfers 11.78 Million S Tokens to Binance, Valued at Approximately $5.55 Million

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said Wednesday that rifts between the Federal Reserve and the White House have begun to erode public trust in the central bank’s apolitical standing — one of the most direct warnings to date from a top monetary policy official about the fallout from former President Trump’s hardline stance on the Fed. In a farewell essay ahead of his February-end retirement from the Atlanta Fed, Bostic noted his colleagues across the Fed system remain committed to separating their work from politics. “But visits over the past few months have made clear that legal and verbal sparring over the central bank has led people from all walks of life to question the Fed’s independence — a development that’s deeply concerning,” he wrote. Bostic isn’t the only Fed official this year to stress the importance of central bank independence, but no one has directly warned as he did Wednesday that the ongoing string of controversies could weaken public confidence in the instit

February 26: Federal Reserve official Schmiede said Wednesday that high inflation remains a key challenge the Fed must tackle, though he did not spell out how monetary policy should react. “I believe we still have work to do on inflation,” Schmiede stated, adding that “the employment situation is pretty good.” He did not detail how these factors could shape his monetary policy outlook. Notably, Schmiede had previously expressed skepticism about the Fed’s rate cuts last year, when officials lowered the target range to 3.5%-3.75%. Markets expect the Fed to cut rates further this year, but officials have offered little guidance. Schmiede also addressed the Fed’s balance sheet, noting internal discussions have focused on identifying the appropriate level of reserves the financial system needs. He pointed out that the Fed’s large holdings of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from past bond-buying programs continue to suppress housing borrowing costs. Due to the current size of these MB

On February 26, Mizuho analysts noted that a potential acquisition of PayPal by Stripe would help the payment firm expand beyond its traditional merchant payment business into the consumer market. Earlier reports have indicated Stripe is considering acquiring all or a portion of PayPal’s business. The transaction is feasible in terms of scale: Stripe’s latest valuation stands at roughly $159 billion, far exceeding PayPal’s market capitalization of approximately $43 billion. Analysts argue PayPal’s large user base and its peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app Venmo would provide Stripe with strong consumer-side brand recognition and a robust user network. Additionally, PayPal’s Braintree merchant payment infrastructure could boost Stripe’s competitiveness in the payment processing market. Per the analysis, Braintree could add around $700 billion in total payment volume (TPV) to Stripe, which currently processes roughly $1.4 trillion in annual TPV. (Reporting from The Block)

On February 26th, per Bitget market data, NVIDIA (NVDA.O) shares fell in after-hours trading following an earlier 4% gain.

**NVIDIA Reports Strong Fiscal Q4 2026 Results, Ups Guidance for Q1 2027** U.S. Eastern Time Wednesday, February 26 (corresponding to February 25), NVIDIA released its fiscal Q4 2026 earnings report, posting robust top- and bottom-line growth that exceeded internal and analyst expectations. - **Q4 Revenue Surges**: Revenue jumped 73% year-over-year (YoY) to $68.127 billion, accelerating from the prior quarter’s 62% growth. The figure topped NVIDIA’s midpoint guidance of $65 billion and analysts’ consensus estimate of $65.91 billion (a ~68% YoY expected gain). - **Data Center Strength**: Its core data center business—accounting for over 90% of total revenue—hit a quarterly record, exceeding analysts’ forecasts by more than 3%. - **Full-Year Record**: Fiscal 2026 full-year revenue reached a historic high of $215.938 billion, up 65% YoY. **Profitability Hits Multi-Month High**: On a non-GAAP basis, adjusted earnings per share (EPS) rose over 80% YoY, beating analyst estimat

February 26 – The cryptocurrency market notched one of its strongest single-day rebounds in recent times, with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana all climbing. The rally pushed the total crypto market capitalization up by roughly $170 billion to nearly $2.5 trillion. Per HTX market data, Bitcoin rose toward $70,000, Ethereum gained over 13%, and Solana jumped more than 15%. This rebound marks the end of the extended pullback that began after last October’s peak. Market analysts link the uptick to the recent insider trading lawsuit against Jane Street, a major crypto market maker. Some crypto commentators noted that over the past few months, there was a pattern of apparent concentrated Bitcoin sell-offs around 10 a.m. ET—trading that abruptly ceased following the lawsuit’s announcement. No public evidence confirms Jane Street conducted systematic Bitcoin sell-offs at that fixed time. Still, the market broadly views expectations of diminished potential selling pressure as having lift