U.S. CFTC Acting Chairman: Enforcement Division Restructured, Refocused on Combating Fraud

On February 14, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said advancing the CLARITY Act could help lift market sentiment amid the ongoing prolonged market slump. Speaking in a Friday interview with CNBC, Bessent noted that progress on the CLARITY Act has been stalled by concerns from crypto industry executives, which has negatively impacted the sector. “Amid this historic market selloff, clarity on the CLARITY Act would deliver a major confidence boost to markets—and we can build on that momentum going forward,” he said. However, Bessent added: “If the Democratic Party wins control of the House (an outcome I certainly don’t want), any chance of reaching an agreement would be totally dashed.” Bessent emphasized that given the potential power shift following the 2026 midterm elections, it is “critical” to speed up passage of the bill and get it to President Trump for signing by the U.S. spring (late March through late June). Current House data shows Republicans hold a narrow maj

On February 14, per LookOnChain data, a Matrixport-linked whale address has flipped a $10 million+ floating loss to a $1 million floating gain as ETH’s price rebounded. The address previously held a long position of 105,000 ETH (valued at $215 million). ### Notes on American English adjustments: 1. **Conciseness**: Used "per LookOnChain data" (common for financial/tech updates) instead of "according to LookOnChain monitoring"; abbreviated "$10 million+" (casual, readable for U.S. audiences). 2. **Natural phrasing**: "Matrixport-linked" (preferred over "related to" in crypto/finance context); "flipped" (more precise than "turned into" for trading loss/gain shifts); "ETH’s price" (omitted unnecessary "the" per common crypto terminology). 3. **Structure**: Split into two short sentences for readability (typical of U.S. news alerts). 4. **Formality balance**: "Valued at" (slightly more precise than "worth" for asset valuation in updates).

On February 14, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong took to social media to share: “Ironically, if a ban on crypto rewards were to become law, Coinbase’s profit would actually rise — because we currently pay high rewards to customers holding USDC stablecoins. But we don’t want that to happen. Rewarding customers benefits consumers, and keeping regulated stablecoins competitive on the global stage is also better for the U.S.” Armstrong’s remarks reportedly come in response to recent debate over the CLARITY Act, which focuses on whether to ban or restrict platforms from offering stablecoin rewards to users.

On Feb. 14, Benchmark partner Bill Gurley clarified on social media about "Grace Lei’s joining": "Sorry, I was just joking—this is fake news."

February 14 — Per alternative data, even as Bitcoin once again climbed above $69,000, the cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index remains at 9 today (the same as yesterday), signaling the market is still in "extreme fear" territory. Note: The index ranges from 0 to 100 and incorporates the following metrics: Volatility (25%), Market Trading Volume (25%), Social Media Hype (15%), Market Surveys (15%), Bitcoin Market Dominance (10%), and Google Trends Analysis (10%).

On February 14, Stephen Douglass of NISA Investment Advisors noted that roughly one-third of tariff-related inflation could still gradually pass through to the economy in the coming months. This is expected to support solid economic performance and keep the Federal Reserve on hold for the near term. “We’re back on track for a soft landing,” he said. “The labor market will stabilize, and the final tariff inflation ripples will pass through in the first half of this year.” He projects commodity inflation will turn negative in the second half of the year, creating room for the Fed to resume rate cuts later than markets anticipate. “Our base case for this year is one rate cut in September and another in December,” he added. (Source: FXStreet)