The US Republican Party's chances of winning the Senate in the midterm elections have dropped to a new low of 60%

On February 17, The Block reported that StarkWare is integrating Nightfall—an open-source zero-knowledge privacy layer built by Big Four accounting firm EY—into its StarkNet to enable confidential on-chain institutional transactions on public blockchain infrastructure. The integration allows institutions to execute private B2B payments, fund operations, and tokenized asset transfers on public blockchains while keeping sensitive transaction details private. StarkWare noted that Nightfall natively supports transaction privacy, plus selective disclosure and compliance mandates like Know Your Customer (KYC)—features tailored to institutional users’ needs.

On February 17, per a Wintermute report, with spot trading volumes continuing to contract, leverage has emerged as the primary driver of short-term volatility. Without "structural buying"—long-term capital that absorbs selling pressure—to cap volatility, markets are seeing sharp swings in both directions. Technically, Bitcoin (BTC) has found support near its 200-week moving average—a level that’s historically signaled bear market bottoms. Wintermute notes that until clear macro signals emerge, every rebound should be viewed as a risk-reduction opportunity, not a reason to chase rallies. For crypto, a return to an uptrend still hinges on macro clarity. The 200-week moving average continues to hold support, and there’s no structural damage to the market—meaning recovery could outpace current sentiment once macro uncertainty fades. In the short term, markets are range-bound and slightly bearish, driven by leverage; $70,000 remains a key near-term resistance level.

Bitcoin briefly dipped below $67,000 on February 17th, per HTX market data. It is currently trading at $67,042.54, with a 1.64% drop over the past hour.

February 17: Bitget Market Data Shows U.S. Stock Open Moves; Crypto-Related Stocks Slide Per Bitget market data, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) rose 31 points at the U.S. stock market open, while the S&P 500 Index fell 0.24% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.59%. Crypto-related stocks traded lower across the board, with the following opening moves: - MSTR: Down 2.73% - BMNR: Down 2.56% - COIN: Down 0.75% - GEMI: Down 8.6%

On February 17, the Monad Foundation announced the appointment of several executives to further advance its institutional strategic rollout following its mainnet launch. Specifically: - Urvit Goel, a former leader at the Optimism Foundation, has been named Vice President of Market Expansion. - Joanita Titan, who oversaw FalconX’s custody and staking business, has been appointed Head of Institutional Growth. - Sagar Sarbhai, a former BVNK executive, will serve as Head of Institutional for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The announcement noted the new team will focus on driving capital markets strategy, brand building, and institutional adoption across the APAC region—including China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea. (Source: Cointelegraph)

February 17 — Nakamoto, a Bitcoin treasury firm, announced today it has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire BTC Inc (a Bitcoin media and events company) and UTXO Management (a Bitcoin-focused investment asset management firm). The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026. Per the announcement, the acquisition will be structured as an all-stock deal: BTC Inc and UTXO shareholders will collectively receive approximately 364 million shares of Nakamoto common stock, with the total transaction value estimated at roughly $107 million.