Russia Plans to Ban Foreign Cryptocurrency Exchanges in Summer 2026 to Boost Local Platforms

On February 19, Wall Street Journal reporter Nick Timiraos—dubbed the “Fed’s Whisperer” for his close ties to Federal Reserve officials—said what was **missing** from the latest Fed meeting minutes matters more than what was included. Last year, Fed staff repeatedly projected inflation would hit the central bank’s 2% target by 2027 through the December policy meeting; the December minutes pushed that timeline to 2028. The January minutes, however, did **not explicitly state when inflation would reach 2%**. They only noted the forecast was “slightly higher and remained balanced” relative to December’s outlook, and that tariff impacts would fade after mid-year, with inflation resuming its prior downward trend. The phrase “and reach 2% by 2028” from earlier minutes was absent. Timiraos argued this signals the Fed’s **diminished confidence** in the inflation path. Tight resource utilization and rising import prices led staff to confirm a slightly higher forecast than December—but

On the morning of February 19th, Polymarket team member Mustafa liked a tweet stating: “Polymarket will conduct an airdrop in the next six months.”

February 19 — U.S. President Donald Trump stated that tariffs on foreign companies and countries have cut the U.S. trade deficit by 78%. He added the deficit will turn positive this year, marking the first time in decades the nation has achieved this milestone. (FX678)

On February 19, on-chain analyst Ai Auntie (@ai_9684xtpa) noted that a new address (0x44f…8C91A) has offloaded 886.31 WBTC on-chain in the past 5 hours, totaling $58.53 million at an average price of $66,044.99. The funds were cross-chain transferred via Defiway six months ago and consolidated by dozens of addresses six hours prior to the sale.

As of February 19, The Information reports that OpenAI’s latest funding round is proceeding smoothly, with total funding expected to surpass $100 billion. (Golden Ten)

On February 19, World Liberty Financial (WLFI) announced a partnership with DarGlobal and Securitize to tokenize the loan interest and revenue-sharing rights of the Trump International Hotel & Resort, Maldives. This collaboration marks the first project under WLFI’s RWA tokenization issuance for its brand. The project, a joint effort between DarGlobal and The Trump Organization, is scheduled for completion by 2030 and will feature approximately 100 ultra-luxury beach and overwater villas. WLFI noted the token will target eligible accredited investors, offering fixed income and exposure to cash flows tied to loan revenue. Issuance will occur via Reg D 506(c) private placement and Reg S (restricted to verified accredited investors and non-U.S. persons), with limitations on token transfer and resale.