BREAKING: $435 million has been liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the past 12 hours.

February 25th — On-chain sleuth ZachXBT recently teased an upcoming insider trading investigation report, sparking widespread chatter across the crypto community. Crypto commentator Bold noted that the “most intriguing angle” of the move is that the probe’s target—upon learning they’re under investigation—could theoretically use that information to front-run the market, thereby engaging in new forms of “insider trading.” In response, ZachXBT said that given the multi-party nature of case interviews, information leaks are “likely unavoidable.” Asked why he released the teaser early, he noted front-running wasn’t as significant a concern in the past as it is today, and no prior teaser had gone viral to the tune of 8+ million views and 27,000 likes. This incident once again underscores the tension between transparency in crypto investigations and market maneuvering. With prediction markets growing more active, the timing of information disclosures itself could become a price driver.

**Feb. 25 Key Earnings Watch: Circle (USDC Issuer) & NVIDIA** Markets are closely tracking the impact of two major earnings releases on risk assets: - **Circle** (issuer of USD stablecoin USDC) will publish its financial report **ahead of U.S. stock market opening** on Feb. 25. - **NVIDIA** will release earnings **post-U.S. market close** on Feb. 25 (5 a.m. Feb. 26 Beijing time). NVIDIA’s stock has traded at elevated levels in recent months, with **modest year-to-date gains**. Wall Street is wary: even if results are strong, short-term profit-taking could amplify volatility—potentially hitting the global AI supply chain and associated asset prices. Historically, NVIDIA’s earnings beats have lifted market risk appetite and buoyed sentiment during cryptocurrency pullbacks. Today, investors are weighing interdependencies between: - The AI capital expenditure cycle, - Semiconductor profit outlooks, - Stablecoin business growth. Circle’s and NVIDIA’s reports may offer

February 25: Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan announced in his 2026-27 budget speech that the city will issue its first batch of fiat-pegged stablecoin issuer licenses in March. The related licensing regime is now in place, and regulators will support licensed issuers in exploring diverse use cases under a compliant, risk-managed framework. The budget speech also confirmed Hong Kong will table a bill this year to create a licensing regime for virtual asset trading platforms and custody service providers—extending regulatory oversight beyond existing exchanges and stablecoins to include over-the-counter (OTC) digital asset trading. Liquidity is a key regulatory priority this year. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will implement measures to boost liquidity in Hong Kong’s local crypto asset market, offer additional products to professional investors (including the previously proposed crypto asset margin financing and derivative trading frameworks), and launch an “A

**February 25 Update** Per data from Coinbob Popular Address Monitor (via its Telegram channel: https://t.me/Coinbob_track_CN), the largest long position holder of Hyperliquid’s XPL token (address 0xf47) has been locked in a grueling 137-day “hardcore battle” spanning four months. On the eve of XPL’s sharp October 11, 2025, drop, the address opened a 5x leveraged long position at an average entry price of $0.724—apparently attempting to “bottom-fish” and catch the next XPL rally. But the market crashed immediately after the trade, trapping the address in a long-term hold as a “left-side entry” (entering before a confirmed rebound). Since October 2024, the address has deposited roughly $6.7 million into Hyperliquid, continuously adding margin to average down its cost and keep fueling this contrarian bet. 137 days later, XPL’s price has yet to recover. While its average holding price has fallen to $0.176, the unrealized loss still stands at a staggering $3.46 million—a 507% lo

On February 25, CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost noted in a post that the “Coinbase Premium Gap” — which tracks the price difference between Coinbase Advanced and Binance — has recently turned positive, signaling a tentative recovery in demand from U.S. institutional and professional funds. Data shows this marks the third time the indicator has moved into positive territory this year, with the current premium at roughly $10.18 — still a relatively moderate level. Analysts say a positive premium typically signals rising buying pressure from U.S. institutions and professional investors. The report notes Coinbase Advanced’s user base leans more heavily toward professional and institutional participants, while Binance boasts a broader global retail user base and holds a large share of overall market liquidity. As a result, the price gap between the two platforms is often used to gauge U.S. capital flows. Since Bitcoin entered a more significant correction phase on February 4, the prem

February 25 – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that law enforcement has seized over $61 million in USDT, with the funds suspected of ties to a Ponzi scheme-style cryptocurrency investment fraud. Prosecutors said the funds were traced to multiple cryptocurrency wallet addresses and used to launder money stolen from victims via fake trading platforms. The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Through on-chain tracking, law enforcement identified wallet accounts still holding large balances that met seizure criteria. Prosecutor Ellis Boyle noted the seizure “deprived criminals of their ill-gotten gains” and underscored law enforcement’s commitment to combating cryptocurrency fraud. Court documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) show fraud groups typically build trust by forming fake romantic relationships, luring victims into so-called high-yield cryptocurrency investments, and continuously “