Gate.io Launches INIT Perpetual Contract Pre-trading

February 18th Three Japanese securities giants—with a combined market capitalization of roughly $480 billion—are weighing entry into cryptocurrency trading, with the largest targeting a late-2026 launch of crypto services. Japan’s top securities firm Nomura Holdings (which manages ~$673 billion in client assets) will operate the business via its Swiss crypto subsidiary Laser Digital, Nikkei reports. Two peers—Daiwa Securities Group and SMBC Nikko Securities—are also actively exploring crypto trading entry. The firms cite expected surging crypto demand as Tokyo eases restrictions on cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs), driving their proactive preparation. They won’t let Bitcoin price drops derail their crypto adoption efforts, aiming to add more digital assets to their holdings by 2026.

February 18th: Per Onchain Lens monitoring, the whale address "pension-usdt.eth" has again deposited 30 million USDC into HyperLiquid and opened a 3x leveraged long position on BTC. Position details: - Quantity: 1,000 BTC - Value: $67.59 million - Entry Price: $67,203.6 - Liquidation Price: $37,681.1

Benchmark on Tuesday maintained a “Buy” rating on Metaplanet but slashed its price target by more than half, citing the Tokyo-listed Bitcoin reserve firm’s latest financial report highlighting the “outlook and risks” of its aggressive Bitcoin accumulation strategy. Analyst Mark Palmer cut the price target to 1,100 yen from 2,400 yen, noting recent performance underscores the “hope and danger” of Metaplanet’s Bitcoin-focused financial strategy. The stock trades on the U.S. OTC market under ticker MTPLF, currently around $2.20—after briefly falling to ~$1.85 earlier this month, near its lowest level since the firm launched its Bitcoin purchase strategy in April 2024. Metaplanet reported a $619 million net loss for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, driven primarily by unrealized non-cash valuation losses on its Bitcoin holdings from late-year price declines. Still, operating performance improved sharply: revenue and profit grew thanks to Bitcoin-related financial services. A key pil

February 18 — Investment bank TD Cowen said filling Democratic vacancies at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) could help advance negotiations on the U.S. Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill. The firm noted the bill’s biggest obstacle isn’t its core framework — whether digital assets should be regulated as securities by the SEC or commodities by the CFTC — but a political dispute over conflict-of-interest rules. Democrats are pushing for a ban on specific crypto transactions by senior government officials and their families. TD Cowen noted this proposal would cover former President Donald Trump and his family, given his involvement in the crypto project World Liberty Financial. Bloomberg estimated last month Trump has made roughly $1.4 billion from the project; his family also holds a 20% stake in mining firm American Bitcoin. Democrats are unlikely to back down on the requirement, as the party has framed Trump’s

February 18 — Per Onchain Lens monitoring, the World Liberty Fi project team’s address withdrew 313.31 million WLFI from Binance over the past 11 hours, with the tokens valued at roughly $33.76 million.

February 18: Per Onchain Lens monitoring, a wallet linked to K3 Capital withdrew 20,000 ETH from Binance 6 hours ago—valued at roughly $40.08 million.