BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is preparing to launch a Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) in Europe, according to a Feb. 5 report by Bloomberg. The move comes after BlackRock’s US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), drew upward of $57 billion in net assets after launching in January 2024. BlackRock’s IBIT fund…

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the regulatory body overseeing banks in the United States, has released 790 pages of additional correspondence related to firms offering crypto services to clients. According to the FDIC, the documents show requests from banks and other institutions to offer crypto services to clients were almost always met with resistance, delays, constant requests…

US President Donald Trump’s administration has confirmed plans to regulate and bring stablecoin innovation onshore, according to Trump’s crypto czar, David Sacks. Stablecoins are one of the key areas of focus for the Trump administration, alongside Bitcoin adoption and blockchain development, Sacks said on CNBC’s Closing Bell Over Time on Feb. 4. The stablecoin market “has already taken…

Widespread adoption of inscriptions could drive the Bitcoin network’s average block size as high as 4 megabytes (MB) per block, far higher than current averages, according to a Feb. 4 report by Mempool Research. Bitcoin’s average block size — the amount of data contained in each block posted to the network’s public ledger — is…

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is carving out a new path for the cryptocurrency sector, including evaluating the security status of crypto assets and potentially providing “retroactive relief” for certain token offerings. According to a Feb. 4 statement issued by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, the White House’s newly announced Crypto Task Force will use its tools…

Injective, a layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for finance, is rebranding to reflect its evolution into an ecosystem that merges traditional and onchain finance. The new brand identity embodies Injective’s growth and its mission to create a more open and efficient financial system through onchain. Decentralized finance (DeFi) has come a long way since its inception. What began…

Over 50% of Ethereum validators have signaled support for raising the network’s gas limit, increasing the maximum amount of gas that can be used for transactions in a single Ethereum block. As of Feb. 4, Gaslimit.pics, which actively tracks the progress of validators’ support for a higher gas limit, shows 52% of validators are in favor, surpassing the…

Real-world assets (RWAs) reached a new cumulative all-time high following Bitcoin’s decline below $100,000. RWA tokenization refers to financial and other tangible assets minted on the immutable blockchain ledger, increasing investor accessibility and trading opportunities of these assets. Onchain RWAs have reached a cumulative all-time high of more than $17.1 billion across over 82,000 total asset…

Opinion by: Irina Heaver, Bitcoin and crypto lawyer The United Arab Emirates has positioned itself as a global capital of crypto innovation. With zero personal income tax, low corporate taxes and some of the clearest regulatory frameworks in the world, entrepreneurs are flocking to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and beyond to set up…

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand is planning to launch a distributed ledger technology-based trading platform for securities firms to trade digital tokens. The deputy secretary-general of the Thai SEC said that token investments were gaining traction and the regulator will allow securities companies to trade digital tokens to capitalize on their large investor…