I. Regulation & Compliance

- Hong Kong issues 12th crypto exchange license (VDX): On February 17, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) granted the VDX license, ending an 8‑month approval pause and signaling "orderly opening up".

- US regulatory easing: The SEC reduced the capital conversion rate for compliant payment‑stablecoins from 100% to 2%; the Federal Reserve plans to remove the "reputational risk" review clause for banks.

- Stablecoin licensing upcoming: Hong Kong announced the first batch of stablecoin licenses will be issued in March, with 36 applications received.

II. Funding & Capital

- Total monthly funding:$883 million, down ~13% year‑on‑year. The market shifted from broad‑based investment to focus on stablecoins, AI agents, and institutional compliance tools.

- Large funding rounds:

- Flying Tulip (Andre Cronje): Raised**$206 million** via token sale

- Whop received**$200 million** strategic investment from Tether

- Anchorage Digital completed $100 million equity financing

III. Market & Institutional Trends

- Jihan Wu liquidates Bitcoin: On February 20, BitDeer sold all 1,132 BTC holdings, with its stock dropping over 20% that day.

- US crypto stocks surge: On February 26, Circle rose over 35%, Coinbase over 13%.

- Geopolitical sell‑off: On February 28, escalating Middle East conflict triggered a drop of over 5% in BTC and over 4% in major altcoins.

- Sustained ETF outflows: Bitcoin spot ETFs saw net outflows for 5 consecutive weeks, a historic record.

IV. Security Incidents

- Total security losses in February: ~$228 million – $126 million from contract exploits, $102 million from scams/rug pulls.

- Major attacks:

- CrossCurve bridge (Feb 1–2): $3 million

- Moonwell (Feb 18): Smart contract vulnerabilities from AI coding led to $1.78 million loss

- YieldBloxDAO (Feb 21): Oracle manipulation caused $10 million loss

- Bybit (Feb 21): Over 400,000 ETH stolen (~$1.5 billion), one of the largest crypto heists in history

- Infini (Feb 24): Stablecoin payment platform lost nearly $50 million

V. Technology & Ecosystem

- AI as double‑edged sword: AI‑generated phishing sites surged; AI‑written smart contracts suffered frequent vulnerabilities, becoming attack vectors.

- Accelerated stablecoin infrastructure: Tether, Circle, and others increased investment in compliant stablecoins and payment infrastructure.