Jumat, 20 Februari 2026

New proposal narrows stablecoin rewards in Senate crypto bill


Inside the EU's blockchain sandbox: regulation as a catalyst	͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏	View in browser

February 20, 2026

Your Daily Digest of the 🔥Hottest News in Crypto

Today's top stories

🏛️ White House pitches stablecoin rewards limited to transaction activity
🤝 Nearly 125 EU authorities join sandbox to map legal paths for real use cases
🇰🇷 South Korean regulators grilled over Bithumb's $43B Bitcoin crediting blunder
📰 Keep reading for all of today's biggest headlines

White House floats limited stablecoin rewards in third crypto, bank meeting

The White House held a third meeting in just over two weeks with crypto and banking lobbyists to break a stalemate over stablecoin rewards in a broader crypto market structure bill. Adviser Patrick Witt pushed a compromise that would allow third parties like exchanges to offer stablecoin rewards only for transaction-based activity, not for holding idle balances—an approach some in crypto say makes yield on balances effectively off the table. While no agreement was reached, executives from Coinbase, Ripple, and the Blockchain Association said the talks were constructive, and bank groups are expected to meet internally as negotiations continue.

Get the Details

How Europe's blockchain sandbox finds innovation in regulation

The EU is using its European Blockchain Sandbox to argue that regulation can actually spur blockchain innovation by pairing real-world use cases with regulators in confidential dialogues that clarify legal requirements. After three cohorts involving nearly 125 authorities, the program produced a lengthy best-practices report and found that most participants saw a meaningful impact on both innovation and regulation. The latest discussions increasingly tackled mature, operational projects in sectors like energy and healthcare and focused on thorny issues such as smart contract security and GDPR compliance, and how to interpret MiCA's undefined concept of "fully decentralized" services. Overall, the initiative suggests that early rulemaking combined with ongoing regulator-industry dialogue can provide legal certainty without freezing experimentation.

Get the Full Story

South Korean authorities under fire over $43B Bithumb Bitcoin error

South Korean lawmakers are criticizing the Financial Services Commission (FSC) after crypto exchange Bithumb mistakenly credited users with 2,000 BTC each—rather than 2,000 won—briefly distributing 620,000 BTC it didn't have and sparking a rush to sell. The FSC has faced backlash for allegedly missing system flaws despite multiple inspections since 2022 and for delaying its investigation, now expected to wrap by late February. While Bithumb says it recovered most of the erroneous credits, the incident has renewed broader concerns about gaps in crypto oversight and the authorities' handling of seized digital assets following past custody failures.

Stablecoin A7A5 grows parallel system for sanctioned companies

A7A5, a Russian ruble-backed stablecoin launched in early 2025 by the A7 platform, is accused by analysts of helping build a parallel financial network for sanctioned actors. Reports from TRM Labs and Chainalysis link roughly $39 billion in sanctions-related crypto flows to wallets associated with A7A5, framing its growth as part of a broader shift toward "durable" onchain infrastructure used by state-aligned entities and sanctioned businesses.

The article says A7A5 expanded as Russia sought alternatives after Western sanctions cut off access to major payment rails like Visa/Mastercard and SWIFT. After trading on the now-sanctioned Garantex, activity continued on successor venues such as Grinex and other platforms despite OFAC actions; weekday-heavy transaction patterns suggest business use for cross-border payments. A7A5's team denies wrongdoing, citing KYC/AML and audits, while outlining further expansion plans including allowing PSB cardholders to buy the token.