Russia’s State Duma has passed legislation establishing procedures for the seizure and confiscation of cryptocurrencies in criminal investigations. The law formally recognises digital assets as property under criminal law.
The bill cleared its third reading on 10 February and now awaits approval from the Federation Council and presidential signature.
Investigators may seize digital currency and access devices, with specialists required during investigative actions. Protocols must record asset type, quantity, and wallet identifiers, while access credentials and storage media are sealed.
Where technically feasible, seized funds may be transferred to designated state-controlled addresses, with transactions frozen by court order.
Despite creating a legal basis for confiscation, the law leaves critical operational questions unresolved. No method exists for valuing volatile crypto assets or for their storage, cybersecurity, or liquidation.
Practical cooperation with foreign crypto platforms, particularly under sanctions, also remains uncertain.
The government is expected to develop subordinate regulations covering state custody wallets and enforcement mechanics. Russia faces implementation challenges, including non-custodial wallet access barriers, stablecoin freezing limits, and institutional oversight risks.
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South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb, is attempting to recover more than $40bn in Bitcoin after a promotional payout error credited customers with Bitcoin rather than Korean won.
The mistake occurred on 6 February during a ‘random box’ event, when prize values were entered in Bitcoin rather than in Bitcoin. Intended rewards totalled 620,000 won for 695 users, yet 620,000 bitcoins were distributed.
Only 249 customers opened their boxes, but the credited sums exceeded the exchange’s holdings.
Most balances were reversed through internal ledger corrections. About 13bn won ($9m) remains unrecovered after some users sold or withdrew funds before accounts were frozen. Authorities said 86 customers liquidated roughly 1,788 Bitcoins within 35 minutes.
Regulators have opened a full investigation, and lawmakers have scheduled an emergency hearing. Legal uncertainty remains over liability, while the exchange confirmed no hacking was involved and pledged stronger internal controls.
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Procivis has been selected to build Lithuania’s European Digital Identity Wallet sandbox, advancing preparations for the EU digital identity rollout. The 12-month initiative will be delivered in partnership with the state Agency for Digital Solutions.
The project will establish a national test environment designed to simulate real-world digital identity scenarios. Built on Procivis One, the platform meets eIDAS 2.0 requirements and will validate the wallet infrastructure before EU deployment.
Testing will cover use cases for citizens, public institutions, and private-sector relying parties. Cross-border scenarios, including access to public and travel-related services, will also be explored to ensure interoperability across EU member states.
The sandbox will contribute to Lithuania’s readiness for the 2026 eIDAS 2.0 deadline while supporting broader participation in the EU Large Scale Pilot programmes focused on digital identity innovation.
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Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, has launched ai.com, a platform enabling users to create personal AI agents for everyday digital tasks. The rollout marks Marszalek’s expansion beyond crypto infrastructure into autonomous AI systems.
The beta debut was promoted through a high-profile television commercial aired during Super Bowl 60 on NBC, leveraging one of the world’s largest broadcast audiences. Early access lets users reserve usernames while waiting for their customised AI agents to be deployed.
Marszalek said the long-term goal is a decentralised network of self-improving AI agents that handle email, scheduling, shopping, and travel planning. The initiative aims to accelerate the development of artificial general intelligence through distributed AI agent networks.
The launch arrives amid intensifying competition in the AI agent sector. Major tech firms are launching agent platforms and large ad campaigns, signalling rising commercial momentum behind autonomous digital assistants.
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Quantum computing concerns around Bitcoin have resurfaced, yet analysis from CoinShares indicates the threat remains long-term. The report argues that quantum risk is an engineering challenge that gives Bitcoin ample time to adapt.
Bitcoin’s security relies on elliptic-curve cryptography. A sufficiently advanced quantum machine could, in theory, derive private keys using Shor’s algorithm, which requires millions of stable, error-corrected qubits, and remains far beyond current capability.
Network exposure is also limited. Roughly 1.6 million BTC is held in legacy addresses with visible public keys, yet only about 10,200 BTC is realistically targetable. Modern address formats further reduce the feasibility of attacks.
Debate continues over post-quantum upgrades, with researchers warning that premature changes could introduce new vulnerabilities. Market impact, for now, is viewed as minimal.
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Chinese regulators have tightened controls on digital assets by banning the unauthorised issuance of yuan-pegged stablecoins overseas. The move extends existing restrictions to tokenised financial products linked to China’s currency and reinforces state control over monetary instruments.
In a joint notice, the People’s Bank of China and seven other agencies said no domestic or foreign entity may issue renminbi-linked stablecoins without approval. Authorities warned that such tokens replicate core monetary functions and could undermine currency sovereignty.
The rules also cover blockchain-based representations of real-world assets, including tokenised bonds and equities. Overseas providers are prohibited from offering these services to users in China without regulatory permission.
Beijing reaffirmed that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether have no legal tender status. Facilitating payments or related services using such assets remains illegal under China’s financial laws.
The measures align with China’s broader strategy of restricting private digital currencies while advancing the state-backed digital yuan. Officials have recently expanded the e-CNY’s role by allowing interest payments to encourage wider adoption.
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Betterment has confirmed a data breach affecting around 1.4 million customers after a January 2026 social engineering attack on a third-party platform. Attackers used the access to send fraudulent crypto scam messages posing as official promotions.
The breach occurred after an employee was tricked into sharing login credentials, allowing unauthorised access to internal messaging systems rather than core investment infrastructure. Attackers used the access to send messages promising to multiply cryptocurrency deposits sent to external wallets.
Subsequent forensic analysis and breach monitoring services confirmed that more than 1.4 million unique records were exposed. Betterment said investment accounts and login credentials were not compromised during the incident.
Exposed information included names, email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, dates of birth, job titles, location data, and device metadata. Security experts warn that such datasets can enable targeted phishing, identity fraud, and follow-on social engineering campaigns.
Betterment revoked access the same day, notified customers, and launched an external investigation. The breach was formally added to public exposure databases in early February, highlighting the growing risk of human-focused attacks against financial platforms.
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The system shifts away from transaction-centric blockchain models.
Enterprise adoption has faced regulatory friction, with estimates suggesting nearly 90% of pilots fail to reach production. COBI embeds institutional policy and regulatory controls directly into execution, ensuring transactions occur only after compliance validation.
The architecture operates through four layers covering process logic, compliance policy, system orchestration, and blockchain execution. Integrations span banking infrastructure, ERP platforms, and settlement networks without requiring system replacement.
Designed for financial and sovereign use cases, COBI supports cross-border payments, CBDCs, and tokenised assets. ZenithBlox is raising USD 8 million to scale deployments and certifications.
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Roughly $500 billion has been wiped from the cryptocurrency market over the past week as a Bitcoin-led sell-off accelerated. Total digital asset capitalisation fell by about $467.6 billion since 29 January, reflecting broad risk-off sentiment across global markets.
Bitcoin briefly dropped to a 15-month low of $72,877 before rebounding 1.31% to $76,681.72. The asset remains down 13% year-to-date and nearly 39% below its October peak above $126,000, underscoring sustained selling pressure.
Macro forces are driving the downturn. Escalating US-Iran tensions pushed capital toward traditional safe havens, while currency shifts, interest rate differentials, and tightening liquidity conditions weighed on leverage and stablecoin flows.
Analysts say the decline reflects positioning resets and broader market nervousness rather than a single catalyst.
Near-term outlook remains cautious. Liquidation pressure persists, though key structural supports continue to hold. Technical analysts identify $73,000 as critical downside support, while reclaiming the $77,500–78,000 range would be needed to restore bullish momentum.
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Search behaviour around XRP increasingly reflects the psychological side of the crypto market. Negative narratives spread quickly online, shaping sentiment and fuelling volatility. Data shows that ‘XRP scam’ search spikes often appear during strong price rallies.
Crypto analyst Leonidas compared Google Trends data for ‘Ripple scam’ and ‘XRP scam’ with XRP’s price chart. Results show that damaging search surges typically align with bullish moves and sometimes precede pullbacks, suggesting that perception pressure builds during peak momentum.
Rapid price growth tends to trigger retail curiosity and concern, primarily when sensational claims circulate widely. Search spikes often coincide with heightened mainstream and social media exposure, indicating sentiment reacts to price action rather than fundamentals.
Despite recurring allegations and past regulatory scrutiny, institutional partnerships and XRP Ledger adoption remain intact. Analysts stress that sentiment spikes rarely signal structural weakness, urging investors to prioritise utility and adoption metrics.
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