38804
CryptoDiffer.com https://twitter.com/CryptoDiffer Contact @makscryptodiffer 🗣CHAT https://t.me/joinchat/Brbs51k5cWoRBKtsgmb6Ew
Binance and Franklin Templeton partner on Tokenized Collateral
Binance and Franklin Templeton are launching an institutional collateral program. The initiative allows tokenized money market fund (MMF) shares to be used as off-exchange collateral on Binance.
The funds are issued via Franklin Templeton’s Benji platform and held in regulated custody through Ceffu, with their value mirrored on Binance.
👉 x.com/binance/status/2021494670518337685?s=46
Canton Network has powered First-Ever Private Stablecoin Payroll for Institutions
Why It Matters: This is the first time a multinational company has run a payroll using private stablecoins, addressing long-standing barriers around data privacy and operational risk that have kept institutions from using crypto for core finance functions.
How It Worked:
- Private stablecoins were issued and moved on Canton’s blockchain
- Sensitive payroll data remained confidential through institutional-grade privacy controls
- The payment was settled instantly and securely, unlike slow traditional wire systems that take days and expose sensitive details
👉 canton.network/canton-network-press-releases/canton-network-powers-first-ever-private-payroll-for-institutions
LayerZero unveils blockchain backed by Citadel & Ark Invest
How It Works: LayerZero enables cross-chain communication, allowing assets and data to move seamlessly between different blockchains. The new network focuses on secure messaging, interoperability, and institutional-grade integrations.
Institutional Backing:
- Citadel and ARK Invest participated as investors
- Partnership with Google Cloud for infrastructure support
- Collaboration with DTCC to explore tokenized asset settlement
Strategic Vision: The launch aims to accelerate tokenization of real-world assets, expand enterprise blockchain use cases, and strengthen cross-chain liquidity infrastructure.
👉 x.com/LayerZero_Core/status/2021336132047294898
Robinhood has opened the public testnet for its Layer 2
🔤 What It Offers
- Ethereum L2 infrastructure built on Arbitrum
- Framework for tokenized real-world assets, including stocks
- Financial-focused blockchain designed for 24/7 onchain trading
ℹ️ What Users Can Do Now
- Connect wallets and interact with the testnet
- Experiment with test tokenized assets
- Build and deploy smart contracts/DeFi apps
👉 x.com/RobinhoodApp/status/2021399303722258575?s=20
SafeMoon CEO Gets 8 Years in Prison for Crypto Fraud Scheme
Braden John Karony, CEO of SafeMoon (SFM), has been sentenced to 100 months (8 years, 4 months) in prison for orchestrating a large-scale crypto fraud scheme.
ℹ️ Case Snapshot & Sentencing Breakdown
- Convicted of securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering
- Sentenced to 100 months in federal prison
- Ordered to forfeit $7.5M; victim restitution still pending
- Prosecutors requested 12 years; the maximum possible sentence was 45 years
- Fraud involved the misuse of allegedly “locked” liquidity pool funds
🔤 How the SafeMoon Fraud Worked
- SafeMoon peaked at ~$8B market cap during the 2021 bull cycle
- The token used a 10% transaction tax model:
1. 50% redistributed to holders
2. 50% allocated to liquidity pools
- Karony secretly diverted liquidity funds for personal use
- Funds were used to acquire luxury real estate, high-end vehicles, and crypto assets
- Authorities estimate >$9M in illicit crypto was controlled by Karony
ℹ️ Legal Fallout. Karony and co-founder Thomas Smith were charged in 2023 with criminal and SEC civil cases, with Smith pleading guilty and awaiting sentencing, while a third co-conspirator remains at large
USDAI to Hold CHIP Whitelist Token Sale on CoinList
USDAI is launching a whitelist token sale for CHIP, the governance token of the USDAI DAO, exclusively for users who participated in the Allo Game. Allocations are based on points earned during the campaign, which rewarded engagement with USDai and sUSDai through minting and staking.
- Sale Window: February 22–27, 2026
- Price: $0.03 per CHIP
- Fully Diluted Value: $300,000,000
- Vesting: 100% unlock expected in March 2026
- Allocated Supply: 700,000,000 CHIP (7%)
ℹ️ About CHIP. CHIP is the governance layer token of USDAI, giving holders rights to vote on protocol parameters, risk, and ecosystem funding. The token launch follows the Allo Game, a participation campaign where points earned determined token allocations through ICO and airdrop mechanisms
Polymarket Expands Into Attention Markets With Kaito AI
Polymarket is launching attention markets via a partnership with Kaito AI, which tracks social media to measure public attention and sentiment. Users can bet on trends, brands, and personalities, creating a real-time gauge of cultural relevance.
🔤 How It Works? Kaito pulls data from X, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to track “mindshare” (volume of discussion) and “sentiment” (positive or negative). Example markets:
- “Will Anthropic’s mindshare surpass OpenAI next month?”
- “Will sentiment on Elon Musk improve this month?”
🔤 Pilot Success. Polymarket tested markets in November:
- “Polymarket’s mindshare by March 31, 2026?” — $1.3M traded
- “Crypto Twitter mindshare?” — $90K traded
ℹ️ Launch Plans. Dozens of markets by March, hundreds by year-end, starting with AI and expanding to entertainment and world events.
Attention markets provide real-time public opinion data, potentially more accurate than surveys. Kaito AI, founded in 2022, has raised $10.5M at an $87M valuation, with projects like Noise building similar markets
Aztec Dropped TGE Countdown, With TGE Scheduled for February 12
AZTEC’s public sale concluded in early December 2025, raising approximately 19,476 ETH.
On February 5, amid a broader financial and crypto market crash, Aztec launched a new testnet, introducing STK test token staking with a governance option.
Additionally, Coinbase added AZTEC to its listing roadmap, though no further details have been disclosed so far.
👉 x.com/aztecnetwork/status/2020898461944844429?s=20
Price Discovery Board: Superform (UP)
UP trading starts today at 17:00 UTC, backed by $14M in funding. This board compares potential FDV scenarios using benchmarks from other DeFi projects like Pendle, Solv and Wirex Pay.
Chromia releases clawchain(.)ai: social network for AI Agents
clawchain(.)ai is in the beta stage that lets agents create profiles, publish posts, comment, and form communities while storing it on-chain. The result is a social graph and a reputation layer that can be inspected and verified by anyone, similarly to Reddit.
👉 x.com/Chromia/status/2020889384422424964
XION unveils on-chain zero-knowledge email verification system
This system enables users to prove email ownership without exposing the actual address. Developers can use it to add privacy-friendly login, gating, and recovery-style flows. That may be useful for dApps that need authentication without sacrificing privacy.
👉 x.com/burnt_xion/status/2020883786104488247?s=20
Jump Trading to become liquidity provider for Polymarket and Kalshi
Jump will earn small equity packages in leading prediction markets in exchange for providing liquidity to their markets. Jump, which operates its trading services in traditional equities and crypto, has 20 employees trading prediction markets, according to Bloomberg.
👉 finance.yahoo.com/news/jump-trading-earn-stakes-polymarket-215538286.html
South Korea launches probe into Bithumb over BTC incident
Bithumb mistakenly sent 620K BTC ($43.1B) instead of 620K KRW to hundreds of users as part of a promotional giveaway. While Bithumb moved swiftly to recover funds and compensate users, the exchange has faced criticism as the incident exposed systemic vulnerabilities.
Specifically, the ability to generate and execute transactions for massive, non-existent balances. Although 620K BTC was moved during the incident, Bithumb reportedly held only about 46K BTC.
👉 decrypt.co/357462/investigators-circle-bithumb-compensation-43-billion-bitcoin-error
Cramer Reports Trump Buying BTC for U.S. Reserve
According to Cramer, the Trump administration was purchasing Bitcoin around the $60,000 as part of efforts to establish a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve beyond assets obtained through seizures.
U.S. officials have not confirmed any new purchases and maintain the reserve can only grow on a cost-neutral basis.
👉 x.com/StockSavvyShay/status/2020201869222768869
Binance Buys Bitcoin for SAFU Fund
Binance purchased 4,225 BTC (~$300M) for the SAFU Fund. The SAFU BTC balance now totals 10,455 BTC ($734M), with further purchases planned to complete the conversion within 30 days.
👉 x.com/binance/status/2020746367996743708?s=20
NVIDIA and Samsung to build a new AI Megafactory
The factory integrates NVIDIA accelerated computing, digital twin simulation tools (Omniverse), and predictive AI workflows to improve productivity, streamline design-to-production cycles, and enable real-time optimisation across Samsung’s fabs.
👉 nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/samsung-ai-factory
Sam Bankman-Fried files a motion seeking a new trial
His motion comes amid ongoing legal efforts to challenge aspects of his conviction and sentence. The request argues that new witness evidence could undercut key prosecution claims, and it was filed pro se (he is representing himself).
👉 theblock.co/post/389276/jailed-ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-files-motion-seeking-new-trial
Binance Futures has launched AZTEC Pre-Market trading
Current Pre-Market Price - $0.222. Maximum Leverage - 5x. Aztec Network is a private ZK-rollup on Ethereum, enabling decentralized applications to access privacy and scale.
👉 binance.com/en/support/announcement/aztecpremarket
OpenAI Begins Testing Ads in ChatGPT for Free & Go Plans in U.S.
OpenAI has started testing ads in ChatGPT for logged-in adult users on the Free and Go tiers in the U.S., while Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans remain ad-free.
Ads are clearly labeled, do not affect ChatGPT’s answers, and do not give advertisers access to conversations or personal data. Ad selection is based on chat context and past ad interactions, not private information
OpenAI says ads will help fund infrastructure and keep free access available, while maintaining strict privacy, safety, and answer independence. The rollout is currently limited and focused on user feedback before any expansion.
👉 openai.com/index/testing-ads-in-chatgpt
Chainlink Selected to Participate in the Bank of England’s Synchronisation Lab
Chainlink has been selected for the Bank of England’s Synchronisation Lab, a non-live initiative testing atomic settlement between central bank money and onchain assets in the UK.
Chainlink will support synchronised settlement between central bank money and tokenised securities, bridging traditional finance with blockchain infrastructure.
Announced in October 2025, the Lab includes 18 organisations, builds on Project Meridian, and will run for around six months from spring 2026, focusing on interoperability and real-world settlement use cases
Coinbase to List Selected Assets for Spot Trading on February 11
Coinbase will open spot trading for RaveDAO (RAVE), DeepBook (DEEP), and Walrus (WAL) on February 11, starting at 5:00 PM UTC in supported regions.
👉 x.com/CoinbaseMarkets/status/2021265701600641292?s=20
edgeX Secures Investment from Circle Ventures Ahead of Token Launch
Circle Ventures has invested in edgeX, a decentralized trading platform, ahead of its token launch planned for late Q1. The partnership also brings USDC integration on the edgeX Chain, boosting stablecoin liquidity and settlement.
ℹ️ Recent edgeX Updates
- TVL ~$181.06M, generating $482.12M in annualized fees, $298.58M in revenue, with $1.811B in open interest
- Decentralized perpetual trading with ~295,000 users, ~$5B daily trading volume, and ~$1B open interest
- Ongoing infrastructure improvements for performance and low-latency trading
- Expansion of ecosystem tooling ahead of the token launch
- Increased institutional attention following Circle’s strategic involvement
👉 x.com/edgeX_exchange/status/2021223589890973842?s=20
Tether announces strategic investment in LayerZero Labs
The investment is aimed at supporting cross-chain stablecoin transfers and improving liquidity movement. Over the past year, LayerZero’s interoperability infrastructure has been leveraged by Everdawn Labs to develop and bring to market USDt0 and XAUt0.
👉 tether.io/news/tether-announces-strategic-investment-in-layerzero-labs-creator-of-the-interoperability-infrastructure-used-by-usdt0/
Farcaster Founders Varun Srinivasan and Dan Romero join Tempo Layer 1
Romero joined Tempo as Chief Product Officer while Srinivasan as Chief Technology Officer. The hires come just weeks after Farcaster’s protocol and associated products were acquired by decentralized infrastructure firm Neynar.
👉 x.com/dwr/status/2020858149041799548?s=20
Espresso (ESP) One-Pager. Booster Program launches today
Espresso, a confirmation layer built to support cross-chain composability, is launching Booster Program on Binance ahead of its upcoming token release. Espresso is backed by $60M in funding from top tier funds including a16z, Paradigm and Coinbase Ventures.
TON Foundation has launched TON Pay, a new payments SDK
TON Pay provides devs with a single software kit that integrates with Telegram Mini Apps, removing much of the friction associated with managing wallet infrastructure, settlement, and checkout flows.
👉 x.com/ton_blockchain/status/2020841730661048479?s=20
MrBeast’s company has acquired fintech app Step
Step, which raised half a billion in funding and has grown to over 7 million users, offers financial services geared toward Gen Z to help them build credit, save money, and invest.
The company is also reportedly interested in launching a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), a lower-cost cell phone plan similar to Ryan Reynolds’ Mint Mobile.
👉 x.com/MrBeast/status/2020910218360782929?s=20
Bitcoin mining difficulty drops by 11.16% as miners capitulate
BTC mining difficulty has dropped by the largest margin since 2021, signaling growing pressure on the mining sector. The adjustment follows miner capitulation, as weaker operators shut down equipment amid declining profitability and rising operational costs.
Historically, sharp difficulty drops have coincided with periods of stress, but also marked potential turning points in the mining cycle.
Backpack Unveils BACK Tokenomics Ahead of Utility Drop
1️⃣ TGE — 25% (250,000,000 BACK)
- Points holders: 240,000,000 (24%)
- Mad Lads holders: 10,000,000 (1%)
→ Airdrop targeted at point-farming users and Mad Lads NFT holders
2️⃣ Pre-IPO — 37.5% (375,000,000 BACK)
- Distributed via Growth-Triggered Unlocks
- Step-by-step unlocks tied to key milestones:
1. Regulatory progress
2. Product expansion
3. Market access
- Total supply unlocked pre-IPO (incl. TGE): 625,000,000 (62.5%)
3️⃣ Post-IPO — 37.5% (375,000,000 BACK)
- Allocated to Corporate Treasury
- Fully locked for 1 year post-IPO
- Team & investors gain exposure via treasury
- Designed as a strategic digital asset vault for long-term value creation
👉 x.com/Backpack/status/2020859026221744435?s=20
Tether Plans Major Hiring Amid Global Expansion
Tether plans to hire 150 employees over the next 18 months, growing its workforce from around 300. The hiring, mainly focused on engineers, follows rising USDT profits reinvested into technology and global investments.
The expansion also reflects growing competition in the stablecoin market and increased regulatory scrutiny worldwide.
👉 x.com/TheBlock__/status/2020711390185435307?s=20