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Bitcoin mining company Ionic Digital has released an unaudited mining and operational update report, disclosing a mining output of 34.68 BTC in January, a decrease of 7.1% compared to the previous month. Additionally, the company has not sold any Bitcoin, with the total Bitcoin holdings increasing to 2,754.8 BTC as of now.

Cryptocurrency bank Anchorage Digital has announced the launch of a stablecoin solution for international banks, providing a new service for licensed international banks to issue and custody federally regulated stablecoins, settling in U.S. dollars.By partnering with Anchorage Digital Bank, participating institutions can access stablecoin and fiat wallets and accounts, facilitating cross-border transfers in U.S. dollars. Anchorage Digital's stablecoin solution supports U.S. dollar stablecoins on major blockchains, including Tether's USAT, Ethena Labs' USDtb, OSL's USDGO, and upcoming stablecoins such as Western Union's USDPT. The platform offers initial minting and redemption services for federally issued stablecoins in response to the final enactment of the GENIUS Act and the evolution of U.S. market structure legislation.

According to The Block, fintech company Newity has completed a $11 million strategic financing round led by CMT Digital, with plans to migrate its small business loan operations to the blockchain.This is Newity's first financing, using a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) structure. Founded during the pandemic in 2020, Newity has provided financing services totaling over $12 billion to more than 125,000 small businesses, with an average loan size of approximately $118,800.Newity co-founder and co-CEO Luke LaHaie stated, "We are not just improving small business loans, but rethinking the financial infrastructure that connects entrepreneurs with capital. Artificial intelligence and blockchain provide us with the infrastructure to scale our operations according to market demand." The company plans to announce details of its blockchain strategy in the first quarter of this year.

According to FinanceFeeds, crypto bank Anchorage Digital has announced the launch of "Stablecoin Solutions" aimed at international banks, designed to provide non-U.S. financial institutions with a U.S.-regulated digital dollar infrastructure as an alternative to traditional correspondent banking systems.The solution integrates stablecoin issuance, compliant custody, fiat fund management, and blockchain-native settlement functions, allowing banks to achieve cross-border circulation of dollar assets without relying on traditional correspondent banking networks.Anchorage stated that institutions can hold and settle tokenized dollar assets under its federal banking license framework. Anchorage is the first crypto-native institution to obtain a U.S. federal banking license, regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).Company CEO Nathan McCauley stated that stablecoins are gradually becoming core financial infrastructure, and this solution provides banks with a pathway to achieve global dollar flows through blockchain rails while ensuring custody, compliance, and operational control. Anchorage's move is seen as an attempt to replace the traditional correspondent banking cross-border clearing system with a regulated stablecoin framework.If adopted by international banks, dollar stablecoins may further embed themselves into mainstream cross-border payment and fund management processes. However, the ultimate implementation still depends on the clarity of regulatory details and the global banking sector's acceptance of tokenized liability structures.

According to market news, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is considering stepping down before her term ends in October 2027, so that French President Macron and German Chancellor Merz can reach an agreement on her successor before the French elections in April 2027.A spokesperson for the European Central Bank later responded that Lagarde is "fully focused on her mission and has not made any decisions regarding the end of her term." Lagarde's potential early departure comes at a critical time for the advancement of the digital euro by the European Central Bank. Under her leadership, the European Central Bank has been continuously advancing the preparations for the digital euro and has repeatedly emphasized the need to manage the risks of private digital currencies such as stablecoins within the framework of the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation.Lagarde herself has long held a critical stance towards cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, describing them as "highly speculative," "worthless," and "not backed by any underlying assets." If there is a change in the leadership of the European Central Bank, it could affect the institution's communication focus and priorities regarding the digital euro, stablecoin regulation, and crypto-related payment arrangements, although the overall regulatory direction has already been established at the EU level.

According to Jinshi News, ECB Executive Board Member Fabio Panetta: The digital euro network will be ready for use by private payment systems before 2029.

According to Cointelegraph, the Arizona State Senate Finance Committee has passed the Digital Asset Strategic Reserve Fund Bill (SB1649) with a vote of 4 to 2, and the bill will now be submitted to the Rules Committee for review.

According to Jinshi, the White House has expressed support for the "Digital Asset Market Transparency Act." The bill aims to enhance the transparency and regulatory oversight of the digital asset market.

According to Decrypt, Philippine digital bank Maya is exploring an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States, aiming to raise up to $1 billion. The company is currently working with advisors to advance this deal.Maya holds a digital banking license issued by the Philippine central bank and offers savings accounts, consumer loans, payment, and merchant services through its app. In addition to core banking services, Maya also provides in-app cryptocurrency trading services under a regulated virtual asset service provider framework. Choosing to list in the U.S. market may provide Maya with a deeper capital pool and a broader base of institutional investors.Local observers noted that investors will weigh the company's banking fundamentals against the compliance of its cryptocurrency business.

According to Frank Chaparro, project director at The Block, Wells Fargo posted a position for a Head of Digital Asset Services four days ago. Responsibilities include: developing a three to five-year strategy covering tokenized deposits, on-chain collateral, intraday liquidity, and 24/7 programmable payments—fully integrated with wire transfers, ACH, RTP, FedNow, and SWIFT.Not long ago, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan also hired senior leadership talent in the cryptocurrency space.

According to CoinDesk, BlackRock's head of digital assets, Robert Mitchnick, stated at the Bitcoin Investor Roundtable that the rampant leveraged speculation on crypto derivatives platforms is exacerbating market volatility and may undermine Bitcoin's long-term positioning as a stable institutional hedge.Mitchnick pointed out that the fundamentals of Bitcoin as a "global, scarce, decentralized monetary asset" remain solid, but its short-term trading behavior increasingly exhibits characteristics of a "leveraged Nasdaq," which will significantly raise the threshold for conservative institutional investors to allocate to this asset.Mitchnick also refuted the view that spot ETFs exacerbate market volatility. He noted that during a week of market turmoil, BlackRock's IBIT fund only experienced a 0.2% redemption; if hedge funds were to liquidate on a large scale, there should have been outflows in the billions of dollars, whereas the actual billions of dollars in liquidations occurred on leveraged platforms.

According to The Fintech Times, UAE digital bank Zand is expanding its partnership with Ripple, specifically to support RLUSD in Zand's regulated digital asset custody services, research direct liquidity solutions between the regulated dirham stablecoin AEDZ and RLUSD, and explore issuing AEDZ on the XRPL.

According to the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, Wang Yang, pointed out that the digital yuan has been tentatively involved in settlements in Hong Kong's digital asset market. In addition to traditional settlement methods, the primary issuance of Hong Kong dollar and renminbi bonds is also among the first in the world to apply digital yuan and digital Hong Kong dollars in the settlement process for digital bonds.Furthermore, Hong Kong will be the best market for accommodating onshore assets RWA. With regulatory adjustments and market development, there will be greater opportunities for renminbi assets to be issued as digital assets in the Hong Kong market, with digital yuan naturally being the preferred settlement currency. From a developmental perspective, stablecoins will become an important usage habit for offshore market users. In the internationalization of the renminbi, offshore renminbi stablecoins are one of the future options, while digital yuan deposits and digital yuan liquid assets provide the necessary reserve assets for offshore renminbi stablecoins.

According to CoinDesk, Steve Kurz, the Global Head of Asset Management and Co-Head of Digital Assets at Galaxy Digital, believes that the recent decline in cryptocurrencies is due to liquidity and leverage release rather than systemic failure. This indicates that the cryptocurrency cycle is more mature than in 2022, and most forced selling may have already been absorbed by the market.The development of stablecoins, tokenization, and the integration of blockchain with traditional finance is accelerating, making cryptocurrencies both a financial asset and a core part of the financial system. Steve Kurz expects that cryptocurrencies will not experience a V-shaped recovery but will go through a period of range-bound fluctuations. Subsequently, with the injection of institutional capital and the ongoing "great integration" of cryptocurrencies with traditional finance, cryptocurrency prices will gradually rise.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Senate's cryptocurrency market structure bill has stalled over issues related to stablecoin yields.Bankers insist on a complete ban on stablecoin yields, arguing that it threatens bank deposit operations; the Digital Chamber of Commerce released a principles document today in response, willing to forgo interest on static holdings of stablecoins but insisting on retaining reward mechanisms related to liquidity provision and ecosystem participation, especially in the DeFi space. The White House has urged both sides to reach a compromise by the end of the month and may schedule a new round of meetings next week. Digital Chamber of Commerce CEO Cody Carbone stated that if bankers refuse to negotiate, the status quo will be the continued existence of reward mechanisms.

Digital asset platform Anchorage Digital, liquidity protocol Kamino from the Solana ecosystem, and Solana Labs announced a collaboration to launch a tri-party custody model, referred to as "pioneering," to help institutions stake SOL within a compliant custody framework. According to the introduction, this service allows institutions to achieve on-chain lending and liquidity acquisition without moving assets out of a regulated custody environment.Anchorage Digital will be responsible for collateral management and will put risk control and collateral management processes on-chain, while also expanding its Atlas collateral management system to integrate with Kamino and the Solana ecosystem.

According to market news, Japan's financial group SBI Holdings announced that its subsidiary plans to acquire a majority stake in the Singapore digital asset trading platform Coinhako, pending regulatory approval.The transaction includes providing investment capital and purchasing shares from existing shareholders. Coinhako holds a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and is regulated by the British Virgin Islands, having operated in the digital asset space for over a decade. The acquisition aims to integrate Coinhako's infrastructure with SBI's global financial network to develop a digital asset ecosystem in Asia. An SBI representative stated that this move aligns with its strategy to expand digital asset infrastructure and develop next-generation financial services.Coinhako CEO Yusho Liu stated that the company plans to enhance its infrastructure to meet the growing demand for tokenized assets and stablecoins, while Singapore will continue to serve as a key hub.

Japanese Digital Finance Platform PayPay Submits IPO Application in the U.S.It was previously reported that PayPay, a subsidiary of SoftBank, will acquire a 40% stake in Binance Japan.