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Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine, a company in the Ethereum treasury, stated in an interview with CNBC, "The reason the stock market remains resilient is that even in the face of war, the economy is actually performing better than expected." He pointed out that defense spending is currently about $30 billion per month and could rise to $60 billion per month in the future, which has a significant stimulating effect on the economy; meanwhile, the rise in oil prices by $20 per month only adds about $12 billion in burden to households, "Overall, the war is actually helping corporate profits right now."Tom Lee cited historical precedents, saying, "Looking back at World War II, the stock market bottomed out in May 1942, just five months after the U.S. entered the war, and at that time, no American troops had even set foot on the European or Pacific battlefields." He believes, "The market is very good at pricing in outcomes ahead of time; the current rise in the stock market means that the market is pricing in a favorable outcome, although I can't clearly articulate the specific reasons, but that's the signal conveyed by the market's performance."Regarding the three major variables in the current market— the Iran war, corporate earnings reports, and interest rates—Tom Lee stated, "Among the three, only war can create tail events in both directions, so this is the variable that deserves the closest attention." In terms of sector allocation, he remains bullish on the energy sector and pointed out that energy security is one of the most important structural themes in recent years.

According to Jinshi reports, ING analyst Francesco Pesole stated that if the U.S. CPI data shows a significant acceleration in March inflation driven by rising energy prices due to the Iran war, the dollar may gain support.Although the situation in the Middle East remains a major driving factor, the threshold for further declines in the dollar today should be raised. He also pointed out that the Federal Reserve needs to pay attention in the coming months to whether core inflation will experience a second-round effect, where businesses pass on higher costs through prices and wages.

According to Jinshi reports, the dollar has strengthened again due to market concerns about the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East. Although warnings from Japanese officials about intervening in the yen caused the yen to strengthen temporarily, the decline of the dollar was limited and short-lived.Chris Turner from ING stated, "Unless Iran releases clear signals of de-escalation, it will be difficult to see the dollar give back its gains this month in the short term."

According to Bloomberg, this week, the lawyer of Chen Zhi, who is accused of being the head of a large-scale "pig butchering" scam gang, filed a motion in a New York federal court to dismiss the U.S. government's seizure of a batch of Bitcoin related to him. The lawyer argued that the prosecution's allegations regarding Chen Zhi's oversight of the scam operation lack specific evidence and are merely a vague description of the overall situation in Cambodia. They also questioned the timeline of the cryptocurrency seizure, stating that these Bitcoins could not possibly be the proceeds of fraud or money laundering.The U.S. Department of Justice announced the seizure of 127,271 Bitcoins controlled by Chen Zhi last October, which were valued at approximately $15 billion at the time. Chen Zhi had his nationality revoked by Cambodia in January this year and was extradited to China. Following sanctions from the U.S. and the U.K., over $1 billion in assets have been frozen or seized in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea. Human rights organizations pointed out that after the closure of the scam operation, thousands of trafficked workers have flowed out from places like Sihanoukville, facing the risk of being sold again.

According to The Block, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston has initiated a civil forfeiture lawsuit seeking to recover approximately 327,829.720952 USDT. These funds are suspected to have originated from a cryptocurrency scam targeting residents of Massachusetts through a dating app.The investigation reveals that the case began in the fall of 2024. Victims met a suspect who claimed to be "Linda Brown" on the dating app and were lured into participating in so-called "cryptocurrency investments" after weeks of communication. The victims sent funds to wallets controlled by the suspect or their accomplices, only realizing they had been scammed when attempts to withdraw failed. Prosecutors stated that the stolen funds were transferred through multiple wallets and exchanged for USDT, ultimately used for money laundering transactions.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts recently filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit seeking to recover 327,829.720952 USDT (approximately $327,000), which is allegedly related to a cryptocurrency scam conducted through a dating app.Prosecutors stated that the investigation began in the fall of 2024 when authorities discovered that a Massachusetts resident was suspected of being involved in a "romance scam." The suspect, using the name "Linda Brown," claimed to have a cryptocurrency investment opportunity after establishing a relationship with the victim for several weeks, leading the victim to transfer funds. Prosecutors claimed that the suspect used "legitimate investment" as a guise to trick the victim into transferring funds to a wallet address controlled by the suspect or an accomplice. The victim only realized the investment was a scam after failing to withdraw funds.Law enforcement noted that the stolen funds were transferred through multiple cryptocurrency wallets, then converted to USDT, and ultimately used for money laundering transactions. At the time of this case, U.S. regulators are intensifying warnings about "romance-related cryptocurrency scams." Previously, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio issued a reminder titled "Cupid Doesn't Ask for Crypto" ahead of Valentine's Day, warning the public to be cautious of romance investment scams conducted through social media and instant messaging platforms.

According to Reuters, Tether stated that it has frozen approximately $4.2 billion USDT due to "association with illegal activities," with about $3.5 billion occurring since 2023; this week it assisted the U.S. Department of Justice in freezing nearly $61 million USDT related to "pig-butchering" scams. Tether claimed it can remotely freeze USDT in user wallets at the request of law enforcement agencies.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced the seizure of over $61 million in USDT. These funds were traced to cryptocurrency addresses associated with "pig butchering" cryptocurrency investment scams.The investigation revealed that criminals often gain victims' trust under the pretense of establishing romantic relationships, then claim to have professional skills in generating high profits through cryptocurrency trading, guiding victims to use fake trading platforms that mimic legitimate ones. These platforms showcase fictitious high-return portfolios to entice victims to increase their investments. When victims attempt to withdraw funds, the scammers further extract money under the pretext of needing to pay "taxes" or "fees."

Recent federal litigation by Polymarket against Massachusetts may determine whether the regulation of prediction markets in the United States falls under federal or state jurisdiction. Polymarket argues in the lawsuit that Congress has granted exclusive regulatory authority over "event contracts" (prediction markets for sports, politics, etc.) to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and therefore state governments do not have the power to independently prohibit or regulate these platforms.The lawsuit aims to prevent Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell from potential enforcement actions, following a preliminary injunction issued by the state court against Polymarket's competitor Kalshi, which determined that its sports-related contracts constituted unlicensed sports betting. The regulatory conflict between the federal government and the states is intensifying, with prediction market platforms claiming they are regulated as derivatives markets by the CFTC and can operate nationwide, while states like Massachusetts and Nevada view them as a "sports betting loophole" that circumvents state gambling laws, leading to multiple lawsuits and injunctions.The outcome of Polymarket's appeal could reshape the regulatory framework for prediction markets in the United States, determining whether these platforms can operate free from state gambling law restrictions or must comply with varying rules across states, and it may ultimately be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Quantoz holds an electronic money institution license issued by the Dutch central bank. The three electronic money tokens it issues, USDQ, EURQ, and EURD, are all subject to the electronic money regulations of the European Economic Area. The reserves are stored in a dedicated account under a bankruptcy-remote fund structure at a 1:1 ratio and must additionally maintain at least a 2% reserve buffer on the balance sheet.

According to Cointelegraph, the Dutch House of Representatives passed a legislative proposal on February 13, aiming to impose a 36% capital gains tax on savings and most liquid investments, including cryptocurrencies. The proposal was approved with 93 votes, surpassing the 75-vote threshold required for passage.Under the proposal, earnings from savings accounts, cryptocurrencies, most equity investments, and interest-bearing financial instruments will be taxable, regardless of whether the assets are sold. Certain assets, such as startup equity and non-investment physical assets, may be exempt. The proposal must be approved by the Dutch Senate before it can take effect, and if passed, it will be officially implemented in the 2028 tax year. Opponents argue that the bill will encourage capital to flow to jurisdictions with more favorable tax policies.Investor calculations show that an investor who contributes 1,000 euros per month for 40 years will see their final earnings drop from 3.32 million euros to 1.885 million euros under a 36% tax rate, resulting in a difference of 1.435 million euros.

Hyperliquid announced on X that it will introduce "Outcome Contracts" trading in HIP-4. Outcome Contracts are fully collateralized contracts that settle within a predefined range. They are a general-purpose primitive suitable for applications such as prediction markets and range-bound options-like instruments. There is already significant user demand for these two types of applications, and developers are likely to conceive more innovative use cases based on this primitive.Outcome Contracts introduce a nonlinear payoff structure, expiration contracts, and an alternative derivative trading form that does not involve leverage or liquidation mechanisms. This primitive expands the expressive power of HyperCore and can be combined with other primitives (such as the composite margin mechanism and HyperEVM). Outcome Contracts are currently still in development and are being tested only on the testnet at this stage. Once the technical development is complete, standardized (Canonical) markets based on objective settlement sources will be deployed, which will be priced in USDH. After collecting user feedback, the relevant infrastructure will further expand to a permissionless deployment model.

According to Caixin, 46-year-old Chinese national Su Jingliang from Beijing was sentenced to 46 months in prison for participating in a "pig butchering" scam that laundered over $36.9 million (approximately 256 million yuan). He was also ordered to pay up to $26.87 million (approximately 187 million yuan) in compensation.The United States previously dismantled a transnational fraud and money laundering gang that built trust with victims through social media or dating apps, subsequently guiding them into a fake cryptocurrency trading platform for so-called "investments." The funds of 174 American victims flowed into the accounts of 74 shell companies registered in the U.S., and once the funds were received, they were converted into Tether (USDT). It is reported that in this "pig butchering" scam chain, Su Jingliang played a key role as the "accountant," communicating with employees of Deltec Bank via the encrypted messaging tool Telegram, receiving funds from the U.S. front shell companies, and directing the bank to quickly convert the incoming dollar assets into stablecoin USDT, which were then specifically sent to virtual currency wallets starting with "TRteo." The funds from these wallets ultimately flowed to scam dens in Southeast Asia.

According to Be In Crypto, Dutch cryptocurrency platform Finst has completed a €8 million Series A funding round, led by Endeit Capital, with existing investors Eelko van Kooten, founder of Spinnin' Records, and Mark Franse, co-founder of DEGIRO, participating in the round.This funding brings Finst's total funding to €15 million. The platform was established in 2023 and has obtained authorization as a crypto asset service provider from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), serving retail and institutional clients in 30 European countries.The company stated that the funds will be used to expand into the European market, develop new products and services, including broadening staking coverage with market-leading rates, increasing asset options and platform features, and developing more product lines for institutional and professional users.

In response to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's statement that "the White House's attitude is constructive," crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett further stated that her previous report was "factually accurate and logically sound."Terrett pointed out that Armstrong's response actually confirms the core content of the report, namely that the White House has asked Coinbase to facilitate an agreement with banks regarding revenue issues.Terrett emphasized that what she has learned is that the White House's current support for the crypto market structure bill depends on whether the aforementioned revenue agreement can be successfully reached, and that the related position is not an unconditional support.

According to Jinshi News, Rogier Quadevelich, an economist at the Dutch Bank, stated in a report that the investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Powell could affect the prospects of interest rate cuts in the short term. He pointed out that challenges to the independence of the Federal Reserve might prompt board members to take a tougher stance, delaying the decision on rate cuts. This investigation involves cost overruns in the renovation project of the Federal Reserve headquarters, and Quadevelich believes this is a means to pressure the Federal Reserve Chairman, which could lead to a delay in rate cuts.

According to Jinshi News, Francesco Pesole, a foreign exchange strategist at ING, stated in a report that the dollar faces a significant risk of decline after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell mentioned that the Federal Reserve received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice due to cost overruns on headquarters renovations.He pointed out that this move has reignited concerns about the independence of the Federal Reserve and may trigger the "sell-America" trade once again. Pesole noted that any further attempts to intervene in the independence of the Federal Reserve would pose considerable downside risks to the dollar.

According to Specter monitoring, a wallet transferred 7 million dollars from multiple wallets on the TRON chain to Ethereum via cross-chain.The source of the funds indicates that this money is suspected to originate from a cryptocurrency "pig butchering" investment scam. This conclusion is drawn based on the involved blockchains and the services used. Of this, 3.1 million dollars has been deposited into Tornado Cash.