U.S. Senate Passes CBDC Ban

Find out our latest reports, listed below:

• Block Scholes x Panoptic: Bridging The Onchain Convexity Gap

• Volatility Report: February 2026

• 2026 – the year of RWA perps?
  

• Bybit x Block Scholes: “2026: It's Different This Time?”

Daily Updates:

• After a sideways trading session yesterday, in early Asia trading this morning, BTC rallied from $70K to $72K. That brings its performance over the past 24 hours to +3% as it continues to show a strong resilience through the conflict in Iran. 
• Over that same period, ETH is trading 3% higher also (above $2,100), while SOL is up 4%. 
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs have provided buy-side demand for BTC over the past week also. Yesterday, the products purchased $53.8M worth of bitcoins. That marks the fourth consecutive day of buying, and also puts the spot exchange-traded funds on track for a third week of net inflows — the longest stretch since July 2025.
• Spot Ether ETFs drew a further $72.4M, while spot Solana products added $4M.
• Spot XRP ETFs, by contrast, continued to underperform, posting $6 million in net outflows and prolonging the softer flow trend that has been in place since mid-February. 

• Meanwhile, a more than 15% rally in Brent crude oil prices yesterday saw oil futures close above $100 for the first time since August 2022. 
• Additionally, US equities took a hit yesterday as the S&P 500 fell 1.5% to its lowest level since November 2025 while the Nasdaq-100 slumped close to 2%. 

• The US bond market has reevaluated the Fed’s monetary policy path for the rest of the year. 
• Two-year treasury yields rose 10bps yesterday and now trade above 3.7%, their highest levels since August 2025, while Fed funds futures now show traders pricing in only a 70% chance of just one rate cut in 2026. 
• Volatility in the bond market is also at a nine-month high now, with the MOVE Index, the “VIX” equivalent fear gauge for US treasuries, trading at 95 points.
• President Trump on the other hand reapplied pressure on Fed Chair Powell yesterday stating that he “should be dropping Interest Rates, IMMEDIATELY, not waiting for the next meeting!” on Truth Social. 

• However, both President Trump and Iran’s new Supreme Leader continue to show an unwillingness to retreat from the war. 
• Yesterday Trump wrote that “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money … BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons”. 
• Earlier today he said “We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time”. 
• On the other hand, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has succeeded his father as the new Supreme Leader, said that “The lever of closing the Strait of Hormuz must certainly continue to be used” and that “Studies have been conducted on opening other fronts where the enemy has little experience and would be highly vulnerable”, suggesting little signs of easing tensions between both sides. 

• The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency until December 31 2030.
• The provision is included in a bipartisan housing construction bill, which still requires approval from the U.S. House of Representatives.

• BlackRock’s new iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) recorded more than $15.5M in first-day trading volume and launched with over $100M in assets.
• BlackRock’s first digital asset ETF also has a built-in staking component.
• Under normal conditions, between 70% and 95% of the portfolio’s ETH is committed to staking, while the balance is kept liquid to support creations, redemptions, and day-to-day fund operations.
• Of the staking income generated, 82% is paid through to investors, with the remaining 18% retained by the sponsor and execution partner.
• ETHB charges a 0.25% annual sponsor fee, although this is initially reduced to 0.12% on the fund’s first $2.5B of assets during its first year.

• Hong Kong’s forthcoming stablecoin licensing regime could see HSBC and Standard Chartered among the first institutions to receive approval, according to local media reports.
• Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter, said the two banks are likely to be included in the first batch of licences issued under the new framework, which requires any company seeking to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong to obtain authorisation from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

• Wyoming’s Frontier Stable Token (FRNT) has gone live on Hedera, a public distributed ledger network, becoming the first stable token issued by a U.S. state.
• The debut marks an important step in the expansion of state-backed digital currency initiatives, with FRNT designed to support faster and more efficient transfers while preserving the transparency and reserve backing expected of a public-sector asset. 
• Hedera provides the low-cost blockchain infrastructure underpinning the token, while Kraken, Fireblocks and LayerZero support trading access, issuance operations and cross-chain transfers from launch.

• Singapore-based MetaComp Pte. Ltd, a Web2.5 (a hybrid layer combining Web3 blockchain tools with traditional Web2 systems) payments and wealth platform, has completed a Pre-A+ funding round backed by Alibaba, bringing its total funding to $35M across two rounds in three months. 
• The company and its licensed affiliates, including Alpha Ladder Finance, are building an integrated platform that combines fiat and stablecoin payments with traditional and tokenised wealth management services for enterprises, financial institutions, and ultra-high-net-worth clients. 
• The new capital will help expand MetaComp’s StableX Network across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America and support development of its AI-driven Web2.5 payment and wealth infrastructure.

• Decentralized perpetual exchange Hyperliquid, said RWA trading on its exchange has reached new highs over the past two weeks, with open interest exceeding $1.3B and weekend trading volumes topping $1.4B, claiming to be the “premier venue” for 24/7 price discovery in assets like oil, metals, and indices, particularly when traditional markets are closed.

This Week’s Calendar:

Charts of the Day: