🔼 Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Sees Significant Increase Amid Low Revenue

📈 Bitcoin's mining difficulty experienced a sharp increase of 14.73% on Thursday, reversing a previous decline of 11.16% that occurred two weeks earlier. This adjustment, which took place at block height 937440, highlights the volatile nature of the mining landscape where rapid changes are common.

📉 The earlier decrease in difficulty was the most significant since 2021 and was partly due to an Arctic storm that affected operations in the United States. Miners had to reduce their activities to alleviate pressure on the power grid. However, once conditions improved, they resumed operations with greater intensity, leading to the recent spike in difficulty.

⚡️ The network's hashrate surpassed 1 zettahash per second (ZH/s), resulting in shorter block intervals and setting the stage for the difficulty adjustment. This latest recalibration not only reversed the previous drop but also exceeded it, marking a notable shift in the mining environment.

📊 This adjustment is reminiscent of past significant increases, such as the 21.53% rise in May 2021. Since then, there have been several notable gains, but Thursday's increase stands out due to the current low revenue levels for miners. Despite the rise in hashrate and accelerated block production, miner revenue has decreased further, with earnings currently at $29.30 per petahash per second (PH/s).

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📈 Bitcoin ETFs See Inflows After Losing Streak

📊 Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) ended their recent losing streak with an inflow of $88 million on February 20. This marked a significant shift after days of steady redemptions. Spot bitcoin funds saw a net inflow of $88.04 million, primarily driven by Blackrock’s IBIT, which added $64.46 million, and Fidelity’s FBTC, which pulled in $23.59 million. Total trading activity was robust, with $3.70 billion exchanged.

📉 In contrast, ether ETFs remained relatively unchanged. Blackrock’s ETHA attracted $1.78 million while 21shares’ TETH saw $687,700 in inflows. However, a $2.45 million outflow from Fidelity’s FETH offset most of these gains, resulting in a marginal net inflow of just $17,210.

➡️ Solana ETFs continued to gain traction, posting $3.78 million in net inflows led by Bitwise’s BSOL with $3.05 million and Franklin Templeton’s SOEZ adding $728,870. Trading volume for solana totaled $35.49 million.

🚫 XRP ETFs saw no trading activity during the session, leaving net assets unchanged at $1.02 billion.

🔄 Friday’s flows indicate a cautious but notable return to bitcoin exposure after several days of selling pressure. Ether remained steady but lacked strong movement, while solana attracted consistent demand. XRP remained inactive, highlighting a week characterized by selective positioning rather than widespread risk-taking.

🔔 South Africa's Move to Regulate Cryptocurrency

📊 South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has announced plans to end the country's cryptocurrency regulatory vacuum by drafting new rules to integrate digital assets into the national capital flow management regime. This decision was revealed during a budget speech on February 25 and aims to incorporate crypto assets into the framework for cross-border capital movement.

⚖️ The announcement follows a period of legal uncertainty due to a landmark ruling by the Pretoria High Court in May 2025. In the case of Standard Bank v SARB, Judge Mandlenkosi Motha ruled that South Africa's 1961 exchange control rules do not apply to cryptocurrencies, effectively exempting them from capital restrictions until new legislation is enacted. This ruling criticized the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) for relying on outdated regulations and rejected the idea that cryptocurrencies qualify as money.

❗️ In response to the High Court's critique, Godongwana clarified that the government would not seek "exemptions" for cryptocurrencies. Instead, the SARB is set to publish a comprehensive framework detailing parameters, administrative responsibilities, and reporting requirements for all cross-border crypto transactions. This framework will complement existing anti-money laundering and fraud prevention measures.

🔄 However, the SARB's appeal against the High Court's ruling has faced criticism. Historically, SARB officials have been reluctant to refer to cryptocurrencies as currency, preferring terms like crypto assets or cyber tokens. Additionally, while the South African Revenue Service (SARS) aims to tax crypto gains at the highest rates as regular income, the SARB is fighting for the right to regulate cryptocurrencies under the same strict rules applied to foreign legal tender.

🚨 Is Bitcoin Dead? Here’s What the Data Really Says

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🚨 The market pulled back in February — but the bigger story may be what's happening beneath the surface.

Bitcoin briefly dropped from $78K ➝ $63K before closing the month around $67K. Volatility spiked, yet key signals suggest the market may be building a new base.

So what actually shaped crypto in February — and what could move the market in March? Let’s break it down 👇

⚡️ Macro Shock: Bitcoin fell from $78K ➡️ $63K, closing at $67K 📉, while $3.3B stablecoin inflows 💰 show early market resilience 💪.

📈 Japan “Takaichi Trade”: Nikkei surged, yen weakened, global capital may rotate from US tech & crypto into Japanese assets.

🌍 Middle East Risk: US-Israel strikes added a short-term risk premium, pushing gold and oil higher, Bitcoin remained a safe liquidity haven.

⚡️ AI & On-chain Innovation: Agentic AI tools and on-chain protocols rapidly deployed, opening new paths for crypto innovation.

💡 Market Insight: Stablecoin strength + BTC support indicates potential bottom; next rebound may be on the horizon 🚀

🔗 Full report: https://www.coinex.com/s/4E5

CoinEx – Your Crypto Trading Expert

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🛡 Zcash Open Development Lab Secures $25 Million in Seed Funding

💰 The Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) has successfully raised over $25 million in seed funding from prominent crypto investors. This funding aims to enhance the development of privacy-centric financial tools and support ongoing upgrades to the Zcash protocol and its self-custodial wallet platform, Zodl.

🌟 The funding round attracted significant interest from major players in the crypto industry, including Paradigm, a16z crypto, Winklevoss Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Cypherpunk Technologies, Maelstrom, and Chapter One. Notable individual investors such as Balaji Srinivasan and David Friedberg also participated. Josh Swihart, the former CEO of Electric Coin Company (ECC), founded ZODL. Under his leadership, the Zodl wallet was launched, improving usability for privacy-preserving transactions.

📈 Since its release in 2024, the Zodl wallet has significantly increased activity in Zcash’s shielded pool by over 400% and facilitated more than $600 million in ZEC swaps since October 2025. The wallet provides users with a self-custodial, privacy-focused financial interface while ensuring interoperability with other blockchain services.

‼️ ZODL's strategy combines protocol-level innovation with product usability to mainstream shielded transactions and private digital payments. The engineering team is also working on critical upgrades to Zcash’s systems to enhance privacy and ease of adoption for developers and users.

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🪙 Bitcoin's Resilience Amid Market Volatility

📉 Bitcoin recently experienced a brief dip below the $70,000 threshold, hitting a low of $69,536 due to a significant liquidation event by early holder Owen Gunden, who sold 650 bitcoins. However, the cryptocurrency quickly rebounded to around $70,200, showcasing its resilience.

Some observers identified the sale by early bitcoin pioneer Owen Gunden as the primary catalyst for the intraday slide.

📊 The sale marked the end of an era for Gunden, who has offloaded over 11,000 BTC (approximately $1.3 billion) in recent months. This activity highlights a trend of early adopters shifting their capital into newer assets or fiat.

⚡️ Despite the pressure from the whale's liquidation, Bitcoin's rapid recovery was linked to a worsening energy crisis in the Middle East. Strikes on key gas fields in Iran and Qatar caused wholesale gas prices in the U.K. and Europe to surge by 25%. While oil and gas markets reacted negatively, with Brent crude rising to $116 per barrel, Bitcoin demonstrated its potential as a hedge against chaos by bouncing back quickly.

This suggests that while it remains sensitive to supply shocks, it is increasingly being bid as a hard asset during periods of systemic energy instability.

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💬 Stablecoins and Money Laundering: A Misleading Narrative

🌐 A recent The New York Times article suggests that stablecoins facilitate money laundering for criminals. However, it misrepresents the issue by highlighting conversion services and inadequate compliance measures from financial companies as the primary mechanisms for such activities.

📊 The article claims that $25 billion in illegal transactions last year involved stablecoins, but it shifts focus to the real culprit: poor due diligence by service providers. The author cites his own experience using a crypto ATM to purchase stablecoins with cash, but Visa and Mastercard issue the debit cards used for further payments, not Tether or Circle, the largest stablecoin issuers.

🔍 The stablecoin industry has made efforts to combat illegal activities on the blockchain. Tether alone has blocked over $3.4 billion in illicit funds, demonstrating the sector's willingness to assist in the fight against crypto-crime.

💵 While the $25 billion figure is significant and measures should be taken to reduce it, it pales in comparison to the estimated $300 billion laundered annually in the U.S. and $2 trillion worldwide. Critics have pointed out the timing of the article's publication, as the U.S. Senate is currently debating a bill on the crypto market with stablecoins as a contentious issue.

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💰 Proposed Fines for Cryptocurrency Transactions in Russia

🔔 The State Duma of Russia is considering new regulations that would impose fines of up to 1 million rubles for organizations involved in cryptocurrency transactions without proper testing. A new article is set to be added to the Administrative Offenses Code, establishing penalties for violations of cryptocurrency exchange rules.

💼 Fines will apply to organizations conducting cryptocurrency exchanges with non-qualified investors. For individuals, fines will range from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles, while legal entities could face penalties between 700,000 and 1,000,000 rubles. These amendments are expected to take effect on July 1, 2027, alongside a requirement for operations to be conducted exclusively through licensed intermediaries.

⚠️ The proposed legislation is linked to the basic law project "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights", which introduces new concepts such as "circulation of digital currency" and "organization of digital currency circulation". It also outlines the rules for market access for digital currency organizers and the conditions under which residents can engage in digital currency transactions.

🔗 For non-qualified individual investors, mandatory testing will be implemented, along with an annual purchase limit (if set by the Central Bank) and access restricted to cryptocurrencies traded on Russian exchanges. Russian exchange companies with a monthly turnover exceeding 3,500,000 rubles will be required to register with the Central Bank. Transactions involving digital currencies must be conducted through legal intermediaries that comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations.

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