PA Daily Report | Platform X to Launch Cryptocurrency and Stock Trading Functionality Within Weeks; Bitcoin Spot ETF Sees Net Outflow of $360 Million This Week

Today's top news highlights:

1. Macroeconomic Outlook for Next Week: Global Markets to Face a Week of "Data Bombardment," with Fed Minutes and PCE Releases Coming Soon.

Version 2.X will launch the Smart Cashtags feature, enabling direct trading of crypto assets.

3. Musk: Grok 4.2 will be released next week.

4. ARK Invest's ETF bought approximately $15.2 million worth of Coinbase stock on Friday.

5. Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a net outflow of $360 million this week, marking the fourth consecutive week of net outflows.

6. Vitalik: Prediction markets should shift from speculation to "hedging financial infrastructure"

Regulatory news

Macro Outlook for Next Week: Global Markets to Face a "Data Bombardment" Week, with Fed Minutes and PCE Releases Coming Soon

According to Jinshi News, global markets will be bombarded with data next week. The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its January monetary policy meeting at 03:00 on Thursday, and the market will be looking for more clues about the path of interest rate cuts in 2026. The focus will be on the preliminary value of US fourth-quarter GDP and the core PCE price index, which will be released at 21:30 on Friday. As the Fed's preferred inflation indicator, a higher-than-expected PCE reading may affect the pace of policy easing this year.

Federal Reserve and Central Bank Updates: Several Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to speak, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release its meeting minutes, and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will announce its interest rate decision. The market widely expects the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to hold rates steady, while the Reserve Bank of Australia may emphasize upside risks to inflation.

Major Event: The Supreme Court of the United States will release its opinion on February 20, including a ruling on the case concerning Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff policies. An unfavorable ruling could significantly impact related tariff measures and affect global trade and market sentiment.

At the company level, earnings season is drawing to a close. Walmart will release its fourth-quarter results, with the market focusing on key indicators such as e-commerce growth, AI applications, and the impact of tariffs, as these indicators could significantly influence retail and overall market sentiment.

The Wyoming Stablecoin Commission is recruiting summer legal interns for 2026 to participate in the development of a digital asset regulatory framework.

Following the issuance of its state-backed stablecoin, Frontier Stable Token (FRNT), the Wyoming Stablecoin Council is recruiting two summer legal interns for 2026 to assist in refining the legal and compliance framework. The position is unpaid or credit-based and is open to law students with strong research and writing skills and a focus on cryptocurrency and blockchain regulation.

A US judge sentenced the founder of PGI to 20 years in prison for allegedly orchestrating a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme worth over $200 million.

A U.S. judge sentenced 61-year-old Ramil Ventura Palafox, founder of Praetorian Group International (PGI), to 20 years in prison for orchestrating a global Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 90,000 investors of over $201 million.

Palafox, who holds dual US and Filipino citizenship, served as Chairman and CEO of PGI and touted the company as a Bitcoin trading giant. Palafox attracted investors by promising daily returns ranging from 0.5% to 3%. However, PGI's Bitcoin trading volume was far from sufficient to generate such high profits; instead, it recycled investor funds to pay out returns to early participants.

Shaanxi Province issued its first digital RMB science and technology innovation bond, amounting to 300 million yuan.

According to the official WeChat account of Shaanxi Province, under the guidance of the Shaanxi Branch of the People's Bank of China, the Xi'an Branch of China Merchants Bank successfully issued the first tranche of science and technology innovation bonds for 2026 to a large enterprise in Shaanxi Province, and completed the collection of all raised funds in the form of digital RMB, amounting to 300 million yuan. Industry insiders pointed out that this transaction is not only the first digital RMB science and technology innovation bond in Shaanxi Province, but also a practical application of digital RMB in the field of direct financing, which is of positive significance for improving the digital RMB ecosystem and promoting business innovation in Shaanxi's financial market.

Project Updates

X will launch the Smart Cashtags feature, enabling direct trading of crypto assets.

Nikita Bier, X's product lead and Solana advisor, tweeted that while supporting the development of cryptocurrencies on the platform, she will crack down on apps that use mechanisms like "claim your fees" to induce users to spam, harass, and attack others, stating that such apps "profit only from a few while significantly harming the user experience of millions." She revealed that X will launch new features, including Smart Cashtags, within weeks, allowing users to trade stocks and crypto assets directly on the timeline. Meanwhile, some developers have questioned X's frequent bans on crypto projects using the X API without simultaneously releasing enough "overall crypto-friendly" features.

Product Manager X: X is not responsible for executing trades or acting as a broker.

In response to reports that X will offer cryptocurrency trading, Nikita Bier, X's product manager, stated that X does not execute trades or act as a broker; it only provides financial data tools and trading links.

Previously, it was reported that X would launch the Smart Cashtags feature, which allows direct trading of crypto assets.

Musk: Grok 4.2 will be released next week.

Musk announced that Grok 4.2 will finally be released next week, and will have significant improvements compared to version 4.1.

Benchmark lowered its target price for Coinbase by 37%, but maintained its buy rating.

According to The Block, Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer has lowered his price target for Coinbase by 37%, from $421 to $267, but maintained a "buy" rating. The adjusted price target represents an upside of approximately 60% from the current price of around $164.

DeFi derivatives protocol Polynomial will cease operations and shut down its chain and trading products.

DeFi derivatives protocol Polynomial announced that it will shut down Polynomial Chain and Polynomial Trade. It ceased operations on February 14th and entered the final stages, with forced liquidation on February 18th, the liquidity layer shut down on February 24th, and the chain ceasing operation on March 3rd.

Polynomial also cancelled its planned TGE in the first quarter of 2026, stating that it did not want to "issue tokens for a dying product." The team stated that it will retain participant data and give early backers priority access to the new company's subsequent products.

Opinions & Analysis

He Yi responded to the controversy surrounding user account restrictions: When the VPN is switched to a restricted country, the account will be switched to withdrawal-only mode, requiring customer service intervention.

In response to user complaints about account restrictions, Binance co-founder He Yi stated that with Binance's large-scale investment in compliance, if users previously connected to countries where Binance could not provide services via VPN, their accounts would be automatically switched to "withdrawal mode." In this case, users would need to contact customer service to access the service again.

Vitalik: Prediction markets should shift from speculation to "hedging financial infrastructure"

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated that current prediction markets overemphasize short-term cryptocurrency prices and "dopamine-inducing" products like sports betting, creating a business model that relies on "naive traders" (participants with flawed opinions) losing money, making it difficult to generate long-term social information value. Vitalik proposed shifting prediction markets towards broader "hedging" uses, including hedging political risks for investors holding specific stocks, and customizing "future spending baskets" for individuals and institutions through prediction markets targeting various goods and services price indices. This would replace traditional fiat currency stablecoins and monetary concepts, building a new generation of financial infrastructure based on assets like ETH, combining return and risk management functions.

Galaxy Digital executive: The crypto market will not see a V-shaped recovery; it will experience a period of fluctuation before gradually rising.

Steve Kurz, Global Head of Asset Management and Co-Head of Digital Assets at Galaxy Digital, believes the recent cryptocurrency decline was driven by liquidity and leverage releases rather than a systemic failure. This signifies a more mature cryptocurrency cycle than in 2022, with most of the forced sell-off likely already absorbed by the market. Stablecoins, tokenization, and the integration of blockchain with traditional finance are accelerating, making cryptocurrencies both a financial asset and a core part of the financial system.

Steve Kurz predicts that cryptocurrencies will not experience a V-shaped recovery, but rather a period of range-bound trading. Subsequently, with the injection of institutional capital and the continued integration of cryptocurrencies with traditional finance, cryptocurrency prices will gradually rise.

Important data

ARK Invest's ETF bought approximately $15.2 million worth of Coinbase stock on Friday.

Cathie Wood's ARK Invest purchased approximately 92,800 shares of Coinbase stock on Friday through three ETFs: ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF, worth about $15.2 million at the closing price. This followed a sale of over $39 million worth of Coinbase shares on February 5th and 6th.

whale Garrett Jin deposited 261,000 ETH, worth $543 million, into Binance.

According to Lookonchain, Bitcoin whale Garrett Jin (BitcoinOG 1011short) deposited 261,024 ETH (worth $543 million) into Binance.

Bitcoin spot ETFs saw net outflows of $360 million this week, marking the fourth consecutive week of net outflows.

According to SoSoValue data, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a net outflow of $360 million this week (February 9 to February 13, Eastern Time).

The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest net outflow this week was BlackRock ETF IBIT, with a weekly net outflow of $235 million. IBIT's historical total net inflow is currently $61.61 billion. This was followed by Fidelity ETF FBTC, with a weekly net outflow of $125 million. FBTC's historical total net inflow is currently $10.98 billion.

The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest net inflow this week was the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC), with a weekly net inflow of $110 million. The total historical net inflow for BTC has now reached $2.05 billion.

As of press time, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs was $87.04 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio (market capitalization as a percentage of Bitcoin's total market capitalization) of 6.33%, and a cumulative net inflow of $54.33 billion.

Ethereum spot ETFs saw net outflows of $161 million this week, marking the fourth consecutive week of net outflows.

According to SoSoValue data, Ethereum spot ETFs saw a net outflow of $161 million this week (February 9 to February 13, Eastern Time).

The Ethereum spot ETF with the largest net outflow this week was BlackRock ETF ETHA, with a weekly net outflow of $113 million. ETHA's historical total net inflow is currently $11.98 billion. This was followed by Fidelity ETF FETH, with a weekly net outflow of $40.75 million. FETH's historical total net inflow is currently $2.47 billion.

The Ethereum spot ETF with the largest net inflow this week was the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH), with a weekly net inflow of $49.9 million. The total historical net inflow of ETH has now reached $1.71 billion.

As of press time, the Ethereum spot ETF has a total net asset value of $11.72 billion, an ETF net asset ratio (market capitalization as a percentage of Ethereum's total market capitalization) of 4.75%, and a historical cumulative net inflow of $11.65 billion.