Community Information
ZORA MOVES FROM BASE TO SOLANA: On-chain social platform and decentralized protocol Zora is making a decisive shift past its non-fungible tokens (NFT) and creator roots with the launch of “consideration markets” on Solana, a product that permits customers to commerce tokens tied to web developments, memes and cultural moments. The function, unveiled Feb. 17, lets anybody create a brand new marketplace for 1 SOL. As soon as reside, customers should purchase and promote positions on whether or not a subject will acquire or lose traction throughout social media. As an alternative of wagering on elections or macro information, merchants speculate on buzz itself — akin to hashtags, viral narratives, even broad themes like “AI girlfriend” or “bitcoin.” The design leans closely into Solana’s strengths. Quick block instances and low transaction prices make it simpler to help speedy worth updates and frequent buying and selling, that are important for markets constructed round fleeting on-line momentum. Preliminary exercise was restricted, nevertheless. The first “attentionmarkets” token briefly touched roughly $70,000 in market capitalization, with round $200,000 in buying and selling quantity. Most different development markets struggled to draw significant liquidity, with few crossing the $10,000 mark on their first day. Share swings had been sharp, although largely pushed by skinny order books moderately than sustained demand. Zora was among the many breakout functions on Coinbase’s Layer 2 Base community prior to now few years. It launched its ZORA token there in April and helped roll out Creator Cash tied to Base profiles in July, a push that briefly helped Base overtake Solana in day by day token creation. Creator cash are tokens tied to a person creator’s on-line profile, model or group. Consider them as tradable “shares” in an individual’s web presence. On platforms like Zora and Base, a creator coin might be mechanically generated from a person’s profile. Followers may purchase the coin to sign help, acquire social clout, or speculate that the creator’s recognition would develop. As extra folks purchased in, the value may rise, and curiosity light, it may fall. As such, some within the Base group noticed the brand new “consideration markets” product as a pivot away from that momentum. — Shaurya Malwa Learn extra.
EF EXECUTIVE-DIRECTOR TO LEAVE: Tomasz Stańczak, co-executive director of the Ethereum Basis (EF), introduced he’ll step down from his management function on the finish of February 2026, marking a notable shift within the group’s government workforce. Stańczak, who has co-led the muse alongside Hsiao-Wei Wang since early 2025, mentioned in a weblog put up that he believes the muse and the broader Ethereum ecosystem are “in a wholesome state” as he prepares at hand over the reins to Bastian Aue, who will take the co-executive director function alongside Wang. Stańczak’s tenure started at a turbulent time for the EF. He was introduced aboard following the transition of long-time government director Aya Miyaguchi into a brand new management place amid mounting group criticism that the muse wasn’t doing sufficient to aggressively push the Ethereum ecosystem ahead. On the time, detractors pointed to a perceived disconnect between the EF and builders, together with conflicts of curiosity, clashes over strategic route and frustrations about ETH’s worth efficiency. Such criticisms helped spur a broader management restructuring. Whereas Stańczak careworn his confidence within the workforce’s capacity to hold ahead the EF’s mission, he additionally signaled his intention to stay concerned within the ecosystem. — Margaux Nijkerk Learn extra.
XRP LEDGER RELEASES MEMBER-ONLY DEX: The XRP Ledger has activated a brand new “Permissioned DEX” modification, a technical improve designed to let regulated establishments commerce on XRPL with out opening markets to everybody. The change, often called XLS-81, permits the creation of permissioned decentralized exchanges that work like XRPL’s present built-in DEX, however with a key distinction. A permissioned area can limit who can place affords and who can settle for them, making a gated buying and selling venue the place participation is tied to compliance necessities akin to KYC and AML checks. Consider it as a ‘members solely’ market, whereas nonetheless retaining the buying and selling mechanics native to the ledger. The function is aimed toward banks, brokers and different companies that will need onchain settlement and liquidity however can’t work together with absolutely open DeFi markets. For these gamers, the flexibility to regulate entry just isn’t non-obligatory; it’s a minimal requirement. The activation additionally provides to a rising set of “institutional DeFi” primitives XRPL has been rolling out this month. Token Escrow, or XLS-85, went reside final week, extending XRPL’s native escrow system past XRP to all trustline-based tokens and Multi-Function Tokens, together with stablecoins akin to RLUSD and tokenized real-world property. — Shaurya Malwa Learn extra.
ETHEREUM MEMBERS REVIVE NEW VERSION OF THE DAO: In the summertime of 2016, the Decentralized Autonomous Group, often called the DAO, grew to become the defining disaster of Ethereum’s early years. A sensible contract exploit siphoned hundreds of thousands of {dollars}’ value of ether (ETH) from that preliminary mission, and the group’s response — a contentious onerous fork to get better these funds, splintered the unique chain from the present one, leaving the outdated chain behind, often called Ethereum Basic. The DAO was as soon as the best crowdfunding effort in crypto’s historical past, however light right into a cautionary story of governance, safety, and the bounds of “code is regulation.” Now, practically a decade later, that story has taken an surprising flip. What was misplaced, or moderately, left untouched, is being repurposed as a ~$150 million (at at this time’s costs) safety endowment for the Ethereum ecosystem. The endowment, now often called TheDAO Safety Fund, will stake a number of the 75,000 dormant ether (ETH) and deploy the yield via community-driven funding rounds to help Ethereum safety analysis, tooling and rapid-response efforts, whereas retaining claims open for any remaining eligible token holders. On the heart of this story is Griff Inexperienced, one of many unique DAO curators and a veteran of Ethereum decentralized governance. “When the DAO hack occurred [in 2016], clearly, I jumped into motion and principally led every little thing however the onerous fork,” Inexperienced mentioned of assembling the white hat group that rescued funds on the unique Ethereum chain. “We hacked all these hackers. It was straight up DAO wars”. That effort, alongside others, helped salvage funds that may in any other case have been misplaced without end. On the time, the onerous fork restored roughly 97% of the DAO’s funds to token holders, however left a small fraction, roughly 3%, in limbo. These “edge case” funds got here from quirks of the unique sensible contracts: individuals who paid greater than anticipated, those that burned tokens to kind sub-DAOs, and different anomalies that didn’t cleanly map again. Over time, that leftover steadiness, as soon as solely value just a few million, ballooned into one thing much more vital as a consequence of ether’s appreciation. “The worth of the funds we management has grown dramatically… effectively over 75,000 ETH,” a weblog put up for the brand new DAO fund states. — Margaux Nijkerk Learn extra.
In Different Information
- A latest ballot of 1,000 American buyers in digital property discovered that over half are scared they’re going to face an IRS tax penalty this 12 months as new transparency guidelines governing crypto exchanges take impact. The information collected on the finish of January by crypto tax platform Awaken Tax canvassed U.S. holders’ issues a couple of radical shift from self-disclosure to computerized reporting of transactions. This has been enacted via the introduction of the “Digital Asset Proceeds From Dealer Transactions,” or Type 1099-DA, which tens of hundreds of thousands of Individuals shall be made conscious of over the subsequent month or so. The brand new guidelines are designed to clamp down on crypto tax evasion and compel brokers, akin to crypto alternate Coinbase (COIN), to report all gross sales and exchanges of digital property that occurred in 2025 to the tax company. The intention is to offer tax authorities a transparent view of investor good points and losses by opening up buyer information inside exchanges for the primary time, permitting the IRS to check what crypto brokers report with what taxpayers file. Whereas the aim is to take away any margin of error, the foundations are a “blunt instrument,” created by legislators who know nothing about crypto, in accordance with Awaken Tax founder Andrew Duca. “It means crypto is being handled like shares, however it doesn’t behave in that method. Actual crypto customers will transfer property between a number of wallets and work together with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, utilizing fairly complicated buying and selling methods,” Duca mentioned. — Ian Allison Learn extra.
- Crypto enterprise agency Dragonfly Capital accomplished a $650 million fourth fund, marking one of many largest raises within the sector at a time when many blockchain-focused VCs are struggling, Managing Accomplice Haseeb Qureshi mentioned. “It’s a bizarre time to have fun,” Qureshi wrote on a social media put up, describing low spirits and “the gloom of a bear market” for crypto. Nonetheless, he famous that Dragonfly has traditionally raised capital throughout downturns, together with the 2018 ICO crash and simply earlier than the 2022 Terra collapse, ‘vintages,’ he mentioned, in the end grew to become the agency’s greatest performers. In September, the agency mentioned it aimed to boost $500 million for its fourth fund, concentrating on early-stage tasks. It has not but recognized any of them. In Might 2023, Dragonfly Capital raised $650 million for its third crypto fund for later-stage corporations. — Olivier Acuna Learn extra.
Regulatory and Coverage
- Hyperliquid (HYPE), a blockchain-based alternate that processed greater than $250 billion in perpetual futures buying and selling final month, has launched a U.S. lobbying and analysis arm to form how lawmakers regulate decentralized finance (DeFi). The Hyperliquid Coverage Middle, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, will concentrate on regulatory frameworks for decentralized exchanges, perpetual futures and blockchain-based market infrastructure, in accordance with a press launch. Jake Chervinsky, a outstanding crypto lawyer and former coverage head on the Blockchain Affiliation, will function founder and CEO. The launch comes as Congress and federal companies debate the best way to oversee crypto buying and selling platforms and derivatives markets. Perpetual futures, which permit merchants to carry leveraged positions with out an expiration date, are extensively used on offshore venues however stay a grey space underneath U.S. regulation. The arrival of a brand new group additionally represents simply the newest entrant right into a Washington crypto-policy scene that is jammed with comparable organizations, together with the DeFi Training Fund and Solana Coverage Institute, along with the broader teams such because the Digital Chamber, Blockchain Affiliation and Crypto Council for Innovation. And the brand new group lands as negotiation is effectively underway on Senate laws that will set U.S. DeFi coverage. — Kristzian Sandor Learn extra.
- The authorized challenges from state governments in opposition to sure facets of prediction markets akin to Polymarket and Kalshi acquired a pointy rebuke from U.S. Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee Chairman Mike Selig, who’s arguing that his federal company has jurisdiction, not the states. “To those that search to problem our authority on this area, let me be clear: we are going to see you in court docket,” Selig mentioned in a video assertion posted on social media web site X. He mentioned his company filed a authorized temporary in court docket to again up the federal function because the main regulator over this nook of the derivatives markets. “The CFTC has regulated these markets for over 20 years,” he mentioned. “They supply helpful features for society by permitting on a regular basis Individuals to hedge industrial dangers like will increase in temperature and power worth spikes; additionally they function an essential test on our information media and our data streams.” — Jesse Hamilton Learn extra.
Calendar
- Feb. 18-21, 2026: EthDenver, Denver
- Feb. 23-24, 2026: NearCon, San Francisco
- Mar. 24-26, 2026: Digital Asset Summit, New York Metropolis
- Mar. 30-Apr. 2, 2026: EthCC, Cannes
- Apr.15-16, 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
- Apr. 29-30, 2026: Token2049, Dubai
- Might 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
- Sept. 29-Oct.1, 2026: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
- Oct. 7-8, 2026: Token2049, Singapore
- Nov. 3-6, 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
- Nov. 15-17, 2026: Solana Breakpoint, London
