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• Brad Garlinghouse reiterates that XRP “always comes first” for Ripple.
• RippleX has presented an “Institutional DeFi on XRPL” roadmap in which XRP plays a central role.

Contrary to the many speculations and rumors, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse set Ripple’s price at X on Monday affirmed: “The XRP community has always been and will always be Ripple’s number one priority.” The Ripple CEO was responding to ongoing debates about whether Ripple will continue to consistently position XRP as a bridge asset at the center of its strategy.

Garlinghouse wrote that it was “nice to see that the message is (finally, even) clearer.” The post referenced a post in which a community account emphasized that Ripple was sticking to its word about using XRP as a bridge asset: “The vision has not changed. The direction remains aligned.”

Why XRP will be of central importance for Ripple in 2026

The reason for the post was a recent Ripple blog post from February 5, 2026. In it, Ripple’s development arm describes the XRP Ledger’s “Institutional DeFi” roadmap as a development towards “everyday institutional use – with XRP at the center of settlement, FX, collateral and on-chain credit”. The focus for 2026 is on “lending, privacy and permissioned on-chain markets”.

Im Blog Ripple explains that the XRP Ledger should develop into an “end-to-end operating system” for real-world finance: compliance tooling, real-time settlement and “asset layer programmability” are already available on the mainnet. In parallel, XRP, as the ledger’s native asset, will see “a sharp increase in direct and indirect utility.”

Ripple specifically gives three arguments why XRP will play a central role both directly and indirectly: On the one hand, XRP is promoted directly via features that boost transaction volume and asset issuance on the ledger. On the other hand, XRP benefits indirectly via protocol mechanics such as reserve requirements, fees (including XRP burn), and acting as a bridge currency in FX and lending flows.

In the area of ​​payments and FX, Ripple refers to “permissioned domains”, which are intended to make regulated environments accessible via “credentials” (such as KYC/AML attributes), as well as a “permissioned DEX”, which allows secondary markets for FX and stablecoins in regulated contexts. Stablecoins like RLUSD would be settled on XRPL. XRP is used in permissioned DEX environments as an auto-bridge asset to settle trades between stablecoins and other tokens “immediately and at low fees”; Every transaction also burns XRP via fee mechanics.

For collateral and liquidity, Ripple describes “token escrow” (now also for IOUs and MPTs) and “batch transactions” for atomic delivery-versus-payment workflows, for example in repo markets or cross-asset swaps. Ripple is positioning the Multi-Purpose Token (MPT) particularly centrally as a future tokenization standard that is intended to reflect complex instruments such as money market funds, bonds or funds, including metadata, restrictions and structure. This increases network usage as well as asset reserves and fees, “all denominated in XRP”.

Ripple is also announcing native on-ledger credit for 2026: With XRPL v3.1.0, “Single Asset Vaults” and the “XLS-66 Lending Protocol” will enable fixed terms, fixed interest rates and automated repayments directly at the ledger level. Risk models and underwriting remain off-chain; Additionally, Ripple mentions “First-Loss Capital” as an institutional protection mechanism.

• CoinShares has presented a report that objectifies the discussion about quantum computer attacks that has been inflated with false risks.
• The analysis shows: Only a very small part of the Bitcoin supply would be realistically vulnerable – and even then only in the distant future.

The focus of the investigation is the question of which Bitcoin addresses would theoretically be vulnerable to future quantum computers. The result is not surprising: only wallets whose public key is already publicly visible are vulnerable.

This primarily includes old P2PK addresses from the early years of the network as well as wallets that have reused addresses multiple times. Modern address formats such as P2PKH, P2SH or Taproot are considered significantly more secure because the public key is only revealed when a transaction is issued.

CoinShares quantified The total amount of Bitcoins stored under such old addresses is around 1.63 million.

This number causes the usual excitement on social media, but the Coinshares analysis makes it clear: the overwhelming majority of all Bitcoins are untouchable for the foreseeable future because even quantum computing models considered “optimistic” would take centuries to break the underlying cryptography.

Around 10,000 Bitcoins would be at risk

The crucial point of the study is the differentiation between theoretically exposed and realistically vulnerable coins. CoinShares comes to the conclusion that only around 10,230 BTC – distributed across medium and large wallets – would represent an economically sensible target. This amount is negligible compared to the amount of Bitcoins in circulation and would not trigger a systemic shock even in an emergency and assuming success.

An attack of this magnitude would be more akin to a large but market sale. The technical hurdle is also enormous. According to current research, around 13 million fault-tolerant qubits would be needed to crack a single Bitcoin key within a day.

Google’s currently most powerful chip, “Willow,” has 105 qubits. But you need around 124,000 times more to get the necessary 13 million qubits. Even Google will probably have to crack this for a while.

Preparation and composure

The publication sparked a lively debate in the Bitcoin community. While representatives like Michael Saylor and Adam Back classify the risk as greatly exaggerated and point to the long time horizon, other voices like Charles Edwards call for early preparation for post-quantum cryptography. The discussion is less about acute dangers and more about the question of how proactively Bitcoin should react to future technological developments.

At the same time, the first experiments with quantum-resistant signatures such as ML‑DSA are already running in test environments. However, a possible migration in the Bitcoin protocol would be a long-term process that requires widespread approval and extensive testing.

Technically relevant – currently harmless

The CoinShares analysis brings much-needed clarity to a debate that has recently been dominated by FUD and exaggerated warnings. Although there is a theoretical quantum risk for certain legacy addresses, no, this risk is neither acute nor systemic.

The realistically endangered amount of around 10,000 BTC is small, and the technological gap to an actually dangerous quantum computer is huge and will not be overcome in the foreseeable future.

For Bitcoin this means: Stay vigilant, promote research – and don’t panic. Cryptography will continue to evolve, but Bitcoin has plenty of time to adapt.

• At the beginning of February, Deutsche Börse began trading so-called xStocks, which offer 1:1 exposure to real stocks and ETFs, via the 360X platform. The first tradable stocks include Tesla, Nvidia, Alphabet and the SPY ETF.
• The securities are fully secured by the shares associated with them and are held in an insolvency-protected custody structure. The offer combines TradFi mechanisms with blockchain technology and is aimed at institutions.

Die Introducing xStocks is the first noticeable result of the cooperation between the Deutsche Börse Group and the US crypto exchange Kraken, which was announced as early as 2025. The US provider contributes its technological expertise and the tokenization standard on which the xStocks are based.

Kraken also brings its trading, custody and settlement infrastructure. There is a connection to the FX platform 360T, which is operated by Deutsche Börse group and Commerzbank. In addition, Kraken Embed will be used for institutional crypto access, and Eurex derivatives on digital assets will be available as soon as the necessary approvals are received.

24/7 trading instead of stock exchange opening hours

A central feature of tokenized shares is not apparent at first glance. While traditional stock exchanges have fixed opening hours, xStocks can be traded around the clock.

This creates more flexible risk management for investors, especially in phases of high volatility and during market-moving events outside of regular trading hours. At the same time, pricing remains closely linked to the associated stocks. Deutsche Börse will thus become one of the first large market infrastructure operators to transfer tokenized securities into a traditionally regulated environment.

Importance for the DACH region

The development is particularly relevant for the DACH region. Deutsche Börse is traditionally considered conservative and security-oriented. The fact that it is now actively engaging in tokenization gives the financial product a reputation among institutions that it did not have before.

For the first time, banks, asset managers and fintechs will have access to a standardized, regulated tokenization product that can be easily integrated into existing processes. The partnership with Kraken also shows that established players are increasingly relying on specialized crypto infrastructure to open up new digital business models.

For the crypto market, it is a further step towards mainstream adoption and a clear signal that tokenized securities can play a central role in the global financial system in the future.

• Cardano is planning a Layer 1 upgrade with Ouroboros Leios in 2026, which will increase throughput in the first mainnet version from around 10 to around 500 transactions per second (50x).
• Input Output is targeting a first public Leios testnet at the end of Q2.

Cardano is preparing a Layer 1 upgrade for 2026, which will increase transaction speeds by a factor of 50. At a community event in Tokyo on February 8, Input Output and Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson explained the plan for Ouroboros Leios, including a roadmap, target metrics and the ambition to deliver scaling without sacrificing decentralization and security.

Cardano will scale in 2026

Michael Smolenski, Product Manager for Cardano Core at Input Output, explained the initial situation:

“Our stake pool operators need to cover the cost of their operations from transaction fees rather than block rewards over the long term, and to do that they need network usage of around 50 transactions per second. So obviously we can’t stay where we are – at 10 transactions per second. We have to move forward.”

As a Layer 1 upgrade, Leios is intended to bring the throughput in the first mainnet version to 500 transactions per second: “With Leios we are achieving a 50-fold improvement in network capacity in the first release on the mainnet – we are going from 10 transactions per second to 500 transactions per second. But we are not stopping there. This is just the beginning.”

Smolenski announced a gradual scaling in order to slowly bring the infrastructure of the stake pools up to increasing requirements: a jump from 10-15 TPS to 10,000 TPS “must be done strategically”.

Instead of just emphasizing TPS, Smolenski also referred to a throughput measurement of the amount of data: the goal is “300 transaction kilobytes per second” in the first release, with a “confirmation time between 20 and 80 seconds”. The reason: Transactions and scripts have different sizes, which is why the data rate is more precise than a pure count.

From prototyping results, he deduced that at around 300 transaction KB/s, “confirmation takes between 20 and 50 seconds.” At higher speeds, the current tests show “traffic jams”; transactions would arrive later, end up in the mempool queue and therefore take longer. However, Smolenski emphasized that this is “just the first simple release” of Leios and further improvements are planned.

Smolenski named a concrete milestone in the roadmap: After research, planning, prototyping and simulations, they are “in active development” and are aiming for “the first public Leios testnet at the end of Q2”. There is no set date for the mainnet fork yet.

Hoskinson: Leios solves the trilemma

During his speech, Charles Hoskinson described Leios as the result of a long research:

“We have published more than two dozen papers and implemented dozens of protocols, and Leios is the product of more than 15 engineering firms over the years – and the product of 168 scientists over a decade, at institutions from Stanford to the Tokyo Institute of Technology.”

In terms of content, Hoskinson presented Leios not primarily as a TPS bet, but as a solution to the blockchain trilemma.

“Why Leios is special: It’s not about TPS. It’s solving the toughest problem in consensus and blockchain – the blockchain trilemma. We’re told you can only choose two: decentralization, security and scalability. This protocol is decentralized, secure and fast.”

Hoskinson also highlighted a special security mechanism that is intended as a throwback to the status quo:

“And the crazy thing is, if the protocol fails, then it fails to what we have today. It collapses back to the same protocol we use today.”

In this context, Hoskinson referred to November 21, 2025, when the Cardano blockchain experienced an unexpected fork due to a faulty transaction and resynchronized on its own: “Cardano split into two networks. And you know what it did? It came back together on its own.”

• RWA tokenization is becoming a central financial instrument worldwide. BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street addresses apparently see the Ethereum blockchain as an ideal basis for tokenization and thus for the next generation of digital financial products.
• The combination of global quasi-standard, high security and interoperability makes Ethereum ideal for institutions. The financial industry has recognized that open standards are more efficient in the long term than proprietary systems.

The focus of RWA tokenization is the depiction of traditional assets, such as bonds, fund shares and real estate, as tokens of a cryptocurrency. Ethereum has established itself as the preferred system because it already offers a wide range of compliance tools, institutional interfaces and technical standards.

Projects like JPMorgan’s Onyx platform and BlackRock’s tokenized funds show how deeply the technology is already integrated into existing financial processes. For banks and asset managers, this means a significant reduction in operational costs, faster processing processes and more transparency throughout the entire life cycle of a financial product.

Importance for the DACH region

This development is particularly relevant for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The DACH region is one of the world’s most active markets for regulated digital assets. Germany has created a clear legal framework for blockchain-based securities with the Electronic Securities Act (eWpG) of June 3, 2021, while Switzerland offers one of the most advanced regulatory standards with the DLT Act.

If global financial giants de facto establish Ethereum as an infrastructure standard, albeit without much notice and rather through the back door, this will strengthen the position of the DACH region as a European center for tokenized financial products.

At the same time, it increases pressure on local banks to launch their own tokenization programs in order to remain internationally competitive.

An industry facing structural change

The increasing institutional use of Ethereum marks a profound shift that goes far beyond short-term market movements. While cryptocurrencies are usually associated with high volatility, tokenization shows that blockchain technology has long since arrived at the core of the financial world.

Wall Street’s more or less tacit decision to bet on Ethereum could prove to be a growth engine for the next stage of the crypto market’s development. This is a clear signal for investors in the DACH region: the fusion of traditional financial markets with decentralized technologies is coming much faster than expected. And Ethereum is at the center of development.

• Turkey and Tether are currently taking action against organized crypto crime, with investigators focusing on illegal digital gambling, unlicensed payment service providers and commercial money laundering.
• They are said to have misused cryptocurrency to conceal financial flows for years. The authorities speak of “systematic operations” at national and international levels.

Of particular note is a single operation in which more than $500 million in digital assets were frozen. The investigators identified wallets, bank accounts, real estate and company investments that belong to a network that extends beyond national borders.

At the center are two Turkish citizens who are accused of running illegal betting offices and setting up parallel, equally illegal payment infrastructures. Authorities believe these structures have moved massive amounts of dollars in USDT over the years to conceal transactions and circumvent government controls.

Tether as a global investigative partner

Tether played a central role in the long-planned operation. The stablecoin issuer confirmed that it actively supports the Turkish authorities and freezes wallets as soon as there is sufficient initial suspicion of a crime. Turkey is now one of the largest “clients” in Tether’s global investigative cooperation with national law enforcement authorities.

According to its own information, the company has frozen more than 3.4 billion dollars worldwide and accompanied over 1,800 cases in 62 countries. The collaboration shows how strongly Tether is now committed as an operational partner in the fight against money laundering.

For Turkey, this cooperation is part of the tools to track international payment flows that would be difficult to record using traditional banking systems.

At the same time, the authorities are intensifying their measures against illegal gambling, which is considered one of the main drivers of unofficial crypto payment networks. For example, the Darkex platform was blocked, while investigators simultaneously took action against operating structures that were said to have used cryptocurrencies to camouflage stakes and payouts. Authorities emphasize that these networks not only cause economic damage, but also have links to serious organized crime.

Insecure cantonists

The latest measures are part of a strategy that has been intensified following Turkey’s removal from the FATF Gray List. The FATF Gray List is an official classification of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)which highlights those countries that have shortcomings in combating money laundering and terrorist financing – but at the same time are ready to address these shortcomings.

These countries are under increased scrutiny and must implement a binding reform plan. The FATF regularly publishes progress reports and checks whether the measures are effective.

A country on the gray list is not considered a high-risk state, but is considered a problem state with conditions. This has concrete consequences: international banks, payment service providers and financial institutions have to check transactions from these countries more strictly. This leads to higher compliance costs, delayed payments and sometimes limited access to global financial markets.

Türkiye with Tether against the crypto mob

Turkey was removed from the list in 2024, but on the condition that reforms were carried out. At the same time, the deletion meant that Turkey demonstrated continued enforcement of anti-money laundering rules. This is the background to the current sweeping attack against organized crypto crime.

The Erdogan regime is signaling that it does not want to fundamentally restrict cryptocurrencies, but does want to take consistent action against misuse. The current investigations show that Turkey is prepared to attack large and internationally networked structures – and is thus sending a clear signal to the entire industry.

• Bernstein calls the current Bitcoin drawdown the “mildest” bear case to date and is sticking to the price target of $150,000 by the end of 2026.
• According to Bernstein, there is no systemic break, but rather a “homemade” crisis of trust.

Bernstein is sticking to his medium-term outlook despite the recent Bitcoin crash. In a note to clients on Monday, analysts led by Gautam Chhugani described the current drawdown as the “mildest” bear case in Bitcoin history and confirmed their price target of $150,000 by the end of 2026.

Bernstein interpreted The ongoing downward trend is not seen as a structural problem, but above all as a psychological effect. “What we are experiencing is the weakest Bitcoin bear case in its history,” writes Chhugani. Unlike in previous cycles, there was no discernible dominant trigger that would have damaged the system itself: no major implosions like FTX or Terra/Luna, no hidden leverage, no systemic rupture.

Bitcoin forecast for 2026 remains in place

Chhugani describes the situation as a homemade crisis of trust within the community. “The Bitcoin community is producing a self-imposed crisis of trust. Nothing has exploded, no bodies will fall from the closet. The media is back to write an obituary,” the note continued.

Bernstein anchors this classification in an environment that, from the house’s perspective, is significantly different from previous bear markets: a pro-Bitcoin US president, institutional demand via spot Bitcoin ETFs, growing corporate treasury holdings and the stronger presence of large asset managers. For Bernstein, the interaction of these factors is the reason why the current phase is not seen as a break in the adoption narrative, but rather as a temporary “crisis of trust”.

A key point for the bears: Bitcoin has underperformed gold in recent macro-driven volatility. However, analysts argue that Bitcoin continues to trade primarily as a liquidity-sensitive risk asset – not a mature safe haven like gold. In an environment of tight monetary policy and high interest rates, profits would have been concentrated in selected areas such as precious metals and AI-related stocks.

According to Bernstein, the market infrastructure has continued to improve in recent months, preparing it for the next liquidity stimulus. ETFs and company purchases are intact and could – as soon as the sales momentum subsides – resume buying pressure and act as a demand buffer. This is an essential building block for the $150,000 scenario by 2026.

Bernstein also rejects the theory that Bitcoin will lose relevance in an AI-dominated economy. Chhugani sees more of a tailwind in the context of an increasingly “agentic” digital environment: blockchains and programmable wallets are predestined to provide global, machine-readable financial rails – while traditional banking could come under pressure in this transition.

On Quantum Risk, Bernstein acknowledges that future cryptographic threats require preparation. What is crucial, however, is that Bitcoin is not uniquely exposed here: critical digital systems face similar challenges and would migrate together towards quantum-resistant standards. Bernstein cites the transparency of the code base as an advantage as well as the increasing involvement of large, well-capitalized players such as Strategy, who could support adjustments.

Bernstein also addresses the concern that forced sales by leveraged corporate treasury firms and miner capitulation could trigger massive selling pressure. However, the research team believes that large Bitcoin holders have structured their liabilities to survive longer drawdowns. Chhugani explicitly refers to a statement from Strategy: Only if Bitcoin falls to $8,000 and stays there for five years would the balance sheet have to be restructured.

Bernstein also sees less pressure on miners than in previous phases. The analysts argue that miners have diversified their business models and can cushion costs on the side by aligning capacities more closely with the demand of AI data centers.

Against this backdrop, Bernstein concludes that the risk of forced selling has “materially” decreased – and that the current weakness, despite its signaling effect on sentiment, does not change the medium-term price target of $150,000 by the end of 2026.

• Germany is once again a destination for international capital flows. Due to institutional demand, $87 million flowed into German crypto funds in a short period of time.
• This is a clear sign of the stabilization of the European crypto market after a turbulent phase of negative volatility swings.

In recent months, Europe has again developed into the largest crypto market in the world, supported by the legally secure regulation by the MICARinstitutional infrastructure and an active retail base.

Measurable recovery

According to Chainalysis, Europe reached $234 billion in transaction volume in December, the highest in months. Germany is the most active market.

The company had growth of 54 percent year-on-year and is benefiting from a growing number of international providers who are expanding into Germany due to the regulatory framework and the established financial infrastructure.

Against this background, the $87 million is confirmation of a development that will make Germany an EU crypto hub.

The capital inflows can be attributed to several factors. The prospect of falling US interest rates is making institutional investors more willing to take risks. At the same time, the European MiCA regulation creates a level of legal certainty that is recognized worldwide.

Germany is a pioneer here, as many of the rules were established long before MiCA. In recent years, BaFin has created an infrastructure that makes it easier for institutional investors to access digital assets.

There is also a strong custody and trading infrastructure, for example through Börse Stuttgart Digital or specialized custodians that meet international standards.

Crypto hub Germany

The $87 million is primarily an expression of the demand for Bitcoin products. Globally, Bitcoin ETPs have recently seen inflows of over $900 million, and Germany is following this trend.

Ethereum, on the other hand, remains under pressure as US products continue to shrink, and this is also affecting European markets. XRP and Solana, on the other hand, are also strong, but traditionally play a smaller role in Germany than Bitcoin-based products.

Germany also benefits from structural advantages that stand out in comparison to other European countries. The tax treatment of private crypto profits with a one-year holding period creates an attractive framework for long-term investors.

Strong banking system

At the same time, Germany has perhaps the strongest banking system in Europe, which is increasingly cooperating with regulated crypto custodians. This combination of legal certainty, infrastructure and market size makes Germany the preferred destination for institutional capital.

The current market stabilization is not just a technical signal, but rather an expression of a “TradFi-DeFi cooperative” that will shape the European crypto market in the long term. For Germany this means:

Demand for regulated crypto products continues to rise, and Germany is solidifying its position as one of the most important global locations for digital assets.