Category: Coins

• The Netherlands could be facing the most radical tax decision that an EU state has implemented in decades.
• From 2028, a 36 percent tax could be imposed on unrealized gains from liquid assets.

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Cryptocurrencies, stocks and bonds are affected. This would de facto abolish the previous system of fictitious returns, which the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2021.

The new law According to the government, it is intended to achieve fairer taxation of real capital gains and modernize the tax system.

Taxation of imaginary profits

Book profits that have not yet been realized would be taxed. Critics warn of significant liquidity problems, as taxpayers will in future have to pay taxes on profits that only exist on paper.

Volatile assets like Bitcoin could experience forced sales if investors cannot cover the tax burden with liquid assets.

In addition, the law does not take inflation into account, which leads to a de facto taxation of assets. Industry associations and economists speak of a “systemic risk” for long-term private wealth creation.

Long-term investors are alarmed

The Dutch crypto community reacts with incomprehension. Because digital assets are subject to significant price fluctuations, investors may find themselves in situations where they would have to pay taxes on profits that then evaporate.

Experts point to historical Bitcoin corrections of 30 to 50 percent within a few weeks. The planned annual revaluation as of the reporting date further exacerbates this risk.

For long-term investors who do not sell their crypto assets, this creates a structural liquidity problem that does not exist in this form in any other EU country.

The final decision is pending

The Senate of Parliament will now decide whether the law actually comes into force. Although observers expect its approval, several political parties have already signaled that they want to return to the classic capital gains model, in which profits are only taxed when the asset generating the tax is sold.

However, this would require new parliamentary majorities.

If the reform were to be implemented unchanged, the Netherlands would probably become the most unattractive location for private capital investments in Europe.

Tax consultants are already reporting growing demand for advice on emigration and shifting assets abroad.

If there is actually a capital flight, the state could end up collecting less taxes than with the current tax liability regime.

• The 2026 Winter Olympics will be the scene of a crypto premiere: Italy is presenting the first concrete government application of a stablecoin in the EU.
• With Polygon as the technology base and USDC as the payment currency, VAT refunds for international visitors are completely digitalized.

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A process that has been characterized by bureaucracy, paper forms and inefficient processes for decades is suddenly completed in seconds. This isn’t superficial cosmetics or a crypto project’s publicity stunt – it’s a small revolution.

Contemporary procedure

Anyone who has ever tried to get a VAT refund abroad knows how absurdly complicated it is. Queuing, confusing forms, long waiting times. And in the end you often get less VAT back than you paid.

The Italians have now moved the process at the airports in Milan, Rome and Venice to the blockchain – and suddenly it works smoothly.

Instant withdrawal in USDC, directly to the wallet, without a bank, without any exchange rate loss. It is precisely moments like these that show how far the traditional financial world is from true customer orientation. And they show why blockchain technology is not just an alternative, but a necessity.

Polygon and USDC – combination for the future

Polygon delivers the scalabilitythat a system of this size needs. The USDC stablecoin brings the necessary stability and interoperability. The third in the group is Global Bluea company that has specialized in tax-free shopping worldwide for decades.

If you shop abroad, are not an EU citizen and want to have your VAT refunded, you can’t ignore Global Blue.

The interaction of these three actors shows how innovative crypto applications can now be for the general public – if government bureaucracy allows them. Thanks to the strong support of the relevant Italian authorities, Polygon is delivering a functioning crypto service to a global audience.

Gold medal for crypto

When several hundred thousand international visitors to the 2026 Winter Olympics experience what a digital financial process that is not controlled by banks feels like, it will be more than a new technical experience.

It’s an aha moment that gives many people a positive perception of cryptocurrency for the first time. If the new system works in Italy – and everything speaks for it – then it won’t stay with Italy. Other airports, other tourism regions and retailers worldwide will want to follow suit.

And that’s exactly the point: the revolution in everyday life through blockchain technology is not happening in white papers, but where people experience it.

• The US logistics company FedEx joined the Hedera Council, thereby documenting its decision to use Hedera’s distributed ledger technology as the technical basis for the company’s future.
• International flows of goods should become more efficient, transparent and tamper-proof, in keeping with the company’s goal of operating logistical processes at the “speed of data instead of the speed of paper”.

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In a global environment where supply chains are becoming increasingly complex and regulatory requirements are becoming increasingly stringent, FedEx sees Hedera as a neutral, scalable and business-friendly infrastructure.

Internationally renowned companies are represented in the Hedera Council: Google, IBM, Dell, LG, Boeing and Deutsche Telekom are among them.

FedEx is now an organization that has decades of operational experience in global transportation. FedEx will operate its own Hedera node and participate in governance decisions.

In contrast to “classic” public blockchains, the council model does not leave network control to anonymous validators, but to specific, identifiable companies. This structure was crucial for FedEx because it was compliant with regulations and yet flexible enough to be technologically open.

Hybrid model for sensitive logistics data

FedEx plans to use Hedera not as a full database, but as a “verification layer.” Customer data, internal tracking information and customs documents remain in your own systems. Only cryptographic hashes are stored on the Hedera Chain, which serve as immutable proof. This hybrid model allows partners, authorities and customers to verify the authenticity of documents and status reports in real time without disclosing sensitive information. This can reduce fraud risks, accelerate compliance processes and make international supply chains more efficient.

Importance for global logistics

The FedEx-Hedera cooperation is seen as a strong signal of the increasing relevance of DLT in the industrial environment. While many blockchain projects in the consumer sector are stagnating, the demand for trustworthy data infrastructures in the B2B sector is growing.

FedEx brings not only technological ambitions, but also the operational reach of a global logistics network. For Hedera, the move further strengthens its position as the preferred platform for business-related applications.

For the industry as a whole, the decision marks a further step towards supply chains that are based on verifiable, globally interoperable data and thus become more robust, faster and more transparent.

• In Brazil, an ambitious crypto project is making its second attempt: A revised draft law stipulates that Brazil will be allowed to buy up to one million Bitcoin within five years.
• This is intended to create a “Strategic Sovereign Bitcoin Reserve”. Lead MP Luiz Gastão presents Bitcoin as a long-term strategic asset that will make the national financial system more independent.

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The draft law defines Bitcoin as a potential reserve instrument that can be used to hedge national risks, similar to gold and foreign currencies. The planned reserve would comprise around five percent of the maximum possible amount of Bitcoin in circulation and Brazil suddenly became one of the largest state Bitcoin investors do worldwide.

In addition to government acquisition, the law also provides for Bitcoin to be used as the basis of security for the digital real (Drex) and confiscated Bitcoins to generally no longer be sold. Tax benefits for mining companies are also part of the bill.

Possible consequences for the market

Gastão puts the cost of the program at at least $68 billion. A government purchase of this magnitude would significantly reduce the available Bitcoin supply on the market and could create significant long-term price pressure. Observers also point to the geopolitical signaling effect:

If a G20 and BRICS country like Brazil accumulates Bitcoin on this scale, it could motivate other countries to take similar steps or at least trigger a reassessment of digital reserve strategies.

Central bank resistance

Despite the media attention, the road to implementation is long. The draft has to pass through several committees and the parliamentary process can drag on for months.

The central bank has already made it clear that it does not currently consider Bitcoin to be a suitable reserve asset.

It fears that its monetary policy powers will be weakened. This conflict with a state authority could be the decisive factor as to whether the project survives politically or fails in the parliamentary process.

• Standard Chartered Bank expects another significant correction in the crypto market. It is assumed that the Bitcoin price will fall to $50,000.
• A low of $1,400 is expected for Ethereum. The bank is lowering other price targets for 2026, but has positive long-term expectations.

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At the center of the standard charteredAnalyse are the major outflows from US Bitcoin ETFs. Around 100,000 BTC have been withdrawn from funds since the October high, creating structural selling pressure, according to Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered.

What is particularly problematic is that many investors got in at a price around $90,000 and are now deep in the red. This group tends to close positions rather than support the market. At the same time, demand from companies that hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets is falling short of expectations. This means that important buyers who cushioned previous corrections are missing.

Economic weakness increases downside risk

Standard Chartered also points to an increasingly fragile economic environment. The US Federal Reserve is postponing interest rate cuts again as the US economy loses steam. In addition, there is uncertainty about the future management of the Bundesbank, which reduces the willingness of institutional investors to take risks.

Kendrick therefore expects a “final capitulation phase” that could be triggered by liquidations, risk aversion and the close correlation with weak stock markets. However, compared to previous bear markets, the situation is less dramatic because no major players have collapsed.

Course targets 2026 hreduced

In addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum forecasts, Standard Chartered has also lowered forecasts for leading altcoins – Solana to $135, XRP to $2.80, BNB to $1,050 and Avalanche to $18.

According to Kendrick, the adjustments primarily reflect the current market weakness and less a fundamental reassessment of the projects. Despite the short-term risks, Kendrick remains optimistic in the long term and maintains the expectation that Bitcoin can reach half a million dollars by 2030.

Correction is necessary market adjustment

Standard Chartered’s analysis paints a picture that signals further losses in the short term, but shows structural strength in the long term. The bank sees the current phase as a market shakeout. For investors, this means increased volatility in the coming months, while the long-term growth drivers – institutional adoption, ETF structures and supply shortages – are and will remain intact.

• Bitcoin developers have officially released BIP-360. It proposes P2MR, a Taproot-like output without “key-path”.
• Bitcoin developers primarily have one risk in mind: If a public key is public for a long time, a future quantum computer could use it to calculate the private key.

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An updated version of BIP-360 is in the official Bitcoin BIP repository merged on GitHub been. The draft (“Pay-to-Merkle-Root”, P2MR) proposes a new output type via soft fork: Taproot logic via Tapscript and script trees is retained in the core, but the key path spend is eliminated. It is precisely this key path that is considered a weak point in the quantum context.

In short: P2MR is “Taproot without Key Path”. The output only commits to the Merkle root of a script tree (32 bytes) and no longer to an internal key. Anyone who issues such an output can only do so via the script path; a key path spend simply no longer exists.

First step towards Bitcoin quantum security

The draft is very consciously based on a specific threat model: so-called “long exposure” attacks. This refers to situations in which public keys or spend scripts have been open for so long that a future “cryptographically relevant quantum computer” with Shor could derive private keys from public keys. P2MR is intended to mitigate exactly this risk with elliptic curve cryptography – nothing more, but also nothing less.

According to the text, P2MR is not sufficient for “short exposure”, i.e. cases in which a public key is only visible for a short time (e.g. in the mempool). This could require post-quantum signatures in Bitcoin later. The authors suggest a separate proposal for this, but only after further research.

The implementation is also important: BIP-360 is designed as a soft fork and should not touch existing Taproot outputs. P2MR runs on SegWit v2 (Bech32m); corresponding mainnet addresses would start with bc1z.
Without SegWit v2/P2MR support, nodes and wallets do not understand these expenses. The draft also reminds that non-updated nodes generally treat SegWit v2 outputs as “anyone-can-spend”, but in practice typically neither relay nor mine them.

The price for the additional hardness in the long exposure model is quite concrete: P2MR swaps the slim Taproot key path for a spend that is always “Script Path” – and therefore always looks like “Script Path”. In a simple example calculation, a minimum P2MR witness is 37 bytes larger than a Taproot key path witness (signature only).

With deeper script trees, the overhead increases by 32 m bytes (m = Merkle tree depth). Conversely, P2MR is 32 bytes smaller than an equivalent Taproot script path spend because an internal public key no longer needs to be carried in the control block.

When it comes to privacy, the trade-off is also rather sober: Anyone who uses P2MR inevitably signals “script path” when spending because there is no longer a key path. This is less a “leak” than a structural feature, but it is a visible feature.

BIP-360 names Hunter Beast, Ethan Heilman and Isabel Foxen Duke as authors. Anduro, a research-focused company working on quantum-resistant approaches to Bitcoin, commented on X:

“Bitcoin has taken an important step towards future quantum resistance. […] BIP also addresses criticism that Bitcoin developers are not taking the quantum threat seriously.”

The next exciting phase only begins after the draft status. If BIP-360 progresses, the debate will probably revolve less around the basic principle of “Taproot without Key Path” – but rather around the follow-up questions:

How does Bitcoin address short exposure? Which post-quantum signatures are realistic? Which upgrade mechanism does this work smoothly? Which opcode strategy is practical? And above all: How do wallets and users manage a migration that does not fail in reality due to UX, coordination and inertia?

• For a starting price of $1, interested future Playnance partners will receive a live website with its own subdomain that can generate daily onchain income and payouts via the PlayW3 infrastructure.
• The model is based on a 50/50 revenue share, one of the highest proportions in the industry, with daily automated onchain payouts directly to partners’ wallets.
  

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Tel Aviv, Israel, 12. Februar 2026, Chainwire

Playnance has its global affiliate program Be The Boss expanded to include PlayW3. This means you can set up a branded, fully functional social casino website in just a few minutes – without any technical setup and without onboarding.

The one-dollar entry point represents a shift in the digital economy: platform infrastructure and distribution are no longer reserved only for entry-level users with significant capital, large technical resources, or entire teams of developers. Instead, ownership of a digital business is instantly available, operational and accessible worldwide – from day one.

In contrast to affiliate or pure recommendation models Be The Boss real business ownership instead of just traffic monetization. Each partner – a so-called boss – runs a complete social casino business, fully supported by Playnance’s proprietary blockchain infrastructure.

Once activated, the social casino goes live immediately so partners can focus on community building, engagement and reach.

Each social casino also acts as a decentralized distribution node in the PlayW3 system and brings new communities, target groups and local user bases into the network.

With every new boss who starts and expands his business, the network grows organically – supported by the constantly increasing community reach instead of centralized marketing.

Each social casino offers access to over 10,000 social games as well as social prediction markets, sports-based social events, crash games, interactive financial markets, cash tournaments, jackpots and integrated bonus and retention mechanisms. All technology, gaming support, on-chain processing and payouts are handled directly by Playnance via PlayW3 – for maximum transparency and simple operational processes.

The Be The Bossprogram is already live and active worldwide. Over 2,000 partners are already running their own digital businesses, and more than $1.9 million has been paid out to bosses so far. A $250 million partner pool has been deployed to support long-term revenue as the network grows – each new platform strengthens reach and engagement across the network.

Pini Peter, CEO of Playnance, says:

“We believe that access to digital opportunities should not be limited by capital or technical barriers. Be The Boss is designed to make business ownership accessible and practical – so creators and communities can run a true digital business from day one.
What’s important is that the model is already live, scaled and driven by engagement, not hype.”

At the center of the social casino system is the G Cointhe utility token that generates website activity, rewards and daily onchain revenue. With every new boss who goes live with their business and onboards new communities, activity on PlayW3 increases – and with it the use of G Coin in gameplay, participation mechanics and rewards.

This creates a reinforcing economic cycle: partner growth increases distribution, increasing user activity creates real token demand, and token-based rewards in turn increase engagement across the network.

About Playnance

Founded in 2020, Playnance is a Web3 infrastructure and consumer web company. It develops and operates live, non-custodial onchain websites that enable customers to interact with blockchain systems through familiar Web2 mechanisms.

Playnance is focused on making the interaction between customers and OncChain execution as seamless as possible by keeping consumer services available at scale.

Contact

Chief Marketing Officer
Sarah Peter
[email protected]

• IOTA, Sui, Cardano and the Avalanche Policy Coalition demand in their statement on the FCA consultation CP25/40: Regulation should start where custody or verifiable, one-sided control arises, not with code, nodes or neutral infrastructure.
• The main point of contention is the FCA idea of ​​a “clear controlling person”.

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IOTA, together with the Sui Foundation, the Cardano Foundation and the Avalanche Policy Coalition, has a joint one opinion submitted for FCA consultation CP25/40.

The common thread: The FCA should not work with a watering can when it comes to regulation, but should start where someone holds assets or can unilaterally turn the adjusting screws. Not where people “just” write software or operate infrastructure like nodes. IOTA puts this together on X as a guideline for the paper:

“Our point: focus on custody & control, remain proportionate and support non-custodial, decentralized innovation for the UK.”

What IOTA, Sui, Cardano and Avalanche’s representatives demand

The distinction becomes clearest when it comes to staking. According to the IOTA Foundation, there is a fundamental difference whether a provider keeps customer money or whether users keep it themselves and the process takes place on the protocol side. This is how IOTA puts it on X:

“Regulation must clearly distinguish between custodian-based and non-custodial models. Custodial staking (where companies secure assets) = appropriate retail notices, consent + documentation. Non-custodian/protocol staking (no control over user assets/keys) should not fall under the same regime.”

In the letter, all signatories of the letter emphasize: Staking is not “a” model. It ranges from completely custodial to setups where no one but the user sees the keys. This is exactly why, so the argument goes, the FCA needs to make a clear separation, otherwise infrastructure will end up in the same regulatory package as custodians.

The DeFi part is about the FCA term “clear controlling person”. The four organizations are not saying that the term should go away. They want it to be defined in a way that can be determined technically and not by gut feeling. IOTA puts it like this in an X post:

“The FCA concept of a ‘clear controlling person’ needs a technical, objective definition. Duties should scale with custody, discretion and unilateral control – not with code writing, governance participation or neutral infrastructure.”

The logic behind it: DeFi does not work like a classic intermediary. Self-custody and automated execution shift the question of where risk arises and who actually has the power to unilaterally change things. Accordingly, regulation should be based where there is demonstrable control, not where someone builds tools or runs as a validator/infra provider.

IOTA is trying to move the point beyond “industry wants fewer rules”. The framing is consumer protection plus legal certainty: clear boundaries so that rules apply where there are real custody and control risks and not everything is regulated by default. IOTA writes about this on X:

“Smarter scoping = better consumer protection where the risk is real, plus legal certainty that protects non-custodial innovation from being out-regulated.”

In the end, a lot depends on a detailed question: how clearly the FCA defines “control”. This is exactly what decides whether non-custodial staking setups and DeFi infrastructure in the UK pass as neutral or whether they suddenly receive obligations that are actually intended for custodians and intermediaries. This would virtually eliminate DeFi in the UK.

• Cardano boss Charles Hoskinson made it clear in a recent question and answer session at Consensus in Hong Kong that Midnight, the new privacy chain in the Cardano system, is not looking to poach customers of classic privacy coins such as Monero and Zcash.
• Their communities are highly specialized and technically savvy and know exactly what type of data protection they need. Midnight is aimed at a completely different target group: customers who unknowingly disclose sensitive data because data protection tools are not available or are too complicated.

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Cardano boss Charles Hoskinson took the opportunity to fundamentally classify the data protection model of Monero and Zcash. Both cryptocurrencies rely on a binary understanding of data protection: either a transaction is completely hidden or completely transparent.

Although this “ON/OFF model” is attractive to purists, it is unsuitable for real-world applications in which selective handling of data is commonplace because it is necessary. This applies, for example, to audits, compliance processes or business documentation.

Midnight pursued hence the concept of “rational data protection”, which is active by default but can be relaxed in a controlled and logged manner if the situation requires it.

Midnight as a data protection tool for the mainstream

With the upcoming mainnet launch in March, Midnight is deliberately positioning itself not as a classic privacy coin, but as an infrastructure for the mass market. The chain is intended to fundamentally guarantee data protection without customers having to make technical decisions.

At the same time, Midnight remains interoperable because data can be selectively disclosed. Hoskinson emphasized that billions of people today don’t know how much they reveal in their everyday digital lives – and this is exactly where Midnight comes in. The aim is to normalize data protection instead of treating it as a special feature.

Differentiation from Monero and Zcash

Hoskinson’s statement should also be understood as a strategic clarification. Cardano’s Midnight is not intended to compete with Monero and Zcash, but rather to create a new category: a privacy chain that is both customer-friendly and compliance-ready.

While Monero and Zcash remain the home for privacy purists, Midnight is intended for those customers who need solid data protection without actively engaging with cryptography or privacy mechanisms.

This creates a clear target group priority: radical data protection on the one hand, complete transparency of classic blockchains on the other – and in between a new model with “adjusting screws” that can be used to adapt it to customer requirements.

• The new collaboration between Uniswap Labs and Securitize shows how popular RWA tokenization has become as a financial instrument.
• Both companies want to jointly develop new liquidity options for BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund BUIDL.

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The USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund “BUIDL” is one of the preferred institutional onchain assets and now manages several billion dollars. Its integration into blockchain infrastructures highlights how quickly the boundaries between traditional finance and the DeFi world of finance are dissolving.

UniswapX as RWA trading infrastructure

Core of the collaboration is the integration of BUIDL into UniswapX, Uniswap’s new RFQ-based trading architecture. Using this model, qualified market participants can obtain binding price offers from market makers and process transactions completely on-chain.

Securitize takes care of regulatory processing, whitelisting and compliance checks for investors. This creates an environment in which institutional investors can, for the first time, move a tokenized BlackRock fund via decentralized trading infrastructure without violating regulatory requirements.

Execution occurs 24/7, which represents a significant efficiency gain over traditional markets.

Importance for BlackRock, Uniswap and Securitize

For BlackRock, the cooperation is a further step towards providing tokenized fund products with real demand and at the same time opening up new liquidity channels.

The ability to trade BUIDL shares via DeFi rails increases the attractiveness of the fund for institutional investors looking for fast settlement processes and flexible trading hours.

Uniswap, in turn, is positioning itself as an infrastructure partner for the next generation of tokenized assets. The integration of one of the world’s largest RWA financial products strengthens the protocol’s role in the institutional segment.

In this way, Securitize consolidates its position as a leading provider of regulated tokenization and compliance layers between TradFi and DeFi.

Signal for the RWA sector

The collaboration shows that RWA tokenization has now entered a phase of steady adoption since its inception. With BlackRock, Uniswap and Securitize, three heavyweights from different areas are working together to combine liquidity, efficiency and legal certainty achieved through regulation.

It is a strong signal for the RWA sector: institutional products are increasingly being traded on public blockchains, and the DeFi infrastructure is becoming part of global capital markets.

The integration of BUIDL could thus become a model for other fund products that take the step onto the blockchain.