hodler

28 Feb 2026, 00:09

Bitcoin immutability debate rekindled as Karpelès pushes $5.2B hard fork plan

The former CEO of the defunct exchange Mt. Gox, Mark Karpelès, has reignited one of Bitcoin’s fiercest ideological debates after publishing a draft proposal. Karpelès is calling for a Bitcoin hard fork that would allow almost 80,000 BTC, valued at more than $5.2 billion at current prices, to be recovered from a wallet linked to the exchange’s 2011 hack. This development comes as $4 billion was stolen in 255 crypto hacks in 2025. Within centralized exchanges, DeFi protocols and infrastructure providers, attackers got away with over $2 billion in the 10 largest incidents — roughly on par with the “nearly $2.2 billion” stolen in 2024. However, the damage was far more concentrated. While the sheer number of mid-tier exploits increased from a year earlier, 2025 also saw the largest crypto theft ever recorded, with Bybit’s $1.4 billion breach in February of that year. For the moment, Tornado Cash experienced renewed usage following the lifting of sanctions in March 2025. In the second half of the year, the mixer was used in over 70% of hacks involving mixers. Mt. Gox recovery proposal reopens Bitcoin immutability debate In a recently published tentative proposal , Karpelès proposed a one-time change to the consensus rules that would enable Bitcoin already inside a long-dormant wallet connected to the heist to be transferred to a recovery address held by the Mt. Gox rehabilitation process. The targeted address already received the funds after a documented compromise of Mt. Gox systems in June 2011, and the coins have gone untouched for more than 15 years . Under Bitcoin’s existing guidelines, the funds may only be moved using the original private keys, widely believed to be lost or unavailable. Karpelès says its exceptional conditions would mandate a narrowly scoped protocol intervention — he recasts the request as a technical discussion, rather than a direct upgrade request. The draft specifies that the rule change would apply only to the single theft address, although network participants could adopt the change to activate it at a later block height. Recovered funds would then be awarded to verified creditors through Japan’s ongoing court-supervised civil rehabilitation process, which controls repayments after the collapse of Mt. Gox in 2014. Critics warn targeted rule change could fracture network consensus The proposal would bring into sharper relief a long-standing philosophical rift in the Bitcoin community — whether verifiable acts of theft should ever justify changing blockchain history. Proponents might see the plan as a rare opportunity to return billions in idle assets to victims of one of crypto’s biggest exchange collapses. Mt. Gox used to process up to 70% of global Bitcoin trading before it lost several hundred thousand BTC, a disaster that profoundly influenced industry security standards and trust. Critics, however, caution that altering ownership rules could erode Bitcoin’s enduring promise of immutability. The proposal itself notes these risks to network consensus, stating that a hard fork, if coordinated with miners, developers, and node operators, cannot upgrade a chain and will risk fracturing network consensus in a chain split. Significantly, the contested coins are separate from assets that are already being distributed to creditors. Some 200,000 BTC were previously recovered and consolidated into trustee control, with the aim of setting a precedent and enabling repayments from 2024, continuing through October 2026. Whether Karpelès’ proposal takes hold remains a distant destination, but by countering Bitcoin’s historical resistance to transaction reversals, the plan has already reopened a fundamental question for the planet’s biggest cryptocurrency: Should we embrace absolute immutability, even though billions of stolen funds are unlikely to move again? Get seen where it counts. Advertise in Cryptopolitan Research and reach crypto’s sharpest investors and builders.

27 Feb 2026, 23:51

Sen Warren leads Democrat probe into Binance in latest scrutiny of Trump crypto ties

A group of Senators have written a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent requesting that Binance’s compliance to its 2023 settlement be reviewed. The lawmakers are requesting for proof that an impartial investigation will be carried out given Binance’s ties to the Trump family and the Trump administration’s pro-crypto attitude. Will Binance be investigated? A group of 11 Democratic senators, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a formal letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, demanding a “thorough and impartial” investigation into Binance. The senators’ major concern is whether or not Binance is sticking to the rules of its massive 2023 settlement. Back then, the exchange paid over $4 billion and admitted to failing to stop money laundering. As part of that deal, Binance agreed to let U.S. officials watch over its operations. However, the senators now say that new reports suggest the exchange has resumed its old ways. They also claim that as much as $1.7 billion in digital assets moved through Binance to Iranian entities , including groups linked to terrorism like the Houthis and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. CEO Richard Teng and the company’s legal representatives at Withers Bergman denied a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article that alleged that the exchange fired staff for flagging $1 billion in Iranian-linked transactions, calling it “defamatory” and “categorically false.” The company’s lawyers also argued in a letter to the WSJ editorial board that the newspaper ignored detailed corrections provided by the company before the story was published. Binance stated that between January 2024 and January 2026, it reduced its direct exposure to major Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges by more than 97.3%. The company noted that while anyone can try to send money to an address on public blockchains, their job is to monitor and stop those funds. They claim they are doing this better than any of their global peers. Binance also stated that it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into its compliance systems. Its compliance team now includes over 1,500 people, which is roughly 25% of its entire global workforce. Senator Richard Blumenthal also opened an inquiry into Binance through the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He is specifically looking for records regarding two Hong Kong-based entities that were reportedly used to funnel money toward Iran. Why are lawmakers worried about Trump’s ties to Binance? Democratic lawmakers are worried that the Trump administration might not be tough enough on Binance for several reasons. First, is the pardon of Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance. In October 2025, President Trump granted a “full and unconditional pardon” to Zhao, who had served four months in prison for failing to stop money laundering. Trump described the prosecution of Zhao as a “war on cryptocurrency” by the previous administration. His decision was criticized by Senator Warren, who argued that the pardon sends a message that crypto executives can break the law if they have the right political connections. Second, reports indicate that Binance has been a key supporter of “World Liberty Financial,” a crypto venture backed by President Trump and his sons. The exchange has also reportedly encouraged its 275 million users to use the USD1 stablecoin. There are even reports that an Emirati fund used USD1 to make a $2 billion investment in Binance itself, an arrangement that could earn the Trump family millions in interest every year. Because of these close ties, the senators are asking Attorney General Bondi and Secretary Bessent to prove that any investigation will be fair. They have given the DOJ and Treasury until March 13, 2026, to explain what steps they are taking to review Binance’s conduct. If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter .

27 Feb 2026, 22:08

U.S. Senate Democrats asked Treasury, DOJ to probe Binance's illicit finance controls

Nine lawmakers asked the federal agencies to investigate the global crypto exchange after reports of potential funding channeled to terrorist groups.

27 Feb 2026, 21:15

Analyst: Deeply Negative Funding Rates Hint at BTC Bounce

Bitcoin perpetual funding rates on major exchanges have flipped negative, signaling that short sellers now dominate the derivatives market and are paying to keep their positions open. While negative funding typically reflects bearish sentiment, one analyst is interpreting the current extreme as a potential setup for a short squeeze, arguing that excessive short positioning often precedes sharp upside reversals rather than continued downside. Funding Flips Negative as Shorts Crowd the Market In a February 27 market update, analyst Amr Taha noted that funding rates across major derivatives venues simultaneously moved into negative territory, with Binance at -0.005%, OKX at -0.007%, and Bybit at -0.011%. Funding rates are periodic payments between long and short traders in perpetual futures, and when they turn negative, it means short sellers are paying longs, reflecting dominant bearish positioning. Taha also pointed to data from the BTC liquidation heat map showing dense clusters of leveraged positions above the current price, many originating around the $92,000 level. According to the analyst, if Bitcoin pushes higher, those short positions could be forced to close, accelerating upside volatility. “If macroeconomic conditions improve, the probability of a renewed price pump in the short to medium term increases,” Taha wrote. They added that historically, heavy short exposure combined with negative funding has often foreshadowed sharp reversals, though the metric alone does not predict direction. Meanwhile, retail activity is also ticking up. Nino, a CryptoQuant contributor, indicated that trading frequency among smaller investors has spiked relative to its one-year average, a sign that individual participants are re-entering the market after weeks of caution. “The current spike underscores a growing sense of anticipation for the next major market expansion,” explained the analyst. Whale Flows and Market Structure In a separate post, Taha tracked roughly 1,700 BTC in positive net inflows from so-called “Octopus” wallets, representing medium-term holders, into Binance. A larger 5,000 BTC inflow from the same cohort on February 2 preceded a drop from above $77,500. This time, the movement, while positive, is significantly less aggressive, suggesting it may not carry the same bearish force. “Of course, market reaction also depends on liquidity conditions and broader positioning,” Taha stated. “But strictly from the chart data — the intensity is lower.” Bitcoin briefly tested $70,000 on February 26 but failed to hold that threshold, settling into a range between $66,600 and $68,600 over the past 24 hours per CoinGecko data, with observers at Glassnode saying that despite the relative stabilization, the BTC market is yet to recover. At the time of writing, the flagship cryptocurrency was trading almost 200 bucks below the $68,000 level, down slightly by 0.4% in the last 24 hours and seeing no change over seven days. However, on a 30-day basis, the asset is nearly 24% lower, and it is also about 46% below its October 2025 all-time high. The post Analyst: Deeply Negative Funding Rates Hint at BTC Bounce appeared first on CryptoPotato .

27 Feb 2026, 21:00

While Traders Are Sleeping, XRP Is Quietly Entering A Major Reset Phase

The cryptocurrency market appears to be maintaining its newfound bullish traction, but the price of XRP has fallen to the $1.4 mark after a pullback on Thursday. Amid the ongoing volatility that has rocked the market over the past months, the altcoin is set to make a critical move that could transition it into a bullish phase. Market Ignores XRP’s Major Reset XRP’s price seems to have lost its latest upward move that was triggered by a broader market bounce. Citing several on-chain and price dynamics, the leading altcoin is quietly undergoing what many investors believe is a major structural reset. Xaif Crypto, a market expert and investor, shared that while the token is preparing for a major reset, many in the market seem to be overlooking its potential and the significance of the impending move. Over the last 90 days, Open Interest has been witnessing a sharp decline across nearly every major cryptocurrency exchange. According to the data, the open interest on Binance, the world’s leading crypto exchange, totaled at -7.7 million XRP, Bybit’s open interest lost over -12 million XRP, and Kraken bled out -8.3 million XRP. This is billions of dollars in speculative leverage being taken out of the market. Xaif Crypto highlighted that beneath the surface, this is just the setup rather than the end. When open interest contracts are this hard across multiple platforms simultaneously, it simply implies that the weak hands are exiting. Even the overleveraged betters are also vanishing from the market. Currently, the market is left with a clean slate, and historically, this is the point where the next big move emerges. “ Smart money doesn’t chase pumps, it enters during the silence,” Xaif Crypto added. Activity On Bittrue On The Rise While other trading platforms struggle with declining open interest, Bitrue saw a spike in XRP activity as institutional appetite grows. The platform recorded a 212% increase in spot buying volumes, surpassing the sell-side by over 2x. This surge coincided with a persistent accumulation from institutional investors since the launch of the XRP Spot ETFs . Since its launch, the funds have attracted a net total of $1.1 billion in assets, with weekly inflows and only 5 days of outflows. As institutional and retail support grows, Bitrue predicts a possible supply squeeze that will probably cause the altcoin to surpass its main rivals in Q2 2026. Bitrue is known for being the first to champion flexible earn investments with the altcoin and offer it as a base trading pair for spot. The platform has been working to include the token into its services since its inception in 2028, and now users are encouraged to add it to their portfolios. Its most recent plan is to establish itself as a crucial liquidity hub for the XRPL utility by modifying its short-term business strategy. Bitrue intends to capitalize on this impending market shift. Furthermore, they are focused on increasing support for the altcoin and other coins that are part of the XRPL ecosystem , such as RLUSD, which is currently utilized as a basic trading pair.

27 Feb 2026, 20:44

Senate Democrats Lead Inquiry Into Binance: Warren Heads Effort With Letter To DOJ

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is once again facing mounting scrutiny in Washington, as lawmakers question whether the company is living up to the terms of its 2023 settlement with US authorities — an agreement that ultimately led to the resignation of its founder and former CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ). Democrats Urge DOJ And Treasury Investigation On Friday, journalist Eleanor Terrett of Crypto In America reported that eleven Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee, led by crypto-skeptic Elizabeth Warren, sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging their departments to examine Binance’s operations. Related Reading: Jane Street Faces New Lawsuit: Trump Media Calls For Federal Investigation The lawmakers pointed to recent media reports alleging illicit finance activity on the platform, including transactions reportedly linked to Iran, and warned that such conduct could place Binance in violation of its 2023 settlement. In their letter, the senators also referenced Binance’s expanding business relationships with President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures, as well as Trump’s pardon of Zhao. They called for what they described as a “thorough, impartial” investigation into whether the exchange is adhering to its legal obligations. The latest pressure follows a separate inquiry launched earlier in the week. As previously reported by Bitcoinist, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal initiated a formal probe through the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Binance Denies Sanctions Violations In a letter dated February 24 and addressed to Binance co-CEO Richard Teng, Blumenthal cited reporting that suggested the exchange may have facilitated “large-scale violations” of US and international sanctions on Iran. Related Reading: Circle Tops Q4 Revenue Forecasts, Shares Surge 30% — Key Numbers Inside Blumenthal noted that Binance appeared to ignore warnings and recommendations aimed at reducing Iranian money laundering operations. He also referred to the same reports cited by the Senate banking committee Democrats, indicating that $1.7 billion in transactions to Iran may have passed through the platform. Binance has strongly denied the allegations. The company said it conducted an internal review and found “no evidence of violations of applicable sanctions laws.” The exchange also rejected claims that it had dismissed investigators for raising concerns related to sanctions compliance. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com