Odaily Planet Daily reported on Wednesday that Russian news media stated WhatsApp's domain has been completely blocked. According to reports, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that lifting the block on WhatsApp requires the messaging service to comply with Russian law and demonstrate a willingness to negotiate. Last year, Moscow began restricting some calls on WhatsApp and Telegram. In January of this year, Andrey Svintsov, Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma, stated that the country's telecommunications regulator would take steps to completely block WhatsApp by the end of 2026. (Cointelegraph)

Odaily Planet Daily reports that the American Bankers Association (ABA), in a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), stated that the approval process for crypto-related bank licenses should be slowed down until a clear regulatory framework for stablecoins and digital asset businesses is established. The ABA also emphasized the need to ensure that security and robustness standards are fully understood and implemented, and recommended prohibiting non-bank trust companies from using the word "bank" to avoid misleading the market. The banking organization pointed out that the OCC currently links license approvals to compliance with the GENIUS Act, but the full implementation of this act could take several years and involves rule-making by multiple regulatory agencies. It is understood that crypto companies such as Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Paxos, Coinbase, and Nomura's Laser Digital are applying for or have already obtained conditional OCC trust bank licenses. Furthermore, World Liberty Financial, associated with Trump, has also applied for a license covering its USD1 stablecoin. (Decrypt)

According to Odaily Planet Daily, Hong Kong Legislative Council member Ng Kit-chung posted on the X platform that Hong Kong's gradually relaxed policies will allow licensed companies and industry practitioners to fully realize their potential. The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has proposed that the first batch of stablecoin issuer licenses be issued starting in March this year, which is believed to further enhance the acceptance and practical application of Web3 in society. He suggested that Hong Kong could consider establishing a dedicated agency or department to comprehensively coordinate the development direction related to digital and crypto assets, such as considering the introduction of clear guidelines or regulations to allow decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to be more compliantly established in Hong Kong and attract more Level 1 public chain projects to flourish in Hong Kong.

According to Odaily Planet Daily, at the Consensus Hong Kong conference, Coinhako CEO Yusho Liu stated during a roundtable discussion that the Southeast Asian crypto market is undergoing a three-tiered evolution: The first tier is "trading and speculation," which serves as the industry's marketing engine and an early entry point for regional users to access the global market. The second tier is "stablecoin implementation," which has already achieved real-world use in scenarios such as fund management and cross-border payments. Currently, the market is entering the third tier: "the construction of institutional-grade infrastructure." Yusho pointed out that custody, compliant trading platforms, and prime brokers are rapidly taking shape in the region, progressing in tandem with the regulatory framework. Furthermore, Yusho stated that Coinhako's future strategic focus is on building infrastructure to serve regional financial institutions and traditional financial networks, ultimately making crypto technology "an underlying protocol embedded in traditional finance, invisible to users but indispensable to them."

According to Odaily Planet Daily, the asset disposal process in the Qian Zhimin money laundering case, involving 8,300 Chinese victims seeking compensation for 60,000 bitcoins, has reached a stalemate. Multiple law firms are representing the victims, each acting independently, which, according to British judges, leads to issues such as repeated submissions, repeated arguments, and prolonged proceedings. Legal fees are also soaring, ultimately to be borne by the Chinese victims. It is reported that on the eve of the Lunar New Year and the first day of the Lunar New Year (February 16th and 17th, 2026), the UK High Court will hold a hearing on the case, involving over 30 billion yuan and affecting nearly 130,000 Chinese victims. This is the highly anticipated asset disposal process in the 60,000 bitcoin money laundering case. Furthermore, the price of bitcoin has fluctuated significantly; the market value of 60,000 bitcoins has shrunk from a peak of approximately 54 billion yuan on October 6th, 2025, to approximately 31 billion yuan in early February 2026. (Caixin.com)