The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a report on February 17, warning the Japanese government to maintain the independence of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), control fiscal expansion, and avoid addressing livelihood issues by cutting the consumption tax. This report coincided with the Japanese prime ministerial election. The market is closely watching whether Sanae Takaichi will oppose further interest rate hikes by the BOJ, and her previous two-year commitment to "zero out the food consumption tax." Regarding monetary policy, the IMF pointed out that maintaining the BOJ's independence and credibility helps stabilize inflation expectations, and stated that the BOJ "should continue to exit monetary easing, bringing the policy rate to a neutral level by 2027." Regarding fiscal policy, the IMF believes that further easing is not advisable in the short term. This contradicts Takaichi's proposed "responsible and proactive fiscal policy." The IMF believes that while Japan currently has some fiscal space, it still needs to maintain fiscal restraint to solidify its fiscal buffer and maintain its ability to cope with shocks. The IMF predicts that in the long term, Japan's fiscal deficit will widen, spending pressure will increase, and total public debt will further grow. (Jinshi)

Industry insiders believe that Ethereum is currently in a "gap period between narratives," where the market tends to price uncertainty when a clear long-term value logic is lacking. In the past few years, the mainstream narrative has been that scaling primarily occurs at Layer 2, while the mainnet maintains security, decentralization, and a streamlined architecture. This path successfully attracted capital and development resources. However, the current market focus is shifting towards zero-knowledge technology and privacy capabilities returning to the base layer, leading to misaligned expectations among some investors who built valuation models based on the old approach. Complete on-chain transparency presents a real obstacle for institutional funds; large enterprises or funds are unwilling to have their trading strategies tracked in real time. If Ethereum hopes to attract trillions of dollars in institutional funds, protocol-level privacy capabilities will become a key competitive variable. Furthermore, the expansion of the options market around spot ETFs is also changing Ethereum's price formation mechanism, including the increasing influence of covered call strategies and market maker hedging behavior. (Forbes)

Dubai's stock market is witnessing its most robust beginning in over a decade, driven by investor confidence beyond the fluctuations in oil and artificial intelligence sectors. Bloomberg posted on X, highlighting the market's resilience amid global economic uncertainties. This surge reflects a broader investor sentiment that is focusing on long-term growth prospects rather than short-term market volatility. The positive momentum in Dubai's financial markets underscores a shift in investment strategies, as stakeholders seek stability and sustainable returns in a rapidly changing economic landscape.

The U.S. Air Force announced on February 17 that its executive transport fleet, including the next-generation 'Air Force One' presidential aircraft, will adopt a new color scheme featuring red, white, gold, and deep blue tones. According to Jin10, the exact proportions of these colors remain unclear. The new design replaces the blue and white scheme used since John F. Kennedy's presidency and reintroduces the red, white, and blue palette proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term. Reuters reported that Trump's color scheme was previously considered by the Air Force to potentially cause overheating issues due to the dark colors. In 2022, the Biden administration deemed the proposal likely to increase engineering work, time, and costs, leading to its rejection. However, the U.S. Air Force has not detailed how the new design addresses the heat dissipation concerns.

Key Takeaways Stripe’s Bridge received conditional OCC approval to form a national trust bank. source: https://coindoo.com/stripe-backed-stablecoin-platform-secures-path-to-national-trust-bank/

10x Research published an article on its X platform stating that despite Bitcoin's 46% drop, the Bitcoin ETF only recorded a net outflow of $8.5 billion. According to the latest Q4 2025 13F filing, it is estimated that 55%-75% of IBIT's $61 billion in assets are held by market makers and arbitrage-focused hedge funds, whose positions are mostly hedging or market-neutral rather than expressing directional views. In Q4 2025, as Bitcoin consolidated around $88,000, market makers reduced their exposure by approximately $1.6 billion to $2.4 billion, reflecting a decline in speculative demand and a reduction in demand for arbitrage inventory.

Japanese stocks experienced a rebound following a four-day losing streak. According to RTHK, the Nikkei Index rose by as much as 1.5%, reaching a high of 57,392 points. It closed at 57,143 points, marking an increase of 577 points or 1.02%.

null source: https://x.com/CoinMarketCap/status/2024021336608194972

미국에서 거래되는 비트코인 현물 상장지수펀드(ETF)의 총 순유출액은 1억 499만 달러를 기록했습니다. 계속 읽어보세요: 미국에서 거래되는 비트코인과 이더리움 상장지수펀드(ETF)의 변동성이 계속되고 있습니다! 자세한 내용을 확인하세요 source: https://kr.bitcoinsistemi.com/the-volatile-trend-continues-in-spot-bitcoin-and-ethereum-exchange-traded-funds-etfs-traded-in-the-us-here-are-the-details/

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) traded in the US recorded a total net outflow of $104. 99 million. Continue Reading: Volatile Trends Continue in Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in the US! Here Are the Details source: https://en.bitcoinsistemi.com/volatile-trends-continue-in-spot-bitcoin-and-ethereum-exchange-traded-funds-etfs-in-the-us-here-are/

A little over a year ago, becoming a digital asset vault seemed like an easy decision for many companies looking to boost their stock prices.

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Happy Lunar New Year of the Year of the Horse! Wishing everyone: May you gallop forward with boundless success, and enjoy good health and steady wealth!

Jinse Finance launches its cryptocurrency and blockchain industry daily news bulletin, "Jinse 8 AM," issue 2971, providing you with the latest and fastest news on the digital currency and blockchain industry.

OpenClaw community rules: No discussion of finance or crypto. This is perhaps the most incisive criticism of Web3, and also the most sincere advice.

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