Bloomberg Analyst: If ETH Drops to $1500, Tether's Market Cap Will Surpass ETH

**Binance Futures to Transition AZTECUSDT Perpetual Contract to USD-Settled Standard Starting Feb 12** (Beijing, Feb 12) — Binance Futures will begin gradually transitioning its AZTECUSDT perpetual contract from pre-trading to a standard USD-settled version at 15:00 Beijing time on February 12, 2026, per official sources. The conversion process may take up to 3 hours, depending on price volatility and the availability of the stability index price. Trading will remain unaffected during the transition, and unfilled orders and open positions will not be canceled.

On February 12, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley took to social media to share that a wealth management client—whom the firm connected with two years ago and had never allocated to cryptocurrency prior—just invested $11 million in Bitcoin today amid the ongoing downturn. For many investors still on the sidelines of crypto, market dips are viewed as buying opportunities. It’s easy to overlook that many professional investors are staunch "buy-the-dip" proponents. While that wasn’t always the case, an increasing number of mainstream investors have now entered the crypto space. To them, price declines aren’t signals of failure—they’re rare buying chances, just like bear markets in any other asset class. The crypto market is maturing.

On February 12, Arkham Monitor reported that the bankruptcy trustee for Alameda Research has distributed $15.6 million worth of SOL to creditors in its latest monthly payment batch. The transfer included 25 separate addresses as part of the firm’s 21-month continuous distribution plan. Alameda still holds $314.95 million worth of SOL in its on-chain wallets.

February 12 — Per Coinglass data, Bitcoin has recently traded in a narrow, low-range consolidation pattern. Funding rates across major centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) exchanges currently reflect bearish market sentiment, with specific rates detailed in the accompanying chart. BlockBeats Note: Funding rates are fees set by crypto exchanges to align perpetual contract prices with their underlying assets. They facilitate fund transfers between long and short traders (exchanges do not collect these fees), adjusting holding costs or profits to keep contract prices tethered to the underlying asset. A 0.01% rate is the baseline: rates above 0.01% signal bullish sentiment, while rates below 0.005% indicate bearish market mood.

On February 12, Cointelegraph reported that Glassnode analysts noted Bitcoin whales accumulated during the recent pullback—with exchanges seeing an average outflow dominance of 3.2%—a pattern reminiscent of the lead-up to the first-half 2022 bull run.

February 12th — Per GMGN monitoring (link: https://gmgn.ai/sol/token/i_m4TE56o8_a3W4qutoEJA4232T2gwZUfgYJTetr96pU4SJMwppump), Solana-based meme coin WhiteWhale rebounded after hitting a market cap low of roughly $52 million yesterday. As of press time, its market cap stands at ~$88 million, with a current price of ~$0.0927, a 24-hour gain of 42%, and 24-hour trading volume of $3.5 million. A whale trader named "The White Whale" holds a position valued at ~$50 million (representing a 57.6% holding ratio). The trader’s current unrealized profit is ~$900,000 (21%), while total realized profit totals $20.2 million. BlockBeats reminds users: Meme coin trading carries extreme volatility, depends heavily on market sentiment and hype, and has no tangible value or real-world use case. Investors should exercise caution and be aware of significant risks.