Here’s a quick recap of the crypto landscape for Wednesday (February 25) as of 9:00 a.m. UTC.
Get the latest insights on Bitcoin, Ether and altcoins, along with a round-up of key cryptocurrency market news.
Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$65,506.83, up by 4.9 percent over the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin price performance, February 25, 2026.
Chart via TradingView
Ether (ETH) was priced at US$1,910.07, up by 7.0 percent over the last 24 hours.
Altcoin price update
- XRP (XRP) was priced at US$1.37, up by 5.2 percent over 24 hours.
- Solana (SOL) was trading at US$82.35, down by 9.2 percent over 24 hours.
Today’s crypto news to know
Bitcoin rally fades during Trump address
Bitcoin briefly pushed above US$66,000 during Asian trading before trimming gains as President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address.
The token rose as much as 3.5 percent, its strongest intraday advance since mid-February, before slipping back toward the mid-US$65,000 range as the speech progressed. Ether climbed nearly 5 percent at one point, while Solana and XRP also posted solid early gains before momentum cooled.
The rebound followed a bruising stretch earlier in the week, when a Supreme Court ruling invalidating Trump’s emergency tariff authority and his subsequent move to impose 15 percent global tariffs rattled markets.
Still, caution remains visible in derivatives markets. Nearly US$230 million in put options expiring March 6 are clustered around the US$58,000 strike, according to Deribit data, signaling demand for protection against renewed downside.
Mastercard expands crypto push with new stablecoin, DeFi leadership role
Mastercard is stepping up its digital asset strategy with a new senior hire aimed squarely at stablecoins and decentralized finance. The payments giant is recruiting a Director of Crypto Flows to oversee stablecoin-linked card products, DeFi integrations, and updates to its internal risk and network frameworks.
The move builds on partnerships forged in 2025 with Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL), Paxos, and OKX that enabled spending from crypto wallets and merchant settlement in stablecoins.
The new role will focus in part on allowing users to spend blockchain-based dollars at more than 150 million Mastercard-accepting locations worldwide, while preserving familiar card features such as rewards and cashback. It will also explore connecting Mastercard’s rails to decentralized applications, enabling programmable payments and automated settlement flows.
Canaan buys deeper into Texas mining
Canaan (NASDAQ:CAN) has acquired a 49 percent stake in a joint venture tied to several West Texas Bitcoin mining projects from Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR) in a US$39.75 million all-stock deal.
The transaction gives Canaan exposure to operations totaling 120 megawatts of energized capacity and roughly 4.4 exahashes per second of hashrate. The sites operate at an average efficiency of about 25.7 joules per terahash, placing them within competitive industry benchmarks.
As part of the agreement, Canaan also acquired 6,840 Avalon A15Pro rigs previously deployed at Cipher’s Black Pearl facility. That site is being converted into an artificial intelligence and high-performance computing data center.
Cipher shares rose more than 6 percent following the announcement, while Canaan gained nearly 8 percent, suggesting investors welcomed the consolidation.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.