The U.S. CFTC's February 2026 letter enhances stablecoin regulation, allowing national trust banks to issue dollar-pegged tokens as margin collateral. This aligns with the GENIUS Act, fostering federal oversight. Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin can integrate seamlessly, enhancing market efficiency and legitimizing blockchain assets, while XRP's role strengthens as transactions grow. Overall, this represents significant progress towards a regulated, innovative financial system.

Ripple has expanded its partnership with UAE-based Zand Bank to support its RLUSD stablecoin. The new phase will connect Ripple’s USD stablecoin with Zand’s AED-backed stablecoin. It is known as AEDZ. The companies plan to work on custody services, liquidity bridges and new issuance on the XRP

February 10 News, the cryptocurrency market came under further pressure, with the total market capitalization dropping about 2% in a single day. The main reason is the rising investor concern over a potential US government shutdown. The risk-averse sentiment in the market has intensified, leading to an accelerated outflow of funds from risk assets. As a bellwether, Bitcoin fell about 2.4% on the day, fluctuating between $68,400 and $71,000, currently stabilizing around $69,400. Ethereum declined nearly 3%, barely holding the $2,000 level, with a cumulative decline of 12% over the past week. XRP, BNB, Solana, and Dogecoin also weakened, driving the overall market cap of cryptocurrencies back to approximately $2.44 trillion.