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In February 2026, the on-chain ecosystem exhibited more pronounced structural divergence amid price pressure. On-chain activity did not contract in tandem, but instead became further concentrated on high-frequency and high-efficiency networks. Solana maintained its dominance in high-frequency activity, while Base and Polygon continued to expand. Arbitrum saw a recovery in activity, but its capital retention and value capture weakened. Ethereum shifted from net outflows to significant net inflows, reinforcing its role as the primary settlement layer and a key hub for macro asset deployment. On the BTC side, the price pullback pushed short-term holders broadly into unrealized losses, with profit-taking cooling and sell pressure still concentrated among short-term positions, while the long-term holder structure remained intact. At the sector level, AI Agent, supply-side shocks, and institutional DeFi narratives coexisted. Short-term returns were driven by structural catalysts, while mid-term allocation continued

In February, the overall crypto market showed a weak trend, with notable outflows from BTC ETFs. Major blockchains remained stable throughout the month, with Solana leading by a wide margin at over 100 million daily transactions. Ethereum recorded 13.34 million unique active addresses, maintaining its second-highest level in history. TradFi trading volume on Perp DEXs surged to $47.3 billion, largely driven by Hyperliquid’s HIP-3. The Web3 sector completed 46 funding rounds totaling $986 million, with the top 10 projects accounting for $793 million—three major deals were led by Tether. Meanwhile, Web3 security incidents declined significantly month-over-month, though smart contract vulnerabilities remained the primary risk source.

Gate Research: Large language models and AI agent technologies are pushing trading systems into a new stage of development. Quantitative trading, which previously relied heavily on programming skills and complex engineering systems, is gradually evolving into product forms with much lower barriers to entry. Gate has introduced products such as AI Quant Workspace and Gate for AI, which aim to integrate strategy generation, backtesting, and automated execution within a single platform through natural language interaction, no-code quant tools, and unified trading interfaces, allowing more users to participate in strategy trading. As AI technology continues to mature, trading platforms are also evolving from traditional matching tools into AI-driven trading infrastructure.

Gate Research Institute: Over the past 24 hours, BTC briefly climbed above $71,000, but following a sharp drop and quick rebound during the U.S. market session, it settled back near $69,300. ETH rapidly declined from $2,070 to $2,010 and remains in a recovery phase. Altcoins showed weakness, with most lagging behind BTC, while the Fear & Greed Index remains in the extreme fear range. HUMA, NAORIS, and ARIA saw gains of 50.13%, 39.38%, and 29.02%, respectively, fueled by AI-related narratives. Additionally, Oracle’s earnings beat expectations, driving its share price up nearly 8% after hours, and both Hyperliquid and Circle announced significant product updates.

Gate Research: Between 2025 and 2026, PayFi is evolving from a crypto payment tool into a next-generation payment and financial engine, with stablecoins achieving scale in high-frequency and cross-border payments and demonstrating clear efficiency and cost advantages over traditional systems. As Web2 and Web3 continue to converge, institutions such as Visa, PayPal, and emerging neobanks are becoming key gateways to mainstream adoption, while the combination of stablecoins, real-world assets (RWA), and AI is shaping PayFi’s foundational architecture by enabling automated, always-on settlement, asset mobility, and risk management. Looking ahead to 2026, regulatory clarity, scalable asset tokenization, and the maturity of AI-driven financial systems will be the primary determinants of PayFi’s competitive landscape and long-term barriers.

Gate Research Daily Report: On Sep 26, BTC fell below $109K and ETH slipped under $3,900 as markets came under pressure; XPL surged 178% on Plasma mainnet launch; SQD and SKX gained 65% and 25% on tech integration and ecosystem growth; new tariffs and regulatory probes fueled risk-off sentiment, wiping over 4.5% from crypto market cap.

Gate Research Daily Report: On Sep 26, BTC fell below $109K and ETH slipped under $3,900 as markets came under pressure; XPL surged 178% on Plasma mainnet launch; SQD and SKX gained 65% and 25% on tech integration and ecosystem growth; new tariffs and regulatory probes fueled risk-off sentiment, wiping over 4.5% from crypto market cap.

From September 9 to September 22, 2025, both BTC and ETH remained in a high-level consolidation phase, with divergences emerging between price structure and volatility performance, indicating overall weak short-term momentum. On the derivatives side, BTC open interest retreated significantly from recent highs, while ETH held relatively steady, suggesting that leveraged positions have not yet fully exited the market. On September 22, long liquidation volume surged to over $1.6 billion, highlighting mounting pressure at market highs and intensifying bearish sentiment due to cascading stop-losses by long positions. In terms of quantitative strategies, a mean-reversion strategy based on Bollinger Bands delivered strong performance on ADA, achieving an annualized return of over 60%, showcasing solid potential for short-term trading.

On Sept 24, BTC traded at $112,462 with weak rebound momentum; ETH recovered to $4,192 under mid-term pressure; GT hovered at $16.27 in consolidation. The market stayed cautious. Hot tokens saw strong inflows: SVL surged 61.17%, BARD rose 47.33%, and HEMI gained 53.20%. On the macro side, Vitalik highlighted full-stack openness and verifiability, Tether reportedly seeks up to $20B funding at a $500B valuation, and Seedify suffered a hack, spotlighting cross-chain bridge risks.

Gate Research Weekly Report: This week, BTC declined by 1.99% and ETH dropped by 7.69%, while some DeFi sectors saw gains against the trend. The crypto market experienced its largest liquidation event of the year, with $1.8 billion wiped out. Gate launched its Gate Layer L2 network, marking a full-scale upgrade to the GT ecosystem and its deflationary mechanism. The Ethereum Fusaka upgrade focuses on data availability and security, with PeerDAS ushering in a new era of Layer 1 scalability. Meanwhile, SUI Group revealed a major SUI token holding and stock buyback, demonstrating strong capital reserves and market confidence.

Gate Research Daily Report: On September 25, BTC and ETH remained in a consolidation phase, while small- and mid-cap tokens saw notable moves. IN surged over 70% following the launch of its strategy automation product, attracting strong capital inflows. FLUID and SNX rose 28% and 25%, respectively, driven by TVL growth, token buyback plans, and perpetual incentive programs. Gate introduced its Layer 2 network, Gate Layer, marking a comprehensive upgrade to the GT ecosystem and its deflationary mechanism. Meanwhile, the crypto market experienced its largest liquidation event of the year, triggered by excessive leverage and cascading sell-offs. SUI Group revealed a heavy position in SUI and a stock buyback plan, signaling strong capital backing and market confidence.

From September 2 to September 15, 2025, the crypto market continued its sector rotation pattern, with BTC and ETH testing key resistance levels at 117,400 and 4,950 USDT, respectively. MYX and CONSCIOUS each surged over 900%, while OPENX and ATH also posted gains above 90%, highlighting strong volume-price correlation and a clear capital shift toward mid- and small-cap narrative-driven tokens. Recently, a series of airdrop campaigns have been launched across trending sectors such as AI, DePIN, and SocialFi. This article outlines key participation methods to help users capture potential upside and airdrop opportunities during the rebound.

This report highlights that as of August 2025, the global stablecoin market capitalization has reached $280 billion, with annual on-chain settlement volumes surpassing $30 trillion. Stablecoins are evolving from mere crypto trading instruments into global financial infrastructure. This explosive growth is driven by regulatory implementation and the entry of major enterprises. The enactment of the GENIUS Act, the Stablecoin Bill, and the MiCA Regulation mark the beginning of a “compliance grand era” for stablecoins. Their model has advanced into a “Peg + Yield + Application” triad, expanding across payments, yield generation, and real-world applications. At the same time, competition has shifted from “token battles” to “infrastructure battles,” with players such as Tether, Circle, Stripe, and Alchemy Pay building proprietary blockchains to capture dominance in payments and settlements.

In August, the crypto market showed strong performance, driven by continued ETF inflows and rising on-chain activity. ETH emerged as the best-performing major token of the month, with a gain of over 18%. In contrast, Bitcoin followed a “rise-then-fall” pattern—briefly surpassing $124,500 mid-month before retreating due to growing macroeconomic uncertainty. Among public blockchains, Solana led with over 29 billion monthly transactions, while Ethereum recorded 51.77 million on-chain transactions, marking a new four-year high for the second consecutive month.

Gate Research Daily Report: On September 22, BTC faced resistance near $117,900 and continued to decline, currently trading around $114,300 with a brief dip to $114,250; ETH has been under pressure above $4,460 and continued downward, breaking below $4,300 to reach a short-term low of $4,289. StandX TVL exceeded $60 million, setting a new all-time high; 0G Labs mainnet Aristotle officially launched; Story ecosystem IPRWA project Aria introduced the institutional-grade on-chain IP investment platform, Aria PRIME.