Binance, BlackRock, And Ripple Lead Institutional Crypto Push In February’s Second Week
The second week of February delivered a wave of infrastructure-level partnerships shaping how establishments entry, safe, and deploy digital belongings. From tokenized collateral and onchain fund distribution to embedded banking, custody, and AI-driven funds, these collaborations sign a transparent shift towards integrating crypto instantly into world monetary and operational techniques.
Binance and Franklin Templeton Create Institutional Collateral Program
Binance has partnered with world asset supervisor Franklin Templeton to introduce an institutional off-exchange collateral program, permitting certified shoppers to make use of tokenized cash market fund shares as collateral for crypto buying and selling with out transferring belongings onto the alternate. Announced on February 11, 2026, the initiative targets one of many key friction factors for institutional individuals: balancing capital effectivity with asset safety.
The program is constructed on Franklin Templeton’s Benji Technology Platform, which tokenizes shares of its Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX). This blockchain-native mutual fund, with roughly $420 million in belongings beneath administration, points BENJI tokens representing possession. These tokenized shares may be pledged as collateral whereas remaining in regulated custody, with Ceffu serving because the designated institutional custodian. Binance mirrors the collateral worth inside its buying and selling infrastructure, permitting establishments to deploy capital with out relinquishing asset management.
The construction permits corporations to make use of yield-bearing devices similar to U.S. authorities cash market funds to assist leveraged crypto positions, lowering the necessity to maintain idle stablecoins or fiat on alternate. By permitting belongings to stay off-exchange, the framework additionally mitigates counterparty threat, a persistent concern amongst institutional buyers because the failures of a number of centralized platforms in earlier cycles.
The launch displays the accelerating adoption of tokenized real-world belongings in institutional crypto markets, positioning tokenized Treasuries and cash market funds as foundational collateral in digital asset buying and selling infrastructure.
Standard Chartered and B2C2 Connect Banking Infrastructure With Institutional Crypto Liquidity
Standard Chartered has entered a strategic partnership with digital asset liquidity supplier B2C2 to enhance institutional entry to crypto markets by integrating regulated banking providers with institutional-grade buying and selling infrastructure. The collaboration connects Standard Chartered’s world banking and settlement community with B2C2’s deep liquidity throughout spot and choices markets, making a extra seamless framework for institutional participation.
The settlement permits B2C2 to supply its banking providers by way of Standard Chartered to its whole consumer base, which incorporates asset managers and hedge funds and corporates and household places of work.
The system permits customers to make fiat funds extra effectively whereas transferring funds between accounts and sustaining reliable operations between conventional monetary techniques and crypto markets. The partnership solves two predominant obstacles which have prevented establishments from adopting new applied sciences by making settlement processes less complicated and lowering the variety of required counterparties.
The transfer builds on Standard Chartered’s broader digital asset enlargement which incorporates its institution of regulated Bitcoin spot buying and selling providers by way of UK operations and its ongoing improvement of digital asset infrastructure. B2C2 makes use of the combination to boost its capability to ship regulated banking entry to institutional shoppers along with its current liquidity options.
The partnership exhibits how world banks and crypto-native firms are creating built-in monetary techniques which notably serve Asian markets the place institutional curiosity in compliant digital asset entry is quickly rising.
Ripple Expands Institutional Custody Stack Through Securosys and Figment Partnerships
Ripple has established a number of strategic partnerships which is able to assist monetary establishments to undertake its digital asset custody providers at a sooner tempo. The challenge goals to simplify the technical necessities and scale back procurement challenges which banks and controlled companies face once they wish to enter the cryptocurrency custody market.
Through a collaboration with Swiss-based {hardware} safety specialist Securosys, Ripple is enabling establishments to deploy {hardware} safety module (HSM)-based custody infrastructure with out prolonged integration cycles or high upfront prices. The setup offers banks and custodians direct management over cryptographic key administration, a essential requirement for regulated digital asset operations.
Ripple has additionally established a partnership with Figment which offers staking infrastructure providers by including staking capabilities to Ripple Custody. The new characteristic permits establishments to supply staking providers for main Proof-of-Stake networks which embrace Ethereum and Solana without having to handle their very own validator nodes. This system permits organizations to generate income whereas making certain they comply with institutional compliance requirements and keep operational management.
The custody enlargement challenge provides to Ripple’s institutional service bundle which incorporates Ripple Prime as its multi-asset prime brokerage platform and its XRP and RLUSD U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin integration.
Ripple has made this transfer following necessary regulatory developments which embrace UK FCA approvals and preliminary EMI authorization in Luxembourg. These developments assist Ripple’s improvement of full regulated digital asset techniques which is able to serve world monetary establishments.
Bybit and Mercuryo Roll Out Limited-Time Zero-Fee Crypto Purchases in Select Markets
Bybit has partnered with funds infrastructure supplier Mercuryo to supply zero transaction charges on qualifying crypto purchases in chosen markets, as exchanges proceed competing on onboarding effectivity and retail incentives. The promotion runs from February 4 to February 18, 2026, and applies to transactions between €100 and €500, or the equal in supported fiat currencies.
Eligible customers can entry the provide by way of Bybit’s One-Click Buy characteristic by choosing Mercuryo because the fee supplier and buying USDT or USDC. The firm permits prospects to transform their whole fee quantity into stablecoins as a result of it has suspended customary transaction charges all through the marketing campaign interval.
The integration makes use of Mercuryo’s fiat-to-crypto system which permits customers to alternate a number of currencies by way of completely different fee strategies. Mercuryo already offers on-ramp providers for main Web3 gamers together with Ledger, MetaMask, and Trust Wallet, positioning it as a key middleman between conventional fee techniques and blockchain networks.
Bybit makes use of this initiative to assist its aim of making smoother fiat onboarding processes by way of its efforts to spice up digital asset accessibility in fast-growing markets. Fee-free promotions tied to stablecoin purchases additionally align with rising demand for dollar-denominated digital belongings, which more and more function entry factors for buying and selling, funds, and decentralized finance participation.
BitGo and InvestiFi Bring Embedded Crypto Trading to Community Banks and Credit Unions
The partnership between BitGo and InvestiFi permits neighborhood banks and credit score unions to supply crypto buying and selling providers by way of their current banking operations which permits prospects to entry digital belongings. The partnership unites InvestiFi’s digital funding platform with BitGo’s CaaS system which incorporates custody and buying and selling and settlement features.
Through the combination, prospects at taking part monetary establishments will be capable of purchase and promote cryptocurrencies instantly from their current deposit accounts, which removes the requirement to maneuver cash to outdoors exchanges. Smaller establishments can present crypto providers by way of BitGo’s regulated custody system which incorporates backend infrastructure as a result of they don’t must deal with technical and operational challenges themselves.
Financial establishments that present conventional providers more and more incorporate digital asset features into their techniques to maintain prospects engaged and to compete with cryptocurrency firms. Community banks particularly imagine that embedded investing instruments will assist them safe youthful prospects who use digital platforms whereas stopping prospects from shifting deposits to unbiased cryptocurrency platforms.
For BitGo, the transfer expands its position as a core infrastructure supplier to regulated monetary establishments, leveraging its belief financial institution standing to bridge compliance necessities and crypto markets. The integration additionally alerts continued convergence between digital asset infrastructure and conventional retail banking, notably on the regional and neighborhood stage.
Uniswap and Securitize Bring BlackRock’s $2.4B BUIDL Fund to UniswapX
Uniswap has partnered with Securitize Markets to combine BlackRock’s $2.4 billion USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) into UniswapX, enabling onchain buying and selling of tokenized fund shares by way of the protocol’s RFQ framework. The transfer expands entry to one of many largest tokenized cash market funds and marks a big step in bringing conventional asset administration merchandise into decentralized buying and selling environments.
Through the combination, eligible, whitelisted buyers can commerce BUIDL shares 24/7 on UniswapX, mixing conventional fund constructions with decentralized liquidity rails. Securitize, which serves because the tokenization and switch agent platform for BUIDL, facilitates compliant entry whereas leveraging Uniswap’s execution infrastructure to enhance liquidity and settlement effectivity.
The announcement triggered a pointy market response, with UNI rising roughly 30% inside 24 hours following the information. The partnership arrives amid accelerating development in tokenized real-world belongings, an space BlackRock has actively expanded throughout a number of blockchains, together with Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and others.
By bringing BUIDL onchain inside a decentralized buying and selling venue, the collaboration alerts rising convergence between asset managers and DeFi infrastructure. It additionally reinforces Ethereum’s dominant position in tokenization, as institutional funds more and more undertake blockchain-based rails for issuance, switch, and secondary market exercise.
Danal Fintech and Sahara AI Partner to Build AI-Powered Stablecoins and Payment Infrastructure
Danal Fintech has established a strategic partnership with Sahara AI by way of their memorandum of understanding. The two organizations will create superior digital finance options which mix fee techniques with stablecoins and self-operating synthetic intelligence applied sciences. The partnership unites Danal’s approved fee system with Sahara’s decentralized synthetic intelligence platform and blockchain infrastructure.
The partnership will develop AI applied sciences to be used in monetary operations by way of three predominant features: clever fee techniques, AI-controlled stablecoin operations, and self-sustaining monetary options. The firms intention to create techniques which use AI applied sciences for fee processing to deal with automated transactions, present steady threat evaluation, and ship monetary providers which perform independently of human management.
Danal offers its approved fee infrastructure along with its monetary gateway options and its nationwide community of taking part companies. Sahara AI provides its decentralized synthetic intelligence techniques along with its forecasting instruments and its blockchain-based information safety mechanisms. The integration permits organizations to develop monetary merchandise which meet their rules whereas sustaining operational capability in each conventional and decentralized monetary frameworks.
The initiative displays broader business traits towards programmable cash and AI-native monetary infrastructure, as fintech corporations discover how synthetic intelligence can improve funds, fraud detection, and asset administration. The partnership permits each firms to create clever automated monetary providers by way of their mixed regulated fintech infrastructure and decentralized synthetic intelligence techniques.
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