SEC signals regulatory clarity for payment stablecoins, allowing broker- 
dealers to apply a 2% net capital haircut and paving the way for broader 
tokenized securities activity under existing rules. SEC Clarifies Broker- 
Dealer Treatment of Payment Stablecoins Under Net Capital Rule The U.S. 
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Trading and Markets 
issued a new FAQ […]

SEC Issues 2% Stablecoin Capital Guidance, Softening Regulatory Pressure on Institutional Exposure

Bitcoin only needs a “marginal amount of new demand” to push higher, according 
to macroeconomist Lyn Alden, who is watching for a potential peak in AI stocks 
as a signal.

Bitcoin’s bull catalyst could be AI stocks becoming ‘silly big’: Lyn Alden

t54.ai has launched an x402 “facilitator” on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), a payments 
relay that lets AI agents pay for API calls and digital services in-line with 
normal HTTP requests using XRP or RLUSD. The pitch is simple: turn pay-per- 
request into a native part of the web stack, no accounts, no API keys, and 
settlement that happens on-chain. AI Agents Can Now Pay Via XRP Ledger The 
release plugs XRPL into x402, an open payments standard built around the long- 
reserved HTTP status code 402 Payment Required. In an x402 flow, a client 
requests a resource, the server replies with a 402 and machine-readable 
payment requirements, and the client retries the request with proof of 
payment. Coinbase’s x402 documentation frames the goal as programmatic access 
“without accounts, sessions, or complex authentication,” so both humans and 
autonomous agents can pay for usage-based services directly over HTTP. Related 
Reading: The 200 Million XRP Exodus: Investors Swap Speculation For Private 
Custody On X, t54.ai described the facilitator as “now live on the XRPL,” 
adding that agents can pay with “XRP and RLUSD &#8211; no API keys, no accounts, no 
friction.” Another post positioned x402 as “the open standard for machine- 
native payments,” where the server responds with HTTP 402 “Payment Required” 
and the agent pays immediately, with the facilitator handling verification and 
settlement on-chain. Popular XRP community account BankXRP wrote via X: “t54ai 
just launched the x402 facilitator AI agents can now pay for API calls and 
services with frictionless $XRP or $RLUSD micropayments using the HTTP 402 
standard. No API keys. No accounts. Instant, sub-cent fees. Real machine-to- 
machine economy on the fastest, most scalable ledger in crypto.” t54’s XRPL 
deployment is designed to be “plug and play,” emphasizing no custody and no 
API keys. The public documentation for the XRPL x402 facilitator says it 
processes x402 payments on XRPL using payer-signed presigned Payment 
transaction blobs, and supports XRP plus IOU tokens including RLUSD (and 
USDC). Resource servers verify and settle by calling standard facilitator 
endpoints like /verify and /settle, mirroring the core x402 architecture where 
the facilitator is the chain-aware component that validates payment payloads 
and executes settlement. Related Reading: This Korean XRP Exchange Data Has 
The Community Losing It t54.ai also claims the system is already “in 
production” with BlockRunAI, a unified gateway that provides agents access to 
“30+ models (GPT, Claude, Grok, etc.).” In that integration, agents pay per 
request via x402, and the resulting payment volume “is now settling on XRPL,” 
effectively turning model inference and tool calls into metered on-chain 
commerce. Why This Is Bullish For XRP The “bullish” framing here isn’t about a 
single partnership logo, it’s about inserting XRPL into a broader emerging 
standard for agent-native commerce. x402 is explicitly designed to be network- 
agnostic, but in practice, standards only become real once developers can ship 
them with minimal ceremony. A working facilitator on XRPL means one more 
credible rail for high-frequency, low-value payments where the unit economics 
break traditional billing. It also cleanly links XRPL’s identity—fast 
settlement and low fees—to a use case that’s structurally growing: autonomous 
software paying other software. x402’s ecosystem pages and docs emphasize pay- 
per-use pricing and minimal integration overhead; that aligns with agent 
workflows where “thousands of API calls” and tool invocations need granular 
billing rather than subscriptions. None of this guarantees meaningful volume. 
But it does make the path to volume legible: more x402-enabled endpoints, more 
agent clients, and more facilitators that can clear payments cheaply and 
predictably. At press time, XRP traded at $1.4126. sd Featured image created 
with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

XRP Ledger Gets x402 Facilitator For AI Agent Payments: Why This Is Bullish

U.S. banking rules on bitcoin face mounting scrutiny as Strategy CEO Phong Le 
urges regulators to revisit Basel capital standards, warning current risk 
weights could hinder America’s ambitions to lead the global digital asset 
market. Strategy CEO Warns 1,250% Bitcoin Treatment by Basel Could Undermine 
America’s Crypto Ambitions Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) CEO Phong Le shared […]

Strategy CEO Calls for Rethink of Basel’s 1,250% Bitcoin Risk Capital Treatment

Reports say a popular risk metric has fallen into territory that, in the past, 
lined up with major buying opportunities for Bitcoin. Related Reading: Bitcoin 
Market Bleeds $1 Trillion, Saylor Signals Strongest Crypto Conviction Yet The 
short-term Sharpe Ratio has plunged to about -38.38, a level that markets 
rarely see. Traders who follow on-chain and statistical signals point out that 
similar extremes showed up around the lows of 2015, 2019, and late 2022 — 
moments that later saw sizable recoveries, CryptoQuant verified author Moreno 
said. Sharpe Ratio Hits Unusual Low The Sharpe Ratio measures returns against 
volatility. When it drops far below zero over short stretches, it means 
investors have been taking heavy losses relative to how wildly the market is 
moving. A -38.38 reading is extreme. Reports note this kind of reading has 
happened only four times in Bitcoin’s history, and each time followed a 
stretch of high stress and weak sentiment. That pattern suggests selling can 
exhaust itself even when the charts look bleak. Bitcoin’s Short-Term Sharpe 
Ratio Hit a Level Historically Reserved For Generational Buying Zones “The 
arrows in the chart illustrate this clearly: each prior extreme negative 
reading was followed by violent recoveries to new highs.” – By @MorenoDV_ 
pic.twitter.com/nxFBUgHxi9 — CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) February 19, 
2026 Historical Lows And Recoveries Past cycles give one way to read the 
signal. Around $287 in 2015, and near $4,100 in early 2019, and again around 
$15,000 in late 2022, risk measures and mood were at their worst before money 
flowed back in. Based on reports from on-chain analysts, those moments shared 
common traits: many traders had capitulated, volume was thin, and volatility 
spiked. Yet those conditions later coincided with multi-month rallies that 
erased large parts of the prior losses. Bitcoin Price Action Bitcoin’s price 
has been sensitive to headlines lately. It slid under psychological levels as 
risk assets weakened, and trading has been muted. Markets reacted to 
diplomatic rows and conflict-related stories, causing bigger moves in thin 
markets. Sometimes BTC held up and brushed off sharp risk-off flows. Other 
times it fell further, especially when liquidity dried up. That stop-and-start 
behavior has left short-term traders cautious, while longer-term holders watch 
for signs that selling momentum is fading. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Record 
Red Month May Be Setting Up A Reversal: Analysts Clear Coast Ahead? Based on 
reports and the data, this signal is not a magic ticket. External forces — 
such as tightening liquidity or a macro shock — can keep downward pressure 
longer than statistical patterns alone would predict. The recent 50% fall from 
an all-time high near $126,200 in October 2025 to about $65,700 shows much of 
the move is already behind us, but it does not rule out more pain. Risk 
management matters. Position sizing and clear entry plans will help anyone who 
decides to act around these levels. Featured image from Anne Connelly &#8211; 
Medium, chart from TradingView

Cryptocurrency price in MXN