Gate Institute: ZachXBT Reveals Insider Trading Preview | Ethereum Foundation Researcher Releases Roadmap Draft

Summary

• Bitcoin price has retaken the $65,000 level, with the bullish-to-bearish ratio rising to its highest in nearly four weeks. Ethereum stabilized and rebounded from the support zone of $1,734–$1,800, and has again surpassed the $2,000 mark.
• Driven by expectations of Gate exchange listing, CRYPTOBURG surged 253.78% in 24 hours; MBX spot trading volume skyrocketed over 1,125%, up 36.44% in 24 hours.
• Nvidia Q4 revenue increased by 73%, with Jensen Huang raising the revenue forecast by 500 billion yuan; short positions surged, and Bitcoin exchange funding rates turned negative again in February.
• ZachXBT’s on-chain investigation bomb reveals insider trading scandals involving crypto giants; Ethereum Foundation researchers released a roadmap draft, indicating seven upcoming forks.
• In the past week, eight crypto-related projects announced funding or mergers, covering trading terminals, AI, stablecoin payments, and more.
• SUI, JUP, and GRASS will unlock approximately $41.99 million, $40.61 million, and $11.4 million worth of tokens respectively over the next 7 days.

Market Analysis

Market Commentary

• BTC — After Trump’s speech, Bitcoin price reclaimed the $65,000 level, with the bullish-to-bearish ratio reaching a four-week high. The recent rally coincides with a stock market rebound. However, the rally lacks strong continuation momentum. Historical experience shows that rapid FOMO-driven surges often mark local peaks. Currently, market optimism is sharply rising, overlapping with significant technical resistance in the $66,000–$68,500 range, which could trigger a new wave of selling pressure. On the 4-hour chart, Bitcoin has broken below the price compression structure built since February, with downside momentum clearly released, confirming that bears still dominate. Without a decisive breakout, short-term prices are likely to oscillate between $60,000 and $70,000.
• ETH — From the daily chart, Ethereum stabilized and rebounded from the support zone of $1,734–$1,800, and again crossed above $2,000. However, the overall trend remains within a downtrend channel, with multiple rejections at resistance levels, indicating no substantial trend reversal yet. This phase appears to be a consolidation with balanced bullish and bearish forces. Resistance levels are at $2,050–$2,100, with a higher zone near the recent range top at around $2,149–$2,150. Downside risks remain. If the rebound momentum weakens and prices turn lower, a daily close below $1,800 could lead to a retest of the lower boundary around $1,750, with further decline toward $1,670–$1,700 support.
• Altcoins — Macro and market sentiment-driven risk appetite has rebounded, with funds flowing into altcoins after Bitcoin’s initial rise. The crypto fear index has risen to 16, maintaining an “extreme fear” sentiment.
• Stablecoins — The total market cap of stablecoins is currently $309.67 billion, up $1.795 billion (0.58%) over the past week.
• Gas Fees — Ethereum network gas fees mostly stayed below 1 Gwei over the past week, with a peak of 0.161 Gwei on February 25. As of February 26, the average gas fee for the day was 0.145 Gwei.

Hot Tokens

In the past 24 hours, the overall crypto market performed strongly, with risk appetite rebounding. The rally was mainly driven by market sentiment and trading activity rather than significant new capital inflows. Among mainstream assets, ETH (+6.00%) and SOL (+6.43%) led gains. Notably, CRYPTOBURG, POWER, and MBX performed well among altcoins, with detailed analysis below.

CRYPTOBURG Crypto Burger (+253.78%, Market Cap $375 million)

According to Gate data, CRYPTOBURG is currently priced at $17.689, up over 253.78% in 24 hours. Crypto Burger is a rare “cultural phenomenon + infrastructure” project within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Originating from the real-world event of “buying a burger with Bitcoin,” it has evolved from Odin.fun’s top-ranked meme coin Runes into a Bitcoin-based smart execution and payment layer. Its core innovation is the “state-anchored + external execution” architecture, enabling BTC and Runes assets to perform automated cross-chain payments and settlements without compromising Bitcoin’s security model.

The surge in CRYPTOBURG is mainly driven by expectations of exchange listing, with Gate launching spot trading, significantly boosting liquidity and market attention. The concurrent HODLer Airdrop incentivizes holdings and short-term demand, encouraging early capital deployment. The combination of listing and airdrops has amplified trading activity and market sentiment.

MBX Marblex (+36.44%, Market Cap $16.94 million)

According to Gate data, MBX is currently priced at $0.06291, up over 36.44% in 24 hours. Marblex (MBX) is a blockchain-based gaming service company aiming to bring AAA-quality blockchain games to market. It offers crypto wallets, decentralized exchanges, token staking, and NFT marketplaces, providing users with a top-tier blockchain gaming ecosystem.

Recently, MBX spot trading volume surged over 1,125%, reaching $5.19 million, indicating strong speculative buying pressure. Social data shows MBX repeatedly topped the gainers list on certain exchanges. Since the price increase is mainly driven by trading momentum and capital flows rather than fundamentals, a volume decline could lead to a rapid reversal.

POWER Power Protocol (+32.92%, Market Cap $187 million)

According to Gate data, PIPPIN is currently priced at $0.898, up 32.92% in 24 hours. Power Protocol is an incentive layer that converts user actions and application revenues into on-chain rewards, connecting mainstream apps to Web3. It transforms user engagement into real economic value, providing first meaningful on-chain experiences for millions of Web2 users through gaming, consumer apps, and creator platforms.

The recent rise coincides with speculative discussions on social media, including a tweet asking if Ronin will “flip $Power” in the first week of March. Another tweet lists POWER among tokens expected to enter a “altcoin season.” These unverified discussions likely triggered FOMO.

Key Data Highlights

Nvidia Q4 Revenue Up 73%, Huang Renxun Raises 500 Billion Yuan Revenue Forecast

On February 26, Nvidia announced its financial results for Q4 FY2026 ending January 31, 2026. Revenue grew 73% YoY to $68.127 billion, surpassing the previous quarter’s 62% growth and exceeding Nvidia’s guidance of $65 billion. The core data center business, accounting for over 90% of revenue, hit a new quarterly high, exceeding analyst expectations by over 3%. For the full fiscal year, Nvidia’s revenue reached a record $215.938 billion, up 65% YoY. Q4 profits were also strong, with non-GAAP EPS up over 80% YoY, beating estimates by about 5.9%, and gross margin rising to 75.2%, a 1.5-year high.

Encouraging investors further, Nvidia’s guidance for Q1 FY2027 also exceeded expectations. Revenue is expected to hit new highs, with the median guidance 7.1% above analyst estimates and 4% above bullish forecasts, with YoY growth accelerating to nearly 77%. This robust report underscores that high-end computing power remains a scarce strategic resource, supporting the integration of blockchain and AI projects.

Short Positions Surge, Bitcoin Funding Rates Turn Negative Again in February

Following recent sell-offs, funding rates on exchanges have turned negative, reflecting increased short positions and cautious market sentiment. During the price plunge, soaring negative funding rates indicated heavy shorting near the $60,000 level. Historically, if prices stabilize and rebound, persistent negative funding could trigger short squeezes. According to Coinglass, on February 25, total liquidations reached $698 million, with $588.6 million from shorts. Notably, this was the first time in over a month that short liquidations exceeded longs since January 13.

Current funding conditions are only mildly negative, not extreme, suggesting that while bearish sentiment has intensified, the market has not yet collapsed. Prices are hovering near support, and funding remains below neutral, indicating fragile equilibrium. If Bitcoin stays above $60,000, elevated short positions could push prices higher. Conversely, further downward pressure might deepen negative funding, reinforcing bearish trends.

High-Frequency Quant Giant Jane Street Accused of Insider Trading

Recently, a current employee at Jane Street was accused of using non-public information obtained from a former internship to execute trades, allegedly helping the firm avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. This has triggered market reactions, causing sharp declines in certain assets. Jane Street faces significant legal pressure. The complaint alleges that Jane Street used private communication channels with Terra insiders to learn about the liquidity withdrawal plan for TerraUSD (UST), and before the information was public, withdrew $85 million UST from Curve’s 3pool. This was the largest withdrawal in the pool’s history, allegedly accelerating stablecoin de-pegging and ecosystem collapse.

The core of the lawsuit is not about algorithmic prediction of market moves but about obtaining and trading on inside information, akin to insider trading rather than high-frequency arbitrage. This case could reshape legal interpretations around access to non-public or “private” information in trading, setting a stricter precedent if courts find insider trading.

This Week’s Focus

ZachXBT On-Chain Investigation Bomb, Insider Trading Exposure in Crypto Industry

Renowned on-chain investigator ZachXBT announced a major investigation report scheduled for February 26, targeting a highly profitable crypto company, accusing multiple employees of long-term insider trading. The teaser immediately sparked a flurry of activity in Crypto Twitter, with a prediction market on Polymarket surging to tens of millions of dollars in volume, focusing on high-profile Solana projects like Meteora and Axiom. Token prices fluctuated sharply amid FUD and speculation.

ZachXBT later admitted that due to the need to interview multiple parties, information “inevitably leaked,” and he was surprised by the viral response to the teaser. The report’s release today (February 26) has heightened industry discussions on insider trading, transparency, and regulation, marking one of the most explosive mysteries of the week.

Ethereum Foundation Researcher Releases Roadmap Draft, Seven Forks Planned

Ethereum researcher Justin Drake released a draft called Strawmap outlining the future upgrade path for Ethereum mainnet over the next few years. The roadmap is not an official forecast but a coordination tool for acceleration, detailing seven forks roughly every six months until the end of 2029, with codenames inspired by celestial themes, such as Glamsterdam and Hegotá, with placeholders like I* and *J.

Strawmap emphasizes five core goals: faster L1 with seconds-level finality, a “gigagas” L1 achieving 1 GigaGas/sec (~10k TPS) via zkEVM and real-time proofs, ultra-high throughput L2 with 1 GB/sec (~10M TPS) using data availability sampling, quantum-resistant cryptography, and native privacy features supporting shielded ETH transfers.

Circle, the Second Largest Stablecoin Issuer, Reports Stronger-than-Expected Results

Circle, issuer of the second-largest stablecoin USDC, announced Q4 FY2025 and full-year results, exceeding expectations and boosting its stock CRCL. Key highlights include: USDC circulation reaching $75.3 billion by the end of 2025, up 72% YoY, increasing market share among fiat-stablecoins; Q4 on-chain trading volume soared to $11.9 trillion, up 247%, reflecting explosive demand from institutions, enterprises, and on-chain payments. Q4 revenue and reserve income totaled $770 million, up 77%; net profit was $133 million.

Circle emphasizes USDC as foundational infrastructure for internet-native finance, advancing Circle Payments Network and Arc testnet, aiming to build a frictionless cross-border payment and AI economy operating system.

Funding Weekly

According to RootData, from February 20 to February 26, 2026, eight crypto projects announced funding or mergers across sectors including trading terminals, AI, stablecoin payments, and more. Brief summaries of top-funded projects:

Rhythmic

Announced on February 20, a seed round of $4 million led by Dragonfly.

Rhythmic is an embedded financial infrastructure platform helping consumer brands and internet companies seamlessly integrate financial services such as account balances, payments, co-branded Visa cards, and rewards into their products.

Based

Announced on February 23, a Series A of $11.5 million led by Pantera Capital.

Based is a multi-channel crypto trading and consumer platform built on high-performance infrastructure like Hyperliquid, enabling seamless spot and perpetual trading. It integrates DeFi trading, infrastructure support, and crypto payments into a unified interface, offering aggregated liquidity, deep execution, and mobile-friendly experience.

finrob

Announced on February 25, a seed round of $390,000 led by Maven 11.

Finrob is an AI-native research platform for finance and crypto markets, providing real-time on-chain analysis, market intelligence, and in-depth reports via a conversational interface, powered by cutting-edge models like Claude, GPT-5.2, and Gemini 3.1.

Next Week’s Focus

Token Unlocks

According to Tokenomist, over the next 7 days (2026.2.27–2026.3.4), several major tokens will unlock significant amounts. The top three are:

• SUI — approximately $41.99 million worth of tokens (~1.1% of total supply).
• JUP — approximately $40.61 million (~7.8%).
• GRASS — approximately $11.4 million (~11.7%).

**Sources** - Gate, [https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT](https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT) - Farside Investors, [https://farside.co.uk/btc/](https://farside.co.uk/btc/) - Gate, [https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT](https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT) - Gate, [https://www.gate.com/crypto-market-data](https://www.gate.com/crypto-market-data) - DeFiLlama, [https://defillama.com/stablecoins](https://defillama.com/stablecoins) - Etherscan, [https://etherscan.io/gastracker](https://etherscan.io/gastracker) - Coingecoko, [https://www.coingecko.com/en/cryptocurrency-heatmap](https://www.coingecko.com/en/cryptocurrency-heatmap) - RootData, [https://www.rootdata.com/Fundraising](https://www.rootdata.com/Fundraising) - Tokenomist, [https://tokenomist.ai/](https://tokenomist.ai/) - EF protocol, [https://strawmap.org/](https://strawmap.org/) - Circle, [https://s206.q4cdn.com/265218871/files/doc_earnings/2025/q4/earnings-result/4Q25-Earnings-Release.pdf](https://s206.q4cdn.com/265218871/files/doc_earnings/2025/q4/earnings-result/4Q25-Earnings-Release.pdf) - Wallstreet, [https://wallstreetcn.com/articles/3766200#from=ios?ivk=1](https://wallstreetcn.com/articles/3766200#from=ios?ivk=1) - CoinDesk, [https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/02/24/jane-street-faces-claims-of-insider-trading-that-sped-up-terraform-s-2022-collapse-ft](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/02/24/jane-street-faces-claims-of-insider-trading-that-sped-up-terraform-s-2022-collapse-ft) - CryptoQuant, [https://cryptoquant.com/insights/quicktake](https://cryptoquant.com/insights/quicktake)
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