February 2026 saw heightened federal and state enforcement across a broad range of cryptocurrency fraud schemes, with regulators imposing substantial prison terms and restitution orders. Federal authorities sentenced a Chinese national to nearly four years in prison for laundering $36.9 million from victims of Cambodia‑based investment scams, while a dual national of China and St. Kitts and Nevis received a 20‑year sentence in absentia for orchestrating a $73 million conspiracy that funneled victim funds through controlled financial accounts and converted them into virtual currency. Other high‑profile cases included an eight‑year sentence for the CEO of SafeMoon for defrauding decentralized finance investors and a 20‑year sentence imposed on the head of Praetorian Group International for operating a $200 million Bitcoin Ponzi scheme affecting more than 90,000 investors worldwide. At the state level, Massachusetts sued a Bitcoin kiosk operator for facilitating scams and refusing refunds, while the Texas State Securities Board halted unregistered crypto‑mining investment offerings. Taken together, these actions underscore the breadth of enforcement tools regulators are deploying to combat fraud in the evolving digital asset ecosystem.

Against this backdrop, digital asset policy remained a focal point in Washington. In a March 3 Truth Social post, President Donald Trump urged Congress to advance digital assets market structure legislation, sharply criticizing banks for what he described as efforts to “threaten and undermine” the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act—the bipartisan stablecoin framework he signed into law last year. Pointing to record bank profits, Trump warned financial institutions not to “undercut the GENIUS Act or hold the CLARITY Act hostage.”

The post appears to have followed President Trump’s meeting earlier that day with Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong and echoed language Armstrong frequently uses, including the assertion that “Americans should earn more money on their money.” The exchange highlights the ongoing tension between traditional banks and the crypto industry, particularly over stablecoin yield payments. Banks have cautioned that interest‑bearing stablecoins could draw deposits away from the traditional banking system and constrain lending, while crypto advocates argue that limiting stablecoin rewards effectively shields banks from competition.