February 19, 2026
Your February Newsletter for All Things BitPay and Crypto
The Important Bits
Crypto is pushing deeper into the mainstream, from Wall Street’s growing ETF exposure to everyday merchants adding bitcoin at checkout, and Ethereum doubling down on privacy, self-custody, and tokenization rails. In this issue, we’ve also got a 5% boosted gift card offer, Best of BitPay voting, a spotlight on Stack Mobile, and a quick wallet tip on managing multiple wallets with confidence. Let’s dive in.
Industry News & Headlines
Industry News
Read news from across the blockchain industry:
Goldman Sachs Discloses $1.1B in Bitcoin ETF Holdings: Goldman reported roughly $2.36B in total crypto exposure, including $1.1B in BlackRock’s IBIT, signaling that bitcoin ETFs are becoming a more normalized institutional allocation even as BTC chops around $70,000. (Bitcoin Magazine, 2/10/26)
Las Vegas Businesses Add Bitcoin at Checkout: From restaurant chains to local shops, more Vegas-area merchants are taking Bitcoin via simple QR code payments, citing new customer demand and potential savings vs. 2.5–3.5% card fees, as broader “Bitcoin maps” and apps help drive discovery. (FOX5 Las Vegas, 1/22/26)
Steak n Shake Offers Hourly Workers a Bitcoin Bonus: The fast-food chain will pay $0.21 in BTC per hour worked starting March 1, with rewards vesting after two years, extending its broader bitcoin push that includes Lightning payments and a recent $10M BTC treasury buy. (CoinDesk, 1/21/26)
Vitalik Pledges a 2026 “Reset” for Ethereum Values: Buterin says Ethereum will prioritize self-sovereignty and trustlessness this year by improving privacy, making it easier to run nodes and use dapps, and upgrading wallet UX to reduce reliance on trusted servers and centralized infrastructure. (The Block, 1/16/26)
Stablecoin Yield Fight Splits U.S., While EU and Asia Draw Lines: As U.S. regulators and industry debate whether yield-bearing stablecoins should be treated like deposits, regions like the EU (MiCA), UAE, and Hong Kong are largely steering stablecoins toward payment-only rules by restricting interest, a split that could slow U.S. policy momentum like the CLARITY Act. (PYMNTS, 2/2/26)
BlackRock Calls Ethereum Wall Street’s Tokenization Backbone: The firm reportedly points to Ethereum’s dominant share of tokenized assets and growing institutional activity, including its tokenized Treasury fund BUIDL, reinforcing ETH as the default “rail” for tokenized funds, Treasuries, and on-chain settlement. (99Bitcoins, 1/22/26)
Robinhood’s Ethereum Layer-2 Hits Public Testnet: Robinhood opened “Robinhood Chain” to developers in a public testnet, positioning the network as infrastructure for tokenized assets and stock tokens, and a step toward always-on trading built on Ethereum scaling tech. (Decrypt, 2/10/26)
Market Movers
A quick snapshot of notable market activity, trends, and cryptocurrencies driving headlines.
→ Buy, swap, and sell top cryptos in the BitPay Wallet app
BitPay in the News
Limited-Time Offer: 5% Boost on Select Gift Cards
Now, through the end of February, get 5% more when you buy select gift cards with crypto in the BitPay app! Use your favorite coins to score extra value on brands including Bath and Body Works, Uber Eats, Fanatics, Stubhub, and One4all. Terms and conditions apply.
Offer ends February 28th - don’t miss out! Check the BitPay app each month for more boosted gift cards.
Best of BitPay 2025: Vote for Your Favorite BitPay Merchants
The Best of BitPay Awards are designed to recognize and celebrate the forward-thinking merchants who integrate crypto payments into their business operations.
Vote for your favorite BitPay merchants now through February 28th. Simply select the name of your favorite merchants that accept crypto payments via BitPay. Each person can vote once per day per category during the voting period.
Merchant Spotlight: Stack Mobile
Why not get crypto back for something you do already, right? Join Stack Mobile now and earn up to 15% crypto back each month! Stack Mobile offers fast 5G wireless plans starting at $17/month.
Stack Mobile Terms & Conditions:
This offer is brought to you by StackMobile.com.
Crypto Cashback terms and conditions apply - learn more at Stack Mobile.
1 line = 10% Crypto Cashback, 2 or more lines (including Smartwatch) = 15% Crypto Cashback for each invoice paid
See the link below for further terms and conditions.
Wallet Tips: How to Manage Multiple Crypto Wallets
Managing multiple crypto wallets is the easiest way to balance everyday convenience with long-term security across chains and use cases.
Split by purpose: Use a hot wallet for spending and swapping, and a cold or hardware wallet for long-term holds.
Simplify management: The BitPay Wallet lets you import and manage multiple self-custody wallets in one place.
→ Read the full guide: How to Manage Multiple Crypto Wallets to Build, Trade, Spend & Hodl.
Merchant Shoutouts
Highlighting merchants driving crypto adoption and exciting promotions.
Shop APMEX’s silver and gold popular categories, including pop culture collectibles. Shop now!
OneGold gives you direct ownership of vaulted gold, silver, and platinum at an ultra-low cost. Start your free account today.
Buy a domain name with Namecheap today!
Ready to start accepting crypto with your Shopify business? Get started today with the BitPay app!
Instantly deploy high-performance cloud servers, cloud GPUs, bare metal, and cloud storage worldwide with Vultr. New users receive $100 to test their platform.
Use BrandBucket to name your business.
Shop US stores and have your items reliably shipped back home with Qwintry
BitPay Travel
BitPay Travel is now open to all! In collaboration with Xeni, BitPay Travel allows crypto users to pay for flights, hotels, rental cars, and activities with their cryptocurrency. Book your travel at great prices and pay straight from your cryptocurrency wallet.
Developer Notes
Adding Java 25 Support
We are actively working on making adjustments to the Java SDK to add Java 25 support. We anticipate a release in the coming weeks and will retain backward compatibility to Java 8 as it is still widely in use.
Python SDK v8.0.0 and Dropping the ecdsa Library
While initially planning to release v8.0.0 of the SDK in early February with our retiring of Python 3.9, we wanted to take the time to add in one more important feature: dropping the ecdsa library. In some instances, the ecdsa library can be vulnerable to a timing attack, and since there are many different implementations of the SDK, we have decided to replace ecdsa with the cryptography library. Not to fear, the implementation remains the same and full backward compatibility has been retained. This version is ready to go and we are in the final testing phase.
Magento 2
The Magento 2 module currently uses v9.2.x of the SDK, and we are upgrading to v10.0.x. A new version of the module will be released in the coming weeks, and we are determining if it will be a minor or major version. There is no anticipated impact for merchants.
General releases
- Node.js SDK v8.0.1
Note: All information herein is for educational purposes only, and shouldn't be interpreted as legal, tax, financial, investment or other advice. BitPay does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information in this publication and we neither endorse, nor are we responsible for, the accuracy or reliability of any information submitted or published by third parties. Nothing contained herein shall constitute a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement or offer to invest, buy, or sell any coins, tokens or other crypto assets. BitPay is not liable for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies. For legal, tax, investment or financial guidance, a professional should be consulted.
