Control, Custody and Cash Flow: The New Crypto Cycle

Key deals of February 09 - February 13, 2026

Cango: Insiders Double Down on Infrastructure Pivot

Cango closed a $10.5M Class B equity investment from Enduring Wealth Capital Limited (EWCL) and signed definitive agreements for an additional $65M in Class A commitments from entities controlled by Chairman Xin Jin and director Chang-Wei Chiu, priced at $1.32 and $1.50 per share respectively. Following the Class B close, EWCL now holds roughly 4.71% economic ownership but nearly 49.71% of voting power, while the pending Class A subscriptions would leave Chiu at about 11.99% ownership and Jin at 4.70%, subject to NYSE approval. 

Proceeds are earmarked for expansion into AI and computing infrastructure and for balance sheet reinforcement, underscoring a shift from cyclical mining exposure toward longer-duration digital infrastructure.

21Shares & BitGo: Custody and Staking Become Baseline Requirements

21Shares expanded its partnership with BitGo to provide regulated custody, execution, liquidity, and integrated staking infrastructure across its U.S. ETFs and European ETPs. The services will run through BitGo’s federally chartered OCC-approved trust bank in the U.S. and its MiCA-licensed entity, giving 21Shares regulatory coverage on both sides of the Atlantic. With more than $5.4B in assets across 59 products listed on 13 exchanges, 21Shares is effectively outsourcing a critical layer of custody and yield infrastructure to a provider built for compliance-heavy markets, signaling that staking and secure asset servicing are becoming standard features, not optional enhancements, in institutional crypto products. 

CFTC: Regulation Moves Inside the Build Process

The CFTC announced a 35-member Innovation Advisory Committee chaired by Chairman Michael S. Selig, bringing together executives from crypto platforms like Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini, traditional operators including CME Group and Nasdaq, clearing infrastructure such as DTCC, venture firms like a16z crypto and Paradigm, prediction markets, sports betting platforms, and blockchain builders including Uniswap Labs and Solana Labs. The committee will advise on AI, blockchain, and emerging market structure shifts as derivatives and commodities increasingly intersect with digital assets. Rather than regulating innovation from a distance, the Commission is embedding industry leadership directly into its framework development, showing that the next phase of U.S. market oversight will be shaped in coordination with the very institutions building the infrastructure.

ETHZilla: Turning Aircraft Engines Into On-Chain Yield

ETHZilla is pushing real-world asset tokenization into aviation. The company launched Eurus Aero Token I on Ethereum, representing fractional ownership in two Boeing 737-800 engines valued at $12.2M and currently leased to a major U.S. airline. Accredited investors can participate at $100 per token with a $1,000 minimum, receiving monthly lease income distributed automatically via smart contracts, with payments recorded on-chain. By turning aircraft engines into programmable yield instruments, ETHZilla is converting an illiquid, institution-dominated leasing market into a blockchain-native cash-flow product, where transparency, fractional access, and automated distribution replace the paperwork-heavy mechanics of traditional aviation finance. 

Crypto is being absorbed into financial and industrial systems not through price expansion, but through governance, infrastructure and cash-flow design. Capital is concentrating where durability lives: control layers, compliant rails, and assets that generate predictable yield. The market is engineering the base layer that narratives eventually sit on.