When Crypto Becomes Corporate, Institutional and Unavoidable

Deals that opened February 2026

TIAN RUIXIANG: Bitcoin Moves From Exposure to Foundation

TIAN RUIXIANG company announced a $1.5B strategic transaction that would see it acquire 15,000 BTC from a global digital asset investor in exchange for a significant equity stake, instantly turning Bitcoin into a core corporate asset rather than a side exposure. Framed as both capital and partnership, the deal positions TIRX at the intersection of AI and crypto infrastructure, using a large, liquid BTC reserve to underpin a broader push into AI-driven trading systems, blockchain infrastructure, and next-generation digital finance products.

Jiuzi Holdings: The Rise of the Managed Crypto Treasury

Jiuzi Holdings is joining the growing number of public companies formalizing crypto as treasury strategy. The Nasdaq-listed firm announced roughly $40M in crypto-denominated investment from a group of blockchain-focused institutions, priced at no less than $1.50 per share. More than a balance-sheet boost, the deal anchors Jiuzi’s Digital Asset Treasury framework: a structured approach to holding, managing, and deploying on-chain assets with explicit risk controls, liquidity management and governance. The partners bring more than capital: they add trading infrastructure, DeFi expertise, and global market access showing that crypto treasuries are evolving from opportunistic exposure into managed financial systems designed to endure market cycles.

BlackRock: Peak Fear, Expressed in Regulated Form

BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF, IBIT traded more than 284 million shares in a single session: over $10B in notional value, shattering its prior volume record as the fund dropped 13% to below $35, its lowest level since October 2024 and down 27% year-to-date. Redemptions hit $175M in one day, roughly 40% of total ETF outflows, while options markets tilted sharply toward downside protection, with long-dated puts pricing more than 25 volatility points over calls. Record volume, heavy redemptions and defensive positioning all at once point to institutional capitulation: forced or voluntary exits through the most liquid, regulated on-ramp to bitcoin, marking what looks less like routine volatility and more like the peak selling phase of the current drawdown.

TRM Labs: Funding the Defense Layer of On-Chain Finance

TRM Labs closed a $70M Series C at a $1B valuation, led by Blockchain Capital and backed by a dense syndicate spanning Goldman Sachs, Citi Ventures, Bessemer, DRW, Galaxy, and Brevan Howard Digital. The raise follows more than 150% average annual revenue growth over five years and reflects where real institutional spend is flowing: not toward speculative protocols, but toward AI-driven control layers that help governments, banks and platforms operate safely as more economic activity moves on-chain. With customers ranging from national security agencies in 50+ countries to Coinbase, PayPal, Visa, and Stripe, TRM is positioning itself as the default defense layer against ransomware, sanctions evasion, and automated financial crime. Exactly such a kind of high-consequence software that gets funded when crypto infrastructure becomes too large to fail.

Bitcoin is migrating onto corporate balance sheets not as a trade, but as strategic capital. Public companies are formalizing treasury frameworks instead of improvising exposure. Institutions are stress-testing their positions through regulated vehicles, even if it means capitulating at scale. And venture capital is concentrating around control, compliance, and security rather than growth-at-all-costs experimentation. Crypto is being absorbed into finance the same way every durable system is: through balance sheets, governance, infrastructure, and eventually, accountability.