February’s First Week Partnerships: Visa, NEAR, And ING Drive Institutional Crypto Adoption

Crypto partnerships accelerated in early February, as major institutions, banks, and blockchain platforms expanded infrastructure, payments, analytics, and investment access. From CME’s token initiative and Visa’s Web3 expansion to Bitpanda’s UK rollout and NEAR’s analytics push, these alliances highlight how traditional finance and crypto-native firms are converging to build scalable digital asset ecosystems.

NEAR Integrates Nansen Analytics to Deliver Institutional-Grade On-Chain Intelligence

NEAR Protocol has partnered with blockchain analytics firm Nansen to enhance transparency and unlock deeper insights across its ecosystem, addressing what many in the industry describe as a blockchain “black box” problem. While blockchain data is public, extracting meaningful intelligence has remained difficult without specialized analytics tools.

Through the integration, Nansen will index NEAR’s sharded architecture, enabling real-time monitoring of decentralized applications, wallet activity, and overall network performance. This gives developers, investors, and ecosystem participants clearer visibility into user behavior, capital flows, and application adoption. Instead of relying solely on raw transaction histories, users can now identify “meaningful signals” such as smart money movements and institutional participation.

For developers, the analytics provide actionable intelligence on user engagement, retention, and token usage, helping refine product strategies and strengthen tokenomics models. The ability to distinguish organic growth from automated activity also supports healthier ecosystem development.

Investors benefit from enhanced due diligence capabilities, including tracking how assets move across the network and evaluating project traction with greater confidence. By combining NEAR’s infrastructure with Nansen’s extensive database of labeled wallets, the partnership strengthens data accessibility and positions NEAR alongside leading networks prioritizing advanced analytics to support long-term ecosystem growth.

ING Germany Expands Crypto Investment Access With Bitwise and VanEck Listings

The new partnership between ING Germany and asset managers Bitwise and VanEck allows retail customers to access digital asset investments through crypto exchange-traded products that track major cryptocurrencies including Polygon. The new partnership expands ING’s cryptocurrency product range which already includes financial products from BlackRock iShares and WisdomTree and 21Shares. 

Starting in February, ING customers will have the ability to trade Bitwise crypto ETPs which include the Bitwise Core Bitcoin ETP and Physical Ethereum ETP without facing execution fees for orders that exceed €1,000 or for orders made through savings plans. The platform charges a fixed commission for all smaller transactions. VanEck offers crypto ETNs which give investors access to a range of digital assets such as Polygon and Solana and Avalanche and Chainlink through regulated financial products that provide multiple entry points into the cryptocurrency market. 

The new Polygon products enable traditional investors to access Ethereum scaling infrastructure through standard banking methods which help to decrease the difficulties that come with owning cryptocurrency directly. The structured products enable investors to gain direct exposure to cryptocurrency assets while removing the requirements for asset safekeeping and operational management. 

The expansion demonstrates how institutional investors continue to embrace cryptocurrency despite the recent market turmoil. The digital asset investment expansion enables ING Germany to fulfill increasing client requirements for cryptocurrency investments that meet regulatory standards and can be accessed through conventional financial systems.

Gate Ventures Backs Mesh to Accelerate Unified Crypto Payments Infrastructure

Gate Ventures, which operates as the investment branch of Gate.com, has made a strategic investment in the crypto payments platform Mesh to support its mission to build systems that connect digital assets with established financial networks. The move reflects growing confidence that stablecoins and blockchain-based payments are evolving into essential financial rails.

Mesh is constructing a connectivity layer which will merge wallets and exchanges and payment processors and fiat settlement channels into one unified system. The platform enables businesses and developers to execute crypto and stablecoin transactions through its solution which eliminates the need for them to handle various systems from different providers and networks.

Gate Ventures views this model as critical to scaling crypto payments globally, emphasizing that adoption depends on making transactions as seamless and dependable as traditional finance while preserving blockchain’s flexibility. Mesh’s integration-first approach enables use cases ranging from consumer purchases and cross-border transfers to exchange funding and embedded fintech services.

Mesh functions as essential infrastructure which integrates into current financial processes instead of serving as an independent payments system. The system enables businesses to implement crypto capabilities while maintaining their existing user interface and compliance processes. 

Mesh establishes itself as a vital link between traditional payment methods and the developing on-chain economy through its partnerships with wallet providers, stablecoin issuers, and fintech companies which enable the future of digital commerce and programmable money.

CME Group Moves Toward Launching Proprietary Token to Support Tokenized Collateral Strategy

CME Group is preparing to deepen its involvement in digital assets with plans to introduce its own cryptocurrency, CME Coin, signaling a major step by one of the world’s largest derivatives exchanges into tokenized financial infrastructure. The initiative emerged during an earnings discussion, where leadership outlined a broader push into blockchain-based collateral and settlement systems.

CEO Terry Duffy suggested the company sees long-term value in tokens issued by trusted financial institutions, emphasizing a preference for solutions backed by systemically important entities. His remarks indicated CME is exploring blockchain tools that extend beyond tokenized cash, including a token capable of operating within a shared decentralized environment accessible to institutional participants.

The planned token aligns with CME’s ongoing collaboration with Google Cloud on tokenization initiatives, particularly around modernizing collateral management. CME Coin could serve as a key component in enabling faster, more efficient movement of value across financial markets.

CME plans to increase its crypto derivatives offerings through its upcoming launch of 24-hour futures trading. CME’s tokenization initiatives demonstrate how institutional investors increasingly adopt blockchain-based settlement systems to their daily trading activities which already exceed tens of millions of contracts.

By introducing CME Coin, the exchange is positioning itself at the forefront of integrating traditional financial liquidity with next-generation digital asset infrastructure.

Quantra and Crypto Burger Partner to Strengthen Execution Infrastructure for Bitcoin-Based Assets

Quantra has announced a strategic partnership with Crypto Burger aimed at improving execution infrastructure for Bitcoin-native assets, marking a step toward expanding Bitcoin’s role beyond passive store-of-value use cases. The collaboration focuses on supporting execution-ready digital assets built around Crypto Burger’s $BURGER token, which originated as part of a Bitcoin Runes-based initiative linking on-chain assets with real-world payments.

Crypto Burger’s transition from a cultural and memecoin-driven concept into a functional execution layer reflects a broader shift toward practical utility. The partnership is designed to help move Bitcoin-linked assets from symbolic representations into tools capable of facilitating programmable transactions and settlement.

Quantra, which specializes in tokenizing computing power and energy assets through blockchain and AI infrastructure, plans to develop systems that streamline verification, execution strategies, and financial representation. The infrastructure aims to decrease operational obstacles while enabling users to access Bitcoin-based assets for decentralized financial systems and actual physical transaction environments.

The partnership uses Quantra’s real-world asset and artificial intelligence capabilities together with Crypto Burger’s Bitcoin-based ecosystem to create new programmable financial uses for Bitcoin. The collaboration demonstrates increasing support for initiatives that aim to develop Bitcoin into an asset which can enable executing various financial operations instead of being used only for extended storage.

Bitpanda and Ribbon Partner to Deliver Scalable Crypto Investment Infrastructure in the UK

Bitpanda Technology Solutions has partnered with Ribbon Plc to launch a crypto investment offering tailored for the UK market because regulated financial institutions now require complete digital asset infrastructure solutions. The agreement enables Ribbon to integrate crypto services without building internal trading, custody, or execution systems which will help the company to enter the digital asset market more quickly. 

The collaboration between Bitpanda and its partner organization will create a complete technology solution that includes trading, custody, staking, swaps, and savings plans. The infrastructure enables Ribbon to access over 600 digital assets which allows the company to create a complete crypto investment platform that can handle growth while keeping dependable operational capabilities. Bitpanda described its role as delivering “secure end-to-end infrastructure covering trading custody and execution” which provides institutional-grade service standards. 

Bitpanda’s leadership described the partnership as a reflection of changing institutional needs because financial organizations now seek partners who can support their long-term product development needs through scalable and resilient operational systems. Financial organizations now consider crypto to be a fundamental part of their services because they deal with it as a standard business operation rather than a new technology to test. 

Ribbon’s leadership established the partnership to create a trusted platform that enables people to move between countries while accessing financial services. Ribbon will use Bitpanda’s infrastructure to grow its customer base while providing UK users with secure and compliant crypto investment services.

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