The Briefing Memo from The Venture Dept. — February 2026

February 2026: This month's Briefing Memo includes our new investment in Rhythmic, which embeds stablecoin infrastructure for businesses, and highlights portfolio founders taking center stage at ETHDenver — including Predicate, Stable Sea, and Multiliquid. Squidrouter became an XRP validator, and Valinor's founders joined our Founders Spotlight series for LPs and Advisors. On the regulatory front, SEC Chair Atkins and Commissioner Peirce outlined the Commission's ongoing digital assets agenda, from dropping SAB 121 to modernizing transfer agent rules and defining investment contracts in the crypto context. Industry developments included the CFTC asserting jurisdiction over prediction markets in a Ninth Circuit filing, Fidelity launching its own stablecoin, and growing analysis pointing to stablecoin rails as the payment layer for the emerging agentic economy.

Read the full memo here: https://theventuredept.beehiiv.com/p/february-2026-briefing-memo