Ethereum is showing signs of a major breakout after flipping a corrective price channel. This shift suggests the start of an impulsive wave, signaling potential strong upside momentum. Traders should watch for confirmation above key levels as the path for the next leg up begins to take shape. Wave 3 In Motion: Preparing For A Strong Upside Move Charting an expected path for Ethereum on the 4-hour timeframe, Elliott Waves Academy has revealed a significant opportunity to ride a new bullish wave. The price appears to be preparing for a powerful upward surge following a successful breach of its corrective price channel. Related Reading: From Breakdown To Bottoming? Ethereum Tests Key High-Timeframe Support The technical structure indicates that Ethereum is likely forming Wave 3 of (3), with current projections showing the asset reaching a minimum 161.8% extension. However, the internal momentum suggests the potential for the move to extend further, signaling that a major impulsive rally is now officially underway. From a strategic standpoint, any temporary bearish corrections would be viewed as high-probability opportunities for long re-entries. These minor pullbacks serve to reset local indicators while the primary trend remains firmly higher. Traders are currently eyeing the $2,624.14 level as a primary target, with the possibility of a move toward the 261.8% extension if the positive momentum remains sustained. To validate and maintain this bullish scenario, it is critical to see a confirmed breakout and sustained trading above the previous price channel. Staying above this structural boundary will reinforce the upward outlook and provide the necessary support for the next leg of the rally. Ethereum Sweeps Range High: Buyers Step In According to Lennaert Snyder, Ethereum recently reached its all-time high and liquidity, setting the stage for a notable bounce after testing the extremes of its current range. This move reflects a strong recovery following aggressive price action and shows that buyers are actively defending key levels. Related Reading: Here’s Why Ethereum Slipped Below $2,000 – Details For traders looking at local setups, caution is advised. Given the recent massive displacement, it’s best to wait for clearer directional signals before entering positions, ensuring trades align with confirmed momentum rather than chasing volatility. That said, the liquidity captured during this sweep opens up opportunities for hedge strategies. For example, a short position on the opposite side could help mitigate risk while waiting for the market to stabilize. Specific levels, such as the 50% wick fill around $2,110, may present interesting shorting opportunities after a bearish MSB forms. Additionally, similar to Bitcoin, Ethereum left a significant Fair Value Gap (FVG) during the aggressive leg higher, with the 50% level of this gap near ~$1,970. Should the price retest this FVG, it could provide a favorable setup for long entries following a reversal, highlighting potential areas for strategic accumulation. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
Bitcoin is turning into multi-generational wealth, and a large share of holders still run it with a single point of failure. One accident, illness, or a stretch of incapacity can be the difference between inheriting generational wealth and losing everything. That's the inheritance crisis the market will have to face. A recent report from the […]
The post Bitcoin’s self custody culture created an inheritance time bomb, and 2026 may be when it starts detonating appeared first on CryptoSlate.
The number sounds almost too big to take seriously. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted a detailed technical roadmap on February 27 outlining how the network could handle up to 1,000 times its current transaction capacity — without pricing out the smaller node operators who keep the system decentralized. Related Reading: Bitcoin Sell-Off Slows Down, But The Road To Recovery Is Long — Analyst The document, which Buterin informally calls the “Strawmap,” breaks the work into three problem areas: execution, data, and state. Near-Term Upgrades Come First The closest item on the list is an upcoming protocol upgrade called “Glamsterdam.” According to reports, one of its key changes introduces block-level access lists — a technical adjustment that allows different parts of a block to be processed simultaneously rather than one after another. Reports also say the upgrade improves how efficiently each 12-second block slot is used, making it safer to pack more transactions into every block without destabilizing the network. Now, scaling. There are two buckets here: short-term and long-term. Short term scaling I’ve written about elsewhere. Basically: * Block level access lists (coming in Glamsterdam) allow blocks to be verified in parallel. * ePBS (coming in Glamsterdam) has many features, of… — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 27, 2026 Buterin acknowledged that these changes, combined with better client software, might be enough to reach a stable state on their own. If real usage stays low, he suggested the full 1,000x push could be shelved in favor of other priorities entirely. Zero-Knowledge Proofs Take Center Stage In Longer Plans The more ambitious part of the roadmap involves zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines, or ZK-EVMs. Rather than requiring every validator to re-run every transaction to confirm it is legitimate, ZK-EVMs allow validators to check cryptographic proofs instead — a far lighter task. According to reports, Buterin’s timeline calls for a small group of validators to begin using this method as early as 2026, with broader adoption potentially following in 2027. If that plays out, the network’s capacity ceiling could be raised significantly without forcing node operators to invest in more powerful hardware. Related Reading: Aave Crosses $1 Trillion In Loans — No Bank Required State Growth Gets Its Own Fix Reports say Buterin flagged state growth as a separate and underappreciated problem. Deploying a large smart contract adds data that every Ethereum node must store permanently — and that accumulated storage gradually raises the cost of running a node at all. His proposed fix tracks state creation gas independently, so it does not count against the regular transaction gas cap. Large contracts could still be deployed, but their pricing would reflect the real long-term storage cost. The 1,000x figure is a long-term ceiling, not a promise for next year. Each phase of the plan depends on the one before it working as intended. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
President Donald Trump has pulled the United States into military action against Iran, and the first consequence for crypto markets was another wave of selling rather than a rush into Bitcoin as a haven. According to CryptoSlate’s data, BTC price dumped around 7%, erasing some of its weeklong gains to trade as low as $63,000 […]
The post Bitcoin just dumped 7% after Trump hit Iran, and the real reason has nothing to do with crypto appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Bitcoin price struggles persist as the premier cryptocurrency is yet to break above the key $70,000 resistance zone, suggesting the market remains at risk of a deeper correction. Notably, popular market analyst Yonsei_dent has shared an observation that backs these bearish investors’ expectations. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETF Investors Show Diamond Hands: Only $6.5B In Outflows Since October 10 Bitcoin Supply In Profit Metric Shows Potential 75% Drawdown In a Quicktake post on CryptoQuant, Yonsei_dent has identified a potential price bottom of the present market cycle, considering the meltdown in recent months. Since October, the leading cryptocurrency has lost over 45% of its market value, with prices dropping as low as $60,000 from an all-time high of $126,000. Using the Supply In Profit on-chain indicator, Yonsei_dent maps out the possible extent of Bitcoin’s price decline when in the bottom zone, based on historical cycle drawdown periods. For context, the Supply in Profit measures the portion of the total circulating Bitcoin whose current market price is higher than the price at which those coins last moved. It’s an important cycle indicator, as the Supply in Profit approaches extreme highs when near cycle tops, and compresses sharply when near cycle lows. Yonsei_dent explains that the duration of Bitcoin Supply in Profit in the bottom zone in 2022 was six months. During this market cycle, Bitcoin had initially hit an all-time high of $69,000 before crashing by 77% to around $15,500. According to the market analyst, if the same length of the bottom phase was placed on the current price chart, it represents a 70%-75% drawdown price projection for the present market cycle. In this case, Bitcoin is expected to find a price low within a range of $31,500 – $38,000, suggesting a further potential 41%-51% decline from the current market prices. Related Reading: Ethereum’s Market Order Imbalance Hits Record Negatives: $1,850 Is Now The Line In The Sand Bitcoin Price Overview At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at $63,553 following a 5.84% loss in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, its daily trading volume is up by a minor 0.54% and valued at $40.04 billion. The premier cryptocurrency also reports a negative performance on its weekly and monthly charts, with respective losses of 6.21% and 27.11%. Unless the market bulls convincingly reclaim the long standing $70k resistance, market sentiment is likely to remain fragile and prices vulnerable to additional downside or prolonged consolidation in the near term. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview
The missiles started flying, and so did the sell orders. Within hours of the US and Israel launching coordinated strikes on Iran, Bitcoin had dropped as much as 3.8% to $63,038, Ethereum had fallen nearly 9%, and more than 152,000 traders had been liquidated across crypto markets. With traditional stock and bond markets closed for the weekend, digital assets absorbed the full force of the panic — alone. Related Reading: Bitcoin Sell-Off Slows Down, But The Road To Recovery Is Long — Analyst US And Israel Hit Iran’s Military And Nuclear Sites US President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday that the US had begun what he described as “major combat operations” against Iran, with strikes aimed at the country’s missile systems, naval assets, and nuclear infrastructure. Reports say Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz described the operation as a preemptive move, with both governments coordinating the assault. The scale and speed of the attack caught many off guard, and Iran’s response came quickly. The US is carrying out strikes on Iran, two US officials tell CNN. Follow live updates: https://t.co/pG6pfrPwlm pic.twitter.com/vPGeQ9ILHp — CNN (@CNN) February 28, 2026 According to reports, Iran launched waves of missiles and drones targeting not just Israel but American military installations across the Gulf region. A US base in Bahrain was reportedly struck. Qatar and the UAE said their defense systems intercepted projectiles flying over their territory. Explosions were heard in Dubai. Bahrain shut its airspace entirely. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency declared that all US bases and interests across the region would be considered legitimate targets. The conflict, by Saturday morning, had spread well beyond Iranian and Israeli borders. Crypto Markets Take The Hit Traditional Markets Cannot Yet Feel Stocks, bonds, and commodities markets were closed. Crypto was not. Bitcoin trades around the clock, every day of the week, which made it the only major financial market available to absorb the weekend’s fear. The selling was fast and broad. Reports say roughly $128 billion in total market value was wiped across digital assets in the hours following the strike confirmation. Related Reading: Crypto Mixing Is Back — And Criminals Adapted Faster Than The Rules Did Bitcoin fell from around $66,000 to as low as $63,038 before settling near $64,000. Ethereum dropped below $1,850. XRP slid 8% to trade near $1.29. Solana, Dogecoin, Cardano, and Chainlink each recorded losses of between 8% and 12%. According to CoinGlass data, Bitcoin futures liquidations reached approximately $192 million, with futures trading volume surging to around $68.27 billion — a sign that derivatives markets were amplifying the move rather than spot sellers driving it alone. Total liquidations across all crypto assets hit $515 million within 24 hours. The Fear and Greed Index, a widely watched measure of market sentiment, fell to 14 — deep inside extreme fear territory. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView
The US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs under IEEPA on Feb. 20, and markets immediately inherited a large cash flow question. The amount at stake was more than $175 billion in tariff collections that could be subject to refunds, with the Court offering no step-by-step plan for how refunds should be […]
The post Why Bitcoin traders have to price tariffs like surprise rate hikes while waiting on social media posts for the next $175B trigger appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Bitcoin’s higher-timeframe structure is in an interesting state, according to crypto analyst Crypto Patel, who is of the notion that the cryptocurrency has officially entered bearish territory after breaking a long-term support level at $107,000. Technical analysis of price action on the weekly candlestick price chart shows Bitcoin is now in this bearish territory, with a projection of a deeper correction to as low as $35,000 in 2026. The outlook is based on Fibonacci retracement levels that could determine Bitcoin’s next price move. Bearish Territory Kicked In After Breakdown Below $107,000 The outlook of this technical analysis is based on the premise that Bitcoin entered into bearish territory after the price broke down below a major higher-timeframe ascending trendline around $107,000. This trendline, which is visible on the weekly chart shared by Crypto Patel, acted as dynamic support throughout much of the 2023 to 2025 rally. It connected a series of higher lows and helped sustain the broader bullish structure that ended with Bitcoin reaching a peak price of $126,080. Related Reading: Is Bitcoin Done Or Is This Just The Beginning? Pundit Shares Points To Consider The chart shows the breakdown zone with a red circle, indicating where the price decisively lost that upward support. After the breach, Bitcoin entered into a changed momentum and began printing lower highs. According to Patel, that trendline was the line in the sand, and losing it was when Bitcoin officially entered bearish territory. The market now needs a healthy correction before the next leg up. Fibonacci Levels Point To $44,000 And $35,000 Bitcoin has been on a downward path since the beginning of the year, and the projection is that this will continue until it bottoms out around $35,000. This outlook is based on how much the Bitcoin price corrected in previous cycles. Related Reading: Are Institutions Killing Bitcoin And Ethereum? Here’s How They’ve Fared Since Companies Got Involved For instance, the 2018 bear market saw an approximately 84% decline from peak to trough. Similarly, the 2022 correction erased roughly 77% from its cycle high. In both instances, these deep retracements came before the next major rally. Based on that historical perspective, a move below $50,000 from the current price level would not be unprecedented. Instead, it would fit within Bitcoin’s established cycle behavior. The projected downside targets are derived from Fibonacci retracement levels drawn from the October 2025 all-time high. Two levels stand out clearly on the chart. The first level is the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement, which is currently around $44,000. The 0.5 Fibonacci retracement is a mid-cycle pullback level and has always attracted strong buying interest in previous corrections, making it a possible stabilization point if selling pressure slows down. Should Bitcoin fail to find support near $44,000, then the next level is the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement around $35,000. The expectation is that Bitcoin will eventually bottom at $35,000 even if it fails to hold above $44,000. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $63,740, down by 6% in the past 24 hours. Featured image from Pngtree, chart from Tradingview.com
Tokenized Gold Safe Haven 2026 isn’t just a catchy phrase infact it’s the plot twist in a brutal weekend for crypto especially. When news of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran broke on a Saturday, traditional markets were closed. Stocks? Shut. Bonds? Offline. Crypto? Wide awake and blinking red. And so it became the global …
As February comes to a close, it would be fair to say that the Bitcoin price has had one of its worst monthly performances in over two years. What’s worrisome is that the premier cryptocurrency doesn’t appear to be done, as the bear market roars on. Below are some of the relevant support levels to watch out for over the next few months. MVRV Bands Put BTC Bear Market Bottom At $51,558 In a recent post on the X platform, popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez identified two levels that could be crucial to the future of the Bitcoin price in the coming months. This evaluation revolves around the MVRV (Market Value to Realized Value) pricing bands. Related Reading: The Distribution Trap: Why Bitcoin’s Reserve Growth Proves Sellers Still Hold The Tape The MVRV pricing bands are an on-chain analytics tool that shows the different profitability levels of the investors of a cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, in this scenario). Typically, these pricing bands represent dynamic support and resistance levels, as they compare the current market price to the average realized value of all investors. Hence, the MVRV pricing bands can be useful in identifying potential market tops (in overheated conditions) and price bottoms (of undervalued assets). According to Glassnode data shared by Martinez, the potential bottom in the current Bitcoin bear market lies between $51,558 and $54,703. The purple line (which shows a -1 standard deviation of the MVRV ratio) represents a deep capitulation phase for the market and has always been a point of reversal for the Bitcoin price in past bear markets. As shown in the chart below, the price of BTC got rejected twice at this level in 2022, during the thick of the crypto winter. At the time of publishing his post, Martinez revealed that the purple MVRV band stood at around $51,558. While this suggests that the $51,000 level could be the potential bottom of the current bear market, it is worth mentioning that the MVRV band could shift slightly downward as the price steadily falls. In the unlikely scenario that the Bitcoin price witnesses a turnaround at its current price point, it would have to contend with a key resistance level around $73,726. According to Glassnode’s MVRV pricing bands, the -0.5 standard deviation line represents an accumulation zone, where investors might look to offload their tokens once they break even. Ultimately, these MVRV pricing bands hint at the potential turning points for the Bitcoin price over the coming months. Bitcoin Price At A Glance As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $65,800, reflecting an over 2% dip in the past 24 hours. Related Reading: Ethereum’s Market Order Imbalance Hits Record Negatives: $1,850 Is Now The Line In The Sand Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin fell 6.25% to $63,442 in 24 hours, hit by a wave of liquidations and growing risk aversion across markets. About $87.8 million in BTC positions were wiped out as funding rates turned negative, signaling heavy leveraged selling. Heavy liquidations, nearly $100 million in long positions, were triggered when prices slid, flushing out leveraged traders. …
Spot Bitcoin (BTC) Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) have shown strength amid the crypto market’s correction and the flagship crypto’s latest performance. Some experts have praised investors’ resilience, suggesting that the “real story” is not in the recent outflows. Related Reading: Ethereum’s Fate Hangs On This Multi-Year Support – Recovery Or Deeper Pullback Next? ETFs Investors Hold Strong Despite Market Downturn On Thursday, Nate Geraci, co-founder of the ETF Institute, affirmed that Bitcoin ETF investors have “largely displayed diamond hands” during the recent crypto market downturn. The flagship crypto has seen a 48.2% correction from its October 6, 2025, all-time high (ATH), recording five consecutive months of strong bleeding after the October 10 market crash. Since then, spot BTC ETFs have seen about $6.5 billion in outflows, the expert observed, which he considers a “drop in the bucket” compared to the $55 billion in cumulative total net inflows that the category has seen since launching in January 2024. It’s worth noting that crypto-based investment products have seen five weeks of outflows this year, with Bitcoin having the weakest sentiment among major assets amid the negative market sentiment of the past month. According to SoSoValue data, BTC funds have recorded $3.81 billion in net outflows since January 23, starting the week with $203.82 million in outflows on Monday. However, Geraci highlighted potential renewed demand for the investment products as the category sees a three-day streak of consistent inflows. Notably, Bitcoin ETFs have seen over $1 billion in inflows over the past three days, setting the stage for their potential biggest week since mid-January. The ETF expert emphasized that 50% drawdowns “are a walk in the park for long-time BTC investors,” but observed that newer ETF investors also appear unfazed by the current market conditions. “Not first time btc has experienced 50% decline & likely won’t be the last. ETF investors clearly aren’t panicking, though. Apparently buying the dip,” he wrote on X. Bitcoin ETFs Strength Is The ‘Real Story’ Bloomberg Intelligence Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas backed Geraci’s comment, praising the remarkable performance of spot Bitcoin ETFs over the past two years. “As an ETF watcher, you know just how absurd this strength amid a 50% drawdown,” Balchunas stated. “This is the real story, vs focusing on the $6b that came out, which most stories do.” “Further, the narrative that crypto is ‘paying the price’ for getting financialized is absurd. $55b in net new cash in two years is the opposite of paying the price,” he added on X. In a recent interview, the senior analyst observed that the amount of Bitcoin held by ETFs is only down around 6% despite the market pullback. He noted that these types of corrections happen to every asset, including bonds and stocks, before recovering. Stocks have the same thing. Every time stocks go down, I remind myself and then other people that stocks have a 100% perfect record of coming back to hit all-time highs from a downturn. So, why would I worry that much, right? Related Reading: XRP Rally Incoming? Analyst Forecasts March-April Recovery If This Level Breaks Balchunas affirmed that these assets can have “really horrible streaks, but then when they come back around, the flows come back.” He concluded that the price volatility and the negative market sentiment are “the cost of the holy grail returns that most people have gotten.” Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Bitcoin has reclaimed the $66,000 level and is now attempting to consolidate above it in order to extend its recovery. The move has improved short-term momentum, but structural signals suggest that upside conviction remains fragile. Holding above $66K is technically important, yet the broader supply backdrop may limit the sustainability of further gains. Related Reading: Engine Stalled: How The $8 Billion ‘October Shock’ Left Bitcoin’s Spot Market In A Liquidity Trap According to analyst Axel Adler, cumulative exchange netflows remain a critical constraint. As long as netflows stay positive — meaning more Bitcoin is moving onto exchanges than leaving them — the probability of sustained price expansion remains limited. Recent data from the Bitcoin Exchange Reserve (All Exchanges, Daily) metric reinforces this caution. Since January 14, total BTC held across major exchanges has increased from 2.723 million to 2.752 million BTC, representing a net addition of roughly 28,489 BTC, or about 1% over 45 days. Although the trajectory has not been linear — with a local peak near 2.794 million BTC in early February followed by a partial pullback — reserves have consistently re-established themselves near the upper bound of the range. This stepwise growth structure signals a persistent return of coins to exchanges. Historically, rising exchange balances imply expanding potential sell-side supply. Until reserves break decisively below January’s 2.723 million BTC baseline, structural selling pressure remains embedded in the market. Netflow Regime Shift Signals Structural Distribution The 30-day moving average of Bitcoin exchange netflows provides critical confirmation that the recent reserve growth is not incidental. The transition from -1,187 BTC on January 14 to +628 BTC by February 27 represents more than a short-term fluctuation — it reflects a structural regime shift from accumulation to distribution. When the SMA(30) netflow remains negative, it indicates coins are being withdrawn from exchanges faster than they are deposited, typically associated with accumulation behavior. The steady climb toward zero throughout January, followed by a decisive cross into positive territory on February 1, marks a clear behavioral pivot. The fact that the indicator has held above zero for nearly four consecutive weeks significantly reduces the probability of a false breakout. The mid-February impulse toward +1,069 BTC highlights the intensity of inflows during peak distribution pressure. Although the metric moderated afterward, it did not revert below zero, suggesting that coins continue to migrate toward exchanges at a sustained pace. At an average structural inflow rate of roughly 628 BTC per day, the supply available for potential sale is expanding. Until the SMA(30) decisively flips back into negative territory, exchange-side pressure remains dominant, limiting the probability of a durable bullish regime reestablishing itself. Related Reading: The $2,000 Fault Line: Why Ethereum’s Record Volatility Signals An Imminent Explosion Bitcoin Tests Macro Support After Rejection From Highs Bitcoin’s weekly structure reflects a clear transition from expansion to correction following rejection near the $120K–$130K region. The chart shows a decisive breakdown below the $90K–$95K zone, which previously acted as structural support. That level has now flipped into resistance, confirming a shift in market control. Price is currently consolidating near $66K after a sharp decline, hovering just above the 200-week moving average. This level historically acts as a macro support during deeper corrective phases. Holding above it is technically significant; sustained closes below would likely signal a more prolonged bear cycle. The 50-week moving average has rolled over and is trending downward, while the 100-week average is flattening. This alignment indicates weakening intermediate momentum and suggests rallies may face overhead pressure unless key trend levels are reclaimed. Related Reading: Digital Gold Is Dead: The Institutional Architecture Binding Bitcoin To The Nasdaq In The 2026 Downturn Volume expanded notably during the breakdown phase, pointing to forced liquidations and distribution rather than orderly consolidation. Since then, participation has moderated, implying that panic selling has eased but conviction remains limited. Structurally, Bitcoin sits at a pivotal inflection point. A reclaim of the mid-$80K region would be required to restore bullish structure. Conversely, failure to defend current support could expose deeper liquidity zones below. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com
The latest Jane Street debate on X is meeting a blunt rebuttal from Ari Paul. The BlockTower founder, who says he used to work as a Wall Street market maker 15 years ago, argues that Bitcoin’s failure to push higher is better explained by spot sell-side than by a long-running suppression campaign. Paul’s answer was direct. “In short: no,” he wrote, before adding that market makers do “game the system” in many ways, but that in liquid products such as BTC ETFs, the effect is usually limited to “meaningful but small costs to consumers,” not a lasting distortion of the underlying asset price. He framed the distinction as one between short-term microstructure games and a broader claim that one firm kept Bitcoin from reaching far higher levels. Bitcoin Manipulation? Small Moves, Fast Reversions To make that case, Paul pointed to the kind of behavior traders on desks know well. “For example, market makers may manipulate the price to run stop limit orders,” he wrote. “But that’s typically on an intraday timeframe. So they might run an asset like MSFT or BTC 2% in a weak market to trigger stops, then a few seconds or minutes later, the price is mostly back to where it was before.” In his telling, that is still manipulation, but it is not the same as structurally pinning Bitcoin below some imagined fair value for months. Related Reading: Bitcoin Spot Volumes Sink To 2024 Lows As Coinbase Selling Pressure Eases That argument lands against a more conspiratorial narrative now circulating online, why Bitcoin is not already at $150,000. Paul’s pushback does not deny that large Wall Street firms can shape short-term trading conditions. It rejects the stronger claim that such activity is the central explanation for Bitcoin’s broader price path. Paul’s core point was much less dramatic. “Why is BTC down? Because OGs sold tens of thousands of coins, and not enough people wanted to buy them.” That line closely matched the view from renowned on-chain analyst James Check, who argued that “Jane Street didn’t suppress the Bitcoin price” and that “HODLers all did,” by selling large amounts of spot into the market. Jane Street didn’t suppress the Bitcoin price folks. HODLers all did. It’s just not that hard, stop summoning your inner salty goldbug but blaming manipulators. People. Sold. A. Fucktonne. Of. Spot. Bitcoin. https://t.co/CrWgPUzUFP pic.twitter.com/N3VhgYjKhm — _Checkmate ????????⚡☢️????️ (@_Checkmatey_) February 26, 2026 He added: “My point has always been the same; manipulation is a thing that has always, will always, and is indeed the literal job of large wall street firms. However, you do not need that as the central argument to explain why the price didn’t go higher, nor why it went lower. That can be well and truly explained by looking at spot sell-side.” Paul did leave room for exceptions. He wrote that there are rare cases where Wall Street manipulates an asset in major ways over a longer period, but said those cases are uncommon because they are risky and harder to profit from than people assume. Related Reading: Is Jane Street Why Bitcoin Isn’t At $150K? Expert Debunks The Myth “There are rare exceptions where Wall Street manipulates an asset in major ways longer term, but this is quite rare because it’s very risky and not as easy as it looks to profit. 99% of the time that an asset isn’t moving like you want and people are crying “manipulation”, it’s best to embrace the cognitive dissonance, avoid the “easy way out” of blaming manipulation,” Paul wrote. That leaves the current Jane Street argument in a narrower frame. Yes, large firms can influence intraday flows, liquidity, and execution quality. But based on Paul’s account, that is a long way from proving that one market maker is the reason Bitcoin is not trading materially higher. Notably, the Jane Street theory picked up fresh attention after Terraform Labs’ wind-down administrator sued the firm in Manhattan federal court, alleging insider trading tied to Terra’s 2022 collapse. The complaint says Jane Street used a private chat called “Bryce’s Secret” to obtain non-public information and alleges an 85 million UST trade on Curve that helped trigger a selloff; Jane Street has denied wrongdoing and called the case opportunistic. At press time, BTC traded at $66,090. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Institutional capital has transformed the cryptocurrency market dynamics, changing who participates and how digital assets are traded. The arrival of spot exchange-traded funds, corporate treasury allocations, and access through major brokerage platforms has pulled Bitcoin and Ethereum deeper into traditional finance. Vanguard, for instance, reversed its long-held anti-crypto stance just a few months ago, allowing trading in funds that hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana. However, talking about bad timing, these cryptocurrencies have struggled in the months following that policy change. Challenging Months For Institutional Investors The entrance of major asset managers such as BlackRock and Fidelity Investments was a structural turning point for Bitcoin. The January 2024 launch of Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States opened the door for pension funds, registered investment advisors, and other conservative capital pools to gain exposure without directly holding Bitcoin. These ETFs have accumulated billions of dollars in inflows, with custodians now holding a meaningful share of Bitcoin’s circulating supply. Related Reading: Here’s All You Need To Know About The Bitcoin Price This Week However, the past few months have been really challenging for investors. Notably, the last month of inflows into Spot Bitcoin ETFs was in October 2025, when it was pushing to new all-time highs above $126,000. Since then, it has been months of net outflows, and this has weighed down on Bitcoin’s price action. Same goes for Spot Ethereum ETFs, which recorded consecutive months of outflows since November 2025. Vanguard clients are likely among those feeling the impact most directly. In December 2025, US-based investment management company Vanguard reversed its anti-crypto stance and started allowing trading of ETFs and mutual funds that hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana. The availability of these crypto products on a major mainstream brokerage like Vanguard was a milestone for crypto investing. Vanguard manages over $12 trillion in assets and serves tens of millions of investors. Unsurprisingly, the price action of Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies initially reacted positively to the Vanguard news. However, the timing coincided with a downturn across the entire crypto market, which has been having a red 2026 so far. Since Vanguard’s rollout, Bitcoin’s price has fallen by about 30%, while Ethereum, Solana, and XRP have fallen by about 40% in the same period. Is Institutional Involvement A Threat Or A Sign Of Maturity? It is clear that institutional entry has not erased the volatile nature of crypto markets. Bitcoin and Ethereum are still subject to swings in investor risk appetite, although this is now at a larger scale. Therefore, the question of whether institutions are killing Bitcoin and Ethereum is based on perspective. Related Reading: Why Investors Are Not Buying Bitcoin And Ethereum Despite ‘Low’ Prices The presence of regulated ETFs means that downturns are now absorbed by a wider set of market participants. Companies like BitMine and Strategy are still in the business of huge purchases. New investor bases like this can help sustain prices over time. However, one thing is clear: cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana are no longer fringe assets operating outside the traditional investment system; they now sit within it. This integration will even become more clear once the CLARITY Act is passed in the US. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
On February 27, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $65,640, after failing to reclaim the $70K level two days ago. Its price is also below its 200-week exponential moving average (EMA) of $68,300, something that would trigger a historical additional bearish acceleration. Source: X Rise in Bitcoin bulk buys As stated in its Q4, 2025 earnings …
Most crypto funds have been losing investors lately. XRP hasn’t gotten that memo. While Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds have faced weeks of steady outflows, XRP-linked products have quietly been doing something different — attracting fresh money even on the market’s worst days. Related Reading: Is Bitcoin The Poor Man’s Hedge Against Inflation? Coinbase CEO Thinks So XRP Takes Half Of All New Altcoin ETF Money According to Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg, XRP is capturing roughly 50% of all new capital flowing into altcoin ETFs. That’s a commanding share of a market that includes several competing assets. Solana comes in second, drawing around 30% of fresh inflows, while Hedera accounts for the remaining 20%. McClurg made the comments publicly, pointing to XRP’s staying power at a time when investor confidence across the broader crypto market has been shaky at best. The numbers behind that claim are hard to dismiss. Reports show that so far this month, XRP ETFs have recorded negative flow days on just three occasions. Bitcoin ETFs, by comparison, have posted outflows on nine separate trading sessions during the same period. That gap tells a story about where some investors are choosing to put — or keep — their money right now. ???? BREAKING: Canary Capital CEO just dropped something the market isn’t ready for.$XRP quietly absorbing capital while BTC & ETH see outflows. Even on red days. Even when Bitcoin ETFs bled. ???? https://t.co/MrCwbmUnPC pic.twitter.com/xEAMaMm80e — Xaif Crypto????????|???????? (@Xaif_Crypto) February 25, 2026 Last week offered perhaps the clearest snapshot of this divide. Bitcoin and Ethereum investment products together shed $250 million in outflows. XRP, meanwhile, pulled in $3.5 million. Modest in size, but striking given the conditions surrounding it. Steady Inflows Since Launch Reports say XRP ETFs got off to a strong start when the first spot product was listed on Nasdaq in mid-November last year. From that point through January 7, 2026, inflows came in consistently without a single day of net outflows — an unbroken streak that lasted nearly two months. That first outflow day in January was an exception to an otherwise clean run. Since then, XRP funds have largely held their footing while competing products struggled. The cumulative result of that run: $1.24 billion in total net inflows, with assets under management now sitting at a little over $1 billion. Among the individual products, the Canary XRP ETF leads with $280 million in net assets. Bitwise’s XRP ETF trails narrowly at $278 million — a gap thin enough that the rankings could easily shift with a few strong trading days. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have faced sustained selling pressure for months. New buyers have been hard to come by. XRP funds stepping into that environment and continuing to attract capital — rather than lose it — is a departure from what most of the market has been experiencing. Related Reading: Aave Crosses $1 Trillion In Loans — No Bank Required A Shift In Where Investors Are Looking Reports from Canary Capital suggest the pattern reflects something more than short-term trading behavior. Investors appear to be reallocating toward assets they see as having specific utility, with XRP’s established role in cross-border payments drawing attention from both institutional and retail buyers. Featured image from Vecteezy, chart from TradingView
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Solana (SOL) could be facing one of its most critical technical tests in recent months, with crypto trader Jussy warning that a breakdown at a key level could trigger a collapse toward prices not seen since previous bear market cycles. With the cryptocurrency trading above this level and forming two bearish patterns across multiple timeframes, the analyst has set two major crash targets for SOL. However, only one of these patterns could lead to a staggering 50% decline to $30 once the price breaks. Solana Bear Flag Pattern Signals Crash To $30 On Tuesday, February 24, Jussy took to X, warning crypto investors and traders that Solana could be heading toward a dramatic price collapse. The analyst notes that the leading smart contract token is currently at a critical support level of $76.57 on the price chart that could define its next bearish move. Related Reading: Wondering What’s Going On With Solana? Projects Are Taking Massive Hit As Price Plunges Looking at the daily chart, Jussy has identified a Bear Flag formation that has been developing since early February 2026. The pattern shows price consolidating within a descending channel after a steep sell-off from above $112, underscoring Solana’s continued downtrend over the past months. Should the $76.57 support level give way, the analyst projects a measured move from the Bear Flag pattern to $37.88, representing a potential decline of more than 50% from current levels. Jussy also said in his analysis that Solana is on a path to $30, suggesting the altcoin could fall even further to that level. Notably, the analyst’s bearish forecast arrives amid Solana’s recent price struggles, as broader market volatility and shifting investor sentiment weigh heavily on the sector. With the crypto bear market already in full swing, SOL has been trading sideways, mirroring the weak performance across major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. CoinMarketCap’s data also shows that Solana’s price has fallen by more than 38% since the start of the year. While it was trending downward just last week, the altcoin has since staged a slight recovery from the $76 level, highlighted in Jussy’s chart analysis. As of writing, SOL is trading above $86, up more than 13% from the critical support level. Should upward momentum persist, it could signal a potential deviation from the analyst’s bearish $30 forecast. Triple Top Pattern Signals Lesser Decline To $60 For his second bearish forecast, Jussy highlighted that Solana has formed a Triple Top pattern on its four-hour chart. This pattern is characterized by three successive failed attempts to push higher, with each one printing at a lower peak than the last. The structure, visible across the January and February price action, suggests buyers have been steadily losing momentum after each recovery attempt. Related Reading: Here’s Why The Bitcoin, Ethereum, And Solana Prices Are Still Crashing Hard If the $76.57 support level breaks, Jussy sees a measured move from the Triple Top pattern down to $61.73 as Solana’s next target. A drop to this level would represent a roughly 19% crash from the support area. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
As market participants focus on short-term price movements, Bitcoin is approaching a notable on-chain milestone, with the number of wallets holding at least 100 BTC climbing toward record levels. This growing concentration of high-value holdings reflects increasing accumulation by large investors, and is viewed as a sign of strong long-term confidence in the world’s leading cryptocurrency. How Large Holders Influence Bitcoin’s Market Cycles Bitcoin is approaching a major milestone, with the number of wallet addresses holding at least 100 BTC set to surpass 20,000. An on-chain analytics firm, Santiment, highlighted on X that at current market valuations, a wallet holding 100 BTC or more is valued at roughly $6.78 million, indicating these addresses are largely controlled by high-net-worth individuals, funds, long-term holders, and institutional participants. Related Reading: Bitcoin Holders Underwater As Supply In Loss Spikes, Reaching Historic Extremes When the number of 100+ BTC wallets increases during or shortly after price declines, as it has been recently, it can be considered a bullish signal. While the number of whale wallets is rising, the overall percentage of BTC supply held by key stakeholders has not meaningfully increased. This helps explain why prices have remained suppressed. However, the growth in 100+ BTC wallets indicates broader distribution among large holders rather than a small group controlling the consolidation. In that sense, it points to less extreme consolidation at the very top. At the same time, it also shows that wealth is clearly migrating from smaller retail wallets into stronger hands. This does not signal decentralization at the smallest ownership level, but it does show that more separate entities are reaching the whale status. Historically, expanding whale wallet counts have often appeared during accumulation phases that later support the price recoveries. For a stronger structural shift to occur, the increase in wallet numbers would need to be matched by a rise in the overall supply they control. That dynamic typically unfolds as retail participants slowly sell off their coins to larger wallets. Meanwhile, history has shown that if retail traders eventually panic-sell or take profit too early, it might lead to the absorption stage. Is This A True Rebound Or A Dead Bounce? Bitcoin adoption is picking up pace across the sector. According to ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, Bitcoin Spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) just recorded their strongest day, pulling in roughly $500 million in a single day, reaching $750 million over the past two days combined at the time the report was published. Related Reading: Engine Stalled: How The $8 Billion ‘October Shock’ Left Bitcoin’s Spot Market In A Liquidity Trap Balchunas views the inflows as “a hitter in a slump going yard,” suggesting the market had been in urgent need of a catalyst after a prolonged period of weak performance. The strong back-to-back inflows have helped ease pressure on the sector, pushing year-to-date ETF outflows to under $2 billion. Despite the sharp turnaround, uncertainty remains about whether the inflow spike represents the beginning of a sustained recovery or merely a temporary bounce. Featured image from Pngtree, chart from Tradingview.com
Bitcoin has rebounded from an early-February slide that briefly pushed it to $60,000 and produced its most oversold signal on record, easing some of the pressure that has weighed on crypto markets. According to CryptoSlate's data, the flagship digital asset has steadied in recent days and briefly approached the $70,000 mark before settling around $67,300 […]
The post Bitcoin sees $1B ETF inflows after brutal outflow streak, setting up the clearest path to $90,000 appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Fidelity Digital Assets argues Bitcoin’s market structure has shifted enough that the familiar four-year boom-bust pattern and the brutal 80% drawdowns that often followed, may no longer be the default outcome. In a Feb. 24 research note titled “Is Bitcoin’s Four-Year Cycle Over?” research analyst Zack Wainwright frames the call around a simple observation: Bitcoin is now a very different-sized asset with a very different buyer base. Fidelity pegs Bitcoin’s market cap at an all-time high of roughly $2.5 trillion as of October 2025, alongside signs of deeper liquidity and a steadier volatility regime than prior cycles. “As bitcoin matures, price behavior is diverging from previous cycles. Volatility decreasing even as price reached new highs above $126,000.” Bitcoin Demand Is Being Re-Shaped Fidelity’s volatility argument leans on one-year realized volatility and how it behaved around cycle peaks. In prior cycles, the pattern was broadly consistent: volatility would compress into new lows ahead of a major upside move toward new highs, then expand as the cycle overheated. Related Reading: Bitcoin Yet To See Meaningful Capital Return, Glassnode Says This time, Fidelity says the compression is arriving sooner after the peak. The note points to 17 new all-time lows in one-year realized volatility logged in January 2026—just months after Bitcoin notched fresh all-time highs in October 2025—calling it a meaningful divergence from the cadence of earlier cycles. The team attributes part of that dampening to scale: Bitcoin is about twice the market cap it was at the 2021 peak, roughly 10x 2017’s peak, and over 200x 2013’s. The second pillar is who is holding supply, and how sticky that demand appears. Fidelity highlights a cohort of 49 public companies holding more than 1,000 BTC each, with combined holdings above 1 million BTC, over 5% of circulating supply. It also notes that, since Q1 2020, this group increased holdings quarter-over-quarter in every quarter except Q2 2022, when Tesla sold a large portion of its position. On the ETF side, Fidelity writes that US spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in January 2024 and collectively held nearly 1.3 million BTC as of Jan. 30, 2026, about 6.4% of circulating supply. The note adds that the category leader surpassed $75 billion in assets under management in under two years, contrasting that pace with gold’s flagship ETF, GLD, which took nearly seven years to reach the same milestone. Together, Fidelity says public companies and ETFs now hold nearly 12% of circulating supply, with most of the growth coming after 2023—a demand shift the team views as structurally important for drawdowns. Related Reading: Bitcoin Spot Volumes Sink To 2024 Lows As Coinbase Selling Pressure Eases Fidelity also argues the cycle has looked “notably stable” across several on-chain and issuance-linked measures. Using a profit-window framework, when addresses in profit first exceed 95% through the last time they remain above 95%, the note says MVRV has stayed roughly around two times realized value through most of the bull market, rather than spiking toward four-to-six times as in earlier cycles. The report flags a counterfactual to illustrate the point: if market cap reached four times realized cap in this cycle, it would imply roughly a $4.5 trillion market cap and about $225,000 per BTC as of Feb. 2, 2026. It also notes the Puell Multiple has stayed close to one, signaling daily issuance value hasn’t meaningfully deviated from its one-year average. Fidelity’s new “Profit to Volatility Ratio” is where the drawdown claim becomes explicit. The team sets 0.01 as a stability line and says the ratio has stayed above 0.015 since late 2023, the longest sustained period at those levels in Bitcoin’s history. Even with a February 2026 downturn that pushed BTC below $70,000, the ratio remained above the threshold. “A measurement above 0.01 can be considered very stable. Conversely, a measurement below 0.01 should be viewed with caution.” The implication, Fidelity suggests, is not that volatility disappears—but that the classic cycle-ending wipeouts may be less likely in a market increasingly shaped by institutional channels and a larger, more liquid base. If that regime holds, the next phase could look less like a blow-off top and more like a slower, more methodical repricing, higher over time, but with fewer cliff-edge resets. At press time, BTC traded at $66,677. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Derive said options positioning and easing downside skew show traders cautiously preparing for a potential bitcoin recovery.
Expert trader Tony Severino, who correctly predicted Bitcoin’s top, has raised the possibility of a crash to $4,000. This comes as BTC continues to struggle to break key resistance levels, signaling that it could be at risk of a deeper decline. Expert Trader Raises Potential Bitcoin Drop To $4,000 In an X post, Tony Severino questioned the possibility that the next Bitcoin bull market is a lower high followed by a lower low. His accompanying chart showed BTC may be forming a Head-and-Shoulder pattern, which could spark a crash to $4,000. As such, he urged market participants to play the range and cycles. Related Reading: Bitcoin 5TH Wave Is Not Over Yet, And Price Could Still Crash To $52,000; Analyst Warns When asked about a potential bottom for Bitcoin in this bear market, the expert trader said it’s more speculative because the idea of a bottom can change over time. However, he noted that BTC is bottoming now on shorter timeframes and that on the longest timeframes, it could still take a while. Severino also recently stated that he expects a maximum drawdown of around 72% for Bitcoin in this cycle, implying a bottom at around $34,000. Veteran trader Peter Brandt has also predicted that Bitcoin could drop to as low as $40,000 before it finds a bottom. Notably, BTC continues to struggle, suggesting it remains at risk of a deeper decline despite the recent relief rally to $70,000. In an X post, on-chain analytics platform Glassnode noted that profit-taking continues to absorb momentum at the $70,000 threshold. The platform added that this pattern is consistent with a thin-liquidity regime, in which even modest realization events are sufficient to suppress recovery attempts. How BTC Could Drop To $30,000 In This Bear Market Crypto analyst Willy Woo stated that Bitcoin has only ever existed in a secular global macro bull market between 2009 and 2026. He warned that if the global macro breaks down, then the $30,000 level is the fallback level of support. The analyst highlighted $16,000 as the final line to maintain BTC’s bull trend. Related Reading: Elliot Wave Analyst Predicts Bitcoin Price Will Crash In Final Move, What’s The Target? However, Willy Woo believes $45,000 would be a typical bear-market bottom for Bitcoin. He noted that this bearish sell-off by investors appears to have been exhausted, which may allow the price to consolidate sideways for a month and possibly rebound to the mid $70,000 range. However, this level would likely be rejected. The analyst explained that this is because the broader regime is heavily bearish, with both spot and futures liquidity deteriorating. Willy Woo predicts that Q4 would be a good time for the end of the bearish trend and that Q1 or Q2 2027 would be an appropriate time for bullish momentum to return. At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is trading at around $67,800, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
After NVIDIA, the Chip giant registers quarterly revenue of $68.1B (73% YoY), the crypto market reacted in parallel. Bitcoin was pulled back from the critical $61,000 zone to barely hit $70,000 again. The AI coins and altcoins recorded the biggest daily gains after President Trump’s State of the Union address.The market cools down after the …
The crypto market is down today, led by a sharp bitcoin price drop that has pushed BTC back toward the $66,200 mark. While the move has triggered caution across the market, it appears to be driven more by technical and liquidity factors than by any structural weakness. Bitcoin’s recent failure to sustain momentum above the …
The Bitcoin price is drifting in a holding pattern, and no one’s pretending otherwise. After Jane Street’s market impact rattled nerves earlier this week, attention has shifted to Washington specifically the White House’s March 1 internal deadline tied to negotiations around the Clarity Act. Regulatory clarity isn’t sexy, but in crypto, it moves markets. And …
It has been a rough stretch for Bitcoin. Prices have been pinned between $60,000 and $70,000 for weeks, and a brief dip below $67,000 on Thursday did little to ease investor nerves. Related Reading: Is Bitcoin The Poor Man’s Hedge Against Inflation? Coinbase CEO Thinks So Now, a handful of analysts are saying the worst of the selling may finally be over — though what comes next is far from exciting. No Crash, No Boom — Just Patience Crypto analyst Willy Woo put it plainly on X. The wave of bearish selling by investors “seems to have exhausted,” he said, giving Bitcoin some breathing room to trade flat for the next few weeks. A small bounce toward the mid-$70,000 range is possible. But Woo was clear — that kind of move would almost certainly be pushed back down before it gains any real footing. His best guess for when the bearish trend actually ends is Q4 2026. A genuine bull run, he said, probably won’t return until Q1 or Q2 of 2027. This bearish sell down by investors seems to have exhausted, which gives price a repreive to consolidate sideways for maybe a month, even a rebound to mid 70s, which would likely to be rejected. This is because the broader regime is heavily bearish with both spot and futures… pic.twitter.com/MAUlmBJtbE — Willy Woo (@willywoo) February 27, 2026 The wait, in other words, is measured in quarters — not weeks. Woo also flagged something that doesn’t show up in Bitcoin’s price chart. Both spot and futures market liquidity are deteriorating at the same time. That combination, he said, has never historically produced a real Bitcoin rally. Until one or both of those conditions improve, any upward movement is likely to be temporary. Why Did Bitcoin Drop In The First Place? Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan had a straightforward answer to that question. Forget the theories about market manipulation or fears over quantum computing breaking crypto encryption. According to Hougan, the explanation is simple — people who owned Bitcoin sold it. Some followed the four-year market cycle. Others cashed out to fund investments in AI companies. Some had no particular reason beyond wanting out. “They are mostly done selling, and we are in the process of bottoming,” he wrote on X. The conspiracy theories are wild. First it was Binance and then it was Wintermute and then it was an unknown offshore macro hedge fund and then it was paper bitcoin and. today it is Jane Street and next week it will be someone else. The real reason bitcoin is down is that a… — Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) February 26, 2026 Spring Will Come New all-time highs will come, he added. “This is a classic crypto winter, and there will be a classic crypto spring.” Related Reading: Aave Crosses $1 Trillion In Loans — No Bank Required For now, Woo’s analysis offers the most grounded take on where things stand. The selling has slowed. The market is catching its breath. But with liquidity still weak and no clear catalyst on the horizon, Bitcoin’s path forward looks less like a comeback and more like a long, quiet wait — one that, by his own estimate, won’t end until the final months of 2026 at the earliest. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
A fresh round of debate around XRP is picking pace after comments from Ripple’s technology leadership hinted that public adoption numbers may only tell part of the story. In a recent video breakdown, crypto commentator Ripple Bull Winkle opened up about remarks from David Schwartz, Chief Technology Officer at Ripple, and his successor Luke. The …
Search interest in “Bitcoin zero” has surged in the United States, hitting record levels in February as Bitcoin slid toward $60,000 after peaking in October. Data shows global search interest actually topped out months earlier, suggesting the most recent wave of panic is concentrated largely among U.S. investors. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was …