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After the Bitcoin price recovered from the flush to $63,000 over the last week, expectations are that the uptrend could continue. This has sparked predictions for the next rally and that the BTC price could move above $70,000 as a result of this. However, one analyst has thrown a wrench in this move, predicting that there could be another crash coming. This could lead to the final bottom, but suggests that much lower prices are coming first. The Ending Diagonal That Suggests Bitcoin Is Headed Downward EduwaveTrading posted an analysis on the TradingView website that paints a rather bearish picture for the Bitcoin price, at least in the short term. This prediction has to do with Bitcoin not reaching the previous swing low, and this could mean that there is another wave coming to help it hit that swing low. Related Reading: How High Will The Dogecoin Price Be If Bitcoin Reaches $200,000? As a result of the swing low not being hit, the crypto analyst suggests that Bitcoin could have dropped into an expanding ending diagonal pattern. This pattern, despite the recovery, points to another possible downward move. This move would be the start of a deeper downtrend that sends it to new yearly lows. The swing low target here lies just above $62,000 and could be a magnet for the price at this point. If the expanding ending diagonal pattern plays out, it means there is one more flush left. Once the swing low is broken, the analyst points out that Bitcoin could drop further below $59,000 before finding support again. Given this pattern, the crypto analyst suggests that investors may want to wait for this next flush to play out before doing anything. Only then would it be ‘safe’ to enter into Bitcoin, in order to avoid further losses. BTC Is Still Very Bearish Just like EduwaveTrading, another crypto analyst, Behdark, has predicted that Bitcoin will see another crash. This time around, the analyst points to the takeout on the downtrend lined the fact that the momentum has been dropping ahead, suggesting that Bitcoin is still very bearish. Related Reading: Are Institutions Killing Bitcoin And Ethereum? Here’s How They’ve Fared Since Companies Got Involved If the sellers continue to hold strong, then the crypto analyst sees Bitcoin falling toward $61,000, which coincides with the swing low that EduwaveTrading points out. Both of these analyses together say that it’s highly likely that the BTC price sees a strong move downward before establishing enough support to continue upward again. Featured image from Dall.E, chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin (BTC) has wrapped up February with its fifth straight monthly loss, marking only the second time in its history that the leading cryptocurrency has printed five consecutive red candles on the monthly chart.  Upside Call Options Surge The latest decline saw Bitcoin fall to around $63,000 last Saturday, representing a roughly 15% drop for the month of February. However, the start of March has brought a modest rebound.  The asset opened the first week of the month at $68,600, posting gains of just over 3% as it attempts to reclaim the $70,000 level, which has continuously acted as a significant resistance barrier over the past several weeks. Related Reading: Dogecoin (DOGE) Slips Toward Critical Support, Breakdown Threat Emerges Despite ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, market participants appear relatively composed. Markus Thielen, head of research at 10x Research, said traders do not anticipate the Iran conflict causing major economic disruption.  In a note to Bloomberg, Thielen said that demand for upside Bitcoin call options has increased in recent days, suggesting that some investors are positioning for a potential rally ahead of the upcoming Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting. The current setup has also reignited historical comparisons. The last time Bitcoin experienced a similar string of red monthly candles was during the 2018–2019 bear market.  In that earlier cycle, the asset went on to print six consecutive monthly losses. What followed was a sharp reversal: five straight green candles and a 308% surge, with Bitcoin climbing from roughly $3,400 to $14,000. Market Watchers Split On Bitcoin Outlook Market expert Ash Crypto recently highlighted this pattern on social media, suggesting that if history were to repeat, Bitcoin could be approaching a cyclical bottom after its fifth red month.  A comparable 300% advance from current trading levels would imply a potential move toward $272,000. Such a projection, however, depends on whether the recent lows ultimately prove to be the final bottom of this correction. Related Reading: XRP Faces $650 Million Sell Risk As US-Iran Conflict Sparks Risk-Off Move Not all analysts are convinced that the downside is over. Technical analyst Virtual Bacon has outlined the possibility of further retracement before a sustained recovery can be expected.  He identified $65,000—previously an all-time high—as the first key level, noting that the price has already revisited that zone. For those who subscribe to the thesis that former highs often turn into support, he suggested that the opportunity may already be present. A deeper pullback, in his view, could bring Bitcoin toward $58,000, where the 200-week simple moving average (SMA) currently sits. Historically, that long-term indicator has played a critical role in defining market bottoms.  It helped contain the sharp selloff during the 2020 COVID-19 crash, marked the absolute low in 2018, and was tested multiple times in 2015 without ever closing below it every week.  Because of this track record, the 200-week moving average has been widely regarded as one of the most reliable long-term accumulation zones in Bitcoin’s history. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin price started a decent increase above $68,000 but failed at $70,000. BTC is now consolidating and might aim for more gains above $69,200. Bitcoin started a fresh increase after it settled above the $67,500 support. The price is trading above $68,000 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. There was a break above a bearish trend line with resistance at $66,800 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The pair might dip again if it trades below the $67,400 and $67,000 levels. Bitcoin Price Fails At $70,000 Bitcoin price managed to form a base above the $65,500 zone. BTC started a fresh increase and was able to surpass the $66,500 resistance zone. The price even rallied above the $68,000 resistance. Besides, there was a break above a bearish trend line with resistance at $66,800 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. Finally, the bears appeared near $70,000. A high was formed at $70,100, and the price recently corrected some gains. There was a move below the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $63,030 swing low to the $70,100 high. Bitcoin is now trading above $68,000 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. If the price remains stable above $67,500, it could attempt a fresh increase. Immediate resistance is near the $69,200 level. The first key resistance is near the $69,500 level. A close above the $69,500 resistance might send the price further higher. In the stated case, the price could rise and test the $70,000 resistance. Any more gains might send the price toward the $70,500 level. The next barrier for the bulls could be $70,850 and $71,200. Downside Continuation In BTC? If Bitcoin fails to rise above the $70,000 resistance zone, it could start another decline. Immediate support is near the $68,000 level. The first major support is near the $67,500 level or the 50% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $63,030 swing low to the $70,100 high. The next support is now near the $65,650 zone. Any more losses might send the price toward the $65,000 support in the near term. The main support now sits at $64,200, below which BTC might struggle to recover in the near term. Technical indicators: Hourly MACD – The MACD is now losing pace in the bullish zone. Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now above the 50 level. Major Support Levels – $68,000, followed by $67,500. Major Resistance Levels – $69,200 and $70,000.

Crypto Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs), led by Bitcoin (BTC) funds, have broken their one-month negative streak after recording significant inflows over the last week, signaling renewed demand for the digital asset-based investment products amid broader market weakness and geopolitical tensions. Related Reading: Crypto’s Quietest Month In Nearly A Year — But Hackers Haven’t Gone Away Crypto Funds Break Out Of Multi-Week Bleeding In its latest Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report, CoinShares revealed that crypto investment products recorded around $1 billion in inflows during the last week, breaking out of the multi-billion-dollar outflow streak that began mid-January with no notable outflows. Crypto-based funds saw cumulative outflows of $4 billion during the previous five weeks, driven by market weakness and overall negative sentiment. Notably, the US market accounted for most of the negative net flows, while Bitcoin ETPs showed the weakest performance among major cryptocurrencies, recording over $3.80 billion in outflows since January 23. Now, funds based on the flagship cryptocurrency showed the strongest performance, with over $881 million in inflows, according to CoinShares’ data. Although the $3.7 million in inflows into short Bitcoin investment products highlights that the opinion remains polarized, the report noted. Ethereum investment products recorded their strongest week since mid-January, registering inflows totaling $117 million. Despite this, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap remain in a net outflow position Year-to-Date (YTD). Conversely, Solana funds saw $53.8 million in inflows last week and $156 million in inflows YTD. In addition, the US accounted for most inflows, with $957 million, while Canada, Germany, and Switzerland saw continued inflows of $34.1 million, $31.7 million, and $28.4 million, respectively. “From a macro standpoint, it is difficult to attribute the shift in sentiment to a single catalyst. However, prior price weakness, a break below key technical levels, and renewed accumulation by large Bitcoin holders appear to have contributed to the reversal,” explained James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares. “At a more anecdotal level, recent client discussions have been almost entirely focused on identifying entry points rather than reducing exposure to the asset class,” he continued. Bitcoin ETF Investors Show Diamond Hands Amid last week’s rebound, Nate Geraci, co-founder of the ETF Institute, highlighted US spot Bitcoin ETF investors, who have “largely displayed diamond hands” during the market correction and negative sentiment. The ETF expert observed that Bitcoin funds’ cumulative $6.5 billion in outflows since the October 10 crash were a “drop in the bucket” compared to the $55 billion in cumulative total net inflows that the category has seen since its January 2024 debut. As reported by NewsBTC, Geraci stressed that while these major drawdowns are “a walk in the park for long-time BTC investors,” newer ETF investors also appear unfazed by the recent market conditions and are “apparently buying the dip.” Related Reading: Blood Moon Affecting Bitcoin Price? Why A Surge Above $100,000 Could Be Coming Similarly, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas discusses the performance of spot Bitcoin ETFs over the past two years, affirming, “As an ETF watcher, you know just how absurd this strength amid a 50% drawdown.” He stated that the funds’ overall performance is “the real story,” rather than the $6 billion that has come out during the latest market downturn, which he concluded was normal for most assets. As of this writing, Bitcoin is trading at $65,582, a 2.2% decline on the daily timeframe. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin has remained in a consolidation phase since its early February breakdown below the $70,000 threshold, oscillating around the mid-$60K region without establishing a clear directional bias. The loss of $70K marked a structural shift in short-term momentum, transitioning the market from trend continuation to range-bound stabilization. While volatility has moderated, underlying stress signals suggest that the correction may not be fully resolved. Related Reading: The Distribution Trap: Why Bitcoin’s Reserve Growth Proves Sellers Still Hold The Tape According to a recent report by CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, Short-Term Holders (STH) are still carrying substantial unrealized losses. With Bitcoin trading near $66,000, this cohort’s average unrealized loss stands at approximately 26.3%. Historically, periods in which STH losses exceed 25% tend to coincide with advanced phases of bear markets rather than early corrective pullbacks. In previous cycles, these losses have occasionally expanded toward 40% during capitulation events before a durable bottom formed. The current reading, therefore, places the market in a zone of elevated psychological pressure. Short-term participants, who are typically more reactive to price fluctuations, remain underwater, increasing the probability of volatility spikes if key levels fail. Short-Term Holder Losses Signal Late-Stage Stress and Strategic Accumulation Zones The current configuration of Short-Term Holder positioning reflects a classic late-correction dynamic. When STH cohorts begin to carry meaningful unrealized losses — particularly above the 25% threshold — market psychology shifts from optimism to stress. Historically, these zones have coincided with attractive long-term accumulation windows, not because downside risk disappears, but because forced selling pressure gradually exhausts itself. Long-term investors deploying systematic DCA strategies have often benefited from entering during these compressed conditions. The relationship between STH profitability and trend development is equally instructive. Sustained bullish expansions typically begin once the average unrealized profit of STH reclaims positive territory. That shift signals renewed structural demand strong enough to lift recent buyers back into profit. However, excessive profitability can also destabilize trends. In this cycle, readings near 20% average profit have coincided with overheated conditions and subsequent pullbacks, as profit-taking accelerates. At present, with STH deeply underwater, the broader structure remains bearish from a cyclical standpoint. Momentum has not yet transitioned into expansion. Yet paradoxically, these stress phases often represent asymmetric positioning opportunities. The key distinction lies in timeframe: tactically fragile in the short term, but strategically constructive for disciplined capital deployment. Related Reading: Ethereum’s Market Order Imbalance Hits Record Negatives: $1,850 Is Now The Line In The Sand Bitcoin Compresses Below Moving Averages as $62K–$69K Range Tightens On the 4-hour timeframe, Bitcoin remains locked in a tight consolidation band around the $66,000 level after the sharp early-February breakdown. The structure is clearly corrective: price is trading below the 50, 100, and 200-period moving averages, all of which are sloping downward. This alignment confirms short-term bearish momentum, even as volatility compresses. Repeated attempts to reclaim the 100-period moving average (green) have failed, reinforcing it as dynamic resistance near the $68,000–$69,000 zone. Meanwhile, the 200-period average (red), positioned higher around the low-$70Ks, marks a broader trend ceiling. As long as price remains beneath these levels, upside attempts are likely to encounter supply. Related Reading: Engine Stalled: How The $8 Billion ‘October Shock’ Left Bitcoin’s Spot Market In A Liquidity Trap On the downside, the $62,000–$63,000 region continues to act as horizontal support. The sharp wick earlier in February suggests aggressive liquidation-driven selling into that area, followed by a reflex bounce. However, subsequent rebounds have printed lower highs, indicating that buyers lack follow-through. Volume has tapered off compared to the breakdown phase, suggesting temporary equilibrium rather than accumulation. The current compression reflects indecision, not strength. A decisive 4-hour close above $69K would challenge the bearish structure, while a loss of $62K would likely trigger renewed downside expansion. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Solana has spent weeks compressing inside a tightening range, with price action forming a structure that suggests a breakout is brewing. As volatility contracts, pressure continues to build within the pattern. A decisive move above $88.60 could serve as the trigger bulls have been waiting for, potentially unleashing a sharp, impulsive rally as stored momentum is released. Volatility Squeeze On Solana — Triangle About To Resolve Solana has been trading within a tight sideways range for the past three weeks, gradually forming what appears to be a triangle pattern on the chart. Related Reading: Crypto Trader Predicts Solana 50% Price Crash To $30 If This Level Breaks According to More Crypto Online, a decisive break above the Sunday high at $88.60 would serve as the first clear indication that bulls are stepping back in with strength. Such a move would suggest that the triangle formation is nearing completion and could mark the beginning of a sustained upside breakout. Triangle patterns are particularly important because they often precede aggressive expansions. As price continues to coil within the structure, volatility contracts, and pressure build. This compression phase stores energy, increasing the probability that the eventual breakout will be forceful rather than gradual. Once price clears a key boundary, the release of that built-up momentum can trigger a sharp and impulsive move.  200 SMA And Range Hold Key To $85 Reclaim In a recent Solana analysis, Umair Crypto emphasized that the key level to watch is BTC’s pair 200 SMA and range structure. A sustained hold above these levels would open the door for an $85 reclaim. However, failure to maintain that strength would likely keep SOL trapped in the broader $77–$90 consolidation range, a scenario that has now persisted for 24 days, with no structural change since the initial call. Related Reading: Solana Reclaims $80 Amid Friday Market Bounce – Analysts Set Next Targets Structurally, the two pairs are telling different stories. On the USDT chart, SOL continues to print lower highs, signaling weakness. Meanwhile, the BTC pair is showing relative strength, forming higher highs and suggesting a more constructive trend. This divergence creates a pivotal moment where resolution could tilt either bullish or bearish, depending on which structure ultimately confirms. At present, the BTC pair has pushed above its range and reclaimed the 4H 200 SMA. However, Umair Crypto cautions that this setup has failed before, causing the price to slip back below the 200 SMA and re-entering the range, invalidating the breakout. For a true breakout scenario to activate, the BTC pair must hold above both the range and the 200 SMA with a clean retest. If that happens, strength could transfer to the USDT pair, making the $85 point of control a key reclaim target. If not, further rotation within the $77–$90 range remains the most likely outcome. In short: no confirmed hold, no confirmed breakout, BTC pair confirms, USDT executes. Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com

The Bitcoin and Ethereum prices plunged sharply over the weekend as missiles flew across the Middle East, exposing just how quickly geopolitical crises can send shockwaves through the financial markets. A joint US and Israel strike on Iran triggered a violent selloff that wiped out billions of dollars from the crypto market in a matter of hours. Fresh reports now indicate that Bitcoin and Ethereum are beginning to recover. Still, with geopolitical tensions continuing to escalate, it remains uncertain whether this renewed momentum can be sustained.  Bitcoin Price Recovers After US-Israel War Fueled Crash Geopolitical shockwaves rattled global financial markets this past weekend as a joint US and Israeli military operation against Iran sent Bitcoin into a sharp but brief decline, wiping out millions of dollars in long positions before a partial recovery took hold. Notably, BTC plummeted to nearly $63,000 overnight following the coordinated strikes on Iranian military targets.  Related Reading: Bitcoin Has Officially Entered Bearish Territory, And It’s Headed To $35,000; Chart Shows Within 45 minutes of Israel launching its assault, Bitcoin shed $2,500 in value, while more than $200 million worth of long positions were liquidated in just one hour. The broader crypto market saw roughly $72 billion wiped out amid the chaos. The sell-off was swift and severe, with major exchange players including Binance, Coinbase, and trading firm Winternute offloading more than $3.5 billion in Bitcoin within a 20-minute window. This further added downward pressure to the already declining and volatile market. Despite the carnage, Bitcoin has since climbed back above $66,000, according to CoinMarketCap data, though volatility remains elevated as the Middle East conflict shows no signs of immediate resolution.  Market analysts were quick to explain the technical reasons behind BTC’s price decline. One expert noted that Bitcoin did not crash for no reason. She explained that because it was the most accessible and highest volume asset that trades around the clock, it was significantly exposed to weekend fear and panic selling compared to other major asset classes.  Ethereum Price Rebounds After Massive Sell-Off Ethereum also took a hit alongside Bitcoin following news of the US-Israel war. ETH dropped roughly 10% within just one hour of the news breaking, falling below $1,900 and erasing all the gains it had made when it briefly touched $2,000 last week. At its lowest point, Ethereum fell to around $1,850 before rebounding back above $1,950.  Related Reading: Are Institutions Killing Bitcoin And Ethereum? Here’s How They’ve Fared Since Companies Got Involved Notably, the crash triggered sharp declines in Ethereum derivatives markets, with millions of dollars in liquidations. A large percentage of those liquidations came from long positions, suggesting that traders who had bet on Ethereum rising were hit the hardest.  In the broader context, the Ethereum price was already experiencing a downturn, meaning the geopolitical shock had compounded an already painful downtrend for ETH holders. In addition to Ethereum, other altcoins, such as XRP, saw major sell-offs as geopolitical tensions rose. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com

When markets are closed and Bitcoin is moving, the custody agreement decides who can act. A spot Bitcoin ETF fixed an awkward problem for finance. Bitcoin used to arrive as software, keys, and operational responsibility. The ETF repackaged it as a ticker that sits next to every other ticker. That convenience came with a structural […]
The post Bitcoin ETF custody concentrates power in one place, and now a single operational failure causes dangerous ripples appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Wall Street’s attitude toward Bitcoin has flipped from euphoric to deeply skeptical after last year’s crowded long trade unraveled, according to Galaxy Digital head of research Alex Thorn. In an interview on What Bitcoin Did, Thorn said the shift has less to do with conspiracy theories or a single bearish catalyst than with exhausted demand, heavy long-term holder selling, and a market now struggling to find a fresh narrative. Thorn pushed back on claims that firms such as Jane Street are to blame for Bitcoin’s weakness, calling that line of thinking “Twitter cope.” He argued that most of the outrage reflects frustration with price action rather than evidence of deliberate suppression. “What do we think the actual incentive would be for them to suppress the price?” Thorn said. “Bitcoin’s a multi-trillion, well whatever it is, one-point-something-trillion-dollar asset. It’s hard to manipulate markets of scale in a specific direction because it is a free market and it’s a large one.” – bitcoin didn’t crash because of jane street – whale distribution was significant, inevitable, necessary, healthy – wall st negativity on BTC is real but wrong – bitcoin’s fundamental value is real and right – you need to be robotmaxxing or you’ll be forever framemogged https://t.co/GUMAARf7Pl pic.twitter.com/QQhDy3RNrg — Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) February 28, 2026 Why Wall Street Is Wrong On Bitcoin His broader explanation was more straightforward. From late 2024 through the period between the US election and inauguration, he said, being long Bitcoin was “the most popular trade in the world.” That changed as capital rotated elsewhere. AI-linked equities, semiconductor names, energy plays, quantum stocks and gold all began attracting attention, while Bitcoin’s momentum faded. Related Reading: Bitcoin Whale Inflows On Binance Reach Highest Level Since 2022 At the same time, Thorn said, long-term holders were consistently distributing coins into strength. He described that selling as structural rather than alarming. “That’s literally how distribution occurs and it’s how you make money in a trade,” he said, arguing that older holders taking gains is part of Bitcoin’s maturation rather than a sign of failure. He went further, framing the whale distribution as constructive for the network over the long run. “Technically you want more selling. You want it distributed to people who buy it at a higher cost basis,” Thorn said. “The realized price is higher and that’s a good thing. That means people, with enormous amounts of money, are willing to buy Bitcoin at really high prices. To me that’s a core signal of adoption.” Still, Thorn acknowledged that sentiment has deteriorated sharply, especially among professional investors. In his view, Bitcoin’s failure since September to behave like “digital gold” damaged the story many allocators had bought into. Wall Street, he said, took that label too literally. Related Reading: Fidelity Thinks Bitcoin May Be Leaving Its 80% Crashes Behind “We didn’t mean it was going to trade with a high beta to GLD,” Thorn said. “Its features are gold-like. Its trading behavior hasn’t fully caught up to that yet. The delta between those two things, if you believe it eventually closes, that’s your alpha.” That mismatch has helped sour institutional mood just as broader macro fears have worsened. Thorn said investors are anxious about AI from both directions: that it may fail to justify massive capex, or succeed so thoroughly that it destroys jobs and destabilizes markets. If equities roll over on the back of that uncertainty, he suggested, Bitcoin may struggle to stay insulated. Even so, Thorn drew a line between short-term sentiment and long-term conviction. “We really should focus on explaining its fundamental purpose and use cases and value to a holder of Bitcoin as the reason that it goes up,” he said. “Stop begging for Jay Powell to buy your bags. That’s not nearly as durable as the reason it going up being that people deeply understand the savings technology that is Bitcoin.” For Thorn, that is the real story now: Wall Street may have turned negative, but the longer-term battle is still about whether more investors come to see Bitcoin as a durable store-of-value asset rather than a passing macro trade. At press time, BTC traded at $66,109. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

An important long-term technical signal is still flashing bullish as Bitcoin approaches an important point on the higher timeframe charts. According to CMT-certified analyst Tony Severino, the monthly SuperTrend indicator for BTCUSD has held support and is yet to display an active sell signal, even with recent market dynamics leading to contention as to whether the cycle has flipped bearish. His chart highlighted an interesting development on the one-month timeframe, where the structure has not yet transitioned into a confirmed sell. Monthly SuperTrend Still In Buy Mode In his post on X, Severino focused on the Bitcoin BTCUSD 1M chart and noted that the SuperTrend indicator has held support and kept its active buy signal. The monthly timeframe is particularly significant because it filters out short-term noise and shows a clear view of the broader cycle. Related Reading: XRP Daily Liquidity Is Pointing To A Rally To $4, Analyst Explains What’s Going On The accompanying chart shows Bitcoin trading around $66,300, with the SuperTrend level sitting just above $66,400. However, the indicator is still printing green on the monthly timeframe, which means that the macro trend has not flipped bearish. A monthly close below the SuperTrend line is what has always confirmed a sell signal, and that has not happened. The visual structure in the chart also shows how previous bear markets were characterized by a clear transition from green to red on the SuperTrend. At present, that transition has not occurred. Instead, the Bitcoin price is consolidating around the SuperTrend support. Bitcoin Price Chart. Source: @TonySeverinoCMT On X Is The Bottom Close Or Is More Patience Needed? Severino added an important caveat. According to him, almost all bear markets initially hold at support for a month or three before eventually turning into a sell signal. That observation points out that simply holding support does not automatically invalidate bearish risk. Although the analyst acknowledged that bear markets can linger at support before failing, he noted that the bottom is usually close after such behavior.  Related Reading: 5 Monthly Red Candles: How XRP Is About To Create A Historical Losing Streak Bitcoin ended February 14.8% below its monthly open, but it has managed to hold above the SuperTrend. That said, a confirmed monthly breakdown below the SuperTrend would materially change the outlook. Until that happens, the indicator is demonstrating that Bitcoin is still in a bullish structure. Severino later shared another post discussing a separate analysis based on the quarterly Ichimoku indicator. In that analysis, he stated that historical evidence and data suggest Bitcoin could fall another 38% to 66% from current levels. A decline of that magnitude would imply a Bitcoin bear market bottom anywhere from $40,000 to $25,000. Severino followed up in another post with a comment saying, “Sell, says the SuperTrend.” At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $66,000, down by 1.6% in the past 24 hours. The monthly structure has not fully broken, but the warnings indicate that the cryptocurrency may not be out of danger just yet. Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com

Crypto analyst Pure has indicated that the blood moon could be having an impact on the trajectory of the Bitcoin price. The analyst drew attention to historical trends, suggesting this might be the case and that a rally above $100,000 may be on the cards.  A Bitcoin Price Rally Above $100,000 May Be On The Cards In an X post, Pure drew attention to a potential correlation between the Blood Moons over the last 12 years and the Bitcoin price action. Based on this, the analyst’s chart suggested that BTC could still rally above $100,000 soon enough, potentially reaching the current all-time high (ATH) of $126,000. The chart also showed that there had typically been at least three Blood Moons in each of the past three BTC cycles.  Related Reading: Bitcoin Buying Just Ramped Up Into The Billions Again, Is It Time To Get Back In? The third Blood Moon in each of those past cycles had notably marked a bottom for the Bitcoin price, with the leading crypto reaching new highs afterward. Now, a third Blood Moon is set to occur in this cycle after the ones that occurred on March 14 and September 7 last year. As such, there is the possibility that BTC could bottom again if history were to repeat itself.  Pure also noted that the next Blood Moon after tomorrow will occur after three years, indicating that it is the Blood Moon that could mark the bottom since none other is going to happen in this cycle. The analyst also admitted that this could mean that the max pain is about to end with a potential bullish reversal on the horizon for the Bitcoin price.  BTC Still In A Bear Market Regardless Of A Relief Bounce Market expert Benjamin Cowen reiterated that BTC is still in a bear market, though a relief bounce may be on the cards amid U.S.-Iran tensions. In an X post, Cowen noted that risk assets often sell off, then bounce as major conflicts begin. If a rally for the Bitcoin price occurs, the expert noted that it will likely result in a lower high in March, just like it did in 2022. Related Reading: Bitcoin Has Officially Entered Bearish Territory, And It’s Headed To $35,000; Chart Shows Cowen also noted that bear markets tend to take a while to play out. His accompanying chart showed that the Bitcoin price bounced after the war between Russia and Ukraine began in 2022, but formed a lower high, leading to a deeper long-term decline before it bottomed. Notably, BTC bottomed year-end 2022 back then, which also coincides with Cowen’s prediction that BTC may bottom in the fourth quarter of this year.  At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is trading at around $66,600, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com

Bitcoin saw its price crash toward $60,000 last week, and naturally, investor sentiment took a plunge with it. Now, while the sentiment has been in a decline for the better part of five months, what stands out this time is how low the score on the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index has gotten. In fact, the sentiment surrounding the crypto market has dropped so low that it has gotten to a point that has only been hit twice in the history of Bitcoin. Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index Crashes To 9 Since hitting its all-time high of $126,000 back in August 2025, the sentiment has been ping-ponging, but now, it seems to have determined a direction. The trend has been mainly downward, and then last week, the index dropped to a low of 9. Related Reading: Analyst Says XRP’s $15 Target Has Still Not Changed – Here’s Why The Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index tracks the sentiment across the market using a number of factors, such as social sentiment and volume, among others. Thus, it gives a rather comprehensive view of how investors are feeling toward the market. The index ranges from 1-100, with 100-75 being Extreme Greed, 74-54 being Greed, 53-47 being Neutral, 46-26 being Fear, and 25-1 being Extreme Fear. Presently, the market is sitting in Extreme Fear, which means that investors are wary of getting into the market. More importantly, though, the last two times that the market sentiment was this low were the 2018-2019 bear market and then the FTX crypto exchange crash back in 2022. What’s interesting about these two different posts in history is what followed after the sentiment dropped this low. The initial reaction to this seems to be very similar, with a long accumulation trend following each time. Usually, this trend lasts for a few months, suggesting that the market is using this time to build up momentum. Related Reading: How High Will The Dogecoin Price Be If Bitcoin Reaches $200,000? However, like clockwork, there has been a steady upward move, meaning that sentiment this low could mark the end of the bear market. This then leads to the start of the bull market, and by the next year, the price is often hitting new all-time highs. Using this trend, it is likely that the Bitcoin price has hit or is close to hitting its bottom. In that case, a long period of accumulation could be the next course of action, and this could inevitably lead to the start of the next bull market. However, it is important to keep in mind that there have been points where Bitcoin has deviated from its set historical trend as new investors and macro factors begin to affect the financial markets. Featured image from Dall.E, chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin price started a decent increase above $66,000. BTC is now consolidating above $66,000 and might aim for more gains above $67,200. Bitcoin started a fresh increase after it settled above the $65,500 support. The price is trading below $67,000 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. There is a bearish trend line forming with resistance at $67,000 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The pair might dip again if it trades below the $65,500 and $65,000 levels. Bitcoin Price Faces Key Resistance Bitcoin price managed to form a base above the $63,500 zone. BTC started a fresh increase and was able to surpass the $64,500 resistance zone. The price even rallied above the $67,000 resistance. Finally, the bears appeared near $68,000. A high was formed at $68,180, and the price recently corrected some gains. There was a move below the 50% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $63,030 swing low to the $68,181 high. Bitcoin is now trading below $67,000 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. If the price remains stable above $65,000, it could attempt a fresh increase. Immediate resistance is near the $67,000 level. There is also a bearish trend line forming with resistance at $67,000 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. The first key resistance is near the $68,200 level. A close above the $68,200 resistance might send the price further higher. In the stated case, the price could rise and test the $69,500 resistance. Any more gains might send the price toward the $70,000 level. The next barrier for the bulls could be $70,500 and $71,200. Downside Continuation In BTC? If Bitcoin fails to rise above the $67,000 resistance zone, it could start another decline. Immediate support is near the $65,500 level. The first major support is near the $65,000 level or the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $63,030 swing low to the $68,181 high. The next support is now near the $64,250 zone. Any more losses might send the price toward the $64,000 support in the near term. The main support now sits at $63,000, below which BTC might struggle to recover in the near term. Technical indicators: Hourly MACD – The MACD is now losing pace in the bullish zone. Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now above the 50 level. Major Support Levels – $65,500, followed by $65,000. Major Resistance Levels – $67,000 and $68,200.

The past few days have seen shocking developments on the geopolitical front, with the United States and Israel launching coordinated strikes against Iran. The operation took place on Saturday, February 28, 2026, and because cryptocurrency markets trade around the clock, Bitcoin’s price action quickly reflected the shock. Bitcoin became the world’s real-time measure of fear, plunging, recovering, and leaving traders bracing for what comes next. Related Reading: Vitalik Buterin Lays Out A Plan To Make Ethereum 1,000 Times More Capable The Initial Shock: Bitcoin Tumbles Below $64,000 Bitcoin’s price action took a hit almost as soon as reports emerged that US and Israeli forces were conducting military operations inside Iran. Notably, Bitcoin plunged from a price of $65,572 to $63,176 in about an hour overnight following word of the strikes.  According to data from The Kobeissi Letter, over $100 million worth of leveraged Bitcoin longs were liquidated in just 15 minutes after the news broke out. The scale of the sell-off was significant: about $128 billion was wiped off the overall crypto market in a single hour as liquidations surged across global exchanges.  However, Bitcoin did not stay down for long after the initial plunge. The largest cryptocurrency started to stage a rebound as traders speculated on unfolding developments, including confirmation of the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei during the attacks. Early Asian trading saw BTC climb back above $67,000, regaining some ground as markets reevaluated the situation and eased momentary panic.  Bitcoin rose as much as 2.21% above $68,000 following the news of Khamenei’s death, with Coingecko data pointing to an intraday high of $68,043. Still, the recovery has been uneven, with price action reflecting ongoing uncertainty over how the geopolitical tensions will be resolved. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s price action has corrected a bit from this intraday high and is now trading at $66,310. What Comes Next: Analysts Warn The Rally May Be Fragile Despite the bounce, market analysts across social media platforms are recommending caution. The real price reaction will happen on Monday when US equity markets and Bitcoin ETFs reopen. As it stands, the attacks are not yet a contained event, with missiles still hitting Dubai and Iranian retaliation across the Gulf. There is also the risk of a full closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. Related Reading: Bitcoin Sell-Off Slows Down, But The Road To Recovery Is Long — Analyst Bitcoin is already currently down by almost 50% from its all-time peak of over $126,000 earlier in October 2024, unable to latch on to rallies in gold, silver, and other assets. All eyes will be on Monday’s market open, when the entire traditional investment niche starts to react to the full weight of the world’s most dramatic geopolitical escalation in years. Bitcoin is already in a fragile state, and because of that, a move to $60,000 could play out during the week if there’s any form of selling pressure. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin difficulty just reset about 15% higher to roughly 144.40T. While this is neither the first nor the last, it is the largest since around 2021. The timing is important because the protocol tightened miner economics while Bitcoin has been chopping around the mid-$60,000s with repeated tests near $65,000. When blocks arrive faster than the […]
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For the better part of the last two years, spot Bitcoin ETFs were treated like a one-way door. They took Bitcoin out of keys and operational hassle and turned it into a ticker that fit inside every normal portfolio. Money came in, shares got created, and Bitcoin had a steady, legitimate source of demand. Across […]
The post After Bitcoin ETFs drained $3.8 billion in five weeks it suddenly flipped positive, changnig who controls the next move appeared first on CryptoSlate.

With the Bitcoin price evidently in a bear cycle, there were not a lot of positives to take from the market’s performance in the past month. According to a recent on-chain observation, March seems set to be a continuation of the worrying trend, as a relevant metric paints a bearish picture for the world’s leading cryptocurrency. Whale Activity Rouses Expectations Of Sell Pressure  In a recent Quicktake post on the CryptoQuant platform, analyst Arab Chain revealed a critical change in Bitcoin’s whale behavior, as reflected on the Binance Whale To Exchange Flow. This metric tracks the total amount of Bitcoin transferred by large holders into Binance over a 30-day period.  Related Reading: Bitcoin ETF Investors Show Diamond Hands: Only $6.5B In Outflows Since October 10 According to Arab Chain, the whale inflow to Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, spiked to as high as $8.8 billion, marking an expansion toward new highs not seen since early 2022. Interestingly, this surge in exchange inflows was seen at the same time Bitcoin was trading at around $64,000. Arab Chain further explained that the sudden, large exchange inflows from these BTC whales suggest a significant rise in the activity of this investor group. According to historical data, these large movements to trading platforms indicate the intentions of whales to sell.  However, more than just a signal of potential sell pressure, this event could also be an indication that Bitcoin’s whales are reallocating their positions. Regardless of the prevalent intent among this investor group, it appears that these whales are preparing for a major move or shift in the Bitcoin market. Arab Chain also referenced observations from comparing the current move to that which occurred in 2021. According to the analytics group, 2021 “saw price peaks followed by sharp corrections after waves of large whale inflows to exchanges.” — and because this is recurring today, it might be a sign of “increased potential selling pressure, or at least a willingness among large investors to manage risk at elevated price levels.” But then, Arab Chain pointed out that surges in exchange inflows do not necessarily mean a bearish period would follow, as some cycles only witnessed high volatility before price continued to expand. Nonetheless, the present conditions reveal that the Bitcoin market is at a “crossroads,” where its price action in the coming weeks could be pivotal in determining what’s next for the asset.  Bitcoin Price At A Glance At the time of this writing, the price of BTC stands at $67,960, reflecting a nearly 3% jump in the past 24 hours.  Related Reading: Bitcoin Historical Cycle Pattern Points To $31,500 Bottom Target – Details Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin is trading at weekly RSI levels historically seen near bear market bottoms, signaling that selling pressure may be easing. While confirmation is needed, the market is in a zone often marking late-stage capitulation. The key question: was the recent drop the final flush, or is one last shakeout still ahead? RSI Compression Signals Downside Exhaustion According to crypto analyst Batman, Bitcoin’s weekly RSI has fallen back into the same territory that historically marked prior bear market bottoms. This momentum zone has repeatedly appeared during late-stage capitulation phases, making it a critical signal that the market could be nearing another major turning point. Related Reading: Bitcoin Nears Major Milestone As 100 BTC Wallets Approach Record Levels However, Batman is clear that this does not confirm the bottom is already in, stressing the importance of waiting for proper confirmation before declaring a reversal. Still, he notes that when RSI compresses to these levels on the weekly timeframe, Bitcoin has typically been much closer to a structural low than to the beginning of a fresh collapse. Reflecting on the 2022 bear cycle, Batman points out that once RSI entered this extreme zone, price managed to print one final lower low. However, that move occurred very close to the ultimate bottom, indicating that most of the downside had already played out by the time momentum reached such depressed readings. The analyst concludes that probabilities matter more than precision. From his perspective, when Bitcoin trades at these weekly RSI levels, it historically represents a zone where strategic accumulation becomes increasingly attractive. Bitcoin’s Six Consecutive Weekly Lower Highs — A Rare Signal In a recent weekly Bitcoin analysis, SuperBro pointed out that BTC has now printed six consecutive weekly lower highs, a rare structural pattern. The last time this occurred was during the COVID crash in 2020, a period marked by extreme volatility and eventual macro reversal. Related Reading: Fidelity Thinks Bitcoin May Be Leaving Its 80% Crashes Behind Price is currently slipping beneath the 200-week EMA and the volume Point of Control (POC), though the weekly candle has not yet closed. A reclaim of the POC before the close could trigger a sharp upside reaction and signal that the breakdown attempt is losing strength. Just below current levels sits the rising 200-week SMA, adding another layer of higher-timeframe support. RSI remains at extreme levels, suggesting that momentum is already deeply stretched. When you combine oversold conditions with six straight lower highs pressing into major support, the case for sustained downside continuation becomes less convincing. Beyond the near-term structure, the broader megaphone formation remains intact. If that macro pattern ultimately plays out, its upper trajectory projects potential targets north of $300,000,  keeping the long-term expansion thesis firmly on the table despite current compression. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com

A recent evaluation has surfaced that reveals that Bitcoin’s long-term holders are slowly easing away from their deep profits, and that this could affect prices in either way, depending on further developments. Related Reading: The Distribution Trap: Why Bitcoin’s Reserve Growth Proves Sellers Still Hold The Tape Long-Term Holder Average Monthly SOPR Slips Under 1  In a recent QuickTake post on CryptoQuant, a pseudonymous on-chain analyst, Darkfost, reveals that Bitcoin’s long-term holders are entering a fragile phase in the current cycle. This post is based on readings obtained from the BTC: Long-Term Holders (LTH) SOPR metric, which tracks if coins moved by Long-Term Holders are done profitably, or at a loss. A SOPR value above 1 reflects that holders of this category are, on average, realizing profits, while a reading below 1 signals that these coins are being moved at a loss. According to Darkfost, the current readings from the SOPR metric have fallen under the critical 1 level, and currently sit around 0.98 This is a sign that Bitcoin’s LTHs, which are typically the strongest investor hands in the market, are beginning to realize losses on a monthly basis. Interestingly, the scenario is somewhat different on the annual timeframe. Related Reading: XRP Emerging As Safe Haven? CEO Points To Steady Inflows As BTC, ETH Struggle Annual LTH SOPR Still Positive, But Trend Is Falling — Analyst  Darkfost further highlights that, although the monthly timeframe leans towards the red zone, the annualized SOPR still sits well into positive territory, with readings at approximately 1.84. According to the analyst, this represents about 84% in average realized gains, by implication. However, the annualized profits have taken on a downward trend and have been slowly falling. Notably, the LTH SOPR has not gone higher than 3.4 on the charts throughout the current cycle, a value that is approximately half the readings seen in the previous cycle’s peak. Interestingly, this is also less than four times the peak of the two previous cycles, suggesting a less impulsive distribution among this investor cohort.   Furthermore, Darkfost conjures historical data, showing that bear markets have formed only after the SOPR dropped towards the 0.6 region, a level that correlates with average realized losses of approximately 40%. Hence, while the current reading on the metric is below 1 every month, it is still far from the zone representing capitulation. For now, the Long-term holders have entered what seems to be a transitional phase. In the scenario where Long-Term Holder realized profits continue to fade, selling pressure might in turn erode from this side. As of this writing, the Bitcoin price stands at a valuation of approximately $64,247, reflecting a loss of 4.85% over the past day. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview

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 […]
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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

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

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

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

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