It started as an idea. Now it processes more lending volume than most people will ever see in a lifetime. Aave, the decentralized finance protocol that lets users borrow and deposit crypto without going through a traditional bank, has crossed $1 trillion in total cumulative lending — a milestone that has never been reached by any other protocol in the DeFi industry. Related Reading: Is Bitcoin The Poor Man’s Hedge Against Inflation? Coinbase CEO Thinks So From A 2017 Startup To A Trillion-Dollar Lending Machine Aave was not always called Aave. Its founder, Stani Kulechov, first launched the platform under the name ETHLend in November 2017 before rebranding it in September 2018. What began as a small peer-to-peer lending experiment on the Ethereum blockchain has grown into the dominant force in decentralized lending, with over $27 billion in total user funds currently secured on the platform. Aave crossed $1 trillion all-time loans. A first in DeFi history. pic.twitter.com/9zMKhtGq6R — Aave (@aave) February 25, 2026 Over the past 30 days alone, Aave generated more than $83 million in fees — nearly four times more than its nearest competitor, Morpho. Other well-known lending platforms including JustLend, SparkLend, Maple, and Compound Finance each hold over $1 billion in total value locked, but none come close to matching Aave’s scale. “A decade ago, DeFi and Aave didn’t exist. They were just ideas. Today, Aave stands as the backbone of onchain lending, powering a new financial system that is open, global, and unstoppable,” Kulechov said in a post on X following the announcement. His longer-term ambitions are even bigger. Kulechov has said he wants Aave to become the largest and most efficient liquidity network on the planet — one that banks, builders, and financial technology companies connect to by default. Big Finance Names Are Already At The Table Aave is no longer just for crypto enthusiasts. In August last year, Aave Labs launched a new product called Aave Horizon, a lending market built on Ethereum and designed specifically for traditional financial institutions. Related Reading: Peter Schiff Says Bitcoin Has Never Beaten Gold Since 2021 The idea is to allow established finance firms to borrow stablecoins using real-world assets as collateral. According to reports, VanEck, WisdomTree, and Securitize were among the first major institutions to participate in the offering — a sign that the gap between conventional finance and decentralized protocols is narrowing. Kulechov has also been vocal about what he sees as the next big opportunity for DeFi lending. Reports say he believes that tokenizing what he calls “abundance assets” — things like solar energy infrastructure, battery storage systems, and robotics used in labor — could open an entirely new category of collateral for decentralized lending. He expects those types of assets to be worth a combined $50 trillion by 2050. Featured image from BTCCard, chart from TradingView
Jane Street, one of the world’s largest market-making firms, has come under growing scrutiny as a series of allegations have surfaced linking the company to major disruptions in the crypto market. The firm is already facing a federal lawsuit tied to the collapse of Terraform Labs, and now new claims circulating on social media suggest that Trump Media has accused Jane Street and other trading firms of “naked short selling” in a letter to Congress. Jane Street Rejects Terra Allegations The legal troubles began earlier this week. On February 23, a lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York accusing Jane Street of using confidential information obtained from Terraform Labs to shield itself from heavy losses before the Terra/Luna ecosystem unraveled in May 2022. Related Reading: Coinbase Stablecoin Revenue Could Surge 7x Under GENIUS Act, Bloomberg Analysts Say According to the complaint, Jane Street allegedly leveraged insider knowledge to avoid more than $200 million in potential losses ahead of the implosion. The firm has strongly denied the accusations, characterizing the lawsuit as “desperate” and describing it as a “transparent attempt to extract money.” Beyond the courtroom, additional claims have gained traction online. Some market participants have alleged that Jane Street manipulated Bitcoin (BTC) prices by operating an algorithm that allegedly triggered consistent sell-offs at 10 a.m. each day for months. According to these claims, the strategy involved pushing prices lower, triggering liquidations among retail traders, and then repurchasing Bitcoin at reduced levels in a repeated cycle. Naked Short Selling Inquiry Adding another layer to the controversy, market commentator MartyParty stated on Thursday that Trump Media had sent a letter to members of Congress calling for a full investigation into Jane Street, Citadel and other firms over alleged naked short selling. Naked short selling refers to the practice of selling shares without first borrowing them, a tactic that is restricted under US securities law. Related Reading: Circle Tops Q4 Revenue Forecasts, Shares Surge 30% — Key Numbers Inside As of Thursday afternoon Eastern Time, there had been no official confirmation of such a letter, nor any public statement from Trump Media, Jane Street, or Citadel verifying the claim. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
XRP has had a rough stretch. The token is on pace to close its fifth straight month in the red, a run of weakness that has tested the patience of long-time holders and fueled debate about what comes next. Related Reading: Crypto’s Biggest Bull Run Could Come From The Most Unexpected Place: AI Bubble Yet even as the price sits well below its recent peak, a growing number of voices in the XRP community are not backing down from optimistic forecasts. One Analyst Says XRP Will Make People Rich In 2026 A market commentator known as Archie recently posted a chart on X projecting that XRP could climb as high as $83 per token before the end of 2026. At its current price of around $1.44, that would amount to a gain of roughly 5,900% — enough to push XRP’s total market value to an estimated $5 trillion. A holder sitting on 10,000 XRP would be approaching millionaire status at that price. Archie went further, suggesting the token could eventually reach four figures — meaning $1,000 or more per coin. Good morning XRP fam ☀️ Prediction????⬇️ XRP will make a lot of people rich in 2026???????? pic.twitter.com/mat4QMtWjN — Archie ???? (@Archie_XRPL) February 24, 2026 The post drew mixed reactions. Some holders backed the outlook. Others pushed back, with one user arguing that even a three-fold increase would barely move the needle for most people. Reports say some community members also raised concerns that any major price surge would disproportionately reward insiders, pointing to the significant token holdings of Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen. The 2016 Comparison That Bulls Keep Bringing Up XRP is currently down more than 60% from its recent high. Some analysts are drawing comparisons to a similar flat period the token went through in 2016, before a sharp rally took hold in 2017. The argument is that extended low-price stretches often clear out sellers who have lost conviction, setting the stage for stronger moves ahead. XRPL validator Vet addressed holders directly, saying this is not the time to walk away. Supporters point to greater regulatory clarity in the US, rising institutional interest, and continued activity on the XRP Ledger as factors that could shift momentum. Tokenization Adds A Different Kind Of Fuel The XRP Ledger has seen $1.3 billion in tokenized real-world assets added this year, pushing its total past $2.3 billion. Based on reports, commentator Brad Kimes of Digital Perspectives assembled views from multiple market voices arguing that if institutions tokenized 50% of circulating cash globally and the XRP Ledger captured 10% of that market, the resulting demand could push XRP’s price to triple digits. Related Reading: Bullish Signal? Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Turns Positive After Months In Red It is an ambitious model, but one tied to a real and growing trend in finance. Where XRP goes from here remains an open question — and the debate around it shows no signs of quieting down. Featured image from Flickr, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin climbed to $69,550 on Wednesday, its highest point in over a week, after a sharp swing upward from around $62,350 in less than a day. The move came as US stock markets turned green again, giving investors across the board a reason to buy back in. Related Reading: Crypto’s Biggest Bull Run Could Come From The Most Unexpected Place: AI Bubble ETF Cash Returns After Five Weeks Of Outflows One of the clearest signs of renewed confidence came from the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund market. Reports say US-listed Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $257.7 million in a single day on Tuesday — a notable turnaround after five straight weeks of withdrawals that had drained roughly close to $4 billion from those same funds. Fidelity drew approximately $83 million of that total. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust attracted close to $79 million. The return of institutional buying added fuel to a rally already building on the back of a calmer macro backdrop. The broader stock market’s recovery was partly tied to US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night, in which he described his first year in office as an economic success. He pointed to falling mortgage rates and a 1.7% drop in core inflation over the final three months of 2025. Markets took the speech as a sign that the policy chaos seen in recent months — particularly around tariffs and court battles — might be settling down. Spot Buyers, Not Speculators, Are Behind This Rally What makes this price move stand out is the data beneath the surface. Reports note that Bitcoin’s aggregated open interest — a measure of outstanding futures positions — has actually been declining even as prices climbed. It fell from above 240,000 BTC earlier in the week to around 235,167 BTC. That kind of drop suggests traders with borrowed money were closing out positions rather than opening new ones. Funding rates tell a similar story. They remain slightly negative at around -0.0037%, meaning short sellers are currently paying fees to traders betting on higher prices. That is an unusual setup during a strong rally, and it points to a market where aggressive speculation has been squeezed out rather than amplified. Related Reading: Bullish Signal? Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Turns Positive After Months In Red Ticking Upward The cumulative volume delta — which tracks whether buyers or sellers are more aggressive on spot markets — has been ticking upward, confirming that real purchasing activity is driving the move. According to market experts, options market dynamics are also playing a role. Dealers holding what is known as a positive gamma position tend to buy when prices dip and sell when prices rise, as part of routine hedging. That behavior acts as a natural shock absorber, smoothing out big swings and making explosive breakouts harder to sustain in either direction. Featured image from Yellow, chart from TradingView
Shares of Circle Internet Group (CRLC) climbed nearly 30% during Wednesday’s trading session after the company delivered fourth-quarter (Q4) 2025 results that comfortably exceeded Wall Street expectations. The strong earnings report, driven largely by growth in its USDC stablecoin and higher reserve income, pushed the stock to around $79.13 at the time of writing, marking a 29.2% gain over the past 24 hours. Circle Earnings Soar On USDC Expansion For the fourth quarter, Circle reported earnings of $0.43 per share, sharply ahead of the $0.16 per share analysts had projected. Total revenue and reserve income reached $770 million, representing a 77% increase compared with the same period a year earlier and surpassing consensus estimates of $747.4 million. Growth in USDC circulation and transaction activity played a central role in the company’s performance. By the end of 2025, USDC in circulation had risen to $75.3 billion, a 72% year-over-year (YoY) increase. Related Reading: Bitcoin May Be In A Price Slump—But Adoption Is In A Bull Market On-chain transaction volume involving USDC reached $11.9 trillion in the fourth quarter alone, up 247% from the prior year’s quarter. Net income from continuing operations totaled $133 million in Q4, an improvement of $129 million compared with the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter came in at $167 million, up 412% YoY. Looking at the full fiscal year, Circle generated $2.7 billion in total revenue and reserve income in 2025, a 64% increase compared with 2024. Despite that top-line growth, the company posted a net loss from continuing operations of $70 million for the year. That figure was significantly affected by $424 million in stock-based compensation expenses tied to vesting conditions triggered by its 2025 initial public offering (IPO). By comparison, Circle had recorded net income of $157 million from continuing operations in 2024. On an adjusted basis, EBITDA for the full year rose 104% to $582 million. CEO’s Long-Term Vision Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s co-founder, CEO, and chairman, described the quarter as another milestone in the company’s long-term strategy. He said the results reflect continued progress in building infrastructure for what he called an open and programmable internet-based financial system. According to Allaire, USDC adoption has expanded across enterprises, developers, and public institutions, with digital dollars increasingly used for payments, treasury management, and on-chain financial operations. Related Reading: Expert Forecasts $5 Trillions Pouring Into Crypto Post CLARITY Act Passage The executive also pointed to advancements toward launching the Arc mainnet, rising transaction volume across Circle’s CPN network, and growing traction for the company’s euro-backed stablecoin EURC and tokenized treasury product USYC. Circle, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in June last year, has experienced significant volatility since its debut. Although the latest rally lifted shares close to $79, the stock remains roughly 73% below its all-time high of $299, reached just weeks after its market debut. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
The cryptocurrency market staged a broad recovery on Wednesday, led by a sharp rebound in the Bitcoin price that pushed the digital asset close to the $70,000 level once again. Bitcoin climbed roughly 8% on the day, approaching a price zone that has acted as firm resistance since it was lost earlier this month. The renewed strength was not limited to Bitcoin. Ethereum (ETH) advanced 12%, XRP gained 8%, and Solana (SOL) surged 13%, reflecting a wider return of risk appetite across digital assets. Bitcoin Price Nears $70K As Altcoins Outperform Market experts suggest the bounce may be driven largely by investors stepping in after an extended period of weakness. Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, told Bloomberg that the upward move likely reflects dip-buying activity following the recent selloff. She added that a decisive move back above $70,000 for the Bitcoin price could alter the broader market narrative, potentially restoring confidence after weeks of pressure. Related Reading: Bitcoin May Be In A Price Slump—But Adoption Is In A Bull Market Recent trading patterns also suggest a change in investor positioning. Although demand for cryptocurrencies in the US has softened in recent weeks, it seems that capital is now rotating into altcoins, as evidenced by the gains made by ETH, XRP and SOL, which have outperformed Bitcoin in the last 24 hours. Daniel Reis-Faria, chief executive officer of ZeroStack, noted that Bitcoin increasingly trades within the context of the broader financial system. When liquidity conditions tighten, he said, volatility tends to increase. In that environment, assets such as Solana — which he described as generating “real yield” — may prove more resilient than tokens that were previously driven primarily by momentum. Still, some analysts caution against interpreting the rebound as a definitive turning point. Is Bitcoin Forming A New Bottom? Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, drew comparisons to the market environment in 2022, when a steep decline was followed by months of sideways consolidation before a sustained recovery eventually took hold. He observed that after the 2022 Bitcoin price downturn, it took more than a year for the market to regain and surpass prior highs, suggesting patience may be required this time as well. Galaxy Digital’s head of research, Alex Thorn, offered a nuanced view in his latest Bitcoin price outlook. He argued that the most intense phase of downside pressure is likely already behind the market. Among the supportive signals he cited were Bitcoin trading near its 200-week moving average (MA) and realized price, historically important technical levels. Related Reading: Expert Forecasts $5 Trillions Pouring Into Crypto Post CLARITY Act Passage In addition, more than half of all Bitcoin in circulation is currently underwater, the relative strength index has reached levels often associated with capitulation, and several other on-chain indicators are flashing signs that a bottom may be forming. However, Thorn also warned that even if the worst of the decline has passed, further challenges could lie ahead for the Bitcoin price. He said that market bottoms typically take time to fully develop, and prolonged sideways movement remains a possibility. A downturn in equities could exert additional pressure on digital assets, and the broader market still appears to lack a strong catalyst to drive sustained upside momentum. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) could be one of the biggest corporate beneficiaries of the United States’ first comprehensive crypto legislation, the GENIUS Act, which was signed into law in July 2025 and established a federal framework for stablecoin issuance and oversight. Coinbase Stablecoin Revenue Jumps 48% According to Bloomberg analysts Paul Gulberg and Samuel Radowitz, the new framework may significantly strengthen Coinbase’s fast-growing stablecoin business, particularly if adoption of dollar-backed tokens expands into mainstream payments. Related Reading: Bitcoin May Be In A Price Slump—But Adoption Is In A Bull Market In 2025, Coinbase generated an estimated $1.35 billion in revenue tied to stablecoins, a 48% increase from $911 million in 2024. That segment represented 19% of the company’s total annual revenue, underscoring how important stablecoins have become to the exchange’s overall business model. Unlike trading fees, which tend to rise and fall sharply alongside crypto market volatility, stablecoin-related income is derived from interest earned on reserves backing Circle’s USDC. Those reserves are primarily invested in US Treasuries and other low-risk instruments, producing yield. Coinbase receives a significant share of that interest income, making the business more predictable and generally higher margin than transaction-based revenue. The importance of this revenue stream became particularly evident in late 2025. During a period when Bitcoin (BTC) and broader crypto prices declined sharply, and Coinbase’s fourth-quarter revenue dropped 20%, income generated from stablecoins remained comparatively stable. Paul Gulberg and Samuel Radowitz argue that this consistency could become even more meaningful if regulatory clarity accelerates broader USDC adoption. GENIUS Act Expected To Accelerate USDC Growth The GENIUS Act is central to that outlook. By providing a national regulatory structure for stablecoin issuers, the legislation could remove barriers that have limited the use of USDC in areas such as cross-border payments and merchant settlements. If businesses and financial institutions adopt stablecoins more widely for real-world transactions, the overall supply of USDC could expand substantially. An increase in USDC circulation would require additional reserves to back those tokens, which in turn would generate more interest income from the underlying Treasury holdings. Because Coinbase shares in that yield, greater adoption directly translates into higher potential revenue. Bloomberg analysts estimate that under favorable conditions, Coinbase’s USDC-related revenue could grow by two to seven times its current level. Related Reading: Expert Forecasts $5 Trillions Pouring Into Crypto Post CLARITY Act Passage Yet, reaching the upper end of that projection depends on whether Coinbase can continue offering rewards to customers who hold USDC. If customer reward mechanisms remain in place, analysts believe USDC adoption could accelerate more rapidly. However, even if those programmes are limited or scaled back in the ongoing negotiations on the CLARITY Act, the clearer regulatory environment created by the GENIUS Act is still expected to support meaningful growth in stablecoin usage. At the time of writing, the exchange’s stock, trading under the ticker name COIN, surged towards $185 during Wednesday’s trading session, marking a 22% increase in the 24-hour time frame. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
The crypto markets are sitting in a mood that rarely looks like hope. Fear sits very high, and that kind of fear has traders asking whether the worst is already behind them or still to come. Extreme Fear And Market Signals Reports note the Crypto Fear & Greed Index recently hit a low of 11, one of the weakest readings this year. That kind of reading has shown up near big turns before, but it is not a guarantee of an instant rebound. Related Reading: Bullish Signal? Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Turns Positive After Months In Red Some pieces of market data point to deeper stress — consumer credit trouble, weak housing figures, and loan strain — while other parts of the market, especially certain tech sectors, have kept rising. One analyst warns that what looks like calm at the surface may be hiding pressure underneath. Jesse Eckel argues the broader economy has been dragged forward by gains in AI-driven stocks, even though many everyday measures show strain. His view: investors who want exposure to AI’s upside may find it easier to chase smaller crypto tokens than to buy into giant tech firms. AI Speculation Spreads To Smaller Tokens That logic is simple. Big tech stocks are expensive. Smaller crypto projects promise bigger upside for retail traders who want a quick win. Analysts say this pattern could push money into crypto rails when mania returns, and that retail buyers often prefer instruments that feel close at hand and cheap. Yet there is a difference between wanting a bet and finding a solid reason to make one, and that difference matters to outcomes. A Paid Model’s Bold Numbers Some forecasts backing the bullish case come from an AI model accessed by market participants. The model gave numbers that look dramatic: roughly $155,000 for Bitcoin by the end of 2026 and about $240,000 by 2027. Those figures are treated as directional estimates, not precise promises, and the analyst using the model stressed they should guide thinking rather than dictate it. How This Might Play Out If money does rotate from expensive tech shares into speculative crypto bets, the flow would likely start small and then build as headlines and social chatter amplify the move. Related Reading: Is Bitcoin The Poor Man’s Hedge Against Inflation? Coinbase CEO Thinks So That could lift small tokens first. Big moves often happen after long stretches where few people expect them. But the timing is hard to pin down. Market sentiment can stay negative for a long time even when conditions for a rebound are present. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Peter Schiff has a number. And he wants everyone to see it. The longtime gold supporter and Bitcoin critic took to social media this week to argue that when Bitcoin’s price is measured in gold rather than dollars, the flagship cryptocurrency has lost more than 66% of its value since hitting its all-time high in November 2021. Related Reading: Bullish Signal? Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Turns Positive After Months In Red The Math Behind Schiff’s Claim To make his case, Schiff reframed the comparison in a way that sidesteps the usual dollar-based charts. Back in November 2021, one Bitcoin could buy roughly 34.5 ounces of gold. Today, that same Bitcoin buys just 12 ounces — a drop of more than 64% in purchasing power relative to the precious metal. The dollar figures tell a similar story, at least from that starting point. According to Schiff, a $10,000 investment in Bitcoin at the November 2021 peak would be worth around $9,100 today. That same $10,000 put into gold over the identical period would have grown to more than $27,000. Gold was trading near $1,770 in late 2021 and has since climbed past $5,000 — a gain of roughly 185%. Bitcoin, by contrast, peaked at $69,000 during that same bull run. It has since pulled back sharply from a high of $126,200 reached in October 2025, and now sits around $63,000. Bitcoin is now down over 66% when priced in gold since its Nov. 2021 peak over four years ago. Putting that into perspective, had you invested $10,000 in Bitcoin back then, it would be worth about $9,100 today. But that same $10,000 invested in gold would be worth over $27,000. — Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) February 24, 2026 Bitcoin’s ‘Safe Haven’ Story Gets Complicated For years, Bitcoin was pitched to investors as a modern alternative to gold — scarce, decentralized, and resistant to inflation. The idea was simple: fixed supply would protect wealth the same way gold has for centuries. But recent market behavior has put that story under strain. When economic anxiety rises, many investors have continued to move money into gold rather than Bitcoin. Reports note that Bitcoin has, in several instances, moved more like a high-risk tech stock than a safe haven asset during periods of broader market stress. That pattern has made it harder for Bitcoin to claim the same defensive reputation that gold has built over a much longer history. CNBC crypto commentator Ran Neuner has also weighed in on the subject, saying that the store-of-value case for Bitcoin now faces serious scrutiny. Bitcoin supporters, for their part, push back on the framing. They point out that November 2021 was Bitcoin’s peak — about as unfavorable a starting point for comparison as one could choose. They also point out that the alpha crypto has climbed 320% from its cycle low of $15,000 in November 2023, while gold gained 150% over that same timeframe. For the first time in 12 years, I’m questioning Bitcoin’s thesis. It’s not the drawdown that concerns me; it’s how Bitcoin responded when markets genuinely moved into risk and uncertainty.$BTC evolved from “peer-to-peer cash” into “digital gold.” We fought for ETF approval.… pic.twitter.com/dblggAsanJ — Ran Neuner (@cryptomanran) February 16, 2026 Cycles, Not Trends, Say Bitcoin Supporters Reports say Bitcoin advocates cointend the crypto has always moved through boom-and-bust cycles, with steep recoveries typically following major beat-downs. Supply halvings, shifts in available liquidity, and swings in investor sentiment have historically been the impetus to those rebounds. Related Reading: XRP Fell Nearly 70% — Could History Repeat With An 835% Surge? From that view, the current stretch of underperformance against gold is seen as a normal part of Bitcoin’s cycle rather than a permanent reversal. Bitcoin completed a full market cycle last year, and a period of price correction is consistent with its historical behavior. Still, the gap between gold’s steady climb and Bitcoin’s volatile ride has given critics plenty of material. Schiff, who has maintained his skepticism of Bitcoin for well over a decade, shows no sign of changing his position anytime soon. Featured image from Unchained Podcast, chart from TradingView
t54 Labs has raised $5 million in a seed round from Anagram, Franklin Templeton, Ripple and other investors.
Bitcoin has lost nearly 30% of its value since January. Yet Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is making the case that it remains one of the most powerful tools ordinary people have to fight rising prices. That gap between the pitch and the reality is hard to ignore. Related Reading: Bullish Signal? Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Turns Positive After Months In Red Armstrong laid out his argument in a post on X, and later repeated it at the World Liberty Forum, an event hosted by the family of US President Donald Trump. The logic is straightforward: inflation quietly destroys the purchasing power of cash. Wealthier people protect themselves by moving money into stocks, real estate, and Bitcoin. People without access to those same options get hit hardest and have no way out. Inflation is a regressive tax on the poorest people in society, since they only hold cash. Once people have wealth, they can afford and get access to inflation-resistant asset classes (stocks, bitcoin, real estate, etc). Expanding financial access and opportunities globally to… — Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) February 23, 2026 A Fair Point, Pushed Too Far? It is a legitimate observation. Economists have made similar arguments for years — that inflation acts like a hidden tax on those with the least. Armstrong is not wrong about the problem. The prescription, though, is harder to defend. Bitcoin does not move like a slow, grinding inflation rate. It can drop 20% in a single week. For someone with no financial cushion, that is not protection. That is exposure to a different kind of loss — one that can happen far faster than any inflation rate ever could. The volatility is not a minor detail. It is the central flaw in the argument. The Law That Could Shift Things The more grounded part of Armstrong’s message involves legislation. The CLARITY Act, currently being debated in Congress, aims to define how digital assets are regulated in the US — which agencies hold authority and under what conditions. US Senator Bernie Moreno said lawmakers are pushing to pass the bill by April. Armstrong, speaking at the forum, called a balanced version of the bill a potential win for crypto firms, banks, and consumers alike. Talks have focused on stablecoins and whether they can offer competitive yields without running into existing banking rules. Related Reading: Crypto Funds Bleed $4 Billion As Investors Step Back – Here’s Why Keeping Pace With China Armstrong also raised the stakes internationally. China is advancing a government-backed digital currency that pays interest. His message to US regulators was direct: fall behind on stablecoin policy, and America loses ground in a competition it should be leading. It is a real concern — even if his inflation argument leaves something to be desired. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView
TBD, co-founded by former dYdX team members, has raised $3 million in a seed round co-led by CMT Digital and ParaFi.
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said crypto markets may be underestimating Wall Street's accelerating shift toward tokenization.
Although final passage of the CLARITY Act—commonly referred to as the crypto market structure bill —has been delayed in Congress, some experts believe its eventual approval could unleash an unprecedented wave of capital into the crypto sector. Trillions On Hold In a recent post on X (previously Twitter), the expert known as 360Trader argued that trillions of dollars in institutional money are waiting on regulatory certainty before entering digital assets. Related Reading: History Repeating? XRP Flashes Signal Last Seen Before Explosive 60,000% Rally According to his assessment, the CLARITY Act could act as the trigger that opens Wall Street’s doors to crypto in a meaningful way, potentially driving more than $5 trillion into the space over time. 360Trader pointed to comments from White House Digital Asset adviser Patrick Witt, who stated that trillions in institutional capital are effectively sidelined as firms wait for legal clarity. Large asset managers, including BlackRock, are often cited as examples of institutions constrained by the current patchwork regulatory environment. If the CLARITY Act becomes law, the expert believes the crypto market capitalization could surge beyond $4 trillion, drawing comparisons to the rally that followed the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) back in 2024. Catalyst For Next Crypto Bull Run? Stablecoins are another key element of the discussion. Under the proposed framework, banks would receive clearer authorization to issue stablecoins. The stablecoin market has already expanded significantly, reaching a reported $300 billion in supply in 2025 and processing approximately $33 trillion in transaction volume—figures that exceed the total throughput of Visa’s network. The possibility of major banks such as JPMorgan launching fully integrated stablecoins backed by substantial payment activity has been described as a potential turning point for the sector. The yield component is also drawing attention. Some stablecoin products currently offer returns in the range of 3% to 5%, compared with traditional savings accounts that average roughly 0.07%. Related Reading: World Liberty Financial Cites ‘Coordinated Attack’ — But Are There Deeper Issues? 360Trader suggested that this disparity could prompt a significant reallocation of capital—potentially as much as $6 trillion—from conventional bank deposits into crypto-linked instruments. Pension funds, university endowments and retail investors could all gain broader exposure to higher-yielding crypto products. In parallel, traditional financial institutions may begin integrating decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure to enable faster settlement and more efficient transaction rails. Yet, the traditional banking sector has consistently pushed back against stablecoin yield structures, citing concerns about the impact on their deposit bases. This has resulted in the current delay and the ongoing White House meetings. In the expert’s words: …I’m bullish on CLARITY unlocking trillions in dormant capital. This could be the catalyst that separates the next bull run from everything we’ve seen before. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
Crypto investment funds have now recorded a fifth straight week of net outflows, wiping roughly $4 billion from investor coffers over that span. Related Reading: Bullish Signal? Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Turns Positive After Months In Red That steady removal of capital has been paired with a sharp fall in trading activity, signaling that many holders are standing on the sidelines rather than buying dips. Trading Volume Hits Multi-Month Low According to a CoinShares report published Monday, crypto funds saw $288 million in net outflows last week, bringing the five-week total to roughly $4 billion. Weekly trading volumes also fell to about $17 billion, the lowest level since mid-2025, highlighting a slowdown in market activity even as prices have recently stabilized. Fewer transactions were recorded across major investment products, reflecting a quieter stretch for the market compared with earlier periods of heavier trading. Regional Flows Paint A Split Picture Reports note the US led withdrawals, while parts of Europe and Canada added fresh money. The US recorded $347 million of outflows, while Europe and Canada together showed net inflows of close to $60 million. Digital asset investment products recorded US$288M in outflows last week.@Bitcoin remains the key proponent of this negative sentiment, seeing US$215M in outflows. @ethereum saw the second largest outflows totalling US$36.5M. Minor inflows were seen in XRP @Ripple (US$3.5M),… pic.twitter.com/HFWIxVAZgO — CoinShares (@CoinSharesCo) February 23, 2026 Countries such as Switzerland, Canada, and Germany were among those adding funds. That split shows that not all investors view the market the same way right now. Some see value at lower prices; others are trimming exposure until clearer signs appear. Bitcoin Remains The Main Focus Of Selling Bitcoin accounted for the largest single-asset outflows, with about $215 million removed last week. At the same time, instruments that profit from falling prices received renewed interest, with short-Bitcoin products taking in around $5.5 million. A fair amount of recent liquidations was tied to Bitcoin moves, driven by traders who had large positions and saw prices move against them. Some positions were forced closed. That pushed volatility up in the short term. Ethereum and a handful of other coins also saw money leave, though a few assets attracted small inflows. XRP, Solana, and Chainlink each gained minor sums relative to the overall outflow. These were selective bets rather than broad rotations back into risk assets. Investment managers who moved into specific tokens appeared to be making tactical, not broad, commitments. Sidelined Capital Is Waiting Reports say much of the market’s strength depends on outside cash returning. Right now, many potential buyers are waiting for clearer signals from the macro side — interest rates, big economic reports, and policy hints from regulators. Without sustained buying, price bounces are more likely to be brief technical recoveries than full trend changes. Related Reading: Bitcoin Buying Spree Nears Century Mark, Saylor Hints A Pause More Than A Collapse This is not a market breakdown. It is a pause, according to analysts. Participation has dropped and that creates a fragile environment. If macro sentiment shifts and more buyers step in, flows could reverse quickly. Until then, expect choppy moves, low volume, and a market that reacts strongly to each new piece of news. Featured image from Vecteezy, chart from TradingView
Castle Labs is arguing that crypto’s long tail is structurally overbuilt and that most tokens will ultimately be priced toward zero unless they can prove real business traction and tighter token alignment. The thesis, published in a long X post, frames the current market as a selection phase rather than a broad-based recovery story. The core point is not that crypto itself is failing, but that token supply has far outpaced sustainable demand. Castle Labs says the result is a market where a handful of majors dominate while thousands of smaller assets compete for shrinking liquidity. Too Many Crypto Tokens Castle Labs points to concentration data to make the case. According to the post, the top five crypto assets account for 84.4% of total market capitalization, leaving the rest of the market with 15.6%, or roughly $330 billion, spread across thousands of tokens. Related Reading: House Democrats Urge Treasury Probe Into Trump Family’s Crypto Venture It contrasts that with US equities, where the MAG7 represent 31% of the market and the S&P 500 represents 84.7%. In Castle Labs’ framing, crypto has reached roughly the same concentration level as the top 500 US companies, but with only five assets doing the heavy lifting. “Over the years, so many coins have been created that 99% of them need to go to zero for the industry’s good,” the firm wrote. It adds that the mismatch has become harder to ignore for investors who bought into crypto’s institutional adoption narrative but remain deep underwater in alt-heavy portfolios. Castle Labs outlines three broad paths for rebalancing: majors lose share to smaller tokens, external liquidity lifts the broader market, or weaker tokens lose value while majors absorb more of the capital. It argues the third outcome is the most likely, even if the first would be healthier in theory. A major part of the argument is simple market mechanics. Castle Labs says token unlocks will continue to add supply into a market where demand is already selective, citing $8.51 billion in unlock value this year and $17.12 billion over the next five years. That overhang, it argues, is colliding with poor business performance across much of the sector. Out of more than 5,600 protocols listed on DeFiLlama, Castle Labs says only 76 generated more than $1 million in revenue in the last 30 days, and only 237 cleared $100,000. Revenue is concentrated too. The post says the top 10 protocols in 2025 accounted for 80% of total crypto revenue, while the top three accounted for 64%, with Tether alone representing 44%. It also notes that only three of those top 10 revenue generators had launched tokens so far: Hyperliquid, Pumpfun, and Jupiter and says only HYPE materially outperformed. Related Reading: Goldman Sachs CEO Says US Must Codify How Crypto ‘Will Operate’ That backdrop helps explain Castle Labs’ skepticism toward new listings. It says there were about 118 major token launches in 2025, and 84.7% traded below their TGE valuation, which it describes as evidence of inflated launch pricing and weak post-launch structure. The Alignment Problem Castle Labs also argues the market is punishing tokens that are not economically aligned with the products they represent. It cites Circle’s acquisition of Interop Labs, where Axelar’s token AXL was not part of the deal, as an example of product value and token value diverging. “Tokens are not a legal representation of the business and don’t offer any actual rights over the company’s profits, unlike equity,” the firm wrote. “Investors, when they receive tokens, have these rights through the equity they hold. So they are in a better position, but token holders? They are at the project’s mercy when it comes to aligning their product with their token.” In that framework, buybacks are treated as one of the clearest signs of alignment. Castle Labs highlights Hyperliquid and Aave, and says Uniswap is only fully aligned with tokenholders after more than five years of its token’s existence. The firm’s conclusion is blunt but specific: capital should rotate toward protocols with real revenue, tokenholder alignment, and credible mechanisms to offset dilution. Whether that thesis holds in the next cycle may depend less on narrative and more on whether more projects adopt the kind of KPI- and revenue-led launch models Castle Labs says are now starting to emerge. At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $2.16 trillion. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Vitalik Buterin has been moving Ether into stablecoins again. According to on-chain data, wallets linked to him carried out a series of swaps on CoW Swap, sending more than 3,100 ETH into stable assets in recent days. Related Reading: Bitcoin Buying Spree Nears Century Mark, Saylor Hints Reports from Arkham Intelligence flagged the activity, which lowered his visible balance to just above 224,000 ETH — still a very large holding. Latest Moves And What They Mean The numbers deserve context. A $6 million set of sales is small compared with a multi-hundred-million-dollar stake. Some of the transfers were public and routine. Reports say parts of earlier moves — about $29 million worth — had clear funding purposes. At least $2.3 million of that was used to back projects tied to the foundation’s work. That is a normal use of a treasury when teams need cash for development and grants. Funding And Foundation Plans The sale sequence also fits into a broader plan that was mentioned publicly weeks ago. Buterin signaled that roughly $44.7 million might be offloaded over time while the Ethereum Foundation tightens spending and adopts a more frugal stance. That mild austerity is meant to stretch funds and keep core programs running. Moving assets into stablecoins can be a defensive step: it reduces exposure to price swings while preserving buying power for future spending. Market Reaction And Price Pressure Still, markets are fragile. ETH has fallen, trading under $1,900 and hitting two-week lows in the recent session. The token is down sharply over the past month, and that drop amplifies any news about big holders selling. Prediction markets even assign a high chance that ETH falls to $1,500 before climbing back to $3,000. Traders react to signals; founder moves are a signal. That does not automatically mean the founder is abandoning the project, but it does feed short-term anxiety. Related Reading: XRP Fell Nearly 70% — Could History Repeat With An 835% Surge? Roadmap Talk And Longer View Beyond the cash moves, Buterin has been outspoken about technical direction. He argued the mainnet needs a rethink of how it works with layer-two rollups, and he backed an upgrade aimed at strengthening censorship resistance. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
The recent Bitcoin (BTC) price performance may appear subdued, with the leading crypto currently trading below the $65,000 level and sitting around 50% under all-time highs, but a new report from River suggests that adoption trends in 2025 tell a very different story. According to the firm, the network’s growth across institutions, businesses, financial advisors, and even nation-states accelerated sharply over the past year, despite market weakness. Institutional Bitcoin Demand One of the most notable developments has been the scale of institutional accumulation. River reports that institutions acquired approximately 829,000 Bitcoin in 2025 alone. These buyers included corporations, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), investment funds, and government-related entities. Related Reading: History Repeating? XRP Flashes Signal Last Seen Before Explosive 60,000% Rally Investment advisors have also emerged as steady buyers. Registered investment advisors (RIAs), which collectively oversee around $146 trillion in client assets, have been net purchasers of Bitcoin exposure for eight consecutive quarters. Their participation largely began after the launch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in 2024. Over the past two years, RIAs have invested approximately $1.5 billion per quarter into Bitcoin ETFs, without a single quarter of net selling. Adoption within this group is already widespread: 29 of the top 30 US RIAs hold Bitcoin exposure. However, allocations remain minimal, averaging just 0.008% of assets, leaving considerable room for expansion. Surge In Bank, Corporate And Retail Adoption Traditional banks are also moving closer to the asset. Around 60% of the largest US banks are reportedly developing Bitcoin-related products. Corporate adoption accelerated as well. Public company ownership of Bitcoin increased by 2.5 times in 2025, with businesses collectively ranking as the largest net buyers during the year. Much of this demand came from Bitcoin treasury companies, but River notes that many established corporations have been quietly adding BTC in smaller amounts. The firm expects this type of balance sheet adoption to expand across the S&P 500 in the years ahead. Merchant usage has grown at a rapid pace. In the United States, the number of businesses accepting BTC payments tripled in 2025, while global merchant adoption rose by 74%. River, which serves more than 3,000 businesses across multiple industries, reports that the strongest growth is occurring among small, privately held companies, many of which do not publicly disclose their Bitcoin strategies. Nation-States Expand BTC Holdings Nation-state involvement also increased. Five additional countries became Bitcoin holders in 2025. Among them were Luxembourg and Saudi Arabia, whose sovereign wealth funds acquired exposure, and the Czech Republic. Governments have accumulated Bitcoin through a variety of channels, including state-backed mining operations, direct purchases, ETF exposure, asset seizures, donations, and even hacking-related recoveries. Related Reading: World Liberty Financial Cites ‘Coordinated Attack’ — But Are There Deeper Issues? Looking ahead, River argues that the divergence between price performance and adoption is striking. While the current phase of growth may not immediately translate into dramatic price multiples, it reflects a deeper form of progress: We expect that in the coming years, Bitcoin adoption will not only continue its current trend but meaningfully accelerate. As of this writing, BTC is trading at $64,459, marking losses of 26% and 31% over the past thirty days and year-to-date, respectively. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Binance now offers trading in select tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs through a partnership with Ondo Finance.
XRP is entering a stretch where on-chain cost basis, leverage, and flow data may matter more than broad market narratives. The token is approaching a critical point after a sharp rise in realized losses, with on-chain activity showing investors moving coins below their purchase prices. That is a classic capitulation signal. It often appears near […]
The post XRP ETF inflows collapse 93% as price capitulates, will this cause a reset or repair phase? appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Bitcoin flipped a small but notable technical switch this week when the Coinbase premium moved back above zero, ending a run of negative readings that began after heavy selling on February 6. Related Reading: XRP Fell Nearly 70% — Could History Repeat With An 835% Surge? Coinbase Premium Flips Above Zero According to market data published on February 23, 2026, Bitcoin was trading around $66,150 on Binance futures at one point, showing a brief hourly uptick of 0.40%. Yet other spot indexes told a different slice of the story: CoinMarketCap listed BTC near $65,070 and flagged a roughly 3% drop for the day. Those gaps are normal: futures, spot feeds, and aggregate trackers can diverge. What matters here is the premium’s direction — it had been negative for much of February and then crossed into positive territory. Coinbase Bitcoin Premium has flipped positive for the first time since the Feb 6th bottom. It looks like institutions are done with selling for now. pic.twitter.com/rUYgxO2Fo8 — Ted (@TedPillows) February 23, 2026 Why Traders Care About The Premium Coinbase is widely used by big US buyers, so a positive premium is read by many traders as a hint that domestic spot demand is outpacing offshore pressure. But a flip above zero is only a starting signal. The size of the spread, how long it holds, and whether exchange inflows back up the move are the things that turn a signal into a trend. Small, short-lived flips can be caused by temporary liquidity differences or quick arbitrage trades. Larger, sustained spreads are the ones that tend to matter to portfolio managers. Geopolitics And Market Mood Market watchers are also pointing to broader factors. Rising tensions between the US and Iran, along with talk about tariff adjustments linked to US President Donald Trump, have driven investors toward safer assets in recent sessions. That mood has at times pushed BTC below important technical cushions near $65,000, and some sessions saw brief dips under $64,000 before a few calm windows allowed minor rebounds. When fear spikes, crypto often feels it first. Derivatives, Volume, And Technical Levels Futures activity on Binance and other platforms stayed busy, even if volume didn’t show the sort of surge that precedes big breakouts. Reports put daily trading volume near $45.71 billion while market cap sat close to $1.30 trillion. Funding rates, open interest, and exchange inflows are being monitored closely; each can either confirm or undercut the message from the Coinbase premium. A rising open interest that aligns with a growing premium would be more persuasive than a lone spread tick. Related Reading: Bitcoin Buying Spree Nears Century Mark, Saylor Hints Encouraging Signs A Coinbase premium turning positive offers a hopeful signal after weeks below zero, but it doesn’t confirm a sustained rally. Investors will be tracking how large the spread is, whether Coinbase sees significant inflows, and if funding rates and open interest support the move. Traders are likely to wait through the next sessions for clear signs before considering the market stabilized. Featured image from Gemini, chart from TradingView
XRP is on track to close its fifth consecutive month in negative territory, a rare stretch of sustained losses that has not been seen since late 2016. Despite holding at around $1.30, the token has declined nearly 30% in February alone, according to CoinGecko data, extending a broader five-month decline of roughly 50%. XRP Flashes Pre-Bull Run Pattern The last time XRP recorded five straight red monthly candles was between October 2016 and February 2017. During that period, the price slipped from $0.00885 to $0.00557, a decline of 37%, before finding a bottom near $0.0055 in March 2017. By May 2017, XRP had surged to $0.3988 — a gain of 7,000% in just two months. After consolidating through the summer, the token climbed again, eventually reaching $3.31 in January 2018. From its March 2017 low, that marked a 60,000% increase. Related Reading: Ready For A 443% Dogecoin Move? The Meme Coin Just Touched A Historically Explosive Level With XRP now following a similar path, market analyst Sam Daodu examined the comparison in a new report released on Monday. Daodu noted that the current setup “rhymes” with the 2016–2017 structure: five consecutive months of declines, tightening price action, and signs that selling pressure may be exhausting itself. However, he cautioned that the market environment has changed dramatically since XRP was “a micro‑cap token. In 2017, XRP’s total market value was less than $300 million. Daodu pointed out that at that level, even a few hundred million dollars in new capital might raise the price by thousands of percentage points. Today, XRP has a market capitalization of about $88 billion. According to the analyst, this scale makes a 60,000% surge virtually impossible under any realistic market conditions. 250% Rally Still In Play A comparable rally would imply a move to roughly $852 per token. With approximately 58 billion XRP in circulation, that would translate to a market capitalization exceeding $49 trillion — more than the combined value of all stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Still, Daodu argues that while a repeat of the 2017 explosion is off the table, a meaningful recovery remains within reach if the bottoming pattern holds. A return to XRP’s July 2025 high of $3.65 would represent a gain of about 157% from current levels. A move toward $5 — near the upper range of analyst forecasts for 2026 — would amount to a 252% increase. Related Reading: Bitcoin Buying Spree Nears Century Mark, Saylor Hints Even more conservative projections suggest room for upside. Standard Chartered recently reduced its XRP target by 65%, citing near‑term headwinds, but its revised forecast of $2.80 would still imply a roughly 97% rise from current trading prices. The key difference in this cycle, according to Daodu, lies in the source of demand. The explosive rally of 2017 was largely driven by retail speculation. In contrast, any substantial gains this time would likely depend on institutional flows, including potential exchange‑traded fund (ETF) inflows, broader institutional adoption, and a recovery across the wider crypto market. While another 60,000% run is unrealistic, Daodu believes a 150% to 250% advance is achievable if momentum shifts and capital returns to the sector. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
A sharp drop in XRP has rattled short-term holders, but some onlookers warn the sell-off may be setting a base for a much larger rebound. Reports say the token slid hard after peaking last year, and a mix of on-chain metrics and chart patterns has traders weighing whether this is panic or opportunity. Related Reading: Bitcoin Buying Spree Nears Century Mark, Saylor Hints Deep Losses And A Familiar Pattern According to price data, XRP fell from a high near $3.65 to roughly $1.38, a move that wiped out a large chunk of recent gains and produced a 60% pullback from the July peak. Traders watched as realized losses spiked, with roughly $1.90 billion recorded over one week — a level that matches past capitulation events. When big losses pile up in a short span, selling pressure can be exhausted and the market is often left with fewer weak hands. Reports note that the token is approaching a higher-time-frame demand area between $0.85 and $0.65, a zone that acted as resistance before the rally in late 2024. In prior cycles, that same area turned into a multi-year accumulation range where long-term buyers stepped in. $XRP Crashed 69% And Everyone Is Panicking: Last Time This Happened It Pumped 835%#XRP Is Trading Around $1.39 After Breaking Down From $2 Support Zone. Currently Retesting The HTF Demand Level Which Previously Acted As Multi-Year Accumulation Zone Upper Boundary. Already… pic.twitter.com/ZVKY1nwLD4 — Crypto Patel (@CryptoPatel) February 22, 2026 From Panic To Jubilation Analyst Crypto Patel has highlighted those historical signals on social feeds, arguing the setup looks familiar and may not be permanent panic. He warned that XRP has dropped 69% and panic is spreading, but the last time it fell this much, it surged 835%. Bitcoin Moves Provide Context Across the broader market, Bitcoin’s swings have been a backdrop to altcoin pain. Recent sessions saw BTC shift from the high $66,000s down toward the mid-$60,000s, and that kind of volatility tends to drag other coins along. When BTC retreats, altcoins often fall harder, and XRP was no exception. The interplay between Bitcoin’s price action and altcoin flows is a practical reminder that macro moves still matter even when token-specific stories dominate headlines. Reports have recorded quick selling from short-term holders after price broke below $2, a psychological level many treated as support. That drop accelerated the move to near $1.11 in early February, which represented close to 70% drawdown from the cycle top. Related Reading: XRP Flashes Rare On-Chain Signal That Once Preceded 114% Gains What Traders Are Watching Next A slice of the market exited positions in frustration. Those exits show up cleanly on-chain as realized losses, which can mark the final wave of sellers before stability returns. From a technical view, staying above the lower bound of the $0.65 to $0.85 band on longer timeframes would be taken as constructive by many. If that holds, a phased recovery could bring prior resistance levels back into play — around $2, then $3, and beyond. Featured image from Gemini, chart from TradingView
Data shows cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges have racked up liquidations as Bitcoin and other assets have gone through a price retrace. Crypto Liquidations Have Crossed $500 Million During The Past Day According to data from CoinGlass, a massive amount of liquidations have piled up on digital asset derivatives platforms following the latest market volatility. “Liquidation” refers to the forceful closure that any open contract undergoes after it has incurred a loss of a specific degree (as defined by the exchange). Related Reading: Bitcoin Extreme Fear Streak Extends To 22 Days As Price Struggles Fast, violent moves tend to catch a large number of contracts off guard at once, so mass liquidation events tend to accompany them. The same has been the case with the volatility shown by Bitcoin and the company during the past day. As the table below shows, about $507 million in derivatives contracts have been liquidated over the last 24 hours. $438 million or 86% of the liquidations involved long contracts. This overwhelming majority in the leverage flush from the bullish bets is naturally because of the fact that the sharpest move inside this window was one to the downside. Bitcoin went from $67,700 to a low of $64,300 within the matter of a few hours. As the market has rebounded since this plunge, some short investors have also been liquidated, with their 24-hour liquidation figure sitting at $69 million. In terms of the individual assets, Bitcoin was once again the biggest contributor to the derivatives flush, with $233 million in contracts involved. Below is a heatmap that shows how liquidations have looked for the other coins. On-chain analytics firm Santiment has made an X post discussing the volatility, noting that it has caused a drop in the Bitcoin Open Interest. This indicator measures the total amount of positions related to BTC (in USD) that are currently open on all derivatives exchanges. As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin Open Interest plunged to $19.5 billion following the event, which is about half the level that the metric was at during the January peak of $38.3 billion. The indicator’s decline signifies a mix of liquidations and investors choosing to pull back on risk. Related Reading: Bitcoin Big-Money Exits: Large-Holder Supply Hits Lowest Since May 2025 In the same chart, Santiment has also attached the data for the Negative Sentiment, a metric that tracks the degree of bearish sentiment around BTC on the major social media platforms. This indicator has shot up alongside the price decline and hit a two-week high, implying a spike in FUD among retail investors. Bitcoin Price At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $66,300, down nearly 5% over the past week. Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com
XRP is facing one of its most difficult stretches in years, with price action, on-chain data, and derivatives activity pointing to a market under pressure. Related Reading: Ready For A 443% Dogecoin Move? The Meme Coin Just Touched A Historically Explosive Level After weeks of steady declines, the token has now recorded its sharpest weekly downturn since 2022, triggering renewed debate among analysts over whether the sell-off marks the start of a deeper correction or the late stages of a broader market shakeout. Currently, XRP is trading near the $1.33–$1.36 range, down roughly 30% over the past month and more than 60% below its July 2025 peak of $3.65. The decline mirrors weakness across the wider digital asset market, where risk appetite has remained subdued amid macroeconomic uncertainty. XRP's price trends to the downside on the daily chart. Source: XRPUSD on Tradingview Capitulation Signals Emerge as Losses Spike One of the most closely watched developments is the surge in realized losses across the network. On-chain data shows investors locked in nearly $1.93 billion in losses over the past week, the largest spike in about 39 months. Realized losses occur when holders sell below their purchase price, often during panic-driven sell-offs. Historically, similar events have coincided with market capitulation phases, where short-term holders exit positions and tokens shift toward longer-term investors. A comparable spike in 2022 was followed by a significant recovery months later, though analysts caution that past performance does not guarantee a repeat. Despite falling prices, trading activity has increased. Spot trading volume jumped above $2.3 billion in 24 hours, while futures volume and open interest also climbed, suggesting traders are actively positioning rather than leaving the market. Key Levels and the “Shakeout” Narrative Technically, the $1.30 level has become a critical support zone. XRP briefly slipped below it before recovering, indicating buying interest remains present. However, analysts warn that a confirmed breakdown could open the path toward $1.20 or even the psychological $1.00 level. Some market watchers argue that the current structure resembles previous consolidation phases that preceded strong rallies. According to this view, another decline toward the $1.10 area remains possible as markets get rid of weaker participants before any sustained move higher. Momentum indicators also reflect pressure. XRP continues trading below key moving averages, and while the relative strength index suggests oversold conditions, no confirmed bullish reversal has formed yet. Structural Factors Shift Focus Toward Q2 Beyond short-term price action, attention is increasingly turning to structural developments that could influence performance later in 2026. Analysts point to improving regulatory clarity, institutional positioning, and planned upgrades to the XRP Ledger aimed at supporting tokenized assets, lending functions, and compliant trading environments. Related Reading: Political Meme Coins Implode: TRUMP Down 92%, MELANIA Nearly Wiped Out Derivatives data adds another layer to the outlook. Open interest remains elevated despite declining prices, a pattern that has historically preceded expansion phases when new capital enters the market. Cover image from ChatGPT, XRPUSD chart from Tradingview
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Michael Saylor’s quiet hint this weekend put a spotlight on a methodical habit that has quietly shaped corporate crypto moves for years. Related Reading: XRP Flashes Rare On-Chain Signal That Once Preceded 114% Gains Michael Saylor posted a chart with the caption “The Orange Century,” and through that single image he signaled what many traders already suspected: the company he chairs is poised to make another buy. Strategy has been buying Bitcoin in steady doses since 2020. Reports note the firm has completed 99 buys so far. That makes the next purchase the 100th. Short headline. Big milestone. The buy count matters because it shows a pattern more than it shows timing. Buy Pace And Signals The image Saylor shared on the X platform is the same type of chart the company has shown before when a purchase was near. Other market watchers read the post as a likely prelude to actual buy orders. The company has not issued a formal press release about a specific date. The Orange Century. pic.twitter.com/8zelTduTPC — Michael Saylor (@saylor) February 22, 2026 Recent Activity And Holdings According to public records, the firm now holds about 717,131 BTC at an average cost near $76,027 per coin. Market prices have drifted lower from that average. Bitcoin was trading around $65,050 at the time of the reports. That gap has put the firm’s cost basis in the red on paper. Still, buying has continued; the company has added BTC for many consecutive weeks in 2026 and showed no obvious pause even as prices moved down. Shareholders And Market Reaction Reports note that since the initial stake was bought in August 2020, the firm’s stock has climbed sharply. Yahoo Finance data shows a rise from roughly $12.44 then to about $131.05 at the time this report was made, an increase of around 950%. That price swing has made the strategy attractive to some investors who wanted exposure to Bitcoin through a public stock. Others worry about concentration risk when a single asset so heavily shapes a company’s balance sheet. How This Fits Broader Trends Other firms have copied pieces of this playbook. Moving treasury cash into Bitcoin has become one option among several for companies that want to shield some value from inflation or to chase upside tied to crypto. Related Reading: Political Meme Coins Implode: TRUMP Down 92%, MELANIA Nearly Wiped Out That has had a ripple effect: when big public holders buy, it can shift short-term flows and signal confidence to certain corners of the market. At the same time, critics argue that using corporate coffers to buy a volatile asset brings fresh governance questions. The next move will be watched closely. If the 100th buy happens, it will be seen as a reaffirmation of a strategy that has been consistent for years. Observers will then parse whether the purchase is symbolic, tactical, or simply another step in a long, steady accumulation. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
The round was structured as an equity investment with token warrants, Based co-founder and CEO Edison Lim told The Block.