Crypto's next major use case has arrived: powering autonomous AI agents. And they're already using "natural selection" to evolve onchain...
Ever since the Bitcoin price slipped below the psychological $100,000 mark, sentiment across the crypto market has steadily deteriorated. The breakdown under $90,000 intensified the shift, pushing market mood from neutral into clear fear territory. Traders are now leaning increasingly bearish on Bitcoin and the broader market, with many beginning to speculate that a deeper …
Ever since the Bitcoin price slipped below the psychological $100,000 mark, sentiment across the crypto market has steadily deteriorated. The breakdown under $90,000 intensified the shift, pushing market mood from neutral into clear fear territory. Traders are now leaning increasingly bearish on Bitcoin and the broader market, with many beginning to speculate that a deeper …
Brevan Howard’s BH Digital Asset fund fell 29.5% in 2025, its worst performance since the crypto-focused fund's 2021 launch.
The price of Bitcoin is currently moving in a consolidation phase, near short-term technical levels that could determine the next major direction. While the broader long-term trend has already been discussed extensively by analysts, recent short-timeframe chart activity shows the market is still forming a corrective structure rather than a full bullish breakout. Support zone …
Bitwise filed for prediction market ETFs tied to the 2028 U.S. presidential election amid state regulatory scrutiny on the sector.
An obscure Hong Kong firm has disclosed a $436 million position in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, a revelation that is fueling speculation about Chinese capital flowing into crypto through offshore side doors. Laurore Ltd, a previously unknown entity, reported the stake in BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in a filing with the US Securities and […]
The post Is China using US Bitcoin ETFs as a backdoor? Mystery Hong Kong firm invested $436M in BlackRock’s IBIT appeared first on CryptoSlate.
A fraying global order and a renewed bid for gold may be the early setup for the next crypto cycle, even if Bitcoin hasn’t confirmed the signal yet. That’s the argument from Will Taylor (@Cryptoinsightuk), who laid out a macro-to-crypto framework in a Jan. 17 X post. Taylor framed his post as an attempt to timestamp his thinking rather than deliver a clean forecast. “I’m going to try and relate this as much to crypto as possible, because that’s where the majority of my investments reside,” he wrote. Taylor’s starting point is qualitative but clear: “something feels different,” and the shift has accelerated over the last five to six years. He points to a US-led “rules-based order” showing “early signs of fragility,” referencing Trump’s tariffs and the Russia-Ukraine war, particularly the decision to limit Russia’s ability to transact in US dollars. Gold, in his view, is the market’s canary. He argues sanctions pressure may have helped push gold out of a long consolidation, and that gold’s acceleration is less about a simple inflation trade and more about confidence. “When you see an acceleration in gold… what it’s displaying… is a lack of trust in the world’s current economy and structure,” he wrote. “The lack of trust is displayed by the price accelerating higher… because that trust is starting to break.” Related Reading: Crypto Funds Bleed $173M As Outflows Extend To Fourth Week – Report That’s where Taylor turns the lens onto crypto. If the defining macro variable is trust decay — a scenario where decentralisation should be valuable — why isn’t crypto already repricing? Taylor frames it as a fork: either crypto’s value proposition is impaired, or the market is simply in a short-term pullback inside a larger cycle. Taylor highlights a specific narrative pressure point: Bitcoin’s relationship to gold. Since October, he says Bitcoin has deviated from its prior correlation with gold. To realign that relationship, he argues Bitcoin would need to be “currently around $170,000.” He presents that level less as a target and more as a marker for how wide the gap has become between “gold is screaming uncertainty” and “Bitcoin is still negotiating its role.” He also acknowledges the uncomfortable alternative: that the narrative breaks and the correlation doesn’t return. Taylor’s counterweight is a late-cycle liquidity argument. He notes that in end-of-cycle transitions “everything in the market pumps,” pointing to historical episodes where asset prices surged before major resets, and he argues governments will lean on the familiar lever: fiat creation to try to preserve the current system. In that framing, gold’s strength could be a symptom of currency debasement already underway, while Bitcoin’s lag could be exactly that: lag. The Bull Case: Exponential Repricing, Crypto Rotation Taylor ultimately leans toward a sharp upside repricing. He argues Bitcoin is technically coiled and narratively positioned as a borderless asset in a world drifting toward bipolar or multipolar blocs. Even if the system becomes more fractured — and even if there is “rot” in parts of crypto — he argues the market lacks a better digital alternative for portability and speed, especially for machine-driven activity. He then pushes the idea into a mania scenario, writing that Bitcoin could reach $200,000 to $500,000, and potentially “$500,000 plus” if liquidity from larger markets moves meaningfully into Bitcoin. His core mechanism is not just market-cap arithmetic, but supply-demand dynamics: a concentrated wave of demand colliding with limited marginal supply can move price faster than most models expect. Related Reading: After Extreme Pessimism, Crypto Market Conditions Begin To Stabilize: Analysts Taylor’s more distinctive claim is that altcoins could lead the next leg. “If crypto is going to survive as an asset class, it won’t be Bitcoin as leading the market,” he wrote, arguing Bitcoin is largely a store-of-value rail, while a functional financial layer requires faster value transfer, smart contracts, and “a bunch of other financial tools” associated with legacy markets. In his view, if crypto becomes infrastructure — for AI-era payments and global settlement — “an altcoin is going to, or a mixture of altcoins are going to have to come to the center of the stage.” Volatility Compression And Price Targets Taylor also leans on technical signals. He points to a broader bearish structure in Bitcoin dominance and tight Bollinger Band compression as evidence that volatility is “around the corner.” He notes the emergence of a “quantum risk” narrative around Bitcoin’s cryptography, while arguing that negative narratives tend to cluster when sentiment is already depressed. On cycle structure, he argues crypto cycles have compressed in both duration and magnitude: 22,000% over 853 days (2015 to Feb. 2018), then roughly 1,200% over 395 days in the next cycle (starting from the C19 sell-off). Extending that pattern, he suggests the market could add roughly 600% “within 184 days,” sketching a “back of the napkin” path toward a total crypto value around $16 trillion. From there he proposes a scenario where $6 trillion flows into stablecoins and the remainder into liquid crypto exposure, implying downstream effects on DeFi and the networks stablecoins run on. Under that backdrop, he floats aggressive price outcomes: ETH at $30,000–$40,000, XRP at $20–$25, and Solana at $2,000 — while acknowledging how extreme those projections look from today’s vantage point. At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $2.3 trillion. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Defensive sentiment, falling leverage, and declining ETF exposure suggest the market may be near a bottom, K33 said.
Arkham Intelligence released new on-chain data showing that six entities control a combined 4.25 million Bitcoin. That’s roughly 21% of all BTC that will ever exist, and most of it isn’t going anywhere. Satoshi Nakamoto still tops the list with 1,096,358 BTC, worth around $75 billion. Arkham traced these coins using a known mining pattern …
The ECB is set to begin selecting EU-licensed payment providers for its digital euro pilot this quarter, with the 12-month pilot set to kick off in the second half of 2027.
The EU regulated blockchain earlier than most major economies. Its sandbox now tests whether dialogue unlocks innovation inside legal fences.
The WLFI price just ripped 25% higher intraday and no, it wasn’t random. A so-called “golden ticket” style invitation for an event at Mar-a-Lago flipped sentiment fast, and traders wasted no time piling in. Momentum didn’t just tick up. It exploded. Futures Volume Goes Parabolic Futures activity spiked 225%, with volume reaching $921.63 million. Open …
The UK is experiencing socio-economic conditions reminiscent of a Soviet-style collapse. Sudden loss of trust in institutions can lead to chaotic environments, ripe for exploitation. Poland's integration of the former regime into the new structure helped stabilize its transition.
The post Izabella Kaminska: UK’s decline mirrors Soviet collapse | The Peter McCormack Show appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
BlackRock's slight reduction in Bitcoin proxy holdings may signal cautious optimism, impacting market perceptions and investment strategies.
The post BlackRock trims stake in Bitcoin proxy Strategy but keeps top shareholder spot appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Bitcoin is currently in a bear market, and more accommodative policies might not trigger a bull market. The historical correlation between global liquidity and Bitcoin's performance has been disrupted. Global liquidity is currently around $170 trillion and continues to rise.
The post Jeff Park: Bitcoin is in a bear market with broken liquidity correlations, US policy is shifting towards centralization, and the importance of ‘peacetime’ vs. ‘wartime’ Bitcoin | The Pomp Podcast appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Crypto tax platform, Awaken Tax, polled 1,000 crypto holders about a radical shift from self-disclosure to automatic reporting of transactions.
The exploit saw the Moonwell protocol exploited for $1.78 million after cbETH was mispriced at $1.12 instead of roughly $2,200, intensifying debate around AI-co-authored smart contracts.
Robert Kiyosaki expects a sharp market slide and sees it as a chance to add to his holdings. He has named Bitcoin and Ethereum alongside gold and silver as places to park money when prices tumble. Related Reading: Bitcoin Should Be Flying—Instead, Quantum Risk Keeps It Grounded: Analyst The book author and crypto figure calls scarcity a simple reason to act now. That idea is not new, but he is putting fresh public emphasis on buying during market panic. “I am so excited and bullish on Bitcoin I am buying more and more as Bitcoin’s price goes down,” Kiyosaki said in an X post. Kiyosaki’s Scarcity Argument Kiyosaki’s view rests on one clear point: some assets are limited. Bitcoin’s capped supply is used as the main example. He believes limited supply can protect value when currencies are under pressure. “I will be buying more Bitcoin as people panic and sell into the coming crash,” he said. The strategy he’s talking about is to keep buying during price drops, taking advantage of panic to pick up more at lower levels. I Am Warning You: In Rich Dad’s Prophecy published 2013 I warned of the biggest stock market crash in history still coming. That giant crash is now imminent. The good news is those of you who followed my rich dad’s warning and prepared….the coming crash will make you richer… — Robert Kiyosaki (@theRealKiyosaki) February 17, 2026 For people who can handle big swings, that approach may produce strong gains over many years. It is an aggressive stance, and it relies on the buyer staying calm while markets move wildly around them. “This coming crash may make you richer beyond your wildest dreams if you realize crashes are the best of times to get richer,” Kiyosaki said. Market Voices Push Back Not everyone agrees with that approach. Billionaire Warren Buffett has long warned that crypto looks speculative, and financial commentator Peter Schiff argues that digital coins lack a reliable store of value. Their warnings are blunt: prices can fall much further and stay low for a long time. This tension between bullish accumulation and caution is shaping investor debate right now. Price swings in a short span are not uncommon, and those moves can test conviction. What To Watch Next Liquidity and regulatory shifts remain key factors. Large drops have often been amplified when buyers pull back or regulators implement sudden rule changes. Exchange outages, forced selling by major holders, and rapid swings in lending markets have triggered past selloffs. Reports note that macro headlines and shifts in sentiment among big investors can drive prices lower even when long-term fundamentals appear steady. Steady accumulation during such periods has historically depended on the ability to endure these shocks. Related Reading: What Bitcoin Rout? Michael Saylor Unfazed, Teases New Accumulation A Plain Takeaway Kiyosaki is making a choice about how to deal with risk: accept volatility and buy more, or avoid it and likely miss big rebounds. Both approaches have been proven right at different times. Short-term noise will be loud and distracting. Long-term results will be shown by market prices and by who keeps their nerve. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
The launch of GSUI may accelerate institutional adoption of digital assets, highlighting the growing importance of scalable blockchain solutions.
The post Grayscale debuts SUI Staking ETF on NYSE appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Nominal GDP is a crucial indicator for understanding macroeconomic policy mistakes. Fiscal policy and supply shocks are often overrated in their impact on nominal GDP growth. The earlier, simpler monetary system was more effective than the current complex Federal Reserve system.
The post Scott Sumner: Nominal GDP is key to understanding macro policy errors | Macro Musings appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Ten years after the famous hack, the DAO Security Fund has decided to stake the untouched ETH and use the yield to fund Ethereum security initiatives, honor claims indefinitely, and professionalize governance and key management.
Following the latest rebound in Bitcoin and Ethereum, Cardano’s price has also staged a modest recovery. ADA opened the session near $0.281 and continues to trade slightly above that level, around $0.282, after retreating from an intraday high of $0.2858. However, trading volume has continued to decline even as price action holds above local support …
BRICS nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and many other nations, have publicly discussed reducing reliance on the US dollar in cross-border trade. But new news is circulating on X that BRICS nations are in talks with Ripple, a leading cross-border payment solution, to create a global digital currency and may use the …
Bitcoin is trading sideways around $68,000, stuck in a $65K-$72K range since early February. Outflows of $105 million from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs are capping short-term rallies, while low volatility keeps the market in a holding pattern. Bulls highlight strong support near $50K and undervaluation versus gold, but bears warn of potential drops to $48K-$42K …
Social engineering and impersonation-related scams were the most frequent attack vectors targeting crypto investors in AMLBot’s investigations last year.
Retail crypto investors are increasingly moving beyond the largest cryptocurrencies and building long-term positions in select altcoins, according to insights shared by a senior executive at Caleb & Brown, a global crypto brokerage that works closely with high-net-worth and retail clients. Speaking about recent client activity, the executive Jake Boyle revealed that investor interest has …
The Bitcoin price is hovering in a range of $60K to $70K and quietly sketching a structure that feels eerily familiar. If this is a bullish divergence phase like the one after the 2021 crash, then the current Bitcoin price prediction might frustrate impatient bulls more than outright bears ever did. First Top Shock Repeats …
Your day-ahead look for Feb. 18, 2026
Bitwise's February announcement arrived as two moves packaged as one. The crypto asset manager announced a partnership with Morpho to launch curated yield vaults and simultaneously acquired Chorus One's institutional staking business. It looks like a deliberate assembly: curation mechanisms to filter protocol risk, infrastructure to deliver returns, and enough operational scaffolding to make the […]
The post Wall Street is selling crypto income inside TradFi products and one hidden switch decides who gets in appeared first on CryptoSlate.