The SBI START Bonds offer a fixed interest rate, blockchain settlement, and XRP rewards for eligible investors registered on the firm’s exchange.
With the rial plunging, middle-class savers are bypassing local banks to move billions into the domestic crypto ecosystem.
The tariff hike may strain international trade relations, potentially leading to retaliatory measures and impacting global economic stability.
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Bitcoin remains range-bound as liquidity clears on both sides, keeping price action indecisive. After months of weakness, demand has finally turned positive, hinting that selling is easing and structural accumulation may be returning. BTC Stays Range-Bound Amid Active Liquidity Clearing Bitcoin remains locked in a range-bound state, characterized by a lack of directional commitment. Currently, the price is actively engaged in clearing liquidity on both sides of the spread. This creates a market environment where expansion is met with selling pressure, while price dips are swiftly absorbed by buyers, trapping the asset in a tug-of-war. Related Reading: Thinking Of Buying The Bitcoin Dip? Here’s What This Metric Says According to Columbus, market liquidity remains exceptionally well-defined both above and below the current price levels. This structure reinforces the ongoing choppy environment, as the market seems content to bounce between established pockets of orders. In such a scenario, the data suggests that patience is the most valuable asset for traders. From this juncture, the market’s trajectory depends on how it reacts after the nearby liquidity is purged. If Bitcoin begins to find acceptance above the current range following a liquidity sweep, the probability shifts toward a bullish expansion, triggering a move into higher upside pockets. Conversely, if the attempt to gain acceptance fails after a sweep, the market remains vulnerable to further downside. This could result in additional sweeping of lower liquidity levels before any sustained recovery can materialize. Until then, the prevailing goal remains a technical clean-up of liquidity before the next major trend is established. Bitcoin Demand Turns Positive After Months Of Weakness CryptosRus recently highlighted that after nearly three months of persistent weakness, Bitcoin’s apparent demand has finally turned back above zero, currently sitting around +1,200 BTC. This marks a notable shift in investors’ sentiment and action in a market struggling with heightened volatility. Related Reading: Bitcoin Extreme Fear Streak Extends To 22 Days As Price Struggles Back in December, demand had bottomed near -154,000 BTC, a quantity that helps explain the sluggish price action that persisted in the following weeks. Since then, the pressure has been quietly easing. Selling activity is slowing, and structural accumulation is beginning to re-emerge, signaling a potential shift in market dynamics. It’s important to understand what this metric represents, which is whether long-term holders are absorbing new supply. When demand is deeply negative, the market tends to struggle. Conversely, when the metric turns positive, it suggests that buying activity is rebuilding, creating conditions for a healthier market structure. That said, the market is not out of the woods yet. A single positive print does not confirm a trend reversal. However, if this recovery in demand persists, it is often one of the earliest indicators that the market is transitioning from a distribution phase back toward accumulation, setting the stage for potential sustained strength in the weeks ahead. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
The current levels offer an attractive entry for long-term investors, even if their patience will be tested, Vetle Lunde said.
The French government imposed conditions, including a 10% stake by NJJ Capital, to address national interest concerns.
IoTeX co-founder Raullen Chai said losses are "significantly lower" than circulating estimates, but has not provided a specific figure.
Researchers built AdGazer, a machine learning tool that predicts whether you'll actually look at a digital ad—before it's ever shown to you.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 15% worldwide tariff on imported goods, despite an earlier Supreme Court decision that invalidated earlier trade actions.
Bitcoin (BTC) price is up nearly 1.6% over the past 24 hours, trading around $68,213, as the total crypto market cap adds roughly 1.8% in a broad relief bounce. The recovery comes amid extreme fear sentiment, suggesting short-term exhaustion on the sell side. Notably, total BTC liquidations dropped 36.85% to $38.7 million, while long liquidations …
Trove's token sale raised $11.5 million, focusing on real-world assets like collectible cards. The ICO process for Trove was oversubscribed, leading to incomplete refunds for investors. The token sale process lacks the structure needed for success, highlighting a gap in support for token founders.
The post Luca Netz: Trove’s $11.5 million token sale highlights flaws in ICO structure, liquidity issues threaten NFT market, and the rise of echo groups over traditional VC | Unchained appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
A fully automated bot quietly captured micro-arbitrage opportunities on short-term crypto prediction markets, netting nearly $150,000
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan has picked his four must-own crypto assets for this cycle: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Chainlink. With markets deep in bear territory and Bitcoin trading over 40% below its October 2025 all-time high, Hougan’s call carries weight. Bitwise manages over $15 billion in client assets and already consults with central …
Bearish sentiments continue to dominate the Bitcoin market as the premier cryptocurrency looks to record a fifth consecutive monthly loss. Presently, prices are consolidating beneath the $70,000 mark, as market bulls struggle to force a decisive breakout above the resistance zone. Amid this choppy price action, data from the Bitcoin options market shows that traders are beginning to expect less volatility but still acknowledge the fragile nature of the market. Related Reading: Why Bitcoin Could Be Headed For Another Drop: Research Firm Cites Three Key Risks Bitcoin Volatility Expectations Drop, Market Panic Fades In an X post on February 20, Glassnode shared its weekly Bitcoin options market update, analyzing the traders’ behavior and sentiment in relation to present market conditions. The market analytics firm reports a notable change in volatility expectations that helps to subside the presently heightened bearish sentiments. According to Glassnode analysts, At-the-money (ATM) implied volatility across maturities has significantly dropped to around 48%, down significantly from recent highs. Because ATM IV reflects the market’s expected move, the decline suggests traders are no longer betting on an immediate price crash. Notably, this shift is reinforced by moves in DVOL, an indicator for measuring aggregate implied volatility expectations. Following initial spikes during the market liquidation in late January/early February, DVOL has fallen by roughly 10 volatility points over the past two weeks, signaling that extreme hedging demand is easing out. In addition, the short-term volatility risk premium (VRP) has turned positive. Earlier this month, one-week VRP plunged to deeply negative levels at -45, as realized volatility far exceeded implied. Since then, implied volatility has repriced higher while realized volatility has stabilized, restoring a premium in short-dated options. Together, these metrics suggest that panic pricing is being reset, and expectations for outsized, volatile moves have declined. Related Reading: XRP Ledger Gets x402 Facilitator For AI Agent Payments: Why This Is Bullish Bitcoin Traders Remain Alert To Downside Despite the cooling in volatility expectations, other metrics show that traders are maintaining a defensive market position. For example, the Put skew, which measures the relative demand for downside protection versus upside exposure, remains quite heightened despite moving off the extreme hedge. After bottoming near the 7 volatility points, the one-week 25-delta skew has rebounded toward 14 vol. The recovery indicates that while extreme fear has subsided, demand for downside insurance remains firm. The taker flow data also tells a similar story. Puts represented two-thirds of last week’s options activity, with outright put buying representing about 34% of total flow. The dominance of protective positioning suggests that market participants are not fully convinced the correction has run its course. In conclusion, the options market is signaling a more measured outlook, where expectations for immediate turmoil have faded, but traders are hedging to hedge against the risk of another downside. At press time, Bitcoin trades at $67,628 following a 0.92% gain in the last 24 hours. More data from Glassnode also shows that Dealers are broadly short gamma across a wide price range between $70,000 and $58,000, a positioning structure that could amplify selling pressure if Bitcoin extends losses. Conversely, a large gamma concentration around $75,000 suggests positioning for a potential rebound. Featured image from Flickr, chart from Tradingview
Private-equity firm Blue Owl Capital (OWL) tumbled nearly 15% this week as it was forced to liquidate $1.4 billion in assets to pay investors looking to exit one of its private credit funds.
The Injective price isn’t moving quietly anymore. It just ripped 20% intraday, and no, this isn’t one of those random pumps out of nowhere. There’s capital behind it. Real capital. Pineapple Financial (NYSE: PAPL) has accelerated its INJ buying spree, announcing another $2 million acquisition on February 19, 2026, under its ongoing market cash purchase …
Ripple is no longer just a payments company. Through a series of aggressive acquisitions in 2025 totaling roughly $4 billion, the company has assembled a full-stack banking infrastructure that positions it as what crypto analysts are now calling “the banker’s bank.” The argument, laid out by NCashOfficial, is that traditional banks lack the time and …
IoTeX said it is assessing suspicious activity tied to a token safe, coordinating with exchanges to trace funds after analysts linked the incident to a possible private key compromise.
ECB president Christine Lagarde is a crypto skeptic, but her likely successors are no more enthusiastic about cryptocurrencies.
While the broader crypto market has been rotating capital selectively this week, Trump-linked World Liberty Financial (WLFI) is quietly building momentum, climbing over 3% today and extending its weekly surge to around 12% as institutional headlines and on-chain movements converge. Here’s a closer look at the catalysts fueling the recent WLFI price rally. RWA Expansion …
The incident highlights the critical need for robust security measures in blockchain platforms to maintain user trust and market stability.
The post IoTeX confirms token safe incident, says situation ‘under control’ appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
A seasoned investor’s bold claim about XRP has reignited a common question in crypto markets: could a token built for fast settlement ever outgrow the original store-of-value? Related Reading: Bitcoin Market Bleeds $1 Trillion, Saylor Signals Strongest Crypto Conviction Yet According to posts on X by longtime Bitcoin backer Pumpius, if central banks adopt a single on-chain bridge, XRP could eclipse Bitcoin “by magnitude.” On-Chain Tension And Policy Moves Reports note recent market moves that have worried policy makers and traders. The trading desk at the Federal Reserve requested indicative dollar/yen quotes after a sharp move in the yen, a step that Treasury officials had asked for. That rare check underlines how currency volatility can push officials to consider new tools, and it has renewed talk about faster settlement rails. Every Central Bank will use XRP as the bridge asset. It’s now becoming a reality. When this happens, XRP will surpass Bitcoin by magnitude. Bookmark this. https://t.co/xyWxhVDCLx pic.twitter.com/kFTsXSw6Hn — Pumpius (@pumpius) February 19, 2026 Ripple’s Timeline And Institutional Talk Based on reports from company briefings and executive posts, Ripple’s leadership sees 2026 as the year when larger, regulated players might put real money onto the XRP Ledger. Ripple President Monica Long has sketched out scenarios where banks and asset managers run production systems tied to on-chain liquidity pools. Those views have been picked up across crypto news outlets and have added fuel to bullish narratives. How Would A Bridge Asset Work? Imagine dollar and euro liquidity on a ledger, available for near-instant swaps. In practice, permissioned pools and regulated stablecoins could provide the rails while an on-chain order book or matching engine handles the trades. Settlement times would be measured in seconds. Audit trails would be automatic. That said, large institutions put a premium on rules and oversight; any real rollout would be gradual and cautious. XRP Vs. BTC: The Size Of The Gap Numbers matter. Bitcoin’s market cap sits comfortably in the trillions, while XRP’s market value is under $100 billion dollars, depending on which tracker you consult. That gap is not small. For XRP to “flip” Bitcoin at present values would require trillions more in capital moving into the token — a shift that would likely need broad institutional flows and major regulatory clarity. Related Reading: Saylor Makes Bold $1M Bitcoin Call — “It’s Zero Or A Million” Geopolitics Adds Noise Geopolitical strain and trade frictions, amplified by speeches or decisions from leaders, can make markets jittery. US President Donald Trump has been named in debates over policy shifts and geopolitical risk, which in turn affect capital flows and safe-haven bids. When politics moves markets, technical fixes such as faster settlement can look more attractive on paper; adoption in practice is another matter. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
IoTeX’s cross-chain bridge was hit by a private key exploit on February 21, draining over $8 million in crypto assets and sending the IOTX token tumbling. The attack, which unfolded between 7 and 9 AM UTC, gave the hacker control over IoTeX’s TokenSafe and MinterPool contracts. On-chain analyst Specter was among the first to flag …
As the crypto industry adopts AI-focused blockchain netowrk it is exposing itself to more security risks. IoTeX, a blockchain platform built for real-world AI, recently suffered a major security hack, resulting in nearly $8 million in losses. Here’s how the IoTeX $8 million hack happen & how the IoTeX team is responding to it. Are …
Top bluechip crypto assets are heading into the weekend flashing something traders rarely ignore these are negative 30-day MVRV readings. Ethereum sits at -14.3%, while Bitcoin follows at -6.9%, with Chainlink (-5.1%), XRP (-4.1%), and Cardano (-2.0%) close behind. In simple? Average trader returns are below zero. That doesn’t guarantee a bounce. But it does …
Bitcoin is trading near $68,240, down 45% from its October 2025 all-time high of $126,000. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index sits at 14. Five consecutive negative monthly closes are about to print, a streak that has only occurred three times in Bitcoin’s entire history. The question everyone is asking: is this a bear market …
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has been struggling lately to recover after falling from its all-time high of $126K to around $67K, marking nearly a 50% decline. While crypto traders eagerly wait for the market to recover, historical data suggest that the Bitcoin price will drop to $40K by no 2026.Let’s see here’s why! Why …
XRP sentiment remains cautiously optimistic as Ripple’s strategic partner SBI Holdings unveiled plans to issue $64.5 million in on-chain bonds that reward investors with XRP. While the token has been trading in a narrow range between $1.40 and $1.45, the announcement adds a stronger utility narrative at a time when broader crypto markets are seeking …
The broader crypto market has regained footing this week, with Bitcoin holding key levels and select altcoins beginning to rotate higher. Amid that improving sentiment, Injective (INJ) has emerged as one of the stronger performers, climbing 11% today. The move comes at a technically sensitive moment, as price presses into a key resistance zone that …
The middle of January marked the continuation of an already struggling price action for Bitcoin, as it took on another sharp downtrend. Early into February, the flagship cryptocurrency seemed to be on a free-fall, even breaching important psychological price levels as it crashed. One of these levels is the cost basis of one of Bitcoin’s most influential investor cohorts – the Bitcoin ETF investors. Data from a recent on-chain evaluation reveals that Bitcoin has since traded underneath this price, and has continued to meet investors with growing heat. Related Reading: Bithumb $43 Billion Bitcoin Blunder Triggers Political Backlash In South Korea MVRV Falls Below 1 — What This Means Market analyst PelinayPA has recently taken to QuickTake to reveal that the Bitcoin price is trading below the average realized price of Bitcoin ETFs, and the possible implications of this market setup. Notably, the ETF MVRV (Market Value to Realized Value) index has also slipped under the 1 mark, reinforcing the agitated situation of most ETF investors. Historically, a sustained move below an MVRV of 1 signals increasing stress conditions within the BTC market, as it reflects an overwhelming dominance of unrealized losses amid an investor group. According to PelinayPA, this condition may cause sell-pressure to heighten, seeing as market participants would increasingly act on their emotions when dealing in the market. As such, short-term recovery attempts are likely to be met with significant resistance (as is currently the case) until the situation sees a turnaround. This is because investors who entered at higher price levels would likely exit their positions at break-even, or even under minimal losses, to avoid deep losses. Because the realized price of Bitcoin ETFs is approximately $80,000, this price region could act as a strong resistance level in the event that the Bitcoin price attempts a rebound. PelinayPA clarifies that if MVRV stabilizes within the 0.8–0.9 range, it could be a sign that the current bear pressure is nearing an exhaustion point; a scenario that could precede a short-term rebound towards the realized price. On the other hand, if the MVRV continues to decline (as the analyst expects), it could be problematic for the Bitcoin price. This is because ETFs would be under significant pressure, which could trigger sell-offs among this investor cohort. This would, in turn, increase downward pressure and further send prices downwards, especially in the long-term. Related Reading: Bitcoin Enters Historic Buying Zone, Indicator Suggests Bitcoin Market Overview As of this writing, Bitcoin trades for $68,000, reflecting a 1.58% growth in 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data. Per SoSoValue data, Bitcoin ETFs have recorded a total net outflow of about $1.08 billion in February. This is after an even more staggering net withdrawal figure of $1.61 billion in January. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview