On Feb. 16, Bitcoin and several major altcoins are struggling to extend their rebound as sellers defend important resistance levels. BTC faces pressure below $74,508 while Ether, BNB, XRP, Solana, Dogecoin, Cardano and Bitcoin Cash are all reacting to nearby moving averages and support zones. Technical signals across these markets suggest a cautious environment, with bears still trying to maintain control at higher prices.

Binance’s stablecoin holdings have declined for nearly three months, dropping from $43.6B to about $36B as of February 16, 2026, according to Cryptoquant. February saw an additional $3B leave in two weeks, while BNB Chain posted a $219M net liquidity outflow and still counts 4.4M daily active users.

On 16 February 2026, Binance CEO Richard Teng rejected allegations that the exchange failed to act on nearly $1 billion in Iran-linked USDT transactions on Tron between March 2024 and August 2025. He said an internal review with external legal counsel found no sanctions violations and denied that investigators were fired in retaliation. The dispute unfolds as U.S. authorities intensify sanctions enforcement against entire crypto exchanges and step up scrutiny of large stablecoin flows.

On February 16, 2026, Elon Musk claimed Jeffrey Epstein mounted a broad effort to short Tesla and convinced Bill Gates to take a 1% short position when Tesla's market cap was about $40 billion. Musk also said the trade may have cost Gates up to $10 billion, while Tesla last closed at $417.44, up 17.3% over the past year.

Over the past 30 days, tokenized real‑world assets increased 13.5%, according to RWA.xyz. As of Feb. 16, Ethereum led network gains with roughly $1.7 billion in net growth, followed by Arbitrum at $880 million and Solana at $530 million, while the broader crypto market fell by about $1 trillion, per CoinGecko.

On February 16, 2026, European equities ended higher, with the STOXX Europe 600 up 0.14% to 618.56, even as Pinewood Technologies plunged nearly one-third after Apax withdrew its £575 million bid. NatWest rose 4.7% on a £750 million buyback, while mining stocks such as Rio Tinto and BHP edged lower.

On February 16, 2026, Tokyo-listed Metaplanet reported FY2025 results showing revenue surged 738% to 8.9 billion yen from 1.06 billion yen after pivoting to Bitcoin-focused operations. Despite a 6.29 billion yen operating profit, a non-cash valuation loss of 102.2 billion yen tied to Bitcoin's price decline pushed ordinary profit and net income into losses.

Digital asset funds registered $173 million in net outflows last week, while Solana-focused products drew $31 million in inflows. U.S. vehicles saw sizable redemptions as Germany, Canada, and Switzerland posted net buying. Despite the inflows, SOL traded near $84.17 after a 3.63% daily drop, with price action confined to a $77–$90 range.