Google Trends data showed that searches for "Bitcoin going to zero" hit an all-time high in January and February 2026, as BTC traded around $60k. Historical episodes in 2021, 2022 and 2025 suggest such spikes have coincided with local or cycle bottoms and were followed by major rebounds. The Bitcoin Rainbow chart currently places price in the "Bitcoin is dead" band, which has previously aligned with market low zones, though upcoming macro events could still influence whether a durable bottom forms.

An analyst said Aster had only six daily active addresses, 51 weekly, and 346 monthly, prompting scrutiny of the perpetual DEX. Aster disputed the figure, citing a mislinked contract, while metrics show fees rising from a $5 million weekly average in January to over $8 million in early February and 91k new users in the past seven days.

David Bailey, Chairman and CEO of Bitcoin treasury firm Nakamoto (Nasdaq: NAKA), has rejected scam accusations after the company’s stock plunged 99% from its May peak. Following a merger with KindlyMD and subsequent acquisitions of BTC Inc. and UTXO Management, critics have raised concerns over preferential share pricing, opaque transactions, and overcollateralized loans tied to 5,765 BTC, while broader Bitcoin treasury demand has also weakened after a brief January recovery.

Wintermute said it has enabled OTC trading for tokenized gold products Tether Gold and Paxos Gold for institutional clients. The firm reported $126 billion in tokenized gold volume in Q4 2025 and, per CEO Evgeny Gaevoy, projects the market could reach $15 billion in 2026, amid debate over what this means for Bitcoin.

Metaplanet reported a $619 million net loss for Q4 2025, attributing it to a devaluation of Bitcoin holdings rather than operating cash flow pressure. BTC fell from $126K to $80K after the October crash, and the firm says its unrealized loss later expanded to over $1.2 billion as prices slipped below $70K in 2026. Metaplanet still targets 100K BTC by year-end and 210K by 2027, backed by a $500 million credit line.

In a Friday statement, Morpho said Apollo secured rights to acquire 90 million MORPHO over the next two years, a stake valued around $115.2 million at prevailing prices. The market reaction was constructive, with MORPHO up 12% in the last 24 hours and recovery gains at 24%, while exchange supply stayed stable and derivatives interest ticked higher.

Bitcoin defended the $65k level this week, while Swissblock's Alts Impulse indicator shifted from negative to neutral, hinting at a possible short-term altcoin upswing. Stablecoin exchange inflows have climbed since January, the ETH/BTC ratio has risen 3.5% in recent days, and assets like ZEC, HBAR, BCH, SOL, and ETH recorded notable daily gains. However, increased bearish positioning in Bitcoin and any renewed BTC downside could quickly pressure this fragile altcoin recovery.

In a Yahoo Finance interview, Patrick Witt said the administration aims to advance the CLARITY Act before the November midterms and flagged stablecoin yield as the main sticking point. He indicated another cross-industry meeting could happen next week, while Kalshi bettors price a 36% chance of passage by June and 22% by March.

Bitcoin core developers have proposed BIP-360, a soft fork to mitigate long-tail quantum risk for Taproot (P2TR) addresses. According to Glassnode, P2TR's share slipped from nearly 54% in early 2024 to 22% by early 2026, while BIP-360 introduces Pay-to-Merkle-Root (P2MR) as a privacy-preserving path.