Crypto Market Faces Ten Bearish Pressures Spanning Regulation, Geopolitics and Major Holder Sales

The crypto market confronts ten notable bearish factors across regulation, geopolitics, large-holder selling and sentiment, Biteye's Shouyi reports. On policy, U.S. lobbying seeks to prohibit stablecoin issuers and platforms from paying interest under the stalled Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act, the OECD's CryptoAsset Reporting Framework took effect in 48 jurisdictions, and Platform X tightened advertising rules for prediction markets. Geopolitical risks include Middle East tensions that lifted the US Dollar Index to 97.7, higher Treasury yields with Brent above $65, Trump's move to raise the global baseline tariff to 15% for 150 days starting February 24, and markets anticipating a U.S.–China visit from March 31 to April 2. Internally, Bitdeer controlled by Wu Jihan sold approximately 1,132 BTC (around $72 million) to shift toward AI data centers, Vitalik Buterin offloaded over 7,000 ETH (roughly $15.5 million) via a multisig while retaining over 99% of his estimated holdings, and influential traders publicly reduced exchange exposure by 30%–50%. Sentiment deteriorated as Google searches for "Bitcoin is dead" reached their highest level since 2022, USD1 briefly fell to $0.98, ZachXBT plans to release insider trading evidence on February 26, and oversold, fear and bottom-finding indicators for BTC approach historical extremes.