On February 5 and 6, Bitcoin slipped below $61,000 before rebounding to $66,000–$68,000, while realized losses peaked near $1.24 billion per day and later eased to about $480 million. In early January 2026, USDT supply was about $187 billion and fell under $184 billion by mid‑February, with a 60‑day market‑cap change below ~$3 billion. Some analysts view these extremes and a Fear & Greed low near 5 as potential signs of market exhaustion.

On February 23, analyst Zach Rector said on YouTube that XRP may be nearing a capitulation phase, citing rising fear, realized-loss spikes, and stronger XRP Ledger activity. He noted daily successful transactions have climbed about 40% toward 2.5 million, while XRP trades near $1.38 and remains under pressure in recent performance metrics.

According to the latest CoinShares data, crypto investment products posted $288 million in weekly outflows, marking a fifth consecutive week of redemptions and bringing total withdrawals to $4 billion. Bitcoin led the decline with $215 million in outflows, while Ethereum and Tron also saw institutional selling. In contrast, XRP and Solana attracted modest inflows of $3.5 million and $3.3 million respectively, with Chainlink adding $1.2 million, even as overall market sentiment remained bearish.

Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov told Cointelegraph that decentralized finance protocols must move away from inflationary token emissions and focus on generating real revenue to sustain yields. He contrasted the 2020 DeFi summer and its triple‑digit APYs with today's environment, where users are more cautious and DeFi's total value locked has dropped from $158 billion on Aug. 23, 2025, to about $98 billion over the last six months. Egorov also argued that tokens should primarily support decentralization and governance, while durable onchain businesses compete on revenue generation and capital efficiency rather than headline yields.

Vitalik Buterin sold 1,869 ETH valued at about $3.67 million over the past two days while ether fell from roughly $1,980 to $1,850. He previously moved 3,500 ETH from Aave and earlier disposals totaled 6,958 ETH. Despite recent sales, his holdings remain above 224,000 ETH.

On February 23, 2026, Bitwise Invest CIO Matt Hougan countered Sevens Reporter founder Tom Essaye's criticism of Bitcoin, arguing it is still in an early store-of-value phase. Hougan projected that by around 2050, every central bank could own Bitcoin much like gold, even as BTC currently trades about 40% below its October all-time high of $126,000. Essaye, by contrast, dismissed Bitcoin as a speculative asset that neither replaces gold nor serves as a reliable hedge against inflation or market turmoil.

Crypto exchange Backpack said it will allocate 20% of its equity to users who stake its token for at least one year. The plan offers a fixed token-to-equity swap ratio and seeks to address incentive misalignment, according to founder Armani Ferrante. The exchange flagged the initiative in an X post on Monday.

Stablecoin issuers are poised to become major buyers of short‑dated U.S. Treasuries, potentially adding $0.8T–$1T of demand by 2028. Market capitalization is projected to approach $2T, with reserve requirements under the July 2025 GENIUS Act concentrating assets in 0–3 month T‑bills. Emerging‑market adoption is expected to drive most of the expansion.