Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company disclosed in a 13F filing that it held 12,702,323 shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust as of December 31, 2025, valued at about $630.6 million. The position marked a 46% rise from the 8,726,972 shares reported on September 30, 2025, highlighting growing institutional exposure to spot Bitcoin ETFs alongside holdings in major technology, healthcare, gold mining, and consumer companies.

Bitcoin has struggled to retake the $70,000 level, while on-chain positioning shows concentration among larger holders. As of February 16, 2026, wallets with 1,000–10,000 BTC held 4.483 million BTC, with 71.3% controlled by long‑term whales and 28.7% by short‑term cohorts, according to a CryptoQuant analyst. Short‑term whales' realized price is about $88,494 versus $41,626 for long‑term whales.

On Tuesday, MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor said in a Fox Business interview that the market has entered a "crypto winter," calling it the fifth major Bitcoin drawdown since he joined the space five years ago. He argued this downturn should be milder and shorter, citing institutional and policy support, while Fox Business noted MicroStrategy's average BTC cost near $76,000 sits above current prices.

Arthur Hayes argues that the recent divergence between Bitcoin and the tech‑heavy Nasdaq 100 signals an approaching AI‑driven credit crunch that could force central banks to expand fiat liquidity and send BTC to fresh record highs. He estimates that a 20% reduction in the United States' 72 million knowledge workers could translate into roughly $557 billion in consumer credit and mortgage losses, pressuring regional banks and prompting renewed money printing. Hayes adds that his firm Maelstrom plans to rotate surplus stablecoins into Bitcoin, Zcash and Hyperliquid once the Federal Reserve eases policy.

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes argues that artificial intelligence-driven layoffs among U.S. knowledge workers could trigger major credit losses for banks and a renewed phase of central bank money printing. He believes Bitcoin's recent divergence from the Nasdaq 100 and other market signals point to early tightening liquidity, which might first cause a deflationary shock before fueling a strong upside move in Bitcoin and other digital assets.

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.

According to CryptoQuant, miners have withdrawn roughly 36,000 BTC from exchanges since early February, including more than 12,000 BTC from Binance and over 24,000 BTC across other venues. One daily outflow exceeded 6,000 BTC, the largest since last November. Meanwhile, Bitcoin remains capped below $70,000, with $60K–$65K acting as near‑term support.

Bitcoin pulled back to test $66,500 and is now trading below $67,500 and the 100‑hour SMA. According to the analysis, an hourly descending channel shows resistance near $68,850, while failure to hold $66,500–$66,000 could open the way to $65,000 and $64,200.