According to CryptoQuant, Ethereum derivatives have seen sharp deleveraging, with aggregate open interest sliding from $33.3 billion to about $11 billion, a 66% decline. CoinGlass also tracked roughly $189 million in 24‑hour liquidations as price moved toward $1,900, while exchange balances reached a multi‑year low of 16.1 million ETH.

About 30,600 Bitcoin options with roughly $2 billion notional are expiring on Friday, Feb. 20. Coinglass places max pain near $70,000 and Deribit cites a 0.59 put/call ratio; another 212,000 Ethereum contracts worth about $404 million also roll off. Spot markets remain range-bound, with Bitcoin near $67,290 after a $65,700 weekly low.

Crypto and banking representatives met at the White House on Thursday for a third session in 16 days, following meetings on Feb. 2 and Feb. 10. Adviser Patrick Witt pushed a trade‑off to permit stablecoin rewards only on transaction activity, not balances. No agreement was reached, but Ripple and Coinbase executives described the talks as constructive.

In a Thursday interview in Palm Beach, Eric Trump said that despite Bitcoin's recent drop below $67,000 and its extended downturn, cryptocurrencies and blockchain are still poised to underpin mainstream financial systems. He highlighted World Liberty Financial's tokenized Maldives resort project and the USD1 stablecoin, while also discussing pending U.S. policy debates on stablecoin yields and ongoing lawsuits over alleged politically motivated bank account closures.

The energy markets are on a knife-edge. On February 20, 2026, crude oil benchmarks are surging toward levels not seen in half a year. As geopolitical chess pieces move across the Middle East and U.S. inventory data defies every analyst’s prediction, the question for every trader is simple: Is $70 oil inevitable, or are we at a massive bull trap?

BTCC has introduced BTCC TradFi, enabling users to trade forex, commodities, indices, and stocks alongside tokenized metals, all margined and settled in USDT. The rollout follows strong 2025 performance in tokenized metals, including $5.72 billion in gold volume and a peak daily silver volume of $301 million, with 25+ instruments and leverage up to 500x available.

Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs reported that illicit entities received roughly $141 billion in stablecoins in 2025, the highest level in five years, driven mainly by sanctions-linked networks and large-scale money laundering. Sanctions-related activity made up 86% of all illicit crypto flows, with around $72 billion tied to the Russian ruble-pegged A7A5 token, while overall illicit use represented about 1% of an estimated $12 trillion in annual stablecoin transactions.

XRP, Shiba Inu and Dogecoin are showing signs of weakness after recent attempts at recovery. XRP is in a cooling phase amid an 85% collapse in trading activity from its sell-off peak, while DOGE hovers just below $0.10 and SHIB remains trapped in a bearish structure. Overall price action points to consolidation and limited upside potential for these assets in the near term.