Bitcoin rebounded more than 5% toward $69,000 after a dip into the $64,000–$65,000 demand zone, with short liquidations helping price reclaim key technical levels. Ethereum climbed 7.4% to $2,065 and XRP added 4.7% to $1.43 as improving macro sentiment, regulatory developments and institutional accumulation strengthened the broader crypto market's recovery. Analysts now see sustained spot inflows, higher lows and stable funding as essential to turning this move into a durable uptrend.

Crypto markets opened under pressure after President Trump imposed 15% global tariffs, with US 30 down 0.55% to 49,354.5 and US Tech 100 off 0.89% to 24,790.9. Bitcoin climbed back above $66,000 toward $68,000 as Ethereum slipped 1.72%, while new SEC staff guidance applies a 2% haircut (98% recognition) to qualifying USD stablecoins.

By the 23rd of February, Solana’s real-world asset value had climbed to around $1.7 billion, with growth driven mainly by tokenized treasuries and yield-focused products. Institutional demand for 3–4% APYs, cross-chain liquidity moving from Ethereum, and expanding private credit exposure all contributed to Solana’s rising share of the $25.07 billion RWA sector. The resulting capital buildup also deepened on-chain liquidity and supported broader ecosystem activity such as memecoins.

Ethereum fell below $1,980 on 21 February as unrealized losses spread across major whale cohorts and the spot price slipped under the $2,075 mega-holder cost basis. At the same time, founder-linked wallets resumed staggered ETH sales and Kalshi markets priced high odds of deeper downside, including an 85% chance of a drop under $1,750. Despite this stress, on-chain data shows restrained whale selling and suggests strategic absorption rather than disorderly capitulation.

Since late December, monthly whale-sized stablecoin transfers to Binance climbed from about $27 billion to roughly $43 billion as Bitcoin revisited the $60,000 area. Between 12 and 15 February, realized losses totaled about $2.3 billion, and on 20 February large holders moved 6,317 BTC and 5,000 BTC to Binance, reinforcing bids around that band.

XRP has fallen about 70% from its 2025 high of $3.65 to nearly $1.10, with realized losses recently spiking to roughly $908 million in the largest capitulation event since 2022. Large wallets and spot ETFs have been absorbing distressed supply as exchange reserves fall to five‑year lows and 30‑day volatility compresses, pointing to a maturing but still fragile market structure. While a past $1.93 billion loss event preceded a 114% rebound, changing liquidity conditions and institutional participation may alter the speed and scale of any recovery in the current cycle.

PUMP’s market structure is being reshaped as a wallet linked to "77DsB…" offloaded 3.376 billion tokens worth about $7.23 million between the 17th and 21st of February, after earlier receiving 3.75 billion PUMP valued near $25.39 million. At the same time, revenue-funded buybacks have accumulated $297.829 million in PUMP purchases, retiring 25.062% of circulating supply and tightening the token float. Pump.fun still drives significant DeFi activity with $499.9 million in daily DEX volume and $3.15 million in 24-hour fees, even as Solana-native speculative flows and platform momentum show signs of cooling.

Lighter LIT dominance in DeFi perpetuals neared 60% in mid-December 2025, then slid to about 8.1% by mid-February as incentives faded and speculative activity cooled. Daily perps volume moved toward $15–20 billion with roughly a 30% year-over-year decline, while Hyperliquid’s share approached 40–50% amid liquidity rotation.

In the first 50 days of 2026, Bitcoin fell 23% from about $88,700 to near $68,000, while market capitalization slid 24% from roughly $1.76 trillion to $1.34 trillion. ETF products saw $2.9 billion in outflows as leverage unwound. Binance's Open Interest dropped from roughly $16 billion to near $ 6 billion, amplifying cross-exchange volatility.