Trading

At the beginning of February, Bitcoin's price slid to its lowest level since Donald Trump was elected US president in November 2024, a move linked to heavy leverage in the BTC market. Over the past week, on-chain data shows a substantial deleveraging on Binance, with the Estimated Leverage Ratio falling by about 28% from roughly 0.1980 to 0.1414. Bitcoin now trades near $67,950, up almost 2% in 24 hours but still slightly lower on the weekly chart, as analysts say the market needs fresh spot demand to rebuild a durable uptrend.

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.

Bitcoin's price has hovered near $68,000 resistance in recent days, trading around $67,960 with no notable 24-hour change. Whales recently realized more than $208 million in profits, the seventh such spike in the past two years. This pattern has often preceded short-term turbulence and, after supply absorption, local bottoms or stabilization.

On Saturday, Feb. 21, CoinGlass data indicated a bullish turn in XRP derivatives, with open interest up 2.56% and about 1,660,000,000 XRP tied to unsettled contracts. Over the past 24 hours, XRP's spot price advanced 2.45%, briefly reclaiming its weekly high near $1.45, while XRP-focused ETFs reported zero inflows and outflows in their last session.

According to Finbold, Solana and Tron are viewed as two cryptocurrencies that could each approach a $100 billion market capitalization by the close of 2026. Solana currently trades near $86 with a market cap of about $49 billion, while Tron changes hands around $0.28 with a valuation close to $27 billion. Analysts cite factors such as protocol upgrades, institutional involvement, and increased on-chain usage as possible drivers of further gains.

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed President Donald Trump’s IEEPA tariff authority, and he later announced a new 10% global tariff. Lawmakers and analysts argued the measures function as taxes on families and small businesses, while Bitcoin rose about 3% and broader crypto gauges showed little movement after the announcement.

Bitcoin is trading in a tight range where liquidity is being cleared on both sides, leaving price direction uncertain. Market observers note that after nearly three months of subdued activity, a key demand gauge has moved back above zero to around +1,200 BTC, suggesting selling pressure is easing and long-term accumulation may be returning.

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.

On February 21, 2026, Strategy CEO Michael Saylor stuck to a no‑sale approach, even as the firm's 717,131 BTC position and a reported $12.4 billion net loss drew attention. Bitmine's Tom Lee also stayed constructive on Ethereum, while CryptoQuant data showed whale cohorts' unrealized profit ratios turning negative amid ETH's pullback.

At press time, Hyperliquid's HYPE traded at $30.30, up 4.75% over 24 hours, with volume up 14.5% to $207.95 million. A bullish breakout has put near-term targets back in play, and Arthur Hayes said he plans to add HYPE while projecting $150 by July 2026, with traders watching whether $29 support can fuel a move toward $36.