Market Overview (24h)

  • Spot: BTC traded down roughly 3–5% over the last 24h, briefly breaking below 65,000 to the 64,000–65,000 range, its lowest level since early February, with year‑to‑date losses around 23–25% and nearly 45–50% off late‑2025 highs. [Risk: High]123
  • Spot: ETH underperformed, sliding about 5% into the 1,800–2,000 range, while most large‑cap alts followed lower, and total crypto market cap fell to roughly 2.25–2.3 trillion. [Risk: Medium]415
  • Derivatives: Binance‑summarized data (via Santiment and CryptoPatel) show roughly 460–500 million dollars in crypto liquidations over 24h, about 210–190 million of that in BTC alone, with around 93% from long positions and a single ~61.5 million BTC position liquidated on HTX; BTC open interest dropped to about 19.5 billion, roughly half its 2026 peak near 38.3 billion. [Risk: High]54
  • Sentiment & stablecoins: Tether’s USDT supply has “plunged sharply,” triggering a rare signal only seen around the 2022 bottom, while a separate note highlights a USDT liquidity contraction coinciding with BTC’s break below 65,000 and pushing the Fear & Greed Index into “Extreme Fear.” [Risk: Medium]45
  • Fund/ETF flows: Crypto investment products saw about 288 million dollars of weekly outflows led by US investors, while US‑listed spot BTC ETFs have bled an estimated 3.8 billion dollars over five consecutive weeks, reinforcing the risk‑off bias. [Risk: Medium]25

(Times: Yahoo Finance crypto pieces cited here were published on 2026‑02‑23 between roughly 09:50 and 11:50, publisher timezone not specified; treated as ≈09:50–11:50 UTC for consistency.)5

Top Headlines (What & Why it matters)

  • Trump tariff hike deepens BTC drawdown (tariffs 10% → 15%): Multiple outlets attribute BTC’s latest leg lower to US President Trump’s announcement of broader 15% global tariffs, which has intensified risk‑off sentiment across assets and pushed BTC to around 64,300 at the lows on 2026‑02‑22/23 in Asia trading. [Risk: High]325
  • Liquidations cascade accelerates downside: As BTC lost the 65,000 level, derivatives data summarized by Binance Square show about 461 million dollars of positions liquidated market‑wide (≈93% longs), with BTC alone seeing roughly 193 million dollars of liquidations in a four‑hour window and a 4.5% intraday drop to about 64,200. [Risk: High]45
  • USDT supply contraction echoes 2022: New analysis notes that a sharp decline in USDT supply is flashing a rare signal last seen near the 2022 bottom, suggesting stressed liquidity conditions and heightened fear even as some analysts caution that any rebound this time could be slower. [Risk: Medium]5
  • Crypto funds and ETFs see persistent outflows: Weekly data highlight about 288 million dollars of outflows from crypto funds, while US spot BTC ETFs have recorded around 3.8 billion dollars in net outflows over five straight weeks, underscoring institutional de‑risking amid macro and policy uncertainty. [Risk: Medium]25
  • CME to launch 24/7 crypto futures and options trading: CME Group announced on 2026‑02‑19 (≈2026‑02‑19 12:00 CT ≈ 18:00 UTC) that its regulated crypto futures and options will trade 24/7 on CME Globex starting 2026‑05‑29 at 16:00 CT (22:00 UTC), with only a brief weekly maintenance window, reflecting strong institutional demand after a record 3 trillion dollars notional in 2025. (Note: outside strict 72‑hour window but structurally important.) [Risk: Medium]6

Exchanges

  • CME (derivatives): Move to continuous 24/7 trading for crypto futures and options from May 29, 2026 (launch 16:00 CT / 22:00 UTC), subject to regulatory review, is aimed at matching the underlying spot market and improving risk management flexibility for institutional participants. [Risk: Medium]6
  • Major CEX operations: No new material listings, delistings, or major outage/maintenance incidents for Binance, Coinbase, OKX, Kraken, Bybit, or Deribit were identified in official‑style sources within the last 72 hours; most exchange‑linked content has been market commentary rather than status changes. [Risk: Low]745

Regulation / Law

  • GENIUS Act stablecoin rules moving into implementation: A 2026‑02‑17 analysis notes that the US GENIUS Act, a stablecoin‑focused law enacted in mid‑2025, is now entering its implementation phase, with Q2‑2026 regulations expected to define reserve requirements, audit standards, and oversight of stablecoin issuers, which could materially shape the business models of US‑facing stablecoin projects. [Risk: Medium]8
  • Global regulatory trend check (context, not new this week): A December 2025 survey highlights that by late 2025, 85 of 117 jurisdictions had passed or were passing FATF Travel Rule legislation for virtual assets, with regulators increasingly demanding proof‑of‑reserves and stronger exchange oversight—conditions that continue to frame today’s enforcement environment. [Risk: Low]9
  • US joint oversight direction (older but relevant): A January 2026 policy tracker notes that CFTC leadership signaled closer coordination with the SEC via “Project Crypto” as a unified federal oversight approach; while not new in the last week, this continues to shape expectations around forthcoming US market‑structure rules. [Risk: Low]10

Research / White Papers

  • No major new market‑moving crypto research reports, protocol white papers, or technical standards with clear impact today were identified from major providers within the last 14 days based on accessible sources. [Risk: Low]
  • A recent academic paper from 2026‑01‑31 documents an “extremity premium” in crypto markets, where liquidity spreads widen during extreme fear/greed regimes measured by the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, broadly consistent with today’s reported “Extreme Fear” readings but outside the strict 14‑day window. [Risk: Low]114

Security Incidents

  • No confirmed large‑scale hacks, bridge exploits, or protocol‑level security incidents with clearly quantified losses were identified in primary or major secondary sources over the past 48 hours; today’s moves appear driven primarily by macro policy (tariffs), derivatives positioning, and stablecoin/liquidity dynamics rather than a discrete security shock. [Risk: Low]245

What to Watch (next 24–72h)

  • Tariff and trade headlines: Further announcements, legal challenges, or court rulings around Trump’s expanded global tariffs could continue to drive volatility in BTC and high‑beta alts as markets reassess growth and risk appetite.325
  • USDT and stablecoin supply dynamics: Whether USDT supply continues to contract or stabilizes after today’s rare signal will be important for gauging liquidity stress and potential capitulation versus bottoming behavior.5
  • Fund and ETF flows: Next daily and weekly prints for crypto funds and US spot BTC ETFs—after roughly 288 million dollars in weekly outflows and 3.8 billion dollars drained over five weeks—will signal whether institutional selling pressure is easing or intensifying.25
  • Derivatives positioning: Changes in BTC open interest (now sharply lower from 2026 highs) and any shift in the long/short imbalance after the latest 500‑million‑plus liquidation wave will help determine if the market has meaningfully de‑levered.45
  • Early regulatory signaling on stablecoins: As agencies prepare to implement the GENIUS Act stablecoin framework for Q2 2026, speeches, consultation papers, or draft rules could start to leak details that are market‑relevant for USDT, USDC, and competitors.128

Confidence: Medium–high confidence; all key items cross‑checked against at least one primary or high‑quality secondary source, but precise intraday pricing and regional regulatory micro‑developments may not be fully captured given source and time‑zone limitations. 131415161718192021222324252627282930313233

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Generated by

  1. https://x.com/marketsday/status/2025751221609636201 ↩ ↩2

  2. https://www.heygotrade.com/en/news/bitcoin-slides-below-65000-as-trumps-new-tariff-rattles-markets/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  3. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-23/bitcoin-btc-slides-to-65-000-in-latest-bout-of-tariff-uncertainty ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. https://www.binance.com/el/square/post/294662078431746 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  5. https://finance.yahoo.com/topic/crypto/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15

  6. https://www.cmegroup.com/media-room/press-releases/2026/2/19/cme_group_to_launch247cryptocurrencyfuturesandoptionstradingonma.html ↩ ↩2

  7. https://cryptocurrencyalerting.com/coin-listing-events.html ↩

  8. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2-big-crypto-regulations-dropping-103700601.html ↩ ↩2

  9. https://sumsub.com/blog/global-crypto-regulations/ ↩

  10. https://www.lw.com/en/us-crypto-policy-tracker/regulatory-developments ↩

  11. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f4faabbdaa2063751677ca0ea93c43808f42129c ↩

  12. https://www.klgates.com/Crypto-in-2026-The-Democratization-of-Digital-Assets-1-29-2026 ↩

  13. https://kluwerlawonline.com/journalarticle/European+Business+Law+Review/36.3/EULR2025039 ↩

  14. https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10479-022-05074-8 ↩

  15. https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-25275-5_10 ↩

  16. https://ebooks.iospress.nl/doi/10.3233/SHTI240513 ↩

  17. http://dergipark.org.tr/tr/doi/10.47129/bartiniibf.1169216 ↩

  18. https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/ajms_00147_1 ↩

  19. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/phvs.202170502 ↩

  20. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-101269 ↩

  21. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/152977926615568a91ea0d7d41daded88dd0e4e8 ↩

  22. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2302.11371.pdf ↩

  23. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S037843712300599X ↩

  24. https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/25/2/377 ↩

  25. http://arxiv.org/pdf/2501.05232.pdf ↩

  26. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11602072/ ↩

  27. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0040162521004571 ↩

  28. https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/25/5/777 ↩

  29. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9510218/ ↩

  30. https://www.reddit.com/r/BitunixCrypto/comments/1rb1vcx/21st_of_february_2026_crypto_insights_current/ ↩

  31. https://www.lw.com/en/us-crypto-policy-tracker/legislative-developments ↩

  32. https://coindar.org ↩

  33. https://coinmarketcap.com/events/ ↩