Hey folks,
Welcome back to your weekly snapshot of crypto insights, where we cover major trends, market moves, policy shifts, and must-know developments from the crypto space. Join us as we take you on a guided tour of the crypto world.
Over the past week, rising volatility and downside hedging in options markets signaled growing investor caution, weighing heavily on the price of BTC, the largest crypto by market cap. In fact, the signals remained mixed. Whale accumulation remained strong, and easing US inflation provided support, while geopolitical risks weighed.
BTC spent the week consolidating between $65K–$70K before repeated rejections near $70K–$71K confirmed strong overhead supply. Liquidity clusters around $69.5K–$70K acted as magnets, while $66K–$67K served as key support. Rising volatility and downside hedging in options markets signaled growing caution. A sharp liquidation event later pushed BTC toward $64.5K, briefly breaking range structure before dip buyers stepped in. Despite short-term distribution signals, whale accumulation remained strong, suggesting medium-term confidence. Macro tailwinds from easing US inflation contrasted with geopolitical risks, leaving BTC range-bound with resistance at $66K–$67K and fragile support near $64.5K.
ETH ranged between $1,920–$2,020 before repeated rejections at $2,000. A sharp breakdown below $1,925 triggered liquidations, sending prices toward $1,850. Dip buyers stepped in, but recovery remains cautious. $1,960–$1,975 now acts as resistance, while $1,850 is key support. In stablecoins, PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD has crossed $4 billion in total market cap, with over $220 million now circulating on Arbitrum. The growth is largely driven by a December partnership between PayPal and Permian Labs (USDai’s core developer). PYUSD was added as a reserve, settlement, and liquidity asset for USDAI, a protocol focused on financing AI infrastructure like GPUs and data centers.
CME Group will launch 24/7 crypto futures trading on its CME Globex platform starting May 29, pending regulatory approval. The move comes amid surging institutional demand. In 2025, CME recorded a record $3 trillion in notional crypto derivatives volume. In 2026 so far, average daily volume has reached 407,200 contracts, while open interest stands at 335,400 contracts. In global news, SBI Holdings, one of Japan's largest financial conglomerates, is launching its first blockchain-based retail bond, issuing ¥10 billion through the “SBI START Bonds” program. The three-year bonds offer 1.85%–2.45% annual interest, paid semiannually. Also, the Dubai Land Department and tokenization firm Ctrl Alt have launched a secondary market for tokenized real estate, enabling the resale of $5 million in fractional property ownership. Around 7.8 million tokens tied to ten Dubai properties can now trade in a regulated environment. Transactions are recorded on the XRP Ledger and secured via Ripple Custody. The initiative is part of Dubai’s broader plan to tokenize 7% of its real estate market by 2033.
Top performers among altcoins were KITE, WLFI, and MORPHO.
Weekly price movement:
BTC $66,250 ⏬ 3.73% (1W)
ETH $1,917 ⏬ 3.55% (1W)
KITE $0.2634 ⏫ 28.31% (1W)
WLFI $0.1170 ⏫ 15.99% (1W)
MORPHO $1.58 ⏫ 12.9% (1W)
(All data here as of 3:00 p.m., 23 February 2026)
Before we conclude, here’s a quick look at some important news from around the crypto world.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed a technical overhaul of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), calling for the use of personal artificial intelligence agents to privately cast votes on behalf of users and help scale digital governance, according to CoinDesk.
ProShares’ new ETF built for the fast-growing $300-billion stablecoin market had a massive launch, fueling speculation that one major stablecoin issuer may be involved. The fund, called the ProShares GENIUS Money Market ETF, is designed to hold short-term US Treasuries, according to CoinDesk.
That’s it for now. Thanks for sticking around.
See you later, folks! 👋