Point of View: The primary factor influencing Bitcoin's price is technical analysis, and investors need to patiently wait for the market to capitulate.

On February 26, monitoring from The Data Nerd reveals that a whale address starting with 0x69A executed another scheduled purchase of 8,033 ETH (roughly $16.47 million) from Galaxy Digital 4 hours ago. Over the past three months, this address has accumulated 14,551 ETH in purchases, with an average entry price of around $2,206. Currently, it holds 37,576 ETH (approximately $77.53 million) and faces an unrealized loss of roughly $38.45 million.

**February 26th – Crypto Options Expiry & Market Update (via Greeks.live)** ### Key Expiry Metrics (This Friday) - **Bitcoin (BTC)**: 116,000 BTC options expiring. Metrics: Put/Call Ratio = 0.76, max pain = $75,000, notional value = $7.9 billion. - **Ethereum (ETH)**: 206,000 ETH options expiring. Metrics: Put/Call Ratio = 0.77, max pain = $2,200, notional value = $9.8 billion. ### Greeks.live Analyst Adam’s Commentary - **Market Sluggishness**: BTC dropped to $60k early February and has traded weakly above that level all month. - **Upcoming Expiry**: Tomorrow, ~20% of total crypto open interest ($9B+) expires; BTC’s open interest ratio is at a recent peak. - **Volatility & Confidence**: BTC/ETH implied volatility (IV) rose this week (BTC short-term IV = 47%, ETH = 65%) on a 2-day rebound, easing the downtrend—but market confidence remains low. - **Trading Trends**: Large bullish options dominate; post-yesterday’s bounce, heavy medium/long-term call trading. Skew reb

On February 26, GoPlus monitoring shows that privacy gaming platform FOOM CASH was hacked across both Base and Ethereum networks, resulting in the loss of 24,283,773,519,600 FOOM tokens—valued at roughly $2.26 million. The breach stemmed from a verification key configuration error. The attacker exploited this flaw to forge a zkSNARK proof, then drained a significant amount of FOOM tokens from the compromised contract.

February 26 — Morgan Stanley’s latest research report finds artificial intelligence won’t cause widespread permanent unemployment; instead, it will reshape employment structures and create entirely new roles. Citing 150 years of technological change history, the report notes advancements from electrification to the internet have transformed labor markets without replacing human workers. It projects future roles like Chief AI Officer and AI Governance Expert will emerge, alongside hybrid positions across industries. Still, some economists warn AI’s automation of cognitive tasks — unlike past tech shifts — could devalue human expertise, potentially decoupling corporate profit growth from employment growth. To date, 30% of companies that have adopted AI report quantifiable financial or productivity gains, up sharply from 16% a year ago.

Feb 26, Bernstein said Circle has transitioned from a "crypto proxy investment target" to a fintech infrastructure provider. Circle’s Q4 earnings report revealed its 2025 revenue surged 77% to $7.7 billion. For Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, this marks just the start of AI and blockchain reshaping the global economy. “We’re at the very beginning of a profound, fundamental shift in how the global economic system operates,” he noted. “It will not only become more internet-native but also more automated.” Bernstein views Circle as a key player in this transformation, reiterating its “outperform” rating on the firm in a new report, setting a $190 price target (implying 129% upside), and noting Circle is evolving into core internet infrastructure. Analyst Gautam Chhugani and three colleagues described Circle’s Q4 performance as “clearly differentiated from the crypto market.”

February 26 — Crypto startup STS Digital has closed a $30 million funding round, led by CMT Digital with participation from Kraken, Arrington Capital and a Fidelity-affiliated investment firm, Fortune reported. STS Digital co-founder and CEO Maxime Seiler declined to disclose the company’s valuation for the financing round. The firm focuses on serving institutional investors, enabling deep-pocketed traders to buy and sell cryptocurrency options. It also operates as an options market maker.