Crypto Market Slides as BTC, ETH Drop; PIPPIN, KITE Defy Downtrend

I. Crypto Market Overview

Key Takeaways

Macro Environment

The SEC's 2% stablecoin haircut rule boosts institutional crypto adoption and liquidity. Persistent US inflation and divided Fed policy outlook heighten market uncertainty. Upcoming US global tariffs raise concerns over trade tensions and potential volatility in digital assets.

Crypto Market

The crypto market saw broad declines over the past 12 hours, with BTC down 4.04% to $65,294 and ETH falling 4.97% to $1,877.2, pressured by continued ETF outflows and risk-off sentiment. Altcoins mostly dropped, except for PIPPIN (+23.36%), KITE (+19.29%), and DCR (+11%), driven by new listings, funding, and technical breakouts. Meme and DeFi sectors underperformed.

Today's Outlook

ETHDenver 2026, the world's largest Ethereum builder festival, kicks off today, likely spurring major announcements on Layer-2 scaling and DeFi. Avail and Spacecoin unlock tokens worth $1.03M and $7.84M, potentially impacting liquidity and price volatility for these assets.

Fear and Greed Index

66.00% Annual Percentile

14 Fear

Total Crypto Market Cap

$2.30T

1.28%

Total Market Trading Volume

$49.85B

4.65%

Altcoin Season Index

41.67%

Quarterly Percentile

32 / 100

Total Futures Market Open Interest

3.09B

1.56%

Futures

356.13B

0.78%

Perpetuals

II. Industry Updates

Macro-economic Policies

The SEC has clarified that broker-dealers can now apply a 2% haircut on stablecoin holdings for net capital calculations, significantly improving balance sheet efficiency and enabling greater institutional use of stablecoins in crypto settlements and DeFi collateralization.

The U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index for December exceeded expectations, signaling persistent inflationary pressures; this may influence Federal Reserve policy and impact crypto market risk sentiment and liquidity conditions.

The Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes reveal deep divisions among members regarding future monetary policy, increasing uncertainty for interest rate trajectories and contributing to volatility in crypto asset prices.

The U.S. is implementing a 15% global tariff this week, raising concerns over trade tensions and potential impacts on global economic growth, which could drive volatility in Bitcoin and digital asset markets as investors reassess risk exposure.

Cryptocurrency Regulatory Trends

The U.S. SEC has clarified that broker-dealers can now apply only a 2% haircut on stablecoin holdings for net capital requirements, boosting stablecoin integration and liquidity in regulated markets.

Negotiations on the U.S. CLARITY Act are intensifying, with a March 1 White House deadline to resolve stablecoin yield rules; passage could provide long-awaited regulatory clarity and spur institutional adoption.

Recent SEC guidance aligns stablecoins with money market funds, allowing 98% of their value to count toward broker-dealer capital, which is expected to accelerate tokenized securities and settlement adoption.

U.S. regulatory momentum is shifting from enforcement to integration, as new rules and legislative efforts focus on stablecoin oversight, digital asset classification, and operational frameworks for DeFi and tokenized assets.

PIPPIN (PIPPIN): PIPPIN surged 23% in 24h, driven by Binance perpetual futures listing and strong AI narrative, with $66.9M trading volume and rising community engagement.

KITE (KITE): KITE rose 19% in 24h, fueled by recent PayPal-led $18M funding, Binance Launchpool listing, and over $263M early trading volume as the first AI payment blockchain.

Decred (DCR): DCR gained 11% in 24h, supported by dual bullish technical patterns and a 205% spike in trading volume, with analysts projecting up to 37% further upside.

Smart Money Movements

Bitdeer liquidated its entire Bitcoin holdings, selling 943.1 BTC in the past week and reducing its reserve to zero, as confirmed on February 20, 2026.

Strategy's Bitcoin holdings reached 717,131 BTC, valued at $48.7 billion, nearly six times its $8.2 billion liabilities as of end-2025, with all coins unencumbered.

Grayscale increased Cardano's allocation in its Smart Contract Fund to 20.12%, making ADA the third-largest holding after Solana and Ethereum, reflecting sustained institutional interest.

A whale withdrew 50,000 SOL (about $4.25 million) from Binance and Bybit for staking after five months of inactivity, signaling renewed confidence in Solana's network.

A trader on Hyperliquid profited $573,000 by holding $2.647 million in long gold/silver and short positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, DYDX, and Avalanche.

Events to Watch

Feb 23 (Mon)

ETHDenver 2026, the world's largest Ethereum builder festival, begins; Korea releases January PPI; Avail and Spacecoin unlock tokens worth $1.03M and $7.84M respectively.

Feb 24 (Tue)

China announces February Loan Prime Rates (LPR); US releases ADP Employment Change, December Housing Price Index, and February Consumer Confidence data.

Feb 25 (Wed)

EU and Australia release CPI data; Korea announces February rate decision; VENOM unlocks 59.26M tokens; Irys unlocks $1.52M in tokens; Humanity unlocks tokens for early contributors.

Feb 26 (Thu)

US releases Initial Jobless Claims and Chicago PMI; Huma Finance unlocks $1.53M in tokens, 7.28% of market value.

Feb 27 (Fri)

Germany releases February flash CPI and HICP; US and Canada release PPI and Q4 GDP data; Switzerland releases Q4 GDP.

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