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Institutional investors such as Bitcoin ETF holders and treasury firms are increasingly purchasing downside protection against potential Bitcoin price declines below $60,000. This trend suggests concerns about a possible significant correction. The move reflects a cautious approach by market participants with long-term investment strategies to hedge against market volatility.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan attributes recent Bitcoin price declines to institutional investors liquidating long positions via spot sales, leverage unwinding, and selling call options. The selling pressure is driven by factors such as the four-year Bitcoin cycle, quantum computing concerns, and shifts towards AI startups. Hougan believes this selling phase is nearing completion, signaling a market bottom and potential for new all-time highs in the future, describing the current phase as a typical crypto winter before an eventual crypto spring.

Binance Alpha will launch trading for Fabric Protocol (ROBO) starting February 27, 2026, at 08:00 UTC. Users holding at least 245 Binance Alpha points can claim an airdrop of 888 ROBO tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. The threshold will decrease by 5 points every 5 minutes if the reward pool is not fully distributed, and claiming the airdrop costs 15 Alpha points with a 24-hour confirmation window.

Global gold demand is expected to surge to a record 4,900 tonnes in 2026, driven by increased investor interest amid geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. Demand for gold jewelry, central bank purchases, gold ETFs, and physical bars and coins are all forecasted to rise significantly. Experts predict that gold prices could reach new highs between $7,000 and $8,000 as supply constraints and steady demand support a prolonged upward trend.

An investigation into the ZachXBT insider event shows over 3,630 Polymarket addresses bet on 'Axiom,' with 56.2% turning a profit. Among the top 10 earners, 8 addresses likely involved in insider activity profited more than $1.2 million with very few trades. Three addresses made single trades each earning over $100,000, and dozens others profited between $10,000 and $100,000.

An investigation into the ZachXBT insider probe event on Polymarket shows over 3,630 addresses bet on the 'Axiom' market. Approximately 56.2% of these addresses turned a profit, with insiders topping the leaderboard. Eight of the top 10 most profitable addresses are linked to insiders, amassing more than $1.2 million in combined gains.

BTC perpetual futures on the top three crypto futures exchanges show a marginally higher percentage of short positions compared to long positions over the last 24 hours. Overall, short positions account for a little over 51%, with Binance, OKX, and Bybit all reflecting similar short biases. The data indicates a cautious or bearish sentiment among traders holding BTC perpetual contracts.

Axiom employees reportedly used insider knowledge about a forthcoming report on insider trading to place profitable bets on Polymarket, a Solana-based prediction platform. On-chain analyst ZachXBT identified large bets from 12 wallets, resulting in approximately $1 million in combined profits just before the report’s release. The insider leak raises concerns about market integrity and the potential for similar abuses in decentralized prediction markets.

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales predicts Bitcoin will survive as a network but fail as a currency or store of value, potentially dropping below $10,000 by 2050. He emphasizes Bitcoin's limited adoption and volatility, dismissing its likelihood to become a dominant money form or safe haven asset. While some analysts echo the bearish sentiment, others warn against overreacting to price dips, leaving Bitcoin's long-term role uncertain.

Santiment highlights that the number of Bitcoin wallets holding at least 100 BTC has surpassed 20,000, primarily owned by institutions, funds, and long-term holders. This growth suggests an accumulation phase where wealth is shifting from retail investors to stronger large holders, which historically precedes price recoveries. However, total supply concentration among these wallets has not significantly increased yet, which has kept Bitcoin prices subdued.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized the Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Jonathan Gould, over the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) national trust bank charter application amid concerns of presidential corruption due to a significant UAE-linked investment. Warren accused the investment involving Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan of being a scandal tied to the Trump family and urged the OCC to halt or reject the application. Gould defended the integrity of the review process, emphasizing that political pressure is inappropriate and that the application will follow standard procedures despite the controversy.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has unfollowed Cathie Wood on X (formerly Twitter). Wood previously attributed the Bitcoin market downturn in recent months to a $28 billion deleveraging event triggered by Binance's outage on October 11. This event is believed to have caused significant market instability affecting Bitcoin prices.

Matrixport highlights that Bitcoin's recent low volatility masks significant underlying changes in market structure, driven by a $2.5 billion gamma exposure nearing monthly expiry. Since the peak, $26.7 billion has been withdrawn from the market, signaling a nearing positional reset with decreasing liquidity playing an increasingly dominant role. The report stresses that future price movements will depend less on options mechanics and more on market liquidity conditions during this critical phase.

Consumer complaints related to cryptocurrency in South Korea surged dramatically in January, increasing 55.5 times compared to the same month last year. The Korea Consumer Agency reported a 30.2-fold rise from December to January, marking the largest monthly increase among all product categories. The spike was linked to changes in promotional event conditions by a virtual asset platform that affected API trading integration support funds.

At least 12 cryptocurrency wallets reportedly profited over $1 million by betting on the outcome of ZachXBT's investigation prior to public disclosure. One trader notably turned an average entry of $0.14 into $411,000 in gains. This raises concerns about insider trading on Polymarket markets designed to detect such illicit activities.

On February 26, spot Bitcoin ETFs reported a net inflow of $254 million, marking three consecutive days of sustained inflows. Spot Ethereum ETFs also continued their positive trend with a net inflow of $6.57 million over the same period. These inflows underscore increasing institutional and retail investor demand for cryptocurrency exposure via ETFs.

Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized the OCC chief Jonathan Gould for continuing to process a bank charter application from World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to former President Trump. Warren raised concerns over the UAE's $500 million stake in the firm and potential conflicts of interest, urging the OCC to halt or reject the application. The situation has sparked political controversy due to allegations of foreign influence and unresolved financial conflicts tied to the former president.

UniSat announced plans to deepen its investment and development within the Bitcoin mainnet ecosystem, particularly supporting Ordinals, Runes, and BRC-20 tokens. Key initiatives include zero marketplace service fees starting March 2026, expanding early access for UniHexa's on-chain swap services, and upgrading their API with commercial-grade capabilities. Additionally, UniSat intends to acquire at least 500,000 FB tokens to engage with the upcoming Fractal indexing service scheduled for Q2.

Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a collective net inflow of $254 million on February 26, marking three days of consecutive inflows. BlackRock's IBIT ETF led with a $276 million single-day net inflow, bringing its cumulative inflow to over $61 billion. The total assets under management in Bitcoin spot ETFs reached nearly $86 billion, representing 6.38% of Bitcoin's total market capitalization.

Ethereum spot ETFs experienced a total net inflow of $6.5742 million on February 26, sustaining a three-day streak of inflows. BlackRock's ETHA led inflows with $15.34 million on the day and has amassed $11.876 billion historically. The total net asset value of Ethereum spot ETFs reached $11.599 billion, representing 4.75% of Ethereum's market capitalization.