New York, Feb 16, 2026, 12:09 EST — Market closed
- Bitcoin slid roughly 1.6% over the past day, once again trading under the $70,000 mark.
- U.S. markets are closed for Presidents Day, while holidays across Asia sap trading volumes further.
- Next up, traders eye the U.S. market reopening on Tuesday, followed by Fed minutes due Feb. 18 and a batch of major U.S. data landing Feb. 20.
Bitcoin slipped 1.6% over the last 24 hours, changing hands near $67,900 after swinging between $67,300 and $70,100 on Monday. Ether was also softer, off 1.7% at approximately $1,974.
With U.S. exchanges shut for Presidents Day and Lunar New Year keeping a chunk of Asia offline, broader market activity thinned out. In these conditions, price swings can seem outsized compared to the actual trading happening behind them.
That’s suddenly relevant, with bitcoin behaving lately as a rate-sensitive risk asset instead of a niche token—its price jolting alongside shifting Fed cut expectations. On Tuesday, as Wall Street returns, traders also get fresh insight into demand from spot bitcoin ETFs, which hold bitcoin directly and are traded on stock exchanges.
Markets found a bit of lift over the weekend after U.S. inflation figures out Friday showed a 0.2% monthly uptick in consumer prices for January. Year-on-year inflation landed at 2.4%, just under the 2.5% Reuters poll estimate. Phil Orlando, chief market strategist at Federated Hermes, described the numbers as “better than expected,” and argued they bolster the possibility of rate cuts before year-end. Reuters
$70,000 hasn’t budged, holding firm as resistance. Delta Exchange’s Riya Sehgal called the short-term setup “fragile.” Giottus CEO Vikram Subburaj pointed to $70,000 as the first key “proving” zone, while for WazirX founder Nischal Shetty, it’s just “continued consolidation at elevated levels.” Looking below, Mudrex quant analyst Akshat Siddhant sees $66,500 as the support to watch, and said taking out $72,000 could set off a short squeeze—forcing bearish traders to buy. CoinDCX’s research team, meanwhile, tallied leveraged liquidations above $1.9 billion in just the past week. The Economic Times
For crypto traders, watching institutional flows has become routine. On Friday, U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs saw roughly $15 million in net inflows, according to Farside Investors data.
The mid-$60,000s are looking shaky—if prices slip under that, watch for leveraged traders to get squeezed out fast. Holiday trading is thin; when stops trigger, things can move in a hurry and gaps open up.
Traders get their hands on the Federal Reserve’s Jan. 27-28 policy meeting minutes Wednesday, searching for any signs of how eager officials are to lower rates. The Fed plans to publish the minutes Feb. 18.
The Commerce Department’s BEA will drop its advance fourth-quarter GDP number and December’s personal income and spending data at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Traders watch these closely—a surprise can send the dollar or Treasury yields moving, both of which have been pushing crypto around lately.
For now, traders are eyeing Tuesday’s U.S. session to see if ETF appetite firms up — and if BTC manages to retake the $70,000 level without fresh macro support.
