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Your day-ahead look for Feb. 23, 2026
Bitcoin holders are acquiring put options to safeguard against potential price decreases. (Peggy_Marco/Pixabay modified by CoinDesk)
What to know:
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By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless stated otherwise)
Tariff uncertainty has returned to affect the markets, and it is no surprise that bitcoin traders are seeking downside protection.
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On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs from April of the previous year. Within hours, Trump announced new tariffs, utilizing a law that permits an import levy of up to 15% for 150 days to resolve “international payment issues.”
This confirms the president’s continued belief that “tariffs” is the most appealing term in the English language. It also indicates that trade-related uncertainty will persist, creating challenges for risk assets, including bitcoin.
Bitcoin traders have responded accordingly. Since Friday, put options with strike prices of $58,000, $60,000, and $62,000 have experienced the most significant rises in open interest, representing the number of active contracts, on Deribit. This clearly illustrates that traders are preparing for price declines. A put option serves as a safeguard against price drops.
Bitcoin dipped to a low of $64,481 early Monday after fluctuating around $66,000 over the weekend. This decrease occurred amid reports of a whale, or significant BTC holder, transferring large quantities of bitcoin to an exchange, likely for selling purposes. The price has since bounced back to above $66,000.
Ether (ETH) also rebounded from lows in the Asian session near $1,856, even as blockchain data indicated increased selling activity by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
Trade tensions may dominate sentiment this week, with Nvidia’s earnings possibly contributing to market volatility. Analysts are hopeful about the potential stabilization of spot bitcoin ETF flows to support the market.
"A leveling off of outflows would imply that institutional selling is stabilizing. Ongoing contraction would reinforce a defensive stance," Timothy Misir, head of research at BRN, stated in an email.
"Currently, liquidity defines the environment. Supply remains abundant. Conviction is weak. The market is awaiting either macro relief or the re-emergence of structural demand," he added.
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In traditional markets, Goldman Sachs has increased its fourth-quarter Brent crude oil forecast to $60 and WTI to $56 per barrel, citing lower-than-anticipated OECD stockpiles. Crude prices have been robust lately due to fears of a potential military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. A significant increase in oil prices could contribute to global inflation and impact risk assets. Remain vigilant!
Read more: For an analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today
What to Watch
For a more detailed list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s "Crypto Week Ahead".
- Crypto
- Feb. 23: Alchemy Chain’s testnet is set to go live.
- Macro
- Feb. 23, 8:00 a.m.: Fed Governor Christopher Waller delivers a speech on the economic outlook at the National Association for Business Economics.
- Feb. 23, 10:00 a.m.: U.S. Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index for February (Prev. -1.2)
- Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
- Nothing scheduled.
Token Events
For a more detailed list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s "Crypto Week Ahead".
- Governance votes & calls
- Feb. 23: DYdX Foundation will conduct its February analyst call.
- Feb. 23: Pudgy Penguins will hold an Inner Igloo meeting on Discord.
- Uniswap DAO is voting to implement protocol fees across all V3 pools and eight layer-2 networks. Voting concludes on Feb. 23.
- ZKsync DAO is voting to allocate $4.1 million in ZK tokens for the 2026 Audit Reimbursement Program (ZARP v2) to finance future protocol security audits and retroactively reimburse eligible 2025 expenses. Voting closes on Feb. 23.
- Unlocks
- Nothing scheduled.
- Token Launches
- Nothing scheduled.
Conferences
For a more detailed list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s "Crypto Week Ahead".
- Day 1 of 4: Strategy World 2026 (Las Vegas)
- Day 1 of 2: NEARCON (San Francisco)
Market Movements
- BTC is down 1.99% from 4 p.m. ET Friday at $66,466.38 (24hrs: -2.67%)
- ETH is down 2.75% at $1,920.06 (24hrs: -3.13%)
- CoinDesk 20 is down 2.7% at 1,913.13 (24hrs: -2.93%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is down 3 bps at 2.76%
- BTC funding rate is at -0.0047% (-5.1531% annualized) on Binance
- DXY is down 0.14% at 97.66
- Gold futures are up 2.03% at $5,184.10
- Silver futures are up 5.41% at $86.79
- Nikkei 225 closed down 1.12% at 56,825.70
- Hang Seng closed up 2.53% at 27,081.91
- FTSE is little changed at 10,682.09
- Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.07% at 6,127.32
- DJIA closed on Friday up 0.47% at 49,625.97
- S&P 500 closed up 0.69% at 6,909.51
- Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.90% at 22,886.07
- S&P/TSX Composite closed up 0.66% at 33,817.51
- S&P 40 Latin America closed up 1.63% at 3,799.71
- U.S
