Kategorie: Crypto Markets

Daily headlines and news about crypto markets.

Veröffentlicht am

Bittensor price forecast as TAO hits $200 resistance amid Upbit listing

  • Bittensor price rose to highs of $207 amid Upbit’s listing announcement.
  • However, buyers retreated and saw TAO touch lows of $179.
  • The daily chart signals a potential bullish move, and $300 could be the next target.

Bittensor (TAO) has retested the $200 mark, reaching intraday highs of $207 in early trading on Monday as top cryptocurrencies look to hold key levels.

While the TAO price made gains in early trading, it has fluctuated heavily in the past hours, with the volatility coming amid a major exchange listing and broader market weakness.

Bittensor pares gains as Upbit lists TAO pairs

At the time of writing, TAO traded around $185, slightly off intraday highs and about 2% down in the past 24 hours.

The latest uptick and subsequent sharp decline align with the listing announcement from South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit.

The exchange has added TAO pairs on its spot trading platform, a development that sparked immediate price action.

According to Upbit, traders can now access TAO/KRW, TAO/BTC, and TAO/USDT trading pairs as of Feb.16, which is a notable move set to bolster accessibility for TAO across one of Asia’s largest crypto markets.

Localized demand has often seen tokens listed on Korean exchanges post sharp gains, and that’s what TAO experienced.

However, amid profit taking, which has coincided with a 51% uptick in daily volume, prices have revisited support at $179.

Can Bittensor hold onto momentum?

Beyond the Upbit catalyst, Bittensor’s recent price rally from lows of $145 ties closely to a recent pivotal leadership shift.

This is because Jacob Steeves, known as “const,” announced he had stepped down as CEO of the OpenTensor Foundation, marking a key transition to a “headless” protocol free from centralized control.

Steeves’ announcement amplified decentralization sentiment among investors, positioning Bittensor as a resilient AI infrastructure play.

With dynamic TAO upgrades and subnet competition already live, the protocol now operates as a self-sustaining ecosystem.

Grayscale has also highlighted potential institutional interest in the token, particularly with its TAO ETP filing.

Bittensor price prediction: more pain or $300 next?

The cryptocurrency market’s struggles have led to most altcoins tracking losses over the past several months.

Bittensor price mirrors this outlook, and with Bitcoin constrained around $70,000, sentiment remains largely bearish.

Despite this, can TAO break towards the $300 mark?

Bittensor Price Chart
Bittensor price chart by TradingView

The daily chart paints a slightly bullish picture, given the RSI and MACD indicators.

Bulls can solidify control near $180 and look to reclaim the critical $200 level.

Such a breakout from the descending channel could allow buyers to target the 50-day moving average and swing highs of $240.

From here, the next target of $300 would come into view.

However, failure to successfully reclaim $200 risks a retest of demand zones seen in recent months.

The area around $144 could mark a key short-term support level.

The post Bittensor price forecast as TAO hits $200 resistance amid Upbit listing appeared first on CoinJournal.

Veröffentlicht am

XRP price outlook as SBI CEO debunks $10B XRP holdings claim

  • XRP changed hands at around $1.50 as the broader market remains mostly bearish.
  • SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao has said the firm does not hold $10 billion XRP, but a 9% stake in Ripple Labs.
  • Can bulls reclaim $2 amid broader market resilience?

XRP price hovered near $1.47 in Asian trading hours on Monday, Feb.16, 2026, with the cryptocurrency down 8% in the past 24 hours.

The altcoin’s intraday performance came after comments from SBI Holdings CEO Yoshitaka Kitao, who recently clarified the firm’s investment in Ripple and the token XRP.

XRP and a $10 billion SBI holding rumour

SBI, one of Ripple’s major partners, hit headlines last week amid news of its acquisition of a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange.

But alongside this was the circulation of a rumour claiming that the firm holds $10 billion in XRP tokens.

This prompted an X post response from SBI CEO Kitao, who clarified that SBI’s actual position is not in XRP, but a 9% stake in Ripple Labs.

XRP price retreated from highs of $1.60 to around $1.40 amid Kitao’s clarification that the Japanese financial giant’s focus is on Ripple’s blockchain ecosystem.

“When it comes to Ripple Lab.’s total valuation which obviously includes its ecosystem that Ripple has created, that would be enormous. SBI owns more than 9 % of that much,” he posted.

Ripple (XRP) price outlook

XRP’s price action over recent months has largely tracked broader trends in the cryptocurrency market.

Comments by the chief executive of SBI Holdings briefly unsettled traders, before buyers stepped in to defend levels above $1.40.

While the token remains under pressure as Bitcoin consolidates below $70,000, the recent move toward $1.60 and a rebound from weekend lows point to tentative stabilisation.

Sentiment linked to institutional backers such as SBI may support confidence in Ripple and its wider ecosystem.

The group’s expansion into Southeast Asia through recent acquisitions has also raised expectations of increased real-world adoption, which could support demand for XRP.

ETF inflows and regulatory developments are additional factors influencing sentiment.

Speculation around a potential Ripple initial public offering, alongside other positive catalysts, could further lift medium- to long-term confidence among XRP holders.

In the near term, traders are watching a major resistance zone between $1.90 and $2.35.

However, persistent macroeconomic and geopolitical risks could undermine short-term optimism.

In a weaker scenario, XRP may revisit support near $1.20 and potentially test levels below $1.00.

The post XRP price outlook as SBI CEO debunks $10B XRP holdings claim appeared first on CoinJournal.

Veröffentlicht am

AVAX breaks key pattern as $9 turns into major supply zone

  • The Avalanche (AVAX) token traded around $8.84 as sell-off pressure kept prices lower.
  • Bulls have failed to reclaim the $10 mark and fresh declines may push AVAX to lows of $6.30.
  • Sentiment across crypto is largely bearish.

Avalanche (AVAX) is facing mounting resistance just below the $9 mark, where persistent bearish pressure has stifled recent recovery attempts.

The altcoin’s bearish outlook aligns with broader cryptocurrency market vulnerability, and having recoiled off the resistance level, technicals suggest fresh losses are likely.

Avalanche price recap

AVAX has navigated a turbulent path over the past month, with prices falling since hitting highs near $15 on January 14, 2026.

The decline, currently putting the token 39% off its 30-day peak, has come amid significant macroeconomic headwinds and sector-wide profit-taking.

Bears have largely taken control despite Avalanche C-Chain’s recent network milestones, including throughput.

According to Ava Labs’ Martin Eckardt, the chain could hit over 4 million gas per second by next week.

The dip to under $8.30 on February 5, 2026, intensified the sell-off pressure, and bulls find it difficult to break higher.

In the last 24 hours, the token fluctuated between a low of $8.64 and a high of $8.96, with trading volume dipping 7% to 254 million.

The past week’s performance tells a similar story of stalled momentum.

AVAX has seen two green days out of seven, with volatility under 1%, as bears defend the $9 threshold amid extreme fear readings on the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.

Avalanche price prediction: Technical picture

From a technical standpoint, AVAX has broken below a key weekly falling wedge pattern, with $9 acting as an immediate supply zone.

Further short-term bearish bias is from the weekly RSI at 30, with a move to oversold conditions hinting at a potential dip before another bounce on a volume uptick.

A notable leg down will rely on key support clusters at $8.50–$8.25, a zone reinforced by recent lows. If prices breach this defense line, bearish targets include lows of $7.50 and $.6.30.

On the other hand, upside catalysts will include a reclaim of $9.38 and a retest of the short-term max pain projection at the $13.90 resistance.

If indecisiveness resolves in favour of bulls, with the weekly MACD forming a bullish crossover, the next target will be the dynamic resistance mark coinciding with the 50-week moving average (at $19.42 as of writing).

The 200-day moving average is offering resistance at $23.69.

avalanche-avax-price-chart
AVAX price chart by TradingView

Avalanche’s lack of upside momentum mirrors Bitcoin’s struggle below $70,000. Crypto analysts see the overall market sentiment as still largely bearish, with forecasts for a potential dip to $50k for BTC.

Downside momentum will cascade across altcoins.

The post AVAX breaks key pattern as $9 turns into major supply zone appeared first on CoinJournal.

Veröffentlicht am

Perpetual futures changed how retail traders perceived risk in 2025

  • Perpetual futures allow positions to stay open indefinitely, letting risk build over time.
  • Losses increasingly stem from prolonged exposure, not sudden price moves.
  • Contract design now plays a bigger role in risk than traditional entry and exit timing.

In 2025, many retail traders realized that futures risk no longer followed a familiar lifecycle.

Positions were no longer defined by clear start and end points, and losses were increasingly shaped by how long exposure was carried rather than by individual market moves.

As non-expiring futures became the default contract type, traders began encountering risk that developed through persistence instead of resolution.

This shift introduced a structural contradiction. Traditional futures contracts expire, forcing positions to be closed or rolled at predetermined intervals.

That process limits how long exposure can accumulate without intervention.

Perpetual futures remove this constraint. By design, they allow positions to remain open indefinitely, provided margin requirements are met.

While this simplifies participation, it also allows risk to build continuously, often without clear signals on price charts.

Educational coverage from Leverage.Trading focused on the structural mechanics of perpetual futures, detailing how the removal of contract expiry allows exposure to persist and why risk can deteriorate over time even when price movement remains subdued.

Risk that accumulates through duration, not volatility

Similar structural patterns have been observed in institutional research on derivatives markets.

For example, the BIS has reported that rising notional exposure and gross market values in derivatives markets reflect how risk can accumulate as positions persist over time, even without dramatic price movements.

As traders adjusted to this structure, several defining properties of non-expiring futures became more widely understood.

These properties did not describe market outcomes, but the conditions under which exposure is allowed to persist:

  • Futures contracts without expiry do not force risk to reset
  • Exposure remains active until manually reduced or automatically closed
  • Structural costs and pressures continue to accrue over time
  • Position vulnerability increases through duration, not only volatility

Understanding these properties changed how futures risk was assessed.

Instead of evaluating trades solely on entry quality or short-term price expectations, traders increasingly examined whether a position could withstand ongoing structural pressure over extended periods. 

From contract expiry to continuous exposure

This distinction mirrors the contrast between traditional futures markets, such as those operated by the CME Group, and perpetual contract models that dominate crypto derivatives, where contract duration is theoretically unlimited.

The educational explanations focused on how perpetual futures remain aligned with spot prices through continuous adjustment mechanisms, how funding and exposure interact across time, and why prolonged duration can erode position stability even in relatively calm markets.

By considering contract design alongside exposure and time, traders were better equipped to judge whether a futures position was structurally sound before entering it. 

Regulatory bodies such as the ESMA have also warned that prolonged leveraged exposure can magnify losses even when price fluctuations appear modest, reinforcing the importance of understanding contract mechanics rather than relying solely on price signals.

Why futures risk became a time problem

As futures markets expanded and participation broadened, isolated price outcomes became an unreliable way to interpret risk.

Education that clarified how non-expiring contracts carry exposure forward became necessary for understanding why positions often deteriorate gradually rather than failing abruptly.

This emphasis on contract structure reflects a broader shift toward risk-first explanations, a role increasingly associated with Leverage.Trading’s coverage of futures and leveraged markets.

Recognizing that futures risk now accumulates through continuity rather than expiration marked a meaningful change in retail trading behavior.

Explanations that clarify how contract design, exposure, and time interact help traders understand not just how futures positions are opened, but how and why they degrade without a defined endpoint.

The post Perpetual futures changed how retail traders perceived risk in 2025 appeared first on CoinJournal.

Veröffentlicht am

Bitcoin ETFs bleed $410M amid $2.5B options expiry: is BTC facing deeper crash?

  • Bitcoin saw spot ETF outflows of over $410 million as prices struggled.
  • Over $2.5 billion in Bitcoin options expired on Friday.
  • Analysts say “worst of downturn” likely over but market remains bearish.

Bitcoin ETFs experienced a net outflow of over $410 million on February 12, as investors withdrew capital from the exchange-traded funds amid growing fears of a broader crypto market downturn.

And on Friday morning, Feb. 13, BTC price fluctuated near $66,800 as the market recorded a massive $2.5 billion Bitcoin options expiry.

Crypto analysts have shared their thoughts on what this could mean for the Bitcoin price in the short term.

Bitcoin ETF outflows and $2.5 billion options expiry

Data showed that on US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of over $410 million yesterday, with none of the 12 spot ETFs notching net inflows.

BlackRock’s IBIT led with nearly $158 million, Fidelity’s FBTC had $104 million, and Grayscale’s GBTC had over $59 million in exits.

This marked the second consecutive day of redemptions, following $276 million on February 11.

Institutional investors are pulling back amid Bitcoin’s struggles around the $67,500-$65,450 range.

The fresh ETF outflows coincide with a pivotal weekly options expiry at 08:00 UTC on Feb. 13.

Approximately 38,000 Bitcoin contracts worth $2.5 billion in notional value have expired, primarily on Deribit, with a put/call ratio of 0.72 and maximum pain near $74,000.

Ethereum also saw 215,000 ETH options worth $410 million expire, with a put/call ratio of 0.82 and a maximum pain point at $2,100.

These maximum pain points are at values well above spot BTC and ETH levels, and likely the driver of downward pressure as market makers look to hedge delta exposure on out-of-the-money calls.

Bitcoin price prediction

The ETF outflows and broader market weakness hinder bulls, and sentiment is skewed bearish, analysts say.

“Today saw the expiration of options accounting for 9% of total open interest, totaling nearly $2.9 billion. This week, implied volatility for Bitcoin and Ethereum has declined, with BTC’s main-term IV at 50% and ETH’s at 70%. While the downward price trend has moderated, market confidence remains weak,” analysts at Greeks.live noted via X.

Despite this outlook, the market may have “the most violent leg of the downturn” behind it. If sentiment improves, prices could pick up an upside trajectory.

In this case, a relief rally to above the critical $70,000 mark is likely.

However, ETF bleeding and macroeconomic headwinds could greatly cap upside momentum.

On Thursday, Standard Chartered forecast Bitcoin price could retest $50k before rising to $100k by the end of 2026. The bank cites ETF outflows, macro pressures and broader risk asset sentiment as negative catalysts.

Notably, BTC tested support at $60k this month, and the elevated implied volatility, coupled with ETF exits, signals aggressive downside protection.

If outflows continue amid other highlighted downside triggers, the $50k level could be the next target.

The post Bitcoin ETFs bleed $410M amid $2.5B options expiry: is BTC facing deeper crash? appeared first on CoinJournal.