New York, February 21, 2026, 12:22 (EST) — Market closed.
- Bitcoin last rose about 1.7% to $68,252 in weekend trade, staying below the $70,000 level.
- Traders are weighing fresh U.S. tariff action against hotter inflation readings that could keep U.S. rates higher for longer.
- The next U.S. test for rate expectations is January producer prices on Feb. 27, followed by the PCE inflation report on March 13.
Bitcoin was up 1.7% at $68,252 on Saturday, after trading between $67,000 and $68,637, according to market data.
The move matters less than the backdrop. With U.S. markets shut for the weekend, traders are using Bitcoin as a live gauge of risk appetite ahead of Monday’s reopen, even as headlines swing rate expectations.
President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would raise temporary tariffs on almost all U.S. imports to 15% from 10%, invoking a provision known as Section 122 that allows tariffs for up to 150 days unless Congress extends them. “Effective immediately,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post announcing the increase. (Reuters)
The tariff shift lands as inflation data keep the Federal Reserve in a narrow lane. Core PCE — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge that strips out food and energy — rose 0.4% in December and was up 3.0% from a year earlier, a report on Friday showed. “That said, this tends to be a very volatile category, with very little forward-looking inference,” Barclays economist Pooja Sriram wrote, pointing to a jump in legal services prices. (Reuters)
Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan struck a cautious note on Friday, saying she was “cautiously optimistic” inflation would move down but adding, “I’m not fully convinced that we’re on a pathway to our 2% target,” citing uncertainty around tariffs and their aftereffects. (Reuters)
Bitcoin’s grind higher followed a firmer session on Friday, when it gained 1.16% to $67,690 and ether rose 1.09% to $1,969 as stocks ended up after a Supreme Court ruling on tariffs. (Reuters)
For crypto, the market’s shorthand is simple: higher tariffs can mean higher prices, and higher prices can mean a less patient Fed. That keeps pressure on assets that have lived off easy liquidity.
But weekend trade can exaggerate moves, and the next jolt could easily cut the other way if yields jump, the dollar firms, or tariff headlines start feeding straight into inflation expectations instead of growth worries.
Bitcoin is also still far from its October peak, after it hit a record above $125,000 late last year. (Reuters)
The next hard catalyst is Friday’s U.S. Producer Price Index for January at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by the next PCE inflation report on March 13 — data that could reset rate-cut timing just as global tariff policy shifts again. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
