NEW YORK, Feb 17, 2026, 16:02 EST — After-hours
- Bitcoin dropped roughly 1%, trading near $67,700 and still unable to break above $70,000.
- Strategy revealed it bought more bitcoin this week, using proceeds from selling shares.
- Wednesday brings Fed minutes, with Friday’s PCE inflation gauge also in focus for traders.
Bitcoin faded roughly 1% to $67,720 on Tuesday, with traders digesting new purchases from Strategy and a still-cautious tone from the Federal Reserve on potential rate cuts.
This matters for bitcoin, which has been unable to reclaim the $70,000 level lately—leaving it sensitive to changing sentiment around the dollar and bonds when fresh U.S. data arrives.
This week, timing isn’t great. The Fed’s January meeting minutes drop Wednesday. On Friday, its favored inflation gauge arrives. Both could jolt risk asset pricing in a hurry.
Bitcoin slipped 1.0% during the session, changing hands anywhere from $66,702 to $69,111. Ether managed a slight gain, up roughly 0.3% at $1,994.
Strategy disclosed in a regulatory filing Tuesday that it snapped up 2,486 bitcoin from Feb. 9 to Feb. 16, shelling out $168.4 million at an average price of $67,710 per coin. That bumps its total holdings to 717,131 bitcoin. Funding came via proceeds from its “at-the-market,” or ATM, offerings—these allow companies to drip common and preferred stock directly into the market over time. SEC filing
The Fed’s messaging didn’t come in a single voice. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee flagged the chance of “several more” rate cuts this year—so long as inflation convincingly heads back toward 2%. Still, he warned, services inflation hasn’t been “tamed,” and policymakers need to see confirmation in the data before moving. Reuters
Fed Governor Michael Barr flagged that the next rate cut could be a ways off, calling out the persistent “higher for longer” stance—even as equities barely budged. Bitcoin slipped, with the dollar staying strong before the minutes landed. Reuters
The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, which the Fed relies on for its 2% inflation target, lands Friday, Feb. 20. Unlike the consumer price index, PCE uses a different mix and weighting to track consumer costs.
Things can flip quickly. A more hawkish tone in the minutes, or a hotter PCE print, and traders might drive yields and the dollar up—a combination that tends to hit leveraged and speculative pockets like crypto hard.
Right now, the question is straightforward: does bitcoin push past $70,000 decisively, or does it stay stuck fluctuating in the high $60,000s. Next up are the Fed minutes on Wednesday, followed by Friday’s PCE report.
