New York, February 24, 2026, 12:51 EST — Regular session underway.
- Bitcoin slipped roughly 0.7% over the past day, changing hands around $64,200.
- Risk appetite was limited, with crypto fund outflows and new tariff worries in play.
- Eyes are on the March U.S. inflation numbers, with $60,000 emerging as a crucial support level.
Bitcoin slipped on Tuesday, trading near $64,200 as volatility kept some buyers on the sidelines. 1
That drift is catching attention, with crypto behaving like a classic high-beta risk asset once more—tracking the same cues that drive equities: rates, the dollar, headline risk. It doesn’t take much for that setup to flip; when the mix sours, liquidity disappears in a hurry.
Tariff talk wasn’t doing markets any favors. President Donald Trump’s 10% global tariff kicked in Tuesday, leaving traders watching for escalation or counters. 2
Capital continued to exit digital assets. CoinShares reported $288 million in outflows from crypto investment products last week, marking the fifth consecutive week of redemptions. Out of that, $215 million came from bitcoin. Meanwhile, crypto ETP trading volumes dropped to $17 billion—the lowest since July 2025, according to the report. 3
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs bled roughly $199 million in net outflows on Feb. 23, according to a separate tracker, with BlackRock’s IBIT accounting for about $117 million of that total. 4
Forced selling is playing a role. Around $508 million worth of positions got liquidated in the last 24 hours, per CoinGlass figures cited by Economic Times—that’s forced unwinding on leveraged trades. “Bitcoin continues to consolidate around $64,000 after failing to reclaim the $65,000 mark,” Mudrex lead quant analyst Akshat Siddhant told the publication. 5
Bitcoin is sliding closer to its February low as crypto markets face more selling pressure heading into Tuesday, said Joel Kruger, crypto strategist at LMAX. He cited “macro-driven risk aversion,” stronger yields, a resilient dollar, and geopolitical jitters as key drivers. 6
Corporate buyers keep stepping in, despite shaky prices. Strategy Inc disclosed in a U.S. SEC filing that it picked up another 592 bitcoins between Feb. 17 and Feb. 22, shelling out $39.8 million. That brings its total stash to 717,722 bitcoins. 7
Crypto-related stocks took a hit, too. Strategy and Robinhood each dropped between 5% and 6% in Monday’s U.S. trading, with bitcoin losing ground, Barron’s said. 8
Ether hovered close to $1,850, barely moving this day. That points to pressure coming from wider positioning rather than anything headline-specific in crypto. 9
Bitcoin remains well below its record. The cryptocurrency surged past $125,000 in October 2025, setting a fresh all-time high before the market pulled back. 10
For bulls, it comes down to this: if the market doesn’t catch a bid here, there’s room for more downside. As noted in an Investing.com piece Tuesday, crypto is back at its early-February lows. A slip below could “open the potential for a further 25% decline” toward previous consolidation levels, the analysis said. 11
Focus shifts to U.S. inflation figures, with traders eyeing the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ next Consumer Price Index release. The February CPI drops March 11 at 8:30 a.m. ET, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics schedule.
The personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE), the inflation metric the Federal Reserve watches most closely, lands two days after that. March 13 is when the BEA plans its next release. 12
And of course, the Fed is looming. Its next policy gathering is set for March 17-18—a stretch of days that crypto traders are watching closely, eyeing it as a key moment for risk appetite. 13
