New York, Feb 16, 2026, 16:02 EST — Market closed
- Bitcoin hung around $68,400, giving up ground after an unsuccessful weekend attempt to stay above $70,000.
- U.S. markets were closed for Presidents Day, so traders looked to crypto as their go-to risk barometer.
- Attention now turns to Wednesday’s Fed minutes, with U.S. GDP and PCE inflation figures lined up for release Friday.
Bitcoin slipped under $70,000 on Monday, hovering around $68,382, holding steady over the past 24 hours. Investors kept to the sidelines, wary of upcoming U.S. policy cues and major economic releases due this week.
With U.S. stock and bank doors shut for Presidents Day, market activity thinned out. That put the spotlight on assets still trading—cryptocurrencies among them.
Investors now look to Feb. 18, when minutes from the Federal Reserve’s Jan. 27-28 meeting drop—a key document for anyone trying to assess just how committed policymakers are to holding rates at restrictive levels.
Just two days after that, traders get a look at the advance read on U.S. fourth-quarter GDP, alongside December’s personal income and outlays, both due out Feb. 20 at 8:30 a.m. ET, the Bureau of Economic Analysis says. The income and outlays figures will carry the PCE price index, which is the Fed’s go-to measure for inflation.
Bitcoin swung between about $67,315 and $70,076 on Monday, according to Investing.com, a reminder of just how fast prices can whip around—no new headlines needed.
Bitcoin’s slide hasn’t brought it anywhere close to the highs seen in October. According to CoinGecko, the record sits near $126,080—bitcoin remains well under that mark as volatility dominates February’s trade.
The pullback hit other key tokens too. According to Investing.com, ether slipped roughly 3.9%, landing near $1,982. XRP shed about 5.9%. The site cited lingering uncertainty over U.S. interest rates as a factor pressuring appetite for speculative names.
Company-wise, bitcoin-bull Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) moved to quell leverage worries. The firm posted on X—TheStreet picked it up—saying it could “withstand a drawdown in $BTC price to $8K and still have sufficient assets to fully cover our debt.” TheStreet
That’s relevant: Strategy is now a bellwether for crypto-linked stocks, grouped with Coinbase and the publicly traded bitcoin miners once Wall Street is back open.
The risk side isn’t complicated. Should the Fed minutes or Friday’s data on growth and inflation nudge rate forecasts closer to “higher for longer,” crypto might slip further—thin liquidity could exaggerate any swings.
The calendar’s got the upper hand for now. U.S. markets are back online Tuesday. Fed minutes hit Wednesday. Then Friday morning brings the week’s major macro numbers.
