Bitcoin has fallen 22.3% year-to-date and could be heading for its weakest first quarter since 2018. The asset opened the year near $87,700 and slid to lows around $68,000. January dropped 10.2% and February is down 13.4% so far, with $80,000 needed to avoid a second straight red month.

MicroStrategy plans to gradually convert around $6 billion of its convertible bond debt into equity over a three‑to‑six‑year period, aiming to lessen leverage on its balance sheet. The firm says its Bitcoin reserves of roughly $49 billion, or 714,644 BTC, would still fully cover its debt even if BTC fell about 88% to $8,000, while its share price remains 70% below a mid‑July all‑time high.

Crypto flows to suspected human trafficking networks climbed 85% during 2025, according to a Chainalysis report released Thursday. The firm said volumes reached hundreds of millions of dollars, with networks concentrated in Southeast Asia and closely linked to scam compounds, online casinos and Chinese-language laundering groups. It added that blockchain transparency could help investigators track patterns and intervene.

An analyst said Bitcoin's seven-day average realized net losses reached $2.3 billion, framing the sell-off as one of the largest capitulation episodes since 2021. The asset briefly moved above $70,000 on Tuesday and later hovered near $66,600 after rebounding from a Feb. 6 low around $60,000, with a $55,000 realized price highlighted.

At a conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Fundstrat head of research Tom Lee said Ether is nearing a market bottom and predicted another rapid V-shaped rebound similar to past cycles. He pointed to eight prior drawdowns of more than 50% since 2018, all followed by swift recoveries, while on-chain data shows record-high staking queues and over 30% of ETH supply locked, despite prices sliding to $1,760 this month.

At xAI's "All Hands" on Wednesday, Elon Musk said X Money will move from a closed company beta to a limited external beta in 1–2 months, ahead of a worldwide rollout on X. He described payments as central to X's everything-app vision and indicated an initial fiat focus, with crypto support to follow per the Blockchain Council.

According to CryptoQuant analyst Joao Wedson, Ether's MVRV Z-Score has dropped to -0.42, a level often linked to capitulation. Ether fell 30% over the past fortnight, hitting $1,825 on Friday before rebounding to $2,100 on Monday, while the worst historical reading was -0.76 in December 2018. Analysts remain divided on near-term downside.

According to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost on Saturday, Bitcoin's Sharpe ratio dropped to -10, its lowest since March 2023 and near zones observed in 2018 and 2022. The analyst warned this does not confirm a bear-market end. 10x Research on Monday noted sentiment is extreme while a broader downtrend persists, as BTC rebounded from $60,000 to $71,000 but remains 44% below its October peak of $126,000.

Bitcoin dropped to a low near $60,000 on Coinbase, with its price down 38% from the 2026 peak of $97,000 and roughly 50% below the all-time high of $126,000. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to 9 out of 100 on Friday, its weakest reading since June 2022, while more than 588,000 traders saw $2.7 billion in positions liquidated in 24 hours, mostly leveraged Bitcoin longs.