On Feb. 8, Lyn Alden said the U.S. Federal Reserve is shifting into a "gradual" money-printing phase, expecting balance-sheet growth to roughly match bank assets or nominal GDP and to lift asset prices only mildly. CME FedWatch showed 19.9% odds of a March cut, down from 23%, as markets weigh Jerome Powell’s guidance and leadership uncertainty.

As Japanese interest rates climb and U.S. liquidity conditions tighten, Bitcoin has been reinforcing its position as a macro asset, trading at $70,681 after a 3.03% daily gain alongside a 2.03% rise in gold to $4,966.26 per ounce. Cathie Wood of ARK Invest argues that AI-driven "agentic commerce" is pushing blockchains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana into core financial infrastructure, encouraging institutions to use gold for stability and Bitcoin for growth and innovation. Even as short-term volatility and a decline in active Bitcoin users persist, rising market dominance near 59% and growing institutional participation are reshaping its traditional boom-and-bust cycle.

On Friday, a16z crypto managing partner Chris Dixon argued that non-financial crypto applications have lagged due to scams, extractive behavior, and regulatory pressure, and he emphasized a 10-year build horizon. On Sunday, Dragonfly’s Haseeb Qureshi countered that these products failed because demand was absent, while Castle Island’s Nic Carter said venture theses must prove out within a 2–3 year deployment window.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in an X post that he remains long‑term bullish and views volatility as a normal feature of the crypto market. Bitcoin reached $126,210 in October 2025 and traded near $63,000 by early February 2026, while Coinbase diversified revenue with subscriptions and services and set up a quantum‑risk advisory board as COIN fell about 45% in three months.

Bitcoin rebounded about $10,000 from its recent $60,000 low and is now trading near a crucial resistance zone around $80,000–$83,000. Liquidation data suggests that a move above $80,500 could trigger roughly $5.7 billion in short liquidations, while on-chain whale accumulation and a major negative mining difficulty adjustment add to the mixed outlook. Failure to clear this resistance could expose a downside move back toward the $49,000–$53,000 support region.

Aptos's APT token has fallen sharply, losing 39% over the past 30 days and 67% from its November high of $3.37, while price action now hovers near the $1 support area. A scheduled $12.73 million token unlock on 10 February, equal to 1.13% of total supply and 1.48% of circulating supply, could add selling pressure even as on-chain indicators show growing TVL and exchange outflows. Technical tools such as RSI and MACD point to seller exhaustion and the potential for a corrective bounce, though further downside remains possible.

Block Inc., led by Jack Dorsey, is preparing to eliminate roles during annual performance reviews, with as much as 10% of staff at risk, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. Earlier cuts removed 931 positions in March 2025 and about 1,000 in January 2024. The company plans to release fourth-quarter results on Feb. 26.

On Jan. 30, 2026, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $509.7 million in net outflows, even as several individual funds still showed small inflows. In the days that followed, flows swung sharply between a $561.8 million net inflow on Feb. 2 and outflows of -$272.0 million and -$544.9 million on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4. The pattern illustrates how one or two large redemptions can dominate headline totals while smaller, persistent demand remains, and why traders should focus on dispersion across tickers rather than treating the aggregate number as a simple sentiment gauge.