Bitcoin Under Pressure as Institutions Pull Back

Bitcoin just dropped back toward $68,000, crypto funds are bleeding for a fourth straight week, and one of Wall Street's biggest asset managers is quietly buying into DeFi governance.

That mix directly affects how you manage risk, where institutional money is flowing, and which narratives actually matter right now.

If you want to protect capital during drawdowns and spot where long-term positioning is building under the surface, this is where you focus.

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Market-Moving News

Three signals are flashing at once.

Bitcoin is under pressure ahead of key US macro data, global crypto funds are seeing sustained outflows, and Apollo is stepping into on-chain lending with a 90 million token deal.

Short term, that means volatility and cautious flows.

Longer term, it shows you that while some capital is exiting, other capital is embedding itself deeper into crypto's infrastructure.

Markets

Crypto Market Turns Red as Bitcoin Slips to $68K Before Heavy Macro Week

Bitcoin slid back toward $68,000, dragging most of the market with it as 85 of the top 100 tokens printed losses.

XRP, Ether, and Dogecoin fell harder, while privacy coins like Monero and Zcash dropped as much as 10%.

The pullback stings because it comes right after softer US CPI data revived hopes for at least two Fed rate cuts this year.

The 10-year Treasury yield dipped to 4.05%, yet Bitcoin failed to hold its weekend move above $70,000.

Macro Week Looms Large

You are heading into a week packed with potential catalysts, including the Fed's January meeting minutes and the core PCE inflation report.

Traders are watching closely for confirmation that inflation is cooling toward the Fed's 2% target.

Derivatives desks describe the mood as "de-leveraging first, asking questions later," with rallies struggling to stick. Dips are being bought, but only near obvious support levels and without conviction.

Yen Correlation in Focus

In traditional markets, a prominent yen bear has flipped bullish, forecasting 8–9% appreciation in the Japanese currency.

That matters because Bitcoin and the yen have shown a record positive correlation in recent months.

If the yen strengthens, it could act as a tailwind for Bitcoin bulls at a time when macro positioning feels fragile.

Correlations are not guarantees, but they can amplify moves when sentiment is already on edge.

Take: You are not in a panic market, but you are in a fragile one where macro headlines can flip sentiment fast.

Until Bitcoin reclaims and holds higher levels with conviction, treat rallies as tradable bounces and keep your risk tight into data-heavy weeks.

ETFs & Flows

Crypto Funds Log $173M in Outflows as Bitcoin Dips Below $70K

Crypto exchange-traded products recorded $173 million in outflows last week, marking a fourth consecutive week of withdrawals.

Over the past month, total outflows have reached $3.8 billion, with assets under management sliding to $133 billion, the lowest since April 2025.

Bitcoin led the redemptions with $133.3 million in outflows, as the price briefly dipped to $65,000 before stabilizing near $68,000.

Ether products also lost $85 million globally, though US spot Ether ETFs saw modest $10 million inflows.

Regional Divergence Grows

US crypto products saw $403 million in outflows, painting a noticeably weaker picture than the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, Germany, Canada, and Switzerland logged combined inflows of $230 million.

Not everything was red, as XRP and Solana products attracted $33.4 million and $31 million in inflows, respectively.

That rotation suggests you are seeing selective appetite rather than blanket risk-off positioning.

Targets Get Cut

The flows coincided with Standard Chartered lowering its 2026 Bitcoin target from $150,000 to $100,000.

The bank also warned that Bitcoin could drop to $50,000 before any meaningful recovery takes hold.

Forecast downgrades and outflows together create a feedback loop that weighs on sentiment.

When price weakness and cautious projections align, institutions tend to step back rather than lean in.

Take: You are watching institutional money turn cautious, but not uniformly bearish across every asset.

Until US flows stabilize and Bitcoin reclaims stronger momentum, assume capital will stay selective and position accordingly rather than betting on a broad-based surge.

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Institutional Adoption

Apollo Deepens Crypto Push With Morpho Token Deal

Apollo Global Management, which oversees roughly $938 billion in assets, signed a cooperation agreement with the Morpho Association to support decentralized lending markets.

The deal allows Apollo and its affiliates to acquire up to 90 million MORPHO tokens over the next 48 months.

That stake would represent about 9% of MORPHO's total token supply, making Apollo a significant governance participant.

Purchases may occur via open-market buys, over-the-counter deals, and other arrangements, subject to ownership caps.

DeFi Credit Meets Wall Street

Morpho provides infrastructure for on-chain lending markets and curator-managed vaults, governed by MORPHO token holders.

Apollo and Morpho said they will collaborate to strengthen lending markets built on the protocol.

This move follows Apollo's earlier blockchain investments and tokenized credit initiatives through partners like Securitize and Anemoy.

It also lands just days after BlackRock pushed its tokenized Treasury fund onto Uniswap and bought UNI tokens.

Institutional Footprints Expand

Traditional asset managers are not just experimenting anymore; they are acquiring governance exposure and embedding themselves into DeFi rails.

That signals a shift from passive curiosity to strategic positioning.

When firms managing hundreds of billions step into governance tokens, it changes how you think about DeFi's future credibility.

Institutional involvement can bring liquidity and oversight, but also influence protocol direction.

Take: You are seeing Wall Street move from the sidelines into the plumbing of decentralized finance itself.

This does not guarantee token price upside, but it does suggest that DeFi credit markets are becoming harder for traditional finance to ignore, which could reshape long-term narratives around on-chain lending.

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Future Forward

If you only tune in after the headline drops, you are already late to the trade.

The real edge usually builds at conferences, in side-room conversations, and in early product demos where roadmaps shift before Twitter notices.

Crypto conferences are not just panels and merch bags.

They are where founders float ideas, investors test conviction, and deals start taking shape long before tokens hit exchanges.

Airdrops rarely reward the silent observer. They tend to favor the users who bridge early, test features, vote in governance, and stick around when the hype cycle cools off.

Token launches are live-fire drills for teams and communities.

You get to see in real time whether liquidity holds, whether demand is organic, and whether the narrative survives its first wave of volatility.

Crypto Conferences:

💎 ETHDenver 2026 (Feb 17, 2026)

💎 Hedera DevDay (Feb 17, 2026)

💎 Hyperliquid Global Presents Hypefest 2026 (Feb 17, 2026)

Upcoming Airdrops:

🎁 Tradoor (TRADOOR) Airdrop (Feb 2026)

🎁 Stargaze (STARS) Airdrop (Mar 17, 2026)

🎁 SoSoValue (SOSO) Airdrop (May 2026)

Upcoming Token Launches:

🚀 Turbo Battle Arena (TBA) IDO on Spores (Feb 20, 2026)

🚀 Mezo TGE and Distribution (Q1 2026)

🚀 EarnBIT (EBT) TGE and Distribution (Q2 2026)

Which event are you most excited for? Let us know!

Crypto Know-How: What Is Aave?

Aave is a decentralized lending platform that lets you lend and borrow crypto without going through a bank.

Instead of filling out paperwork, you connect your wallet and interact directly with smart contracts.

If you deposit assets like Ether or stablecoins, you earn interest from borrowers. If you borrow, you put up collateral and pay interest, all handled automatically by the protocol.

The AAVE token plays a role in governance and security. Holders can vote on protocol changes and, in some cases, stake tokens to help backstop the system.

For you, Aave is essentially a crypto-native money market.

It lets you put idle assets to work or access liquidity without selling your holdings, but like all DeFi, it comes with smart contract and market risk you need to understand before diving in.

Everything Else

• Russia's Ministry of Finance estimates daily crypto turnover at roughly $650 million, most of it happening outside regulated channels, as officials push new legislation that would let licensed exchanges like MOEX offer spot trading and compete with the gray market you currently rely on.

• Animoca Brands secured a VASP license from Dubai's VARA to offer broker-dealer and asset management services, even as the emirate tightens rules around privacy tokens and stablecoins to attract serious institutional capital instead of fast-and-loose volume.

• Grayscale filed to convert its Aave trust into the Grayscale Aave Trust ETF on NYSE Arca under the ticker GAVE, signaling that Wall Street still wants direct exposure to DeFi tokens like AAVE despite a broader market slowdown.

• Japan's Metaplanet expects operating profit to jump 81% in 2026 after a 17-fold surge driven by options writing, even though a Bitcoin price drop forced a $650 million non-cash valuation loss that dragged net income deep into the red.

• Aave founder Stani Kulechov pitched a $50 trillion "abundance asset" opportunity by tokenizing solar, robotics, and other scalable infrastructure, arguing that on-chain lending could unlock more capital efficiency than traditional finance ever allowed.