Bitcoin extended a four-week slide as investors returned to a more cautious macro backdrop.
The token dropped as much as 3.2 per cent to $66,604 on Tuesday, before paring the decline. Bitcoin, which has traded like a high-beta tech proxy in recent months, mirrored an earlier move lower in US equities but failed to keep pace when stocks edged higher.
“Sentiment is clearly bleak in crypto markets,” said Noelle Acheson, author of Crypto is Macro Now newsletter. “There is strong progress in adoption by traditional institutions, but this is not reflected in overall prices, which depresses sentiment even more.”
Traders are also weighing rising geopolitical tensions around Iran and renewed debate over whether artificial intelligence’s economic impact could ripple beyond the tech sector. The outlook for Federal Reserve rate cuts is also back in focus after last week’s inflation data.
Flows remain a headwind. US-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds notched a fourth straight week of net outflows, with $360 million withdrawn last week.
Sentiment is fragile. CryptoQuant’s Fear and Greed Index stood at 10 out of 100 on Monday, deep in “extreme fear” territory.
“Macro news has been closely correlated with crypto’s risk profile the last 12 months,” said Paul Howard, senior director at market maker Wincent. He expects consolidation as Bitcoin searches for fresh sentiment drivers, adding that a US Supreme Court ruling on tariffs due Friday could prove more consequential than routine Fed minutes or inflation prints.
Investors are also debating whether Bitcoin has established a durable floor. Many see $60,000 as a key support level, but that may not hold if risk appetite deteriorates further, said Robin Singh, chief executive officer of crypto tax platform Koinly.
“One macro wobble, another wave of uncertainty, or even just sustained chop in the mid-$60,000s could easily tip this into a sharper flush back into the $50,000s. This doesn’t have the same full capitulation feel we’ve seen at true cycle bottoms in the past,” Singh said.
In the latest quarter, Harvard University trimmed its Bitcoin exposure, according to a Bloomberg analysis of fourth-quarter filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Boston-based school sold 1.5 million shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (ticker IBIT). The position still ranks among its largest holdings — after Alphabet Inc. and gold — and Harvard also initiated a stake in the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA), gaining exposure to the second-largest cryptocurrency for the first time. Dartmouth College’s endowment meanwhile increased its Bitcoin and Ether stakes.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Published on February 18, 2026
