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The UAE's Royal Group, a conglomerate linked to the Abu Dhabi royal family, has recorded around $344 million in unrealized profit from its BTC mining operations, The Block reported. This figure excludes energy costs. The group holds a total of 6,782 BTC through Citadel Mining, in which it owns a majority stake, and has mined an average of 4.2 BTC per day over the past week.

Bitcoin is at risk of a deeper correction in the coming weeks and is highly likely to break below the key $60,000 support level, according to an analysis. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Bobby Lee, co-founder of hardware wallet manufacturer Ballet, said that recent Bitcoin volatility has been primarily driven by leveraged trading in the spot, futures, and options markets. He predicted that if the crucial $60,000 support level is breached, a wave of long position liquidations could push the price down to the $50,000 to $55,000 range. Lee added that Bitcoin entered a bear market after hitting a new high last October and that investors holding long positions will experience short-term pain. He also suggested that a true capitulation could occur if Bitcoin were to fall 80% from its peak to the $20,000 range.

With South Korea's virtual asset tax set to take effect in 10 months, the administrative and legal preparations to support the system are at a standstill, Aju Business Daily reported. Typically, subordinate statutes for major tax laws are established up to a year in advance, but last year's tax reform proposal included virtually no supplementary details on the matter. Kim Gap-lae, a senior research fellow at the Korea Capital Market Institute, said that controversy over the lack of preparation is inevitable, given that an amendment to the Income Tax Act submitted to the National Assembly last year also lacked specifics on virtual assets. He added that if the current situation persists, the possibility of a fourth postponement cannot be ruled out.

An address associated with the UXLINK (LINK) hack, which had been inactive for the past three months, purchased 5,493.26 ETH ($10.87 million) in the last hour, according to on-chain analyst ai_9684xtpa. The analyst noted that the hacker currently holds 21.42 million DAI, suggesting the possibility of further purchases.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has announced that it will temporarily suspend deposits and withdrawals for CTK, effective from 9:00 a.m. UTC on Feb. 25.

An analysis suggests that Bitcoin is exhibiting a signal previously observed only at major market bottoms. CryptoQuant contributor MorenoDV noted that BTC's short-term Sharpe Ratio, a measure of risk-adjusted returns, has fallen to -38.38. This indicates that losses relative to volatility have reached a maximum. MorenoDV explained that similar levels were seen at the end of 2015, 2019, and 2022, with each instance followed by a sharp rebound after hitting a major low. "Based on these past cases, the current period presents a highly favorable profit-to-loss expectation from a medium- to long-term perspective," he stated. "However, a macro liquidity shock could prolong the bottoming process."

The zero-knowledge (zk) rollup Layer 2 project Fluent is maximizing composability by enabling virtual machines (VMs) from different chains to run on a single chain, according to a report from Asian Web3 research and consulting firm Tiger Research. In the report, titled 'Fluent: All VMs as a Single Lego Block,' the firm argued that the performance war among chains is over and the next competitive frontier will be interoperability between VMs. The report noted that while most chains today have sufficient performance, ecosystems like Ethereum and Solana use different VMs, preventing them from compatibly executing the same transactions. Fluent aims to solve this by supporting the integration of multiple VMs within a single chain through a feature called "Blended Execution," breaking down the barriers between them. Tiger Research added that Fluent is building an on-chain environment with real users, rather than focusing on vanity metrics, through initiatives like the on-chain reputation aggregator Prints and the ecosystem accelerator Blended Builders Club (BBC).

While Bitcoin (BTC) long-term holders have resumed buying, the momentum is not yet strong enough to drive a price increase, according to an analysis by CryptoQuant contributor Burak Kesmeci. He explained that for the past six months, long-term holders consistently sold BTC near its price peaks. However, this trend halted and shifted to an accumulation phase after the price fell to the $62,000 to $68,000 range on Jan. 12. Since the beginning of the year, the average daily net accumulation by these holders has expanded to approximately 115 BTC, and selling pressure from this cohort appears to have virtually disappeared. Kesmeci noted that this pattern is similar to past "stagnation periods" that preceded large-scale volatility, suggesting that selling pressure from long-term holders is likely to remain limited for the time being.

The following are the 24-hour long/short ratios for BTC perpetual futures on the world’s three largest crypto futures exchanges by open interest: Overall: 49.47% long, 50.53% short - Binance: 49.52% long, 50.48% short - OKX: 48.98% long, 51.02% short - Bybit: 49.52% long, 50.48% short

Bitcoin is on the verge of its first five-week losing streak since 2022, CoinDesk reported. In 2022, the cryptocurrency fell for nine consecutive weeks between March and May. The outlet explained that in addition to current technical weakness, the macroeconomic environment is also creating headwinds. Amid geopolitical uncertainty, including reports of the U.S. preparing for airstrikes on Iran, the Dollar Index has risen to 97.7 and WTI crude oil has climbed to $65, putting downward pressure on risk assets like Bitcoin. The report added that Bitcoin has fallen more than 50% from its all-time high of $126,500 last October, dropping to around the $60,000 level. On a monthly basis, it has also declined for five consecutive months, marking its second-longest bearish trend after a six-month decline in 2018-2019. Its performance against gold has also been weak for seven consecutive months.

South Korean prosecutors have recovered 320.78 BTC that were previously lost, transferring the funds to a wallet believed to belong to the South Korean exchange Upbit, Digital Asset reported. The transfer, which involved most of the originally missing 320.88 BTC, took place two days after Feb. 17. According to the report, an analysis of the wallets associated with the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office showed that the 320.78 BTC began moving at 4:51 a.m. UTC today. The funds were then sent to an address presumed to be an Upbit cold wallet starting at 5:26 a.m. UTC. The move to an exchange with strict Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols suggests that prosecutors have successfully secured the assets.

The 320 BTC, worth approximately 40 billion won ($29 million), that went missing from the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office last August was briefly returned to a prosecutor-managed wallet before being immediately transferred to a third-party address, Maeil Business Newspaper reported. The stolen funds were moved from an address believed to belong to the hacker back to the prosecutors' wallet, only to be sent to a new, unknown address moments later. The newspaper noted that this sequence of events "defies common sense," leading to speculation of an inside job or a staged incident. The possibility of money laundering is considered low, as there would be no logical reason to route the funds through the original victim's wallet for such a purpose, the report added. Hwang Seok-jin, a professor at Dongguk University's Graduate School of International Information Security, stated that "the most likely scenario is a recovery by the prosecutors themselves, though a voluntary return by the hacker cannot be ruled out."

Bitcoin is attempting a rebound amid an improving macroeconomic environment but lacks the necessary catalysts for a sustained rally, according to an analysis by CoinDesk. The media outlet described the current market as being in a phase of tactical rebounds that are quickly reversed amid limited liquidity. For a distinct upward trend to form, several conditions must be met, including confirmation of slowing inflation, a weaker U.S. dollar, a stable inflow of spot demand, and an easing of stablecoin outflows. CoinDesk added that stress on long-term holders is also increasing, making it likely that volatile market conditions will persist for the time being.

A long-term cycle analysis suggests that Bitcoin could be nearing a bottom around the $60,000 level. Cryptocurrency analyst AO (@AO_btc_analyst) explained on X that BTC rallies have historically followed a golden cross in the Stochastic RSI of the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y) and the Chinese 10-year Treasury yield (CN10Y). The analyst noted this pattern repeated three times in 2013, 2017, and 2021, and that the same golden cross formation is currently in place.

South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has lost its appeal in a case against the now-defunct virtual asset exchange Hanbitco Korea, NewsWay reported. According to legal sources on Feb. 19, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed the FIU's appeal concerning a fine of approximately 2 billion won ($1.5 million) previously imposed on the exchange.

The U.S. Congress will hold its third meeting on a bill concerning cryptocurrency market structure, known as the CLARITY Act, at 2:00 p.m. UTC on Feb. 20, according to Eleanor Terrett, host of Crypto in America. In a post on X, Terrett said the meeting will focus on stablecoin revenue and will be attended by a small number of figures from the crypto and banking industries.

The Ethereum Foundation has released its protocol roadmap for 2026. The plan is structured around three main pillars: improving user experience (UX), hardening the L1, and scaling. To expand network throughput, the foundation is considering a gradual increase of the gas limit to over 100 million. It also plans to advance enhanced Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) and further expand blob parameters. Simultaneously, the foundation will develop zkEVM clients and continue to pursue security-focused initiatives, including strengthening censorship resistance and preparing for quantum computing.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $67,000. BTC is trading at $67,002.58 on the Binance USDT market.

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs saw net outflows of $42.5 million on Feb. 18, Trader T reported. The shift to net outflows comes after a two-day streak of net inflows. The outflows were led by BlackRock, and no individual ETF recorded any net inflows. - BlackRock's ETHA: -$30.6 million - Fidelity's FETH: -$8.23 million - Invesco's QETH: -$3.67 million

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a total net outflow of $134.23 million on Feb. 18, marking the second consecutive day of net outflows, according to data compiled by Trader T. No individual ETF recorded net inflows. - BlackRock IBIT: -$85.16 million - Fidelity FBTC: -$49.07 million

According to an analysis by Santiment, investor sentiment toward Solana (SOL) is cooling rapidly as the cryptocurrency endures a slump, having fallen 67% from its high last year. The analytics firm pointed to several key factors for the downturn: a security update in January followed by a network outage in early February, struggling technical indicators like the Relative Strength Index (RSI), negative funding rates and strong short positions on exchanges, and a broader crypto market correction leading to liquidity outflows. Santiment noted that while Solana is currently experiencing a loss of momentum, its price could recover in the next bull cycle if it continues to diversify its clients, such as with Firedancer, and strengthen its infrastructure.

The following shows estimated liquidation volumes and position ratios for major crypto perpetual futures over the past 24 hours: - BTC: $78.39 million liquidated (73.39% longs) - ETH: $59.40 million liquidated (70.94% longs) - SOL: $11.95 million liquidated (88.41% longs)

Bitcoin on-chain financial services platform Avalon Labs (AVL) announced on Feb. 19 the launch of SuperEarn, an on-chain deposit product that pays interest. SuperEarn generates returns through market-neutral strategies, including quantitative trading, decentralized finance (DeFi) yields, and exposure to real-world assets (RWA). The product also incorporates a risk management framework to navigate market volatility. According to publicly available data, SuperEarn targets an annualized return of between 8% and 15%, though the actual rate may vary with market conditions. Avalon Labs stated that the launch of SuperEarn represents the continued expansion of its product portfolio as a Bitcoin-centric on-chain finance platform.

Bitcoin is showing the potential for a bullish trend reversal within its current $65,000 to $70,000 range, according to an analysis by Cointelegraph. The outlet noted that BTC is forming a bullish divergence on its one-hour chart, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) making higher lows, while an increase in open interest (OI) has also been detected in the derivatives market. The analysis suggests that if BTC breaks above $68,000, a rally to the $71,500 resistance level could occur. Conversely, a drop below $66,000 could lead to a decline to as low as $60,000.

KGeN, a decentralized identity and reputation verification protocol, announced it will host an offline "Community Night" meetup in Seoul at 10:00 a.m. UTC on Feb. 26. The event will feature sessions for pre-networking, a welcome introduction, presentations on KGeN and VeriFi, and opportunities for networking and mini-games. Prizes for on-site events will include AirPods 4, a JBL Bluetooth speaker, Shinsegae Department Store gift certificates, and KGeN T-shirts. CoinNess is participating as a media partner for the event.