Crypto market drowns in red as bitcoin falls to $68,000

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Crypto market drowns in red as bitcoin falls to $68,000 Traders are bracing for a heavy week of macroeconomic events, including Fed minutes and the core PCE inflation report. By Omkar Godbole Feb 16, 2026, 6:48 a.m. Make us preferred on Google The crypto market is a sea of red. (Behnam Norouzi/Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk) What to know : Bitcoin wilts, pushing the broader market into the red. Losses have hit 85 out of the top 100 tokens. The sell-off comes despite weaker U.S. inflation data that strengthened expectations for at least two Federal Reserve rate cuts. Traders are bracing for a heavy week of macroeconomic events, including Fed minutes and the core PCE inflation report. Crypto markets are deep red on Monday, with industry leader bitcoin sliding lower before a packed week of economic data. At press time, bitcoin BTC $ 70,413.42 traded near $68,200, down nearly 3% over 24 hours, with XRP XRP $ 1.4748 , ether ETH $ 2,067.21 , DOGE $ 0.1141 registering much bigger losses. Losses hit 85 of the top 100 tokens by market cap, with privacy coins like monero XMR $ 319.40 and zcash ZEC $ 284.83 down 10% and 8%, respectively. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy . Smart contract tokens bled too, with the CoinDesk Smart Contract Platform Select Capped Index down nearly 6%, pushing its year-to-date drop to 28%. The market weakness looks particularly disappointing against the backdrop of the weak U.S. consumer price index data released last week that kept hopes of Fed rate cuts alive. The CPI growth slowed to 2.4% year-on-year in January from 2.7% in December, the official data showed, reinforcing expectations for at least two 25 basis point rate cuts by the Fed this year. This resulted in the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield falling to 4.05%, the lowest since early December. Bitcoin rallied, rising from nearly $66,800 on friday to over $70,000 over the weekend, but failed to establish a foothold there. Vikram Subburaj, CEO of the India-based regulated Giottus exchange, said selective demand is the reason why rallies struggle to hold. "Risk appetite stayed selective and macro cross-currents kept traders defensive. In derivatives, the market continues to behave as if it is ‘de-leveraging first, asking questions later.’ Rallies have struggled to hold and dips are being bought only selectively near obvious levels," he said in an email to CoinDesk. Macro heavy weak A packed week of macro data lies ahead, with traders eyeing the minutes of the January Fed meeting and the release of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the core personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE), for fresh positioning signals. "PCE inflation, the Fed’s preferred measure, will be closely monitored for confirmation that price pressures are moderating, particularly after CPI showed only gradual disinflation and inflation remains above the 2% target," Dessislava Laneva, Nexo dispatch analyst, said in an email. "Markets will assess both the monthly momentum and year-on-year trend for implications for the policy path." Laneva added. In traditional markets, Mark Nash of Jupiter Asset Management, a high-profile yen bear has flipped bullish, forecasting 8–9% yen appreciation, particularly against the Swiss franc. The yen and bitcoin have hit a record positive correlation in recent months, which makes any yen strength a key catalyst for bitcoin bulls. Bitcoin News More For You Accelerating Convergence Between Traditional and On-Chain Finance in 2026? By CoinDesk Jan 30, 2026 Commissioned by Societe Generale-FORGE Read full story More For You BlackRock's digital assets head: Leverage-driven volatility threatens bitcoin’s narrative By Helene Braun | Edited by Jesse Hamilton 16 hours ago Rampant speculation on crypto derivatives platforms is fueling volatility and risking bitcoin’s image as a stable hedge, says BlackRock’s digital assets chief. What to know : BlackRock digital-assets chief Robert Mitchnick warned that heavy use of leverage in bitcoin derivatives is undermining the cryptocurrency’s appeal as a stable institutional portfolio hedge. Mitchnick said bitcoin’s fundamentals as a scarce, decentralized monetary asset remain strong, but its trading increasingly resembles a "levered NASDAQ," raising the bar for conservative investors to adopt it. 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