With crypto’s multi-month downturn accelerating right into a freefall final week, bulls have been frantically greedy for technical alerts, or possibly yarns in regards to the blowup of some leveraged hedge fund, that may sign a last backside for this bear market.
Maybe the final word signal of a backside, although, is perhaps the cheers arising from those that have been faithfully bearish on bitcoin as its value rose from $0 to greater than $100,000 over its 16-year lifespan.
The Monetary Instances for a few years has absolutely stood above all conventional publications in its steadfast opposition to bitcoin and crypto. The London paper’s crew of actually gifted writers has seemingly by no means wavered from a agency no-coiner stance, and this week was their second.
“Bitcoin continues to be about $69,000 too excessive,” was the headline of a Sunday essay by the FT’s Jemima Kelly that splendidly summed up Kelly’s and the FT’s normal stance over the past decade-plus. [The FT subsequently changed the headline to “$70,000 too high” after bitcoin rose overnight].
“Ever since its creation, bitcoin has been on a journey that can finish, splattered on the bottom,” Kelly wrote. “This week has proven us that the availability of ‘better fools’ that bitcoin depends on is drying up,” she continued. “The fairy tales which were conserving crypto afloat are turning out to be simply that. Individuals are starting to get up to the truth that there isn’t any flooring within the worth of one thing primarily based on nothing greater than skinny air.”
Earlier within the week, with the worth of bitcoin declining beneath the $76,000 common value foundation of BTC treasury big Technique (MSTR), the FT’s Craig Coben printed, “Technique’s lengthy highway to nowhere.”
With the inventory already down about 80% from its report excessive of late 2024, Coben in February 2026 declared, “Administration has no secure decisions — solely completely different paths to destroying shareholder worth … it’s exhausting to see the case for getting right into a automobile that has merely damaged even on its investments over 5 years.”
“Like a big mastodon caught in La Brea tar pits,” Coben concluded. “Technique is flailing for a means out.”
Peter Schiff joins in
With gold — regardless of a great deal of latest volatility — persevering with in a significant bull cycle, longtime goldbug and bitcoin critic Peter Schiff was feeling his oats as properly.
“In response to Michael Saylor, bitcoin is the best-performing asset on the planet,” he wrote on Tuesday. “But Technique invested over $54 billion in bitcoin over the previous 5 years, and as of now the corporate is down about 3% on that funding. I am certain the losses over the subsequent 5 years will probably be a lot better!”
“Bitcoin beneath $76,000, it is now price 15 ounces of gold, down 59% from its Nov. 2021 excessive,” Schiff continued. “Bitcoin is in a long-term bear market priced in gold.”
Different indicators
“I refuse to select bottoms,” as soon as stated former hedge fund supervisor Hugh Hendry. “Monkeys spend all their time selecting bottoms.”
As Hendry famous, it is in all probability a good suggestion to not get too cute timing one’s buys to headlines like these seen within the FT this week. It is pretty secure to say, although, that some type of bottoming course of is underway.
In different information this week that may by no means seem close to tops, it seems that investor curiosity in Tether is evaporating. With the crypto market nonetheless perky late final 12 months, it was reported that the stablecoin issuing big was in talks to lift $15-$20 billion at as a lot as a $500 billion valuation.
In response to a report within the FT on Tuesday, nevertheless, traders look like pushing again in opposition to that valuation, and capital-raising efforts could solely be on the order of about $5 billion.
For its half, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino informed the FT that the unique experiences of a $15-$20 billion capital increase have been a “false impression,” and that Tether had obtained loads of curiosity at that $500 billion valuation.
However, based on the report, traders have privately raised issues about that lofty valuation. Issues are fluid, the report continued, and a crypto rally might shortly change sentiment.
