BTC Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Betting
Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency that started it all. There are dozens of other Cryptocurrencies you can use to deposit at BookMaker and hundreds more on the periphery, but Bitcoin is the most well-known of the bunch. Other cryptos such as Ethereum, Litecoin, Cardano, and Ripple have become more popular too, signifying how mainstream crypto is becoming to the public.
Monday, February 16, 2026 News Update
Bitcoin’s Slide Deepens, but ETF Flows Suggest Long Term Holders Aren’t Fleeing
Bitcoin’s steep drop from its record above $126,000 last October has cast a shadow over the broader crypto market. A trade once pitched as “digital gold” — or, for some, a high-beta play in a crypto-friendly Trump administration — has seen confidence shaken as prices continue to retreat.
Since that all-time high, bitcoin has shed nearly half its value, and its failure to mount any meaningful rebound has revived fears of another “crypto winter.” The comparison to 2022 is unavoidable: during the FTX collapse, bitcoin plunged from near $50,000 to roughly $15,000. Over just the past month, the cryptocurrency is down more than 25%.
Yet analysts on CNBC’s “ETF Edge” argue that the flow data tells a more nuanced story. While money has moved out of bitcoin and crypto ETFs, the withdrawals don’t resemble broad capitulation by long-term investors.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has seen about $2.8 billion in net outflows over the past three months — a meaningful figure, but modest when set against the nearly $21 billion in net inflows the BlackRock fund has attracted over the past year, according to VettaFi. Across all spot bitcoin ETFs, the pattern is similar: roughly $5.8 billion in outflows over the past three months, but still $14.2 billion in net inflows over the past year. Assets are leaving, but the bulk of investor capital remains in place, and ETF specialists say the selling isn’t coming from the financial advisors and long-horizon allocators who have recently embraced the asset class.
“It’s not the ETF investors who are driving the sell-off,” said Matt Hougan, CIO at Bitwise Asset Management, on “ETF Edge.” He pointed instead to long-time crypto holders trimming exposure after years of accumulation, as well as hedge funds and short-term traders using the most liquid ETFs as tactical tools — quick to exit when momentum turns negative.
At CNBC’s Digital Finance Forum last week, Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz suggested the crypto market’s “era of speculation” may be fading, with future returns looking more like traditional long-term holdings. “It’s going to be real world assets with much lower returns,” he said, noting that retail investors historically entered crypto seeking outsized gains, not steady annualized returns.
Meanwhile, Wall Street advisors continue adding bitcoin to diversified portfolios and rolling out their own branded crypto ETFs. Hougan noted that these longer-term investors are more likely to ride out volatility. If they were abandoning the space, he said, the recent three-month outflows would be far closer to the scale of the prior year’s inflows.
Still, the current environment is difficult for anyone who entered the market recently. “It’s tough to be a bitcoin investor right now,” said Will Rhind, founder and CEO of GraniteShares, on “ETF Edge.” The strong performance of traditional safe-haven assets — especially gold — has added to the discomfort. For those who embraced the “digital gold” thesis, bitcoin’s nearly 50% decline during a period when gold is hitting all-time highs has been jarring. “This is not supposed to happen,” Rhind said.
Additional Market Pressures: Gold’s Surge, Tech’s Sell-Off, and Shifting Crypto Psychology
Timot Lamarre, director of market research at Unchained, said to the media, that there’s “definitely an element of ‘gold is familiar.’ People understand gold.” That familiarity, combined with massive central-bank buying, has fueled gold’s explosive rise. Global central banks purchased record amounts of gold last year, and JPMorgan expects another 800 tons of buying in 2026.
Bitcoin’s decline has also unfolded alongside a sharp tech-sector sell-off. More than $1 trillion in market value was erased from Big Tech names including Microsoft, Alphabet, Nvidia, Meta and Oracle during last week’s downturn. Goldman Sachs’ Panic Index briefly spiked to 9.22 — approaching “max fear” territory — as investors worried that aggressive AI spending could echo the excesses of the dot-com era.
Despite the turbulence, some crypto investors remain optimistic, arguing that bitcoin’s pullback reflects profit-taking after last year’s massive rally. Anthony Pompliano — known widely as “Pomp” — told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that a psychological threshold likely kicked in once bitcoin crossed $100,000. “If you held Bitcoin for a long time, you hit $100,000 — there are some people who just said, ‘This is enough for me. Step off the train,’” he said.
There is also growing frustration within the crypto community over stalled federal legislation aimed at establishing clearer digital-asset rules. Lamarre noted that expectations were high after Trump’s campaign-trail promises to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and ease regulatory pressure on the industry. “It’s not what people had expectation-wise,” he said, pointing to the lack of progress in the Senate and the absence of any large-scale government bitcoin purchases.
Bitcoin Weekly Price Per CoinMarketCap
| WEEK |
BITCOIN PRICE IN USD |
| February 16, 2026 |
67,355.84 |
| February 9, 2026 |
69,299.11 |
| February 2, 2026 |
78,452.73 |
| January 26, 2026 |
87,495.40 |
| January 19, 2026 |
92,761.48 |
| January 12, 2026 |
90,448.83 |
| January 5, 2026 |
93,308.06 |
Monday, February 9, 2026 News Update
Why the “Bitcoin to $0” Narrative Is Spreading And What It Really Signals
A sharp 20% drop in Bitcoin over the past week has revived one of crypto’s most dramatic bearish theories: the idea that Bitcoin’s long-term value could ultimately fall to zero.
The latest spark came from American talk show host Buck Sexton, who wrote that every conversation with Bitcoin believers leaves him “more certain that Bitcoin has no long-term value, and a floor price of zero.” His comments spread quickly across social media, tapping into a broader wave of fear already gripping the market.
What the Zero-Dollar Theory Actually Claims
The core argument is simple: Bitcoin’s value depends entirely on confidence. If that confidence breaks, critics say there is no intrinsic “floor” to stop the price from collapsing. This idea has existed for years, but the current downturn has pushed it into mainstream conversation, amplified by media figures and even some previously bullish traders.
Why the Narrative Is Growing Now
Several prominent critics have resurfaced with renewed conviction:
Richard Farr, chief market strategist at Pivotus Partners, said his firm’s Bitcoin target is “$0.0,” arguing that Bitcoin has failed as a hedge, remains correlated to tech stocks, and hasn’t gained traction as a medium of exchange. He also pointed to miner stress and energy costs.
Peter Schiff repeated his long-standing view that Bitcoin has no utility beyond belief, contrasting it with gold’s physical uses.
Sexton added that the emotional reactions from Bitcoin supporters reinforce his skepticism, arguing that true long-term believers should welcome lower prices rather than react defensively.
Why Fear Is Spreading Faster This Time
The current market structure magnifies downturns. Bitcoin’s investor base in 2026 includes large ETF flows, leveraged traders, and institutions — not just long-term holders. When prices fall sharply, leveraged positions unwind, ETFs see outflows, and selling accelerates rather than stabilizes.
Bullish Forecasts Have Lost Credibility
The zero-dollar narrative is also gaining traction because high-profile bullish predictions have repeatedly missed:
A viral “Bitcoin about to pump hard” post on Jan. 30 was followed by a 6% drop and $1.6 billion in liquidations.
Michael Saylor drew criticism after suggesting Bitcoin could reach $10 million “tomorrow” if global consensus formed around its value.
Fundstrat’s Tom Lee and other long-time bulls have faced renewed skepticism as their forecasts fail to materialize.
But the Long-Term Bull Case Hasn’t Disappeared
Despite the noise, major institutions still argue that Bitcoin’s long-term trajectory remains intact.
ARK Invest’s Big Ideas 2026 report projects:
A global crypto market of roughly $28 trillion by 2030
Bitcoin representing about 70% of that market
A potential Bitcoin price between $950,000 and $1 million
Cathie Wood points to easing inflation, lower rates, tax-related tailwinds, and a “rolling recession” already absorbed by the economy as reasons risk assets could recover.
Why Bitcoin Going to Zero Remains Unlikely
A collapse to zero would require far more than a bear market. It would demand:
A breakdown in global custody infrastructure
A collapse in institutional participation
Legal or regulatory elimination
A total loss of long-term belief
Given the scale of institutional ownership, ETF integration, and global custody systems, most analysts view a true zero outcome as extremely improbable.
Monday, February 2, 2026 News Update
Bitcoin Attempts to Stabilize After Sliding Below $80,000
Bitcoin edged modestly higher Monday after briefly breaking below $80,000 for the first time since April 2025. The cryptocurrency traded at just over $78,000 after what was a difficult weekend for the cryptocurrency in terms of price. Earlier, it had fallen to $74,876 before trimming some losses. Over the past week, Bitcoin has dropped roughly 12%, erasing more than $200 billion in market value, CoinMarketCap data shows.
Dessislava Ianeva, research analyst at Nexo, told CNBC the pullback aligned with a broader risk-off tone across global markets and was “amplified by structurally thin weekend liquidity,” rather than any crypto-specific catalyst or signs of fundamental stress.
The move came alongside weakness in equities. U.S. stocks slid Friday, led by a 10% drop in Microsoft after disappointing earnings. That sentiment carried into European and Asian markets Monday. Traditional safe havens also struggled, with gold and silver extending losses. Silver’s 30% plunge Friday marked its worst single session since March 1980.
Forced liquidations added pressure to Bitcoin’s decline. More than $2 billion in long and short positions have been wiped out since Thursday, according to Coinglass. Such liquidations can accelerate downside momentum as positions are automatically closed. Investors are also weighing the implications of Kevin Warsh being selected to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair.
Digital asset investment products saw a second straight week of outflows, totaling $1.7 billion, CoinShares reported. Year-to-date outflows now stand at $1 billion, signaling what head of research James Butterfill called a clear deterioration in sentiment toward the asset class.
Yuya Hasegawa of Bitbank said the sell-off reflects a mix of rising geopolitical risk, the tech-led equity downturn sparked by Microsoft, and a sharp breakdown in precious metals — one of the few remaining safe-haven outlets in recent weeks.
Despite its reputation as a volatility hedge, Bitcoin is down about 22% over the past year. Other major tokens, including ether and XRP, also traded lower Monday following several days of broad market selling. Saturday’s crypto-wide liquidations totaled $2.56 billion, the 10th-largest single-day event on record, according to Coinglass.
How Much Lower Could Bitcoin Go?
Market participants continue to expect significant volatility this year, with forecasts ranging from $75,000 to above $200,000. Hasegawa suggested a “short-term bottom” may be forming near $70,000, calling it a key reference level. A decisive break below that zone, he said, would likely require a broader reset in market conditions.
Others see deeper downside ahead. John Blank, chief equity strategist at Zacks, told CNBC that Bitcoin could fall to $40,000 this year. He argued that previous cycle patterns support the target, noting that Bitcoin has historically dropped 70–80% from its all-time highs during “crypto winters.” With the record peak at $126,000 in October, a move to $40,000 would represent roughly a 70% drawdown.
History
In January 2009, Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto. The identity of Nakamoto remains hotly debated to this day, but that person or group changed the world with this invention. Like many major breakthroughs, it took a while for people to grasp why Bitcoin was special. Bitcoin was created in the midst of the banking crisis, and one of its major goals was to give people another option to buy and sell products outside of a heavily regulated and centralized banking system.
The first entities to fully embrace Bitcoin were black market enterprises like Silk Road. For a while, Bitcoin became synonymous with the notorious website, but its use became more and more widespread starting in 2013.
That led to the price of Bitcoin skyrocketing and reaching incredible heights in 2017. On January 1, 2017 a single Bitcoin was worth $998, but that price rose by nearly 20-fold near the end of the year, hitting an all-time high of $19,666 on December 17, 2017. Bitcoin has left those prices in the dust in 2021, as the price of Bitcoin is approaching $50,000.
Stability
One of the major criticisms of Bitcoin is that the currency wildly fluctuates and that has proven to be true in 2021. As Bitcoin has become more accepted and understood, investors are getting a better understanding of what leads to price changes, and that has led to the Bitcoin market looking a lot like the stock market.
Security
There have been fears over how secure Bitcoin is over the years, but transactions are even more secure as they are in the traditional marketplace thanks to blockchain technology.
Whereas we are constantly hearing stories of companies having their databases hacked and identities being stolen, the nature of blockchain presents this from happening with Bitcoin.
For a transaction to occur, the sender must know their private key and digitally sign the transaction, and the signature must be verified by the network using the public key. The number of private keys makes it nearly impossible to hack into another person’s account, but there is one thing to keep in mind. You MUST keep your private key backed up somewhere or else you will lose access to your Bitcoin. Don’t make the mistake of not backing up your private key and risk losing your hard earned money.
How do I buy Bitcoin?
You can buy Bitcoin by using one of the major currency exchanges such as Coinbase or Gemini. These exchanges allow you to use a credit or debit card or bank transfer to buy Bitcoin. You can then send Bitcoin to your sportsbook account and you can withdraw Bitcoin from your sportsbook account to your digital wallet.
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