Weekly Recap | Macro Tailwinds Emerge, Korea’s FSC Launches Special Inspection, Echobit Winter Olymp
2026.02.18
Last Week in Review (Feb 9 – Feb 15)
After several weeks of elevated levels, U.S. equities saw heavy selling pressure and began trending lower. With macro conditions not clearly deteriorating but policy easing still delayed, a swift rebound in equities appears unlikely.
The crypto market entered a high-volatility, risk-off phase, remaining in a pronounced weak range. Unless Bitcoin can quickly reclaim and hold above key resistance levels, any rebound may be viewed as a de-risking opportunity. Investors should stay alert to ongoing interest rate adjustments and potential market sell-offs.
This report recaps the key crypto developments of the past week and previews major trends and catalysts for the week ahead.
Market Pulse
Rebound After Sell-Off
Bitcoin faced heavy selling early in the week, briefly dropping near $63,000, before staging a strong recovery on February 14 and reclaiming the $70,000 level. Market sentiment shifted from extreme fear to cautious optimism.
Macro Data Provides Support
U.S. January CPI came in at 2.4% (vs. 2.5% expected), while Core CPI declined to 2.5%, marking its lowest level since 2021. Although the probability of a March rate cut remains low (around 7.8%), easing inflation has helped stabilize crypto assets in the short term.
Market Dominance & Liquidity
Bitcoin dominance held at 58.5%, with capital continuing to concentrate in leading assets. Following the end of the Super Bowl season, weekly trading volume on prediction markets such as Polymarket fell to $5.3 billion, down roughly 15% week-over-week.
Gold & Safe-Haven Flows
Spot gold surged past $5,000, with some safe-haven capital flowing into gold-backed crypto assets. Tether’s gold holdings reportedly surpassed 140 tons.
Funding & M&A
A total of nine funding rounds were completed last week, raising over $48 million, primarily across DeFi and AI sectors:
- Stablecoin infrastructure startup Levl raised $7 million in a seed round led by Galaxy Ventures
- Superset secured $4 million to build a unified cross-chain stablecoin liquidity layer
- On-chain credit infrastructure project Birch Hill raised $2.5 million in a Pre-Seed round
- Inference Research completed a $20 million seed round led by Avenir Group
Policy & Compliance
- The U.S. SEC and CFTC officially launched “Project Crypto”
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent urged accelerated implementation of the GENIUS Act
- The CFTC updated its definition of “payment stablecoins”
- Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) initiated special inspections of crypto exchanges
- Coinbase and the U.S. Treasury expressed differing views on the CLARITY Act
- The White House set a deadline to break the federal legislative deadlock on crypto regulation
Echobit Highlights
- Echobit 2026 Lunar New Year Futures Trading Competition kicks off, featuring a festive, phase-based trading challenge
- Echobit Ice & Snow Giveaway launches with interactive seasonal rewards
- Echobit Winter Olympics Prediction Challenge opens with a competitive prize pool
- Echobit Champion Prediction & Snowflake Collection event enables participants to redeem physical prizes
- Echobit Chart Guessing Challenge tests market insight for rewards
- Echobit Winter Social King campaign rewards engagement and sharing
- Echobit BTC Daily Price Forecast campaign offers points for consistent participation
- Echobit Quiz Challenge invites users to win USDT through knowledge-based competition
- Echobit Valentine’s Trading Rewards campaign launches with a $10,000 USDT prize pool
- Echobit Find the Coin interactive event offers rewards for task completion
- Echobit Valentine’s Special Story Campaign encourages users to share their crypto journey
Week Ahead (Feb 16 – Feb 22)
- UK High Court to hold hearing on a 60,000 BTC money laundering case
- Flying Tulip to launch its public token sale; Eurozone finance ministers to discuss euro stablecoins and joint debt
- Belgium’s KBC Bank to roll out crypto trading services
- Figure to issue blockchain-based equities
- 21Shares to distribute staking rewards to Solana ETF holders
- Trump family-backed crypto project to host the World Liberty Forum
- The Federal Reserve to release minutes from its latest monetary policy meeting
Echobit will continue tracking global crypto developments, focusing on market shifts, regulatory trends, and investment opportunities — helping you stay ahead through every market cycle.