Altcoin mentions on social media have fallen to their lowest level in two years, with Santiment's data showing altcoin social dominance at 33 for the week ended Feb. 27, far below the July 2025 peak of 750. Google Trends also shows the global search score for "altcoins" at 4 out of 100 near the end of February, while Bitcoin has rallied 7.51% in the past 24 hours and now commands more investor attention. Santiment views the depressed altcoin interest as a potential bullish signal, and trader Michaël van de Poppe expects altcoins to gain momentum once Bitcoin's rally slows.

In an international operation on March 3 and 4, law enforcement agencies led by the FBI and Europol dismantled LeakBase, a cybercrime forum with more than 142,000 registered members and over 215,000 messages. Authorities in 14 countries seized user accounts, payment details and IP logs, issued prevention notices and replaced the site with seizure banners. LeakBase's predecessor Raidforums, which was shut down in 2022, had previously hosted leaked personal data of roughly 272,000 users of Ledger's crypto wallet service.

At the Bitcoin Investor Week Conference in New York in February, former Trump crypto advisor David Bailey argued that the U.S. government must go further than simply supporting Bitcoin in words. He highlighted that, despite Trump signing an executive order for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in March 2025 and the U.S. holding 378,372 BTC worth about $22.48 billion, meaningful policy action has lagged. Bailey added that Bitcoin will ultimately succeed with or without U.S. help, but real progress requires political capital and broader voter ownership of BTC.

Swyftx lead analyst Pav Hundal said on Thursday that Ether has already absorbed much of the short-term macro risk and industry news, making a period of subdued, sideways price action likely. He argued that confidence is still recovering from October's $19 billion liquidation cascade and that weak consumer sentiment, reflected in an "Extreme Fear" reading on the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, remains a key overhang even as large holders like BitMine Immersion Technologies keep adding to their Ether positions.

Crypto analytics firm Santiment reported on Thursday that the number of wallets holding at least 100 Bitcoin has climbed to 19,993 and could reach 20,000 by Friday. The firm views the growth in large holders as a sign of healthier distribution, even as Bitcoin trades around $67,260, roughly 47% below its October all-time high of $126,100. Santiment added that long-term holders appear to be both accumulating and selling, helping keep prices subdued despite rising confidence in a potential recovery.

In the week of Feb. 15–22, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $165.8 million in outflows on Thursday, bringing weekly redemptions to $403.9 million and pushing year-to-date losses to $2.7 billion, while trading volumes fell 21%. Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich rejected accusations that the firm delayed or obscured disclosures around its Bitcoin purchases, options strategy and BTC-backed borrowings. The period also saw fresh debate on stablecoin rewards in US Senate negotiations and ongoing discussions over quantum risks, with Bitcoin developer Matt Corallo arguing that such fears do not explain Bitcoin’s recent 46% drawdown.

Robinhood head of crypto Johann Kerbrat said in an interview that many users view the ongoing market pullback as a chance to "buy the dip" and are trading a broader range of assets beyond Bitcoin and Ether. He noted strong traction for staking since Robinhood introduced the feature in December and increased interest in DeFi use cases, even as overall sentiment remains in "Extreme Fear" and U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs log several weeks of net outflows.

Economist Timothy Peterson said 50% of Bitcoin's past 24 months were positive and argued this implies an 88% chance the asset will be above its current level by December. BTC traded at $68,173 at publication, while Polymarket odds put November at 18% and December at 17% for 2026's best month, and the Fear & Greed Index registered 9.

Santiment reported on Friday that retail calls for Bitcoin to reach $150K–$200K, and even $50K–$100K, are drying up, framing the pullback in hype as a healthy sign as sentiment returns to neutral. Bitcoin fell to near $60,000 on Feb. 6 and was around $67,847 at publication, while the Crypto Fear & Greed Index registered a score of 8 in "Extreme Fear" on Saturday.