Bitcoin experienced a sharp dip below $65,000 during Asian trading hours on February 23, 2026 which aligns with Sunday evening to Monday morning UTC, depending on time zones amid heightened market volatility.
Bitcoin fell as low as around $64,270–$64,400 from highs near $67,700 earlier, representing a drop of over 5% in a short window. It has since partially recovered, trading in the $66,000–$66,300 range as of mid-February 23 with some sources noting levels like $66,181 or $66,328 around midday UTC.
The move was tied to broader risk-off sentiment, including uncertainty over U.S. tariff policies; threats of raising global tariffs to 15% under the current administration, geopolitical tensions, and thin weekend and Asia-hours liquidity amplifying the sell-off.
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Massive liquidations accompanied the drop: Crypto futures saw roughly $400–$500 million in total liquidations over the past day, with a heavy skew toward long positions being wiped out; one notable $61 million BTC position liquidated on HTX alone. This added fuel to the downside pressure, as forced selling from leveraged traders cascaded.
On the sentiment side, Google searches for phrases like “Bitcoin is dead” have surged to levels approaching or hitting all-time highs (ATHs) in recent days and weeks of 2026. This spike exceeds peaks seen during the 2022 FTX collapse in some reports and reflects classic “extreme fear” in the market.
Historically, such capitulation signals—where retail despair peaks—have sometimes coincided with local bottoms, though the market remains volatile with ongoing macro headwinds like trade policy risks and ETF outflows.
Ethereum has reacted similarly to Bitcoin’s sharp dip; experiencing a correlated sell-off amid the same macro pressures: U.S. tariff threats including the push toward 15% global tariffs, geopolitical tensions, thin liquidity in off-hours trading, and broader risk-off sentiment dragging down crypto as a high-beta asset class.
Ethereum dropped sharply in tandem with BTC, falling around 5-6% over the past 24 hours. It briefly dipped to lows around $1,845–$1,854, with reports of trading near $1,870–$1,922 mid-day. From recent highs near $1,970–$1,988 (late February 22), this represents a meaningful leg down, pushing ETH well below $1,900 in the process.
ETH is down significantly year-to-date around 30-34% from January 1 levels near $2,600+, part of crypto’s historically poor 2026 start, exacerbated by this latest flush. Crypto-wide liquidations hit $400–$500 million in the event, with ETH contributing notably: over $110 million in long positions liquidated primarily longs, per CoinGlass data.
A whale (tracked via on-chain) added to long exposure up to ~115,000 ETH worth $215M+ to defend against liquidation but still faced cascade risks. Additional selling pressure came from high-profile moves, like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin accelerating ETH sales (1,869 ETH ~$3.67M over recent days, part of a larger plan to fund ecosystem initiatives amid “mild austerity” at the Ethereum Foundation), which added to bearish sentiment.
ETH is now testing critical support around $1,800, with analysts warning it’s “under extreme threat”—a break below could accelerate toward $1,570 or lower due to clustered stop-losses and DeFi lending liquidations. Like BTC, the dip has amplified “extreme fear” signals, with altcoins including ETH often underperforming majors in risk-off phases but showing correlated downside here.
Partial stabilization or minor rebounds have occurred intraday but conviction remains low amid ongoing macro headwinds. Historically, such synchronized BTC-ETH dumps in corrections have sometimes led to capitulation bottoms, especially if macro eases, but near-term volatility persists—watch $1,800 hold for ETH as a key pivot.
Ethereum mirrored Bitcoin’s pain rather than diverging positively, with amplified downside from leverage unwinds and specific ETH-related selling. The market remains fragile, so developments in U.S. policy or traditional risk assets will likely dictate the next move.
This appears to be another leg down in Bitcoin’s correction from its 2025 highs which reached over $126,000 in some periods, with the asset now well off those peaks but showing resilience in partial rebounds. Crypto markets are highly reactive to macro events right now, so keep an eye on U.S. policy developments and traditional risk assets for cues.