Bitcoin ETF outflows have now stretched into a fifth consecutive week, draining nearly $4 billion from spot Bitcoin funds since mid-January and pushing BTC below $67,000. At the same time, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index cratered to 7 - deep in "Extreme Fear" territory - while regulators in Washington quietly made moves that could reshape the industry by summer.
Here is what happened across the crypto market this week and what it might mean for what comes next.
Bitcoin ETF outflows hit five straight weeks as institutional money retreats
The headline number is hard to ignore. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $165.76 million in net outflows on February 19 alone, according to SoSoValue data. That marked the third straight day of redemptions and pushed the five-week cumulative total close to $4 billion.
BlackRock's IBIT, which was once absorbing hundreds of millions per day during the 2025 bull run, has been bleeding assets. Fidelity's FBTC managed a brief $12 million inflow on February 14, but it was a drop in the bucket against the broader trend.
A Wintermute trader told CoinDesk this week that the average Bitcoin ETF investor now sits on a roughly 20% paper loss. That is a dangerous threshold. When unrealized losses pile up, even long-term holders start to question their conviction, and redemption requests accelerate.
Bloomberg framed it bluntly: Bitcoin's Wall Street embrace was supposed to bring stability. Instead, it created a new vulnerability - dependence on American institutional money that is now pulling back.
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Bitcoin ETF outflows and the $65,000 support test
BTC spent most of the week grinding around the $65,000-$67,000 range. As of Friday morning, it was trading at $66,819, up a modest 1.33% in the last 24 hours but still down significantly from its January levels above $80,000.
Sellers have been defending the $71,000 zone on every relief rally. Analysts at CoinCentral warned that a break below $65,000 could open the door to a slide toward $60,000 - a level that lines up with Bitcoin's 52-week low of $60,074.
On the other side, bulls need a clean break above $74,500 to shift momentum. That has not happened yet.
The longest losing streak since 2022 has left the market in a difficult spot. BTC has essentially erased about half the gains from the post-halving rally, and the price action on the weekly chart looks increasingly fragile.
Altcoin scoreboard: SOL leads, XRP stalls
Ethereum traded at $1,936 on Friday morning, up 0.71% on the day but still stuck well below its 52-week high of $4,953. The ETH/BTC ratio continues to compress, and Ethereum ETF flows have been similarly weak.
Solana was the relative standout this week at $82.17, posting a 2.72% daily gain. Mid-cap altcoins saw some renewed interest as capital rotated away from large-cap assets, though the rotation was more of a trickle than a flood.
XRP bucked the broader altcoin recovery, dipping 0.51% to $1.39. That said, XRP has actually been one of the better performers since the February 6 crash, rallying 38% from its lows as investors accumulated during the dip. Binance saw significant XRP outflows - typically a sign that holders are moving coins to cold storage rather than preparing to sell.
Fear and Greed Index at 7: what extreme fear actually looks like
The Crypto Fear and Greed Index hit 7 this week. To put that in perspective, the index ranges from 0 to 100, and anything below 25 counts as "Extreme Fear." A reading of 7 is close to the all-time lowest levels ever recorded.
This follows a trend that has been building since late January. The index already hit a record low of 5 earlier this month during Bitcoin's fourth straight red week.
Historically, extreme fear readings have preceded some of the best buying opportunities in crypto. The problem is that they have also preceded further crashes. The index measures sentiment, not direction, and right now the sentiment says the market is in pain.
For traders watching high-volatility conditions, the current environment demands tight risk controls. The average ETF holder sitting on a 20% loss creates real capitulation risk if we see another leg down.
CFTC stacks advisory panel with crypto CEOs
While the market bled, Washington was busy building bridges. On February 12, the CFTC officially launched its Innovation Advisory Committee, a 35-member panel that reads like a crypto industry roster.
The appointees include Brian Armstrong (Coinbase), Brad Garlinghouse (Ripple), Tyler Winklevoss (Gemini), Hayden Adams (Uniswap), Anatoly Yakovenko (Solana Labs), Chris Dixon (a16z Crypto), and executives from Kraken, Chainlink Labs, Robinhood, and Polymarket. Traditional finance got seats too, with representatives from CME and Nasdaq.
CFTC Chair Mike Selig described the panel as a step toward building regulatory frameworks that work with the industry rather than against it. The committee will advise on derivatives, digital asset classification, and market infrastructure.
For anyone tracking the regulatory angle, this is one of the most crypto-friendly moves from a federal regulator since the current administration took office.
Stablecoin yield fight and the GENIUS Act
The other major regulatory development happened behind closed doors. The White House hosted its third working session this week on the crypto market structure bill, and the sticking point remains stablecoin yields.
The GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins) formally advanced through congressional committees on February 17. But the banking industry is pushing back hard on provisions that would allow crypto firms to offer rewards on stablecoins.
According to CoinDesk's reporting from the February 19 meeting, the White House signaled that certain rewards programs would stay in the next draft. That is a win for the crypto side, but the bill still needs to survive full Senate debate.
Two major pieces of crypto regulation are expected to land in Q2 2026. If both pass, institutional investors who have been sitting on the sidelines would finally have the regulatory clarity they have been waiting for. Combined with any buying from the proposed Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, that could be the catalyst for a reversal.
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The bottom line for this week
The numbers do not lie. Five weeks of ETF outflows, a Fear and Greed reading at 7, and Bitcoin stuck below $67,000 paint a grim short-term picture. The market is in a correction, and it has not found its floor yet.
But the regulatory pipeline tells a different story. The CFTC filling its advisory board with crypto builders, the GENIUS Act advancing, and the White House actively negotiating stablecoin framework details - these are not bearish signals. They suggest the infrastructure for the next bull run is being built right now, even as prices bleed.
The question is whether the market can hold $65,000 long enough for those regulatory tailwinds to arrive. If BTC slips below $60,000, we are looking at a full retracement of the halving rally and a much longer recovery timeline. If it holds, the setup for a Q2 bounce looks plausible.
For now, this is a risk management market, not a "buy everything" market. Position accordingly.