As crypto’s months-long slowdown accelerated into freefall last week, bulls were frantically searching for technical signals, or perhaps news of a leveraged hedge fund blowing up, that could signal a final bottom for this bear market.
Perhaps the ultimate sign of a bottom could be the cheers of those who have been faithfully bearish on Bitcoin. as its price rose from $0 to over $100,000 during its 16-year lifespan.
Over the years, the Financial Times has surely placed itself above all traditional publications in its resolute opposition to bitcoin and crypto. The London paper’s team of truly talented editors have seemingly never wavered from their firm no-currency stance, and this week was their moment.
“Bitcoin is still about $69,000 too high,” was the headline on Sunday by the FT’s Jemima Kelly that beautifully summed up Kelly and the FT’s general position over the past decade-plus. [The FT subsequently changed the headline to “$70,000 too high” after bitcoin rose overnight].
“Since its inception, bitcoin has been on a journey that will end, splattered on the ground,” Kelly wrote. “This week has shown us that the supply of ‘big fools’ that Bitcoin relies on is drying up,” she continued. “The fairy tales that kept crypto afloat are turning out to be exactly that. People are starting to wake up to the fact that there is no floor in the value of anything based on nothing but thin air.”
Earlier in the week, as the price of bitcoin fell below the $76,000 average cost basis of treasure giant BTC Strategy (MSTR), the FT’s Craig Coben published “Strategy’s Long Road to Nowhere.”
With the stock already down about 80% from its record high at the end of 2024, Coben said in February 2026: “Management has no sure choice – only different paths to destroy shareholder value… it’s hard to see the case for buying a vehicle that has simply broken even on its investments over five years.” »
“Like a gigantic behemoth stuck in the tar pits of La Brea,” Coben concluded. “Strategy seeks a way out.”
Peter Schiff joins us
As gold – despite high recent volatility – continues in a major bull cycle, longtime Goldbug and Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff was also feeling his oats.
“According to Michael Saylor, bitcoin is the best performing asset in the world,” he wrote on Tuesday. “Yet Strategy has invested over $54 billion in bitcoin over the past five years, and right now the company is down about 3% on that investment. I’m sure the losses over the next five years will be much greater!”
“Bitcoin below $76,000 is now worth 15 ounces of gold, down 59% from its November 2021 high,” Schiff continued. “Bitcoin is in a long-term bear market, valued in gold.”
Other signs
“I refuse to pick the lowest,” former hedge fund manager Hugh Hendry once said. “Monkeys spend all their time picking up butts.”
As Hendry noted, it’s probably a good idea not to over-time your purchases with headlines like those seen in the FT this week. It’s probably pretty safe to say, though, that some sort of troughing process is underway.
In other news this week that would never appear near the highs, it appears that investor interest in Tether is evaporating. While the crypto market was still buoyant late last year, it was reported that the giant stablecoin issuer was in talks to raise $15-20 billion at a valuation of up to $500 billion.
However, according to an FT report published on Tuesday, investors appear to be resisting this valuation, and the capital raising efforts may only be in the range of around $5 billion.
For his part, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino told the FT that initial reports of a $15-$20 billion capital raise were a “misconception” and that Tether had attracted a lot of interest in the $500 billion valuation.
Nonetheless, according to the report, investors have privately expressed concerns about the high valuation. Things are fluid, the report continues, and a crypto rally could quickly change sentiment.
