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BTC remains under pressure amid slumping stock market

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BTC remains under pressure amid slumping stock market

Bitcoin has fallen back to the low end of its recent trading range during late-morning U.S. trading hours on Thursday as the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbles 1.6%.

Trading at $65,700, bitcoin is now lower by 1.5% over the past 24 hours, while ether , just above $1,900, is down more than 2%.

The bitcoin price action — uncorrelated with the Nasdaq when that index is headed higher, but perfectly correlated when it heads lower — has become all too familiar for the crypto sector. And the failure to hold any sort of sustained bounce from last week’s panicky plunge has bulls seemingly in full capitulation mode.

Alternative’s well-followed Crypto Fear & Greed Index today fell to just 5, a level of “extreme fear” exceeding even what was seen during the multiple collapses of the 2022 crypto winter and the 2020 Covid crash.

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Also raising eyebrows is longtime bull Geoff Kendrick from Standard Chartered, slashing his 2026 price targets for bitcoin, ether, solana, BNB and AVAX, while warning bitcoin could dip to as low as $50,000.

Crypto stocks lose ground

Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD) are among the largest losers on Thursday, each down more than 8%. Coinbase reports fourth-quarter results after the bell, but Robinhood’s fourth-quarter report earlier this week confirmed that the crypto bear market had taken a large bite out of trading revenues in the final three months of 2025 — and that was before the price action got really bad to begin 2026.

Other large decliners today include Strategy (MSTR), down 4.2%, Circle Financial (CRCL), down 4.3%, and Hut 8 (HUT), down 6.6%.

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Crypto World

Fed’s Barr Calls for Balanced US Stablecoin Rules Under GENIUS Act

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Federal Reserve, Legislation, United States, Stablecoin, Genius Act

US Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said Tuesday that clearer US stablecoin rules could speed the market’s growth, but warned that regulators still need to address money laundering risks, bank run risks and consumer safeguards as they implement the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.

Speaking at a Federalist Society event on stablecoin regulation, Barr said the law provides “needed clarity” for issuers, but that “a great deal will depend on how federal and state regulators implement the statute.”

Barr said stablecoins are still used mainly for crypto trading and as a US dollar store of value in some foreign markets, though they could also lower remittance costs, speed up trade finance processing and help firms manage treasury operations. He also highlighted the risk of bad actors buying stablecoins in secondary markets without identity checks, and said issuers may be tempted to stretch for yield in reserve assets in ways that undermine confidence during stress.

Barr’s speech also cast the stablecoin debate in historical terms. He said private money has a “long and painful history” when safeguards are weak, pointing to the Free Banking Era in the US, the Panic of 1907, money market fund stress during the global financial crisis and COVID-19 shock, and more recent stablecoin valuation pressure as reasons to be cautious about any asset marketed as redeemable at par on demand.

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Barr’s remarks come as US agencies move from legislation to rule-writing. The US Treasury Department opened a second round of public comment on implementing the GENIUS Act in September 2025, saying the law must be translated into rules that both encourage innovation and address illicit finance, consumer protections and financial stability risks.

Federal Reserve, Legislation, United States, Stablecoin, Genius Act
Brief Remarks on Stablecoins. Source: Federal Reserve

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman told lawmakers in February that banking regulators were already working on capital and liquidity rules for stablecoin issuers, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chair Travis Hill said in March that the agency does not expect stablecoins to receive deposit insurance under the law.

Related: Who gets the yield? CLARITY Act becomes fight over onchain dollars

Barr warns GENIUS Act rollout will test stablecoin safeguards

Barr’s speech signals where the implementation fights may land. He flagged reserve asset rules, regulatory arbitrage, the scope of issuer activities beyond issuance, capital and liquidity requirements, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks and consumer protection standards as the key issues still to be settled.

The GENIUS Act, signed into law on July 18, 2025, created a federal framework for payment stablecoins in the United States. The law requires issuers to maintain one-to-one backing with reserve assets such as US dollars and Treasury bills, and is expected to take effect 18 months after signing or 120 days after final agency rules are completed.

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Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026