optimistic

According to Bloomberg, informed sources revealed that Anthropic employees have sold a portion of their equity to investors, completing a secondary equity sale that began earlier this year. However, due to the limited number of shares employees were willing to sell, some investors were unable to acquire as many shares as planned. Informed sources stated that the offer price for this acquisition is the same as the company's most recent financing valuation from February of this year. According to its latest transaction, the company's valuation is $350 billion.The total amount of the share sale has not been disclosed, but some individuals indicated that its scale is below the $6 billion raised by investors. Anthropic employees hope to retain more shares before the company's upcoming initial public offering (IPO), which is expected to take place as early as this year.One individual stated that this lower-than-expected transaction indicates that employees are optimistic about the company's prospects as its annual revenue rises. Last month, the company's annual revenue exceeded $19 billion. By April, Anthropic announced that its annual run rate revenue had surpassed $30 billion.

According to Cointelegraph, renowned trader and chart analyst Peter Brandt and prediction market users hold a pessimistic view on the prospect of Bitcoin reaching a new high in 2026. Peter Brandt stated, "I don't think Bitcoin will reach a new high in 2026; it may have to wait until the second quarter of 2027." He also added, "It's all speculation." The probability of Bitcoin returning to $120,000 in 2026 on Polymarket is only 15%.Regarding the low point of the year, Peter Brandt indicated that the $60,000 level on February 6 may not be the lowest of the year, predicting that it might retest that level or even "slightly lower" in September or October this year, at which point it will be the low point of the bear market cycle, initiating a new bull market. He also stated that his long-term logic regarding Bitcoin remains unchanged: "The story of Bitcoin is wealth storage; whether practicality can be built on Bitcoin may affect its price," and he mentioned that he holds a neutral or bearish stance on all other cryptocurrencies.Bitcoin analyst Willy Woo stated on March 17 that, from a liquidity perspective, Bitcoin has completed about "one-third of the bear market." SkyBridge managing partner Anthony Scaramucci also mentioned last week that Bitcoin is currently in the bear market phase of a four-year cycle, and pointed out that the established whale group that believes in the four-year cycle may create a self-fulfilling prophecy. In terms of sentiment, the spot Bitcoin ETF ended four weeks of consecutive net inflows, recording a net outflow of $296.18 million last week. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index reported 8 on Monday, remaining in the "extreme fear" range since March 20.

Robert Kiyosaki, the author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad," stated on social media that the continuous expansion of national debt and the increase in money supply will drive inflation upward, putting continuous depreciation pressure on dollar savings. At the same time, he believes that geopolitical conflicts may persist for a long time and provide upward support for oil prices, further exacerbating the inflationary environment.Robert Kiyosaki pointed out that in the current global context of debt, currency, and inflation, personal financial awareness and asset allocation are particularly crucial, and he holds a relatively optimistic attitude towards assets such as gold, silver, oil, food, as well as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Michael Saylor, the founder and executive chairman of Bitcoin Treasury Company Strategy, posted on social media, "It's time to put the laser eyes back on," sending a clear bullish signal."Laser eyes" was a symbolic mark of support for Bitcoin in the crypto community during the bull market, and this statement seems to express an optimistic outlook for Bitcoin's future.

According to monitoring by Hyperinsight, the expectations for a ceasefire in the US-Iran negotiations have fluctuated, while both WTI and Brent crude oil prices surged during the day. Against this backdrop, the top two addresses on the Brent crude oil chain, "Abraxas Capital," significantly increased their positions. In the past hour, both addresses simultaneously added to their short positions, with a total increase of $16 million, at an average purchase price of approximately $99.6.Following this round of increased positions, the total size of the two short positions has risen to $66.4 million, with an average price of about $103 and a liquidation price average of $140. Due to the short-term rise in oil prices, the floating profit has narrowed from $3 million to $2.2 million.

Citi's Chief Investment Officer, Kate Moore, believes that investors seem overly optimistic, thinking that the U.S.-Iran issue is about to be resolved. She stated on Wednesday, "Some of the price fluctuations we've experienced, especially in the last two days, actually indicate that people have a great deal of optimism about the problem being resolved, and they also believe that this energy shock will not trigger widespread inflationary effects. To be honest, that worries me a bit."She added, "Regarding how to construct a portfolio, I hope to proceed with extremely cautious consideration. Because what we want to build right now is a portfolio that has risk resilience, and we must also ensure that we can withstand inflation risks and the possibility of conflicts lasting longer than current market optimists expect."

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve Governor Milan expressed optimism about stablecoins and will invest more funds into the dollar ecosystem.

According to Jinshi Data, Goldman Sachs stated that the recent decline in gold prices is generally consistent with past trends, noting that the increase in interest rate expectations and market volatility are the main factors leading to the price drop.The co-head of the global commodities research department, Damien Courvalin, said on Wednesday, "Given our current pricing framework, this decline is not surprising." He pointed out that the rise in interest rate expectations has impacted investor demand, particularly through ETFs. Extreme market pressure can also affect gold prices, as investors facing margin calls often sell gold along with other assets.He also noted that the recent rise in gold prices has exceeded fundamental expectations, with some of the pullback reflecting "a certain degree of normalization." However, Goldman Sachs maintains its overall optimistic outlook, expecting gold prices to reach $5,400 by the end of the year. The reasoning is supported by the ongoing central bank purchases of gold as countries seek to diversify their assets (i.e., shifting towards assets with "lower political and financial risks").

According to DL News, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has once again expressed support for asset tokenization technology, believing it can effectively lower investment barriers and allow more ordinary people to participate in the capital markets.Fink pointed out that nearly half of Americans are currently not participating in public market investments, and the development of artificial intelligence will further exacerbate wealth concentration issues. Tokenization may be the key to breaking this deadlock. BlackRock predicts that the tokenization market size will reach $20 trillion by 2030, covering traditional financial assets such as stocks, ETFs, indices, and commodities.Currently, institutions like Robinhood and Kraken have taken the lead in launching tokenized stock products. Fink also emphasized that market development still relies on the establishment of a clear regulatory framework, including buyer protection mechanisms, counterparty risk standards, and supporting systems for digital identity verification.

Macquarie Bank global strategists Thierry Wizman and Gareth Berry stated in a report that it is still too early to have high expectations for a "peace agreement" in the Middle East to be reached in the coming days, as the demands from both sides still seem difficult to reconcile. The idea of getting the U.S. to abandon its demands regarding Iran's nuclear assets, or that the U.S. would simply withdraw its bases in the Gulf region, is unrealistic.At this stage, it is also unlikely to see Iran abandon its support for its proxy forces. However, this war is unlikely to last beyond mid-April, as by then the threat from Iran is likely to be eliminated. Once the threat is removed, the U.S. will hold the upper hand in any subsequent negotiations.

According to Jin Shi reports, JPMorgan analyst Bob Michele expressed his shock at the Federal Reserve's decision, believing that the decision overlooks the risks in the Middle East, and that the expectations of economic acceleration and stable employment may be a misjudgment. Michele pointed out that this will have a substantial impact on inflation as well as the economy and labor market.

Liquid Capital founder Yi Lihua stated: "The speed of AI development and the anxiety surrounding it are terrifying. We must not forget our original intention and return to the crypto industry. First, any ETH below $2000 is a buying opportunity, with a high win rate for both short-term and long-term. Secondly, according to cycle theory, this year is also a great bottom opportunity, suitable for us to prepare new funds and platforms.Finally, looking at the track opportunities, with the speed of AI evolution, we have entrepreneurial opportunities for AI to transform and reconstruct the crypto industry. I believe there will be waves of AI innovators disrupting the current dragons. The industry hasn't seen a change in pattern for a long time, and the AI payment value of stablecoins is beginning to show. The biggest risk in the primary market is the team, which cannot be addressed through data analysis and trend research."

Sun Yuchen posted on X: "We still hold all the LIT we purchased and are optimistic about Lighter in the long term. We are rebalancing our wallet and will soon re-deposit into LLP."Earlier today, on-chain monitoring showed that Sun Yuchen's related address withdrew 40.76 million USDC from Lighter LLP, and then withdrew all of his USDC balance on Lighter, including the USDC he previously deposited into LLP (which was withdrawn once in early February), with a total amount of approximately 152 million USDC, accounting for about 17%-18% of the total USDC balance on the Lighter platform.

Benchmark analysts recently reaffirmed their "buy" rating on Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and set a target price of $705, indicating an upside potential of about 430% from the current share price of approximately $130. Analysts believe that the company's strategic shift to the STRC preferred stock financing model is expected to become a core driver of Bitcoin reserve growth.At the Strategy World 2026 conference, the company's Executive Chairman Michael Saylor stated that the company will shift from its previous strategy of encouraging enterprises to incorporate Bitcoin into their balance sheets to focusing on promoting STRC perpetual preferred stock as the primary financing tool for future Bitcoin purchases. Benchmark analysts noted that STRC will become the "main engine" for Strategy to accumulate Bitcoin and is expected to accelerate the growth rate of the company's Bitcoin holdings per share.The STRC price fell to around $90 earlier this month but has since rebounded to near the $100 par value level. This preferred stock product offers an annualized yield of approximately 11%, pays dividends monthly, and has priority over common stockholders in the dividend distribution order.

The stablecoin issuer Circle's stock price briefly rose above $90, reaching a new high for the year, before retreating to around $87. This followed the company's fourth-quarter performance, which exceeded market expectations, driving the stock price up approximately 30% after the earnings report was released. Bernstein analysts maintained an "outperform" rating on Circle, setting a target price of $190, believing that the company's performance shows a growth trend that has "clearly distinguished itself from the crypto market."The report noted that Circle's expansion in the infrastructure sector is bringing in new revenue sources with higher profit margins, rather than relying solely on stablecoin reserve earnings. Analysts stated that Circle's transaction-related revenue continues to grow, including blockchain rewards earned as a super validator on the Canton network. Meanwhile, the proportion of USDC directly held on the Circle platform has risen to 17% of the total supply, up from 14% in the previous quarter. The company expects the circulation of USDC to maintain an annual growth rate of about 40% in the future and anticipates that other business revenues, excluding reserve income, will reach approximately $170 million by 2026, up from about $110 million in 2025.Bernstein is also optimistic about Circle's expansion into new product areas, including the Arc platform, Circle Payments Network, and "automated payment" capabilities aimed at AI agents. At the same time, Mizuho analysts pointed out that as stablecoins are increasingly applied in new scenarios such as prediction markets, like the Polymarket platform, Circle's revenue structure is expected to further diversify. Overall, market attention is gradually shifting to whether Circle can establish a more balanced revenue structure during the expansion of the stablecoin ecosystem.

According to Jinshi, Federal Reserve's Goolsbee stated that he is one of the most optimistic about interest rate cuts this year within the Federal Reserve.

According to Jinshi, Fed's Goolsbee expressed optimism about the possibility of further rate cuts this year, provided that inflation begins to return to target levels.

Bitmine today announced that the total value of its cryptocurrency holdings, cash, and "high-risk high-return investment projects" is currently reported at $9.6 billion. As of February 22, 2026, 6:00 PM Eastern Time, the company's crypto assets include:4,422,659 ETH193 Bitcoin$200 million in Beast Industries equity$17 million in Eightco Holdings equityTotal cash of $691 million.Bitmine's Executive Chairman Thomas "Tom" Lee stated that during this "mini crypto winter," we remain focused on methodically executing our financial strategy, steadily increasing our ETH holdings, and optimizing our portfolio returns. Despite the crypto prices hitting lows, the three major fundamental drivers for Ethereum continue to strengthen:Wall Street and its tokenization strategyAI and AI agents using smart blockchain to execute and collect paymentsThe emerging creator economy and its demand for blockchain verification.

According to Jinshi, Federal Reserve official Logan stated that he is cautiously optimistic about the economy returning to the inflation target trajectory.

According to Crowdfund Insider, Joseph Lubin, founder and CEO of Consensys and co-founder of Ethereum, recently shared his views on the current state and future trajectory of the cryptocurrency market during an interview in Hong Kong. Lubin expressed a cautiously optimistic outlook. He emphasized that the digital asset economy is continuously evolving, driven by functional utility rather than pure speculative forces.When discussing Bitcoin, Lubin believes it should not be viewed as a traditional safe-haven asset at this stage. He described the broader crypto landscape as still resembling a "startup ecosystem," suggesting that positioning Bitcoin as a secure store of value amidst current developmental challenges may be premature. In contrast, he highlighted that Ethereum's native cryptocurrency, ETH, has a stronger functional demand.Lubin believes that the practicality of ETH in driving decentralized applications, smart contracts, and broader ecosystem activities gives it an advantage in real-world adoption compared to Bitcoin's main narrative. He emphasized Ethereum's enduring importance in the evolving financial infrastructure.He pointed out that institutional participation is deepening, with major banks, trading platforms, and financial networks increasingly building on Ethereum-based technologies and layer two scaling solutions. He stated that this momentum at the institutional level indicates that even amid market fluctuations, Ethereum is transitioning towards becoming the next-generation financial foundation.Overall, Lubin's remarks reflect confidence in Ethereum's long-term potential under short-term market pressures. He portrayed the ecosystem as resilient and innovative, with tools like Ethereum and MetaMask poised to drive meaningful progress in the digital economy.