Из жизни альткоинов

American fast food chain Steak ‘n Shake has announced that all hourly employees will receive a Bitcoin bonus starting on March 1st.

Steak ‘n Shake Integrates Bitcoin Bonus Payments

Steak ‘n Shake will pay all hourly employees at its company-operated restaurants a bonus in Bitcoin for every hour of work, as revealed by the company’s official X handle. Steak ‘n Shake, primarily based in the United States, is a fast food chain that mainly serves burgers and milkshakes, with its flagship item being the Steakburger. Back in May 2025, the firm opened itself to Bitcoin, allowing customers to pay at all its locations using the cryptocurrency.

Last Friday, Steak ‘n Shake provided an update on the scheme, noting that same-store sales have dramatically increased for the company since it started accepting BTC. The firm added that all of its BTC sales go into its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) and announced that it expanded this reserve by an additional $10 million in notional value in that same update.

“We have created a self-sustaining system — growing same-store sales that grow the SBR,” wrote the company. “Improving food quality expands Steak n Shake’s reach and leverages Bitcoin into a new and delicious dimension.” Now, it seems Steak ‘n Shake has taken its BTC acceptance a step further with the employee bonus integration.

According to the announcement, all hourly employees will receive $0.21 BTC for every hour worked. However, only workers who have passed a two-year vesting period will be able to collect their digital asset pay.

Steak ‘n Shake credited Fold for providing assistance on the initiative. Fold is a financial services platform that offers, among other features, a debit card allowing users to earn BTC rewards on payments.

The Bitcoin bonus program is set to go live on March 1st. “We take care of our employees; they, in turn, take care of customers; and the results take care of themselves,” said Steak ‘n Shake.

In some other news, institutional demand for Bitcoin has remained strong recently, according to CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju. To track the behavior of these large entities, Young Ju has referred to the supply of addresses carrying between 100 and 1,000 BTC.

“US custody wallets typically hold 100-1,000 BTC each,” explained the CryptoQuant founder. “Excluding exchanges and miners, this gives a rough read on institutional demand.” As the chart below shows, the supply of this investor segment has shown significant growth in recent months.

In total, Bitcoin wallets in the 100 to 1,000 tokens range have collectively added 577,000 BTC (roughly worth $51.5 billion) to their holdings over the past year. So far, this accumulation hasn’t shown signs of slowing down.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is floating around $89,200, down 6% in the last seven days.

Bitcoin slipped below the $90,000 level as global markets reacted to rising macroeconomic tension between the United States and the European Union. Investors are closely watching the latest trade headlines, as renewed tariff threats increase uncertainty around global growth, corporate earnings, and inflation dynamics. When friction between major economies escalates, risk appetite typically fades, and crypto tends to feel the impact fast as traders reduce exposure and cut leverage.

According to an analysis by XWIN Research Japan, Bitcoin’s recent weakness fits a broader pattern that has been developing since 2025. The report argues that the Trump administration’s renewed tariff push has acted as a consistent downside pressure for BTC, mainly because tariffs influence multiple pillars of the macro environment at once. Higher tariffs can squeeze company margins, disrupt supply chains, and push inflation expectations higher, which complicates the outlook for interest rates and monetary policy.

In this environment, Bitcoin has continued to behave more like a macro-sensitive risk asset than a defensive hedge. Instead of attracting safe-haven flows, BTC has often moved in sync with equities during trade-driven risk-off waves. As a result, even brief bursts of bullish momentum have struggled to hold when economic uncertainty rises and capital rotates into safer positioning.

Tariff Risk Keeps Bitcoin Tied to Macro Conditions

The XWIN Research Japan report explains that several Bitcoin pullbacks between 2025 and 2026 aligned with periods of rising economic uncertainty driven by tariff hikes and trade frictions. During these episodes, BTC declined alongside equities, reinforcing that the market still treats Bitcoin as a macro-sensitive risk asset rather than a defensive hedge. Instead of decoupling during stress, Bitcoin often reacts like a high-beta instrument when traders rush to reduce volatility in their portfolios.

Economic risk tends to hit Bitcoin quickly because investor behavior adjusts fast. As uncertainty around growth and interest rates increases, capital typically shifts toward short-term protection. In that process, Bitcoin is frequently viewed as a liquid asset that can be sold temporarily to lower portfolio risk, rather than a long-term store of value that benefits from risk-off flows. This dynamic can amplify downside moves even when long-term fundamentals remain intact.

Exchange Netflow provides a supplementary layer of evidence. During correction phases, brief spikes in exchange inflows often appear, consistent with tactical repositioning and short-term profit protection. However, these inflows have not persisted, suggesting the absence of sustained structural selling pressure.

For now, the base scenario remains that tariff-driven economic risk is weighing on Bitcoin. If exchange inflows become sustained and supply-demand conditions weaken further, that assessment would need to be reassessed.

BTC Holds Its Ground After Breaking Below $90K

Bitcoin is trading around $88,800 on the weekly chart after a sharp selloff that briefly pushed price below the $90,000 psychological level. This drop marks a clear shift in momentum, as BTC failed to hold the mid-range structure that supported price action throughout the late-2025 consolidation phase. The weekly candle shows heavy downside pressure, with sellers rejecting attempts to stabilize above $92,000 and forcing a retest of lower demand.

Technically, Bitcoin remains trapped between key moving averages. Price is still below the blue long-term trend line, which has acted as dynamic resistance since the breakdown from the $100,000+ region. At the same time, BTC is holding above the green moving average, suggesting that while the market is weak, longer-term buyers are still defending the broader uptrend structure.

This creates a fragile equilibrium: as long as Bitcoin holds above the current support zone, bulls can attempt to rebuild a base and reclaim $90,000-$92,000. However, if volatility expands and the market loses the green trend line, it would expose BTC to a deeper correction toward the mid-$80,000s, where previous demand briefly stepped in during the prior drawdown.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Трендовых индикаторов достаточно много. Одни показывают силу движения актива, другие фокусируются на направлении. А есть такие, что заточены определять наличие тренда. К таким относится индекс переменчивости.

The Bitcoin price showed a sharp pullback this week caught many traders off guard. After hovering near record highs, the world’s largest crypto slid below the $90,000 mark as a wave of leveraged positions was forced out of the market.

Related Reading: Ripple President Long Unveils Her 2026 Crypto Predictions

The drop came amid rising global uncertainty, with investors reacting to geopolitical tensions, bond market stress, and renewed risk aversion across traditional assets.

By Tuesday, the Bitcoin price had fallen to around $87,800 before staging a modest rebound to around $89,000. While the move erased recent gains, market participants say the decline reflects more than just short-term volatility. It highlights how fragile sentiment can become when macro pressures and heavy leverage collide.

Leverage Unwinds Trigger Sharp Sell-Off

Data from CoinGlass showed that roughly $1.08 billion in crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours, affecting more than 183,000 traders. Long positions made up about 92% of those liquidations, indicating that many traders had been positioned for further upside.

The largest single forced closure was a $13.52 million BTCUSDT position on Bitget, underscoring how crowded bullish bets had become. As prices slipped, automated liquidations accelerated the decline, pushing Bitcoin through key psychological levels.

This unwinding followed weeks of relative calm in crypto markets, during which the Bitcoin price had consolidated near its highs. Once selling pressure began, it quickly exposed how dependent recent price stability had been on leveraged positioning rather than fresh spot demand.

Macro Risks Weigh on Risk Assets

The crypto sell-off unfolded alongside broader market stress. U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed tariff threats against European nations, tied to disputes over Greenland, revived fears of a trade war. Similarly, a sell-off in Japanese government bonds pushed global yields higher, tightening financial conditions.

U.S. equities also suffered their worst session since October, with major indices dropping more than 2%. Crypto-related stocks such as Coinbase, Strategy, and Circle posted steep losses, reflecting a wider shift away from risk-sensitive assets.

While the Bitcoin price and altcoins fell, gold and silver moved in the opposite direction. Gold traded near record highs above $4,800 per ounce, and silver also reached new peaks. The contrast suggested that investors were rotating into traditional safe havens as uncertainty grew.

Key Bitcoin Price Support Levels in Focus

Despite the volatility, Bitcoin has shown early signs of stabilization. Prices rebounded toward the $89,000–$90,000 area as pressure in bond markets eased and U.S. equity futures ticked higher. Still, analysts caution that the move looks more like a pause after forced selling than a clear return of risk appetite.

Technical indicators highlight the $87,000–$88,000 range as a critical support zone. A break below this level could open the door to further declines toward $85,000 or lower. On the upside, Bitcoin price faces resistance near $92,000 and $95,000.

Related Reading: XRP Holders Quietly Build Positions In A Pattern That Echoes Earlier Cycles

For now, traders are closely watching macro developments, including Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos and ongoing signals from global bond markets. Whether dip buyers step in with conviction may determine if Bitcoin can reclaim lost ground, or if the recent slide has further to run.

Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCUSD chart on Tradingview