It’s Sunday, Feb. 15, and the crypto market may be characterised with the next three tales: Ripple CEO Garlinghouse getting in an surprising brawl with Theranos’s Elizabeth Holmes on X; the largest meme coin on Ethereum, Shiba Inu, sees a 71% surge in quantity as SHIB group lead Shythoshi Kusama leaves an intriguing clue in his social media feed; and, lastly, to conclude at this time’s Morning Crypto Report, Tom Lee, Bitmine chairman, reveals his opinion on when to count on “crypto winter” to finish. Spoiler: it’s April 2026.
TL;DR
- Brad Garlinghouse responds “Not true” to Elizabeth Holmes, and Theranos’s founder replies with a Ripple case reference.
- SHIB quantity rises 71.6% to $235.8 million, the value at $0.000006822 after Shytoshi Kusama teases “1326.”
- Tom Lee says crypto winter might already be over or finish earlier than April.
Elizabeth Holmes spars with Ripple CEO from jail over authorized “recreation”
One of the fascinating and, on the identical time, surprising, occasions this Sunday was not about cryptocurrency straight, however a determine strongly tied to it — Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. The entire sudden, Garlinghouse determined to have interaction in a social media debate with Elizabeth Holmes, founding father of Theranos and convicted fraudster.
For these not acquainted, Holmes based Theranos in 2003 as a well being know-how startup that claimed to revolutionize blood testing with a tool able to operating lots of of checks on a couple of drops of blood. Lengthy story brief, at its peak, the corporate was valued at $9 billion, however investigative reviews in 2015 revealed that the know-how was ineffective, inflicting the corporate to collapse, and Holmes was convicted of fraud in 2022, receiving an 11-year jail sentence.
At this time, Holmes, or whoever runs her X account, posted a touch upon the U.S. federal conviction price, stating that the federal government wins the overwhelming majority of instances it brings and describing structural disadvantages confronted by defendants.
This was the standpoint that made Garlinghouse reply by saying that that is “not true.” Then the entire social media alternate became a debate, as Holmes’s account replied with an specific reference to the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit.
Holmes fired again by highlighting the distinction between her felony conviction and Ripple’s civil settlement. She famous that whereas Garlinghouse paid a $125 million penalty to settle SEC costs, she confronted a $500,000 SEC wonderful in addition to her felony costs introduced by the Division of Justice.
The Theranos founder argued that Garlinghouse’s case was a “recreation” of civil costs with out the specter of a grand jury or indictment, concluding that “felony costs are totally different.”
This public spat doesn’t have any impression on an already-concluded Ripple case, nevertheless it does supply an fascinating angle on it from somebody you wouldn’t count on, Elizabeth Holmes. As for Theranos and its founder, although, the brawl simply underscores Holmes’s continued efforts to stay related by way of social media whereas incarcerated, at the same time as she campaigns for her early launch.
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Shiba Inu (SHIB) sees 71% spike in quantity, whereas Shytoshi Kusama teases UX/UI overhaul forward of “Eclipse”
In accordance to CoinMarketCap, Shiba Inu (SHIB) buying and selling quantity has surged 71.6% to $235.8 million. The spike in buying and selling exercise coincided with lead developer Shytoshi Kusama shifting his new challenge into “alpha testing” for a major Consumer Expertise (UX) and Consumer Interface (UI) redesign.
Whereas being a whole secret, one might attempt to guess what Kusama is cooking up behind the scenes. One of many theories is that this overhaul possible addresses vital boundaries to entry, corresponding to complicated pockets integrations and fragmented dApp navigation. A streamlined UI may scale back “bounce charges” from new retail traders, a key metric for long-term challenge viability in 2026.
One other of Kusama’s cryptic messages was in a bio of his X account, price a million followers, and likewise got here yesterday, Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day.
What it could be about:
- The “1326” Concept: Some SHIB lovers counsel “1326” might refer to a selected technical milestone or a scheduled launch time.
- The Eclipse Discuss: Scheduled for Feb. 17, this briefing is predicted to reveal the primary take a look at the “Alpha” interface.
Regardless of the 71% quantity spike, SHIB’s price stays consolidated at $0.000006822, with a complete market capitalization of $4.02 billion. The present lack of panic-driven value motion suggests this quantity represents the return of volatility quite than a speculative pump.
If SHIB sustains a transfer above the $0.000007 resistance stage through the Feb. 17 briefing, it might verify a shift in short-term momentum, pushed by an remoted narrative, not broader crypto market motion.
Fundstrat’s Tom Lee predicts finish of crypto winter by Q2, 2026
One other fascinating improvement for the crypto market this Sunday got here from Tom Lee’s aspect, because the Fundstrat cofounder and Bitmine chairman — Bitmine being an organization with virtually $8 billion in unrealized loss in its Ethereum place — provided a perspective on the top of the present crypto winter. Throughout a latest look, Lee claimed that the market has both reached its lowest level or will attain it earlier than April 2026.
Lee characterizes the latest downturn, which additionally induced a multibillion-dollar gap in Bitmine’s Ethereum stability, as an ordinary cyclical correction quite than the failure of the digital belongings trade.
In accordance to Fundstrat’s evaluation, if the market sees a ultimate leg down in late February, it’s going to possible symbolize the final word low earlier than a restoration section. The April deadline coincides with historic Q2 liquidity quakes and anticipated macro-policy readability.
It’s not comprehensible how Lee, a market veteran with a monitor report in Bitcoin investments, got here right into a place the place the corporate he chairs carries up to $8 billion in ETH loss — one of many worst funding offers in the historical past of markets, by the way in which. This truth additionally considerably makes all of the latest statements by Lee much less reliable too, let’s be sincere, and could also be seen as “hopium” by market members.
Nonetheless, if Lee’s evaluation is right, the transition to a bullish pattern will happen inside weeks, not quarters.
Crypto market outlook for Feb. 16-22: What to count on?
For the week of Feb. 16-22, 2026, the cryptocurrency market is navigating a vital macro-pivot because it checks long-term help ranges following final week’s CPI optimism.
- ETHDenver 2026 (Feb. 17-21): The biggest Ethereum builder competition kicks off in Denver, USA. Count on excessive volatility in Ethereum (ETH) and layer-2 ecosystems as new technical upgrades and “BUIDLathon” outcomes are introduced.
- FOMC Minutes Publication (Feb. 18): The Federal Reserve will launch minutes from its newest assembly. Merchants are scanning for hawkish alerts from Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh, whose latest choice has pressured Bitcoin costs.
- U.S. GDP Knowledge Launch (Feb. 20): Recent financial development knowledge will likely be launched, straight impacting danger urge for food for digital belongings.
