2026-02-09 17:00 UTC | ⛏️ 935770

₿ $70,033 | 🥇 $5,030

1. Bitcoin crashes below 70,000 amid crypto winter
-- Bitcoin fell from near $90,000 in January to below $70,000 by early February, with lows at $60,000, erasing $2 trillion in crypto market value year-to-date.
-- Mining pressures, ETF outflows, Fed policy concerns, and leveraged liquidations ($2.65 billion) signal deeper bearish momentum despite oversold technical indicators.

2. Tech giants allocate 650 billion to AI capex in 2026
-- Amazon ($200 billion), Alphabet ($185 billion), Meta ($135 billion), and Microsoft ($105 billion) announced record capital spending on AI infrastructure, chips, and data centers.
-- Massive spending spooked Wall Street, with Microsoft losing $357 billion in market value after capex guidance, though semiconductor stocks (Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom) surged 7%.

3. US and Iran begin high-level talks to avoid conflict
-- US and Iran concluded initial talks in Oman with pledges to continue diplomatic engagement after mutual military threats and regime instability.
-- Strategic disconnect remains: Iran seeks narrow sanctions relief while US demands broader concessions on missiles and proxies.

4. Ukraine presses Trump for accelerated peace talks
-- Ukrainian Foreign Minister asserts only Trump can broker final peace deal, seeking direct presidential meetings to resolve territorial and nuclear disputes before US midterms.
-- Kyiv demands robust security guarantees and allied deterrence forces while refusing legal recognition of Russian-occupied territory.

5. Japan's Nikkei 225 hits record 57,000 on Takaichi mandate
-- Nikkei jumped nearly 4% to all-time highs as PM Sanae Takaichi secured supermajority landslide victory, signaling aggressive fiscal spending and loose monetary policy ("Takaichi trade").
-- Takaichi's supermajority ensures political stability and economic expansion, backed by US President Trump.