Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Records One of Its Largest Declines of 2026

BTC traded down to $68K before rebounding above $71K, with the move accompanied by a sharp repricing in options as 7-day BTC ATM implied volatility rose to 61% and short-dated skew fell to -12%.

Find out our latest reports, listed below:

• Block Scholes x Panoptic: Bridging The Onchain Convexity Gap

• Volatility Report: February 2026

• 2026 – the year of RWA perps?

• Bybit x Block Scholes: “2026: It’s Different This Time?”

Market Snapshot: Overnight Moves

Daily Updates:

• After slipping from $70K over the weekend, BTC briefly traded at a two-week low of $68K, before rallying vertically higher — as developments in the Middle East continue to weigh on risk sentiment.

• Last Friday President Trump had floated the idea of “winding down” military efforts in the Gulf region as the US was “getting very close to meeting our objectives”.

• Less than a day later, Trump then issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran which was due to end Monday evening New York time.