High AI agent costs, Lightning Network growth, and Dash privacy integration redefine automated payments and RWA privacy, guiding BTC toward a $66K retest amid ETF outflows. According to the latest market data, Bitcoin (BTC) has entered a downward pressure zone after failing to decisively break the $71K threshold. Despite multiple attempts to hold the $66,000 support level this week, shifts in the options market structure indicate a significant rise in risk-aversion among professional traders. Current Bitcoin options delta skew shows that put options are trading at a 13% premium relative to calls, moving well beyond the standard balanced range and suggesting that institutional investors are actively deploying bearish strategies to hedge against a potential retest of the $60K support. Furthermore, US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded approximately USD 910 million in cumulative net outflows since Feb 11. This weakening institutional demand stands in stark contrast to the strength seen in gold and US equities, further dampening bullish sentiment across the broader cryptocurrency market.

Ethereum (ETH) has experienced similar volatility, with long liquidations totaling USD 29.62 million over the past 24 hours. This indicates that long positions are under immense pressure during price pullbacks. Currently, Ethereum is fluctuating within the $2,000 range, as the number of active addresses and transaction volumes show signs of slowing following two months of explosive growth, suggesting a cooling of on-chain activity demand. In the derivatives market, total liquidations across the entire network reached USD 163 million in the last 24 hours, comprising USD 105 million in long liquidations and USD 57.39 million in short liquidations. The largest single liquidation occurred on a major CEX within the ETHUSDT pair, valued at USD 2.92 million. Overall, the market is in a phase of volatility compression and structural adjustment, with traders closely monitoring downside liquidity clusters for potential support.

Key News Highlights:

AI Agents Not Worth The Cost As Humans Still Cheaper

In recent technology investment discussions, several prominent investors have pointed out that the current cost of deploying AI agents is exceptionally high, potentially exceeding the expense of hiring human employees. Investor Jason Calacanis revealed that the annualized cost of running an Anthropic Claude AI agent is approximately $110,000, yet the system is currently operating at only 10% to 20% of its full capacity. Furthermore, Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya expressed similar concerns, emphasizing that the token consumption costs of AI models are so substantial that these agents must be at least twice as productive as a human employee to reach economic viability. While organizations like Circle predict that stablecoins will become the native currency for AI agent transactions in the coming years, the high costs of maintenance and computation remain primary obstacles to the large-scale replacement of human labor by this technology.

Bitcoin Lightning Network Exceeds 1 Billion Monthly Volume

According to the latest research report from Bitcoin financial services firm River, the monthly transaction volume on the Bitcoin Lightning Network officially surpassed the USD 1.1 billion milestone in November 2025, with a total of 5.2 million transactions completed. Despite significant Bitcoin price volatility throughout 2025 and market sentiment not yet reaching its peak, the technical integration by exchanges and the increased acceptance of Bitcoin payments by retail businesses have become the core drivers for the adoption of this Layer 2 scaling solution. The report specifically noted that although the total transaction count has decreased from the peak in 2023, the growth in individual transaction sizes indicates an emerging trend of institutional real-time settlement. For example, institutions have successfully utilized the network for single transfers as large as USD 1 million. As demand for automated AI agent payments rises, Lightning Network activity is expected to enter a new phase of explosive growth.

Dash Evolution Chain Integrates Zcash Orchard Privacy Pool

Dash, a Layer 1 protocol centered on privacy features, has announced that it will officially integrate Zcash Orchard shielded pool technology into its Evolution Layer 2 chain this March. This update aims to enhance asset privacy within smart contract environments, initially supporting basic privacy transfers of ZEC tokens, with subsequent upgrades extending these privacy protections to tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). Although regulatory bodies such as the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) have recently imposed stricter limits on privacy coins, Dash and its supporters argue that the lack of privacy protection is the missing link preventing large-scale corporate adoption of cryptocurrency payments. With rising concerns over financial surveillance, native privacy tokens have shown strong market resilience in early 2026, with Dash recording a gain of over 125% in January, reflecting continued investor interest in on-chain data privacy and market positioning.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this section is for informational purposes only and doesn't represent any investment advice or FameEX's official view.