SaaSpocalypse, Fear & Greed Index Signals BUY, Strategy Completes 100th BTC Purchase
Breaking News in Finance and Bitcoin - 2/23/2026
The SaaSpocalypse: A Death by a Thousand “Agents”
The transition from traditional software-as-a-service (SaaS) to agentic AI workflows has triggered a structural re-rating visible across the industry’s most prominent benchmarks. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV), once the standard-bearer for high-margin growth, is down 23% over the past year.
As autonomous AI agents begin to handle multi-step workflows that previously required several human operators, the total addressable market for traditional Software as a Service is shrinking, leading to a brutal contraction in valuation multiples for giants like Salesforce and Adobe.
While the broader cloud ecosystem initially benefited from the AI hype, the WisdomTree Cloud Computing ETF (WCLD) has fared even worse, posting a -31% return over the last 12 months. This reflects a capital rotation away from software application layers and toward the physical infrastructure, energy and hardware, required to power these models. Interestingly, the First Trust Cloud Computing ETF ($SKYY) has held up stronger than the others, with just an 11% decline Year-over-Year; largely buoyed by its heavier weightings in “hyperscalers” and infrastructure providers.
Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index
The Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index has reached a critical inflection point, plummeting into “Extreme Fear” territory with single-digit readings not seen since the FTX collapse or the 2018 bear market depths. While the immediate price action, marked by the breach of the $65,000 support level, is undoubtedly painful for leveraged participants, the long-term data suggests this is a generational entry-point.
Historically, these clusters of “red” on the price chart have served as high-conviction signals for generational bottoms. With the index currently sitting well below its historical average, the “pain trade” for Bitcoin is increasingly skewed to the upside. For long-term holders, this sentiment washout is less a signal of failure and more a necessary “cooling off” period that resets the stage for the next leg of the macro bull cycle.
Strategy Completes 100th Bitcoin Buy
Strategy acquired an additional 592 BTC over the past week, bringing their total holdings to 717,722.
Despite the BTC price being down, the “strategy” (no pun intended) is working exactly as designed.
Strategy is transforming Bitcoin into a multi-tiered capital structure that functions as a “volatility transformer” for institutional and retail investors.
By securitizing its massive 717,722 BTC treasury into distinct products like STRC, STRK, STRF, and STRD, the company has decoupled Bitcoin’s underlying price action from credit-investor risk profiles. The tiered structure allows “transferred volatility” where senior instruments like STRC maintain stability near a $100 par value through variable dividend adjustments (recently hiked to 11.25%), while the high-beta MSTR common stock absorbs the brunt of market swings.
This ecosystem is designed to onboard a massive wave of capital that was previously sidelined by Bitcoin’s erratic nature. Because every dollar raised through the issuance of these preferred shares, such as the $78.4 million recently generated from STRC, is immediately funneled into additional Bitcoin purchases, the company is creating a perpetual accumulation engine. This model bridges the gap between traditional fixed-income investors and the digital asset space, turning Bitcoin into a productive “duration bet” that expands the total holder base while systematically increasing the company’s “Bitcoin per share”.
Stablecoin Market Surpasses $300 Billion
The stablecoin market has surpassed a $300 billion total market cap as it transitions from a niche trading tool into a foundational pillar of the global financial system. This shift is driven by a massive regulatory “unlock” from the SEC, which now allows broker-dealers to treat stablecoins as high-quality collateral with a mere 2% haircut, effectively placing them on par with money market funds for capital requirements.
Stablecoin issuers have become the 7th largest foreign holders of U.S. Treasuries, outranking nations like Germany and Saudi Arabia. This provides a mechanism for “stealth QE” as stablecoins reach previously untouched markets, ultimately allowing more capital to flow into US Treasuries.
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