NewsBTC •
February 18, 2026 at 15:00 •
Analysis
Arthur Hayes has issued a stark market warning: he sees a growing split between his preferred risk gauge, Bitcoin, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 as a signal that credit stress may be building under the surface. Related Reading: What Bitcoin Rout? Michael Saylor Unfazed, Teases New Accumulation Hayes, a co-founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, calls Bitcoin a “fiat liquidity fire alarm” — an asset that reacts quickly when credit conditions change. A Warning From Market Signals When two assets that often moved together start to pull apart, traders take notice. Hayes believes that a gap like this deserves investigation because it could point to trouble in bank balance sheets or in the flow of lending. He argues the move is not about one stock or one ...