Cryptocurrency Market, the Intersection of FOMC Meeting Minutes Release and Major Events

In the coming days, macroeconomic signals and industry news are expected to interact complexly within the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem. Especially as the FOMC minutes are released, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy direction will become clearer. At the same time, earnings reports from Bitcoin mining companies, protocol upgrades, and large-scale token unlocks are likely to increase market volatility.

With the Federal Reserve holding interest rates steady in January, the FOMC minutes highlight that two members called for a rate cut. This has increased market curiosity about the future direction of monetary policy, and in particular, the cryptocurrency market is closely monitoring this as a key variable.

Mining companies expanding into AI, to be revealed in earnings reports

Hive Digital Technologies and Riot Platforms are set to release notable earnings this week. These two data center operators are diversifying their business beyond traditional Bitcoin mining into providing high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure for AI applications.

This movement suggests that mining companies are shifting from simple mining to next-generation technological infrastructure businesses. Hive’s pre-market announcement on February 17 and Riot Platforms’ earnings after market close on February 19 are expected to show the progress of these strategies.

Federal Reserve policy to become clearer with the FOMC minutes

The FOMC minutes scheduled for release at 2 p.m. on February 18 are expected to shed light on the Fed’s next interest rate decision. Additionally, speeches by key Fed officials such as Raphael Bostic, Michelle Bowman, and Neel Kashkari are also scheduled, likely reinforcing signals about monetary policy.

Major macroeconomic indicators to be released from February 17 to 20 should also be watched closely. These include Canada’s inflation rate, UK inflation, US durable goods orders, industrial production, initial jobless claims, core PCE price index, and GDP figures. These indicators, along with the FOMC minutes, will send layered signals to the market.

Protocol upgrades and staking ecosystem expansion

Cryptocurrency protocols are also passing important development milestones during this period. Rocket Pool will implement the ‘Saturn One’ upgrade at 7 p.m. on February 17, and Hedera will execute a mainnet upgrade scheduled for about 40 minutes starting at 1 p.m. on February 18. Zama will host a live event on February 19 at 8 a.m. to announce its 2026 roadmap.

These technological advancements focus on enhancing staking yields, privacy protections, and long-term ecosystem visions, intensifying the competition among protocols to strengthen their value propositions.

Large token unlocks adding supply pressure to the market

Token unlocks scheduled for February could significantly impact the market. Arbitrum (ARB) plans to unlock approximately $11.05 million worth of circulating supply, about 1.82% of its market cap, on February 16, with a circulating supply of approximately 5,939,074,958 ARB at that time.

YZY is preparing for a release of $20.84 million, representing 17.24% of its circulating supply, on February 17, with current circulating supply around 129,999,999 tokens. Notably, LayerZero’s unlock on February 20 will release about $48.33 million, accounting for 5.98% of circulating supply, with about 202,629,028 tokens circulating then.

Kaito (KAITO) will also unlock tokens worth approximately $10.77 million, representing 10.64% of its circulating supply, on February 20, with about 241,388,889 tokens in circulation. These large unlocks could lead to short-term price volatility.

Governance votes shaping protocol operations

Weekly DAO governance votes are also key in determining the development direction of various protocols. Jito will hold an X Spaces session on February 17, and VeChain will host its monthly ‘Builders Space’ event.

Balancer is conducting a vote to replace emergency subDAO multisig signers to improve operational resilience and security (ending February 17), and ENS DAO is voting on establishing the on.eth name as an on-chain registry for blockchain metadata (ending February 19).

Aavegotchi DAO is voting on simplifying operations by moving assets from drained wallets to liquidity wallets (ending February 22), and Fluid DAO is considering transferring 1 million GHO and 1 million FLUID from the treasury to a team multisig to fund JupLend rewards and protocol incentives (ending February 22). GMX is voting on tiered trading fee discounts for stakers and implementing a weighted staker leaderboard (ending February 22).

New token launches and Resolv’s revenue sharing parameter updates

Token ecosystem evolution continues. Resolv will fully implement the updated USR/RLP revenue sharing parameters on February 19, and Injective will start its INJ community buyback round #226 on February 19.

Major global crypto events and regional market growth signals

The ETHDenver conference (February 17–21) will likely highlight key trends in the global crypto ecosystem. Notably, Pudgy Penguins is pioneering a ‘Negative CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)’ model, using physical merchandise not just as a final product but as a profitable user acquisition tool, challenging the traditional $31.7 billion licensing toy industry.

Regionally, Latin America’s crypto market is experiencing rapid growth. Trading volume is expected to reach $730 billion in 2025, up 60% year-over-year, driven by users relying on cryptocurrencies for payments and cross-border remittances.

Brazil and Argentina are leading this growth. Brazil dominates in transaction volume, while Argentina’s adoption is expanding through increased cross-border payments and stablecoin usage, providing practical use cases such as remittances, receiving funds from platforms like PayPal, and bypassing traditional banking networks.

Conclusion: FOMC minutes may mark a turning point for the crypto market

This week features macroeconomic events like the release of the FOMC minutes, alongside protocol upgrades, large token unlocks, and governance votes. The clarity on interest rate policy from the minutes could significantly influence the valuation of crypto assets overall. Meanwhile, signals from mining companies expanding into AI, Latin American market growth, and technological advancements in protocols are indicating long-term structural shifts in the industry.