Market Signal Briefing

XRP price has crashed nearly 50% since Q4 2025, yet over 500k new wallets pushed the ledger above 7.5m accounts, creating a sharp divergence between price and participation.

Summary

XRP price has plunged about 49% since Q4 2025, sliding from roughly $2.84–$3.10 to near $1.43–$1.44 amid a $1.43T crypto market cap wipeout.​ Despite the drawdown, XRP Ledger addresses climbed from 7,050,000+ to 7,576,446, adding 526,446 new wallets with record daily spikes above 13,000. Bitcoin near $71,200, Ethereum around $2,100, and XRP near $1.43 show price capitulation outpacing participation, hinting at a potential reflexive snapback after liquidations. XRP’s (XRP) price has been gutted; its network has not. Despite a 49% drawdown since Q4 2025, more than 500,000 new XRP wallets have appeared on-chain, pushing the ledger past 7.5 million accounts.

3 metrics showing XRP is on the edge of an aggressive Bear Market

Yes, XRP is sitting exactly at a critical on-chain transition point.
If price drops just a bit more, the data suggests conditions could deteriorate fast, opening the door to a longer Bear Market and a potential… pic.twitter.com/wK3LmCrean

— Alphractal (@Alphractal) February 5, 2026 The crypto market backdrop is brutal. The global market cap has shed $1.43 trillion since October 2025, with XRP mirroring Ethereum’s 49% slide, lagging Bitcoin’s 38% retreat but faring better than Solana’s 56% slump. XRP entered Q4 2025 near $2.84, briefly tagged $3.1, then “collapsed 11.89% in October 2025,” a move triggered by the “10/10 market crash” that wiped $1.27 from the token in a single shock event. It now trades around $1.44, marking four straight monthly red candles and flirting with a fifth, something not seen since 2016.

XRP price stuttering along with broader crypto market On-chain, however, the picture is less capitulatory. Data from the community‑run XRP Rich List “confirms this trend, pointing to sustained adoption at a time when the price has struggled.” Since XRP crossed 7 million wallets in September 2025, the ledger has added exactly 526,446 new addresses, lifting the count to 7,576,446—an increase of more than 500,000 wallets in under five months. Daily new accounts have generally ranged between 2,500 and 5,000, punctuated by spikes: 9,900 wallets on October 30, 11,242 on November 2, and a record 13,300 on November 11, “marking the largest daily increase in history.”

Even so, growth is cooling versus last cycle. From October 2024 to February 2025, XRP wallets jumped from 5,330,427 to 6,105,025, an expansion of 774,598 in less than five months. As the article notes, periods of deep drawdown “often discourage new investors from entering the market in droves,” yet the fact that over half a million wallets appeared during this downturn signals that core demand has not vanished.

This stuttering adoption is playing out as macro risk assets bleed. Bitcoin (BTC) changes hands near $71,200, with a 24‑hour range roughly between $71,100 and $76,700 and about $50.3B in spot turnover. Ethereum (ETH) trades around $2,100, down more than 7% on the day, on roughly $49B in 24‑hour volume and a market cap near $252B. XRP (XRP) itself hovers close to $1.43, down over 10% in the last 24 hours, with around $2.14B in spot volume and $8.19B in derivatives flow.

For traders, the signal is uncomfortable but clear: price is capitulating faster than participation. If that divergence persists, it sets the stage for the kind of reflexive snapback that has historically followed heavy liquidation phases in assets like Bitcoin and XRP.

What to Know:

The U.S. Treasury confirmed it lacks the authority to bail out Bitcoin, removing any expectation of a government safety net. Market focus is shifting from passive asset holding to active infrastructure plays that generate independent utility. Bitcoin Hyper utilizes the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) to bring high-speed smart contracts to the Bitcoin network. Presale data shows strong momentum with over $31.2M raised and verified whale accumulation spree. The line between decentralized assets and traditional finance just got painted in neon.

Recent clarifications from the U.S. Treasury highlight a harsh reality for everyone from retail traders to institutional desks: the government lacks the statutory teeth to bail out Bitcoin or the broader crypto market during liquidity crises. Unlike the banking sector, cushioned by FDIC insurance and Fed backstops, crypto is flying without a net.

That regulatory distance matters because it fundamentally shifts the risk narrative. When traditional markets wobble, the so-called “Fed put” often softens the blow. But in crypto? Volatility is a feature, not a bug.

The Treasury’s stance confirms that the industry has to rely entirely on its own infrastructure to survive. The message is blunt: there is no lender of last resort for Satoshi’s invention.

Smart money, however, isn’t waiting around for a rescue package. While the Treasury washes its hands of price action, capital is quietly rotating into infrastructure that addresses Bitcoin’s inherent limitations (specifically, its inability to handle complex DeFi).

The market is pivoting from passive holding to active utility. This suggests the next growth phase won’t stem from regulatory approval, but from tech breakthroughs that actually make Bitcoin usable.

Leading this charge is Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER), a project attempting to decouple from market chop by solving the scalability crisis.

You can buy $HYPER here.

Bitcoin Hyper Brings SVM Speeds to Solve the L1 Efficiency Crisis The Treasury’s ‘hands-off’ approach exposes a critical weakness in the ecosystem: without external utility, Bitcoin relies solely on store-of-value narratives. And frankly, those narratives are highly susceptible to macro sentiment.

Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) tackles this by trying to transform Bitcoin from a passive rock into a programmable, high-speed ecosystem. By integrating the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) as a Layer 2 solution, the project bridges the gap between Bitcoin’s security and the execution speed modern DeFi demands.

That technological leap matters. Historically, Bitcoin Layer 2s have been plagued by latency, often relying on clunky rollup mechanisms that ruin the user experience. Bitcoin Hyper uses the SVM to deliver sub-second finality. It effectively enables high-frequency trading and complex dApps directly on the Bitcoin network, something previously reserved for faster, less secure chains.

Under the hood, the architecture employs a decentralized canonical bridge for seamless $BTC transfers. It uses a modular design: L1 handles settlement, SVM L2 handles execution.

For developers, this opens the door to building in Rust with full SDK support, targeting the massive liquidity of Bitcoin holders previously sidelined from DeFi. The trend is visible on-chain: capital is seeking yield on Bitcoin, not just speculation.

Visit the $HYPER presale now.

Smart Money Aggressively Accumulates $HYPER During Presale While the broader market grapples with regulatory headaches, on-chain metrics for Bitcoin Hyper show a divergence in sentiment. Investors seem to be hedging against L1 stagnation by betting on L2 scalability.

According to the official presale page, the project has raised over $31.2M. That figure suggests significant institutional appetite for Bitcoin infrastructure plays.

The token, currently priced at $0.0136751, is attracting attention for more than just its tech stack. The staking incentives are aggressive. The protocol offers high APY with immediate staking availability post-TGE, creating a potential supply shock mechanism that encourages long-term holding.

Whale behavior backs this up. Smart money is clearly moving. Etherscan data reveals that one high-net-worth wallets pumped $500K, with the largest single buy hitting of last year.

This type of focused liquidity injection, happening right while the Treasury distances itself, indicates sophisticated actors are positioning for an infrastructure supercycle. They’re betting the ‘bailout’ won’t come from the government. It’ll come from the ability to finally use Bitcoin at the speed of Solana.

Secure your $HYPER today.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry inherent risks, and market conditions can change rapidly. Always conduct your own due diligence before making investment decisions.

The letter suggests that the financial ties between the UAE and World Liberty Financial pose national security risks linked to China.

Key NotesBitcoin’s decline over the past month has erased more than $500 billion from its total market capitalization.On-chain data indicates the current selloff is progressing faster than the 2022 bear market.US spot Bitcoin ETFs have shifted from net buyers to net sellers in 2026, creating an estimated demand shortfall of 56,000 BTC. Bitcoin’s BTC $71 459 24h volatility: 5.9% Market cap: $1.43 T Vol. 24h: $89.07 B selloff has continued, with the price falling another 8% over the past 24 hours to around $70,500.

Market veteran Peter Brandt said the decline may not be over, warning that an additional 10% drop remains possible.

Following the recent slide, Bitcoin has erased more than $500 billion from its market capitalization in less than a month.

Bitcoin Could Drop Further as Coordinated Selling Persists Bitcoin’s price fell another 7% over the past 24 hours to around $70,000, triggering roughly $400 million in liquidations.

Veteran trader Peter Brandt said the recent pullback appears to reflect coordinated selling rather than retail-driven liquidation.

In a post on X, Brandt noted that Bitcoin has logged eight straight days of lower highs and lower lows.

He described the pattern as “campaign selling,” which he believes is driven by large market participants.

Hey crypto followers $BTC
The nature of the decline in Bitcoin (now 8 days of lower lows and highs) has all the finger prints of campaign selling, not retail liquidation
Seen this before hundreds of times over the decades
Never know when of course this pattern ends
Note to trolls… pic.twitter.com/THGJpez35F

— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) February 5, 2026

Brandt added that he has seen similar setups many times over the decades, usually linked to institutional activity rather than retail panic.

Based on those past patterns, he said Bitcoin could fall further toward the $63,800 level.

Has the BTC Bear Market Started? CryptoQuant said Bitcoin’s current downturn is unfolding at a faster pace than the 2022 bear market.

The firm noted that after Bitcoin dropped below its 365-day moving average on November 12, 2025, the price fell 23% over 83 days, compared with a 6% decline over the same period in early 2022.

As per CryptoQuant, the crypto winter of 2025 seems even more aggressive, suggesting a weaker market structure relative to the previous bear phase.

Bear market assessment.
Take a look to our latest report:https://t.co/d0kAqsNycT

— Julio Moreno (@jjcmoreno) February 4, 2026

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF data shows that institutional demand for BTC has weakened sharply.

At the same point last year, U.S. spot ETFs had accumulated around 46,000 BTC. In 2026, they have instead become net sellers, offloading roughly 10,600 BTC.

This shift represents a demand gap of about 56,000 BTC compared with 2025 and has contributed to the continued selling pressure in the market.

During the February 4 trading session, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded total outflows of $545 million, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounting for the largest share at $373 million, according to data from Farside Investors.

IBIT’s share price fell 4% on February 4 and is now down more than 18% since the start of 2026.

Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.

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Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.

Bhushan Akolkar on X

The UK-based AI-compute power service provider VivoPower is changing its digital asset exposure after agreeing to transfer part of its stake in Ripple Labs to the South Korean company Kweather Co. 

According to a Wednesday press statement from the company, VivoPower will take an equity stake in the KOSDAQ-listed business to support its quest for artificial intelligence data centres. The company is set to take a 20% interest in Kweather, valued at $4.3 million, under the agreement. 

The rest of VivoPower’s Ripple Labs shares are set to be acquired by Lean Ventures under a partnership disclosed in December last year. A company spokesperson told news outlets that the share transfers will be executed at prevailing market prices and subject to Ripple Labs’ internal approval procedures.

VivoPower insisted it would not be adding cryptocurrencies to its balance sheet through these steps, and has not recorded combined unrealized losses on its digital asset positions.

The shift to AI will come at the expense of its pursuit of becoming an XRP digital asset treasury. In December, the Nasdaq-listed firm confirmed that its arm, Vivo Federation, had partnered with South Korean asset manager Lean Ventures to purchase $300 million worth of Ripple shares.

According to the company’s executives, VivoPower will continue expanding its data center infrastructure operations following the late-January deal that secured 291 megawatts of powered land in Finland. The sites are powered by renewable electricity priced at less than 4 US cents per kilowatt-hour, the firm said.

The group signed a definitive agreement to purchase OGDC Pte Ltd, a developer holding economic rights in the Finnish-powered land portfolio. That acquisition provides a foundation for scaling AI-oriented infrastructure in Europe, starting with grid connectivity in Finland, expected within 12 months.

The deal structure includes $13 million in cash at closing, and an additional contingent value right with a $15 conversion price.

Although VivoPower is based in the United Kingdom, it has camps in several parts of the world, like Australia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The B Corp-certified company is currently pursuing a “power to X” strategy to develop and own low-cost, sustainable power and AI data centre infrastructure.

Moreover, it has two divisions undergoing separation or divestment: Tembo, which develops electric solutions for customized fleet applications, and Caret Digital, which works on renewable energy use cases, including digital asset mining. Vivo Federation retains exposure to Ripple Labs equity and blockchain real-world asset initiatives.

Company shareholders greenlight capital framework changes At an Extraordinary General Meeting, all six resolutions were approved by VivoPower International PLC’s shareholders on January 30, as announced in a press release by the company. All resolutions were approved with at least 93% of the total voting shares cast in support of the resolutions, which are aimed at providing a market-based incentive system to attract senior talent from the AI and crypto industries.

Days later, VivoPower terminated its at-the-market equity offering agreement with Chardan Capital Markets that was originally signed on December 23. The company confirmed that no further ordinary shares will be issued or sold under that facility, following an assessment of operating cash flows and capital needs.

The management stated that limiting equity dilution was feasible because the firm’s projected operating cash generation was sufficient and other economically non-dilutive funding avenues were available.

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What to Know:

U.S. Bitcoin ETFs saw $545M in outflows in a single week, indicating a temporary retreat by institutional investors due to macroeconomic uncertainty. Despite the headline outflows, capital is moving into infrastructure protocols that solve liquidity fragmentation rather than exiting the crypto ecosystem entirely. LiquidChain ($LIQUID) is gaining momentum by creating a unified execution layer that merges Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, having raised over $526k in its ongoing presale. The industry’s inability to seamlessly move value between top chains remains a primary bottleneck, making cross-chain solutions a critical narrative for the next cycle. The institutional love affair with Bitcoin has hit its first real rough patch. In a stark pivot, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs shed a massive $545M in a single trading week.

That exodus, the worst since post-launch volatility, signals a distinct ‘risk-off’ mood among TradFi allocators.

These flows aren’t just numbers on a screen. They measure Wall Street’s pulse. When Fidelity (FBTC) and Grayscale (GBTC) bleed simultaneously, it suggests macro headwinds (think stubborn inflation and a hawkish Fed) are forcing asset managers to rebalance.

The market reacted swiftly, losing support levels analysts had defended for months. But look closer. While ‘paper Bitcoin’ faces liquidation, on-chain activity tells a wildly different story.

In previous cycles, we’ve seen this pattern: when top-heavy assets sell off, capital flows downstream into infrastructure plays that solve structural inefficiencies. Right now, the market is plagued by fragmentation, liquidity is trapped in silos across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

That friction is exactly what LiquidChain ($LIQUID), a new Layer 3 protocol, targets.

$LIQUID is available here.

Unifying The Fractured Liquidity of $BTC, $ETH, and $SOL The core issue stifling the market isn’t a lack of capital. It’s that the capital can’t move. Currently, a user holding assets on Bitcoin can’t interact with Solana DeFi without navigating high-friction bridges, wrapped asset risks, and exorbitant gas fees.

It’s a mess, three separate economies that barely speak to one another.

LiquidChain ($LIQUID) fixes this plumbing. Positioning itself as the ‘Cross-Chain Liquidity Layer’ (L3), it fuses the liquidity of the industry’s three giants, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, into a single execution environment. For developers, this is a paradigm shift.

Instead of rewriting smart contracts for three different virtual machines (EVM, SVM, and Bitcoin Script), LiquidChain offers a Deploy-Once Architecture. Build a lending protocol once, and it instantly accesses liquidity from all three chains.

Technically, this removes the ‘bridging’ risk that has historically resulted in billions of dollars in hacks. For the end-user, that complex backend is invisible. They experience single-step execution, trading or staking assets across chains without managing multiple wallets. In a market demanding efficiency over speculation, this utility-first approach is cooking.

Learn more about LiquidChain here.

Capital Rotates: Presale Metrics Defy Market Gloom While ETF investors sell the news, early-stage participants are buying the tech. This divergence highlights a classic “barbell strategy” used by crypto natives: holding spot BTC for the long term while deploying stablecoins into high-beta infrastructure plays.

LiquidChain ($LIQUID) is capitalizing on this rotation. According to live data, the protocol has already raised over $526K. The native token, $LIQUID, is currently priced at $0.0135, an entry point early backers view as asymmetric compared to the multi-billion dollar valuations of existing (and still fragmented) L2 solutions.

Seeing this much inflow during a bearish weekly candle suggests high conviction in the ‘interoperability thesis.’ Investors are betting the next bull run won’t be driven by isolated pumps on Solana or Ethereum, but by applications that can use liquidity from everywhere simultaneously.

The project’s focus on Liquidity Staking further incentivizes sticky capital, money that stays to earn yield rather than fleeing at the first sign of macro volatility. As TradFi steps back to reassess, DeFi natives are doubling down on the infrastructure that will support the next wave.

Visit the $LIQUID presale now.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments, including presales and ETFs, carry inherent risks, including high volatility and potential loss of principal. Always conduct your own due diligence.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs log $545M in daily outflows as BTC, ETH, and SOL slip, exposing how concentrated ETF ownership can amplify downside in a risk-off tape.

Summary

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw ‑$544.94M in net outflows on Feb. 4, with cumulative inflows still at $54.75B and total net assets near $93.51B, about 6.36% of BTC’s market cap. IBIT and FBTC led the day’s withdrawals while GBTC’s bleed continued, as analysts warned that “slowing spot ETF inflows and regulatory uncertainty could push Bitcoin toward the $70,000 area if outflows persist.” Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) all traded lower over 24 hours, with BTC near $73,103, ETH around $2,111, and SOL close to $92 amid a wider risk‑off backdrop. U.S. spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs just logged another sharp outflow day, underscoring how fragile the current bid for digital assets has become even after a year of massive inflows. Total U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF net outflows reached ‑$544.94M on Feb. 4, according to data from SoSoValue, while cumulative net inflows still stand at a hefty $54.75B against total net assets of $93.51B, equivalent to about 6.36% of Bitcoin’s market capitalization.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) again dominated activity, but this time on the exit side. The fund saw a one‑day net outflow of ‑$373.44M on Feb. 4, even as it retains a towering $56.21B in net assets and roughly $61.78B in cumulative net inflows. Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) lost ‑$86.44M on the day, but still sits on $14.03B in net assets with $11.19B in cumulative inflows, trading essentially flat to NAV at a discount of just ‑0.20%.

Grayscale’s flagship GBTC vehicle continues to bleed, with a further ‑$41.77M in outflows on Feb. 4 and cumulative net outflows of ‑$25.80B, leaving the trust at $11.60B in net assets despite charging a 1.50% fee. Across the complex, trading was brisk: total value traded in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs hit $7.15B on Feb. 4, highlighting how ETFs remain the primary institutional conduit into BTC even on down days.

This mechanical selling lands in a broader risk‑off tape. Bitcoin (BTC) changes hands near $73,103, down about 5.5% over the last 24 hours as total crypto market capitalization slips roughly 4.4% to $2.35T. Ethereum (ETH) trades around $2,111, with a 24‑hour range roughly between $2,080 and $2,287 and turnover close to $47.4B, as the latest leg lower is framed by one desk as “a corrective bounce inside a broader downtrend rather than the start of a new bull leg.” Solana (SOL) hovers close to $92, after briefly dipping below $90, leaving it down about 7–8% over the past day on roughly $8.7B in volume.

Analysts warn that the ETF tape now cuts both ways. Citi strategists recently highlighted that the average entry price for spot ETF buyers clusters near $81,600, arguing that “slowing spot ETF inflows and regulatory uncertainty could push Bitcoin toward the $70,000 area if outflows persist.” For now, the data from SoSoValue show a market where structurally high ETF ownership is meeting a cyclical air pocket in demand — and the flows are doing the talking.

For further context on market conditions and flows around this move, see coverage on crypto prices today, Ethereum’s February sell‑off, and the latest spot ETF flow commentary from major banks.

US spot bitcoin ETFs posted $544.94 million in outflows Wednesday as the world's largest cryptocurrency continued to slide.

What to Know:

Bitcoin ETFs demonstrated strength during the recent crash, absorbing sell pressure while retail traders liquidated positions. The market dip highlighted the inefficiencies of fragmented liquidity, driving interest toward solutions that unify Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. LiquidChain solves cross-chain friction with a ‘deploy-once’ architecture that fuses liquidity from major chains into a single execution layer. Despite broader market volatility, the $LIQUID presale has raised over $526k, indicating strong investor demand for functional infrastructure. The recent market chop served as a brutal stress test for the new paradigm of institutional adoption. When Bitcoin dipped sharply earlier this week, flushing out leverage-heavy retail positions, everyone braced for the worst. The expectation? A mass exodus from spot ETFs.

It didn’t happen.

Instead of panic selling, on-chain data shows the big players stood their ground. While retail traders capitulated (driving the Fear & Greed Index into the dirt), institutional heavyweights treated the dip as a liquidity event, not an exit signal.

This divergence matters. It suggests the ‘weak hands’ narrative has fundamentally shifted; volatility is no longer an existential threat to Bitcoin, but merely an execution detail for asset managers with multi-year time horizons.

But this stability at the top highlights a glaring issue down the stack: fragmentation. As capital moves defensively between Bitcoin, Ethereum, and high-performance chains like Solana, it hits a wall of friction, high fees and the nagging security risks of wrapped assets. The market’s resilience has exposed a desperate need for infrastructure that actually connects these liquidity islands.

That’s where the narrative shifts from holding assets to moving them efficiently. While the majors stabilize, smart money is quietly rotating into infrastructure plays that solve this fragmentation.

Leading the charge is LiquidChain ($LIQUID), a Layer 3 protocol designed to fuse the fractured crypto landscape into a single, cohesive execution environment.

You can buy $LIQUID here.

LiquidChain L3 Unifies Fragmented Capital Across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana The recent correction revealed a critical flaw in DeFi. When volatility strikes, moving assets across chains becomes a nightmare of congestion and slippage. Most cross-chain solutions rely on vulnerable bridges or complex wrapping mechanisms (which have historically been prime targets for exploits).

LiquidChain takes a different approach. It operates as dedicated Layer 3 infrastructure sitting above the base layers, aggregating liquidity rather than just bridging it.

It runs on a Cross-Chain Virtual Machine (VM) that allows for single-step execution. Users interacting with the LiquidChain L3 can access deep liquidity pools from Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana simultaneously.

That’s a massive shift, it eliminates the UX hurdles that usually scare off institutional capital. A developer can deploy an application once on LiquidChain, and it immediately inherits the liquidity of the three largest ecosystems in crypto.

For DeFi, this verifiable settlement model changes the math. Instead of managing liquidity across three different standards, ERC-20, SPL, and Runes/BRC-20, protocols can use LiquidChain as a unified layer.

The ‘Deploy-Once Architecture’ hints at a future where the underlying blockchain becomes invisible to the end-user, much like TCP/IP is invisible to your web browser. By removing the friction of asset migration, LiquidChain isn’t just another blockchain; it’s the connective tissue for the next cycle of expansion.

Check out the LiquidChain presale.

Early Mover Advantage: $LIQUID Presale Breaches $525k as Smart Money Rotates While the broader market struggles to find a floor, the LiquidChain presale is decoupling from general sentiment. The project has already raised over $526K, a figure that frankly stands out given the recent risk-off environment. This inflow suggests investors are finally distinguishing between speculative price fluctuation and the fundamental value of critical infrastructure.

The native token, $LIQUID, is currently priced at $0.0135.

Unlike governance tokens with vague utility, $LIQUID functions as the actual transaction fuel for the Cross-Chain VM. It’s also the primary asset for liquidity staking, with tokenomics structured to reward participants who provide the collateral needed to secure the network.

The timing couldn’t be better. Historically, infrastructure projects that build during consolidations often outperform when the bulls return (remember the DeFi summer origins?).

They solve the bottlenecks that caused the previous cycle’s friction. With the presale advancing despite Bitcoin’s turbulence, the market is signaling a clear appetite for L3 solutions ready for the next run. For investors looking beyond the daily BTC candles, the $LIQUID accumulation phase looks like a calculated bet on unifying the crypto economy.

View the official presale at LiquidChain.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry high risk. Always perform your own due diligence before investing.

Bitcoin plunged below $70,000 for the first time since November as the broad selloff dragged total crypto capitalization to $2.47 trillion. Some experts warn of deeper corrections toward $67,000, while others frame the drop as a healthy reset, predicting eventual new highs in 2026 amid volatility.

The move happened amid falling prices and rising post-halving mining costs, which sharply reduced the country’s holdings and global ranking among sovereign Bitcoin owners. At the same time, US-based spot Bitcoin ETF investors are mostly holding their positions despite deep unrealized losses and a four-month market downturn. Analysts point out that outflows are still relatively modest compared with the scale of earlier inflows—suggesting that long-term conviction among ETF holders is still intact.

Bhutan Cuts Bitcoin HoldingsBhutan stepped up Bitcoin offloading from its national reserves, moving more than $22 million worth of the cryptocurrency as prices decline and mining economics deteriorate. On-chain data from Arkham shows that the Himalayan kingdom transferred 184 Bitcoin, valued at roughly $14 million, from its holdings on Wednesday. This followed an earlier transfer of 100.8 Bitcoin worth about $8.3 million late last week, bringing the total value of recent movements to approximately $22.3 million.

According to Arkham, the Bitcoin was sent to QCP Capital, a crypto market maker that often facilitates large asset sales by providing liquidity. While transfers to market makers do not automatically confirm a sale, they are widely seen as a strong indicator that the assets are being prepared for liquidation on the open market. The timing of the transfers also happened Bitcoin prices continued to slide, placing even more pressure on miners whose costs have risen sharply since the 2024 halving event.

Bhutan’s Bitcoin strategy dates back to 2019, when the country quietly launched a state-backed mining initiative powered largely by hydroelectric energy. Since then, the country accumulated an estimated $765 million worth of Bitcoin through mining, making it one of the biggest sovereign holders of the asset. 

However, Arkham data indicates that the cost of mining a single Bitcoin roughly doubled since the most recent halving, which greatly reduced profitability. As a result, Bhutan is now producing far fewer coins than it did during peak periods. In 2023 alone, the country mined approximately 8,200 Bitcoin, which current conditions no longer support.

Government Bitcoin holdings (Source: BitcoinTreasureis.NET)

These recent sales materially reduced Bhutan’s overall Bitcoin reserves. Holdings have fallen from a peak of 13,295 BTC in October of 2024 to roughly 5,700 BTC today. This decline also altered Bhutan’s standing among government Bitcoin holders. Data from Bitcoin Treasuries shows that Bhutan slipped to seventh place globally, now trailing the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, El Salvador, and the United Arab Emirates.

While the government has not publicly explained the latest transfers, Arkham pointed out that Bhutan has a history of selling Bitcoin in sizable batches, often around $50 million at a time. 

US Bitcoin ETF Investors Hold OnWhile Bhutan might be looking to offload its Bitcoin, US-based spot Bitcoin ETF investors are showing relatively strong conviction despite the prolonged downturn in Bitcoin’s price. This is according to commentary from leading ETF analysts and market researchers. 

ETF analyst James Seyffart said in a post on X that ETF holders are “still hanging in there pretty good,” even as Bitcoin continues a four-month downtrend that pushed prices well below recent highs.

Seyffart explained that current ETF investors are experiencing their largest paper losses since US spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in January of 2024. With Bitcoin trading below $73,000, he estimates that ETF holders are sitting on unrealized losses of roughly 42%. Despite this, Seyffart thinks that recent outflows are still modest when viewed against the scale of inflows during the market’s peak. 

Before the October downturn, cumulative net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs stood at approximately $62.11 billion, but have since declined to around $55 billion, based on preliminary figures from Farside Investors. Seyffart characterized this pullback as relatively mild given the size of earlier inflows.

Similar observations were shared by investment researcher Jim Bianco, who said the average spot Bitcoin ETF holder is currently about 24% underwater but continues to hold positions rather than capitulate. That behavior suggests a level of long-term conviction, even as price weakness persists.

On the other hand, not everyone is optimistic. Crypto analytics account Rand pointed out that the market has now recorded three consecutive months of ETF outflows for the first time, coinciding with a roughly 25% drop in Bitcoin’s spot price over the past month. 

BTC price action over the past month (Source: CoinCodex)

Some analysts argue that bearish sentiment may be overly narrow in focus. ETF analyst Eric Balchunas warned that investors are being “very short-sighted,” as Bitcoin has gained more than 400% since 2022, far outperforming traditional assets like gold and silver over the same period.

Data shows calls for sub-$60,000 Bitcoin prices have seen a rise on social media recently, a sign that fear is brewing among retail traders.

Bitcoin Social Volume Data Suggests Growth In Bearish Calls In a new post on X, on-chain analytics firm Santiment has talked about how social media users have reacted to the recent bearish price action. The indicator of relevance here is the “Social Volume,” measuring the total number of posts on the major social media platforms that contain mentions of a given term or topic.

To separate between bullish and bearish predictions, Santiment has filtered the Social Volume of Bitcoin with terms referencing certain price levels. For the bullish side, the analytics firm has chosen levels in the $90,000 to $99,000 range, while for the bearish one, $50,000 to $59,000.

Now, here is the chart shared by Santiment that shows how the Social Volume related to the two types of Bitcoin market calls has changed during the latest price volatility:

The value of the metric seems to have shot up for the bearish predictions most recently | Source: Santiment on X As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin Social Volume for levels above $90,000 spiked toward the end of last month, suggesting social media users were expecting the cryptocurrency to revisit the higher levels. What followed the spike, however, was a notable drawdown for the asset’s price.

Then, on the last day of the month, the trend flipped as bearish calls observed a sharp surge instead. BTC’s decline temporarily cooled alongside this and prices saw a small rebound.

This pattern of Bitcoin going in the direction that goes against the opinion of the majority is actually something that has been witnessed throughout history. Naturally, it doesn’t always happen, but the chances of a reversal tend to go up whenever the traders are leaning into one direction too heavily.

From the chart, it’s visible that social media users have recently once again started leaning in on a direction, and, like the last time, they are fearing sub-$60,000 price levels. The analytics firm explained:

Markets move opposite to what the crowd expects, meaning there can at least be founded arguments for a short-term relief rally while retail is already assuming sub-$60K Bitcoin is a foregone conclusion.

It now remains to be seen how the cryptocurrency’s price will develop in the near future, given the rise in fearful sentiment that has occurred on the various social media platforms.

In some other news, the Bitcoin supply sitting on centralized exchanges has been on the rise recently, as CryptoQuant author Axel Adler Jr has highlighted in an X post.

The value of the metric seems to have shot up in recent days | Source: @AxelAdlrJr on X As data of the Exchange Reserve indicator shows, 34,000 BTC has returned to exchanges since January 19th.

BTC Price Bitcoin has continued to slide down as its price has now reached the $73,600 mark.

The trend in the price of the coin over the last five days | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers this week that the federal government lacks the legal authority to bail out Bitcoin or direct banks to purchase cryptocurrencies.

Summary

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the federal government has no legal authority to bail out Bitcoin or compel banks to buy cryptocurrencies, ruling out taxpayer-funded intervention during market downturns. Lawmakers also pressed Bessent on World Liberty Financial, a Trump-linked crypto venture, with Democrats urging heightened scrutiny of any banking applications tied to potential conflicts of interest or foreign influence. The testimony comes as Bitcoin slid nearly 8% in 24 hours, hitting its lowest level since early November 2024 amid broader market uncertainty and risk-off sentiment. His remarks emphasized the limits of government intervention as digital assets face renewed market pressure.

U.S. Treasury rules out Bitcoin bailout During a House Financial Services Committee hearing, California Representative Brad Sherman pressed Bessent on whether the Treasury Department or the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) could use taxpayer funds to support Bitcoin (BTC) during a downturn.

Bessent replied unequivocally that neither he nor the council holds that authority.

“I am Secretary of the Treasury, I do not have the authority to do that, and as chair of FSOC, I do not have that authority,” Bessent said.

Bessent’s testimony clarified that while the U.S. government may retain Bitcoin obtained through legal forfeitures, it cannot mandate banks to buy Bitcoin or invest U.S. tax dollars in cryptocurrencies. Thus, effectively ruled out bailout scenarios reminiscent of those seen in past financial crises.

Bessent also mentioned that the $500 million in seized Bitcoin held by the US government has surged to over $15 billion while in custody.

The Treasury Secretary additionally faced pointed questions about World Liberty Financial, a crypto and decentralized finance venture tied to President Donald Trump.

 Representative Gregory Meeks demanded that Bessent commit to pausing and intensifying scrutiny of any bank charter or license application tied to World Liberty Financial until conflicts of interest and potential foreign influence are fully reviewed and shared with Congress.

Bessent declined, noting that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the agency that would approve banking charters, is an independent regulator and not under Treasury control.

Bitcoin’s price slide deepens amid market uncertainty The remarks came amid a sharp sell-off in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin’s price has fallen nearly 8% in the last 24 hours, dragging the world’s largest cryptocurrency to its lowest level since early November 2024 as investor sentiment turns cautious.

Broader market stress, including macroeconomic concerns and shifting risk appetites, has compounded selling pressure.

A senior Democratic lawmaker has launched a formal investigation into World Liberty Financial Inc (WLF), demanding information and documents over reported foreign investments and potential links between the crypto company, national security policy, and U.S. competition with China.

Summary

Democratic lawmakers have asked World Liberty Financial to provide documents and explanations over reported foreign investments, including a nearly 49% stake allegedly purchased by an entity linked to the UAE royal family. The inquiry raises concerns about potential foreign influence on U.S. policy, particularly around technology restrictions and strategic competition with China. Lawmakers are also examining World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin activity and its reported role in facilitating a major investment into crypto exchange Binance. Lawmakers raise national security concerns tied to World Liberty Financial In a letter dated February 4, 2026, Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, wrote to Trump-linked crypto firm World Liberty Financial’s co-founder Zach Witkoff.

The letter cited recent reports that an entity controlled by a member of the United Arab Emirates royal family purchased nearly a 49% stake in WLF for about $500 million shortly before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Khanna’s letter, which forms part of an expanded probe, said the transactions raise “shocking and scandalous” concerns about potential foreign influence over U.S. government actions.

It specifically pointed to policies related to technology and strategic competition with China, including efforts to restrict the transfer of advanced artificial intelligence technology to the People’s Republic of China.

The letter also highlights that the WLF stablecoin USD1 was used to facilitate a $2 billion investment by a UAE-linked investment firm, known as MGX, into Binance, a major cryptocurrency exchange founded in China whose former CEO was pardoned last year by President Trump. Khanna’s office said those connections could have implications for U.S. national security and monetary policy.

Broad inquiry into foreign ties, policy influence Khanna’s request for documents is wide-ranging. Lawmakers asked WLF to verify the details of the reported UAE investment, disclose how funds were distributed, and provide communications related to U.S. export control policy, stablecoin usage, and interactions with federal agencies.

The committee also sought details on any board appointments connected to foreign entities and revenue or profit distributions linked to the Binance investment.

In the letter, Khanna emphasized that congressional oversight is necessary to ensure that U.S. policy on economic and technological competition with China remains driven by national interest rather than potential private financial interests tied to foreign governments or senior officials.

Payy has announced a privacy-enabled Ethereum layer 2 that it claims will make on-chain financial activity effectively “invisible” to the public eye.

Summary

Payy has launched a privacy-enabled Ethereum layer 2 that makes ERC-20 transfers from wallets like MetaMask private by default. The network functions by routing transactions through private ERC-20 pools. Payy, which operates a privacy-focused wallet and a Visa-powered crypto card, said in a Wednesday X post that its layer 2 network can now be integrated into MetaMask, and it will make ERC-20 transfers private by default without making any smart contract changes.

“In the past, privacy always had tradeoffs: bad UX, fragmented liquidity, limited compatibility. With Payy, privacy is invisible,” the project said.

According to the project’s website, Payy aims to make stablecoin usage private by design while offering support for all ERC-20 tokens.

Payy is targeting two main user segments specifically: institutions and fintech firms that want to bring flows on-chain “without fear of analysis and exploitation,” and privacy enthusiasts that want to use tools without having to juggle between multiple wallets.

“Crypto natives will use their existing wallets and apps, while Fintechs and TradFi will onboard through our distribution partners,” Payy said.

The layer 2 network routes transactions through private ERC-20 pools, through which users’ transactions are automatically routed when using traditional wallets like MetaMask, thereby effectively concealing the destination of funds, which would have otherwise been publicly visible.

When interacting with decentralized finance protocols through smart contracts, funds are withdrawn to a new, freshly generated address.

“Private transaction data goes to offchain Privacy Vaults,” it said, adding that “users can choose applications and contracts to interact with based on the privacy-compliance tradeoff.”

To start off, Payy said it would bootstrap the network using 100,000 users that already use its wallet service, alongside “some of the largest stablecoin players” that will be announced in the coming weeks.

“I firmly believe privacy is the final barrier to critical mass adoption. By removing it, we’re unblocking the path for the $2 quadrillion global payments economy to move onchain, without turning every transaction into a data leak,” Payy CEO Sid Gandhi said in a separate X post.

Privacy tools step back into the spotlight Payy’s launch comes at a time when demand for privacy-preserving tools has grown. Throughout 2025, some of the popular privacy tokens, such as Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC), have seen a resurgence.

Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) developers are also working on wallet-level privacy features via Kohaku, and the Ethereum Foundation announced a privacy roadmap in September. The foundation said at the time that the roadmap’s goal is to ensure Ethereum avoids becoming “the backbone of global surveillance.”

What to Know:

Bitcoin’s correction to $70,000 triggered a $775M liquidation cascade, flushing out over-leveraged long positions and resetting market open interest Market sentiment has shifted from aggressive speculation to defensive infrastructure, favoring projects with tangible utility over high-beta trading assets. BMIC is defying the downturn by addressing the “harvest now, decrypt later” quantum threat, securing $432,976.78 in early funding. The divergence between Bitcoin’s price action and presale inflows suggests smart money is hedging volatility with early-stage tech plays. The crypto market delivered a harsh reality check this morning. In a violent flush that caught leverage traders off guard, Bitcoin plummeted back to the $70,000 support level.

That move triggered a cascading liquidation event totaling $775M across major exchanges. What began as a minor technical correction accelerated into a mass capitulation of long positions, reminding the market that liquidity hunts are rarely gentle.

Why does this matter? It’s not about the specific price point, $70,000 remains a historically high baseline, but rather what it reveals about market structure.

Open interest (OI) had ballooned to unsustainable levels over the past week, driven by retail FOMO and aggressive perp positioning. When the floor gave way, the algorithmic selling pressure was instantaneous. This flush has effectively reset the leverage ratio.

While painful, it potentially sets the stage for a healthier, albeit more cautious, accumulation phase. However, the psychological damage is evident; the ‘up only’ narrative has been fractured, forcing capital to rotate out of high-beta speculative assets and into infrastructure plays that offer utility decoupled from immediate price action.

While the broader market bleeds, a divergence is occurring in the presale sector. Smart money appears to be hedging against volatility by moving into early-stage infrastructure projects that solve fundamental ecosystem problems rather than relying on market sentiment.

One such project, BMIC ($BMIC), has continued to attract capital despite the sea of red candles. It suggests investors are prioritizing long-term security narratives over short-term speculative gains.

Buy your $BMIC here.

Quantum-Secure Architecture Offers Refuge From Systemic Risk It’s a classic pattern: when portfolio values drop, security anxiety spikes. The tolerance for risk evaporates, and the focus shifts from ‘how much can I make?’ to ‘how do I keep what I have?’

This psychological shift is precisely where BMIC is finding its footing. While traders panic-sold Bitcoin, the $BMIC presale continued to tick upward.

Frankly, its value proposition, securing the digital future against post-quantum threats, remains relevant regardless of whether Bitcoin is at $70K or $100K.

Current wallet infrastructure relies on cryptographic standards that quantum computing will eventually render obsolete. Experts call this the ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ threat: bad actors are scraping encrypted data today to unlock it once quantum processing power matures.

BMIC addresses this existential risk with a full Quantum-Secure Finance Stack. By using ERC-4337 Smart Accounts and Zero Public-Key Exposure protocols, the platform effectively nullifies the vulnerabilities inherent in legacy wallets.

For enterprise clients and serious DeFi users, this isn’t just a feature update, it’s survival. The platform’s integration of AI-Enhanced Threat Detection adds a proactive layer of defense, monitoring transaction patterns for anomalies before they execute.

In a market environment where $775M can vanish in hours due to liquidation algorithms, the appeal of a ‘Quantum Meta-Cloud’ that secures assets against both market mechanics and cryptographic breakage is driving a distinct flight to quality.

Get your $BMIC here.

Presale Momentum Accelerates as Investors Seek Uncorrelated Alpha While the secondary market suffers from liquidity shocks, the primary market, specifically high-conviction presales, often operates with an inverse correlation. The numbers back this up. According to official project metrics, BMIC has successfully raised over $432K, maintaining a steady inflow of capital even as Bitcoin tests the $70K floor.

The token is currently priced at $0.049474. That figure represents a fixed entry point in a volatile environment.

For investors, this offers a strategic hedge: allocating capital to a pre-market asset that is immune to today’s leverage flush while gaining exposure to the ‘Burn-to-Compute’ narrative. The BMIC token serves as the ecosystem fuel for this new security paradigm, governing the protocol and facilitating the immense computational resources required for post-quantum encryption.

What most coverage misses is the timing of this capital rotation. Experienced whales (who’ve seen these cycles before) often use dips to rebalance into infrastructure.

By securing a position in BMIC now, investors are essentially betting on the inevitable upgrade cycle of the entire Ethereum network. As the project rolls out its Quantum-Secure Staking, allowing yield generation without key exposure, it creates a sticky utility loop that discourages selling.

In a market currently defined by fear, a project offering a tangible solution to the industry’s largest looming security crisis is naturally outperforming the speculative noise.

$BMIC is available for buy here.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments, especially presales and leveraged trading, carry high risks. Always perform independent due diligence.

Cover image via U.Today Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.

High-profile on-chain activity connected to Ethereum Cofounder Vitalik Buterin seems to be the most recent catalyst for the severe selling pressure that Ethereum is currently experiencing. Blockchain tracking data indicates that over the past three days wallets linked to Buterin have bought and sold about 2,961.5 ETH, or roughly $6.6 million, at an average execution price of about $2,228.

Worst timing possibleThe timing of this activity is critical for Ethereum's price structure. ETH has already lost important support zones on the daily chart, which were once strong consolidation areas around $2,800 and $2,700. One of the biggest sell-offs since mid-2025 occurred as a result of the most recent breakdown, which drove the price quickly toward the $2,100-2,200 range. Sellers, not passive holders, are driving the current price action, as evidenced by the volume spike during the decline.

ETH/USDT Chart by TradingViewTechnically speaking, Ethereum is currently trading well below major moving averages, and all short- and midterm trend indicators are pointing downward. Even though the RSI readings have reached extremely oversold levels, the price is still having trouble holding rebounds. When traders are still taking risks, oversold conditions are insufficient to halt momentum, which makes the psychological $2,000 level the crucial battleground.

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Ethereum ready to diveEthereum may easily fall below this barrier if selling pressure continues and overall cryptocurrency sentiment remains subdued. The price might move toward deeper support zones created in early 2025 if there were a break below $2,000, which would probably lead to more liquidations and panic-selling.

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Notably, though significant wallet movements do not always indicate bearish intent, funding for ecosystems, donations, operational costs and protocol development are all common examples of transfers. However, markets respond to perception, and significant ETH withdrawals from well-known individuals invariably increase trader anxiety.

The upcoming sessions will be important for investors, and in order to prevent further structural damage, Ethereum needs to stabilize above $2,000. Failure to do so could cause the story to change from one of correction to a protracted bear phase, with recovery taking far longer than bulls had anticipated.

On Feb. 4, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) activated the highly anticipated Permissioned Domains with 91% validator approval.

At first glance, the approval appears contradictory, as it involves a public blockchain hosting “permissioned” zones.

However, a deeper look at the mechanics shows how the upgrade operates. Permissioned Domains introduces an on-ledger access-control object that enables other network features to reference and restrict participation to digital wallets that hold specific on-chain credentials.

The fundamental point of this architectural shift is not to convert the XRPL into a private network.

Rather, the objective is to enable highly regulated financial activity to exist on a public ledger, with enforcement occurring directly at the protocol layer instead of through bespoke, off-chain allowlists and centralized gatekeepers.

This design choice is becoming increasingly important as the broader tokenization sector shifts from a “proof of concept” phase to a genuine market structure.

What are permissioned domains?To understand the shift, one must understand what a permissioned domain actually is.

According to the technical specifications, Permissioned Domains are intentionally a simple infrastructure. A domain is strictly a ledger object owned by an account. It stores a list of Accepted Credentials, and each is defined by a credential issuer and a credential type.

Credentials are on-ledger attestations from an issuer about a subject account. One might think of these as digital stamps stating “this account is KYC’d,” or “this account is part of a whitelisted institution.”

So, the key point for privacy-conscious institutions is that the ledger can validate the authorization signal by verifying it exists, is accepted, and has not expired, without putting personal identity data on-chain.

It is closer to verifying an anonymous authorization token than publishing Know Your Customer (KYC) documents on a public network.

Given these credentials, the logic behind Permissioned Domain technology is binary and automated.

If a wallet holds at least one matching, non-expired credential, it automatically has access to the domain. If it does not, domain-aware transactions can fail immediately at the protocol level.

XRPL’s documentation is explicit that domains “do nothing on their own.”

According to the firm, they exist so that other advanced features, like permissioned trading venues or lending protocols, can enforce access rules without having to reinvent the compliance wheel each time a new product launches.

How will this impact Ripple's ecosystem?The clearest example of what this means for the market appears in trading.

Until now, institutions have often preferred to keep most activity off-chain because they could not control with whom they interacted.

With Permissioned Domains, access can be restricted to approved entities, and liquidity providers can be known and verified.

Consequently, payments, trading, and future lending can happen on-chain in a compliant way. This unlocks real institutional usage of XRPL, shifting the narrative from experimentation to production.

This development would also enable Ripple to use the XRPL's upcoming “Permissioned” DEX for Ripple Payments. Notably, this was something it could not do safely before due to unknown liquidity sources.

Under the Permissioned DEX design, offers can specify a DomainID and be valid only within that domain’s order book. This creates credential-gated liquidity islands sorted by domain and currency pair.

Furthermore, cross-currency payments can also be restricted to consume liquidity only from the corresponding permissioned books.

This is particularly useful if a regulated product is only legally allowed to trade with regulated counterparties.

Ripple has over 300 institutional partners, and these features are the missing piece that would allow those partners to operate directly on-chain.

A macro backdrop favoring an “always on” marketPublic blockchains are converging on familiar market-structure concerns, especially as real-world asset tokenization gains traction as a way for the public to access investment opportunities.

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Data from RWA.xyz currently pegs the value of distributed tokenized real-world assets at approximately $24.11 billion. This figure is up nearly 12% over the past 30 days, while the number of asset holders is up more than 36% over the same period.

Furthermore, Intercontinental Exchange (the parent company of the NYSE) is developing a platform aimed at 24/7 tokenized securities trading and settlement, potentially funded via stablecoins.

This serves as an important signal that “always-on markets” are becoming a mainstream expectation rather than a crypto novelty.

In that environment, “regulated DeFi” cannot rely entirely on centralized front ends to enforce rules.

Permissioned Domains are a direct response to this shift, enabling compliance to be composable and shared across the structure.

XRP commentator Vincent Van Code noted that the PermissionedDomains enables compliant, gated environments on XRPL and unlocks institutional use cases by restricting access to accounts with specific verifiable credentials.

In simple terms, it allows banks and financial institutions to use XRPL in a way that complies with real-world compliance rules for KYC, AML, counterparty risk, and sanctioned entities.

According to him, this bridges traditional finance and blockchain. He added that it helps to attract institutional capital by enforcing jurisdictional rules on a public ledger without full centralization.

What to watch next for XRPLAs the market digests this upgrade, observers are considering three distinct scenarios in which Permissioned Domains could affect the blockchain.

The base case is “plumbing first.” In this scenario, domains enable the technology, but adoption ramps gradually. Early signals are not trading volume spikes but rather metrics like credentials issued and accepted, domains created, and early pilots.

The upside case sees regulated liquidity islands scale rapidly. Stablecoin issuers, broker-dealers, and RWA platforms use domains to operate venues subject to KYC and AML regulations on XRPL.

Here, hybrid offers keep spreads competitive by connecting liquidity across permissioned and open books.

In this world, XRPL’s differentiator becomes “public settlement with optional compliance gates,” creating a credible lane for tokenized cash-like instruments, commodities, and curated securities products.

However, the downside case involves fragmentation and indifference. If liquidity splits and hybrid bridging are underused, developers may decide the complexity is not worth it without guaranteed institutional flow.

So, the permissioned domains would exist but remain lightly used.

Essentially, the bottom line is that Permissioned Domains are less about “one new feature” and more about XRPL choosing a model that enables open rails with optional compliance gates.

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Bhutan-linked wallets controlled by Druk Holding & Investments (DHI) moved more than 284 bitcoin worth roughly $22 million over the past week, according to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence.

Summary

Bhutan-linked wallets moved over $22 million in Bitcoin this week, including a $14 million transfer and an earlier $8.3 million transaction tied to an institutional merchant deposit, according to Arkham data. Arkham says Bhutan has a history of selling Bitcoin in structured clips of around $50 million, with heavy selling observed in mid-to-late September 2025, though no sale has been confirmed from the latest transfers. Additional Ethereum and USDT movements suggest active treasury management, reinforcing Bhutan’s role as one of the few governments with Bitcoin sourced from state-backed mining operations. The activity places fresh focus on the Himalayan nation’s growing role as a sovereign Bitcoin holder.

Bhutan’s Largest Transfer Tops $14 Million The most significant transaction occurred seven hours ago, when a wallet linked to Bhutan moved 184.028 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at about $14.09 million.

Last Friday, another 100.818 BTC, worth approximately $8.31 million, was transferred from a Bhutan-controlled wallet to an address labelled as a QCP Capital WBTC merchant deposit. Such destinations are commonly associated with institutional crypto infrastructure.

Source: Arkham The transfers do not confirm that Bhutan has sold any Bitcoin. However, deposits to merchant or intermediary-linked addresses are often viewed as preparatory steps for liquidity management or asset repositioning.

The activity comes amid heightened market volatility, with Bitcoin recently under pressure. Sovereign-linked movements tend to attract attention due to their potential impact on market sentiment.

Interestingly, Bhutan’s Bitcoin holdings have now fallen from a peak of 13,295 BTC in October 2024 to 5,700 BTC at press time.

According to Arkham, Bhutan’s Bitcoin movements tend to follow a consistent pattern.

“From our observations, Bhutan periodically sells BTC in clips of around $50 million,” Arkham noted. The firm added that a particularly heavy period of selling occurred around mid to late September 2025.

Additional Ethereum and Stablecoin Activity Beyond Bitcoin, Bhutan-linked wallets also recorded several small Ethereum (ETH) transactions during the same period.

Separately, $1.5 million in USDT moved between exchange-linked wallets and Bhutan-associated addresses within the last several hours. The flows suggest active treasury operations rather than passive holding.

Bhutan’s Unique Position as a Sovereign Bitcoin Holder Bhutan’s Bitcoin reserves are widely believed to come from state-backed mining operations powered by hydroelectric energy. This sets the country apart from other governments whose holdings typically stem from seizures or enforcement actions.

The latest transfers highlight Bhutan’s continued engagement with crypto markets. They also underscore how sovereign involvement in digital assets is becoming harder for markets to ignore.

Bhutan moves bitcoin to trading firms and exchanges as BTC drops to nearly $70,000Wallet data shows the Royal Government of Bhutan moving bitcoin to trading firms and exchanges for the first time in months, as markets slide and volatility spikes across crypto and metals.Updated Feb 5, 2026, 6:12 a.m. Published Feb 5, 2026, 6:06 a.m.

The Royal Government of Bhutan has begun moving bitcoin BTC$70,853.46 after months of wallet inactivity, shifting funds to trading firms, exchanges and fresh addresses as bitcoin slid below $71,000 and broader markets convulsed.

Onchain data tracked by Arkham shows Bhutan-linked wallets transferring more than 184 BTC, worth roughly $14 million, over the past 24 hours.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Some of the bitcoin was sent to new addresses, while other transfers flowed to known counterparties including QCP Capital and a Binance hot wallet, according to Arkham.

These destinations typically associated with trading, liquidity management or potential sales. CoinDesk reached out to QCP Capital via Telegram for comment.

The activity marks Bhutan’s first notable wallet movement in roughly three months and comes at a volatile moment for crypto markets. Bitcoin has fallen more than 7% in 24 hours, while silver plunged as much as 17% and global equities slid amid fears that artificial intelligence spending is undermining traditional software business models.

Bhutan has emerged over the past two years as one of the more unusual sovereign bitcoin holders, quietly building a stash through state-backed mining tied to hydropower.

Unlike corporate treasuries that trumpet accumulation strategies, Bhutan’s holdings have largely been managed out of the spotlight, making changes in wallet behavior closely watched by traders.

The latest transfers do not confirm outright selling. Coins were split across multiple destinations, including new wallets that could indicate internal reshuffling or collateral management rather than immediate liquidation.

Still, sending bitcoin to exchanges and trading firms during a sharp drawdown contrasts with the country’s otherwise long periods of inactivity.

The moves also echo a broader theme emerging in this selloff: large holders treating bitcoin less as a static reserve asset and more as a balance-sheet tool during stress.

Corporate treasuries, miners and now sovereign-linked entities are adjusting positions as liquidity tightens and price swings accelerate.

US-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) holders are showing relatively strong conviction despite a four-month Bitcoin downtrend, according to ETF analyst James Seyffart.

“The ETFs are still hanging in there pretty good,” Seyffart said in an X post on Wednesday.

While Seyffart said that Bitcoin (BTC) ETF holders are facing their “biggest losses” since the US products launched in January 2024 — at a paper loss of around 42% with Bitcoin below $73,000 — he argues the recent outflows pale in comparison to the inflows during the market’s peak. 

Bitcoin ETF holders are “underwater and collectively holding”Before the October downturn, spot Bitcoin ETF net inflows were around $62.11 billion. They’ve now fallen to about $55 billion, according to preliminary data from Farside.

“Not too shabby,” Seyffart said. 

Source: James SeyffartMeanwhile, investment researcher Jim Bianco said in an X post on Wednesday that the average spot Bitcoin ETF holder is 24% “underwater and collectively holding.”

Bitcoin holders often look to the performance and flows of spot Bitcoin ETFs to gauge market sentiment and potential near-term price direction. 

Bitcoiners are being “very short-sighted”Crypto analytics account Rand pointed out in an X post on Tuesday that this is “the first time in history there have been three consecutive months of outflows.”

The extended outflows come as Bitcoin’s spot price has fallen 24.73% over the past 30 days, trading at $70,537 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.

Some analysts argue that Bitcoin investors are overlooking the bigger picture.

ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said on Jan. 28 that Bitcoiners are being “very short-sighted,” given that Bitcoin's performance since 2022 has been up over 400%, compared with gold at 177% and silver at 350%.

“In other words, bitcoin spanked everything so bad in '23 and '24 (which ppl seem to forget) that those other assets still haven't caught up even after having their greatest year ever and BTC being in a coma,” Balchunas said.

Meanwhile, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said in an X post on Wednesday that “every Bitcoin analyst is now bearish.”

Magazine: South Korea gets rich from crypto… North Korea gets weapons

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The crypto market crash deepens, with Bitcoin falling 7% to $70K lows and erasing all gains since crypto-friendly Donald Trump’s election as the US President. Top altcoins Ethereum (ETH), BNB, XRP, Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Cardano (ADA) tumble 6-10% over the past 24 hours.

Several headwinds, including a hawkish Fed outlook, whale capitulation, and bearish technical and on-chain data, are dragging the Crypto Fear & Greed Index further into extreme fear. Notably, $650 billion in crypto market cap is wiped out in a week, bringing the total plunge to $1.87 trillion since the October 10 market crash.

Gold and silver prices tanked more than 2% and 13% today after investors booked profits as the US dollar strengthened above 97.5 on Thursday.

Crypto Market Crash: Over $800M Liquidations in Bitcoin, ETH, XRP, BNB, SOL As whales and institutions continue to liquidate their holdings and open short positions, the crypto market bloodbath has worsened. Coinglass data shows that an additional $800 million in liquidations occurred in the past 24 hours.

Over 165K traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with the largest single liquidated order of BTCUSDT worth $11.36 million on Hyperliquid. Over $650 million in long positions and $150 million in short positions were liquidated. The long positions liquidations continue occurring almost every hour during today’s crypto market crash.

ETH, BTC, SOL, XRP, SILVER perpetual, XAG, DOGE, XAU, ZEC, BNB, and ADA were among the most liquidated assets in the past 24 hours. Hyperliquid leads crypto long liquidations of $50 million over the last 24 hours, indicating massive liquidations of leveraged bets.

Crypto Liquidations Per Hour. Source: Coinglass Bitcoin Plunges to $70K amid Bear Market Signals While broader macroeconomic stress, including hawkish Fed and rate cut pause expectations amid Kevin Warsh’s nomination rattle markets, Bitcoin has also plunged to $70K lows.

BTC is crashing again amid the US-Iran geopolitical tensions. BTC options keep pricing elevated downside risk, with massive put volume over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin 25 delta skew is gradually falling and signals further downside risks.

Glassnode data points to bear market concerns as profitability resets, realised losses rise, spot demand stays weak, and leverage unwinds. Also, the 3D-SMA of Net Realized Profit & Loss is now down $317 million/day, a bear market regime last witnessed in December 2022. It warns that “loss realization has regained control, liquidity is fading, and patience is being tested.”

Bitcoin Realized Price. Source: Glassnode Meanwhile, CryptoQuant research shows that on-chain indicators now confirm a bear market. The BTC Bull Score Index fell to zero from a high of 80 in October last year, signaling broad structural weakness.

Institutional demand has reversed, as evidenced by persistent outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs, creating a 56K BTC demand gap. Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw outflows on Wednesday as BlackRock sells $373,800,000 in BTC.

BTC Bull Score Index. Source: CryptoQuant Technical Indicators Predict Further Crypto Market Crash The technical structure also indicates further risks of a crypto market crash. Bitcoin has broken below its 365-day moving average for the first time since 2022. It confirms a risk of Bitcoin dropping to the $70K-$60K range.

Experts including veteran trader Peter Brandt and prominent investor Michael Burry warns Bitcoin price crash to at least to $58K. Burry cautioned that Bitcoin’s sharp fall would severely impact Bitcoin treasury companies, gold, silver, and the broader financial markets.

Also, Bitcoin price crash below $70K could lead to $4 billion in unrealized losses for Strategy (MSTR). MSTR stock closed 3.13% lower at $129.09 on Wednesday.

Popular analyst Michael van de Poppe noted that Bitcoin/S&P is hitting the lowest weekly RSI ever. The last time it happened was during the 2022 bear market and the 2015 bear market. Meanwhile, analyst Ali Martinez revealed that below $77,086, the next key support levels for BTC are $60,176 and $47,824.

Bitcoin/SPX in Weekly Timeframe. Source: Michael van de Poppe

A new crypto-linked political controversy has erupted in Washington after a reported $500 million investment from a UAE royal–connected group in World Liberty Financial, a project tied to the Trump family.

Following this, U.S. Representative Ro Khanna has launched an investigation, raising concerns over possible conflicts of interest and national security risks.

Rep. Ro Khanna Open Investigation In UAE – WLFI Deal On January 16, 2025, a group linked to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE signed a deal to buy a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial. The agreement was finalized just days before Donald Trump officially took charge of the White House.

Rep. Ro Khanna, Select Committee focused on China-related risks, has now demanded full details of this deal.

He sent a formal letter to Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial (WLF), asking for ownership documents, payment flows, internal messages, and board communications connected to the transaction.

Lawmakers want to understand who approved the deal, how funds moved, and whether any policy decisions followed it.

Khanna believes the timing and size of the deal raise serious questions about transparency and national security.

Concerns Over National Security Risk & Conflict of InterestThe concern is not only about the investment size but also about timing and connections. The foreign investor group is reportedly tied to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a senior security official in the United Arab Emirates. 

Khanna’s letter raises questions about whether this UAE investment could create possible conflicts of interest. Since the Trump family is directly connected to the crypto project, any foreign money flowing into it may affect US government decisions.

Although President Trump has denied knowing about the deal. He told reporters that his sons manage the business and accept investments from different global partners.

JUST IN: 🇺🇸🇦🇪 President Trump says he did not know Abu Dhabi invested $500 million in his World Liberty crypto project.

"I don't know about it. My sons are handling that, I guess they get investments from people." pic.twitter.com/AOBosetnpE

— Bitcoin Black (@Bitcoinblacck) February 2, 2026 AI Chip Exports and Binance Deal Under ScrutinyKhanna linked the crypto deal to sensitive U.S. technology policy. He said that soon after the UAE investment, the U.S. approved exports of advanced AI chips to the UAE, which are usually restricted due to security concerns.

He believes that the investment may have played a role in shifting US policy in favor of the UAE.

Khanna also raised concerns about the USD1 stablecoin from World Liberty Financial, saying it was used in a $2 billion Binance investment by a UAE-linked group. He believes this helped boost USD1’s global use and benefited the Trump-linked firm. 

He even questioned whether these business ties were connected to the later pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.

Deadline For The Response Khanna has asked World Liberty Financial to provide full documents and records by March 1, 2026. He warned that Congress would closely examine the matter to protect US national security.

While the company and the White House call the deal a normal business transaction, the investigation is likely to keep political and crypto circles on edge in the coming months.

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Ethereum remains under heavy pressure, struggling to hold above the $2,300 level as selling dominates across the broader crypto market. After weeks of weakening structure, price action has failed to attract sustained demand, prompting many analysts to warn that further downside may still lie ahead. With risk appetite fading and leverage being unwound, attention is increasingly shifting from short-term rebounds to signals that could define the next phase of the cycle.

A recent report from CryptoQuant highlights a notable development on the network side. The Ethereum Transfer Count (Total), smoothed by a 14-day Simple Moving Average, surged sharply to approximately 1.17 million on January 29, 2026. This abrupt and near-vertical rise in activity stands out against recent trends and has historically coincided with periods of heightened market stress rather than organic growth.

While elevated network activity is often associated with adoption, sharp spikes of this magnitude tend to emerge during moments of extreme positioning—either distribution into strength or forced movement during volatility. In past cycles, similar transfer count surges appeared near major inflection points, often preceding meaningful price corrections.

As Ethereum trades near multi-month lows, this spike raises a critical question for investors: Does the surge in on-chain activity reflect defensive repositioning ahead of another leg down, or is it the final phase of a broader reset? The answer may determine whether ETH stabilizes—or extends its decline.

The report explains that a retrospective look at Ethereum’s transfer count reveals a recurring and cautionary pattern. Spikes of the magnitude seen recently have only appeared at a handful of critical turning points in the network’s history. On January 18, 2018, a sharp surge in transfers marked the cycle peak, immediately followed by the start of a prolonged bear market. A similar event occurred on May 19, 2021, when a sudden jump in network activity coincided with a major market crash and a deep price correction.

Ethereum Transfer Count | Source: CryptoQuant From an on-chain perspective, this context matters. While analysts often associate rising network activity with growing adoption, a parabolic surge in transfer counts near price peaks typically signals an overheated market. These spikes tend to occur during moments of extreme stress or euphoria, when large volumes of assets are moving simultaneously.

In practice, this can reflect distribution, as long-term holders or institutional participants move funds toward exchanges to realize profits or peak volatility, where trading activity reaches a climax before momentum reverses.

The current setup closely resembles those earlier episodes. Although the broader macro environment has changed since 2018 and 2021, the behavior of network participants appears strikingly similar. If historical patterns hold, Ethereum may be entering a high-risk zone where the probability of further downside increases. Consequently, traders and investors must exercise caution and monitor confirmation signals closely before assuming stability has returned.

Ethereum’s weekly chart shows a market that has decisively shifted from expansion to distribution. The price is now struggling to stabilize after losing the $2,300–$2,400 support zone. The latest breakdown pushed ETH back toward the $2,200 area, a level that previously acted as a pivot during earlier consolidation phases in 2024 and mid-2025. The inability to hold above this zone reinforces the idea that sellers remain in control on higher timeframes.

ETH testing fresh demand | Source: ETHUSDT chart on TradingView From a trend perspective, ETH is trading below its short- and medium-term moving averages. Both of which have rolled over and are beginning to slope downward. This configuration typically reflects a loss of upside momentum and signals that traders sell into rallies rather than accumulate on dips. The long-term moving average near the mid-$2,400s has flattened. This suggests that the market is transitioning from trend to range, with downside risk still present.

Elevated volume accompanied the recent sell-off, signaling conviction behind the move rather than a low-liquidity drift. Historically, similar volume spikes during downswings have preceded either deeper drawdowns or prolonged consolidation phases.

ETH has also printed a sequence of lower highs since the peak above $4,800, confirming a broader bearish market structure. Unless price can reclaim and hold above the $2,400–$2,500 region, the path of least resistance remains sideways to lower. With the market likely probing for demand at lower support levels before any sustainable recovery can form.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Kyle Samani, the co-founder of Multicoin Capital, has announced he is leaving the firm.

The departure comes amid a major market crash, which makes it rather notable. 

However, it should be noted that Samani had pushed back against the narrative that he is capitulating.

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A sudden exit After spending nearly a decade building Multicoin with highly aggressive bets on Solana (SOL), Samani described the decision to call it quits as "bittersweet."

"My time at Multicoin has been some of the most meaningful and rewarding of my life," Samani wrote. "That said, I am excited to take some time off and explore new areas of technology."

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At the same time, he expressed full confidence in the remaining leadership team, including co-founder Tushar Jain and other partners. Samani has described them as "some of the best investors and operators in the world."

Not selling Samani went to great lengths to clarify that he is not giving up on Solana itself despite the sudden exit. 

He has announced he has requested an "in-kind redemption" in shares and warrants of Forward Industries (FWDI) instead of redeeming his stake in Multicoin’s Master Fund for cash. 

Forward is a publicly traded entity where Samani serves as Chairman. It functions as a crypto-native holding company with substantial exposure to the Solana ecosystem.

"To be absolutely crystal clear," Samani stressed, "I am still mega long SOL, mega long crypto, and will continue to be involved in crypto both in my personal capacity, and as Chairman of Forward."