$30M Stolen as Step Finance Treasury Wallets Compromised

In the past few hours, Bitcoin has dropped below $80,000 amid another wave of liquidations as January comes to a rather volatile close. Analysts at Kobeissi note there have been three notable liquidation events in the past 12 hours, resulting in a combined loss of $1.3 billion.

Such developments, coupled with a very fearful market after last week’s price slump, have pushed Bitcoin below a key price level. According to the renowned market expert Burak Kesmeci, Bitcoin’s behavior towards this $80,000 price zone holds significant consequences for the market trajectory.

Bitcoin Slips Under ETF Realized Price As Downside Risk Grows

In a recent X post, Burak Kesmeci outlines the technical and on-chain importance of the $80,000 price level to the Bitcoin market. Before Bitcoin’s recent breakdown below $80,000, the asset had twice retested this zone following the correction phase that began in early October 2025.

Each successful rebound from these retests reinforced $80,000 as a critical support level, with certain chart formations even hinting at potential trend reversal. This underscored the market’s technical sensitivity to this level before the recent loss. However, Kesmeci highlights an on-chain importance of the $80,000 price point in that it also functions as the cost basis of the Bitcoin Spot ETFs. Therefore, the recent price fall below $80,000 places a large cohort of institutional investors at risk of entering unrealized losses.

In January 2026 alone, the Bitcoin ETFs already witnessed massive levels of withdrawals, resulting in a total net outflow of $1.61 billion. However, these figures are likely to surge higher as sustained price decline below the ETF cost basis is expected to trigger a wide-scale, panic-driven redemption among investors. In addition to its on-chain and technical importance, Kesmeci also notes that $80,000 presently functions as the True Market Mean.

What Next For Bitcoin? 

According to Burak Kesmeci, a bearish scenario would require a weekly close below the $80,000 support level. If confirmed, the analyst warns that bearish momentum could intensify, potentially driving Bitcoin lower toward $72,000, $68,000, and eventually $62,000 in sequence. This is because these levels align with notable volume profile clusters, representing potential areas where liquidity could accumulate, and the price may temporarily stabilize.

Conversely, in a bullish scenario, Kesmeci notes that a sustained rebound from current levels could shift momentum back in favor of the bulls. The first major upside hurdle lies at $90,000, followed by the 111-period Simple Moving Average (SMA111) near $95,000, which is described as a critical level for confirming a medium-term trend reversal.

A decisive break above the psychological $100,000 resistance would further strengthen the bullish case and signal a potential resumption of the broader uptrend. At press time, Bitcoin trades at $77,832, reflecting a 7.1% loss in the past day.

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has ramped up his social media praise for US president Donald Trump while taking aim at former president Joe Biden, just days after Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, was released from federal custody.

Since Bankman-Fried’s February 2025 interview with the New York Sun and March appearance with political commentator Tucker Carlson, many see Bankman-Fried as angling for a pardon from Trump.

“@realdonaldtrump is right on crypto,” Bankman-Fried said in an X post on Friday, just days after Ellison walked free after serving 440 days in prison for her role in the 2022 collapse of FTX.

Bankman-Fried calls Trump’s arrest of Maduro “smart” and “gutsy”

Bankman-Fried also praised Trump on issues beyond crypto, including the recent arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, calling the move “smart, gutsy, and pro-democracy.”

At the same time, Bankman-Fried took aim at the previous administration, which he once backed with millions in political donations.

The crypto market is facing a major sell-off today, with total market value dropping to $2.66 trillion, down more than 6% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and other major cryptocurrencies have all fallen sharply, wiping out nearly $500 billion from the market in just a few days.

The biggest reason behind this fall is global uncertainty around interest rates. Investors turned bearish after news related to a new US Federal Reserve leadership appointment, which raised fears that future monetary policy could stay tighter for longer. When interest rates are expected to remain high, risky assets like crypto usually suffer, as investors move money into safer options.

This macro-driven fear pushed both stock markets and crypto lower at the same time. Over the past week, crypto prices have shown a strong link with US equities, showing how closely digital assets now react to traditional financial markets.

The decline was made much worse by massive liquidations. As prices started falling, leveraged traders were forced out of their positions. Over the last three days, nearly $5 billion worth of leveraged long and short positions were liquidated. When this happens, exchanges automatically sell assets to cover losses, which adds extra selling pressure and accelerates the crash.

Ethereum has been hit particularly hard. Reports of large unrealised losses held by institutional players increased fear around ETH, dragging down the wider altcoin market. As Ethereum weakened, confidence across the market dropped further.

Here’s how major cryptocurrencies were affected:

• Bitcoin fell around 13%, losing nearly $265 billion in market value.
• Ethereum dropped about 25%, erasing roughly $91 billion.
• XRP declined close to 22%, wiping out around $24 billion.
• Solana crashed more than 23%, losing about $16 billion.

Market sentiment has turned extremely bearish. The Fear and Greed Index has slipped to 18, a level classified as Extreme Fear. Many technical indicators now show the market is oversold, meaning prices may have fallen too fast in a short time.

Looking ahead, the short-term outlook depends on whether Bitcoin can hold the $77,000 support level. If that breaks, further downside is possible. Investors are also closely watching upcoming signals from the US Federal Reserve, which could determine whether markets stabilise or see another wave of selling.

February 1, 2026 06:14:23 UTC

India Budget 2026: India’s Crypto TDS Mismatch Leaves Traders Owed Crores in Refunds

India’s crypto ecosystem saw ₹511.83 crore collected as TDS in FY 2024–25, but new data highlights a growing mismatch between tax deducted and actual tax owed. KoinX users alone contributed ₹130.16 crore, or 25.43% of total collections, even though their final tax liability stood at only ₹91.64 crore. This resulted in an estimated ₹38.52 crore locked in excess TDS and potential refunds.

The imbalance appears widespread. Over 30% of TDS deductions exceeded traders’ final tax dues, while nearly half of all TDS-paying users ended the year with net capital losses. At the same time, trading activity remains highly concentrated, with less than 5% of traders accounting for 87% of total TDS collections.

February 1, 2026 05:31:02 UTC

India Budget 2026: New Data Fuels Calls to Reform India’s Crypto Tax Regime

As the Union Budget 2026 approaches, India’s crypto industry is calling for a more outcome-based tax framework, including rationalisation of the 30% capital gains tax, permission to offset losses, and a review of the 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on crypto transactions. These demands are supported by India’s Crypto Tax Story 2025, a new report by KoinX, which analyses anonymised data from nearly 7 lakh Indian crypto users in FY 2024–25 and shows how current tax rules often diverge from actual investor outcomes.

February 1, 2026 05:09:14 UTC

India Budget 2026: Crypto Rules Must Shift Beyond Tax and Enforcement,

Manhar Garegrat, Country Head–India at Liminal Custody, said India’s crypto policy needs to move toward market structure and sustainability, warning that current tax frictions are pushing compliant trading activity offshore. He urged Budget 2026 to rethink transaction-level taxes and consider a VDA transaction tax model to keep crypto activity onshore, transparent, and economically viable.

February 1, 2026 05:09:14 UTC

India Budget 2026: Will Crypto Take Center Stage?

Crypto and Bitcoin taxes are in focus today, with expectations of rationalisation and clearer rules rather than any expansion of the 30% levy, even as the government has not yet signaled formal changes.

Venus is signaling a new DeFi initiative on BNB Chain, with a dated announcement for February 4, 2026, according to the project’s teaser on X (source). While details are not yet disclosed, such campaigns typically involve new products, integrations, or incentive programs that can increase protocol usage and total value locked. For XVS, higher activity on Venus can support demand for the governance/utility token (e.g., through collateral usage, governance relevance, and potential incentive distribution). Traders may position ahead of the reveal, but the actual price impact will depend on whether the announced features materially expand Venus’s user base and revenue.

Casper Network’s CTO/President Michael Steuer and CEO Matt Schaffnit will host a live X Space on February 5, 2026, to share updates and take community questions, as announced in the project’s X post (source). Mechanically, this is a communication event, not a protocol upgrade, but leadership AMAs often surface roadmap details, ecosystem plans, or partnership hints that can shift market expectations about network growth. Traders may speculate ahead of the call on the possibility of bullish disclosures. The actual price effect on CSPR will hinge on whether concrete, near-term catalysts are revealed versus high-level discussion without new actionable information.