Binance Not Responsible for Worsening Market Crash: CZ

A historic liquidation event swept through gold and silver markets over the past 48 hours, erasing roughly $7 trillion in value from precious metals. Meanwhile, Bitcoin fell 7% but remained surprisingly resilient amid the broader sell-off.

Bitcoin analyst Joe Consorti noted that the decline in the precious metals market cap was roughly four times Bitcoin’s entire capitalization.

BTC Avoids Liquidation Cascade That Crushed Gold and Silver Prices

Data from blockchain analytics firm Santiment highlighted the rarity of the event. The firm noted that Bitcoin and altcoin prices remained flat, while gold dropped by more than 8% and silver by over 25%.

Notably, gold’s price had collapsed from a high of $5,600 an ounce to trade around $4,700, while silver plummeted from $121 to $77.

Market observers linked the sell-off in precious metals to President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chairman.

Warsh is widely regarded as an inflation hawk committed to defending the U.S. dollar. This stance upends the depreciation narrative that drove the recent surge in metals prices.

Notably, traders had piled into leveraged bets, assuming the administration would pursue aggressive rate cuts.

However, the Warsh nomination signaled a pivot toward tighter monetary policy, which triggered a violent unwinding of trades.

Meanwhile, some market experts noted that the gold market was due for a correction, having become overheated amid soaring public interest in precious metals.

What’s Next for Bitcoin?

The question now facing Bitcoin investors is whether the top crypto’s stability near $82,000 signals a decoupling from traditional commodities or a delayed reaction.

Unlike metals, Bitcoin did not participate in the final, euphoric leg of the “debasement trade.” This potentially leaves it with less speculative froth to shed and more room to rally.

Some analysts argue that as liquidity exits the crowded metals trade, capital may rotate into digital assets. These observers view Bitcoin’s scarcity as distinct from the industrial dynamics that are currently weighing on gold and silver.

However, if the Warsh nomination leads to sustained global liquidity tightening, risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, could face renewed pressure in the coming weeks.

The move reflects tightening physical supply, accelerating utility demand, and renewed institutional participation, reshaping expectations for the nuclear fuel market in 2026 and beyond.

Uranium Price Vindicates Structural Strength

According to the Trading Economics uranium chart, the spot prices are more or less at the level of $99.25 per pound, after experiencing a minor 2.27% daily pullback. Although the recent retractions occurred in the short-term, the larger trend is positive.

The precious metal has been moving steadily since mid-2025 and set higher lows and reclaimed major resistance areas that had limited price movements in the past. It is an indication of controlled consolidation as opposed to trend exhaustion.

Bitcoin has fallen to the 12th-largest asset globally by market capitalization, slipping behind Tesla in the rankings, according to CompaniesMarketCap.

The digital asset’s price tumbled to $81,000 earlier today and continued to fall as trading progressed. At the time of writing, BTC was hovering around $77,300, down 8% over the past 24 hours, TradingView data shows.

The recent decline has pushed Bitcoin’s market capitalization down to approximately $1.5 trillion, allowing Tesla, now valued at $1.6 trillion, to move ahead to the 11th position.

Earlier this week, Bitcoin fell out of the top 10 global assets, placing it behind Meta Platforms and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

The sharp market correction this morning has triggered widespread deleveraging, wiping out roughly $2.5 billion in leveraged crypto positions in the past day, per CoinGlass .

Long traders bore the brunt of the losses at $2.4 billion, while more than 408,000 traders were liquidated.

Ethereum price has weakened sharply over the past several sessions, extending losses as market sentiment deteriorated. The recent dip reflects broader bearish conditions and also deliberate investor actions. 

Increased selling pressure has made recovery more challenging. At the same time, continued distribution risks push ETH further lower before meaningful stabilization occurs.

Ethereum Holders Move To Sell Their Holdings

Whale activity has played a significant role in Ethereum’s latest decline. Over the past week, addresses holding between 10,000 and 100,000 ETH reduced exposure aggressively. These large holders sold more than 1.1 million ETH during this period. At current prices, the value of that distribution exceeds $2.8 billion.

Such large-scale selling adds direct pressure on spot markets. When whales reduce holdings, liquidity absorbs supply at lower prices. This behavior often accelerates short-term downtrends.

In Ethereum’s case, the sell-off reinforced bearish momentum and contributed to the recent breakdown below key technical levels.

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Macro indicators present a mixed outlook for Ethereum. Data shows that the total supply in profit has dropped below the 50% threshold. When fewer holders sit on unrealized gains, fear often increases. This environment can temporarily reduce sales, as investors hesitate to realize losses.

However, the same metric also carries downside risk. If losses deepen further, behavior can shift quickly. Investors may sell to prevent additional drawdowns. Under such conditions, the Ethereum price could face renewed pressure despite short-lived stabilization attempts driven by reduced profit-taking.

ETH Price Has A Long Way To Go

Ethereum is trading near $2,636 at the time of writing. The asset has fallen 12.7% over the past two days. This decline confirmed a bearish ascending wedge pattern. The formation projects a further 16% drop, targeting the $2,465 level if momentum persists.

The probability of this scenario has increased following the loss of key support. ETH broke below $2,802, confirming the pattern’s breakdown. Technical structures often gain credibility once support levels fail. As long as the price remains below the former support, bearish continuation remains the dominant risk.

A recovery path still exists under improved conditions. If Ethereum holds the $2,570 support level, buyers may attempt a rebound. A sustained move back toward $2,802 would be critical. Reclaiming that level as support would invalidate the bearish thesis and signal renewed strength.

U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds ended January on a sour note, with approximately $1.49 billion exiting the funds during the final week of the month, according to data from SoSoValue.

The selling pressure intensified sharply in the week's final two sessions. Wednesday saw $818 million in net outflows, the largest single-day redemption of 2026, followed by another $510 million leaving the funds on Thursday. The four-day stretch from Tuesday through Friday recorded outflows every session, with a marginal $7 million inflow on Monday.

The week's outflows pushed January's total net redemptions to approximately $1.6 billion, making it the third-largest monthly ETF sell-off in history for bitcoin products, per the data. The figure marks a stark reversal from the optimism that greeted the new year, when bitcoin ETFs pulled in over $1.16 billion in the first two trading days of 2026, with Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas noting at the time that the products were "coming into 2026 like a lion."

The outflows come as Bitocin's price fell below $80,000 on Saturday for the first time since April of last year. BTC is currently trading around $77,800, according to The Block's Bitcoin Price page. The decline in price led BTC to briefly trade below Microstrategy's cost basis of $76,037 per Bitcoin for the first time since Oct. 2023. 

ETH, SOL, and XRP show divergent flows

Spot ether ETFs mirrored bitcoin's weakness, recording approximately $353 million in net outflows for January. The final week proved particularly brutal, with Thursday's session alone seeing $253 million exit the funds, led by outflows from BlackRock's industry-leading ETHA and Fidelity's FETH.

Ether also dipped on Saturday, briefly dropping below $2,300. Its price is currently down more than 13% over the past 24 hours, trading at about $2,376, per The Block's Ethereum Price page. 

In contrast, newer altcoin ETF products showed resilience. Spot Solana ETFs recorded approximately $105 million in net inflows for January, continuing the momentum that has made Bitwise's BSOL fund the industry leader in SOL ETF assets under management.

XRP ETFs posted modest net inflows of roughly $16 million for the month, though the final week saw a notable $93 million outflow on Wednesday that temporarily disrupted their positive streak. The five XRP funds had previously traded for 36 consecutive days without net outflows following their November launch.

Macro factors weigh on sentiment

The synchronized selling across bitcoin and ether ETFs suggests institutional investors were reducing overall crypto exposure rather than rotating between assets, a shift from earlier in January when ether inflows often offset bitcoin weakness.

The selloff accelerated after former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh was selected as the next Fed chair, a choice markets have interpreted as bearish for risk assets. Geopolitical flashpoints, including reports of an explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas port and a brief U.S. government shutdown, added to the risk-off tone.

The ETF landscape continues to expand even amid the outflows. Morgan Stanley filed registration statements with the SEC earlier this month to launch spot Bitcoin and Solana ETFs, signaling that institutional interest in regulated crypto exposure persists despite short-term volatility.

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