Ethereum Price Slips Below $2,500 — Here Are The Next Support Levels

The crypto market is under heavy pressure today, with prices falling sharply over the weekend and investors asking one question: what went wrong? The answer lies in a mix of forced selling, weak demand, and price levels breaking all at once.

The total crypto market value has dropped to around $2.6 trillion, down nearly 5% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin, which was trying to hold above $78,000, has now slipped below that level, adding to market fear. Many traders are now watching the next major support near $75,000.

The biggest driver of today’s crash is liquidations. In just 24 hours, more than $2.58 billion worth of crypto positions were wiped out. This happens when traders use borrowed money and prices move against them, forcing exchanges to close positions automatically.

Weekend Trading Made It Worse

Weekend markets usually have lower trading volume and thinner liquidity. That means fewer buyers are available when prices start falling. As Bitcoin dropped below key levels, sell orders piled up quickly, pushing prices down faster than usual.

Bitcoin Breaks Key Levels

Bitcoin falling below $78,000 was a major technical trigger. This level had been acting as short-term support. Once it broke, many traders exited positions. Bitcoin is also testing an important long-term support level when compared to gold, making this zone critical.

If Bitcoin fails to hold near current levels, analysts see $75,000 as the next strong support. A break below that could bring even more selling.

Altcoins Hit Harder

Altcoins are feeling even more pain:

• Ethereum is down sharply over the week, losing more than 20%
• XRP, Solana, and BNB are all deep in the red
• The CoinMarketCap 20 Index is down over 14% in seven days

Market Fear Is Extreme

Investor sentiment has collapsed. The Fear and Greed Index is at 18, which signals extreme fear. Technical indicators show most coins are now oversold, meaning prices have fallen very quickly in a short time.

Weak Demand Adds Pressure

On top of liquidations, demand has been weak. Large investors have been cautious, and there has been no strong buying support to absorb the selling. When forced liquidations meet low demand, prices fall fast.

What Happens Next

The market now depends on whether Bitcoin can stabilise above $75,000. If selling slows and liquidations dry up, a short-term bounce is possible. But if fear continues and key supports fail, volatility could remain high in the coming days.

For now, the weekend crash shows how quickly crypto markets can turn when leverage, fear, and low liquidity collide.

An investment vehicle backed by Emirati Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan secretly acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million just days before President Donald Trump's inauguration, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation published Saturday.

The deal, signed by Eric Trump on behalf of the project four days before the January 2025 inauguration, was never publicly disclosed. The buyer was Aryam Investment 1, an Abu Dhabi entity backed by Tahnoon, the UAE's national security adviser and brother to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, the Journal reported.

Under the agreement, half of the $500 million was paid upfront, with $187 million flowing to Trump family-controlled entities and at least $31 million going to entities affiliated with the family of Steve Witkoff, the real estate magnate who co-founded World Liberty and was later named U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East. Witkoff's son Zach is the current CEO of the project. 

G42 executives helped manage Aryam Investment 1 and took board seats at World Liberty as part of the transaction, making Tahnoon's vehicle the crypto venture's largest outside shareholder, the Journal reported.

The disclosure helps explain a previously unexplained shift in World Liberty's ownership structure. As The Block reported in June 2025, DT Marks DeFi LLC, the Trump-linked firm behind World Liberty Financial, had quietly reduced its equity interest in the project's holding company from 60% to 40%, down from 75% in December 2024. The company did not explain at the time who had acquired the stake.

The math roughly tracks if Aryam's 49% stake came proportionally from all existing shareholders: a 75% stake diluted by a 49% outside investment would leave DT Marks with approximately 38%, close to the figure now disclosed on World Liberty's website.

Sheikh secures AI chips months after deal

The revelation intensifies scrutiny around World Liberty's deepening financial ties to UAE interests. Weeks before the Trump administration announced a framework allowing the UAE access to hundreds of thousands of advanced AI chips annually, another Tahnoon-led firm, MGX, used World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin to complete a $2 billion investment into crypto exchange Binance. That transaction helped establish USD1 as one of the fastest-growing stablecoins by market capitalization, with over $5 billion now in circulation.

The overlapping timelines have drawn concern from Democrats. In September 2025, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Elissa Slotkin called for investigations into potential conflicts of interest involving Witkoff and White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks, citing a New York Times investigation that documented the proximity between World Liberty's UAE deals and the administration's chip export negotiations.

World Liberty Financial and the White House denied any wrongdoing in response to the Journal's reporting. Spokespeople told the outlet that Trump was not involved in the deal and that it did not influence U.S. policy decisions. The project has previously maintained that Trump and his family are not involved in day-to-day management, with operations handled by crypto-native executives including CEO Zach Witkoff and co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro.

Tahnoon has been central to the UAE's push to become a global AI and technology hub. G42, the AI conglomerate he chairs, had previously faced Biden-era restrictions on advanced chip access due to national security concerns about the company's past ties to Chinese firms. Those restrictions were reversed under the Trump administration, which in November 2025 approved sales of computing power equivalent to 35,000 of Nvidia's most advanced GB300 processors to G42.

World Liberty Financial launched in October 2024 and has since expanded into stablecoin issuance, DeFi lending, and is pursuing a national trust bank charter to formalize its USD1 operations under federal supervision. The project lists President Trump and his sons Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron as co-founders.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Demand for US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has reversed, with the 12 products recording $1.6 billion in net withdrawals this month.

Data from SoSoValue shows that this marks a third consecutive month of negative flows for the ETF products. During this period, the funds lost around $6 billion in flows.

Bitcoin ETF Demand Reverses Course After Three Months of Sustained Selling

Meanwhile, these monthly outflows represent the longest streak of losses since the US SEC authorized the products in January 2024.

Market observers noted that persistent outflows indicate that demand for Bitcoin products has entered a sustained decline.

Notably, data from CryptoQuant further corroborates the downtrend. The 12 Bitcoin funds have collectively experienced an exodus of approximately 4,595 BTC since the start of 2026.

This year-to-date figure highlights a significant shift in investor sentiment compared to the record-breaking inflows of previous years. Indeed, the BTC products had pulled in nearly 40,000 BTC during the same period last year.

Market observers attribute the exodus to a “narrative exhaustion” that has coincided with Bitcoin’s lackluster price performance.

Since reaching an all-time high of more than $126,000 in October 2025, BTC’s price has declined by more than 37%.

In light of this, Jim Bianco, founder of Bianco Research, suggested that the period of rapid institutional adoption has reached its logical conclusion.

He noted that BTC’s transition into traditional finance fueled a 400% rally from the initial 2023 filings to the political shifts of late 2024.

However, he characterized the climb to $126,000 in late 2025 as a “zombie rally” driven by residual momentum rather than fresh capital.

According to him, the current market apathy is further evidenced by a lack of responsiveness to traditionally bullish headlines.

Thus, even positive developments such as the appointment of crypto-friendly officials to economic posts have failed to spark a recovery.

Consequently, Bianco suggests the “adoption story” is now fully priced into the market, returning Bitcoin to its status as a high-volatility risk asset.

This shift leaves ETF investors to grapple with the reality of a maturing market that is currently in retreat.

India’s Union Budget 2026 has kept the existing crypto tax framework unchanged, even as the government moved to tighten compliance through stricter penalties. While oversight has increased, industry leaders say the Budget missed a key opportunity to support long-term growth in crypto and Web3.

The Finance Bill introduces penalties to enforce reporting under Section 509 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the aim is to deter non-compliance in crypto-asset reporting.

Under the amendment, entities that fail to file crypto transaction statements will face a ₹200 per day penalty, while furnishing incorrect or misleading information — or failing to correct it — will attract a ₹50,000 fine. These provisions will take effect from April 1, 2026.

“Tax Regime Remains Restrictive”

Reacting to the Budget, Sathvik Vishwanath, Co-founder and CEO of Unocoin, said expectations from Budget 2026 were much broader than enforcement alone.

“The Union Budget 2026 was expected to play a decisive role in shaping India’s approach to crypto assets and Web3 technologies,” he said in an interview with Coinpedia. “A primary expectation was the rationalisation of the existing tax regime for virtual digital assets, which is currently restrictive and misaligned with broader financial market practices.”

Sathvik added that allowing loss set-offs, reducing transaction-level friction, and aligning crypto taxation with other asset classes would have helped restore domestic liquidity and encourage compliant participation within India.

Regulatory Clarity Still Missing

Beyond taxes, Sathvik stressed that the lack of a clear regulatory framework continues to hurt Indian exchanges.

“The absence of a comprehensive, crypto-specific framework has created uncertainty for exchanges, investors, and technology developers,” he said. “Clear definitions, licensing norms, compliance standards, and consumer protection mechanisms are essential for long-term planning and responsible innovation.”

He warned that unclear rules have already reduced local trading volumes and pushed users to offshore platforms.

“A well-defined framework would help retain market activity within India, strengthen domestic exchanges, and improve regulatory oversight,” Sathvik said.

How India Compares Globally

Sathvik also opened up about how India lags behind global crypto hubs. He pointed out that Dubai has introduced purpose-built digital asset regulations, while Singapore follows a structured licensing and consumer protection model. The United States, despite earlier fragmentation, is gradually moving toward clearer asset classification.

“Compared to these jurisdictions, India’s current framework lacks the clarity and cohesiveness required to compete effectively for global capital, talent, and innovation,” he said.

The Bitcoin market experienced a shockingly dramatic weekend, as opposed to the typical silent price action displayed in previous weekends. On Saturday, January 31st, the world’s leading cryptocurrency seemingly led other crypto assets south of the charts, with its price falling from $84,350 to as low as $75,000 in a single swoop. 

As this unfolded, an inversely correlated shift also played out underneath the charts. A recent on-chain evaluation has pointed out that Bitcoin’s Long-term Holder behavior is changing, contrary to what its short-term holders are doing.

Long-Term Holders Accumulate As Short-Term Supply Declines

Pseudonymous on-chain analyst Darkfost recently took to CryptoQuant, via a Quicktake post, pointing out that Bitcoin’s long-term holders are racking up more BTC. The relevant indicator here is the LTH supply change (Coinbase fix).

For context, this metric tracks the net change in the amount of Bitcoin held by long-term holders (typically coins unmoved for ~155 days). According to the analyst, approximately 186,000 (on a monthly average) have been added to the Long-term holders’ supply.

Seeing as more coins are aging past 155 days, Darkfost implied that short-term holder supply is, in turn, witnessing steady contraction. Notably, the analyst pointed out this kind of transition (between long-term and short-term investors) last happened in April, as the Bitcoin price retraced. 

As it is intuitively evident, a rising LTH supply is typically interpreted as growing conviction among Bitcoin’s long-term investors. By extension, this means that long-term holders are distributing less of their holdings and stowing away more. 

In theory, this behavior is bullish news for the cryptocurrency. This is because, as LTHs absorb supply, the amount of available Bitcoin for sale reduces. Historically, it is also a bullish signal for the BTC price, as it has often appeared during the early stages of accumulation periods or late into correction stages.

However, the broader market implications in the current context might not be so favorable. Darkfost highlighted that there is very weak demand available to cushion the falling BTC price. 

At the same time, the Bitcoin market appears to be entering a bearish phase; hence, it is not far-fetched to see major capitulation events in the near-term. If this happens, the Bitcoin price would likely plummet, as weaker investors may sell off their holdings in fear or as victims of liquidation events.

For a bullish outlook to be truly relevant, there has to be a clear recovery in demand, alongside continued long-term holder accumulation. 

Bitcoin Price At A Glance 

As of press time, the Bitcoin price stands at approximately $78,060, reflecting a 6.9% loss in the past day.

Bitcoin price fell below the $80,000 support level, hitting a nine-month low and wiping out $2.6 billion in trader positions.

According to BeInCrypto data, the 6% slide sent the token to $77,082 before a minor rebound. This marked the first time prices have sat this low since April 2025.

Bitcoin Sinks Below ‘Fair Value’ for First Time in Years

The price action pushed Bitcoin below critical on-chain benchmarks for the first time in years.

Glassnode data confirmed that Bitcoin fell below its True Market Mean—currently $80,500—for the first time in 30 months. The last breach occurred in late 2023, when the asset traded at just $29,000.

Historically, a breach of this level signals a transition from a bull cycle to a mid-term bear market.

As a result, BTC holders now face a grim reality as its Short-Term Holder Cost Basis has climbed to $95,400, while the Active Investor Mean stands at $87,300.

With the spot price significantly below these averages, the market now faces a substantial overhang of unrealized losses.

This technical breakdown triggered a violent deleveraging event across global derivatives exchanges.

Data from CoinGlass show that the collapse led to the liquidation of roughly $2.58 billion in trader positions.

Notably, the carnage hit one side of the market with extreme prejudice as “long” positions—bets on a price rebound—accounted for $2.42 billion of the total losses. This is the largest long liquidation event in the last three months.

Ethereum traders bore the heaviest burden, incurring $1.15 billion in liquidations, while Bitcoin-related wipes totaled more than $772 million.

This massive “long squeeze” shows that participants overleveraged their positions to defend the $80,000 floor, only to be crushed by accelerating downside momentum.

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju tied this substantial decline to an exhaustion in BTC’s buyer liquidity. He attributed this to a “flatlined” Realized Cap, which confirms that the fresh capital required to sustain a bull market has simply vanished.

According to Ju, while early investors continue to take profits on holdings acquired during the 2025 surge, no new institutional “blood” exists to absorb the supply.

Considering this, he posited that the market would be forced into a “wide-ranging sideways consolidation” until a new floor emerges.