Shiba Inu Enters ‘Yearly Demand Zone’ That Preceded 296% Rally in 2024—Burn Rate Explodes 1,100%

Bitcoin saw multiday lows into Sunday’s weekly close as bulls faced a week of macro uncertainty.

Key points:

• Bitcoin heads lower as market nerves about upcoming macroeconomic volatility catalysts boil over.

• Downside risks firmly outweigh the odds of upside, BTC price analysis says.

• A potential bullish divergence against silver offers a glimmer of hope.

Bitcoin sags into big macro week

Data from TradingView tracked 1.6% losses for , which reached $87,471 on Bitstamp.

The calls of a potential Bitcoin supercycle in 2026 intensified over the past week after former Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao — yet another prominent voice in crypto — laid out his predictions for the new year. However, a popular analyst on the social media platform X has released an opposing view, predicting a deep bottom for the BTC price this year.

BTC Price At Risk Of Further 65% Decline

In a January 25th post on the X platform, prominent crypto trader Ali Martinez said, in a sarcastic tone, that “the super cycle is super cycling.” In what seemed like a response to the buzz around CZ’s Bitcoin supercycle projection, the market pundit tempered the expectations with a $31,000 price bottom call for the premier cryptocurrency in 2026.

This bearish prediction is based on the appearance of price fractals on the BTC chart. For context, fractals are repeating patterns in price charts that can help map and project potential price movements for a particular cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, in this scenario).

As observed in the chart above, the price of BTC is currently following a similar movement pattern as in 2022. The premier cryptocurrency, after initially setting a then all-time high around $67,000 in early 2021, witnessed a nearly 55% correction to just above the $30,000 level by mid-July.

While the price of Bitcoin recovered and went back to set a record high of above $69,000 by the end of 2021, the market leader spent the majority of the following year in a downward trend. Exacerbated by the various bearish events of 2022, BTC ended the year at a low of around $15,500.

Martinez believes that the Bitcoin price is undergoing a similar movement pattern, having experienced an over 32% decline before climbing to the current all-time high of $126,080. The market pundit postulates that the premier cryptocurrency is currently witnessing the extended decline that saw its price reach $15,500 in 2022.

However, it is worth mentioning that the target this time around lies at $31,800, nearly 65% drop from the current price point. Hence, if the historical patterns highlighted by Martinez are to go by, there seems to be a higher likelihood of the Bitcoin price embarking on an extended downward trend rather than a supercycle.

Bitcoin Price At A Glance

As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $88,528, reflecting an over 1% decline in the past 24 hours.

Entropy, a decentralized custody startup that raised $25 million in a seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz in 2022, is shutting down and returning capital to investors, founder and CEO Tux Pacific announced on X.

Pacific said the decision came after four years of building, "several pivots, and two rounds of layoffs." The company was most recently developing a crypto automations platform, described as similar to n8n or Zapier but designed for crypto, featuring automated signing using threshold cryptography, secure computation via trusted execution environments (TEEs), and AI integrations.

"After an initial feedback request revealed that the business model wasn't venture scale, I was left with the choice to find a creative way forward or pivot once more," Pacific wrote. "After four hard years working in crypto, I decided that the best I could do has already been done: it was time to close up shop."

Entropy raised its $25 million seed round in June 2022, with participation from Dragonfly Capital, Ethereal Ventures, Variant, Coinbase Ventures, Robot Ventures, Inflection, and the Komerabi Fund. The company had also raised a $1.95 million pre-seed round earlier that year in January, bringing total funding to approximately $27 million.

Pacific, a self-taught cryptographer who previously worked at NuCypher, founded Entropy in 2021. The founder's unconventional background drew attention when Entropy first raised: Pacific is a college dropout, a transgender advocate, and a self-described "anti-capitalist anarchist" who nonetheless believes in free-market principles rooted in Bitcoin's early days.

The startup was originally positioned as a decentralized alternative to centralized crypto custodians like Fireblocks and Coinbase. Entropy leveraged cryptographic techniques based on multiparty computation to allow users to deposit and manage cryptocurrencies across blockchains while implementing their own rules for interacting with funds, such as time-gated constraints.

Despite their anti-capitalist politics, Pacific found a home in crypto. "I've never felt I've been in a space where it's been more acceptable for people to be so different," Pacific told TechCrunch in 2022. "If you go to a [crypto] conference, it's just filled with weird, weird people."

Pacific thanked a16z crypto and Guy Wuollet for their guidance throughout the wind-down process.

"I've never once given up in my career. The only thing I've ever quit was college, so this makes the second thing," Pacific wrote. "It's challenging, but I find peace in the fact that a career is a practice: the goal is not the destination, but the journey of innovation."

Entropy's closure adds to a broader trend of crypto startup shutdowns in 2025. Crypto venture deal count fell roughly 60% year over year in 2025, dropping to about 1,200 transactions from more than 2,900 in 2024, according to The Block Pro data.

Looking ahead, Pacific said they plan to take a break before potentially pivoting away from crypto entirely. "My time in crypto might be coming to an end, as I feel myself drawn specifically into pharmaceuticals: I want to innovate on hormone delivery, specifically for women who experience menopause and trans women for HRT," Pacific wrote, adding they will be spending time validating research on new estradiol drug formulations.

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.

Prediction markets on Polymarket now price the odds of a shutdown by January 31 at roughly 78%, a dramatic increase from just 10% three days earlier.

Amid growing risks of another US government shutdown, investors are flocking to safe-haven assets amid mounting uncertainty. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index now shows ‘Extreme Fear’. Sentiment had recovered to neutral less than a week ago.

US Policymaker Deadlock Pushes Shutdown Odds on Polymarket Higher

There is mounting partisan deadlock over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The surge in probability has coincided with sharp gains in gold and silver, mirroring patterns observed during the record 43-day shutdown that ended in November 2025.

The House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding bill by a vote of 341 to 81. Yet, Senate Democrats, led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have refused to advance the bill. Notably, DHS funding, particularly for Immigration and Customs Enforcement , remains attached.

The deadlock has created a “data blackout.” Delayed economic indicators such as CPI and jobs reports complicate the Federal Reserve’s policy and risk models. This could push market volatility higher.

Indeed, Polymarket bettors see a similar outcome, wagering a 76% probability that there will be another US government shutdown by January 31.

Similar bets include a 77% chance of a US Government funding lapse on January 31. On the off chance that it does happen, analysts anticipate four key threats:

• Delayed economic data
• Potential credit downgrades
• Liquidity freezes, and
• A GDP contraction of approximately 0.2% per week if the impasse persists.

Safe-Haven Metals Rally as Crypto Volatility Mounts Amid Shutdown Risk

Precious metals have been the clearest beneficiaries. Gold recorded a new all-time high above $5,000 per ounce, trading for $5,041 as of this writing. Meanwhile, the silver price broke the $100 barrier for the first time, trading at $103.07 per ounce as of this writing.

Beyond safe-haven demand, structural supply constraints, industrial demand for silver in electronics and solar sectors, and broader geopolitical concerns also fuel the rally.

Historical precedent reinforces this trend because during the prior shutdown in late 2025, gold climbed from roughly $3,858 to over $4,100 per ounce. Silver, on the other hand, tested $54, reflecting a combination of risk-off buying and uncertainty premiums.

Crypto markets, by contrast, have shown volatility amid the uncertainty. Bitcoin, which fell by roughly 20% during the 43-day 2025 shutdown, remains sensitive to liquidity shocks and delayed economic data, prompting caution among investors.

A prolonged shutdown could exacerbate stress across repo markets and money funds, with a few bettors predicting the prospective government shutdown lasting up to two months.

While the risk is high, a shutdown is not inevitable. Congress could prevent it by passing the remaining appropriations bills or extending funding via another continuing resolution.

Recent bipartisan deals have lowered the odds, but with the Senate deadlocked and less than a week before the January 30 deadline, market participants are pricing in a significant probability of disruption.

Against this backdrop, Polymarket traders continue to place bets, and gold and silver prices are climbing. This is based on the perception that in periods of political gridlock and fiscal uncertainty, safe-haven assets historically provide a buffer.

However, it is also worth noting that markets can swing violently in either direction depending on the resolution of the standoff. Therefore, investors should conduct their own research.

Bitcoin dropped under $88,000 on Sunday, erasing around $135 million in crypto longs in the past hour amid renewed selling pressure across digital asset markets.

The decline comes after Bitcoin retreated from a weekly high above $92,000 reached on January 19. The leading crypto asset traded at $87,743 at press time, down 1.5% on the day and nearly 8% over the past week, per CoinGecko .

Market sentiment has turned fearful, with the Fear & Greed Index registering a score of 25.

Technical analysts point to a false breakout of the $95,938 resistance level as a catalyst for the current downtrend. Without reversal signals, Bitcoin may test support at $86,561, with some forecasts suggesting a potential slide toward $80,000.

The global crypto market cap has fallen to $3 trillion amid the broader selloff, which has also affected major altcoins such as Ethereum, Solana, and XRP.

Ethereum and BNB declined by more than 2% in the past 24 hours, as XRP and Solana each slid over 3%.

Despite the weekend selloff, crypto bulls showed little sign of pulling back. Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, hinted at another potential purchase.

The company currently holds 709,715 BTC valued at more than $62 billion following last week’s acquisition.

Tezos, a layer-1 proof-of-stake blockchain network, implemented its latest protocol upgrade, Tallinn, on Saturday, which reduced block times on the base layer to 6 seconds.

The latest upgrade is the 20th update to the protocol, which reduces block times, slashes storage costs and reduces latency, resulting in faster network finality times, according to an announcement from Tezos.

Tallinn also allows all network validators, known as “bakers”, to attest to every single block, rather than a subset of validators attesting to blocks, which is how validators verified blocks in previous versions of the protocol, Spokespeople for Tezos explained:

The upgrade also introduced an address indexing mechanism that removes “redundant” address data, reducing storage needs for applications running on Tezos.

Spokespeople for Tezos said the address indexing mechanism improves storage efficiency by a factor of 100.

Tezos’ latest upgrade showcases the push for faster and higher-throughput blockchain networks that can handle more transactions per second and reduced settlement times to accommodate a growing number of use cases. 

Related: The 5 busiest blockchains of 2025 and what powered their growth

Block times have come a long way since the first generation of blockchains

The first generation of blockchain networks, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, had speeds of about seven transactions per second (TPS) and 15-30 TPS, respectively.

The Bitcoin protocol produces blocks about every 10 minutes, which presents a challenge for everyday payments and commercial transactions on the base layer.