Crypto Market Crashes Below $2.5 Trillion as Bitcoin Slides to $70,700 on Liquidation Wave
This is part of The Rio Times’ daily coverage of cryptocurrency markets and Latin American financial markets.
The cryptocurrency market plunged below the $2.5 trillion mark on Wednesday as Bitcoin broke through the critical $72,000 support level, briefly touching $69,101 on Bitstamp before stabilizing near $70,700.
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\nThe rout — which has now erased more than 40% from Bitcoin’s October 2025 all-time high of $126,000 — accelerated on a toxic cocktail of leveraged liquidations, a partial U.S. government shutdown, and deepening fears over the hawkish trajectory of incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh.
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Key Market Data
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| Asset | Price (USD) | 24h Change | 7-Day Change | YTD Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $70,704 | -6.52% | -12.8% | -22.3% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | $2,101 | -7.12% | -18.4% | -32.2% |
| Solana (SOL) | $92.04 | -5.36% | -14.7% | -44.8% |
| XRP | $1.435 | -10.63% | -16.0% | -36.5% |
| BNB | $694.11 | -8.70% | -10.2% | -15.8% |
| Total Market Cap | $2.43T | -6.40% | -15.1% | -18.2% |
| Fear & Greed Index | 14 — Extreme Fear (lowest since Nov 2025) | |||
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Performance Analysis
\nWednesday’s sell-off marks the deepest phase yet of a correction that began in earnest with the “Black Sunday” crash on February 1, when more than $2.2 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated in a single session.
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\nBitcoin’s breach below $73,000 on Tuesday — its lowest since November 6, 2024 — sent shockwaves through derivative markets, triggering another cascade of forced closures and pushing open interest to a nine-month low.
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\nEthereum has borne the brunt of the pain among large-cap altcoins, shedding more than 32% year-to-date and now trading well below the psychologically important $2,500 level.
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\nInstitutional outflows from Ethereum spot ETFs have been persistent, with BlackRock reportedly shifting large quantities of ETH to exchanges.
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\nSolana, once the darling of the 2024 rally, has now lost more than half its value from its January 2025 peak, slipping below $100 for the first time in a year.
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\nAmong the few bright spots, Hyperliquid’s HYPE token posted a 5.72% gain, defying the broader carnage on the back of strong decentralized exchange volumes.
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Key Drivers
\nThe macro backdrop has deteriorated sharply for risk assets since late January. The nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chair has fundamentally repriced expectations for U.S. monetary policy.
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\nKnown as a critic of quantitative easing and a proponent of tighter financial conditions, Warsh’s appointment has propelled the U.S. dollar higher and dragged down everything priced against it — from Bitcoin and Ethereum to gold and silver.
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\nThe precious metals complex itself suffered a historic rout on January 31, with silver crashing 26% in a single session and gold dropping 9%, further destabilizing portfolios that held both crypto and hard assets as hedges.
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\nAdding to investor anxiety, a partial U.S. government shutdown has delayed the release of critical economic data, leaving markets flying blind on the state of the economy.
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\nThe suspension of key reports has also complicated the outlook for Federal Reserve policy, since incoming officials lack the data points they would typically use to calibrate rate decisions.
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\nMeanwhile, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have hemorrhaged capital, recording $272 million in outflows on Tuesday alone and bringing year-to-date outflows above $1 billion.
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\nCoinShares reported $1.7 billion in digital asset investment product outflows over two consecutive weeks, the worst streak since the collapse of FTX in 2022.
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Technical Outlook
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| Level | BTC/USD | ETH/USD | SOL/USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resistance 2 | $86,000 | $2,500 | $125 |
| Resistance 1 | $80,000 | $2,300 | $100 |
| Current Price | $70,704 | $2,101 | $92.04 |
| Support 1 | $69,000 | $2,000 | $85 |
| Support 2 | $64,000 | $1,800 | $75 |
\nThe most significant development on the weekly chart is Bitcoin’s accelerating descent toward the 200-week moving average, currently rising near $58,088.
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\nThis level has historically been the single most important line in Bitcoin‘s long-term technical structure — acting as the definitive boundary between secular bull and bear markets.
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\nIn every previous cycle, the 200-week MA served as the ultimate floor during major corrections: it held during the 2018–2019 bear market, absorbed the COVID crash in March 2020, and marked the exact bottom of the 2022 capitulation near $15,500.
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\nWith BTC now trading at $70,700, the gap to the 200-week MA has narrowed to roughly 18% — a distance that could close quickly if current selling momentum persists.
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\nShould Bitcoin reach and test this level, it would represent the first meaningful encounter with the 200-week MA since the 2022 bear market bottom.
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\nHistorically, this moving average has always acted as a major support-turned-resistance pivot: if the price breaks below it and fails to reclaim it, the 200-week MA becomes the primary ceiling on any recovery attempt, signaling that the drawdown has evolved from a cyclical correction into a structural bear market.
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\nThe broader weekly picture reinforces the gravity of this moment: Bitcoin has now closed four consecutive months in the red, the Ichimoku cloud has turned bearish, and the weekly RSI sits at 29 — deep in oversold territory.
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\nThe MACD histogram remains firmly negative with all signal lines declining. A sustained breach below $69,000 would expose the $64,000 level as the next major structural support.
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\nOn the daily chart, the price trades well below its 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day moving averages, all sloping downward — a hallmark of a confirmed bearish trend.
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\nAny recovery attempt would face stiff resistance first at the 200-week MA and then at the former support-turned-resistance zone of $80,000.
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Analyst Perspectives
\nAlex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, captured the prevailing mood in a recent interview with CNBC: “We are in a complex investing environment.
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\nEquity valuations are stretched, the geopolitical environment is chaotic, and monetary policy conditions appear to be shifting. Against this backdrop, the outlook for Bitcoin in 2026 is tough to predict.”
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\nStandard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick, who revised his 2026 Bitcoin target down from $300,000 to $150,000 in December, noted that buying by digital asset treasury companies “is likely over, as valuations no longer support further expansion.”
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\nOn-chain data tells a story of capitulation among smaller investors. According to Glassnode, “Small Fish” holders with less than 10 BTC have been persistently selling for over a month, spooked by the 40% drawdown from the all-time high.
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\nMeanwhile, mega-whales holding more than 1,000 BTC have been quietly accumulating, absorbing retail supply at lower levels — though not enough to arrest the decline.
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Looking Ahead
\nMarket participants are bracing for a volatile stretch in the days ahead. The partial U.S. government shutdown continues to delay key economic releases, though resolution could come as soon as this week.
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\nThe next major catalyst arrives on February 10 with the scheduled release of CPI inflation data — assuming the government has reopened — which will set the tone for the Warsh-era Fed’s first policy signals.
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\nPantera Capital is hosting an investor call on February 10 to discuss positioning in what it calls “the most consequential reset since the 2022 bear market.”
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\nAdditionally, SUI token unlocks and a large Ethereum options expiry on February 14 could inject further volatility into a market already trading on thin liquidity.
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\nThe crypto market stands at a crossroads: either the extreme fear readings mark a capitulation bottom — as they have in past cycles — or the unwinding of speculative excess has further to run. For now, the bears remain firmly in control.
Related coverage: Brazil’s Ibovespa | dollar-real exchange rate
Live Market IntelligenceCrypto — Live Market Board
Rio Times · Live Market Intelligence
Crypto — Live Market Board
-0.26%
| Instrument | Last | Change | YoY | Prev. | High | Low | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTC | 63,384 | -0.26% | -47.24% | 63,552 | 64,346 | 63,305 | 22,774,743,040 |
| ETH | 1,886 | +0.26% | -58.90% | 1,881 | 1,920 | 1,879 | 7,916,475,392 |
| SOL | 75.89 | -0.40% | -60.44% | 76.20 | 76.99 | 75.39 | 1,473,821,056 |
| XRP | 1.01 | -1.15% | -69.07% | 1.02 | 1.02 | 1.01 | 1,144,044,416 |
| BNB | 609.60 | -1.12% | -26.81% | 616.50 | 619.30 | 609.23 | 1,266,706,432 |
| ADA | 0.18 | -1.98% | -78.22% | 0.19 | 0.19 | 0.18 | 238,085,632 |
| DOGE | 0.07 | -1.56% | -70.00% | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 553,256,192 |
| AVAX | 6.38 | +1.04% | -74.11% | 6.32 | 6.42 | 6.21 | 248,470,560 |
| LINK | 8.77 | -0.06% | -62.73% | 8.77 | 8.87 | 8.68 | 317,054,880 |
| DOT | 0.78 | -0.75% | -81.11% | 0.79 | 0.80 | 0.78 | 43,490,492 |
| LTC | 45.08 | -0.85% | -65.45% | 45.47 | 45.59 | 44.98 | 143,727,712 |
| BCH | 213.85 | +0.10% | -65.44% | 213.64 | 215.69 | 212.54 | 137,956,688 |
| TRX | 0.34 | +0.28% | -4.73% | 0.33 | 0.34 | 0.33 | 436,576,064 |
| XLM | 0.16 | -1.33% | -64.46% | 0.16 | 0.16 | 0.16 | 89,559,864 |
| HBAR | 0.07 | -0.53% | -74.67% | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 22,546,186 |
| NEAR | 1.65 | +2.42% | -40.55% | 1.62 | 1.68 | 1.61 | 187,591,264 |
| ATOM | 1.40 | -2.36% | -70.15% | 1.44 | 1.44 | 1.40 | 18,626,964 |
| AAVE | 89.06 | +0.93% | -72.33% | 88.24 | 90.20 | 88.19 | 129,099,704 |
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