Why Is Crypto Down Today? – February 4, 2026

Summary: The cryptocurrency market has experienced a downturn today, with a 2.3% decrease leading to a total market cap of $2.66 trillion. The majority of top cryptocurrencies have seen their values fall, particularly Bitcoin and Solana, while a few have managed slight gains.

Key Takeaways

The crypto market dropped by 2.3%, with a total market cap of $2.66 trillion.
64 out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies experienced price declines over the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin (BTC) decreased by 2.9%, while Ethereum (ETH) increased by 4.3%.
Market analyst Tony Severino indicates that the current volatility could lead to significant price movements in the near future.
The fear and greed index sits at a low 14, signaling extreme fear in the market.

Why Is Crypto Down Today

Crypto Winners & Losers

This Wednesday morning (UTC), the majority of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization recorded price drops.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 2.9%, trading at $76,415, marking the second highest decline in this group.
Ethereum (ETH), however, saw an increase of 4.3%, now at $2,318, which is the second highest rise in its category.
The sharpest loss among the top coins was Solana (SOL), which dropped 6.5% to $97.8.

In total, three cryptocurrencies marked gains, with only one rising above 0.5%. Tron (TRX) rose by 1.1%, now priced at $0.2865. Dogecoin (DOGE) and Figure Heloc (FIGR_HELOC) climbed by 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, sitting at $0.1083 and $1.04.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, 64 saw declines today, with Hyperliquid (HYPE) facing a substantial drop of 10.5%, now valued at $33.33. Provenance Blockchain (HASH) followed closely with a 9.7% drop to $0.01941.

Conversely, Cosmos Hub (ATOM) and PAX Gold (PAXG) emerged as the standout performers among the few cryptocurrencies in the green, appreciating 4.4% and 3.5% to $2.09 and $5,106, respectively.

Investor Michael Burry, known for his role in 'The Big Short,' suggested that the ongoing decline in Bitcoin prices could lead to significant sell-offs in gold and silver, estimating up to $1 billion could be liquidated from precious metals as a consequence.

Market Analysis: 'Time Compressed Rather Than Trend Resolved'

Market analyst Tony Severino from YouHodler highlighted a recurrent theme in today’s markets: not a clear direction but rather compression. He explained that “currency volatility is increasing while the dollar weakens,” and observed that Bitcoin’s volatility is at one of its most restricted levels in history.

Investors in crypto are experiencing a phase where patience is more rewarding than premature predictions. Severino noted that as macro forces shift beneath the surface, technical structures across assets indicate that a resolution may be on the horizon—although the exact timing remains uncertain. A move out of this volatility typically signifies that markets will shift decisively without much warning.

While GameStop recently transferred its entire Bitcoin treasury to an exchange, a topic of speculation arose around potential liquidation. Severino maintained that this move indicates how sensitive market sentiment is regarding Bitcoin held by corporate entities.

Currently, altcoins are trailing behind Bitcoin, as total market cap metrics struggle to regain previous support levels. Despite this, a slight market rotation is observed, with stronger Layer 1s, Layer 2s, and infrastructure tokens showing improved performance against the broader altcoin market.

Levels & Events to Monitor

As of Wednesday morning, BTC was trading at $76,415, having reached a daily high of $78,902 before dipping to a low of $73,111 and then recovering slightly. Over the past week, BTC's price has decreased by 14.2%, fluctuating between $73,111 and $90,117.

Should it fail to maintain its current price levels, BTC could trend down to $73,000 and potentially touch the $71,200 and $70,050 regions, going lower to $69,000.

At this time, Ethereum was priced at $2,281. Similar to Bitcoin, it saw a peak earlier in the day at $2,326 before dropping to a low of $2,117 and then rebounding to $2,324.

Additionally, Ethereum has seen a significant decline of 24.2% over the past week, trading within $2,120 to $3,034. Should the downward trend persist, ETH might revisit $2,100, followed by levels around $2,030 and $1,950.

The overall sentiment in the crypto market has soured even further, moving deeper into extreme fear territory. The crypto fear and greed index today dropped to 14, down from 17 yesterday, marking the lowest it has been since late November 2025. This sentiment reflects ongoing market volatility and rising uncertainty, as yesterday's slight uptick in prices failed to alleviate fears among traders.

After beginning the week with positive inflows, US Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) turned negative on Tuesday, facing an outflow of $272.02 million; total net inflows reverted to $55.3 billion. Out of twelve ETFs, just one saw positive flows while seven experienced outflows. BlackRock had a good day on February 3, bringing in $60.03 million. Conversely, Fidelity reported the highest outflow with $148.7 million, followed by Ark & 21Share at $62.5 million.

In contrast, US Ethereum ETFs managed to break a short streak of outflows with minor inflows totaling $14.06 million on Tuesday, resulting in a slight increase to $11.99 billion in total net inflows. Among the nine ETH ETFs, four saw inflows while two faced outflows. BlackRock led these positive inflows with $42.85 million, trailed by Grayscale Mini Trust with $19.12 million. Meanwhile, Fidelity faced an outflow of $54.84 million, followed by VanEck at $2.47 million.

Despite the market downturn, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest continued its buying strategy. The ETFs acquired around $3.25 million of Bitmine Immersion Technologies and $2.4 million of Circle Internet Group. Additionally, Ark invested about $3.5 million into Bullish and $630,606 in Coinbase.

In response to criticism regarding its Ethereum treasury strategy, Bitmine chairman Tom Lee defended the approach, stating that holding unrealized losses is a common occurrence for companies aiming to mirror ETH’s price through full market cycles. The focus, he concluded, is on long-term performance, not mitigating every price decline.

Quick FAQ

The crypto market has experienced a setback over the past 24 hours, coinciding with declines in the US stock market. By the end of trading on February 3, the S&P 500 fell by 0.84%, the Nasdaq-100 decreased by 1.55%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.34%.

With no stable foundation for recovery, market prices are expected to trend downward in the near term, indicating the potential for continued decreases based on current indicators.