Bitcoin price has fallen nearly 10% since Jan. 28 as traders dealt with a number of macro shocks throughout the week, which erased much-needed risk appetite. After falling for the second straight day, Bitcoin price established a local bottom over $81,000 and started consolidating sideways, as long liquidations exceeding $780 million forced a mechanical reset of the market’s leverage. The total crypto market, which briefly recovered over $3.1 trillion in the middle of the week, was down over 4.5% at the time of publication as liquidity left the volatile digital asset space for established hedges like precious metals. This capital flight was driven by renewed geopolitical tensions and a looming US government shutdown deadline on Jan. 30, which pushed the total market capitalisation down to approximately $2.96 trillion.
Market-wide caution was visible on the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which was down 6 points over the past 7 days. Losses were more prominent across the altcoin market. Most of the altcoins had surrendered most of their early-week gains by Friday, with the exception of a select few that managed to close the week in profits. The altcoin market initially reached a weekly high of $1.33 trillion before experiencing a sharp drop of 8.4% at the end of the week and settling at $1.2 trillion.
Ethereum (ETH) fell nearly 6% in the period, while other large-cap altcoins such as BNB (BNB), XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE) recorded losses ranging between 4-8%. Nearly all of the top 100 altcoins had fallen into the red at the time of writing, erasing all of the gains seen earlier in the week. On Friday, a massive $8.8 billion options expiry acted as a magnet for price action. When Bitcoin slipped below the critical $82,000 threshold, it triggered a cascading liquidation event.
By late Asian trading hours, more than $1.7 billion in leveraged long positions had been wiped out as Bitcoin fell to a local low of $81,311, wiping nearly $150 billion off the total crypto market cap. This persistent volatility throughout the week has hurt institutional appetite, and investors have pulled back liquidity from crypto investment products. More than $978 million had left Spot Bitcoin ETFs by the end of Thursday’s trading session, while over $74 million had flown out of Ethereum‑linked products. Other major altcoin products tied to assets such as XRP and HBAR recorded a similar pattern of outflows, with the exception of Solana, which managed modest inflows.
Hyperliquid gained nearly 39% this week, largely due to its HIP-3 upgrade bringing a surge in commodities trading. A spot listing on the Kraken exchange and a 90% cut in team token unlocks for February also helped it hold its gains by reducing supply. Stable (STABLE) surged 29% this week to reach a new all-time high, driven by a 150% spike in trading volume following the recent launch of USAt, Tether’s first federally regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin.
Canton (CC) climbed 18% this week, also fueled by a surge in trading activity as major financial institutions, including Nasdaq and Tharimmune, began operating as Super Validators for the network. This marked the shift from testing phases to live, full-scale production, with the network now processing trillions in monthly transactions and integrating live bank currencies like JPMorgan’s digital dollar, JPM Coin.
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