Trading

Lighter’s LIT token climbed more than 13% in 24 hours as its perpetual futures volume hit a yearly high of $7.53 billion and grew 34% over the week. Despite this spike and retail long positions around $800 on Uniswap, LIT’s price remained trapped between $1.40 and $2.04 as whales continued to distribute tokens and hold profitable leveraged shorts.

Ethereum’s decline below the $2,000 mark has shaken sentiment and dragged broader altcoin prices lower, prompting heightened fear among traders. Crypto analyst ChainHub argues that market conditions now resemble downside exhaustion, with the ETH/BTC structure still intact and major demand zones forming around $1,700 for ETH and across several altcoins. He links this view to Bitcoin’s retest of its summer 2024 demand range and suggests the market could soon transition into a consolidation phase before attempting a bullish recovery.

In early February 2026, Ethereum’s exchange reserves fell to around 16.3 million ETH, a multi-year low associated with growing staking and off-exchange custody. At the same time, whales were seen accumulating during a price dip near $2,050, while derivatives data showed shrinking open interest, negative funding, and over $1 billion in long liquidations. This combination points to tighter tradable supply and lower leverage, while leaving room for future volatility.

On 05 February, heavily leveraged positions linked to BlackRock’s IBIT ETF were forced to unwind, sending turnover to $10.7 billion and options premiums to $900 million as Bitcoin’s drawdown reached about 35%. Arthur Hayes said banks hedging IBIT-linked notes exacerbated selling, while IBIT’s first $200+ million inflow in nearly a month and a 65% jump in Coinbase Premium Index signaled possible stabilization.

Santiment said on Saturday that retail traders are scanning for signs of 'capitulation' to time entries, implying a bottom may already have formed. Google Trends shows 'crypto capitulation' searches rising from 11 in the week ending Feb. 1 to 58 in the week ending Feb. 8. Bitcoin fell 24.27% over 30 days and was $68,970 at publication.

On Saturday, Feb. 7, on-chain data showed Shiba Inu recording a net exchange outflow of -212,479,300,000 SHIB as its price rebounded after a market-wide slump. The strong outflows indicate buyers are withdrawing more tokens from exchanges than are being deposited for sale, even as SHIB's rapid rally cools to a modest 0.85% daily gain.

21Shares' move to file an ONDO ETF has renewed attention on the token, while price action stays constrained by structure. ONDO rose nearly 8% in the past 24 hours toward the $0.25 area, yet remains below the $0.356 barrier with sellers capping rebounds. Derivatives volumes fell 40.51% to $227.96 million and funding neared -0.0024%, pointing to defensive positioning.

Over the past week, Bitcoin faced heavy selling, and according to data, roughly $1 trillion has exited the crypto market since mid-January. In a CryptoQuant Quicktake, analyst CryptoOnchain reported Bitcoin's Taker Buy Ratio (14-day MA) on Binance fell to 0.48, the lowest since October 2025; the slide aligned with a drop to about $61,000 before BTC rebounded above $70,000 on Friday to roughly $70,263, up over 11% in 24 hours.

HBAR advanced roughly 20% after a long wick near $0.07766 cleared selling pressure, with price holding above $0.080 and consolidating around $0.090. Traders are watching for a decisive reclaim of $0.10001 on firm volume to confirm trend repair, while Hedera's early February 2026 entry into the Digital Monetary Institute aligned with improving sentiment.

Crypto analyst Tony Severino argues that Bitcoin may have formed not just a yearly high but a 16-year cyclical peak, as BTC recently plunged to 60,000 dollars before rebounding toward 70,000 dollars. He points to bearish signals on the long-term chart, while other market figures debate whether the move signals a deeper bear market or a temporary shakeout. At the same time, Arthur Hayes links the sharp drop to BlackRock’s IBIT ETF hedging activity, and some researchers suggest the 60,000 dollar area could again serve as a long-term support zone.