On Monday, New York Attorney General Letitia James and four district attorneys sent a letter challenging the GENIUS Act, alleging it gives stablecoin issuers legal cover and leaves fraud victims without restitution. The prosecutors say Tether and Circle each earned $1 billion in 2024 from reserve investments, and cite extensive freezes of USDT and USDC.

On February 1 and 2, 2026, Bitcoin fell about 13% for the week, breaking below the $80,000 level and touching a nine-month low near $74,500. Analysts link the move to a liquidity squeeze, flat Realized Cap metrics, and macro pressure following Kevin Warsh's Fed chair nomination, while Strategy's average BTC entry price around $76,037 briefly turned negative. Despite this structural stress, some models still point to long-term upside, with projections implying potential recovery toward $113,000 by mid-2026.

According to CoinShares, digital asset investment products saw $1.7 billion in redemptions last week, marking a second consecutive week of outflows and pushing year-to-date flows to a $1 billion net outflow. The United States led with $1.65 billion in withdrawals, while short Bitcoin products attracted $14.5 million in inflows.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies, a public crypto treasury firm linked to Tom Lee, is carrying more than $6 billion in unrealized losses on its Ether holdings after the market pullback. The company added 40,302 ETH last week, taking its stash above 4.24 million; Dropstab values the position near $9.6 billion versus an October peak of $13.9 billion.

Ethereum has fallen sharply toward $2,400, with its decline outpacing many other major cryptocurrencies as broader market sentiment weakens. Around $2.5 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated in a single day and large holders have begun trimming exposure, pressuring ETH below key support. Technical indicators now highlight a strong downtrend, with traders watching whether $2,250 and $2,100 emerge as the next major downside targets or if a rebound toward the $2,600–$2,800 area can develop.

Bitcoin traded near $78,000 after a 6–7% drop in the past 24 hours, with intraday lows around $76,000–$77,000. Gold and silver also retreated, and over $1 billion in crypto leverage was liquidated. Key areas to watch are $86,000 on the upside and $75,800 to $71,600 below.

During the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon confronted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong over Armstrong's comments that banks are quietly working to derail a US crypto market structure bill. The clash, centered on whether stablecoin issuers should be allowed to offer yield or rewards, comes as the legislation has passed the House but stalled in the Senate amid political and industry pushback. Coinbase later sought to play down tensions with banks, even as the Senate Banking Committee postponed a markup following Armstrong's stance that the bill is unacceptable in its current form.

EthCC, Europe’s largest Ethereum conference, will host its ninth edition in Cannes from March 30 to April 2, 2026, with a program centered on institutional participation. According to the organizers, EthCC[9] and The Agora (with Kaiko) will convene more than 400 speakers and spotlight onchain finance amid evolving frameworks such as MiCA.

In Q4 2025, Bitwise data show Ethereum's price dropped 29% even as on-chain activity and wider crypto fundamentals hit fresh records. Stablecoin supply passed $300 billion, TRON posted $1.2 billion in quarterly revenue, and DEX volumes outpaced major centralized platforms. ETH now trades near $2,954.29, around 39% below its all-time high, underscoring the gap between adoption metrics and market valuations.