On February 5, 2026, Glassnode reported a renewed spike in Bitcoin’s forced-selling metric last seen on October 10, 2025. BTC briefly dropped below $70,000 and then recovered to $70,171.86, as whales sold 14,095 BTC and over 30,000 small retail wallets capitulated. Some analysts expect further liquidations, with a potential local bottom near $50,000.

On February 4, 2026, Fidelity Digital Assets said its FIDD stablecoin is live on Ethereum with an initial supply exceeding $59M. The firm described FIDD as compliant with the GENIUS Act and backed by fiat and U.S. Treasuries, with purchases, redemptions, custody, and reserve management offered through its platforms. Listings on major exchanges and wider wallet distribution are planned.

On February 4, 2026, Binance reported completing a second batch of Bitcoin conversions for its SAFU fund, adding another 1,315 BTC while BTC traded around $76,248.05. The exchange plans to shift a total of $1B in stablecoins into BTC for the insurance fund and has pledged to top it up if its value drops below $800M. The moves come amid renewed insolvency speculation, even as on-chain data indicate stable reserves and no abnormal outflows.

On February 3, 2026, CME Group said January was its strongest on record, with average daily volume up 15% year over year to 29.6M contracts. Metals led with 218% growth, while crypto activity rose 106% driven by Ethereum products; CME also plans to enable 24/7 crypto futures and options trading by the end of Q1 2026.

On February 1, 2026, co‑founder Griff Green said the Ethereum DAO will stake 69,420 ETH into the Beacon Contract, and an update on February 2 noted its reserves were sent via Tornado Cash to underscore privacy. The DAO targets a $220M fund for security research, with deposits facing a queue near 71 days and more than 4M ETH awaiting entry.

On February 2, 2026, Vitalik Buterin described a two-layer structure for future blockchains to improve governance, incentives, and on-chain social media. He differentiated an open, profit-driven market layer from a decentralized, intrinsically motivated base layer that avoids token-based control and collusion. Buterin also revisited creator coin models, highlighting ongoing challenges in content quality and incentives while ETH traded below $2,300 during a market correction.

In January 2026, crypto venture funding activity fell to a five-year low, with only 67 completed fundraising rounds and a largest single raise of $250M. YziLabs led four deals and Coinbase Ventures backed three, while AI, payments, DeFi, and blockchain infrastructure drew most of the capital. Token sales also cooled, as 37 IDO or ICO events raised $116.9M amid weaker demand for new project tokens.

On January 27 2026, silver trading on Hyperliquid's HIP-3 platform drove record daily volumes of $1.79B, while a rapid price reversal from above $120 to around $101 per ounce wiped out leveraged positions. One whale on the XYZ: silver perpetual futures pair reportedly saw over $8.99B liquidated in a single transaction, contributing to a total of $11M in on-chain silver liquidations.

In a recent X post, Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation will adopt an austerity approach and that he will take on more responsibilities, allocating 16,384 ETH over the next five years, with part staked. The Foundation retains 172K ETH, and ETH traded at $2,733.58 following a market downturn.