Ethereum fell 19% over three days to trade below $2,400, exposing large unrealized losses for prominent holders. On-chain data shows major positions, including 4.24 million ETH bought near $3,854, are down roughly $6.8 billion, with other whales facing hundreds of millions. Technicals flag $2,400 as key support, with $2,700–$2,800 as near-term resistance.

On January 27, the Sverdlovsk Regional Arbitration Court opened observation for Fox Group, which owns 98% of BitRiver's management unit, following a $9.2 million claim by En+'s Infrastructure of Siberia. The action puts Russia's largest Bitcoin miner at risk of insolvency amid an equipment-delivery dispute, regional mining bans, energy payment conflicts, and CEO Igor Runets's recent detention on tax-evasion charges.

According to Polymarket odds, traders assign a 71% chance that Bitcoin will trade under $65,000 at some point in 2026 while the asset sits near $75,000 after a weekend slide. Analysts highlight $62,000–$65,000 as pivotal support, and US spot Bitcoin ETF holders are largely underwater with average entries around $87,830 amid recent multi‑billion‑dollar outflows.

On February 2, 2026, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin detailed a two-layer governance design that combines anonymous voting with prediction markets to counter collusion and 51% capture in token-based systems. The framework separates a market-driven accountability layer from a decentralized preference-setting layer using MACI to limit coordination risks. It marks a sharp shift from his August 2024 opposition to anonymity, and includes a creator DAO model intended to improve incentives on crypto social platforms that have struggled with sustainable governance.

Nomura Holdings moved to curb risk at its Swiss crypto unit Laser Digital after third-quarter losses, with shares falling 6.7% on Monday and net income down 9.7% year-over-year to ¥91.6 billion for the quarter ended December 31. The firm also filed a U.S. national bank trust charter application on Tuesday, underscoring its long-term digital asset plans.

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and investor Tim Draper unveiled Grow California, a $40 million effort to elect moderate legislators and resist a union-backed wealth tax. The campaign began with $5 million from each founder in September and will target roughly a dozen state seats while emphasizing public safety, homelessness and budget discipline.

On January 31, 2026, Step Finance said several treasury and fee wallets were compromised during APAC hours, with about 261,854 SOL valued near $30 million stolen. CertiK noted the stake authorization had been transferred before withdrawal, and the STEP token fell over 90% within 24 hours as the team stated user funds were not impacted.

On January 31, 2026, a U.S. court sentenced Chinese national Jingliang Su to 46 months in federal prison and ordered $26,867,242 in restitution for laundering over $36.9 million from American victims. The scheme routed funds to Deltec Bank in the Bahamas, converted them to Tether (USDT), and moved them to a wallet in Cambodia.

On January 30, precious metals sold off sharply, with silver falling up to 36% intraday and gold down more than 12%, according to Bloomberg. The move followed President Donald Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair and coincided with Bitcoin sliding to about $82,000 amid intensified spot ETF outflows cited by Bitfinex analysts.