In the latest market downturn, bitcoin slid below $75,000 and ethereum fell under $2,200, helping wipe about $500 billion from the total crypto market cap since Wednesday. Over the same period, gold and silver prices plunged from their recent peaks, erasing a combined $10 trillion in market value within a few days. Despite the severe pullbacks, the relative size of the precious metals markets suggests the crypto sector remains much smaller by comparison.

On January 31, 2026, crypto liquidations exceeded $2.5 billion over 24 hours, placing the sell-off among the top 10 events on record. Analysts attributed the weekend drop to shallow liquidity and high leverage rather than policy moves or tensions around Iran, noting three waves that wiped about $1.3 billion within 12 hours.

On January 6, XRP climbed by about 30% to a multi‑week high just above $2.40, then slid to a 14‑month low at $1.50 in the last trading week of January. Four AI systems—Gemini, Grok, ChatGPT, and Perplexity—mostly see consolidation with key levels at $1.65–$1.70 and $1.25–$1.45, and generally view a sub‑$1 move in February as unlikely without a major shock.

On Saturday, bitcoin’s price sank to just above $75,000, its lowest level since April of the previous year, erasing about $200 billion from the overall crypto market in a matter of hours. Major altcoins including ETH, XRP, and SOL suffered double-digit intraday losses, with Ethereum dropping from around $2,800 to $2,250 and XRP hitting a 14‑month low at $1.50. Although BTC later bounced to roughly $79,000, it remained down on the day, while many altcoins only managed modest recoveries.

On Saturday, Bitcoin plunged to a seven-month low just above $75,000, extending a nearly $20,000 loss over less than two weeks and closing January with a 10% decline. Analyst Merlijn The Trader argues this sharp sell-off and the extreme fear now reflected in sentiment could precede a major rally, highlighting quiet whale accumulation. He points to $78,000 as a key level that may decide whether BTC sees only a healthy pullback or a deeper move toward around $76,000.

Bitcoin has just recorded its fourth consecutive monthly decline, marking its heaviest red streak since the 2018–2019 bear phase. After hitting an all-time high above $126,000, the price reversed sharply, sliding to nearly $75,000 and closing January with a 10.17% loss. This pattern resembles previous bear-cycle behavior and has reignited debate over whether the current phase can still be called a bull market.

On Saturday, XRP slid to just above $1.50, marking its weakest level since November 2024 before recovering to more than $1.60. While broader crypto market losses pressured the token, some analysts highlighted a bullish dragonfly doji on the XRP/BTC pair and a hold above the 33 EMA on the monthly chart. Others warned of a possible dead-cat bounce but also pointed to a historical pattern that once preceded gains of up to 1,600% after a similar structure in 2017.

On January 31, 2026, Bitcoin briefly fell to $76,000 after a $3,000 slide within five minutes. The Kobeissi Letter said a $1 billion levered long was liquidated at 1:43 PM ET, while CoinGlass showed the day’s largest single liquidation was $222 million on Hyperliquid. BTC later rebounded toward $78,000.

A broad selloff on Saturday drove Ethereum below $2,400 for the first time since July 2, marking a seven‑month low and leaving it down more than 10% on the day and 18% for the week. Over $550 million in ETH longs were liquidated in the past 24 hours, exceeding BTC wipeouts of $475 million.