Chainlink fell 22% in the final days of January 2026, slipping beneath the $10.6–$11.75 zone that had held since mid‑November 2025. The move coincided with RSI levels touching their weakest reading since 2022 and Bitcoin trading below $85,000. Traders now watch whether a reclaim above $11 can draw liquidity toward $12–$13.

On 1 February 2026, Solana traded near $105 after a momentum-driven pullback, while Stellar hovered around long-term support at $0.18. At the same time, Zero Knowledge Proof is running a 450-day presale auction across 17 stages, backed by $100M in prior investment and an anticipated $1.7B raise. The contrast highlights how short-term volatility in SOL and XLM differs from ZKP’s focus on token allocation structure and infrastructure-led growth.

On February 1, 2026, India's Union Budget kept the existing crypto tax regime unchanged, including a 30% flat tax on virtual digital asset gains and 1% TDS on each transaction. The budget instead introduced new penalties for non-reporting and inaccurate reporting of crypto statements, set to take effect from April 1, 2026. Industry executives say the lack of broader reforms may continue to weigh on liquidity and participation, even as they welcome clearer compliance enforcement.

India's Union Budget 2026 introduced a penalty regime for crypto-asset transaction reporting under Section 509 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, effective from 1 April 2026. Reporting entities such as exchanges and intermediaries face Rs. 200 per day for delayed filings and a flat Rs. 50,000 for inaccurate or uncorrected data, while the existing 30% VDA tax and 1% TDS rules remain unchanged. The stricter framework comes amid a reported 72.7% shift of India's FY25 crypto trading volume to offshore platforms, alongside rising scrutiny of undisclosed VDA income.

XRP’s 24-hour trading volume climbed 74% to $6.49 billion as the broader crypto market saw $2.58 billion in liquidations in the same period. Long positions made up $2.27 billion versus $171 million for shorts, with 414,491 traders affected. XRP’s price dropped across four sessions from Jan. 28, reaching a $1.5 low on Jan. 31, while its realized price stands at $1.48.

Between January 26 and 30, BlackRock's spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs saw about $1.2 billion in combined net outflows, according to Coinglass. IBIT accounted for roughly $947 million, with $318 million on January 29 and $528 million on January 30, while ETHA shed around $264 million. At press time, Bitcoin was $78,461 and Ethereum $2,415.

Bitcoin fell below the $76,000 long-term realized cost basis over the weekend, a level built over roughly 27 months of accumulation and seen as structurally important. The move, driven by ETF outflows, tighter liquidity and defensive derivatives positioning, pushed price to stabilize near $78,000 while traders now watch $80,000 as the first upside reclaim target.

Veteran trader Peter Brandt has outlined a medium-term downside objective for Bitcoin near $58,000 after the sharp rejection below $100,000 in January 2026. Using a long-term power law chart with a logarithmic growth channel, he argues that a return toward the channel's midline around $58,000–$60,000 would represent a reversion to fair value. Brandt's view comes after Bitcoin dropped from a high of $97,939 to a low of $75,555 in January, signaling strong selling pressure around the six-figure threshold.