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.

Bitcoin slid to roughly $78,000 after cascading liquidations stripped $1.3 billion from leveraged positions within 12 hours. Bull Theory said the turbulence was part of a $12 trillion cross-asset drawdown that also dragged metals and U.S. equities lower.

On February 1, 2026, Bitcoin dropped below $80,000 amid accelerating derivatives liquidations. According to market data, more than $500 million in long positions were wiped out within an hour and nearly $3.5 billion over three days, while reports indicate a well-known early holder lost over $120 million during yesterday’s sell-off.

According to a Wall Street Journal investigation, Abu Dhabi vehicle Aryam Investment 1, backed by UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, signed a $500 million deal to acquire a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial four days before Donald Trump's January 2025 inauguration. Half the consideration was paid upfront, sending $187 million to Trump family entities and at least $31 million to entities linked to co-founder Steve Witkoff's family, while the arrangement later intersected with U.S. decisions on advanced AI chip sales to the UAE.

FTX plans a $1.7 billion cash distribution for creditors with claims above $50,000, scheduled to start on March 31, 2026. A creditor representative stated that the record date for this round is February 14, 2026, as the bankruptcy estate moves to settle roughly $9.6 billion in claims after cutting a disputed reserve by $2.2 billion. This reduction expands available funds and marks a notable step in the exchange's ongoing restructuring and recovery efforts.

On Sunday, Elon Musk said SpaceX has halted unauthorized Russian access to Starlink. He cited measures such as location restrictions and speed-based shutdowns (typically 75–90 km/h), while Ukraine's Mykhailo Fedorov noted initial results and continued coordination. SpaceX also revised its privacy policy in mid‑January 2026, and Starlink serves 155 countries as of February 2026.

On the first trading day of February, XRP's monthly close below its mid-Bollinger Band raises the risk of a drawdown toward $0.37, implying roughly 77% downside from the current level. At the same time, an early-Bitcoin-era wallet moved 99,999 ETH worth $242.7 million to Binance, coinciding with an 8.5% Ethereum price drop to around $2,411. Cardano heads into February with a historical average return of 24.4%, positioning ADA as a potential outperformer while broader crypto markets remain cautious.

In an email dated October 13, 2016, later released within the U.S. Department of Justice's 3 million-file document dump, Jeffrey Epstein claimed he had spoken with "some of the founders of Bitcoin" while pitching Saudi contacts on a dual Sharia-based currency system. The proposal combined a physical fiat "Sharia" currency with a digital version linked to the Bitcoin network, and additional emails from 2013 and 2014 placed Epstein inside early crypto debates involving major investors as well as tensions around Ripple and Stellar.