On 1 February 2026, Zero Knowledge Proof drew attention with a continuous presale model that issues 190 million ZKP tokens every 24 hours and runs a $5 million rewards program. At the same time, Cardano is engaged in governance and regulatory debates, while Uniswap trades around $3.90 after a sharp pullback despite solid on-chain activity. These contrasting approaches highlight how token distribution design, oversight discussions, and DeFi sentiment are shaping investor focus in the current market.

On 24 January, Nietzschean Penguin (PENGUIN) spiked from under $0.01 to a $0.167 all-time high before sliding about 75% to the $0.037–$0.042 area. A wallet "8cgRT" exited with a $92,700 loss after $305,300 in buys as momentum reversed. Fixed 1 billion supply and over 45,000 holders by late January 2026 did not halt the decline.

According to commentary on X, gold's market capitalization jumped by about $2.2 trillion in a single trading session, briefly lifting its valuation far above major crypto assets. That one-day gain was nearly 20 times XRP's roughly $103 billion market cap and even exceeded Bitcoin's value near $1.77 trillion, underscoring how small percentage moves in huge markets translate into outsized dollar changes. Traders argued the headline figures can be misleading, while scenario analysis showed how dramatically XRP and Bitcoin prices would differ if they matched recent percentage moves in gold and silver.

According to Alphractal, total crypto liquidations hit $2.59 billion in the latest sell-off, with Ethereum accounting for $1.16 billion as ETH slid near $2,300. On-chain data showed whales "7 Siblings" and "0xB7" bought a combined $57.44 million in ETH, while MFI hovered around 41 and CMF stayed negative, signaling lingering downside risk.

Step Finance has disclosed that its treasury and fee wallets were compromised, leading to the unstaking and transfer of 261,854 SOL tokens valued at about $30 million. The protocol says it has begun an investigation, alerted authorities, and engaged cybersecurity firms, while stressing that user funds were not impacted. Following the incident, the STEP token price plunged sharply and Solana’s market performance weakened over the past day and week.

Ethereum slid beneath $2,500 on Thursday, January 29, after losing nearly 20% in one week. The token hovers near the $2,475 cushion, and on-chain data highlights $2,623, $2,475, and $1,881 as key supports while ETH trades around $2,410.

According to posts on X by a woman identifying herself as Ten Ten, she says she previously dated Justin Sun and alleges coordinated TRX manipulation using multiple Binance accounts, with aggressive cash-outs at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018. She says she has WeChat records, is willing to work with the SEC, and publicly urged President Trump to distance himself.

On January 31, 2026, Arkham said the "Hyperunit whale" had exited his entire Ethereum long, locking an estimated $250 million loss. On February 1, 2026, ETH hovered near $2,400 during a market sell-off, and Arkham noted only $53 remained in the trader's Hyperliquid account.