Bitcoin Price Crash
On February 6, the Bitcoin price fell to $60,000, reaching its lowest level since September 2024. It later partially recovered, returning to the $65,000–$66,000 range. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $69,155. Over the past 24 hours, the cryptocurrency has lost approximately 18%, falling from ~$73,300 to ~$60,000. Total market capitalization has declined by 6.1% to $2.3 trillion.
The collapse coincided with three key factors: mass liquidations of highly leveraged positions, an outflow of funds from ETFs and institutional funds, and growing concerns about macroeconomic risks. However, some on-chain indicators point to increased demand: analysts note an influx of stablecoins onto centralized exchanges.
Buterin Sold 493 ETH
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold 493 ETH for approximately $1.16 million and donated part of the proceeds to a charitable foundation. This was noted by analysts at Lookonchain.
In a series of transactions, he first sold 211.84 ETH and then transferred $500,000 in USDC to Kanro, the foundation he created in 2023 to support research into combating COVID-19 and future pandemics.
The transaction occurred amid market pressure: the ETH price dropped to levels seen in the summer of 2025. At the time of writing, the altcoin is trading around $2,078, down more than 20% in a week.
XRP Rising 18%
The developers of Ripple and the XRP Ledger (XRPL) network announced a strategy to expand DeFi functionality to strengthen XRP's role as a settlement and intermediary asset. The token responded to the news with a sharp rise.
During the market crash on February 6, Bitcoin sank to $60,000, while XRP fell to $1.22. As the crypto market recovered, XRP soared 18.6% to $1.53—significantly outperforming Bitcoin and the overall market, which gained around 2.5%.
The team is focusing on transforming XRPL into an institutional-focused DeFi platform. Current and future solutions include tools for payments, exchanges, wealth management, and lending, with XRP playing a key role.
Gold Volatility Rises to 44%
Gold's 30-day volatility has soared above 44%, the highest since the 2008 financial crisis. According to Bloomberg, this figure has surpassed Bitcoin's volatility, which currently stands at 39%.
This reversal is considered atypical: gold is typically a more stable asset compared to cryptocurrencies. In Bitcoin's 17-year history, such an inversion has only been observed twice, most recently in May 2025, during the height of the trade wars.
The sharp increase in volatility followed a precipitous price decline: on February 2, the price of an ounce of gold plummeted 10%, falling to $4,400. Just a week earlier, the metal was trading at an all-time high near $5,600.
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drops to 125.86 T
The latest recalculation saw Bitcoin mining difficulty decrease by 11.16% to 125.86 t. This is the largest drop since July 2021, when the figure plummeted nearly 30% following China's crackdown on crypto mining. Amid the correction, the network hashrate jumped to 1.3 EH/s, and the average block interval decreased to seven minutes. This increase is likely due to the return of previously shut-down capacity, partly due to the deteriorating economics of mining and the effects of the winter storm in the United States. According to Glassnode, the smoothed hashrate, based on the seven-day average, reached a local bottom of 826 EH/s on January 30th, and subsequently recovered to 927 EH/s.
MetaMask Integrates Tokenized Shares
MetaMask's Web3 wallet has expanded its functionality by adding support for tokenized stocks and ETFs. This new feature is made possible through a partnership with Ondo Finance, a platform specializing in real-world assets (RWAs).
MetaMask users can now purchase Ondo Global Markets tokens for USDC directly on the Ethereum network via the built-in MetaMask Swaps exchange service.
The tokenized securities sector is experiencing rapid growth: its volume increased by nearly 19% over the past month, approaching $1 billion, and the number of tokenized securities holders has nearly reached 300,000.
