Crypto And Metals Plunge As Wall Street Rallies

As the first weekend of February 2026 unfolded, global financial markets were gripped by a whirlwind of volatility, with cryptocurrencies and precious metals leading the charge in dramatic price swings. The turbulence was most evident in the digital asset space, where both seasoned investors and casual traders found themselves on edge, watching as bitcoin and ether prices tumbled, only to rebound in rapid, unpredictable moves.

According to a report by Bijie Network, two major Ethereum whales—known by the monikers BitcoinOG and Trend Research—collectively sold a staggering $371 million worth of ETH within just 48 hours. The reason? Both were scrambling to repay loans on the decentralized finance platform Aave, a move that underscored the heightened risk management strategies employed by large holders in the face of market uncertainty. BitcoinOG alone offloaded $292 million in ETH to settle $92.5 million in debt, while Trend Research sold $79 million, using nearly all proceeds to pay back borrowed funds. These proactive maneuvers stood in sharp contrast to the $140 million in automatic liquidations processed by Aave during the same period, highlighting a clear divide between those able to act ahead of the crowd and those caught in the crossfire of forced selling.

"These proactive sell-offs contrast with the $140 million in automatic liquidations processed by Aave, indicating active risk management amid market volatility," Bijie Network reported on February 2, 2026. The scale and speed of these moves sent ripples through the broader crypto market, contributing to a cascade of liquidations and further price instability.

Meanwhile, the flagship cryptocurrency, bitcoin, was not spared from the chaos. As reported by CoinDesk, bitcoin briefly plunged near $74,000 before rebounding above $76,000 in what analysts described as a classic V-shaped move. The culprit? Thin liquidity, which amplified both the initial selloff and the subsequent recovery. Over the preceding 12 hours, a jaw-dropping $510 million in leveraged crypto positions were wiped out—$391.6 million from long trades and $118.6 million from shorts. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, led the losses among major tokens, sliding more than 8% in just 24 hours. Other digital assets, including BNB, XRP, and Solana, also suffered declines between 4% and 6%, while Dogecoin and TRON posted smaller but steady losses as risk appetite faded across the sector.

The mechanics behind these wild swings were as much about market structure as they were about investor sentiment. With weekend trading thinning order books and sidelining major institutional players, even modest buy or sell orders were able to move prices dramatically. "The quick V-shaped move stemmed from order book dynamics where liquidity has dried, allowing buy/sell trades to have an outsized impact on the going market rate," CoinDesk explained. In these conditions, bitcoin and its peers began to behave less like macroeconomic assets and more like highly leveraged derivatives, where funding imbalances and clustered stop orders dictated direction for hours at a time.

Adding another layer of complexity, macroeconomic data from China offered only modest support to global markets. A private manufacturing survey for January showed factory activity edging into slight expansion, while the official gauge slipped into contraction, painting a picture of uneven momentum in the world’s second-largest economy. However, Beijing’s tightly managed yuan policy meant that China’s influence on bitcoin was indirect, operating more through global dollar liquidity cycles than direct capital flows. As CoinDesk noted, "Marginally better factory data can ease recession fears at the edges, but without a surge in currency volatility or stimulus-driven liquidity, it, in theory, acts more as a background stabilizer than a catalyst for crypto markets."

While digital assets were undergoing their own rollercoaster ride, traditional financial markets in the United States were showing signs of cautious optimism. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, U.S. equities rose on Monday, February 2, 2026, as Wall Street kicked off a new month of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 515.19 points, or 1.05%, closing at 49,407.66. The S&P 500 climbed 0.54% to 6,976.44, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.56%, ending the session at 23,592.11. These gains came even as investors looked past the recent losses in both silver and bitcoin.

The precious metals market had just experienced its own historic rout. On February 1, 2026, silver plunged around 30%—its worst one-day performance since 1980—while gold futures fell about 11%. These sharp declines, coupled with bitcoin dropping below $80,000 for the first time since April 2025, signaled a broader move by investors to take risk off the table. Yet, as the day progressed, both bitcoin and the metals managed to come off their respective lows, helping to trim losses in equities and ease some of the risk-off sentiment that had gripped the market.

Bitcoin was last seen trading around $78,000, while spot gold and silver remained down 4% and 5%, respectively. Bitcoin proxy Strategy also saw losses, falling 6.7%. The interconnectedness of these markets was on full display, as volatility in one asset class spilled over into others, challenging even the most seasoned traders.

Against this backdrop, Wall Street’s attention shifted to the corporate earnings season, with more than 100 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report results in the coming week. Heavyweights like Amazon and Alphabet saw their shares rise on Monday, while Disney reported earnings that beat analyst expectations—though its stock fell 7% due to warnings about headwinds from international travelers at domestic parks. According to FactSet, about one-third of S&P 500 companies had reported earnings so far, with roughly 78% beating expectations, fueling hopes that earnings growth could be the strongest in four years.

However, not all was rosy. Nvidia shares dropped almost 3% after The Wall Street Journal revealed that the company’s plans to invest $100 billion into OpenAI had stalled, with executives expressing doubts about the deal. Still, some market watchers remained upbeat. Tim Holland, chief investment officer at Orion, told The Wall Street Journal, "It seems to us that the bigger trends, which are mostly positive, are still in place. What matters right now is still earnings, the fiscal policy backdrop—which is still constructive even with the temporary shutdown—and seasonality." He added, "Double-digit earnings growth ... for the fifth consecutive quarter would go a long way to assuage those valuation concerns that we've all lived with for the last couple years."

As the dust settled, it became clear that the financial landscape remains as dynamic and interconnected as ever. From the proactive risk management of Ethereum whales to the cascading liquidations in crypto markets, and from the wild swings in silver and gold to the cautious optimism on Wall Street, investors are navigating a world where the only constant is change. For now, thin liquidity and market mechanics continue to drive price action across asset classes, leaving traders and analysts alike searching for signals amid the noise.