Over the past few weeks, volatility has intensified and Bitcoin’s price fell sharply, placing it in a deep bear-market conviction zone, according to Marcus Corvinus. Crypto Candy noted a move from $61,000–$58,000 into $70,000–$67,000 and a touch of $71,000 without a daily close above, keeping near-term retracements as the base case.

On 05 February, heavily leveraged positions linked to BlackRock’s IBIT ETF were forced to unwind, sending turnover to $10.7 billion and options premiums to $900 million as Bitcoin’s drawdown reached about 35%. Arthur Hayes said banks hedging IBIT-linked notes exacerbated selling, while IBIT’s first $200+ million inflow in nearly a month and a 65% jump in Coinbase Premium Index signaled possible stabilization.

On February 7, Mempool reported that Bitcoin mining difficulty in China fell 11.16% to 125.86 trillion, marking the largest single-step reduction since the ban five years ago. Analysts cited about a 20% decline in total hashrate over 30 days, price weakness, and weather-driven curtailments. Luxor data showed hashprice slid to $33.31/PH/s/day on February 2.

Over the past week, Bitcoin faced heavy selling, and according to data, roughly $1 trillion has exited the crypto market since mid-January. In a CryptoQuant Quicktake, analyst CryptoOnchain reported Bitcoin's Taker Buy Ratio (14-day MA) on Binance fell to 0.48, the lowest since October 2025; the slide aligned with a drop to about $61,000 before BTC rebounded above $70,000 on Friday to roughly $70,263, up over 11% in 24 hours.

On February 7, 2026, gold traded around $4,966 while Bitcoin hovered just below $70,000. The two assets have shown low correlation since 2019, and major gold rallies have often preceded Bitcoin advances. GLD holdings rose to roughly 34.9 million troy ounces alongside strong precious‑metal ETF inflows in January.

Crypto analyst Tony Severino argues that Bitcoin may have formed not just a yearly high but a 16-year cyclical peak, as BTC recently plunged to 60,000 dollars before rebounding toward 70,000 dollars. He points to bearish signals on the long-term chart, while other market figures debate whether the move signals a deeper bear market or a temporary shakeout. At the same time, Arthur Hayes links the sharp drop to BlackRock’s IBIT ETF hedging activity, and some researchers suggest the 60,000 dollar area could again serve as a long-term support zone.

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty declined by about 11.16% at block 935,429, marking the largest single adjustment drop since China’s crypto mining crackdown in 2021. Difficulty currently stands near 125.86 T and is projected to fall again on February 23 to around 112.7 T, alongside a hashrate pullback linked to a broad market downturn and weather-related shutdowns of U.S. miners.

On 7 February 2026, the U.S. government's Bitcoin reserve posted paper losses approaching $5 billion since its launch last year as Bitcoin fell roughly 45% from its peak, per Walter Bloomberg. The SEC chair said on CNBC that a market-structure bill is close to passage, while Vietnam's finance ministry proposed a 0.1% tax on crypto transfers.