Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo disclosed on Friday that he acquired a sub-1% equity stake in CFTC-regulated prediction market Kalshi through his company Ante Inc., after signing the agreement on Thursday, the NBA trade deadline. A 1% stake would be worth $110 million at Kalshi's latest $11 billion valuation, but the firm has not revealed the exact size of his holding, which has drawn criticism over potential conflicts of interest. The partnership coincided with Kalshi's high-volume markets on Antetokounmpo's trade destination and came as the platform faced fresh legal setbacks, including a Massachusetts court order targeting its sports contracts.

On February 5, 2026, Bitcoin briefly slid to about $60k, reigniting arguments over whether the market is in a dip or a full crash. Social data from Santiment suggests traders only began using the word "crash" at that low, which coincided with a rebound and a 13% climb from the daily bottom. Compared with the over 70% drawdown following the 2022 FTX collapse, the latest move is framed as a sharp but still "dip-like" correction rather than a structural breakdown.

After Bitcoin dropped about 50% from its October high, wiping out roughly $2 trillion in value, the role of cryptocurrencies in the $12.5 trillion US 401(k) retirement market is under renewed scrutiny. Supporters cite earlier policy moves and argue Bitcoin can fit alongside other assets, while critics warn that highly volatile tokens are unsuitable for long‑term savings and could expose plan sponsors to legal risks.

Between February 2 and February 6, 2026, BlackRock's spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs recorded a combined net outflow of about $343.3 million amid heightened crypto market volatility. Over the same period, its IBIT Bitcoin fund lost roughly $191.3 million, while the ETHA Ethereum product saw around $152 million in redemptions as Bitcoin fell below $65,000 and Ethereum struggled to stay above $2,000.

On February 7, 2026 in Beijing, new figures showed the People's Bank of China increased its gold reserves for the 15th straight month, lifting holdings from 74.15 million to 74.19 million fine troy ounces. The value of these reserves climbed from about $319.5 billion to roughly $369.6 billion as bullion prices, which had briefly neared $5,600 per ounce in January before correcting to around $4,960, remained elevated despite softer overall gold demand in China.

Bitcoin's volatile week included a drop from $77,000 to $60,000 between Thursday and Friday, a recovery attempt toward $72,000, and a pullback near $68,000. Ethereum rebounded to $2,010 after slipping below $2,700, while SOL, BCH, XMR, XRP, TRX, DOGE, and ADA advanced. The total crypto market value added over $100 billion to reach $2.4 trillion.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1,207 points, or 2.47%, to finish at 50,115.67, marking the first time the index has ended a session above the 50,000 level. The rally broadened beyond technology into financial and industrial stocks, while Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the benchmark could eventually hit 100,000.

In the first week of February, crypto startups secured about $258 million in fresh capital even as the wider digital asset market saw an estimated $2 trillion drawdown. The largest deal was Anchorage Digital's $100 million round, followed by TRM Labs with $70 million and Jupiter with $35 million, while Andreessen Horowitz recently raised over $15 billion to target AI and crypto innovation.