On 5 February 2026, Circle announced a strategic partnership with prediction market platform Polymarket to embed its fully reserved USDC stablecoin infrastructure into onchain markets. The collaboration is intended to make USDC a core settlement layer for prediction-based trading, aiming to enhance reliability, capital movement, and scalability as market activity and liquidity increase.

At 5:30 p.m. UTC on February 5, 2026, data from CoinGlass showed 24‑hour crypto liquidations exceeded $1.45 billion, the fourth‑largest daily total in the past 90 days. About 311,000 traders were affected, with longs accounting for $1.24 billion; Bitcoin led at $738.83 million, followed by Ethereum at $337.45 million and Solana at $77.28 million.

On February 5, 2026, Bitcoin fell below $70,000, down nearly 8% intraday to roughly $66,700, while ETH dropped under $2,000 and Solana hit $83. Mike Novogratz told Bloomberg he sees a potential bottom and a $70,000–$100,000 range. In contrast, Michael Burry warned of a "death spiral," and John Deaton alleged futures-driven price suppression.

On Thursday, Bitcoin slipped under $69,000 for the first time since Nov. 6, 2024, as analysts highlighted several classic capitulation signals. Heavy losses from short‑term holders, an "extreme fear" reading on sentiment gauges, and Bitcoin’s most oversold RSI levels since the 2022 bear market all suggested that seller exhaustion and a potential price bottom could be approaching. These conditions have historically preceded both short-term weakness and subsequent rebound phases in the BTC market.

The Aster decentralized exchange and perpetual futures platform announced on Thursday that its new layer-1 blockchain testnet is open to all users, with a mainnet release targeted for Q1 2026. The project, which rebranded in March 2025 into a perpetual futures DEX and competes with Hyperliquid, plans to roll out fiat on-ramps, open-source its code and expand token utility as perp DEX volumes surged into the trillions of dollars in 2025.

Ether fell to a year-to-date low of $1,927 on Thursday, more than 60% below its $4,950 all-time high. According to CryptoQuant, mid-sized holders trimmed balances while 10,000+ ETH wallets added exposure, and Binance inflows reached about 1.63 million ETH on Wednesday. An analyst highlighted a taker buy/sell ratio near 0.94, pointing to persistent sell-side pressure.

On 5 February 2026, Tether Investments announced a $100 million strategic equity investment in Anchorage Digital. The move expands an existing partnership and centers on regulated, secure infrastructure for institutional digital asset adoption. According to the article, Anchorage Digital Bank is the issuer of USA₮ and the first federally regulated digital asset bank in the U.S.

On Thursday, Bitcoin slipped under $70,000, touching $67,619 and registering a 15‑month low as markets re‑priced liquidity risks. According to Cryptonews, about $40 billion in open interest vanished in under 48 hours while traders reacted to Kevin Warsh's prospective leadership at the Federal Reserve. Spot ETF assets also fell below $100 billion in Q1, and gold surpassed $5,100/oz.