Heading into early February 2026, Midnight (NIGHT), Hyperliquid (HYPE), and Monero (XMR) are bucking weak altcoin sentiment with accumulation and catalyst-led strength. Midnight's Q1 2026 'Kūkolu' phase was outlined in a January update, while HYPE's CMF turned positive and open interest climbed to $793M around Jan. 26–27. Monero's MFI points to fading sell pressure near $305 after an 11-day, 30% drop.

In August 2025, a joint stipulation set a $125 million penalty and the SEC dropped appeals, but U.S. banks remain cautious about Judge Torres' label on institutional XRP sales. The article notes institutions are trimming direct exposure while preparing for an ETF, with XRP at $1.22 versus a July 2025 peak of $3.65.

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.

Gold is quoted at $4,906/oz with macro desks continuing to pay for convexity in the traditional hedge, while Bitcoin changes hands at $72,639 after previously rebounding to $78,376. World Gold Council data for 2025 highlight 801 tonnes of global gold ETF inflows and a strong 420-tonne Q4 bar-and-coin demand, while CoinMarketCap shows BTC still about 40% under its $126,198 all-time high. Positioning shifts, rising margins on Comex metals and differing allocation mechanics help explain why gold is absorbing flows even as Bitcoin trades more like a high-beta liquidity asset.

Bitcoin traded around $75,980 as U.S. markets opened on Feb. 4, 2026, with focus on the 200-week EMA near $68,400. According to the article, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded nearly $2.8 billion in net redemptions over the past two weeks, while analysts flagged $74,400 and $70,000 as key levels and $55,700–$58,200 as deeper support.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) released an interim Digital Asset Custody Framework setting tiered limits on how dealer members and custodians hold client crypto. The rules introduce four risk-based tiers with caps from 40% to 100%, restrict internal custody to 20% of client assets, and add stricter governance, insurance, and audit requirements as Canada tightens oversight of hacks and compliance failures.

Crypto.com has launched OG as an independent prediction markets platform for US users, leveraging its CFTC-registered Crypto.com Derivatives North America infrastructure. The spinout follows a reported 40x surge in weekly prediction market activity over the past six months and places OG in direct competition with platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi.

Ethereum core developers added "Frame Transactions" (EIP-8141) to the shortlist of Hegota headliner proposals after a pull request merged on January 29, 2026, and Vitalik Buterin joined the discussion by linking the design to ERC-4337 paymaster-style mempool rules. At the time the headliner debate was circulating in developer channels, ETH traded around $2,304.7 with a 24-hour move of -0.6%, while desks weighed the implications for mempool policy, order flow segmentation, and protocol-level MEV protection narratives.

On Monday, New York Attorney General Letitia James and four district attorneys sent a letter challenging the GENIUS Act, alleging it gives stablecoin issuers legal cover and leaves fraud victims without restitution. The prosecutors say Tether and Circle each earned $1 billion in 2024 from reserve investments, and cite extensive freezes of USDT and USDC.