与贸易Shiyi

Between January 30 and February 1, 2026, the cryptocurrency market experienced a sharp decline, with billions of dollars wiped off its market capitalization due to rapid liquidations.
Bitcoin briefly fell below $75,000, its lowest level since April 2025, while Ethereum dropped below $2,300. Although several macroeconomic and political developments contributed to the market's fragile state, the depth and speed of the decline were primarily caused by the mechanical unwinding of excessive leveraged long positions during the low trading volume of the weekend.
CoinGlass liquidation data reveals that the primary driver of the decline was forced closures of long positions rather than voluntary selling. In the key snapshot, long liquidations significantly outweighed short liquidations. Despite the price drop, short sellers were largely unaffected.

This surge, from approximately $380 million to $520 million to $1.1 billion, demonstrates that forced selling accelerated as prices reached new lows. The concentration of flow on Binance and Hyperliquid coincides with the unwinding of momentum-style leverage. This pattern points to a mechanical reset rather than a large investor exit.
Most of the unwinding occurred over the weekend, when crypto trades without the counterbalance of other major risk markets. Liquidity is thinner, order books are less robust, and even small selling can create air pockets that accelerate forced liquidations.
With fewer market makers active, the feedback loop between falling prices and liquidation algorithms intensified, compressing the adjustment into a shorter window.
Macro conditions did not cause the liquidation cascade, but they created pressure points that made the market more vulnerable. Uncertainty increased after US President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chair, and geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran added another layer of stress.
Simultaneously, US domestic politics introduced new risks, including the possibility of a government shutdown and a $10 billion lawsuit filed by President Trump against the IRS and the Treasury.

Market volatility followed a familiar pattern over the weekend. On Friday, silver saw the sharpest decline, followed by gold, as macro risks first manifested in commodities. Bitcoin held up better during market hours. Over the weekend, while metals markets were closed, Bitcoin continued to adjust, aligning itself with the ongoing macro impulses.
By Monday, when commodities reopened, the price movements of Bitcoin, gold, and silver had converged. This convergence, rather than divergent declines, suggests alignment with shared macro conditions.
The market entered the weekend with a lopsided concentration of long positions. Over 90-95% of liquidations were long positions, reflecting expectations of continued upward momentum. As these positions were liquidated, investors with large balance sheets took the other side of the trade. According to CoinMetrics data, addresses holding more than 10,000 BTC accumulated an additional 14,921 Bitcoin during the dip, while addresses holding more than 100,000 BTC accumulated 6,039 Bitcoin.
Later on Monday morning, the liquidation pressure appeared to subside, and assets began to move in tandem again. This event illustrates a leverage-driven reset that coincided with a macro-vulnerable moment, exacerbated by weekend illiquidity.
Whether this is a turning point or simply a clearing event will depend on how macro conditions evolve from here.
@Binance_Square_Official

The yellow metal breached the $5,600 level on 29 Jan, representing a milestone that goes far beyond a simple safe-haven rally.
This move serves as the definitive signal of a global pivot away from the US-led financial order. While television pundits ramble about momentum and technicals, the underlying reality is significantly grimmer. We are witnessing the slow-motion disintegration of confidence in the creditworthiness of the Western world.
The sovereign stampede for the exits
This rally finds its support in a structural shift in how central banks manage their reserves. The official sector has moved from sporadic purchasing to a trend of consistent accumulation, with central banks adding hundreds of tonnes to their vaults. During 2025, the official sector absorbed nearly 10% of annual mine production, effectively drying up the open market for other participants.
Survival, rather than profit, motivates this behaviour. Since the freezing of Russian foreign-currency reserves in 2022, emerging market central banks have viewed US dollar holdings as a liability. China and India are actively buying gold to diversify their reserves and reduce their dependency on a currency that can be weaponized at any moment. Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect this structural shift in reserve management to persist for years. When the institutions that print the money start trading it for heavy rocks, the public should pay attention.
Debt traps and the death of risk-free assets
The secondary driver of this $5,600 peak involves the catastrophic state of US fiscal policy. For decades, US Treasuries provided the bedrock of the global economy as the ultimate risk-free asset. That era has ended. With federal debt continuing to climb and foreign holdings of Treasuries falling to decade-low levels, investors seek assets without counterparty risk.

Analysts at Bank of America point to unorthodox US fiscal policy as a primary reason for their $5,000 plus forecasts. The market is currently pricing in a reality where the US cannot inflate its way out of its debt without destroying the value of the dollar. Gold acts as a direct hedge against currency debasement, a role it has played for millennia while countless fiat experiments turned to dust. The erosion of confidence in sovereign debt drives a strategic reallocation of portfolios, moving capital from the digital promises of governments to the physical reality of bullion.
BRICS and the balkanisation of reserves
The geopolitical landscape of early 2026 has become a minefield for the dollar. As India assumes leadership of the BRICS bloc, the push for de-dollarisation reaches a fever pitch. Discussions regarding linking the digital currencies of these nations aim to facilitate trade without ever touching the SWIFT system. These efforts represent a calculated attempt to build a parallel financial architecture insulated from Western sanctions.

In this new multi-polar world, gold serves as the ultimate neutral collateral. Unlike a currency, gold belongs to no specific government or ideology. It remains the only asset that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS can agree upon as a store of value. As trade conflicts and tariffs become the new normal, the demand for an asset that preserves wealth outside the dollar zone will intensify. The overnight surge to $5,300 marks the first chapter in a story of global monetary balkanisation.
Energy requirements and the digital divide
The crypto industry naturally attempts to claim some of the glory for this rally. While both gold and Bitcoin function as hedges against systemic instability, they behave very differently in the current crisis. Bitcoin remains highly sensitive to shifts in risk appetite and liquidity, often trading more like a tech stock than a defensive anchor. Gold has demonstrated a resilience across monetary regimes that digital tokens cannot yet match.
Charlie Erith, Founder and Senior Portfolio Manager of Wiston Capital, highlights a fundamental distinction between the two. "Bitcoin needs energy to survive. This is where it differs from gold: gold doesn’t need a power system," Erith told Sandmark. This physical independence gives gold an edge in a world where energy security has become a geopolitical weapon. While Bitcoin flows have stabilised following the ETF launches, gold is attracting a more conservative breed of institutional capital that prioritises absolute survival over speculative gain.

Tokenisation brings gold onchain
The intersection of these two worlds offers the most interesting developments. We are seeing a rise in tokenized gold, where the physical metal is moved onchain to allow for the rapid settlement that modern markets demand. This process focuses on making the asset faster and more liquid for a digital age. For the institutional Strategy players, owning gold more efficiently through tech has become a priority.
Platforms like Meld Gold and Cache Gold Token are entering the ecosystem to bridge the gap between traditional vaults and decentralised infrastructure. These initiatives provide the transparency and fractional ownership that retail and institutional investors now require. By 2026, gold tokenization will have moved beyond experimentation into a foundational layer of the global financial system.
The clear path to $6,000
The ultimate destination for this rally remains higher. Some institutions are projecting targets of $6,000 as the institutional consensus shifts toward gold as a permanent pillar of reserve management. If the Federal Reserve continues its trajectory of rate cuts despite rising inflation, the opportunity cost of holding gold will drop even further.

The $5,600 price point serves as a warning. It tells politicians that the debt-fueled party is winding down. For years, the public heard that infinite spending, low interest rates and a stable currency could coexist. The gold price suggests otherwise, with the currency being the current sacrifice. Holding wealth in the promises of a government that is $35tn in the hole carries immense risk. The overnight move in gold should be the final wake-up call for the market.
@Binance Square Official @CZ @heyi