Bitcoin price plunges to November 2024 level

Bitcoin BTC $78,076.30 Mezo Wrapped BTC 1.85% Market capitalization $44.71 million VOL. 24 hours $3.53 billion has fallen below the psychologically important $ 80,000 mark — on January 31, 2026, its rate dropped to $ 78,615, losing more than 5% in a day. During a sluggish weekend of trading on February 1, the price dropped even further to below $ 76,000. The flagship of the crypto market is showing a fourth consecutive month of decline — for the first time since 2018. The total decline from the peak values of the fourth quarter of 2025 is about 40%, and in January alone, the price fell by 6%.

The entire crypto market is falling along with Bitcoin. Ethereum ETH $2,371.26 Bridged Ether (StarkGate) 2.58% Market capitalization $54.22 million VOL. 24 hours $3.51 billion lost 8.5%, Solana SOL $104.89 Binance-Peg SOL 2.86% Market capitalization $0.11 billion VOL. 24 hours $0.67 billion - 8.2%. Of the 100 largest tokens, 90 closed in the red, with an average decline of 4.6%. The total market capitalization fell from a record $ 4.27 trillion to $ 2.5 trillion. The sharp drop was caused by a massive outflow of capital from exchange-traded funds: in January, investors withdrew $ 1.6 billion from US Bitcoin ETFs, the third largest monthly outflow in history.

At the same time, the liquidity problem is deepening. The amount of available Bitcoin liquidity has decreased by more than 30% compared to the October peak. Transactions on exchanges are made with very little market depth — only $ 500,000 at the top of the order book. At the same time, spot trading volumes reached their lowest level since the end of 2023. on January 29, when the price dropped below $ 86,000, $ 570 million worth of positions were liquidated in a day, including $ 268 million in just one hour. When the price dropped below $ 76,000, another $ 2.4 billion in long positions were liquidated.

In the absence of a specific trigger, such as the FTX collapse in 2022, analysts are talking about a classic collision of «phantom liquidity» with forced credit. Market demand is gradually weakening, liquidity is disappearing, and Bitcoin is increasingly detached from general market trends. This is compounded by the tight monetary policy of the United States: the Fed’s rate remains at 3.50−3.75%, and only two members have called for its reduction.

The situation is further complicated by the nomination of Kevin Warsh to the post of Fed Chairman. Known for his commitment to a tighter monetary policy, he is in favor of high real rates and a reduction in the Fed’s balance sheet. Following the news, the dollar strengthened, while Bitcoin lost ground again. At the same time, Worsch spoke of Bitcoin as an important indicator of policy makers' mistakes, which could reinforce the long-term narrative of cryptocurrencies as a protection against centralized control. However, in the short term, the market is driven by fear of further policy tightening.