On January 26, 2026, silver plunged about 12% in under four hours, wiping out an estimated $800 billion in market capitalization and marking one of its steepest short-term declines in recent years. The leveraged unwind and spike in trading volume raised questions over whether some capital could eventually rotate toward crypto assets such as Bitcoin. While the move underscored how fragile momentum trades can be, any potential shift into digital assets still appears dependent on broader liquidity and risk appetite.

The circulating supply of fiat-backed stablecoins has climbed above $284 billion, driven largely by USDT and USDC, and reigniting debate over potential risks to bank deposits. Economists Niall Ferguson and Manny Rincon-Cruz argue that stablecoins resemble modern bank notes and can grow alongside traditional deposits, while banking groups warn that reward-bearing tokens and rising transaction volumes could pressure funding costs and credit. Recent data on trillions of dollars in annual stablecoin payments and new U.S. regulation for payment tokens underscore how quickly this market is reshaping digital money usage.

Hong Kong's SFC set the cutoff for the legacy STREAMS platform at 12:00 AM on January 28, 2026, with a blackout until the morning of February 2, when STREAMS 2 becomes the only STR submission channel. During the gap, urgent STRs must be sent via email, phone, or fax. Paul Chan said stablecoin licensing will begin in Q1 2026, with HKMA approval and HK$25 million capital.

Bitcoin’s next all-time high now hinges on whether spot ETF demand turns persistent after sharp two-way flows. Net outflows totaled $1.29 billion from Dec. 15–31, 2025, with early January 2026 shedding $681 million, then a +$840.6 million day on Jan. 14 followed by roughly $1.32 billion of outflows across Jan. 20–23 ahead of the Jan. 27–28 FOMC meeting.

Chris Burniske, cofounder of Placeholder VC and former crypto lead at Ark Invest, has outlined several Bitcoin price regions where he would consider buying if the ongoing decline deepens, after gaining recognition for timing past cycle turning points. His reference zones span from the mid-$80,000s to the low-$50,000s, with specific levels such as around $80,000, $74,000, $70,000, $58,000 and $50,000 and below, while technician Aksel Kibar highlights technical support in the $73,700–$76,500 band as part of a broader base-building phase. At press time, Bitcoin was changing hands at $87,812.

On Monday, CoreWeave's stock surged 15% after Nvidia agreed to invest $2 billion by purchasing Class A shares at $87.20 each, below the prior $92.98 close. The fresh capital is intended to accelerate CoreWeave's plan to deploy 5 gigawatts of AI data center capacity by 2030 and reduce dependence on any single customer. CoreWeave has also lined up $42.9 billion in contracts with partners including Meta, OpenAI and Nvidia, underscoring its aggressive expansion in AI infrastructure.

Wallet 0x519Fe moved 61.63 billion SHIB through Coinbase's hot wallet at the start of February, leaving a zero balance as SHIB traded near $0.00000776 with support around $0.0000075. February has averaged 9.26% for SHIB, including 41.3% in 2024, while recent price action shows a failed mid-January breakout and steady volume.

Ethereum is hovering near $2,900, down 1% on the day and over 10% this week. Analysts flag a 3‑day bear flag and say a close back above $2,906 is needed to avert downside, with a pattern target near $1,666. Derivatives metrics show open interest at 5.255 million and funding at 0.0011.