Bitcoin jumped from $68,261 to $71,000 after the US stock market opened on Tuesday evening, a gain of over 3.3%. But heavy selling emerged after the close, dragging the price down from $70,800. At press time, BTC is trading at $70,183. Ethereum saw even wilder swings: it broke above $2,150 from the $2,008 range, then quickly reversed to $2,119. The daily chart shows a stronger uptrend for ETH relative to BTC, though both are stuck in a tug-of-war.
Liquidations Top $288M, 97K Traders Hit
The market's fear gauge has improved slightly—the Crypto Fear & Greed Index sits at 9—but volatility remains high. According to CoinGlass, the past 24 hours saw nearly 97,000 traders liquidated globally, totaling $288 million. Both longs and shorts were caught, with the liquidation value down slightly from yesterday but the number of affected traders rising, suggesting small-scale dip buyers and short sellers are clashing.
Bitmine Scoops Up 40K ETH in a Week, Now Holds 4.33M ETH
On-chain analyst EmberCN reports that Bitmine (BMNR), the largest corporate holder of Ethereum, purchased approximately 40,613 ETH over the past week, spending around $82 million. This includes 20,000 ETH bought via OTC desk FalconX. As of February 8, Bitmine's total ETH holdings reached 4,325,738 tokens, representing 3.58% of the total ETH supply, with a market value of about $9.2 billion. However, its average purchase price of $3,826 per ETH means it now faces an unrealized loss of roughly $7.8 billion.
"At the current price, we have no pressure to sell because there are no debt covenants or other restrictive clauses."
Despite the mounting paper loss, Bitmine has not slowed buying. It has staked 2,873,459 ETH—worth $6.2 billion—and plans to launch its own "Made in America Validator Network" (MAVAN) in Q1 2026. This "buy more as price drops" approach mirrors MicroStrategy's Bitcoin accumulation strategy.
Institutions Accumulate, Market Awaits Direction
The crypto market remains in a phase of recovering fear but without clear direction. Bitcoin and Ethereum are witnessing high-volume sideways trading, with positions shifting rapidly. Bitmine's large purchases provide some psychological support, but whether the trend can reverse depends on upcoming macroeconomic data and regulatory developments.