The cryptocurrency market has seen some initial relief from panic, with the fear index at 9 today. However, several waves of surging trading volume and sideways movement occurred from last night to this morning, indicating that the bulls and bears are still battling it out. Bitcoin rose directly from $68,261 around 10 PM last night after the US stock market opened, briefly breaking through $71,000 after the US stock market closed. Around 4 AM, a large number of sell orders suddenly appeared, pushing the price down from $70,800. It rebounded to $70,183 before this writing. The situation on Ethereum is more chaotic. After surging from the $2,008 range to $2,150, it fell back, with the battle between bulls and bears intensifying. It is currently priced at $2,119, but shows a clear upward trend compared to Bitcoin on the chart, warranting close attention.
The amount liquidated was $288 million.
Market confidence remains visibly panicked but has improved slightly, and yesterday's pullback following the rise in US stocks also triggered minor liquidations. According to CoinGlass statistics , nearly 97,000 traders worldwide were forced to liquidate in the past 24 hours, with a total liquidation amount of $288 million. Both long and short positions were liquidated. Compared to yesterday's data, the amount is slightly less, but the number of people liquidated has increased slightly, indicating that those trying to buy the buy the dips in small amounts are now competing against those shorting.
BitMine bucks the trend and buys another 40,000 ETH.
According to EmberCN, an on-chain analyst, BitMine (BMNR), the world's largest corporate Ethereum holder, made another large purchase of approximately 40,613 ETH in the past week, spending about $82 million. This includes 20,000 ETH previously purchased through the over-the-counter trader FalconX.
As of February 8, BitMine held a total of 4,325,738 Ethereum, representing 3.58% of the total ETH supply, with a market value of approximately $9.2 billion. However, due to its average purchase cost of $3,826 per ETH, its unrealized losses have now widened to approximately $7.8 billion.
At the current price level, we have no selling pressure because there are no debt covenants or other restrictive clauses.
Despite widening unrealized losses, BitMine has not slowed its buying spree. It has already staked approximately 2,873,459 ETH, bringing its total staking to $6.2 billion, and plans to launch its own "Made in America Validator Network" (MAVAN) in the first quarter of 2026. This "buy more as prices fall" strategy is strikingly similar to MicroStrategy's continued accumulation of Bitcoin.
The market remains undecided, awaiting direction.
Overall, the crypto market is currently in a phase where panic has begun to subside, but the direction remains unclear. In the short term, the battle between bulls and bears in Bitcoin and Ethereum continues, and the sideways consolidation pattern with increased trading volume indicates a significant change in ownership. The large-scale buying by institutions like BitMine has provided some confidence to the market, but whether it can truly reverse the downward trend depends on the subsequent overall economic environment and regulatory developments.
