Crypto Weekly Recap (Feb 5–11, 2026): Bitcoin Hits $60K, XRP Defies the Crash, and Wall Street…
A complete breakdown of the wildest week in crypto since FTX collapsed — and why the infrastructure story matters more than the price.
Crypto Weekly Recap (Feb 5–11, 2026): Bitcoin Hits $60K, XRP Defies the Crash, and Wall Street Launches Its Own Stablecoins
A complete breakdown of the wildest week in crypto since FTX collapsed — and why the infrastructure story matters more than the price.
Bitcoin touched $60,033 this week. Let that sink in.
Four months ago, BTC was trading at $126,000. Today, it’s lost half its value. Over $1.2 trillion in market capitalisation has evaporated since October, and the Fear & Greed Index hit 11 — a level we haven’t seen since the darkest days of 2022.
But here’s the thing about crypto: the price chart never tells the full story. While Bitcoin was bleeding, XRP staged an 18% rally. While retail traders panicked, Fidelity quietly launched a stablecoin. And while everyone debated whether this is the end, Tether released an open-source mining operating system that could reshape Bitcoin’s entire security model.
This is your weekly recap. Not the headlines — the story behind them.
The Crash: What Actually Happened
Bitcoin’s slide below $70,000 on Monday accelerated into a full-blown liquidation cascade by Wednesday. On February 5, BTC dropped over 10% in a single session — its worst one-day decline since the FTX collapse in November 2022.
The numbers are staggering. Over $3.2 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated on February 5 alone. Bitcoin broke below its 365-day moving average for the first time since March 2022. CryptoQuant analysts noted that the 23% decline over 83 days is worse than during the early 2022 bear phase.
U.S. Bitcoin ETFs recorded $545 million in net outflows, with BlackRock accounting for $373 million and Fidelity another $86 million. None of the twelve ETFs posted inflows. Zero.
By Thursday, BTC briefly touched $60,033 in early Asian trading before bouncing back above $70,000 on Friday. The recovery was fast but fragile — prediction markets on Polymarket still price an 80%+ chance of Bitcoin hitting $60,000 or lower in 2026.
Why This Crash Feels Different
Three factors make this correction structurally distinct from previous crypto winters.
First, the digital gold narrative is officially broken. While Bitcoin dropped 26% year-to-date, gold surged 11% to nearly $5,595 per ounce. Silver hit an all-time high before correcting. When real fear hit — trade wars, AI stock crashes, geopolitical chaos — investors chose the 5,000-year-old store of value, not the 17-year-old one.
Second, institutional exit mechanisms now exist. Bitcoin ETFs created a frictionless off-ramp that didn’t exist in 2022. When risk models trigger, institutional money leaves automatically. The same infrastructure that powered the rally to $126,000 is now mechanically accelerating the decline.
Third, the macro environment is hostile. The Fed held rates at 3.50–3.75% in January, inflation came in at 3.4%, and JPMorgan projects the Fed could stay on hold through all of 2026. Higher risk-free returns make speculative assets like crypto structurally less attractive.
XRP: The Outlier That Outperformed Everyone
While the market bled, XRP pulled off something remarkable — an 18% surge to $1.47 in 24 hours, outperforming both Bitcoin (+10.16%) and Ethereum (+10.84%) during the recovery.
Several catalysts drove the move. Speculation around regulatory progress in Ripple’s SEC case continues to build. Seven U.S. spot XRP ETFs have now accumulated $1.37 billion in inflows since their November launch. Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, recently crossed $1.3 billion in market cap.
But perhaps most significant: Ripple’s growing relationship with U.S. policymakers. With the CLARITY Act moving through the Senate and White House crypto adviser David Sacks confirming a floor vote in early 2026, regulatory clarity could be the catalyst that breaks XRP’s eight-year resistance at $3.84.
Vitalik Sells, But Not for the Reason You Think
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold 493 ETH worth $1.16 million this week, immediately triggering panic in crypto Twitter. “Vitalik is dumping!” “Bearish signal!”
The reality: he donated $500,000 in USDC to Kanro, his biotech charity focused on pandemic research. The remaining funds were converted through CoW Protocol — a tool designed to minimise market impact.
This is the same person who withdrew 16,384 ETH ($38.5 million) in January to fund Ethereum’s “aggressive roadmap.” The sell was philanthropy, not capitulation.
Meanwhile, Ethereum’s fundamentals tell a different story from its price. Daily transactions hit an all-time high of 2.8 million in January. Active addresses topped 1 million. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee called ETH’s pullback an “attractive opportunity,” noting the disconnect between growing network activity and declining price.
The Stablecoin Wars Heat Up
Perhaps the most consequential development this week had nothing to do with price. On January 28, Fidelity Investments — managing $5.9 trillion in assets — announced the Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), which will launch on Ethereum under the GENIUS Act framework.
One day earlier, Tether launched USAT, its first U.S.-compliant stablecoin. JPMorgan already has its JPMD deposit token. U.S. Bancorp is testing on Stellar. A consortium of banks is exploring a joint stablecoin.
The stablecoin market now exceeds $315 billion, and the race for America’s digital dollar is officially on. This isn’t crypto speculation — this is traditional finance building on blockchain rails, and it validates the entire thesis.
The Infrastructure Story Nobody’s Talking About
Tether released MiningOS this week — an open-source platform designed to bring industrial-grade software to the global Bitcoin mining fleet. By open-sourcing the “brain” of a mining farm, Tether is bidding for the foundational layer of Bitcoin’s security infrastructure.
Meanwhile, European banks ING and BBVA are bringing crypto ETNs to millions of retail users under MiCA regulation. MetaMask integrated tokenised stocks. Coinbase listed HYPE, the Hyperliquid token, and it surged immediately.
These aren’t price catalysts. They’re infrastructure buildout. And an infrastructure buildout during a bear market is historically one of the strongest signals that the next cycle is underway.
What Matters for Your Portfolio
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: nobody knows where the bottom is. Analyst estimates range from $38,000 (Stifel) to $40,000 (Zacks) to a recovery starting within months (Bitwise). Crypto winters average 13 months — we’re about 12 months in.
What you can control: where your funds are, what your fee structure looks like, and whether your exchange can handle the stress.
During this week’s crash, several platforms froze withdrawals or throttled APIs. Others didn’t. That difference matters when you’re trying to exit a position at 3 a.m., and your exchange is returning 504 errors.
I’ve been using Bitunix for derivatives trading through this volatility — they maintained full operations throughout February 5, including withdrawals and sub-millisecond execution. Ranked №7 on CoinGlass, $42M in insurance, on-chain proof of reserves, and zero security breaches since launch.
If you’re evaluating exchanges, code BITUNIXBONUS gets you up to 7,700 USDT in bonuses, 77.7% fee discount, and instant VIP 2 for 30 days:
Looking Ahead: Week of February 12–18
Watch for: Senate markup of the CLARITY Act (potential XRP catalyst), Fed minutes from the January meeting, continued ETF flow data, and whether Bitcoin can hold $65,000 as support.
The crash will end. The infrastructure being built right now determines who benefits when it does.
Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. Trading digital assets involves significant risk. Do your own research before making investment decisions.
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