Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Feb 06, 2026

Two-day bitcoin sell-off wipes out over $100 billion from the entire crypto market

Two-day bitcoin sell-off wipes out over $100 billion from the entire crypto market

The price of bitcoin slipped 10% in two days to fall below the $32,000 level for the first time since Jan. 11.


Bitcoin slumped for a second day Thursday, taking the digital currency’s losses to more than 10% over 48 hours and wiping off billions of dollars from the crypto market.

The price of bitcoin slipped 8% on Thursday to as low as $31,007, falling below the $32,000 level for the first time since Jan. 11, according to data from industry website CoinDesk.

The world’s most valuable digital coin has had a wild few weeks, briefly hitting $41,940 earlier this month before sinking sharply the subsequent week. The reason for its latest move wasn’t immediately clear, but investors told CNBC it is likely a natural correction.

“Corrections are a natural part of any market and are especially natural in the bitcoin ecosystem,” Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, told CNBC. “From 2016-2017, we experienced 6 corrections of approximately 30% or more on the way to new highs.”

Ether, the second-biggest crypto token by market value, was down almost 9% in the last 24 hours at a price of $1,182. The coin hit an all-time high of $1,439 on Tuesday, according to Coin Metrics data.

The total market value of all cryptocurrencies shed more than $100 billion in the last 48 hours, falling from about $1.07 trillion to $918 billion as of 11:45 a.m. ET.

“I think you’ve got to accept there’s a tremendous amount of volatility in bitcoin, and it’s still very early stages,” Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, told CNBC in a phone interview.

“Imagine Amazon, and Jeff Bezos and a few venture capitalists are still holding most of Amazon, and the company is experiencing explosive growth, exponential activity,” the former White House communications director added.

“If you look at Amazon in the first 3 years, you saw 50% drops in price. Bitcoin’s moves are akin to that because you’ve got close holders of bitcoin that are releasing bitcoin to the marketplace and the buying stability is shoring up. But it’s still not 100% there.”


Bitcoin’s latest price movement comes after the new U.S. Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, warned about cryptocurrencies being used “mainly for illicit financing.” The former Federal Reserve chairman said the government would “need to examine ways in which we can curtail their use and make sure that money laundering doesn’t occur through those channels.”

The plunge also comes despite seemingly positive news for bitcoin, which is still up over 140% in the last three months. On Wednesday, asset manager BlackRock — which has $7.8 trillion in assets under management — filed separate prospectuses for two funds that may buy bitcoin futures contracts, in the biggest sign yet that institutional investors are flocking to the virtual currency.

Bitcoin bulls say the main reason for bitcoin’s upward momentum over recent months has been the rise of institutional demand for the cryptocurrency. Big-name investors like Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller have come out as bitcoin believers, while some asset managers are starting to add it to their portfolios.

“Who’s to say whether we’ve seen the bottom of the correction, but at Grayscale we know that there continues to be a flurry of demand, especially from institutional investors who have longer term holding preferences,” Sonnenshein said.

Scaramucci said Skybridge’s bitcoin-focused fund, which launched earlier this month, initially invested $25 million and that has since risen to over $60 million already. Skybridge’s clients are mainly high-net-worth individuals, he added.

The cryptocurrency’s remarkable surge has also been fueled in part by a narrative that it offers a store of value akin to gold in times of unprecedented economic stimulus, which some investors fear will cause a spike in inflation.

However, skeptics worry that bitcoin is just another market bubble waiting to burst. The cryptocurrency is known for its volatility — it skyrocketed close to $20,000 in late 2017 before plunging the following year.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Winklevoss-Led Gemini to Slash a Quarter of Jobs and Exit European and Australian Markets
UK Royal Family Faces Intensifying Strain as Epstein-Linked Revelations Rock the Institution
Political Censorship: French Prosecutors Raid Musk’s X Offices in Paris
AI Invented “Hot Springs” — Tourists Arrived and Were Shocked
Tech Mega-Donors Power Trump-Aligned Fundraising Surge to $429 Million Ahead of 2026 Midterms
UK Pharma Watchdog Rules Sanofi Breached Industry Code With RSV Vaccine Claims Against Pfizer
Melania Documentary Opens Modestly in UK with Mixed Global Box Office Performance
Starmer Arrives in Shanghai to Promote British Trade and Investment
Harry Styles, Anthony Joshua and Premier League Stars Among UK’s Top Taxpayers
New Epstein Files Include Images of Former Prince Andrew Kneeling Over Unidentified Woman
Starmer Urges Former Prince Andrew to Testify Before US Congress About Epstein Ties
Starmer Extends Invitation to Japan’s Prime Minister After Strategic Tokyo Talks
Skupski and Harrison Clinch Australian Open Men’s Doubles Title in Melbourne
China Lifts Sanctions on British MPs and Peers After Starmer Xi Talks in Beijing
AstraZeneca Announces £11bn China Investment After Scaling Back UK Expansion Plans
Starmer and Xi Forge Warming UK-China Ties in Beijing Amid Strategic Reset
Tesla Ends Model S and X Production and Sends $2 Billion to xAI as 2025 Revenue Declines
Starmer Seeks Economic Gains From China Visit While Navigating US Diplomatic Sensitivities
Starmer Says China Visit Will Deliver Economic Benefits as He Prepares to Meet Xi Jinping
UK Prime Minister Starmer Arrives in China to Bolster Trade and Warn Firms of Strategic Opportunities
The AI Hiring Doom Loop — Algorithmic Recruiting Filters Out Top Talent and Rewards Average or Fake Candidates
UK Banks Pledge £11 Billion Lending Package to Help Firms Expand Overseas
Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK, Accusing Conservatives of Betrayal on Core Policies
Melania Trump Documentary Sees Limited Box Office Traction in UK Cinemas
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
Prince Harry Says Sacrifices of NATO Forces in Afghanistan Deserve ‘Respect’ After Trump Remarks
Barron Trump Emerges as Key Remote Witness in UK Assault and Rape Trial
Trump Reverses Course and Criticises UK-Mauritius Chagos Islands Agreement
Elizabeth Hurley Tells UK Court of ‘Brutal’ Invasion of Privacy in Phone Hacking Case
UK Bond Yields Climb as Report Fuels Speculation Over Andy Burnham’s Return to Parliament
Prince William to Make Official Visit to Saudi Arabia in February
Prince Harry Breaks Down in London Court, Says UK Tabloids Have Made Meghan Markle’s Life ‘Absolute Misery’
Malin + Goetz UK Business Enters Administration, All Stores Close
EU and UK Reject Trump’s Greenland-Linked Tariff Threats and Pledge Unified Response
UK Deepfake Crackdown Puts Intense Pressure on Musk’s Grok AI After Surge in Non-Consensual Explicit Images
Prince Harry Becomes Emotional in London Court, Invokes Memory of Princess Diana in Testimony Against UK Tabloids
UK Inflation Rises Unexpectedly but Interest Rate Cuts Still Seen as Likely
Starmer Steps Back from Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Amid Strained US–UK Relations
Prince Harry’s Lawyer Tells UK Court Daily Mail Was Complicit in Unlawful Privacy Invasions
UK Government Approves China’s ‘Mega Embassy’ in London Amid Debate Over Security and Diplomacy
Trump Cites UK’s Chagos Islands Sovereignty Shift as Justification for Pursuing Greenland Acquisition
UK Government Weighs Australia-Style Social Media Ban for Under-Sixteens Amid Rising Concern Over Online Harm
Trump Aides Say U.S. Has Discussed Offering Asylum to British Jews Amid Growing Antisemitism Concerns
UK Seeks Diplomatic De-escalation with Trump Over Greenland Tariff Threat
Prince Harry Returns to London as High Court Trial Begins Over Alleged Illegal Tabloid Snooping
High-Speed Train Collision in Southern Spain Kills at Least Twenty-One and Injures Scores
Meghan Markle May Return to the U.K. This Summer as Security Review Advances
Trump’s Greenland Tariff Threat Sparks EU Response and Risks Deep Transatlantic Rift
×