Крипторынок на грани: биткоин рухнул к $60 000, инвесторы понесли миллиарды убытков Translation: Cryptocurrency Market on the Brink: Bitcoin Plummets to $60,000, Investors Face Billions in Losses

The original cryptocurrency tested a local bottom at $60,000, with mining difficulty decreasing by 11%. Crypto treasuries recorded significant «paper» losses, journalists uncovered a secret deal involving the Trump family, along with other events from the past week.

In the last seven days, the crypto market hit local lows not seen since September 2024. On Monday, Bitcoin was trading just below $80,000, but by Wednesday, it underwent a substantial correction.

On February 3, there was the first major drop from $78,000 to $73,000. The following day, the decline intensified, with the price plunging to $70,000.

On Friday, February 5, the most significant drop of the week occurred: the leading cryptocurrency fell from $73,000 to $60,000.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin had recovered to $70,000, resulting in a 9.5% decline over the week.

The drop in the digital asset market was accompanied by a cascade of liquidations worth billions of dollars, along with outflows from ETF funds. Over the trading week, investors withdrew $689 million from spot Bitcoin funds.

Simultaneously, the cryptocurrency fear and greed index plunged to extreme lows below 10 points.

Alongside Bitcoin, nearly all top-cap coins moved into the «red zone.» Ethereum lost a crucial psychological level, dropping below $2,000. It has since rebounded to $2,100, representing an 11.5% weekly decline.

Additionally, XRP fell to $1.45 (-11%), BNB dropped to $650 (-16.5%), and SOL slid to $90 (-16%).

Analysts are noting signs of investor capitulation, with technical indicators suggesting deep oversold conditions. At the same time, the correlation with traditional indices, including NASDAQ100 and S&P 500, has increased.

Opinions regarding future price movements are divided: some market participants indicate a local bottom has been reached, while others anticipate a more profound downturn.

The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies decreased to $2.5 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index stands at 57%, while Ethereum’s is at 10.3%.

On February 7, Bitcoin mining difficulty dropped by 11.16% to 125.86 TH, marking the most significant decrease since the ban on crypto mining in China was enacted in 2021.

After this adjustment, the hash rate of Bitcoin’s network soared to 1.3 EH/s, and the average interval shortened to approximately seven minutes.

Concurrently, the yield indicator for mining digital gold fell to a record low. Mining companies have started to disconnect equipment en masse due to falling Bitcoin prices and rising energy costs.

Revenue per unit of computing power fell to three cents per terahash. For comparison, this figure was $3.5 in 2017.

Moreover, many ASIC devices have become unprofitable due to falling Bitcoin prices. The Antminer S19 XP+ Hydro, WhatsMiner M60S, and Avalon A1466I have come close to the breakeven point. As long as Bitcoin remains below $86,000, operating these devices is not profitable.

Newer devices like the Antminer S21 have a profitability threshold between $69,000 and $74,000 per BTC. Currently, models like U3S23H and S23 Hydro remain profitable as long as digital gold is priced above $44,000.

This situation has impacted the shares of public miners significantly. On February 5 alone, CleanSpark saw its shares decline by 10%, MARA by 11%, TeraWulf by 8.5%, and Riot by 4.8%.

The market downturn has affected not only miners but also firms holding assets in digital currencies (DAT).

The operational loss of the largest company in this segment, Strategy, reached $17.4 billion, mainly due to unrealized losses from Bitcoin reserves. The net loss was $12.6 billion compared to $671 million a year earlier.

Just four months ago, the «paper» profit of the «treasury giant» had soared to $31 billion.

According to a Messari report, Strategy’s current losses are comparable to those suffered by giants like AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac during the 2008 crisis.

As of early February, the company holds 713,502 BTC, with an average purchase price of around $76,000.

Strategy’s stock is also in poor condition, with MSTR shares dropping by 54% over the year.

Other DAT companies are facing similar struggles. The largest corporate holder of Ethereum, BitMine, suffered a loss of $6.95 billion in unrealized value.

The firm purchased coins at an average price of $3,883, while the current price has fallen to $2,240.

The second-largest treasury firm, SharpLink Gaming, lost $1.09 billion on its investment in the coin, with an average entry price of $3,609.

Hong Kong’s Trend Research reported a loss of $747 million on its Ethereum treasury, having sold nearly all its coins.

Aside from the market correction, the community was abuzz over a deal involving the Trump family within their project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI). According to The Wall Street Journal, an investment fund connected to UAE Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan secretly acquired 49% of the company.

The agreement was signed by Eric Trump, the son of the US president, in January 2025, just four days before his father’s inauguration. There was no public announcement regarding the deal.

The Abu Dhabi-based firm Aryam Investment 1 paid half the $250 million sum upfront. About $187 million was directed to firms owned by the Trump family (DT Marks DEFI LLC and DT Marks SC LLC), and at least $31 million was allocated to companies associated with co-founder Steve Witkoff.

Witkoff was appointed as a special envoy to the Middle East, and his son, Zach, serves as the CEO of World Liberty Financial.

Journalists also uncovered that in the weeks leading up to the Trump administration’s announcement of a deal with the UAE concerning AI chips, Sheik Tahnoun’s company MGX invested approximately $2 billion in Binance using the WLFI’s USD1 stablecoin. These actions effectively enabled the launch of the asset itself.

After these revelations, Donald Trump claimed he was unaware of any investments from the Abu Dhabi firm into WLFI.

«My sons are handling that, my family is involved… I have enough on my plate with Iran, Russia, and Ukraine,» he remarked.

Later, U.S. Representative Ro Khanna submitted an official inquiry to the leadership of World Liberty Financial. Authorities are examining the connections between the crypto project and foreign capital, as well as potential conflicts of interest.

Legislators are interested in the details surrounding the $187 million transfer to the president’s family firms and information about payments to WLFI co-founders. Additionally, there are concerns regarding the role of the USD1 stablecoin in MGX’s $2 billion investment in Binance.

On February 6, the South Korean exchange Bithumb mistakenly paid some users enormous sums in Bitcoin.

Researcher AB Kuai.Dong initially drew attention to the situation. According to him, the platform mistakenly credited «hundreds» of clients with 2000 BTC (~$141.6 million) instead of 2000 won (~$1.4).

Some recipients managed to sell the Bitcoin and cash out, causing the coin’s price on Bithumb against the Korean won to briefly plummet by 22%.

Media linked the incident to a promotional campaign named «Random Box.» Approximately 700 users received the transactions, and around 240 accounts were quick to notice the error. The amount withdrawn after selling the original cryptocurrency was about 3 billion won (~$2.1 million).

The exchange reclaimed roughly 400,000 BTC. In a separate press release, Bithumb acknowledged that it mistakenly paid some clients «abnormally large amounts» in Bitcoin.

According to the statement, Bithumb’s control system promptly recognized unusual transactions and froze the account from which they were executed. The cryptocurrency’s price «returned to normal» within five minutes, and a mechanism to prevent cascading liquidations helped avert mass position closures.

«We want to make it clear that this incident is not associated with any external hacking attacks or security breaches, and it poses no threat to systems or management of user assets,» the message stated.

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