By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless otherwise noted)
As the crypto market licks its wounds from the weekend’s slide, decentralized exchange Hyperliquid’s permissionless markets have exploded to record highs.
Introduced in October with Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal 3 (HIP-3), the markets hit a record high of $1 billion in open interest and $4.8 billion in 24-hour volume. Under HIP-3, anyone can spin markets for crypto, stocks, gold and more by staking 500,000 HYPE tokens. The initiative represents the democratization of market making, not just trading.
This surge in activity has driven Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, to a prominent 41% gain over seven days, in contrast to bitcoin’s 11% slide and steeper dive in ether and other major altcoins.
Some now call HYPE a “defensive play,” akin to pharmaceutical or utility stocks that hold steady in stock markets, prioritizing capital preservation and stability over speculative bets.
It remains to be seen whether HYPE can maintain this haven status, especially if the crypto crash deepens. A continued selloff could erode investor confidence, slow trading activity on all exchanges, including Hyperliquid, and limit the token’s gains. For now, however, traders have a token bucking the BTC-centric trend, providing a rare glimpse of diversification in a market that appears to be following bitcoin lower.
Speaking of markets, bitcoin fell below $75,000 over the weekend as the broader market followed suit. Almost all crypto market sub-sector indices are now down 15% or more this year, according to CoinDesk Indices.
The BTC slide has left spot ETF holders underwater, setting the stage for large redemptions and further bearish pressure. Traders are also worried about how Strategy’s ( MSTR ) shares will trade on Monday.
With 712,000 BTC (3.4% of total supply), Strategy will mostly converge to bitcoin. MSTR’s built-in leverage means it will crater even harder, Tagus Capital explained, adding that a decoupling like the one seen on Friday, when BTC fell to $81,000 and MSTR rose 4%, will not last.
According to QCP Capital, $74,000 is the key support price level for bitcoin. A move below that “would raise the risk of a deeper drawdown and potentially pull the broader crypto complex back toward its 2024 trading range,” the firm said in a market update. It added that a decisive step above $80,000 could offer short-term relief. Pay attention!
Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today
What to see
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Crypto
- February 2: Auctions go live on the Uniswap web app.
- Macro
- February 2: Canada S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for January (prev 48.6)
- 2 February at 10:00: US ISM Manufacturing PMI for January (prev 47.9)
- Earnings (Estimated based on FactSet data)
Token Events
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Governance votes and calls
- The CoW DAO votes to renew team grants via a base allocation of 5% and up to 10% in performance incentives tied to revenue milestones. Voting ends February 2.
- BNB Chain votes on a proposal to adjust five system parameters to accommodate the upcoming Fermi hard fork and its faster 0.45-second block interval. Voting ends February 2.
- ENS DAO votes to fund a $125,000 independent retrospective led by Metagov. The project will analyze past spending and management efficiency to create an evidence-based roadmap for the DAO’s future. Voting ends February 2.
- GnosisDAO votes to enable governance proposal ranking voting. This change allows the community to choose from multiple options in an instant drain system. Voting ends February 2.
- Unlocks
- The token is launched
- February 2: Zama (ZAMA) to be listed on OKX, Bybit, Bitrue, KuCoin and others.
Conferences
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
Market movements
- BTC is down 7.83% as of 16 ET Friday at $77,639.00 (24 hours: -0.83%)
- ETH is down 15.5% to $2,286.95 (24h: -3.9%)
- CoinDesk 20 is down 7.5% to 2,331.94 (24 hours: -2.22%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is up 6 bps to 2.97%
- BTC funding rate is at -0.0038% (-4.1369% annualized) on Binance
- DXY is unchanged at 97.07
- Gold futures are unchanged at $4,746.60
- Silver futures are up 4.47% at $82.04
- The Nikkei 225 closed up 1.25% at 52,655.18
- The Hang Seng closed down 2.23% to 26,775.57
- The FTSE is unchanged at 10,227.93
- The Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.13% to 5,939.96
- The DJIA closed Friday down 0.37% at 48,892.47
- The S&P 500 closed up 0.43% at 6,939.03
- The Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.94% at 23,461.82
- The S&P/TSX Composite closed up 3.31% at 31,923.52
- The S&P 40 Latin America closed up 3.64% at 3,623.17
- The US 10-year Treasury yield is down 2.5 bps to 4.216%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures are down 0.6% at 6,923.75
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are down 0.88% at 25,443.50
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures are down 0.26% at 48,883.00
Bitcoin statistics
- BTC dominance: 60% (+0.1%)
- Ether to bitcoin ratio: 0.02946 (-0.13%)
- Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 876 EH/s
- Hash price (spot): $34.43
- Total Fees: 2.52 BTC / $196,950
- CME Futures open interest: 117,345 BTC
- BTC priced in gold: 16.5 oz.
- BTC vs Gold Market Cap: 5.19%
Technical Analysis
- The chart shows bitcoin’s weekly price movements since 2023 in candlestick format along with the Ichimoku cloud, a trend indicator based on moving averages.
- BTC fell over 11% last week and decisively fell below the Ichimoku cloud to confirm a long-term bullish-to-bearish trend change.
- Focus now shifts to support around $74,000, which prices nearly tested today, followed by $69,000, the 2021 high.
Crypto stocks
- Coinbase Global (COIN): closed Friday at $194.74 (-2.23%), -4.13% at $186.70 in premarket
- Circle Internet (CRCL): closed at $63.93 (-5.36%), -2.58% at $62.28
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $28.26 (-5.67%), -6.86% at $26.32
- Bullish (BLSH): closed at $30.20 (-7.53%), -1.59% at $29.72
- MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $9.50 (-3.65%), -5.26% at $9.00
- Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $15.47 (-8.84%), -5.49% at $14.62
- Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $17.99 (-4.51%), -5.73% at $16.96
- CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $11.84 (-5.96%), -6.76% at $11.04
- CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $45.06 (-7.55%), -4.57% at $43.00
- Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $13.09 (-6.37%), -1.38% at $12.91
Crypto Treasury Companies
- Strategy (MSTR): closed at $149.71 (+4.55%), -6.62% at $139.80
- Strive (ASST): closed at $0.82 (+4.59%), -7.38% at $0.76
- SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $8.88 (-5.23%), -8.78% at $8.10
- Upexi (UPXI): closed at $1.78 (-2.73%), -8.43% at $1.63
- Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.21 (-3.20%), -2.48% at $1.18
ETF Flows
Spot BTC ETFs
- Daily net flows: -$509.7 million
- Cumulative net flows: $54.99 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~1.28m
Spot ETH ETFs
- Daily net flows: -$252.9 million
- Cumulative net flows: $12.01 billion
- Total ETH holdings ~5.93 million
Source: Farside Investors
While you were sleeping
- Bitcoin briefly falls near $74,000 as thin liquidity keeps traders on edge (CoinDesk): Bitcoin is trading back above $76,000 after testing $74,000, highlighting the fragile balance between dip buyers and forced sellers in a market that still lacks depth.
- Dollar gains as metals fall hurt commodity currencies (Bloomberg): The dollar strengthened again, moving mostly against currencies sensitive to commodity prices, and gold and silver dipped, sending ripples across markets.
- Shares fall as silver rout sparks sell-off (Reuters): Global shares fell as a sudden, massive selloff in precious metals forced investors to ditch other assets to cover losses, ahead of a week packed with corporate earnings, central bank meetings and key economic data.
- Oil prices fall 5% on US-Iran de-escalation (Reuters) Oil fell 5% on Monday after President Donald Trump said Iran was “seriously talking” with Washington, signaling de-escalation with an OPEC member to ease concerns about supply disruptions.
