Bitcoin surges to $71,000 along with US stocks, Ethereum fluctuates between highs and lows, dropping back to $2,150. Bitmine takes the opportunity to buy the dip with 80 million MGB ETH.

Bitcoin followed the US stock market last night, rising as much as 3.3% to $71,000, but after the close, heavy selling pressure appeared, temporarily reporting at $70,289. Ethereum briefly broke through $2,150 before falling back, with both longs and shorts exploding, and total liquidation reaching $288 million. Major whale Bitmine seized the opportunity to buy the dip, acquiring over $80 million worth of ETH.

(Background recap: Glassnode: Bitcoin falls below true mean, market enters “bearish period”)
(Additional context: JPMorgan: Bitcoin’s “risk-adjusted” attractiveness far surpasses gold, with long-term explosive potential beyond expectations)

Table of Contents

• Liquidation amount $288 million
• BitMine increases position against the trend, buys an additional 40,000 ETH
• Uncertain market, waiting for direction

The crypto market’s panic sentiment has shown initial signs of recovery. Today’s panic index is at 9, but from last night to this morning, several waves of trading volume surges and sideways movements occurred, indicating that bulls and bears are still battling for control. Since around 10 PM yesterday, Bitcoin’s price rose directly from $68,261 after US stock market opened, reaching over $71,000 after US market closed, with a sudden surge of heavy sell orders around 4 AM pushing the price down from $70,800. Before press time, it rebounded to $70,183. Ethereum’s situation is even more chaotic, soaring from the $2,008 range to $2,150 before falling back. The battle between bulls and bears is more intense, currently at $2,119, but the chart shows a clear upward trend compared to Bitcoin, which warrants close attention.

Liquidation amount $288 million

Market confidence remains clearly fearful but shows slight signs of improvement. Yesterday’s rebound after US stocks rose and then fell also triggered minor liquidations. According to CoinGlass statistics, nearly 97,000 traders worldwide were forcibly liquidated in the past 24 hours, with total liquidations reaching $288 million. Both longs and shorts were wiped out. Compared to yesterday’s data, the amount is slightly lower, but the number of traders has increased slightly, indicating that those trying to bottom fish and those shorting are competing against each other.

BitMine increases position against the trend, buys an additional 40,000 ETH

On-chain analyst EmberCN monitored that the world’s largest Ethereum holder, BitMine (BMNR), has again made a large purchase of about 40,613 ETH over the past week, spending approximately $82 million, including 20,000 ETH previously bought through OTC trader FalconX.

As of February 8, BitMine’s total ETH holdings reached 4,325,738 ETH, accounting for 3.58% of the total ETH supply, with a market value of about $9.2 billion. However, due to an average purchase cost of $3,826 per ETH, the unrealized loss has expanded to approximately $7.8 billion.

At current prices, we have no selling pressure because there are no debt agreements or other restrictive clauses.

Despite the ongoing increase in unrealized losses, BitMine has not slowed its buying pace. It has also staked about 2,873,459 ETH, with a staking value of $6.2 billion, and plans to launch its own “Made in America Validator Network” (MAVAN) in Q1 2026. This “buy-the-dip” strategy is similar to MicroStrategy’s continuous accumulation of Bitcoin.

Uncertain market, waiting for direction

Overall, the crypto market is in a stage of initial panic recovery, but the direction remains unclear. In the short term, the battle between bulls and bears for Bitcoin and Ethereum continues. The sideways consolidation with increased volume indicates intense chip rotation. The large-scale buying by institutions like BitMine provides some confidence support, but whether it can truly reverse the downward trend depends on future macroeconomic conditions and regulatory developments.