Gate Research: Bitcoin Falls Below $82,000 | Bit Digital Shifts Focus to an Ethereum Treasury

Crypto Market Overview

• BTC (-1.35% | Current price: 81,364 USDT): BTC exhibited a clear one-sided bearish structure over the past 24 hours. After failing to hold above $90,600 following a breakout attempt on the 29th, price entered a sustained decline, consecutively losing the $89,000 and $88,000 support levels. During early trading on the 30th, selling pressure intensified with expanding volume, pushing BTC down to a low near $81,000. Market sentiment deteriorated rapidly from caution to outright fear. From a technical perspective, MA5 and MA10 have decisively crossed below MA30 and are diverging downward, while price remains firmly beneath the moving-average system—confirming a dominant bearish trend. The expansion in volume during the decline reflects concentrated liquidation pressure. The $81,000 area now represents a critical short-term support; a low-volume stabilization here could allow for a technical rebound. On the upside, rebound resistance is concentrated in the $83,500–84,000 zone. Failure to reclaim this area with sufficient volume would likely keep price in a weak consolidation phase or open the door to further downside exploration.
• ETH (-1.41% | Current price: 2,708 USDT): ETH moved largely in tandem with BTC over the past 24 hours. After topping near $3,040, price trended steadily lower, breaking below key supports at $2,950 and $2,900. On the 30th, ETH saw a high-volume sell-off, briefly dipping to around $2,685 before rebounding modestly back above $2,700. Technically, short-term moving averages have all turned downward, with MA5 and MA10 forming a bearish crossover below MA30. Price continues to trade well beneath the moving-average structure, reinforcing the prevailing bearish bias. Elevated volume during the sell-off signals concentrated capital outflows. The $2,680–2,700 range now serves as near-term support, while rebound resistance lies at $2,780–2,800, followed by the $2,900 level. Until a clear stabilization signal emerges, ETH’s price action is likely to remain in a weak corrective phase.
• Altcoins: Most major altcoins posted modest declines, with overall market sentiment skewing toward “neutral” or “buy.” The Fear & Greed Index stands at 16, remaining firmly in the fear zone and indicating that broader sentiment has yet to recover.
• Macro:On January 29, the S&P 500 declined 0.13% to 6,969.01, the Dow Jones rose 0.11% to 49,071.56, and the Nasdaq fell 0.72% to 23,685.12. In commodities, COMEX spot gold retreated sharply after recent highs, quoted at $5,205.03 per ounce during the U.S. session, down 3.13% on the day.

Trending Tokens

SENT – Sentient (+68.01%, Circulating Market Cap: $276M)

According to Gate market data, SENT is currently priced at approximately $0.03975, up 68.01% over the past 24 hours, with short-term trading activity rising sharply. Sentient is an open-source protocol focused on building a decentralized artificial general intelligence (AGI) economy, aiming to establish on-chain ownership, usage rights, and revenue distribution for AI models. The project promotes the development of composable, revenue-sharing AI agent networks through its OML (Open, Monetizable, Loyal) framework and has received backing from institutions such as Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and Framework Ventures.

Based on recent market developments, SENT’s sharp 24-hour rally has been driven by the continued strengthening of the AI + Web3 narrative, exchange listings and incentive programs boosting trading activity, and capital rotation into small-cap thematic assets. The magnitude of the move suggests that short-term gains are primarily sentiment-driven rather than reflective of immediate fundamental repricing.

GWEI – ETHGas (+58.14%, Circulating Market Cap: $72.15M)

According to Gate market data, GWEI is currently trading around $0.04208, up approximately 58.14% over the past 24 hours, standing out among small-cap assets. GWEI is the governance token launched by the ETHGas Foundation, designed to provide governance rights for the ETHGas protocol and its Realtime Ethereum ecosystem. The project focuses on optimizing Ethereum block space through real-time, low- or zero-gas transaction models, aiming to improve fee structures and block-space efficiency.

GWEI has already enabled automatic staking for governance participation, and the foundation has released its token distribution strategy to support long-term ecosystem stability. The recent surge has been driven by increased market attention toward Ethereum infrastructure innovation, the rollout of governance incentives, and capital rotation into infrastructure-focused narrative assets. Improving overall sentiment has further amplified trading interest in small-cap governance tokens.

EDGE – Definitive (+17.53%, Circulating Market Cap: $26.03M)

According to Gate market data, EDGE is currently priced at approximately $0.13281, up about 17.53% over the past 24 hours. EDGE is the native token of DeFi protocol Definitive, which provides decentralized financial services including trading and on-chain financial functionality. The token is used for governance, fee payments, and internal incentive mechanisms.

EDGE’s recent price appreciation primarily reflects increased short-term capital interest in small-cap DeFi assets amid easing market sell pressure. Rising user activity, combined with trading incentives and liquidity-attraction measures, has temporarily boosted both volume and price volatility.

Alpha Insights

Bitcoin Breaks Below $82,000 as Tech-Led Sell-Off Triggers Cross-Market Risk Aversion

Amid a global sell-off led by technology stocks, the crypto market saw a sharp pullback on Thursday, with Bitcoin falling below the $82,000 level and dragging broader risk assets lower. Total crypto market capitalization declined from roughly $3.1 trillion to just above $2.9 trillion in a single day—an approximately 6% drop and one of the largest daily corrections in recent months. As prices fell rapidly, total crypto liquidations exceeded $1 billion over the past 24 hours, largely driven by forced unwinding of high-leverage long positions, signaling a sharp contraction in short-term risk appetite. Traditional markets also came under pressure. Technology stocks such as Microsoft sold off following weaker-than-expected earnings, weighing on broader equity sentiment. Gold and silver, after reaching record highs, also retraced sharply. Meanwhile, renewed concerns over a potential government shutdown further intensified risk-off behavior. Historically, similar political risk events have coincided with notable Bitcoin drawdowns, suggesting that further downside pressure cannot be ruled out if the pattern repeats.

Bit Digital Exits Bitcoin Mining, Shifts Focus to Ethereum Treasury and AI Infrastructure

Crypto mining firm Bit Digital, backed by Brock Pierce, announced a complete exit from Bitcoin mining operations, formally ending its mining business launched in 2020. In a letter to shareholders, the company stated that evolving industry conditions have rendered Bitcoin mining increasingly capital-inefficient. In contrast, Ethereum infrastructure, staking, and high-performance computing (HPC) and AI-related businesses offer stronger operational leverage, profitability, and long-term value potential. Bit Digital plans to further concentrate its digital asset exposure on Ethereum and expand its AI and HPC footprint through majority ownership of WhiteFiber. The company was among the earliest crypto miners to diversify into HPC, launching Bit Digital AI in 2023. Its subsidiary WhiteFiber completed an IPO in 2025, raising nearly $160 million and becoming a core asset in Bit Digital’s long-term capital deployment. As of now, Bit Digital holds more than 150,000 ETH, most of which is staked, reinforcing its positioning as an “Ethereum treasury.” Management noted that capital markets increasingly favor infrastructure assets capable of generating sustainable yield, with Ethereum and AI representing central pillars of its long-term strategy.

Ethereum Core Members Revive The DAO, Launch $220M Security Fund to Reframe On-Chain Governance

Several early Ethereum core contributors, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, announced the revival of The DAO—one of the most influential experiments in Ethereum’s history—alongside the creation of an approximately $220 million Ethereum security fund. Reports indicate that more than 70,500 ETH, untouched since the 2016 DAO hack, will be redeployed. Around $13.5 million will be allocated via DAO-style governance for security-related grants, including quadratic funding, retroactive public-goods funding, and proposal processes based on sealed-bid ordering. The new entity has been named The DAO Fund. The remaining ~69,420 ETH will be staked to generate long-term funding for Ethereum security efforts, potentially yielding around $8 million annually at current rates. The original DAO played a pivotal role in Ethereum’s early governance evolution before a smart-contract exploit in 2016 led to a hard fork and the split between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. Nearly a decade later, this initiative symbolizes both a return to DAO-based coordination and an effort to transform historical lessons into durable mechanisms for network security and public-goods funding under a more mature technical and governance framework.


References

• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/GT_USDT
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/price
• Coindesk, https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/01/29/ethereum-ogs-revive-the-dao-with-usd220-million-security-fund-unchained-reports
• The Block, https://www.theblock.co/post/387746/bitcoin-drops-below-84000-tech-stock-selloff-metals-off-record-highs
• The Block, https://www.theblock.co/post/387748/brock-pierce-ethereum-treasury-bit-digital-wind-down-bitcoin-mining

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