Gate Research Institute: Bitcoin drops below $82,000 | Bit Digital shifts focus to Ethereum vault

Cryptocurrency Market Overview

• BTC (-1.35% | Current price 81,364 USDT): BTC has shown a clear one-sided downward trend over the past 24 hours. After peaking at 90,600 USD on the 29th, it failed to stabilize, then continued to decline, breaking below key support levels of 89,000 USD and 88,000 USD. On the morning of the 30th, there was a volume-driven dip, with the lowest touching around 81,000 USD. Market sentiment shifted rapidly from cautious to panic. From a technical perspective, MA5 and MA10 have clearly crossed below MA30 and are diverging downward. The price is trading below the moving average system, indicating a dominant bearish trend. During the decline, volume increased, reflecting concentrated selling pressure. Currently, around 81,000 USD is an important short-term support. If volume decreases and stabilization occurs, there is room for a technical rebound. Resistance levels above are at the 83,500–84,000 USD range. If the rebound lacks volume and cannot recover this zone, the overall trend remains weak, with further downside possible.
• ETH (-1.41% | Current price 2,708 USDT): ETH’s movement over the past 24 hours closely mirrors BTC. After peaking near 3,040 USD, it continued to weaken, breaking through key support levels at 2,950 USD and 2,900 USD. On the 30th, there was a volume-driven sell-off, with the lowest approaching 2,685 USD, followed by a slight rebound above 2,700 USD. From a technical standpoint, short-term moving averages have all turned downward, with MA5 and MA10 forming death crosses below MA30. The price is clearly below the moving average system, indicating a bearish structure. During the decline, volume increased, showing concentrated capital withdrawal. The 2,680–2,700 USD zone is a short-term support area. Resistance above is at 2,780–2,800 USD and near 2,900 USD. Until a clear sign of stabilization appears, the trend remains primarily weak with a potential for further correction.
• Altcoins: Most mainstream altcoins experienced slight declines, with market sentiment mainly neutral or bullish. The Fear and Greed Index today is at 16, still in the panic zone, indicating market sentiment has not yet recovered.
• Macro: On January 29, the S&P 500 fell 0.13%, closing at 6,969.01 points; the Dow Jones rose 0.11%, closing at 49,071.56 points; the Nasdaq declined 0.72%, closing at 23,685.12 points. In the spot gold market, as of the US trading session on that day, COMEX spot gold was at 5,205.03 USD per ounce, down 3.13% intraday, a significant retreat from recent highs.

Hot Tokens to Watch

SENT Sentient (+68.01%, Market Cap $276 million)

According to Gate data, SENT token is currently priced at approximately $0.03975, up 68.01% in 24 hours, with short-term trading activity significantly heating up. Sentient is an open-source protocol focused on building a decentralized general artificial intelligence (AGI) economy, committed to establishing on-chain ownership, invocation, and revenue sharing mechanisms for AI models, promoting a composable and profit-sharing AI Agent network. The project proposes the OML (Open, Monetizable, Loyal) framework, encouraging community participation in model contribution and governance, and has support from institutions like Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and Framework Ventures.

Recent market news indicates that the sharp rise in SENT over the past 24 hours is mainly driven by the continued enthusiasm for AI + Web3 narratives, exchange listings, incentive activities boosting trading activity, and capital rotation into small-cap hot assets. The short-term surge more reflects market sentiment release and trading effects.

GWEI ETHGas (+58.14%, Market Cap $72.15 million)

According to Gate data, GWEI is currently priced at about $0.04208, up approximately 58.14% in 24 hours, performing notably among small-cap assets. GWEI is a governance token launched by ETHGas Foundation, aimed at providing governance rights and community-driven decision-making for the ETHGas protocol and its Realtime Ethereum ecosystem. The project focuses on building real-time, gas-free, or low-gas solutions for Ethereum block space optimization, redefining transaction fee structures and block space utilization.

GWEI is now live and supports automatic staking for governance participation. ETHGas Foundation has also announced token distribution strategies to support the long-term stability of the ecosystem. The recent surge in GWEI is mainly driven by increased market attention to Ethereum infrastructure innovation, the launch of governance incentives, and capital rotation into infrastructure assets. Overall market sentiment recovery has also boosted trading activity for small-cap governance tokens.

EDGE Definitive (+17.53%, Market Cap $26.03 million)

According to Gate data, EDGE is currently priced at about $0.13281, up approximately 17.53% in 24 hours. EDGE is the native token of DeFi project Definitive, which aims to provide decentralized financial services, including trading and on-chain financial functions. The token is used for governance, fee payments, and internal incentives. The ecosystem’s development focuses on improving DeFi service efficiency and user experience.

The recent price increase of EDGE mainly reflects short-term capital interest in small-cap DeFi assets. Additionally, in the context of reduced overall market selling pressure, user trading activity has increased. Some trading incentives and liquidity measures have also temporarily boosted trading volume and price volatility.

Alpha Analysis

Bitcoin drops below 82,000 USD, tech stock sell-off triggers cross-market risk asset decline

Amid a global sell-off led by tech stocks, the crypto market experienced a sharp decline on Thursday, with Bitcoin falling below 82,000 USD, dragging down risk assets overall. Data shows the total crypto market cap dropped from about $3.1 trillion to just above $2.9 trillion, a daily decline of approximately 6%, one of the largest single-day corrections in recent months. During the rapid decline, over $1 billion in crypto liquidations occurred in the past 24 hours, mainly from concentrated liquidations of high-leverage long positions, indicating a sharp cooling of short-term risk appetite.

Beyond crypto assets, stocks and precious metals also came under pressure. Tech giants like Microsoft fell sharply due to disappointing earnings, dragging down overall market sentiment. Gold and silver, which had hit record highs earlier, also retreated quickly. Additionally, concerns about a government shutdown resurfaced, further increasing risk aversion. Historical data suggests that similar political risk events have been associated with significant Bitcoin corrections; if history repeats, Bitcoin could face further downside pressure.

Bit Digital fully exits Bitcoin mining, shifts focus to Ethereum vaults and AI infrastructure

Supported by Block Piers, crypto mining company Bit Digital announced it will cease all Bitcoin mining operations, ending its mining activities since 2020. In a letter to shareholders, the company stated that due to industry changes, Bitcoin mining has become a capital-inefficient business. In contrast, Ethereum infrastructure, staking, high-performance computing, and AI-related businesses have stronger operational, profitability, and long-term growth potential. Bit Digital plans to further concentrate its digital asset holdings in Ethereum and, through majority ownership of WhiteFiber, increase investments in AI and high-performance computing infrastructure.

Bit Digital is one of the early diversified crypto miners into high-performance computing and launched Bit Digital AI in 2023, completing its transition into computing power and AI infrastructure. Its subsidiary WhiteFiber raised nearly $160 million via IPO in 2025, becoming a core long-term asset. To date, Bit Digital holds over 150,000 ETH, most of which are staked, reinforcing its “Ethereum vault” positioning. Management states that capital markets increasingly favor infrastructure assets that can actively participate and generate ongoing revenue, with Ethereum and AI being key long-term strategic directions.

Ethereum core members restart The DAO, launch $220 million security fund to reshape on-chain governance

Including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, several early Ethereum core members announced the restart of The DAO, a historically significant network experiment, and established an Ethereum security fund of approximately $220 million. Over 70,500 ETH that have remained unused since the 2016 DAO hack will be redeployed, with about $13.5 million allocated via DAO governance mechanisms for security-related grants, including secondary financing, post-event public goods funding, and proposal processes based on ranked bidding. The new entity is named The DAO Fund.

Remaining approximately 69,420 ETH will be used for staking, serving as a long-term fund for Ethereum security efforts, expected to generate about $8 million annually at current yields. The DAO was one of Ethereum’s earliest decentralized governance experiments, suffering a smart contract exploit in 2016 that led to a hard fork, shaping the split between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. Nearly a decade later, this move symbolizes the community’s return to DAO coordination models and reflects an effort to turn past lessons into long-term security and public goods building 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

Disclaimer Investing in cryptocurrencies involves high risk. Users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products before making any investment decisions. Gate is not responsible for any losses or damages resulting from such investment decisions.