On February 4, 2026, the Japanese yen approached 160 per dollar, a level not seen in decades, as risk appetite faded. Traders who once expected a rebound shifted to growing net short positions, while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s spending plans and a snap election slated for February 8 kept market focus on possible intervention around the 160 mark.

On February 3, the crypto market saw a sharp sell-off as Bitcoin briefly fell to the $72,000 area before rebounding to around $77,000–$78,000. Over $2.5 billion in positions were liquidated within 48 hours, with more than $700 million wiped out in a single day and most losses hitting overleveraged longs. Ethereum dropped toward the $3,600–$3,800 range, while major altcoins like Solana and BNB recorded double-digit intraday declines amid heavy spot selling and extreme fear in sentiment indicators.

Vitalik Buterin moved 705 ETH, including a 493 ETH transaction valued at about $1.16 million after an earlier 211.84 ETH swap. The activity prompted concern, but it aligns with his recurring practice of converting ETH to stablecoins for charitable initiatives, notably funding Kanro and other research-focused projects. Ethereum traded near $2,274 with mixed technical signals.

Bitcoin remained below $80,000 as on-chain SOPR fell to its lowest in a year, per CryptoQuant. The ratio’s slide toward 1.0 aligns with a local price low near $77,900 and suggests long-term holders have reduced profit-taking, while price stays under the 100- and 200-day averages.

Polymarket said it will open a free, company-run grocery store in New York on February 12, following Kalshi's Tuesday event that covered $50 grocery bills at a WestSide Market. The push aligns with Super Bowl week as both prediction platforms chase user growth amid higher food costs and Polymarket's recent U.S. return under CFTC approval.

On February 4 2026, US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan rejected Elon Musk’s bid to dismiss an SEC lawsuit accusing him of missing the deadline to report his growing Twitter stake. The case centers on Musk’s 2022 share purchases and the regulator’s claim that the delay may have let him buy stock more cheaply, while a separate section of the report outlines how his AI venture xAI is seeking an edge against rivals through a proposed merger with SpaceX.

On 4 February 2026, Strategy’s Bitcoin stash stood at 713,502 BTC, equal to about 3.6% of supply and valued near $54.9 billion. Its realized average entry is around $76,000, close to spot, while a recent 855 BTC buy near $88,000 adds faster downside sensitivity. The firm’s funding links market strength to continued accumulation.

On February 3, 2026, the Flare Network launched the first permissionless modular lending market for XRP’s FXRP representation through a Morpho integration, after Morpho surpassed $10 billion in total value locked. FXRP holders can now access curated yield vaults on Flare, use FXRP as collateral to borrow digital assets, and incorporate these positions into structured XRP trading strategies via the Mystic front-end as part of the broader XRPfi ecosystem.