Bitcoin, the world’s most famous cryptocurrency, tried to rise to $72,000 on Sunday. But it could not stay there. After that, the price fell by more than $2,000. This means Bitcoin is now below $70,000 again.
Over the past few weeks, Bitcoin has moved up and down a lot. On January 31, it fell sharply from around $84,000 to just under $76,000. Earlier in the run, it had touched a local high near $90,000.
People who own Bitcoin (we call them bulls) tried to push the price higher. They managed to move it to about $79,000 a few days later. But that gain did not last. The selling pressure from traders who want to lock in profits (we call this bears) kept pushing the price down again.
By Thursday and Friday morning, Bitcoin had dropped to $60,000. That was the lowest price it had reached since before the U.S. presidential election in November 2024. In a bit more than a week, the price had fallen by about $30,000.
Then Bitcoin recovered a bit. It climbed back up to around $72,000 on Friday and Saturday morning. It could not stay there for long. It slipped to about $68,000, rose again, but on Sunday was stopped at $72,000 once more. Since then, the price has fallen by about $2,500 and is now below $70,000.
Investors also look at market size and leadership in the overall crypto market. The total value of all cryptocurrencies (this is called market capitalization) has fallen. The latest figure from CoinGecko (we call this CG) puts the value at about $1.390 trillion for Bitcoin alone. Bitcoin’s share of the total crypto market (we call this its dominance over alts) is just over 57%.
In separate moves, other large coins mostly moved down on the day. Ethereum, the second-biggest cryptocurrency, fell about 3% and traded near $2,030. Ripple (XRP) slipped to around $1.40. BNB, another popular token, dropped to about $623. Solana (SOL) and Dogecoin (DOGE) also fell by about 4%. A few smaller coins showed only small losses, while some other coins lost a bit more in a single day. The exact names in the list (for example WLFI, SKY, LEO, XMR, JUP, ONDO, ARB, and CC) show how many different projects exist in crypto, from big, widely known ones to smaller, newer ones.
One coin did stand out by moving up. WLFI rose about 8% and reached nearly $0.11. Other small coins like SKY, LEO, and Monero (we often see this as XMR) were a little higher as well. Some coins, such as JUP, ONDO, and ARB, fell by as much as 8% during the day.
Overall, the total value of the crypto market dropped by about $70 billion in a single day. The overall market value was a little under $2.430 trillion according to CoinGecko.
In short, Bitcoin has not been able to stay above the important $70,000 level. The market atmosphere remains mixed, with most large coins down but a few smaller ones showing strength. The situation can change quickly as traders react to new information, news, and changes in prices across different coins.
Sources in the market often include charting sites like TradingView and market trackers such as CoinGecko. Reports like these are shared by crypto-focused media outlets to help investors understand what is happening across different coins and markets. The most recent update of this kind appeared on CryptoPotato and was also reflected by other market watchers.
Definitions and quick explanations
- Bitcoin (Bitcoin): the first decentralized cryptocurrency that allows people to send money to each other over the internet without a central authority. It uses a technology called a blockchain and is secured by a process called mining, which involves solving hard math problems. In simple terms, it is like digital cash you can send to others without a bank in the middle. Wikipedia definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin
- Ethereum (Ethereum): a widely used blockchain platform that lets people build apps and create tokens. Its own currency is Ether (ETH). It moved from a system called proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in 2022, which is a different way to secure the network. Wikipedia definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereum
- Monero (Monero): a privacy-focused cryptocurrency. It aims to keep your transactions private and harder to trace. It is open source and uses a technology called CryptoNote v2 with a method called RandomX for processing transactions. Wikipedia definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monero
- Solana (Solana): a public blockchain that uses a form of consensus called proof-of-stake. It wants to run many fast, low-cost transactions for apps and tokens. Wikipedia definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solana_(blockchain_platform)
- Dogecoin (Dogecoin): a cryptocurrency started as a joke in 2013 with the Shiba Inu dog as its mascot. It uses a version of a mining algorithm and has become widely traded and community-driven. Wikipedia definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogecoin
These definitions help explain why people talk about market moves in different ways. For example, market capitalization is the total value of all coins in a market, and dominance means how much of that total value Bitcoin represents compared with all other coins combined. If you want to learn more, you can read the Wikipedia pages linked above.