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Crypto stocks sink as spot volume plunges and bitcoin tumbles below $84,000
Bellwether crypto exchange Coinbase was lower for an 8th straight session on Thursday to its weakest level since May.
Jan 29, 2026, 6:55 p.m.
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What to know:
- Already under severe pressure in January, most crypto-related stocks fell even further Thursday as bitcoin fell back below $84,000.
- Spot crypto trading volumes halved from $1.7 trillion last year to $900 billion, reflecting cooling market enthusiasm and cautious investor sentiment amid macroeconomic uncertainties.
- Those bitcoin miners who have pivoted business plans to AI infrastructure and high-performance computing continued to outperform.
Stocks tied to the crypto sector continued big January declines on Thursday as bitcoin declined 6% to below $84,000.
Coinbase (COIN), the largest publicly traded crypto firm by market capitalization, is down 7% today, 17% year-to-date, and on track to register an eight-session losing streak, its longest since September 2024. At the current $195, the stock has retraced to its May 2025 level.
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Shares of competing crypto exchange Gemini (GEMI) are down 8% Thursday and 21% year-to-date, while crypto platform Bullish (BLSH) and Circle (CRCL) are down 16% and 20% this year, respectively.
Read more: Here are key levels to watch as bitcoin plunges to $84,000
Aside from declines in crypto prices, exchanges are seeing lower spot trading volumes as the bear market lengthens. Data from TheTie shows that spot volume across exchanges in January was just $900 billion versus $1.7 billion seen a year prior.
“Bitcoin has been stuck around the $85,000 level, and you can feel the hesitation in the market," Eric He, Community Angel Officer and Risk Control Adviser at crypto exchange LBank told CoinDesk. "With geopolitical tensions rising, investors are staying cautious," he added, "and that’s showing up across assets, not just crypto."
“While stocks and commodities are pushing higher, crypto is clearly in a wait-and-see phase,” he concluded.
Heading into February, analysts will be watching for signs of a rebound in trading volumes, easing geopolitical tensions, and broader signals from macroeconomic data that could signal a shift toward risk-on sentiment.
AI pivot keeps miners afloat
A port in the storm are those crypto companies that have pivoted away from crypto — namely the bitcoin miners who are using their energy and computing resources to cash in on data needs of the AI boom.
Though down sharply in today's selloff, names like Hut 8 (HUT), IREN (IREN), CleanSpark (CLSK), and Cipher Mining (CIFR) are all posting year-to-date gains.
Another outperformer is Mike Novogratz’s crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital (GLXY), also lower on Thursday but up strongly in 2026. The company has made a strong move into data centers, recently receiving approval from Texas’s grid operator ERCOT for expansion in that state.
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What to know:
- Fundstrat's Thomas Lee urged investors to view the sell-off as a buying opportunity, arguing that gold has likely peaked for the year and that bitcoin and ether are poised to outperform
- Lee sees ether possibly needing a brief dip below $1,800 before a sustained recovery.
- Bitcoin fell back below $67,000 on Wednesday, extending a pullback from last week's rebound and marking a roughly 50 percent drawdown from its October record highs.
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