Crypto markets opened Thursday with a clear risk-off bias, as total market capitalization declined 1.8% to $3.06 trillion by 6:00 a.m. ET, retracing Wednesday’s flat close. Price action points to orderly de-risking rather than stress-driven selling, with flows moving out of higher-beta exposures and recent outperformers. Bitcoin slipped to $87,848 and Ethereum declined to $2,942, while sharper drawdowns across Solana, Avalanche, Cardano, and Polkadot suggest reduced appetite for cyclical Layer-1 risk and a pause in momentum-oriented positioning. Several of Wednesday’s strongest gainers, including Hyperliquid and Mantle, reversed overnight, consistent with short-term profit-taking following outsized weekly performance.
From a flows perspective, the overnight tape suggests marginal outflows from spot crypto exposure and reduced futures leverage, as investors shortened duration and trimmed directional risk. Weakness across DeFi and metaverse tokens—including Chainlink, Uniswap, Aave, Internet Computer, and Axie Infinity—indicates capital rotating away from growth-sensitive segments rather than being redeployed within crypto risk assets. At the same time, defensive allocation trends were visible in tokenized gold, with PAX Gold and Tether Gold each rising more than 4% on the day and over 14% on the week, reflecting demand for crypto-native hedging tools amid elevated volatility.
For crypto ETF-oriented allocators, the setup implies near-term pressure on beta-heavy spot products and thematic baskets, while favoring core, liquidity-focused exposure and hedged positioning. The divergence between flat prior-day closes and weaker overnight pricing highlights tactical repositioning rather than a structural shift in demand. Overall, flows suggest investors are consolidating gains, lowering leverage, and awaiting clearer macro, rates, or regulatory catalysts before re-engaging risk across digital asset ETFs.
1/29/2026 Crypto Morning Update:
Trading Update as of 06:00ET: Total Market Cap (1.8%) to $3.06T
- Notable Gainers – Last price, 24H, 7D changes, Fully Diluted Valuation
- PAX Gold (PAXG) $5,531 / +4.6% / +14.2% / $2.32B
- Tether Gold (XAUt) $5,511 / +4.5% / +14.2% / $2.87B
- Notable Decliners
- Mantle (MNT) $0.86 / (6.8%) / (3.6%) / $5.33B
- Zcash (ZEC) $366.70 / (6.7%) / (0.1%) / $7.7B
- Aster (ASTER) $0.65 / (5.8%) / +4.8% / $5.19B
- Hyperliquid (HYPE) $32.63 / (5.3%) / +49.3% / $31.38B
- Sui (SUI) $1.36 / (4.9%) / (11.0%) / $13.57B
- Layer-1
- Bitcoin (BTC) $87,848 / (1.7%) / (2.4%) / $1844.8B
- Ethereum (ETH) $2,942 / (2.7%) / (1.9%) / $355.07B
- BNB (BNB) $894.55 / (1.1%) / (0.1%) / $121.98B
- Solana (SOL) $123.02 / (3.3%) / (5.4%) / $76.19B
- Cardano (ADA) $0.35 / (3.4%) / (4.9%) / $15.65B
- Avalanche (AVAX) $11.70 / (3.7%) / (6.0%) / $8.37B
- Hedera (HBAR) $0.1 / (3.6%) / (6.1%) / $5.2B
- Polkadot (DOT) $1.79 / (4.4%) / (8.4%) / $2.98B
- Metaverse
- Internet Computer (ICP) $3.11 / (4.8%) / (15.8%) / $1.71B
- Axie Infinity (AXS) $2.15 / (11.0%) / (16.1%) / $0.58B
- Chiliz (CHZ) $0.05 / (10.6%) / (2.2%) / $0.52B
- Klaytn (KLAY) $0.06 / (7.7%) / +18.5% / $0.37B
- The Sandbox (SAND) $0.12 / (5.6%) / (27.6%) / $0.35B
- DeFi
- Chainlink (LINK) $11.54 / (3.5%) / (7.2%) / $11.54B
- Cronos (CRO) $0.09 / (0.7%) / (2.3%) / $9.07B
- Uniswap (UNI) $4.68 / (3.2%) / (5.5%) / $4.21B
- Aave (AAVE) $154.48 / (3.5%) / (3.3%) / $2.47B
- Filecoin (FIL) $1.23 / (3.7%) / (9.1%) / $2.41B
