BowsRash

As of Tuesday, February 3, 2026, the "gamma decay" from the massive January expiry has transitioned into a full-scale liquidity drain. Bitcoin has plunged below the critical $80,000 psychological floor, hitting multi-month lows as global markets react to shifting political and economic signals.
📉 Current Market Snapshot (Feb 3, 2026)
The market is currently in a state of "Extreme Fear" following a weekend of heavy liquidations.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price: Trading at $78,277, having briefly dipped as low as $72,800 earlier today.Ethereum (ETH) Price: Hovering around $2,303, down approximately 1.8% on the day and roughly 26% over the past week.Total Liquidations: Over $2.56 billion in leveraged positions have been wiped out in the last few days, with the vast majority being bullish "long" bets.Global Cap: The total crypto market cap has retreated to $2.66 trillion.
Exchange rates chart
As of 3 Feb, 20:45 WAT • Disclaimer
BTC
ETH
3 Feb 2026 03:05 - 20:45
Chart SummaryAsset NameAsset PricePrice DeltaPercent Delta
BTC
FCFA 41,629,012.11
4.80%
ETH
FCFA 1,221,764.46
6.14%
🐳 Whale Activity & Support Zones
Major players are attempting to set a "floor" to stop the bleeding:
Justin Sun Accumulation: The TRON founder announced plans to acquire $50–$100 million in Bitcoin for the TRON treasury specifically targeting the dip below $75,000.Critical ETH Floor: Analysts warn that if Ethereum fails to hold $2,350, it faces a rapid slide toward the $2,000 psychological level.BTC "Value" Zone: On-chain data shows significant buy walls at $69,000, which many long-term holders view as the ultimate capitulation point.
⚖️ The "Warsh Shock" & Fed Meeting
Volatility is being driven by more than just technicals:
The Warsh Nomination: President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair on January 30 has spooked markets. While potentially bullish long-term, his reputation for "hawkish" policy (higher-for-longer rates) has caused a massive risk-off rotation out of crypto and into gold.Government Funding: A narrow House vote on Tuesday to reopen the U.S. government has provided a temporary "dead cat bounce," helping BTC pull back from its $72,800 low.Fed Meeting Ahead: Markets are now focused on the February 5th Federal Reserve meeting. While a rate cut is not expected, any signal regarding the 2026 path will likely define the market's direction for the rest of the quarter.
Would you like to analyze the open interest for the upcoming February 27 expiry to see if traders are betting on a recovery or further downside? Like, share, Comment and just Yes and I will drop it.
#-@BowsRash

The "gamma decay" from Friday's expiry failed to lead to a relief rally, instead giving way to several bearish catalysts:
Fed Leadership Shift: Concerns are mounting following the selection of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair. Investors fear his appointment signals a "higher-for-longer" interest rate environment and a potential tightening of financial system liquidity.
Inflation Shock: U.S. services inflation surged by 0.5% (PPI), causing markets to reprice 2026 rate cut expectations down to just 52 basis points for the entire year.
Geopolitical Tensions: Reports of an explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas port have triggered a "risk-off" flight to traditional safe havens like gold, leaving Bitcoin behind.
ETF Outflows: January concluded with nearly $1.1 billion in net outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs, marking a sustained period of institutional redemption.
Strategic Levels to Watch
Support: Analysts are eyeing $74,400 as the next major support zone if the current $77,000 area fails to hold.
Fear Sentiment: Market "fear" has hit a 2026 high. For a reversal, Bitcoin likely needs to reclaim the $81,000 level to neutralize the immediate "short gamma" selling pressure from dealers.
To monitor live liquidation data and heatmaps, visit the Coinglass Liquidation Dashboard

As of Friday, January 30, 2026, the crypto market is undergoing a major $9.7 billion options expiry on the Deribit exchange, leading to a sharp spike in realized volatility and localized "gamma decay". Bitcoin has recently slumped to a two-month low near $81,000 as market participants react to geopolitical tensions and speculation regarding future Federal Reserve leadership.
Key Data for January 30, 2026 Expiry
The current expiration event is the largest of 2026 so far, creating significant "pinning" pressure near key strike prices.
Total Expiry Value: $8.5 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) options and $1.2 billion in Ethereum (ETH) options.
BTC Max Pain Price: Currently sits at $90,000. This level has acted as a "gravity well," though the recent drop to $81,000 indicates that spot selling pressure has overwhelmed the typical pinning effect.
ETH Max Pain Price: Positioned at $3,200, while the asset trades closer to $2,900, representing a deep "short gamma" environment for dealers.
Put/Call Ratio: 0.54 for BTC, showing that while traders are long-term bullish, there has been a recent surge in "crash protection" (puts) to hedge against the current downside move. Key Insights for 2026 Volatility
Gamma Shift: Analyst data shows Bitcoin's gamma at $88,000 recently flipped from "Long" to "Short," meaning that as the price fell below this level, market makers were forced to sell aggressively to hedge their positions, accelerating the downward move.
Four-Month Losing Streak: Bitcoin is currently at risk of marking its first four-month losing streak since 2018, a rare psychological threshold that has historically preceded deeper corrections.
Institutional Overhang: Unlike previous cycles, current volatility is driven heavily by ETF flows and institutional "gamma ceilings" rather than just retail speculation. Major outflows from spot ETFs like IBIT have added to the selling pressure leading into today's expiry.
The "Vortex" Effect: With the $100,000 strike still holding the highest notional value for future expiries, many analysts view the current "gamma decay" as a necessary flush of leverage before a potential relief rally later in Q1 2026.

Strategic Indicators to Watch
Put/Call Ratio: Currently, BTC's put/call ratio is 0.48, indicating a generally bullish sentiment despite recent price struggles.Implied Volatility (IV) Crush: Immediately after the January 30 expiry, IV is expected to drop significantly. Traders often see this as a "sell the news" event where the cost of protection falls, and the market recalibrates for the next month.Gamma Ceiling: Institutional positioning in the S&P 500 has also run into a "gamma ceiling" in late January 2026, suggesting that broader macro liquidity is being "pinned" by options positioning across both traditional and crypto markets. 
To track these movements in real-time, you can monitor professional tools like the Deribit Options Exchange or analytical dashboards on Coinglass.

Key Market Dynamics for January 2026
Massive Expiry Size: More than $8.3 billion in Bitcoin options and $1.2 billion in Ethereum options are set to expire on Friday, January 30, 2026. This is one of the largest expiries for 2026.The "Pinning" Effect: BTC has been anchored near $90,000, which is currently the "max pain" level—the price at which the highest number of options expire worthless. As expiration nears, gamma decay causes price movements to gravitate toward this strike.Gamma Shift and GEX: Recent shifts in Bitcoin's gamma positioning indicate that the $88,000 level has transitioned from Long Gamma to Short Gamma, while the total Gamma Exposure (GEX) at $92,000 has reached $1.4 billion. This shift generally signals that volatility will increase as the price breaks out of these ranges.Market Maker Behavior: Dealers are currently in a "long gamma" position, which has recently suppressed realized volatility and kept the market in a tight range. Once these contracts expire, the "overhang" is released, often allowing for a sharp directional push—either a relief rally or a deep correction.