Wayex Weekly Wrap: Headlines vs What’s Really Happening

Crypto markets are under real pressure, and this week made that impossible to ignore. Bitcoin’s multi-month slide has pushed prices back to levels last seen in late 2024, shaking confidence across crypto, equities, ETFs, and institutional portfolios as liquidations continue to build. At the same time, panic around Ethereum, renewed warnings from Michael Burry, fresh scrutiny of Jeffrey Epstein’s early crypto ties, and heavy fund flows from BlackRock have added to an already fragile market mood. From on-chain fear to institutional repositioning and regulatory signals, this is a moment where context matters more than headlines, so let’s break down what is really happening and what to watch next.

What’s Happening On The Wayex Platform

Is This the Bottom for Bitcoin?

Bitcoin’s sharp sell-off has now stretched into a multi-month slide, sending shockwaves through crypto markets, equities and funds globally. Bitcoin briefly fell below US$73,000 (AU$104,243) this week, touching levels last seen in late 2024, and is now down more than 10% since late December, according to the AFR, and over 35% from its October peak, marking its longest losing streak since 2018. The downturn has hit both retail and institutional players, with crypto-linked stocks including Coinbase, Strategy, Circle and Gemini down at least 15% over the past five trading days. Nasdaq-listed Strategy was sitting on losses of more than US$900 million (AU$1.2 billion) when Bitcoin dipped below US$75,000 (AU$107,082), even as Michael Saylor continued buying. In Australia, DigitalX’s Bitcoin holdings, valued at around US$29 million (A$41 million) at the end of December, have fallen about 13% in a month, while ASX-listed Bitcoin ETFs remain down roughly 24% to 26% over three months despite a brief rebound. Market participants say capital is rotating out of Bitcoin and into cash or other assets as risk appetite fades, driven by global risk sentiment, interest rate expectations and geopolitical uncertainty, even as gold and silver rebounded. While some investors see the sell-off as a potential value zone, others warn the downtrend could persist without sustained buying pressure.
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Bitcoin is now pressing into key floor levels after setting a new 15-month low, with price action suggesting the market has yet to find a clear bottom. According to Cointelegraph, Bitcoin slipped below US$73,000 (AU$104,218) after losing the US$70,000 (AU$99,935) zone, with US-session selling pushing prices to around US$72,500 (AU$103,504).

What are we watching for? According to Cointelegraph, traders are watching US$70,000 (AU$99,935) as a major psychological support, while some warn that a weekly close below US$74,000 (AU$105,646) could open the door to deeper downside. Several analysts point to the 200-week exponential moving average near US$68,000 (AU$97,080) as a potential long-term floor, but sentiment remains fragile. High sell volume on down moves and more than US$800 million (AU$1.1 billion) in crypto liquidations over 24 hours suggest forced selling is still driving price action, leaving Bitcoin’s true floor uncertain for now.

Panic At The ETH

Recent panic around Ethereum was sparked after on-chain data showed co-founder Vitalik Buterin moving 705 ETH in the past 24 hours, including a 493 ETH transfer worth about US$1.16 million (AU$1.65 million), following an earlier 211.84 ETH swap. While the movement triggered sell fears on social media, the transfers were consistent with Buterin’s long-standing practice of converting ETH into stablecoins to fund Kanro, a biotech charity focused on pandemic preparedness, rather than signalling a loss of confidence in Ethereum. The move aligns with his broader strategy to personally fund high-impact projects such as biotech research, decentralised governance, secure hardware, and open-source tools, including a recent allocation of 16,384 ETH, or roughly US$45 million (AU$64 million), toward security and privacy initiatives. At the same time, institutional behaviour tells a different story, with Tom Lee’s BitMine Immersion Technologies adding 41,788 ETH to its treasury despite large unrealised losses. From a market perspective, ETH was trading near US$2,274 (AU$3,246), slightly lower on the day, with the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) showing bearish momentum but the Relative Strength Index (RSI) sitting in oversold territory, a setup that often appears near potential market bottoms. Overall, the episode highlights how wallet alerts can fuel fear, even as long-term fundamentals and institutional accumulation suggest Ethereum’s broader thesis remains intact.

Michael Burry Sounds the Alarm Again. Is He Early or Wrong?

According to The Street, Michael Burry, the famous investor who shorted the US housing market during the 2008 recession, has issued a stark warning on his Substack about Bitcoin's current position. Following its latest plunge, it is argued that the breakdown below key price levels could trigger wider stress across crypto and related markets. In a Substack post cited by The Street, Burry said Bitcoin is failing to behave like a hedge against currency debasement and is instead trading like a speculative asset, especially as gold and silver rallied during recent geopolitical tension while Bitcoin continued to fall. reported that Bitcoin briefly dipped below US$74,000 (AU$105,601) and erased all gains made since Donald Trump’s re-election, later trading around US$76,463 (AU$109,126), down 2.8% on the day. Burry warned that another 10% drop could leave large corporate holders such as Strategy billions of dollars underwater and potentially shut out of capital markets, while ETF flows and rising correlation with equities could amplify forced selling. While he does not believe Bitcoin alone can destabilise the global financial system, The Street noted Burry’s concern that second-order effects are already appearing, including up to US$1 billion (AU$1.4 billion) in precious metals liquidations, and that a fall toward US$50,000 (AU$71,363)  could push miners into bankruptcy and severely disrupt tokenised metals markets.

Although we have highlighted warnings from crypto analysts about public companies' overexposure to cryptocurrency in their treasury assets, we always like to tell you the whole story so you have all the information to make a determination. Now, at this point, we should highlight that Michael Burry has been wrong a lot. Let’s be real: everyone has been wrong at least once, but obviously, you are always wrong when fighting with your partner or mum. However, it’s more notable when a prominent investor makes these kinds of statements, and it's important that we hold them to account for their record of wins vs. losses. This fantastic Medium article by Yavuzakbay titled “The Man vs The Legend” does a great job of analysing his wins vs losses, so you can decide for yourself if you agree or disagree with his current investment thesis. 

The Epstein List Fuels New Crypto Rumours

Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's latest files dump exposes his deep ties to crypto at its inception, as well as his prolific and key investments in major cryptocurrency firms in the early days of the industry. According to public court documents and media reporting, Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted in 2008 on charges related to child prostitution, had financial involvement in several early crypto ventures during the industry’s formative years. Reporting shows that Epstein invested US$3 million (AU$4.2 million) in Coinbase in 2014, when the company was valued at around US$400 million (AU$570 million), before later selling half of that stake to Blockchain Capital in 2018 for US$15 million (AU$21 million). He also had indirect exposure to Blockstream through a venture fund managed by former MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito, which invested a minority stake in Blockstream during its 2014 seed round before divesting months later. There is no evidence of ongoing financial ties, and many, including Blockstream's founder, have denied a personal relationship with the disgraced predator. However, the disclosures have prompted renewed scrutiny of how capital entered the crypto industry in its early, lightly regulated phase.

Although Lead Story did debunk a viral meme of “Satoshi” emailing Jeffrey Epstein back and, erm, strongly declining an invitation to meet up as fake news it is true that Epstein did try to steer and influence Bitcoin development through networking with Bitcoin’s core developers through funding, introductions, and direct outreach to prominent developers, even after his 2008 conviction for child prostitution. The documents reveal that Epstein indirectly funded Bitcoin Core contributors via donations to the MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative and attempted to engage figures including Jeremy Rubin, Gavin Andresen, and Amir Taaki. While the emails reported by DL News show efforts to steer research and development, there is no evidence of wrongdoing by the developers, and several later distanced themselves after learning more about Epstein’s background.

BlackRock Rebalances Crypto Holdings Amid ETF Push

BlackRock’s recent crypto selling appears dramatic on the surface, but deeper analysis suggests the moves were driven more by ETF mechanics than outright panic. On February 2, BlackRock-linked accounts 6,306 BTC and 58,327 ETH, accounting for roughly 78% of total daily U.S. Bitcoin ETF outflows and about 54% of Ethereum ETF redemptions that day. While the transfers coincided with Bitcoin briefly falling below US$80,000 (AU$114 million) and heightened volatility across digital assets, analysis from TradeBrains notes that ETF redemptions require funds to deliver underlying assets to custodians, meaning these flows reflect operational “plumbing” rather than discretionary selling decisions. That said, the scale still mattered, as heavy redemptions through late January saw nearly US$1.2 billion (AU$1.7 billion) leave BlackRock’s crypto ETFs, contributing to short-term price pressure and a broader risk-off shift among institutional investors. Additional stress came from hedge funds trimming exposure, more than US$2 billion (AU$2.8 billion) in leveraged liquidations, and Bitcoin’s market value falling by over US$200 billion (AU$285 billion) in a week. Conflicting signals emerged as U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows on the same day, highlighting how fragile and flow-driven the market has become. Even if the intent was not panic selling, the result was a sudden supply shock that reinforced bearish sentiment and left traders focused on key support near US$74,000 (AU$105,720), with downside risk toward US$60,000 (AU$85,719) still firmly in view.

If you saw the transaction on the chain or in the news, you probably changed your status to “CURRENTLY PANICKING”, and honestly, same. 

But we’d like to discuss the broader context of the move, and take a look at BlackRock’s crypto investment strategy as a whole. BlackRock’s recent ETF outflows are unfolding alongside a shift in how it approaches crypto exposure. According to MarketBeat, the firm has filed for a proposed Bitcoin income ETF that would generate yield by selling call options on its spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, rather than relying only on price gains. The structure mirrors popular income products like JEPI but applies the strategy to Bitcoin, while warning investors about extreme volatility and regulatory uncertainty. Taken together, the move suggests that BlackRock is not exiting crypto but is reshaping exposure toward more structured, yield-focused products suited to institutional risk management.

Binance Brief Outage Sparks Market Speculation

Binance briefly halted withdrawals for about 20 minutes on Tuesday due to technical issues, then restored services and assured users that funds were accessible again. The pause came during a volatile period for crypto markets, after Bitcoin fell below US$76,000 (AU$108,577), triggering US$2.56B (AU$3.6 billion) in liquidations, according to CoinGlass, as leverage rapidly unwound amid a broader risk-off move across assets. While Binance did not provide detailed technical explanations, the incident highlighted how sensitive market sentiment has become, with even short disruptions drawing scrutiny. Attention has remained high as traders also track Binance’s reserve management, including reports of a US$100M (AU$142 million)Bitcoin purchase as part of a planned US$1B (AU$1.4 billion) asset conversion, reinforcing the market’s focus on liquidity and platform stability amid fast-moving conditions.

After a brief pause, a few users began speculating that Binance was insolvent, in typical Twitter dramatics.

But this is where it gets interesting. Several prominent Binance critics have posted unverified cease-and-desist letters from Binance itself, which have since been identified as forgeries. A great reminder to never believe everything on the internet.

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Kbank Signals Stablecoin Push With Wallet Filing

KBank has filed 13 trademark applications for stablecoin wallet products as it accelerates plans for a third attempt at an initial public offering, scheduled for a Korea Exchange listing on March 5, 2026. The filings, which include names such as KSC Wallet and Kstable Wallet, suggest a broad wallet system covering payments, remittances, settlements, and other digital asset services, following earlier trademark filings for stablecoin tickers in 2025. Proceeds from the IPO are expected to support the expansion of KBank’s digital asset business, as crypto-focused firms increasingly turn to public markets for capital. This trend is reflected globally, with Ledger planning a US IPO at a reported US$4 billion (AU$5.7 billion) valuation, BitGo completing the first crypto IPO of 2026, and other major firms preparing listings, signalling a broader push by crypto and fintech companies toward regulated public markets.

Things That Made Us Laugh This Week

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Founders Corner

The market is currently navigating a "Great Filter" moment. While Bitcoin’s slide to US$73,000 and the loud warnings from perennial bears like Michael Burry dominate the headlines, I see this as a necessary deleveraging of the "old" crypto era. 

It’s also critical to look past the surface-level FUD. The recent "panic" over Vitalik Buterin’s ETH transfers or BlackRock’s ETF outflows is a classic example of market noise being mistaken for a signal. In reality, these are moves driven by philanthropy and operational "plumbing," not a loss of conviction. Behind the scenes, the long-term thesis is being reinforced by major banks like KBank moving into stablecoins and institutions quietly accumulating assets.

Ultimately, the industry is undergoing a much-needed cleanup of its "Wild West" origin story. It is not uncommon to see such pullbacks and reactions to real-world developments. Especially with big sell-offs of things like precious metals. Whether it’s facing historical scrutiny or platform disruptions, these are the growing pains of an asset class becoming a global financial standard. The noise is temporary; the shift toward a regulated, utility-first world is permanent, and that is exactly the future we are building for Wayex. We are proud to be building and growing globally, with a Wayex card available in 18 more countries and on/off-ramp capabilities across multiple currencies, now live in 160 countries. As we continue to scale. We appreciate all our customers and will continue improving our products to make your lives easier. To learn more about Wayex Global, feel free to read about it here. 

Richard Voice, Wayex, Co-Founder

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