$10 Trillion Vanishes as “Safe Havens” Crack

Welcome to the US Crypto News Morning Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.

Grab a coffee because markets just sent a signal that doesn’t come with a clean headline. Gold, silver, and crypto are all moving the wrong way at once, leaving investors uneasy and searching for what quietly changed beneath the surface.

Crypto News of the Day: Bitcoin, Gold, and Silver Dump

More than $10 trillion in market value has been wiped out from gold and silver in just three days, marking one of the largest and fastest episodes of wealth destruction in the history of modern metals.

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The sudden collapse has rattled global markets, raising urgent questions about liquidity, monetary policy, and whether traditional “safe haven” assets are losing their defensive role.

Spot gold prices plunged below $4,500 per ounce, down nearly $1,000 in three trading days. Meanwhile, silver fell below $72, extending losses toward 40% from recent highs.

In market-cap terms, gold alone erased roughly $7.4 trillion, while silver shed another $2.7 trillion, a combined wipeout larger than the entire cryptocurrency market. As of this writing, gold was trading at $4,702, while silver was trading at $81.59.

What makes the move especially unsettling is the absence of a clear catalyst. There has been no major geopolitical shock, recession signal, or inflation surprise. Instead, markets appear to be repricing a future defined by aggressive Federal Reserve balance-sheet contraction.

“Markets are reacting to incoming Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s message: ‘The Fed should shrink its balance sheet,’” Coin Bureau wrote, noting that Warsh has argued the Fed’s roughly $7 trillion balance sheet is “trillions larger than it needs to be.”

Less balance sheet, the argument goes, means less liquidity supporting stocks, crypto, and even metals.

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Panic Spreads as Crypto Joins the “Safe Haven” Breakdown

The impact has not been confined to precious metals. Crypto markets have lost more than $430 billion in market value in just four days.

This suggests fears that a liquidity-driven unwind is spreading across asset classes. Bitcoin and Ethereum have both suffered sharp drawdowns, while broader crypto sentiment has deteriorated quickly.

“Gold is down 20% from its peak, and it has erased $7.4 trillion in market value, which is 5 times the entire market cap of Bitcoin. Silver crashed nearly 40%, wiping out $2.7 trillion, which is equal to the entire crypto market cap. Safe-haven assets are moving like crypto meme coins,” stated analyst Bull Theory.

Investor psychology has also begun to fracture amid reports that more investors are shaken in this cycle than even during the 2022 crypto collapse.

“Some bailed into gold because they still want to stay on the hard money train,” wrote Natalie Brunell, cautioning against confusing fear-driven price action with a broken long-term thesis for Bitcoin.

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At the same time, some strategists remain constructive on gold over a longer horizon, with Deutsche Bank reportedly maintaining its $6,000 gold forecast, even amid the slump.

This highlights the divide between short-term liquidation pressure and longer-term monetary hedging narratives.

Others see historical parallels, with analyst Zev comparing the current gold rally-and-crack pattern to the 1980 peak. Based on this, the analyst warns that the biggest risk may not be a total collapse, but years of stagnation following a parabolic move.

“Safe haven ≠ buy at any price,” he cautioned.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee argued that crypto’s recent underperformance relative to gold stems from a historic deleveraging event last October that damaged the crypto market structure.

While reaffirming Bitcoin’s “digital gold” thesis, Lee warned that the adoption path will remain volatile, with 2026 shaping up as a key stress test.

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Chart of the Day

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Here’s a summary of more US crypto news to follow today:

Crypto Equities Pre-Market Overview

Company	Close As of January 30	Pre-Market Overview
Strategy (MSTR)	$149.71	$139.47 (-6.84%)
Coinbase (COIN)	$194.74	$187.89 (-3.52%)
Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY)	$28.26	$27.03 (-4.35%)
MARA Holdings (MARA)	$9.50	$9.04 (-4.84%)
Riot Platforms (RIOT)	$15.47	$14.79 (-4.40%)
Core Scientific (CORZ)	$17.99	$17.92 (-0.39%)