Gate Research: Choppy Recovery Dominates the Tape | Cathie Wood Adds to Crypto-Linked Stocks

Crypto Market Overview

• BTC (+2.32% | Price $70,761.7): BTC is in a consolidation and repair phase following a sharp deleveraging-driven selloff. After briefly dipping to $60,000 last week, it rebounded and has been consolidating around the $70,000 level. Technically, MA5 has regained price support, MA10 is providing mild overhead pressure, and MA30 is slowly rising, indicating that the repair is effective but trend continuation has not yet been confirmed. Short-term direction still depends on incremental capital inflows or the realization of macro catalysts. $70,000 is a key watershed. If the price breaks below this level and a rebound fails to reclaim MA30 and complete a valid pullback confirmation, the market may shift into a secondary retracement. Support levels to watch are $68,000 and $65,000, and in extreme cases a retest of the $60,000 panic low cannot be ruled out.
• ETH (+0.04% | Price $2,091.13): After rebounding from the $1,744 low to around $2,100, ETH has entered a sideways tug-of-war. The entanglement of MA5, MA10, and MA30 suggests a balance between bulls and bears with no clear direction. Recently, frequent whale deleveraging has occurred, such as the unwinding of recursive leveraged positions on Aave and transfers of ETH to exchanges for debt repayment, making the $2,100 area more prone to rebound-related selling pressure and a tendency to reduce positions on strength. At the same time, deleveraging also reduces the risk of cascading liquidations. In the short term, ETH is likely to continue repeated battles around $2,100, with the $2,000 psychological level potentially tested multiple times.
• Altcoins: The Fear and Greed Index stands at 14, in extreme fear, significantly rebounding from yesterday’s level of 7 and in line with last week. In this type of sentiment environment, small-cap altcoins are more likely to see technical rebounds after sharp declines or more aggressive short-squeeze-driven recoveries.
• Macro: On February 6, the S&P 500 rose 1.97% to 6,932.3, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.47% to 50,115.67, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.18% to 23,031.21. As of February 9 at 11:30 AM (UTC+8), spot gold is quoted at $5,019.6 per ounce, up 1.12% over the past 24 hours.

Trending Tokens

BNKR BankrCoin（+43.45%, Market Cap: $90.81m）

According to Gate market data, the BANKR token is currently priced at $0.000901, up more than 40% over the past 24 hours. Bankr is an AI-driven crypto AI agent that allows users to directly conduct cryptocurrency buying, selling, trading, and asset management on social platforms through natural language commands.

BNKR’s surge is closely tied to the continued momentum of the Base ecosystem and the AI Agents narrative. As one of the well-known AI trading agent projects on the Base chain, BNKR has benefited from the recent broad breakout of the AI agent sector. The Bankr platform feeds back value to BNKR through swap fees, and its recent expansion to Solana has brought increased utility and exposure.

PIPPIN Pippin（+37.87%, Market Cap: $268m）

According to Gate market data, the PIPPIN token is currently priced at $0.26137, up nearly 38% over the past 24 hours. PIPPIN is a Meme coin project on the Solana blockchain, originating from an AI-generated unicorn image and incorporating the concept of autonomous AI agents. It provides open-source tools through community-driven development, such as an interactive tutoring system, AI marketing assistants, and personalized DevOps bots, to enhance utility.

PIPPIN’s rally is driven by the Meme narrative and speculative enthusiasm. As a leading AI–Meme hybrid project on Solana, it has benefited from the overall heat of the AI Agent sector. In addition, strong engagement across social media, KOLs, and community discussions is another important driving factor.

PENGUIN Nietzschean Penguin（+32.56%, Market Cap: $268m）

According to Gate market data, the PENGUIN token is currently priced at $0.26137, up more than 30% over the past 24 hours. PENGUIN is a Meme coin project on Solana called Nietzschean Penguin, inspired by a Meme-style combination of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and a penguin, and was launched in mid-2026 via the Pump.fun platform.

PENGUIN’s surge is a textbook example of an externally triggered event combined with Meme-driven speculative fervor. The viral spread of a White House–related post sparked extensive discussion among KOLs and the community, creating a positive feedback loop. In addition, the listing of the PENGUIN/USDT trading pair on major CEXs such as Gate provided convenient access and attracted global traders.

Alpha Insights

Vitalik Buterin: Algorithmic stablecoins are the true DeFi

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated, in response to discussions about the essence of DeFi, that algorithmic stablecoins should be regarded as genuine DeFi applications. Even if the liquidity of a high-quality ETH-collateralized algorithmic stablecoin mainly comes from CDP (Collateralized Debt Position) holders, who support the system by holding negative algorithmic dollar positions while holding positive dollar positions elsewhere, users are still able to shift dollar counterparty risk to market makers. This mechanism is considered a key feature because it allows users to obtain financial services while maintaining self-custody, without being directly exposed to centralized risks.

In more complex scenarios, Vitalik believes that even if an algorithmic stablecoin is partially backed by RWAs, as long as the overall system remains overcollateralized and highly decentralized, meaning that the failure of any single underlying asset would not affect the overall collateral level, this can significantly improve the risk structure for holders. He suggests prioritizing the development of ETH-collateralized algorithmic stablecoins, followed by decentralized overcollateralized RWA models, and gradually shifting away from the dollar as the unit of account toward broader and more diversified indices, in order to enhance the resilience and independence of DeFi.

Cathie Wood: The rise in gold is a precursor to an explosion in crypto assets such as Bitcoin

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood responded in a recent video interview to market concerns surrounding an AI bubble, sharp declines in cryptocurrency prices, and macroeconomic uncertainty. Despite Bitcoin recently falling to a low of around $60,000 and showing very low correlation with gold at approximately 0.14, she emphasized that rising gold prices have often been a precursor to major breakouts in Bitcoin and other crypto assets in the past two major cycles. Cathie Wood said that ARK Invest increased its positions in crypto-related stocks against the trend during the recent market panic, viewing it as a buying opportunity. She believes the current pullback is more noise than systemic risk. The market is undergoing triple pressure from the fading of AI hype, a reset in the crypto sector, and tightening Federal Reserve liquidity policy, but this process helps filter out stronger assets.

In the crypto space, Cathie Wood clearly positions Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana as the “Big Three,” viewing them as core assets with the greatest long-term potential and institutional appeal. BTC is not only a digital currency, but also a revolutionary existence that combines a global rules-based monetary system, an internet-native technology layer, and an entirely new asset class. In comparison, she holds a cautious view on gold’s current valuation and even believes that gold, rather than AI, is closer to being in a bubble. She also suggests that investors consider rotating from gold into assets such as Bitcoin.

Tether accelerates global and diversified expansion, transforming toward a comprehensive group

The USDT stablecoin issuer Tether is accelerating its transformation from a pure crypto financial infrastructure provider into a comprehensive group centered on the principle of freedom. According to the Financial Times, Tether’s investment portfolio has expanded to around 140 assets, spanning diverse fields such as South American agriculture, a stake in the Italian football club Juventus, robotics, AI, satellites, and media platforms, including a large investment in Rumble. These investments are primarily deployed using the substantial profits generated by USDT. The company currently has about 300 employees and plans to hire an additional 150 people over the next 18 months, with recruitment focused on engineers, AI film and content creators, venture capital investment roles, and heads of compliance and regulatory affairs across multiple countries.

To strengthen corporate governance and financial discipline, Tether has appointed Simon McWilliams as its new CFO and established a small team in London to centrally manage finance and operations. Although Tether continues to maintain a high level of secrecy, such as employees using name badges only and limited cross team visibility, and has relocated its headquarters to crypto friendly El Salvador, these moves indicate an effort to balance rapid expansion with institutionalized management. CEO Paolo Ardoino emphasized that if everything relies on centralized technology, freedom will collapse.


References

• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/eth/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/crypto-market-data
• Investing, https://investing.com/indices/usa-indices
• Investing, https://investing.com/currencies/xau-usd
• CoinGecko, https://www.coingecko.com/en/cryptocurrency-heatmap
• X, https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/2020595540791087517?s=20
• Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqAstqD7Pzc
• FT, https://www.ft.com/content/c38c672f-a113-4b1f-a56d-b165c5f4cb86

Gate Research is a comprehensive blockchain and cryptocurrency research platform that provides deep content for readers, including technical analysis, market insights, industry research, trend forecasting, and macroeconomic policy analysis.

Disclaimer
Investing in cryptocurrency markets involves high risk. Users are advised to conduct their own research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products before making any investment decisions. Gate is not responsible for any losses or damages arising from such decisions.