Crypto Markets Slide as Government Shutdown Delays Jobs Report

Crypto markets moved lower on Tuesday after the U.S. government shutdown delayed key macroeconomic data, adding to investor uncertainty.

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at around $77,686, down 1.5% over the past 24 hours, while Ethereum (ETH) fell about 4% to $2,288. Among other large-cap tokens, BNB slipped nearly 1% to $771, XRP declined 2.5% to $1.60, and Solana (SOL) dropped 3.5% to $101.

James Harris of Tesseract said Ethereum hovering around $2,200 this week marks the culmination of a broader risk repricing that has been unfolding for several weeks, and not necessarily a single crypto-specific event. He added that the key feature of this selloff was a “sudden tightening in risk appetite” across multiple asset classes, including precious metals.

Meanwhile, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization hovered at $2.7 trillion, down 1.5% on the day, while 24-hour trading volume totaled $136.4 billion.

On the upside, Hyperliquid (HYPE) rose over 5%, while LEO Token (LEO) gained roughly 4%. MemeCore (M) also advanced around 3%.

Tokenized commodities were also up with Tether Gold (XAUT) gaining 5.2% on the day and PAX Gold (PAXG) adding 4.8%, highlighting the continued demand for tokenized precious metals.

On the downside, Monero (XMR) fell 8.7%, Zcash (ZEC) dropped 8.4%, and Internet Computer (ICP) slid 4.8%.

Liquidations and ETF Flows

Around $266 million in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass. Long liquidations made up $155 million, while short liquidations totaled $110.6 million.

Ethereum recorded the largest share of liquidations at approximately $84.3 million, followed by Bitcoin at $57.6 million. CoinGlass found that more than 101,000 traders were liquidated during the period.

ETF flows were mixed but showed a notable divergence across assets. U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded roughly $561.9 million in net inflows on Feb. 2, while U.S. Ether spot ETFs saw a modest $2.9 million in net outflows.

XRP spot ETFs also posted small outflows of about $405,000, while U.S. Solana spot ETFs recorded approximately $5.6 million in daily inflows, bringing cumulative net inflows to around $876.5 million.

Government Shutdown

Today’s market action comes as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said it will delay the January jobs report and other data due to the current partial government shutdown that started over the weekend.

Reuters reported that lawmakers are expected to vote later today on a “Trump-backed” funding deal that could reopen the government. The deal would also fund most federal agencies through October.

So far, the bill has cleared the Senate but could face resistance in the House from both Democrats and a group of hardline Republicans, Reuters said.

Harris added that markets have also been reacting to the nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve, which he said “investors read as a less supportive liquidity backdrop.”