Bitcoin Price Drops Below $63,000 as Crypto Selloff Deepens, Liquidations Surge, and XRP Falls Harder Than BTC and Ethereum

Bitcoin slid sharply on Thursday, February 5, 2026 ET, extending a broader crypto downturn that has pulled Ethereum and XRP down with it and reignited a familiar question across the market: is this a routine flush, or the start of a deeper unwind. By late Thursday morning ET, bitcoin was trading around $62,913 per coin, down roughly 14% on the day after swinging between about $73,406 and $62,503 in a wide intraday range. Ethereum fell in tandem to roughly $1,829.81, down about 15%, after trading as high as $2,161.85 earlier in the session. XRP was hit even harder, sliding to about $1.15, down roughly 25%, with an intraday low near $1.14.

The speed matters as much as the levels. Crypto is not just drifting lower. It is gapping down in bursts, with sharp intraday whipsaws that point to forced selling, thin liquidity, and leveraged positions getting squeezed.

What’s driving the drop: risk-off markets, leverage unwinds, and fading marginal buyers

The current move has three overlapping engines.

First, a broad “risk-off” tone has been spreading beyond crypto. When stocks and high-growth assets sell off together, bitcoin often trades less like “digital gold” and more like a high-volatility risk asset. That correlation becomes strongest during sessions when traders are de-risking portfolios quickly, reducing exposure to anything that can move 5% to 15% in a few hours.

Second, leverage is amplifying the downside. When price breaks through widely watched levels, leveraged long positions get liquidated automatically. That creates a self-reinforcing loop: liquidations push price lower, which triggers more liquidations, which pushes price lower again. The result is the kind of intraday range bitcoin posted today, where rebounds are sharp but short-lived.

Third, the market appears to be running short on “fresh buyers” at the margin. After long stretches where optimism and narrative carried flows, traders now want a clearer catalyst: easier financial conditions, a decisive turn in macro data, or renewed institutional demand. Without that, dips can keep getting sold until the market finds a level where buyers are willing to absorb supply.

Why XRP is dropping more than bitcoin and ethereum

XRP’s larger percentage decline is not unusual in a fast selloff. In crypto drawdowns, higher-beta assets often fall more than bitcoin because they tend to be held by traders using more leverage, and because liquidity can be thinner. When fear spikes, capital often consolidates into bitcoin first, and anything perceived as more speculative can be sold harder and faster.

Another dynamic is mechanical: once bitcoin breaks down, many traders reduce exposure across the whole basket rather than making fine-grained choices. That “sell the complex” behavior can punish coins like XRP even if there is no single coin-specific headline driving the move.

What this means for BTC to USD watchers right now

For anyone tracking BTC to USD in real time, today’s key signal is volatility structure.

A move from the low $70,000s to the low $60,000s within the same session reflects a market that is being driven by positioning and forced flows, not careful re-pricing. In these environments, price can overshoot in both directions. That does not mean a rebound is guaranteed, but it does mean traders should expect sharp rallies that can fail quickly if liquidation pressure returns.

What we still don’t know: the missing pieces behind the selloff

Even with the price action in plain sight, several questions remain unresolved:

• How much of today’s decline is pure leverage flush versus sustained spot selling

• Whether institutional flows are stabilizing or still net negative in the near term

• Whether macro conditions are tightening further, keeping pressure on risk assets

• Where the next major “line in the sand” sits for buyers willing to step in with size

What happens next: realistic scenarios and triggers

Scenario 1: relief rally, then choppy consolidation
Trigger: liquidation pressure cools, volatility compresses, and price finds a range where buyers and sellers can trade without forced unwinds.

Scenario 2: another leg lower after failed rebounds
Trigger: repeated bounces fail at key resistance levels, and sellers press again as liquidity thins.

Scenario 3: bitcoin stabilizes while altcoins remain weak
Trigger: risk reduction continues, but traders concentrate exposure in bitcoin, keeping XRP and other higher-beta coins under heavier pressure.

Scenario 4: a macro turn shifts the tone
Trigger: a clear change in interest-rate expectations or economic data restores appetite for risk, bringing back marginal buyers.

For now, the headline is straightforward: bitcoin, ethereum, and XRP are moving lower together, but XRP is absorbing the biggest shock, a classic pattern when leverage and risk sentiment dominate. The next 24 to 72 hours will likely be defined less by narratives and more by mechanics: liquidations, liquidity, and whether buyers show up strongly enough to stop the cascade.