Crypto World

Silver Prices Collapse as the Market Shifts Phase

Published

2 months ago

2 February 2026

Silver Prices Collapse as the Market Shifts Phase

According to media reports, the silver market has experienced its largest price drop since 1980.

Notably, it is difficult to identify a single powerful fundamental catalyst that could clearly explain the move from the 29 January high near $120 to today’s low around $72 (approximately −40%). The geopolitical backdrop remains tense, with risks related to Iran, Greenland, Ukraine and other regions still very much in play.

The media point to a cascade of long-position liquidations, a view that aligns with the analytical conclusions of our article “For the First Time In History, the Price of Silver Has Exceeded $115”, published five days ago.

At that time, we:
→ reaffirmed the primary ascending channel and highlighted a surge in volatility during the A→B move from the upper boundary of the channel;
→ suggested that “smart money” was using broad market participation to lock in profits on long positions after an extraordinary rally (more than +200% over the past six months). In Wyckoff terms, this corresponded to a distribution phase.

These assumptions were subsequently confirmed by:
→ a brief push above the A high (the UTAD pattern — Upthrust After Distribution);
→ a sharp increase in bearish pressure. As a result, around the turn of the week, XAG/USD decisively broke not only the channel median but also its lower boundary.

Within the framework of Wyckoff methodology, this price action in silver can be interpreted as follows:
→ “smart money” has completed the distribution of long positions and shifted to selling into the market;
→ retail traders’ positions are being liquidated en masse, accelerating the decline.

In other words, following the Distribution phase, the market has entered the Mark-Down phase. The speed and violence of recent price moves — making timely decision-making particularly difficult — further support this interpretation.

Therefore, even if silver attempts a rebound under the current conditions of extreme oversoldness, any recovery is likely to face a strong resistance zone in the $87.5–95 area. This is where bears previously held a clear advantage while breaking the long-term ascending channel.

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This article represents the opinion of the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand only. It is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation with respect to products and services provided by the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand, nor is it to be considered financial advice.

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Crypto World

Grayscale Says Bitcoin’s Quantum Problem is Mostly a Social One

Published

5 minutes ago

7 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Grayscale Says Bitcoin’s Quantum Problem is Mostly a Social One

The challenge to solving the quantum threat to Bitcoin could be more social than technical, according to Grayscale’s head of research, especially if the community fails to come to an agreement on certain contentious issues.

Google released a paper that shook the crypto industry on March 30, suggesting that a quantum computer could potentially crack the cryptography protecting Bitcoin (BTC) using far fewer resources than previously thought.

Grayscale head of research Zach Pandl, however, suggested the problem for Bitcoin doesn’t come from its technical solution, as “bitcoin has lower risk than other cryptocurrencies” because it uses a UTXO model and proof-of-work consensus, does not have native smart contracts and certain address types are not quantum vulnerable.

Instead, the challenge would be for the community to reach a decision on the way forward, said Pandl.

The Bitcoin community has been fiercely debating what to do about old dormant coins, particularly the roughly 1.7 million BTC locked in early P2PK addresses, including Satoshi’s estimated 1 million BTC stash, currently worth about $68 billion.

The Bitcoin community has three options

The Bitcoin community needs to decide what to do about coins where the private key has been lost or is otherwise inaccessible, wrote Pandl.

They have three main options: burning the coins, deliberately slowing their release by limiting the rate of spending from vulnerable addresses or doing nothing.

“All are conceptually doable, but the challenge is reaching a decision, and the Bitcoin community has a history of contentious debates over protocol changes, including last year’s dispute around image data stored in blocks.”

Pandl was referring to a big fracas that erupted in 2023 over the use of blockspace for Bitcoin Ordinals, technology that enables inscribing data such as text and images to a satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin.

Two years later, the debate may have quietened down, but the two sides continue to hold opposing views.

*About 1.7 million BTC is vulnerable to the quantum threat. Source: Grayscale*

No threat now but time to get started

Pandl cautioned that it was “time to get started” and that blockchains need to adopt post-quantum cryptography, echoing the sentiment from Google.

Both Solana and the XRP Ledger are already experimenting with post-quantum cryptography, wrote Pandl. Meanwhile, the Ethereum Foundation released its post-quantum roadmap in February.

Pandl concluded that investors “should not fret” for now, but it is time to accelerate efforts to prepare for our post-quantum future.