A new round of indirect nuclear talks between the US and Iran in the Omani capital Muscat concluded, Iranian state TV IRIB reported on Friday.Following negotiations between delegations led by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi (pictured left), the latter told reporters that the talks were “positive” and that the parties had decided to continue negotiations. He added that the precise timing and location of the next round are still to be decided. “These consultations focused on creating the right conditions for the resumption of diplomatic and technical negotiations, while emphasizing the importance of these talks, given the parties’ commitment to their success in achieving lasting security and stability,” Iranian state-affiliated news agency Tasnim elaborated on the subject.
Bitcoin up 11%… Down close to 50% from the peek
Bitcoin rebounded sharply on Friday, reversing a recent selloff that had dragged the token below $70,000 for the first time since 2024, as investors appeared to look past earlier doubts about crypto’s role. The move suggests improving risk appetite after days of caution driven by geopolitical and macroeconomic tensions. The jump also comes as investors move away from precious metals, which resumed their decline, sliding around 10% toward the $65 level after a brief attempt to stabilize following historic losses. At 1:03 am ET, Bitcoin, the world’s most famous cryptocurrency, soared 6.11%, trading at $66,591.700, while Ether gained 7.66% at $1,962.8917.
NN: For the record we took another 32K last night closing out for the 3rd time $100,000 We will be selling again soon. I want to give the dippers another chance to “by the bottom”
By the way the famous crypto cheerleaders are suffering horrific losses. Tom Lee’s BitMine Immersion Technologies reported a large net loss of over 9 billion dollars recently, mainly due to the crash in their Ethereum holdings.
BitMine Immersion Technologies reported a large net loss of about 5.2 billion dollars recently, mainly due to swings in their Ethereum holdings. They hold around 4.2 million Ethereum tokens, which is about 3.5 percent of Ethereum’s supply. Their stock has been very volatile, and while they had a profitable period last year, the recent losses are tied closely to the crypto market’s moves. In short, their performance depends heavily on Ethereum’s value.
The crypto market in 2026 has seen large losses, with overall values down by 25 to 40 percent. Bitcoin and Ethereum have both dropped significantly. Coinbase’s stock is down about 45 percent in the last three months, and while some crypto funds have seen around 9 to 18 percent losses recently, detailed fund-by-fund returns are not fully public yet. Overall, the sector is facing a difficult period, and many crypto funds are likely underwater this year
This is just a sampling of the massive loses. I believe the loses are much higher because of massive leverage and i believe they are un funded
Bitcoin Drops Below $70,000, Wiping Out Gain Since Trump’s Win
Bitcoin tumbled below $70,000 as the unwinding of leveraged bets and broader market turbulence deepened a selloff that has wiped out all of the gains since President Donald Trump’s election set off a speculative rush into cryptocurrencies. The token fell as much as 8.6% Thursday to $66,364, the lowest since October 2024, before steading around $67,000 by the middle of the trading day in New York. The rout has erased nearly half of Bitcoin’s value since it reached a record four months ago and has spread to other tokens, related ETFs and companies like Strategy Inc. that hold vast sums of coins. Bitcoin trades below $70,000 for the first time since November of 2024. A selloff has wiped out all of Bitcoin’s gains since the election of President Donald Trump. Bloomberg’s Muyao Shen reports. The downturn has marked an abrupt retreat from Bitcoin’s meteoric rise through much of last year, when the return of the crypto-friendly Republican to the White House sent investors piling into such tokens and the Wall Street vehicles that have sprouted up around them. The market started cracking this month as rising geopolitical tensions sent tremors across global financial markets and curbed risk taking. That sparked Bitcoin’s precipitous decline from mid-January and set off a self-reinforcing cycle of selling as funds liquidated assets to meet redemptions and unwind leveraged bets.
“The fear and uncertainty across the market is evident,” said Chris Newhouse, head of business development at Ergonia. “Without conviction-based buyers willing to lean into the selling, each wave of ETF redemptions and liquidation cascades.” He said that’s “amplifying the magnitude of each leg lower and reinforcing the defensive positioning that’s keeping organic demand on the sidelines.”
Bitcoin Slump
Largest token’s decline leads significant market wipeout since October peak
The slide has echoes of the one in 2022, when prices retreated sharply from the surge seen during the easy-money era of the pandemic as the Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy. It has already taken a toll on intermediaries like the exchanges Coinbase Global Inc., whose shares have tumbled more than 30% this year, and Gemini Space Station Inc., which said it plans to cut up to 25% of its workforce and wind down operations in the UK, European Union and Australia. This time, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are also seeing competition from other forms of speculation, like legalized sport gambling and prediction-market wagering on everything from politics to entertainment. At the same time, retail flow continues to chase zero-day options in equities and higher-yield crypto plays across decentralized exchanges. The latest drop comes as digital assets face continued doubts about their real-world use, as well. Once touted as an inflation hedge or a rival to gold or the US dollar as a stable store of value, Bitcoin has continued to trade more like a high-risk asset and has failed to serve as a haven during times of financial market stress. In fact, its growing presence in institutional portfolios has at times made it more vulnerable to broad de-risking, particularly during bouts of volatility in tech equities and precious metals, like what has been seen in recent weeks.
“Despite prayers to the other side, crypto-market sentiment continues to hit new lows as the space is a crisis of narrative,” said Augustine Fan, partner at Hong Kong-based crypto options platform SignalPlus.
Inflows into US spot-Bitcoin ETFs had acted as a leg of support for much of 2025 as tens of billions of dollars flowed into the products and helped buoy the token’s price. But those flows have reversed as prices have plummeted — and about $2 billion has come out of Bitcoin ETFs over the past month alone, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The figure is even starker when looked at over the past three months, with more than $5 billion yanked out. The meltdown of the largest cryptocurrency has rippled through the digital-asset world, with smaller, less liquid speculative tokens down even more. The MarketVector Digital Assets 100 Small-Cap Index, which tracks the 50 smallest digital assets in a basket of 100, has plummeted around 70% over the past year. Traders have become increasingly defensive in the options market, with a surge in demand for downside protection around $70,000. Medium-term contracts such as those expiring in late June are pointing to an even more bearish outlook on token prices with the most open interest clustered around $60,000 and $20,000, according to Deribit. Ilan Solot, senior global markets strategist at Marex, said the recent selloff has been fueled by several factors, including the downturn in some tech stocks, the outperformance of gold, the broader risk-off sentiment and general questions about the framework for evaluating the value of cryptocurrencies. “The outlook is probably still bearish for now, but the worst might be behind us,” he said. “Still, these types of moves have historically always been buying opportunities for multi-year investors and many will see it that way.”
NN: DEAD MEAT
Challenger: US job cuts soar by 205% to 108,435 in January
Job cuts in the United States observed a monthly slump of 205% and an annual one of 118% to reach 108,435 in January, Challenger, Gray & Christmas revealed in its report published on Thursday. The figure is the highest one registered for January since 2009, and the highest monthly one since last October. Most jobs, 31,243, were cut in transportation, followed by technology at 22,291, and healthcare at 17,107. Meanwhile, employers announced 5,306 hiring plans, the lowest number for the month since tracking began in 2009. “Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January. It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026,” Challenger’s Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) Andy Challenger said.
NN: AI is another jobsloss revolution. Millions are about to be replaced by AI
Iran’s army warns US bases are within its reach
Iran’s military issued a warning to the United States on Thursday, stating that US bases in the region are vulnerable and within its operational reach. Army spokesman Amir Akraminia said US President Donald Trump “must choose between compromise or war.” Akraminia said the military is prepared for any scenario the “enemy” may choose, including war. He noted that alongside the new 1,000 drones, air defense systems have been upgraded and made operational. He warned that any war would spread across the region, targeting all US bases, from the occupied territories to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. “Our access to US bases is easy, and this increases their vulnerability … This has been our message, and we have stated it repeatedly. Once again, we state decisively that we have full readiness to defend the country,” the spokesman stressed.
NN: Simple solution. Bomb the shit of Iran. Far easier to destroy missiles on the ground. Much harder to destroy them in the air. As far as US bases… Fly all the planes out of their. Move personal and bomb the shit of Iran.
Silver drops 14%, slides under $75
Silver prices fell sharply after a brief rally, sliding back into negative territory amid heightened market volatility. The metal, which had climbed above $90 hours ago, gaining more than 6%, lost momentum as it retreated more than 14% to trade below $75. Silver fell 14.86% to $74.47 at 9:59 pm ET, while spot gold lost 2.55% to go for $4,812.53 an ounce. At the same time, palladium dropped 2.18% to $1,704.21 and platinum plunged 3.60% to $2,149.66.
NN: The dip shits got dipped again. The bubble burst. Every rally back is a sell.
Silver fell sharply, wiping out a two-day recovery, as the white metal struggled to find a floor following a historic market rout. Gold also declined. Spot silver plunged as much as 17% on Thursday, having flickered briefly above $90 an ounce in early Asian trading. After a record-breaking rally that appeared to run too far, too fast, the metal has retreated by more than a third from an all-time high hit on Jan. 29. The sudden and sharp decline in precious metals also weighed on sentiment in base metals markets, with copper falling more than 1% to slip below $13,000 a ton. Meanwhile, spot gold dropped as much as 3.5% in choppy trading.
Precious metals soared last month in a rally underpinned by speculative momentum, geopolitical upheaval and concerns about the US central bank’s independence. That surge came to an abrupt halt at the end of last week, with silver seeing its biggest ever daily drop on Friday and gold plunging the most since 2013.
Investors had built up large positions in precious metals, and further fuel was added by heavy inflows into leveraged exchange-traded products and a wave of call-options buying. A sudden collapse during Asian trading hours on Friday continued into the early part of this week, before dip-buying supported prices in the last couple of sessions.
Gold prices are “likely to remain volatile until there is greater certainty on the monetary policy outlook,” Standard Chartered Plc analysts including Sudakshina Unnikrishnan said in a note. Some of this near-term volatility may result from investors redeeming their holdings in exchange-traded products, they said, but “structural drivers remain intact and we continue to expect a rebuild to the upside.” Silver has traditionally been more volatile than its more expensive cousin, owing to its smaller market size and lower liquidity. Even then, recent swings stand out for their scale and speed, with price moves magnified by heavy speculative inflows and thinner trading in the over-the-counter market.
NN: Silver prices at these new lower levels is a sick joke. Markets have a way of correcting stupidness. The dippers got their ass beat again in this most recent drop.
Iran says nuclear program ‘cannot be eliminated’……US, Iran said to call off nuclear talks
Iranian Army Commander Major General Amir Hatami (pictured) on Saturday declared that Iran’s nuclear program “cannot be eliminated” despite pressure from the United States, AFP reported. Hatami also warned that Iran’s forces remain prepared to respond to any attack. “The nuclear science and technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran cannot be eliminated, even if scientists and sons of this nation are martyred,” he said. His remarks followed comments from US President Donald Trump, who said he expected Tehran to seek an agreement to negotiate its nuclear status.
US, Iran said to call off nuclear talks
The US-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Friday were canceled due to the Iranian side’s refusal to engage in non-nuclear issues, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing US officials. After US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that discussions with Iran must also address its ballistic missile program, backing for terror proxies, and suppression of rallies, Tehran rejected the suggestion, claiming that the discussions would solely be about its nuclear program. The parties had decided to meet in Istanbul on Friday, with observers from several Middle Eastern nations attending. However, the Iranians stated on Tuesday that they intended to relocate the discussions to Oman and hold them in a bilateral format to make sure they only addressed nuclear issues and not other topics like missiles that are important to the United States and other countries in the region.
NN: Talks will go nowhere. Its time ton get down to the nit cutting!
Iran demands changes in venue and scope of talks with US, source says
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, Feb 3 – Iran is demanding that talks with the U.S. this week be held in Oman not Turkey, and that the scope be narrowed to two-way talks on nuclear issues only, a regional source said on Tuesday, casting doubt on whether the meeting will go ahead as planned.
Iran’s effort to change the venue and agenda for the talks, currently scheduled for Friday in Istanbul, came amid heightened tensions as the U.S. builds up forces in the Middle East. Regional players have pushed for resolution of a standoff that has led to mutual threats of air strikes.
The U.S. military on Tuesday shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the U.S. military said, in an incident first reported by Reuters.U.S. President Donald Trump said that with big U.S. warships heading to Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.
“They want to change the format, they want to change the scope,” said the regional diplomat with knowledge of Iran’s demands. “They only want to discuss the nuclear file with the Americans while the U.S. wants to include other topics such as the (ballistic) missiles and the activities of Iran’s proxies in the region.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Tuesday that talks with Iran were still scheduled to take place later this week. A source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was due to take part in the talks, along with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. Ministers from several other countries in the region were also expected to attend. An Iranian diplomatic source said earlier that Tehran’s view of the talks is neither optimistic nor pessimistic, adding that the Islamic Republic’s defensive capabilities are non-negotiable and that it is ready for any scenario. “It remains to be seen whether the United States also intends to conduct serious, results-oriented negotiations or not,” the source said.
Bitcoin drops 5% to below $75,000
Candle Stick Assholes
Bitcoin slid sharply on Tuesday, dipping 5% to under $75,000, and Ethereum lost over 7% as markets reacted to news that US President Donald Trump had selected Kevin Marsh to be the next Federal Reserve Chair. Warsh is widely seen as more comfortable with tighter policy than investors were expecting. Concurrently, investors were drawn to traditional safe-haven assets like gold and silver due to global uncertainty, making risk-sensitive assets like cryptocurrencies susceptible to selling.
At 1:13 pm ET, the world’s most famous cryptocurrency was trading at $74,592, down 5.18%, while Ether was priced at $2,172, reflecting a 7.37% drop.
Oil up by 2% on claims US has downed Iranian drone
The prices of oil futures jumped on Tuesday after it was reported that the United States has downed an Iranian drone in the Arabian Sea. According to a US official who allegedly spoke to Reuters, the military shot down an Iranian drone that came too near to USS Abraham Lincoln, a Navy aircraft carrier stationed in the Arabian Sea. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March’s deliveries soared by 2.29% at 12:19 pm ET to $63.64 per barrel. A minute later, Brent for April’s settlements increased by 2.03% to $67.38 per barrel.
A US F-35C warplane shot down the drone in self-defense as the unmanned aircraft “aggressively approached” the USS Abraham Lincoln with “unclear intent,” US Central Command said in a statement on Tuesday. No American service members were harmed during the incident, and no US equipment was damaged, CentCom said. Oil prices spiked to a session-high on the report as investors weighed the risk of a broader escalation in the Middle East, which provides about a third of the world’s crude. The move came just hours after an oil tanker that’s part of a US-military fuel procurement program was hailed by small armed ships in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast, underscoring renewed risks to maritime traffic in the region. The drone incident comes after numerous threats from President Donald Trump about striking Iran over the suppression of recent protests there. It interrupts a flurry of diplomatic activity in recent days after Trump on Monday signaled there could be a new Iran nuclear deal, while warning that “bad things would happen” if talks don’t yield anything. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the Islamic Republic is ready for diplomacy but urged restraint in “threats, intimidation or pressure” from the US. The White House declined to comment on the US shooting down the Iranian drone and referred questions to the Defense Department. “Continued Iranian harassment and threats in international waters and airspace will not be tolerated,” US Central Command said in its statement. “Iran’s unnecessary aggression near US forces, regional partners and commercial vessels increases risks of collision, miscalculation, and regional destabilization.”