The crypto market is in a sharp downturn today (February 5, 2026), with Bitcoin plunging below $70,000 and hitting lows around $63,000 in the session, marking one of its steepest single-day drops in recent memory. This has triggered massive liquidations (over $1 billion in the last 24 hours across the space) and pushed sentiment into extreme fear territory, erasing a big chunk of the gains from late 2025 highs.
Interestingly, many altcoins are actually holding up better relative to Bitcoin during this leg down. This is something that’s caught my eye and left me pondering the dynamics (maybe rotation, maybe just less leverage piled in). Either way, the overall picture is tough, but I’m completely calm about it. I know the long-term trajectory for crypto is upward; history shows these corrections are part of the game, and we’re building real infrastructure along the way.
I’m writing this post not out of panic or to hunt for a bottom, but as a deliberate shift in focus. When the charts are screaming red, it’s the perfect time to step back, upgrade your mental toolkit, and build the kind of understanding that pays off when the next mania phase hits (because it will, and most people won’t have time to think clearly then 😂). Crypto in 2026 is noticeably more mature than ever before: regulations are clearer in major jurisdictions (far from the old wild-west days), stablecoins are powering actual payments and cross-border transfers, tokenized real-world assets (RWA) are attracting serious institutional capital, and big players (hedge funds, banks, corporations) are driving most of the volume. Retail investors like us are still in the arena, but the competition is fiercer, smarter, and better resourced.
The core issue? Most retail participants (honestly, 99.9% of people worldwide) lack solid financial education. We chase hype, ride emotions, and miss the bigger forces at play: economic cycles, geopolitics, or even the simple difference between something that puts money in your pocket versus something that quietly takes it out.
These three videos completely transformed how I approached investing when I first got started. They’re not about crypto charts or “next moonshot” picks. They’re timeless foundations for understanding money, markets, and the world we’re operating in. Total watch time: under 2 hours. That’s an insanely high ROI for your brain.
We’ll kick off with personal finance basics (how the wealthy really think about assets vs. liabilities), then zoom out to the macroeconomic machine (what drives all bull/bear cycles), and finish with the shifting global order (geopolitics and uncertainty we’re living through right now). Watch them in this sequence; it stacks like a solid mental framework you can rely on no matter what prices do next.
How to Convert a Liability Into an Asset – Robert Kiyosaki
(≈14 minutes – short, punchy, and straight to the point)
Link:
Why first: This is the absolute foundation that school never teaches you, but it’s the single biggest difference between staying broke forever and actually building wealth. Kiyosaki breaks down one of the most overlooked truths in personal finance, and once you get it, everything else clicks.
Key lessons you’ll walk away with:
What truly is an asset (something that puts money in your pocket every month) versus a liability (something that takes money out of your pocket).
Why your primary home – the one you live in – is usually a liability, not an asset (mortgage, taxes, maintenance, insurance all drain cash flow without generating income).
What the wealthy do differently: They obsess over acquiring cash-flowing assets first (things like rental properties, stocks that pay dividends, businesses) instead of chasing status symbols that look good but bleed money.
How to be more responsible with your capital: Avoid lifestyle inflation, stop buying things that quietly make you poorer, and focus on controlling cash flow direction.
2026 relevance: In the crypto world, this mindset shift is gold. It stops you from treating speculative altcoins, hype tokens or NFTs like “dream cars” (pure liabilities that feel exciting but often cost you big in the long run). Instead, you start hunting for real utility – things like staking rewards, DeFi lending yields or tokenized assets that actually generate cash flow. It’s the filter that separates gambling from investing.
A quick note on Kiyosaki himself: I know a lot of people have strong opinions about him – some call him controversial, others think his seminars or style border on scammy, and there have been plenty of criticisms over the years (bankruptcies, lawsuits, high-pressure sales tactics tied to his brand). Fair points exist, and I’m not endorsing everything he does or sells. But here’s the honest truth from my side: This core idea – the asset vs. liability distinction based on cash flow – hit me like a truck when I first heard it. Before his videos or books, I had never truly thought about money that way. It opened my eyes to leaks in my own finances that I didn’t even see. For that alone, I owe him a thank you – the concept is timeless and powerful, even if you take it from here and run your own path.
How The Economic Machine Works – Ray Dalio
(30 minutes – clear, animated, and surprisingly easy to follow for such a deep topic)
Link:
Why next: Once you’ve got the personal cash-flow mindset from Kiyosaki locked in, it’s time to zoom out and see the bigger machine running everything, because your portfolio (crypto or otherwise) doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Dalio, who built the world’s largest hedge fund, explains the economy like a simple operating system, and it gives you the context for why markets do what they do.
Key lessons you’ll take away:
The economy as a straightforward machine: driven by credit expansion, debt cycles, interest rates, and productivity.
Why bull markets happen (especially in high-risk assets like stocks, crypto, or small altcoins) and why they’re inevitably followed by bear markets, deleveraging, and corrections.
How central banks (the FED and others) operate: printing money in good times, hiking rates to cool things down, and the ripple effects that follow.
What actually unfolds in recessions or depressions and crucially, how to position yourself intelligently (hint: don’t panic-sell at the bottom; instead, recognise the phase of the cycle).
Human nature at the core: greed fuels expansions, fear triggers contractions. It’s psychology as much as math.
2026 tie-in: We’re smack in the middle of high global debt levels, lingering inflation pressures, and central banks trying to thread the needle between soft landings and harder ones. This exact dynamic explains the violent corrections we’re seeing right now: risk-off sentiment dominating, liquidations cascading, and high-beta assets getting hit hard. Right now, the crypto market is clearly in risk-off mode (check my last post here). I write regularly about whether the market is leaning more toward high-risk assets (small altcoins, memes, etc.) or staying defensive/risk-off, so if you’re curious how this plays out in real time, follow my profile for those updates and breakdowns.
Takeaway: After watching this video, market crashes stopped feeling random and scary. They’re just the machine doing its predictable thing. It brought a level of calm I didn’t have before.
Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order – Ray Dalio
(≈43 minutes – the full animated version; deep but worth every second)
Link:
Why last: After grounding yourself in personal finance and the economic machine, now zoom out to the centuries-long view, where empires rise and fall, and how the world order is shifting right under our feet. This is the broadest lens Dalio offers, helping you navigate massive uncertainty without getting lost in daily headlines.
Key lessons you’ll take away:
The “Big Cycle” of empires: how nations rise through education, innovation, and productivity → peak with financial strength and global influence → decline via excessive debt, internal conflicts (political polarization, inequality), and external challenges (rising rivals).
Current US-China dynamics: trade wars, technological competition, potential shifts away from dollar dominance as the sole reserve currency, and increasing global fragmentation.
How to position yourself in uncertain times: prioritize diversification (across assets, geographies, currencies), focus on building real productivity, and avoid over-leverage that amplifies downside in turbulent periods.
2026 relevance: We’re living this cycle in real time. Dollar dominance is increasingly questioned amid high US debt, politicised policies, and efforts by BRICS nations and others to build alternatives. Geopolitical tensions are rising, US-China rivalry intensifies in AI, trade, and influence, while the world edges toward multipolarity with more power centers emerging. I know some of my peers in the US might not love hearing this, but all signs point to the Western world (led by the US, but including the EU and other allies) experiencing the final decades of absolute hegemony and unchallenged dominance. Other players are rising fast: everyone specializing in their strengths, the globe fragmenting into multiple centers of power, and China positioning itself to become an equally massive player alongside (or rivaling) the US very soon.
That’s exactly why I believe so strongly in Bitcoin. It’s a decentralized technology that’s hard to control the way fiat currencies and central banks are. In a multipolar world with eroding trust in single-nation systems, BTC offers a neutral, borderless hedge and store of value that no one government owns.
Personal note: I’m a huge fan of Ray Dalio. His thinking has shaped how I see markets and history. If you have the time, I highly recommend reading all his books (starting with Principles, then Big Debt Crises, and especially Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order). The depth is incredible. This video gave me calm; instead of fearing every headline, I started seeing repeating patterns from history.
Closing Words
These three videos aren’t about technical analysis or spotting the next 100x coin. They’re about building the right mindset, understanding economic cycles, and learning real principles for wealth-building that last through any bull or bear phase. In under 2 hours total, they can help you avoid massive mistakes that wipe out years of gains, which is something I wish I’d had earlier in my journey.
A bit about me: I’m a retail investor who’s been in the crypto space since late 2019, riding the highs and surviving the lows. I’m also a co-founder of Denomos, an all-in-one analytics platform built specifically for serious crypto investors, helping track portfolios, assess risk, and integrate macro insights so you can make better, data-driven decisions instead of guessing.
If these resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you in the comments: What videos or resources have leveled up your understanding of financial markets the most? Please share links or titles, and let’s build a great list together for the community.
And if you’re interested in seeing how I actually invest in crypto (when I’m heavy Bitcoin vs. rotating into altcoins, how I use macro signals, etc.), follow my Substack for regular updates and breakdowns.
Markets will keep crashing and pumping (it’s the nature of the game!), but with the proper foundation, you’ll play the long game smarter, calmer, and more profitably.
(p.s. Not financial advice, just one retail investor’s education journey and honest recommendations.)
Thanks for reading, and stay strong out there. 🍻