For a market that usually moves in one direction, some voices are starting to say this time might look a little different. Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg said XRP could move on a different path from Bitcoin this year, pointing to enterprise use cases as a key reason. Related Reading: Futures Frenzy Pushed Crypto Exchange Volume To Nearly $80 Trillion In 2025 He made the remarks during a podcast with host Paul Barron, and outlined a cautious view of Bitcoin while singling out protocols tied to real-world tokenization. According to McClurg, the shift in focus toward practical applications may help a small set of tokens behave differently than the wider market. XRP And Hedera Seen As Practical Picks McClurg named the XRP Ledger and Hedera as examples of networks that could benefit from enterprise adoption and tokenization efforts. He argued that platforms with clear utility — like payment rails, tokenized assets, or stablecoin infrastructure — have a better chance of holding value when speculative momentum fades. Reports have disclosed that he does not expect these assets to race higher; instead, modest gains are the likeliest outcome, with growth described as low double-digit rather than explosive. Bitcoin Faces Additional Downside McClurg turned more negative on Bitcoin. He said he believes Bitcoin peaked on October 6, 2025, at $126,200. Since that date Bitcoin has slipped roughly 35% to about $95,800. He warned that prices could fall another 20–30% over the next six to nine months, which would place BTC roughly between $65,000 and $77,000 before the end of the cycle. Based on his view, a new all-time high is not expected in 2026 and the market may be entering a deeper correction. Markets Could Still Move Together Critics point out that altcoins often suffer greater losses when the market experiences a downturn, and history supports that caution. Liquidity tends to dry up during big Bitcoin sell-offs, and even assets with real use cases can be pushed lower in a broad risk-off episode. In layman’s phrasing, XRP might fall less than Bitcoin and therefore look stronger in comparison, but outright independence from Bitcoin is rare and usually temporary. Related Reading: Ethereum Staking Hits Record Levels As Buterin Urges Builders To Deliver Real Apps Relative Outperformance The More Likely Outcome According to McClurg’s perspective, what is most realistic is relative outperformance rather than complete separation. That means XRP and similar tokens could remain flat or show modest positive returns while Bitcoin weakens. Such a pattern would still be notable for holders and for enterprises planning tokenization projects, but it falls short of a dramatic price surge. Featured image from Bitpanda Blog, chart from TradingView
Litecoin (LTC) has long carried the “undervalued OG” label. It was one of the first altcoins to prove it could run at scale, yet its price has never managed to reclaim that kind of breakout territory. Many investors consider it a strong altcoin, but still, the ATH is well below the $500 milestone that remains …
Recent reports indicate that XRP has reached an almost six-month high in daily transactions, marking a pivotal moment for the cryptocurrency as it exhibits increasing adoption across both payment systems and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. For January 2026 alone, the XRP Ledger recorded 1.45 million daily transactions, following a steady upward trend in network usage that began in late 2025, coinciding with the introduction of new payment corridors through Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity platform and the integration of stablecoins such as RLUSD. Gaps Between XRP Demand And Price Market expert Sam Daodu highlighted in a recent report for 24/7 Wall St. that historical trends suggest that gaps between rising demand and stagnant prices often precede sharp rallies. With exchange reserves at eight-year lows and increasing institutional inflows seen with XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the current situation indicates that the altcoin may be quietly gearing up for its next breakout. Related Reading: XRP Will Skyrocket Beyond $18: Analyst Suggests 800% Growth Potential In 2026 Despite a slight rebound to $2.42 on January 6, which represented a nearly two-month high for the token, its price has since retraced to approximately $2.048 at the time of writing. This decline occurred despite the transaction surge, suggesting that XRP has yet to capitalize on its increased usage. Daodu noted that the discrepancy between XRP’s price and its on-chain activity isn’t unusual. He asserts that such gaps between usage and price have often been precursors to significant price movements, while also pointing out several factors contributing to the current delay in price reaction. Market-wide consolidation is one of the key reasons, as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) traded sideways in early 2026, dampening momentum for altcoins like XRP. In addition, profit-taking pressure has emerged following XRP’s July 2025 rally up to $3.65. Many short-term holders have cashed out, creating strong resistance levels in the $2.20 to $2.50 range. Until new catalysts arise, Daodu claims XRP may remain confined to this range without breaking out. Is A Major Price Breakout Ahead? Looking forward, Daodu posits that XRP has a historical tendency to lag behind its on-chain progress before initiating explosive price moves. In both 2017 and 2020, spikes in transaction volume and wallet activity preceded significant rallies for the token’s price by several weeks. Related Reading: Bitcoin And Crypto ETFs Set To Attract $130 Billion-Plus Inflows This Year, JPMorgan Predicts For instance, in the third quarter of 2020, XRP’s daily transactions grew by over 40% in just two months, while the price remained flat at around $0.25, only to surge to over $0.70 within weeks in November. A similar scenario unfolded in late 2017, where heightened usage metrics preceded a jump in XRP’s price from $0.30 to $3.30 by early January 2018. This suggests that the current surge in on-chain transactions could be a leading indicator of a delayed price breakout for XRP. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
While XRP retests a crucial support area, some analysts have suggested that the altcoin is preparing for a massive expansion in the coming months, as a potential trend reversal begins to form and its 2017 formula repeats. Related Reading: CME Group To Launch Cardano, Chainlink, Stellar Futures Amid Crypto Lineup Expansion – Details XRP Gears Up For Massive Expansion On Friday, XRP reached a 12-day low, falling to the $2.02 area before bouncing. Notably, the cryptocurrency has been trading within the $2.05-$2.35 area for nearly two weeks, moving between the mid and lower zones of this price range for most of this period. Amid its recent performance, Sjuul from AltCryptoGems noted that the altcoin “is starting to look better, especially after that bullish market structure break with a fresh higher high.” The analyst highlighted that the cryptocurrency has been consistently trending lower since August, exclusively printing lower lows and lower highs. However, it has broken out of this structure and recorded a higher high for the first time in months after the start-of-the-year rally, setting the stage for a potential reversal. “Now, we have to maintain this bullish structure at any cost and form a higher low on the next dip,” Sjuul warned. Meanwhile, market observer ChartNerd pointed to a striking similarity between XRP’s 2017 playbook and its current performance. In an X post, the analyst affirmed that the altcoin is repeating its 2016-2017 formula, which led to a massive rally toward its previous all-time high (ATH). At the time, XRP saw a textbook multi-year symmetrical triangle formation breakout, followed by a multi-month ABC consolidation before its 1,500% mark-up. This time, the cryptocurrency has repeated a similar symmetrical triangle pattern breakout, and it is currently in Wave C of its ABC consolidation period. To the analyst, a deeper Wave C retracement is possible if the multi-month $1.80 support is lost. Nonetheless, he added that “cycle formula repetition signals XRP is gearing up for expansion towards $8/$13/$27,” which would be a 300%-1,250% increase from the current levels. Q1 Close To Define XRP’s Future Despite his bullish forecast, ChartNerd also shared an important warning for the next two months. According to the analyst, “XRP has just over 2 months to invalidate this 3M bearish Heikin-Ashi candle formation,” or it will risk a massive correction. In a video analysis, he explained that, in the past, whenever the altcoin saw massive rallies followed by a red bearish candle on the three-month timeframe, it would “normally indicate the start of a downtrend or a macro consolidation period.” In 2014, XRP saw a bearish candle print in the three-month timeframe after a remarkable pump, which was followed by a correction and consolidation “for quite a couple of years,” he explained. “The same happened again in 2018. We had this massive rally for XRP, and as soon as we printed a three-month bearish candle in the Heikin-Ashi Candle formation, (…) we entered into the bear market,” ChartNerd continued. Related Reading: Analyst Says It’s Time For Ethereum’s ‘Big Test’ – Is ETH Season Loading? Similarly, the cryptocurrency repeated the same performance in 2021. Now, XRP is starting to form a red candle in this timeframe and has approximately 2 months and 16 days to close the quarter on a positive note. “We have until March before this candle closes. (…) So, what we don’t want to see is this full-bodied three-month Heikin-Ashi Candle, because if we see it, this is where we are likely to see a deeper correction for the next six to nine and even 12 months,” the analyst concluded. As of this writing, XRP is trading at $2.05, a 1.7% decline in the weekly timeframe. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Polygon (POL) price is pulling back as crypto markets slow, but the move is raising more questions than concern. As broader altcoins consolidate, POL has slipped toward $0.145, easing from recent highs after reports that Polygon Labs cut around 30% of its workforce. The headline briefly weighed on sentiment, coming just days after POL price …
The Solana (SOL) price is flashing early signs of a reset after months of cooling network activity. New data shows active addresses are ticking higher, hinting at a return of on-chain participation after a long H2 slowdown. At the same time, spot Solana ETF volumes have steadily climbed toward $6 billion, suggesting that institutional involvement …
Coinbase withdrew support for the CLARITY Act, warning the draft would restrict DeFi, ban tokenized equities and eliminate stablecoin rewards.
Internal OpenAI call notes show Elon Musk agreed to explore an ICO with a for-profit arm in early 2018, but later dropped the idea and exited the organization.
ETH price cooled down from its recent rally as US macroeconomic factors, reduced DApps activity and falling fees impact traders’ use of Ether derivatives.
A crypto whale has lost more than $282 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) after falling victim to a hardware wallet social engineering scam, making it one of the largest personal crypto thefts ever reported. According to ZackXBT, the incident occurred on January 10, 2026, at approximately 11 PM UTC, when scammers tricked …
On-chain data shows Bitcoin short-term holders have transferred a large amount of tokens to exchanges alongside the asset’s recovery rally. Bitcoin Short-Term Holders Have Made Profit Transactions To Exchanges In a new post on X, CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn has talked about the latest trend in the exchange deposit transactions of Bitcoin short-term holders (STHs). Related Reading: XRP In A ‘Super Cycle’? SuperTrend Suggests Another Story STHs include the BTC investors who purchased their coins within the past 155 days. They make up for one of the two main sides of the network divided on the basis of holding time, with the other side being known as long-term holders (LTHs). Historically, the STH cohort has proven to represent the weak hands of the market, who easily react to market volatility. In contrast, LTHs include the diamond hands of the sector. Bitcoin has witnessed a recovery rally recently, so, considering the track record of STHs, some selling from them is likely to have occurred. One way to track distribution from the group is through its exchange inflow data. Below is the chart shared by Maartunn that shows the exchange deposit transactions that Bitcoin STHs have made over the last couple of months. In the graph, the STH exchange inflows are shown separately for profit and loss transactions, based on whether holders held an unrealized gain or loss before sending the tokens to exchanges. From the chart, it’s apparent that the 24-hour sum of the STH exchange deposit transactions in profit has shot up as the cryptocurrency has gone through its rally, reaching a high of 41,800 BTC. Meanwhile, loss exchange inflows have shrunken, falling to a low of 1,800 BTC. Thus, it would appear that selling focus from STHs has largely shifted to profit-taking. Though, while some STHs may be harvesting profits, the cohort has a whole is still in a state of net unrealized loss as Bitcoin is trading below the STH Realized Profit, as highlighted by the analyst in another X post. The “Realized Price” is an on-chain metric that measures the average cost basis of Bitcoin investors or addresses as a whole. The STH version specifically tracks the break-even level of the supply purchased within the past 155 days. Related Reading: Bitcoin Rally Accompanied By ‘Very Bullish’ Whale-Retail Behavior, Santiment Says As displayed in the above chart, the Bitcoin spot price plummeted under the STH Realized Price during the drawdown of Q4 2025. Since then, it has remained under the line, although the latest rally has brought it close. Currently, the indicator’s value is situated at $99,412. BTC Price Bitcoin has gone down since its high above $97,000 earlier in the week as its price is now trading around $94,600. Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com
Bitcoin may be replaying a market structure that historically preceded one of its most powerful rallies. A high-timeframe trader has identified a fractal that closely mirrored Bitcoin’s behavior ahead of the 2021 bull run. He argues that the current cycle is unfolding in line with a well-established structural script observed across multiple market cycles spanning more than a decade. Bitcoin’s Fractal: Rooted In High-Timeframe Structure The fractal highlighted by the trader is based on a direct structural comparison between Bitcoin’s current cycle and the 2021 setup, illustrated in a chart he attached to his analysis. The chart aligns both periods to show how price advanced into a broad distribution range, rolled over into a sharp corrective phase, and then attempted to recover while capped by descending resistance. In both cases, Bitcoin retraced to the 0.382 Fibonacci level before stabilizing, marking a shared technical inflection point rather than a coincidental price overlap. Related Reading: XRP Price Is Approaching A Key Decision Zone, But Structure Is Still Firmly Bullish This structural symmetry extends beyond price levels into timing. According to the trader, the current cycle has tracked the rhythm of prior four-year cycles with notable consistency, allowing historical all-time highs and lows to be mapped objectively. Using that same framework, the data previously supported a high-probability short near the peak candle around $123,000, reinforcing his view that recurring market structure continues to guide directional risk. By comparing the two cycles directly, the trader argues that Bitcoin’s behavior is being evaluated through a recurring structural pattern that has remained intact for more than 12 years, rather than through subjective bias. $100,000 As A Structural And Psychological Ceiling Within the identified fractal, psychological resistance is a key determinant of Bitcoin’s upside potential. Looking back at 2021, Bitcoin failed to decisively reclaim the $50,000 level and instead front-ran it before reversing, establishing a behavioral precedent for how traders respond to significant round-number thresholds. Applying this pattern to the current cycle, $100,000 now functions as the analogous psychological ceiling. As a result, some participants may act preemptively, which could generate selling pressure from underwater holders and distribution by larger players. Related Reading: Pundit Reveals The Biggest Enemy Of XRP Investors As Price Struggles At $2 This potential resistance is reinforced by diagonal trendlines that mirror the caps observed in 2021, creating a structural limit on upside momentum. Within this context, short-term extensions into the $98,000–$99,000 range remain plausible and are fully compatible with the fractal, as price can approach the psychological ceiling. Moreover, positioning data from the past six to eight months indicates that the median short-term buyer cost basis has clustered between $95,000 and $100,000, highlighting zones where profit-taking and defensive selling are likely to intensify. These elements suggest a scenario where price may test resistance, experience temporary stalls, and respect structural limits without invalidating the broader high-timeframe thesis. However, the trader notes that the framework is probabilistic: only a sustained move above $104,000–$105,000 would break the fractal pattern and necessitate a full reassessment of the high-timeframe trend. Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com
Vitalik Buterin wants improved private payments, easier running of full nodes, decentralized apps that don’t rely on centralized services, and more on-chain privacy.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) recently retracted its support for the latest iteration of the crypto market structure bill, known as the CLARITY Act, just 24 hours before a crucial markup was scheduled. This signals significant concerns about the bill’s alignment with the interests of cryptocurrency firms compared to traditional banking institutions, not only for the exchange but also for broader market participants. Coinbase CEO’s Concerns Over Fair Competition On Friday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong elaborated on the rationale behind the exchange’s withdrawal in an appearance on FOX Business, expressing his frustration with the notion that banks could use regulatory means to stifle competition in their favor. “It just felt deeply unfair to me that one industry [banks] would come in and get to do regulatory capture to ban their competition,” Armstrong stated. He also underscored the importance of a level playing field, asserting that competition should thrive without undue interference from powerful financial entities. Related Reading: Crypto Market Bill Draft Criticized For Allowing Continued Developer Prosecution Coinbase CEO emphasized that his concerns resonate with “much of the industry,” highlighting his obligation to advocate for customers who he believes are being shortchanged by the provisions of the proposed market legislation. “I declined to opine on the exact—whether the hearing, the markup should happen or not… But I did feel like I had to speak up on behalf of our customers and all Americans here,” he articulated. Debate Heats Over CLARITY Act Central to the ongoing debate surrounding the CLARITY Act is a critical disagreement between banks and crypto firms regarding the fate of stablecoin holders and whether they should be entitled to receive reward payments. Armstrong has previously raised alarms that the bill might prohibit tokenized equities, impose restrictions on decentralized finance (DeFi), and expand governmental access to financial data, thereby compromising individual privacy. Furthermore, he warned that the legislation could shift regulatory authority away from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and towards the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), sidelining competition within the crypto space. Armstrong Critiques Banking Lobbying Tactics Armstrong noted the irony in the current situation, pointing out that while banks are indeed leveraging the advantages of cryptocurrency, their lobbying efforts seem aimed at restricting competing firms. “Many of these banks are actually very smart,” he acknowledged, referencing the commercial side of banking that is increasingly engaging with crypto. “They’re actually doing deals with Coinbase. We’re powering a lot of crypto and stablecoin infrastructure for them on the commercial side.” Related Reading: Bitcoin And Crypto ETFs Set To Attract $130 Billion-Plus Inflows This Year, JPMorgan Predicts Despite his criticisms of the banking sector’s lobbying tactics, Armstrong expressed optimism that legislators could ultimately resolve the outstanding issues within the crypto market structure bill: And then their lobbying arm comes to D.C. and thinks of it as very zero-sum and is trying to kill the competition. So, I suspect, like many things, if we get the principles in the room, we can actually get this figured out and make a good deal. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
The case highlights potential conflicts between nonprofit missions and financial ambitions, impacting trust in tech organizations' integrity.
The post Kalshi odds of Elon Musk winning his case against OpenAI surge after private notes reveal for-profit intent appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
XRP could be approaching an inflection point as a closely watched chart pattern tightens into its apex and broader “risk-on” signals in equities flash green, according to XRPL developer Bird (@Bird_XRPL). In a series of posts on X, Bird, the developer behind XRPL meme coin DROP, pointed to XRP’s hourly structure as setting up for a decisive move “before the end of the week,” arguing that a technical breakout could accelerate quickly toward a nearby upside objective. “Take a look at XRP on the hourly. A move is about to happen before the end of the week,” Bird wrote alongside a chart showing a contracting triangle with price compressing into the tip. “A measured move if we send upwards could push us straight to that $2.69 mark which finally gets us into ‘bull run’ mode.” Russell 2000 Breakout Puts XRP on Alert Beyond the short-term pattern, Bird anchored his thesis to US small caps, arguing that the Russell 2000’s behavior has historically mattered for XRP and the broader altcoin complex. Related Reading: XRP In A ‘Super Cycle’? SuperTrend Suggests Another Story “The Russell 2000 is about to close its highest weekly close in history. That matters ALOT for XRP,” Bird said. “Historically, XRP and altcoins have always tracked the Russell 2000 extremely closely. It’s the true risk on index for mid caps (not mega caps like the S&P or MAG7 where most capital has been parked).” Bird’s argument is that XRP still trades more like a mid-cap risk asset than a mega-cap “store of value” proxy, making the Russell’s breakout a useful macro tell for when speculative capital rotates back into higher beta exposures. He described the current backdrop as “capital rotating” and “risk … back on,” suggesting that the market may be entering a window where positioning can change quickly if narratives align. In a longer follow-up thread, Bird described XRP’s extended consolidation as increasingly out of sync with what he views as constructive macro conditions across risk assets. “We’re at a genuinely clinical moment for XRP. We’ve gone sideways for over a year, yet the Russell 2000 is now in full price discovery, other stock markets have been at all time highs for a long time, metals are elevated, and Bitcoin dominance is chopping at levels that historically dumps at,” he wrote. Related Reading: Ripple Builds XRP ‘Wall Street Kit’: Developer Claims ‘Billions Incoming’ Bird also pointed to a prior episode as a reference point: “In November ’24, the Russell turned green and XRP went parabolic roughly 10 days later,” he said, arguing that this time the Russell has gone further by reclaiming highs and holding strength across timeframes. In his view, the remaining constraint is rotation, not necessarily a sharp drawdown in metals or other assets, but simply a pause that allows risk appetite to re-price. On XRP and Ripple specific context, Bird said “acquisitions done, partnerships rolling out, NDAs lifting, legal clarity forming,” and argued that the market is nearing a point where “a single narrative, catalyst, or push can ignite XRP fast.” The key near-term test is whether the tightening technical structure resolves upward as Bird expects and whether cross-asset risk appetite continues to support alt beta. If both align, Bird’s framework suggests traders will be watching for a momentum break that could carry XRP toward the $2.69 objective and, in his view, potentially open the door to a faster path toward fresh cycle highs. At press time, XRP traded at $2.06. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
The withdrawal of White House support could destabilize crypto market regulations, impacting industry trust and future legislative efforts.
The post White House threatens to withdraw support for crypto bill after Coinbase move, calling it a rug pull on the industry appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Being the first federally chartered bank, Anchorage is looking to become a leading stablecoin issuer in 2026, with plans to double the size of its stablecoin team this year.
As meme coins posted sharp rebounds earlier this year, PEPE also rallied, delivering notable gains. Although the meme coin has since slipped back into negative territory, a crypto analyst believes another bullish reversal may be approaching soon. According to the analyst, a key technical pattern has recently emerged on the chart, suggesting that PEPE has formed a bottom and could be on its way to a massive 3,000% price rally. PEPE Price Prepares For Massive 3,000% Rally In a post shared on X this Thursday, market analyst CryptoLinx outlined a bullish outlook for PEPE, pointing to a key shift on the weekly chart that he believes could trigger a 3,000% rally in the meme coin’s price. He stated that PEPE has just printed a bullish Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) cross on the weekly timeframe. Related Reading: Bitcoin Price Crash To $57,000: The Bullish Path That Could End In Tears The analyst’s chart shows the weekly MACD lines crossing upward with momentum shifting from red to green. This move comes after an extended downtrend and coincides with price stabilizing and starting to curl higher, a pattern often associated with a rounded bottom. In his post, CryptoLinx emphasized that most traders and investors do not fully understand just how powerful the weekly MACD can be when it crosses at a true market bottom. Such moments often mark the market’s transition from an accumulation phase to a sustained uptrend. In previous cycles, similar setups have led to substantial price appreciation in PEPE. Moves of 200% to 300% were recorded in the PEPE price as momentum shifted in favor of buyers. CryptoLinx has suggested that if PEPE has indeed found its true bottom, its potential price rally could be significantly more explosive than past cycles. Based on the analyst’s predictions, the bullish MACD cross would not fuel a simple price recovery for PEPE, but an explosive surge that could completely flip its ongoing downtrend and mark a new ATH. The analysis points to a potential upside of 1,500% to 3,000% for PEPE this year. Such a rally could see the meme coin jump from its current levels around $0.00000585 to $0.0000928 and $0.000179, respectively. An Update On PEPE Price Action In 2025, the Pepe price spent several months in a sustained downtrend, closing the year in the red and extending its losses into the first few days of 2026. However, as meme coins saw a sudden market revival at the beginning of the year, PEPE jumped by more than 30%, briefly rallying before shedding some of its gains. Related Reading: Next XRP Wave Shows Where Price Is Headed Next, But There’s A Catch According to CoinMarketCap’s data, the PEPE price remains down over 68% Year-to-Date (YTD). Despite this broader decline, the meme coin has shown signs of recovery, climbing more than 44% over the past month. At the time of writing, PEPE is down nearly 3% in the last 24 hours and about 4.5% in the past week. Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com
Anchorage Digital's fundraising and potential IPO could significantly impact the competitive landscape of crypto financial services.
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According to CoinGecko’s annual report, crypto treasury companies were among the year’s biggest buyers even as prices fell. Their balance sheets grew sharply, and their actions left a clear mark on supply and markets. The numbers tell a story of heavy buying, pause, and then corporate moves to protect share value. Related Reading: Crypto Money Floods US Politics As $21 Million Backs Trump PAC Large Treasury Buying Spree Reports have disclosed that these treasury firms deployed close to $50 billion into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other tokens during 2025. At the start of the year, treasuries held more than $56 billion in crypto. By January one, 2026, that figure had risen to $134 billion — a gain of 137%. This buying helped push institutional ownership higher, with treasuries holding more than 5% of both Bitcoin and Ethereum supply by year-end. Public companies alone raised their Bitcoin reserves from about 598,714 coins to more than 1 million, an increase near 500,000 BTC. Market Drop Came Late In The Year The broader market did not keep its earlier momentum. Total crypto value fell almost 8% in 2025 and finished the year near $3 trillion. Most of the damage came late. 2025 Annual Crypto Industry Report is now LIVE ???? Last year marked crypto’s first down year since 2022, featuring a brief $4.4T peak in Q4 before a historic $19B liquidation ended the year at $3.0T. Here are 7 key highlights you shouldn’t miss ???? pic.twitter.com/HLbI5BrzwN — CoinGecko (@coingecko) January 15, 2026 The market shed almost a quarter of its value in the last three months, and a liquidation wave near $19 billion in October sped the decline after total market value briefly hit about $4.4 trillion. Bitcoin slipped roughly 1.4% to near $95,300 at one point as investors weighed policy moves in the US and shifting rate expectations. Supply Now Held By Treasuries By the start of 2026, treasuries were holding more than 1 million Bitcoin and 6 million ETH. That concentration matters because assets put on corporate books are less likely to be traded frequently. When large shares of supply are locked up, price swings can be smaller in calm times, but the effect can flip if selling is forced. BTCUSD trading at $95,524 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView Related Reading: Bitcoin’s New Power Buyers: Companies Bought 3 Times What Miners Produced Companies Shifted Strategy When Stocks Fell When prices fell in the fourth quarter, some treasury firms saw their share prices dip below the value of their crypto holdings. To support their stock, many paused buying and turned to share buybacks. That action slowed the pace of token purchases. The move was traditional: protect investors’ equity value rather than add more tokens into a weakening market. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
Selling the Bitcoin would have violated President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14233, which mandates that any Bitcoin obtained through criminal or civil forfeiture “shall not be sold.”
Ethereum finds itself in an unusual position where the fundamentals are strengthening, but capital flows remain hesitant. On-chain activity and the real-world tokenization of assets point to a network that is becoming increasingly useful and more deeply embedded in financial infrastructure. The price action movement shows that ETH is stuck in a range where it is struggling to attract sustained momentum. Why Fundamentals And Price Are Diverging Ethereum is stuck in the middle, with the price hovering around $3,300, which is slightly up from earlier this month, but it remains compressed within the same triangle that has been forming since November. An investor known as Pepeisfriend mentioned on X that this kind of price action usually means pressure is building and a move is coming. However, the direction hasn’t been specified. Related Reading: Ethereum Outlook Has Improved, And It Could Outperform Bitcoin – Here’s What To Know As a result of this move, big money doesn’t seem very excited. ETH whales have been slowly reducing their exposure since mid-December, with no panic selling, just lightening positions. This kind of behavior signals a lower willingness from large investors to carry risk at these levels. The ETF flows have shown that there have been a few days of positive inflows, but the overall net flows are still negative, showing institutions haven’t truly rotated back into ETH the way they did during the previous hype phase. Meanwhile, Decentralized Finance (DeFi) activity looks weaker, and total value locked (TVL) has dropped noticeably, suggesting that on-chain capital is either leaving or just sitting on the sidelines. When DeFi isn’t active, ETH struggles to generate sustained upside momentum. Related Reading: Ethereum Price Finds Balance at Support—But the Next Move Matters Investor Pepeisfriend concluded that ETH isn’t bearish, but also not inspiring confidence for a breakout. This is a clear “wait for confirmation” phase that must be held, but probably still too early to go all-in or expect an immediate breakout. The Moment That Will Look Obvious In Hindsight While the market is obsessed with layer-1 competition, Ethereum is transitioning from a speculative asset into a yield-bearing, productive asset. Analyst Senior pointed out that on January 15, 2026, Sharplink Gaming deployed $170 million worth of ETH into a combined staking and restaking strategy on Linea. This move shows that institutional treasuries have moved beyond simple accumulation to active yield generation. At the same time, Visa is piloting stablecoin payouts directly on-chain, and EIP-7702 infrastructure is finally going live to eliminate biometric authentication seed phrases via Face ID. The user experience gap that once held ETH back has officially closed. This is the moment ETH is positioning itself as the most secure and liquid on-chain neobank financial platform in the world, and why the $3,500 breakout attempt will feel obvious. Featured image from Pexels, chart from Tradingview.com
The total crypto market rallied this week, hovering around $3.23 trillion at press time. The extreme fear of a potential crypto bear market experienced during the fourth quarter has significantly reduced, with CoinMarketCap’s Fear and Greed Index hovering around 50/100, representing traders’ neutral position. Top 3 Crypto Events This Week To Consider Bitcoin Bullish Breakout …
Ethereum is showing bullish technical strength, with momentum indicators beginning to tilt back in favor of buyers. After weeks of uneven price action, the ETH/USD chart on the 3-day timeframe is now printing a MACD bullish crossover, a signal that has preceded some of Ethereum’s rallies in the past. The setup is notable because it proposes a situation where Ethereum is laying the groundwork for another sustained rally that plays throughout the entirety of 2026. Bullish MACD Crossover For Ethereum The latest analysis shared by Javon Marks points to Ethereum climbing steadily following another MACD bullish crossover in December 2025. This bullish crossover is visible on the 3-day chart, where the MACD line crossed above the signal line from below. Related Reading: Ethereum Chart Turns Bullish: New Cycle Energy Points To $5,000 This is a change that shows downside momentum has faded and bullish pressure is starting to rebuild among Ethereum traders. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading around the $3,300 region, about 33% below its August 2025 peak, but holding above swing lows in November 2025. According to Javon Marks, this recent price action is potentially the early stages of a much larger bull wave. This projection is based on the fact that the current crossover looks like an earlier crossover that occurred before Ethereum transitioned into an extended upside move in early 2025. Back in April 2025, the 3-day MACD also recorded a bullish crossover after an extended period of consolidation and pullbacks that lasted for a few months. That signal was the start of a multi-month rally that steadily pushed Ethereum higher, eventually culminating in a new all-time high in August 2025. Price action following that April crossover did not explode immediately. Ethereum first stabilized for a few days, then began forming higher lows above $1,500. Once resistance at $2,000 gave way, the rally gained much momentum and carried Ethereum from the mid-$2,000 range all the way above $4,800, broke above its old record of $4,878 that had stood since Nov. 2021, before finally peaking at $4,946 in late August. Price Targets To Look Forward To The final message of this technical analysis is that Ethereum is about to embark on a comparable rally and break out to new all-time highs. According to the updated outlook by Javon Marks, the first major level that defines this potential continuation is $4,811.71. This price acted as an important resistance level during the previous rally in 2025. Related Reading: Ethereum Enters Overbought Levels With Weekend Pump, Why A Crash Could Be Coming A decisive break and sustained hold above $4,811.71 would confirm that Ethereum has exited its corrective phase and re-entered into a broader expansion move. If that breakout unfolds as expected, the measured move projected from the chart points to $8,557.68 as a target to look forward to. This target is based on the magnitude of Ethereum’s last MACD-driven advance and would translate to a 160% increase from current price levels. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
Market onlookers have long speculated that Anchorage, the first federally chartered digital asset bank, was considering going public.
Buterin said major improvements are underway to make it easier to run a full node, use dapps, and take control over personal data.
Oranje and The Ether Machine execs discuss DAT business models, premium dynamics, and why only well-managed treasury companies will survive.
Many in the industry expect it could be weeks before lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee return to consider a markup for the CLARITY Act.
Monero (XMR), one of crypto’s most established privacy-focused assets, has exploded higher to start 2026, delivering one of the strongest moves in the market over the past few days. Monero is built around private, censorship-resistant transactions, using cryptography to obscure wallet balances and transfer details on-chain. That privacy-first design has kept XMR in its own category for years, often moving independently from large-cap altcoins when narrative-driven momentum returns. Related Reading: Bitcoin Bull Score Hits Level Seen Only 7 Times In 6 Years – A Rare Historical Signal Since the beginning of the year, XMR has surged from roughly $410 to nearly $799, a near-vertical move that reflects both aggressive demand and a rapid shift in trader attention toward the privacy coin sector. The breakout comes after similar sharp rallies in names like Zcash (ZEC) and Dash (DASH), which also experienced explosive upside followed by fast pullbacks. Zcash climbed to around $750 before reversing toward the $400 zone, while Dash ran to roughly $120 and later dropped to near $35. Those moves set the tone for a volatile privacy coin rotation, where price action tends to accelerate quickly once momentum enters the sector. Now, with Monero leading the pack, the market is watching whether this rally can establish higher support levels, or if it becomes another short-lived spike driven by crowded positioning and thin liquidity. Retail Hype Signal Flashes As Monero Extends Its Breakout Monero’s surge is now starting to show the same “retail frenzy” footprint that appeared earlier in other privacy coins, raising questions about how sustainable this move really is. A trading frequency signal—often associated with crowded participation and late-stage chasing—previously lit up in Zcash and Dash near their local tops, before both coins reversed sharply. In Zcash, the retail-heavy activity spike aligned with a push to roughly $698, and the price has since slid back to around $442, a drawdown of about 37%. Dash followed a similar pattern. The trigger appeared near $120, before the market cooled off aggressively and dragged the price down to the $57 zone. A decline of roughly 52%. Now, the same signal is flashing for Monero. The retail-frequency threshold appeared around $714 as XMR traded deep into its parabolic advance. That matters because these setups often reflect emotional participation, where buyers enter late, liquidity thins, and volatility increases sharply. This doesn’t guarantee an immediate top, but history suggests a clear risk: once retail demand becomes dominant, the rally can become fragile. The bigger question is whether Monero can absorb profit-taking without breaking structure—or if it repeats the same post-spike unwind seen in ZEC and DASH. Related Reading: Bitcoin Reclaims $97K As Long-Term Holders Supply Stays Locked XMR Surges Into Parabolic Territory Monero is showing one of the strongest price trends in the market. The weekly chart is now moving into a clear parabolic expansion phase. After spending much of 2024 in a slow accumulation range, XMR gradually built a base and repeatedly defended higher lows. This has set the stage for the subsequent breakout. Once Monero reclaimed the $200 area, momentum accelerated sharply, and buyers began to absorb sell pressure without allowing deep pullbacks. The chart shows a clear bullish structure. With price holding above rising moving averages and using them as dynamic support during each consolidation phase. This type of price behavior usually reflects sustained demand rather than a single short-lived spike. Related Reading: Bitcoin Bulls Take Control: Futures Positioning Turns Bullish for First Time Since October However, the most notable development is the latest impulse candle. We saw the price surge into the $700 zone with almost no overhead resistance. These kinds of vertical advances often signal aggressive market participation and can lead to a volatility expansion event. Price either continues trending higher or enters a sharp correction after exhaustion. From a market structure perspective, the key is whether Monero can hold above previous breakout zones near $500–$600. If buyers defend those areas, the uptrend remains intact. If not, a deeper retracement could unfold quickly. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com