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Bitcoin
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Blockchain
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The weekend saw Bitcoin’s price drop below the $78,000 threshold, intensifying a severe bearish phase that has now persisted for four consecutive months. This marks the cryptocurrency’s most prolonged losing streak since 2018. From its 2025 annual peak, the world’s leading digital asset has shed approximately 40 percent of its value.
A significant catalyst for the recent acceleration in selling pressure was the announcement that former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh is poised to become the new head of the U.S. central bank. Perceived as an advocate for restrictive monetary policy, Warsh has publicly called for a “regime change” at the Fed, with plans focused on substantially reducing the central bank’s balance sheet.
Market observers view this as a threat to speculative investments. Brian Jacobsen, Chief Economist at Annex Wealth Management, noted that the inflated Fed balance sheet has historically funneled liquidity into risky assets, including cryptocurrencies—a dynamic that could reverse under new leadership.
A pronounced change in market sentiment is evident within the options market. Data from CoinDesk reveals that open interest for Put options with a $75,000 strike price has surged to $1.159 billion. This figure now nearly matches the $1.168 billion in open interest for Call options at the $100,000 strike—a dramatic reversal from the bullish dominance seen following last year’s presidential election.
Substantial Put positions have also accumulated at the $70,000, $80,000, and $85,000 strike levels. Conversely, higher Call strikes above the $100,000 mark are attracting significantly less interest.
The market’s capacity to absorb large trades without major price impact has deteriorated sharply. Kaiko data indicates that available capital to cushion such transactions has fallen more than 30 percent from its October peak. Liquidity conditions this thin were last witnessed following the collapse of FTX in 2022.
The spot Bitcoin ETF market is concurrently experiencing sustained outflows. Many institutional buyers who entered at higher price points are now facing losses. Major participants, such as Digital-Asset-Treasuries, have notably scaled back their purchasing activity following their own portfolio declines last year.
Historical patterns suggest the current correction may have considerable runway left. Kaiko analyst Laurens Fraussen estimates it could continue for another six to nine months, positing that the market is “likely about 25 percent” through the present cycle.
Some forecasts are even more cautious. Richard Hodges, founder of the Ferro BTC Volatility Fund, warns major investors to prepare for a much longer downturn, stating he does not anticipate a new all-time high within the next 1,000 days. Despite regulatory advancements and a pro-crypto agenda under the Trump administration, investor skepticism remains high. Delays in the anticipated market structure legislation have added to the frustration. Meanwhile, capital continues to migrate away from the crypto sector toward AI equities and precious metals.
The Solana blockchain is navigating a period of starkly contrasting developments. As a major security incident shakes confidence in its decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, a prominent asset manager is simultaneously doubling down on the network for its tokenized fund offerings. This juxtaposition highlights both the platform’s accelerating institutional appeal and the persistent vulnerabilities that accompany rapid growth.
On January 28, 2026, asset manager WisdomTree announced it would make its entire suite of tokenized funds available on the Solana blockchain. The New York-based firm, widely recognized for its exchange-traded funds (ETFs), will facilitate trading for both institutional and private investors through its WisdomTree Connect and WisdomTree Prime platforms.
This move allows retail investors to purchase tokenized funds directly using USDC and hold them in self-custody wallets, bypassing traditional banking channels. Maredith Hannon, WisdomTree’s Head of Digital Assets, stated that the integration underscores the company’s “focus on regulated real-world assets within the onchain ecosystem.”
WisdomTree joins a growing roster of traditional finance entities entering the Solana space. Just a week prior, on January 21, Ondo Global Markets launched on the network, offering access to over 200 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs. This launch positioned Ondo as Solana’s largest real-world asset issuer. Furthermore, software provider R3 is reportedly developing frameworks for institutional yield products on the blockchain.
This institutional interest is reflected in capital flows. Data from CoinShares indicates that between the start of the year and January 23, 2026, Solana attracted $92.9 million in institutional investment, ranking second only to Bitcoin for that period.
Contrasting this positive news, the DeFi platform Step Finance disclosed on January 31, 2026, that several of its treasury wallets had been compromised. According to cybersecurity firm CertiK, the attackers made off with 261,854 SOL, equivalent to approximately $27 million. The stolen coins had initially been staked and were subsequently unstaked and transferred by the hackers.
Step Finance, which operates as a portfolio tracker for Solana users aggregating yield farming positions and liquidity provider tokens across various protocols, has engaged cybersecurity experts. The method of the breach remains under investigation. In the wake of the announcement, the platform’s native governance token, STEP, plummeted by more than 80%.
Beyond its DeFi platform, Step Finance also runs a validator node on Solana and organizes the Solana Crossroads conference.
Despite these events and broader market headwinds, Solana’s underlying technical infrastructure continues to demonstrate resilience. The network reportedly processed over 10,000 transactions per second during a recent period of market stress. Cross-chain protocol Wormhole notes that more than 30% of all transfers now flow toward Solana, which added 300,000 new users in 2025. The total value locked on the network stands at $12 billion.
The SOL token is currently trading around $110, a significant distance from its all-time high of approximately $294 reached in January 2025. The wider cryptocurrency market is experiencing outflows, with CoinShares reporting the largest capital withdrawals since mid-November 2025 at the end of January.
The Step Finance exploit serves as a potent reminder of the risks inherent in the DeFi sector, with its full impact on the broader Solana ecosystem still being assessed. Concurrently, the strategic expansion by WisdomTree and other established financial players signals growing confidence in Solana’s capacity to serve as a foundation for regulated financial products.
In a landmark move for digital asset regulation, United States financial authorities have initiated their most comprehensive effort to date to establish clear rules for Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market. The announcement on January 30, 2026, by SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig to relaunch the joint “Project Crypto” initiative marks a pivotal moment long anticipated by the industry. This regulatory push coincides with renewed legislative pressure from Congress for progress on market structure laws.
The drive for regulatory clarity is advancing on multiple fronts. On January 29, the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced a digital asset market structure bill, though the vote fell along partisan lines. This proposed legislation would grant the CFTC oversight of spot crypto markets and establish rules for digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers.
The upcoming White House summit on February 2 is set to bring together representatives from both the cryptocurrency and traditional banking sectors to discuss the path toward comprehensive legislation. The outcomes of this meeting and subsequent Senate actions will likely determine whether institutional investors finally receive the regulatory certainty they have sought for years.
The rebooted “Project Crypto” represents the first truly coordinated strategy between the SEC and the CFTC. Its primary objective is to create a definitive classification system for crypto assets, thereby clearly delineating jurisdictional boundaries between the two agencies. This initiative aims to eliminate duplicative compliance burdens and pave the way for onshore development of innovative financial products, such as tokenized securities and perpetual futures contracts.
Amid speculation about a potential merger between SpaceX, Tesla, or xAI, attention has turned to the substantial Bitcoin treasuries held by these Elon Musk-affiliated companies. Public disclosures reveal that SpaceX holds approximately 8,285 BTC (valued around $680 million), while Tesla possesses 11,509 BTC (worth nearly $1 billion). Their combined holdings approach 20,000 BTC, with a total value of roughly $1.7 billion.
However, Tesla’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings report disclosed a $239 million post-tax loss on its digital asset holdings. This loss coincided with Bitcoin’s price decline during the quarter, which saw it fall from approximately $114,000 to below $90,000.
A dramatic sell-off in precious metals on January 30 may indirectly benefit Bitcoin by redirecting capital flows. Silver prices plummeted 35% in a single day, crashing from a record high of $120 per ounce to $75. Gold fell from $5,600 to $4,718, while platinum and palladium lost 24% and 20% of their value, respectively.
Paul Howard of the Wincent trading firm noted that crypto markets had recently become “victims of risk capital flowing into the still-popular commodities trade.” He now observes growing interest in Bitcoin options, specifically in call options with a $105,000 strike price for February.
February 2026 will be a critical month for assessing whether these announced regulatory advances can deliver the long-awaited market clarity. The coordinated efforts of regulators and legislators will be scrutinized for their ability to foster a secure environment that encourages institutional participation.
The Cardano ecosystem is poised for a significant injection of liquidity following a landmark announcement from its founder, Charles Hoskinson. A partnership with digital finance firm Circle, formalized on January 30, will bring the USDCx stablecoin to the blockchain. This move is widely seen as a strategic effort to bolster Cardano’s decentralized finance (DeFi) offerings, making them more robust and attractive to institutional and retail capital.
Recent on-chain activity reveals a notable divergence in investor behavior. Data from Santiment, cited by CoinMarketCap, indicates that addresses holding between 100,000 and 100 million ADA accumulated approximately 454.7 million ADA from late November 2025 through January 2026. This accumulation, valued at roughly $161 million, increased their share of the circulating supply from about 66.3% to 67.53%, representing a total of around 24.33 billion ADA.
Conversely, smaller retail wallets holding 100 ADA or less have been reducing their exposure, collectively selling about 22,000 ADA in recent weeks. This pattern suggests larger, potentially institutional, players are positioning for medium-term catalysts, while smaller investors exhibit risk-off behavior.
The collaboration with Circle centers on integrating USDCx, a version of the USDC stablecoin designed specifically for non-EVM compatible blockchains like Cardano. It will operate on Circle’s forthcoming xReserve system, slated for introduction by the end of 2025.
Technically, USDCx differs from native USDC. Within the xReserve framework, the underlying reserve is held as standard USDC on a source chain. This reserve is then represented on partner chains like Cardano through automated attestation and minting processes. A key advantage of this model is reduced reliance on third-party bridges, which have historically been vulnerable to security exploits in the crypto sector.
It is important to note that Cardano is not yet listed as a supported remote chain in Circle’s current developer documentation, indicating the integration is in its early stages. Hoskinson has emphasized, however, that the timeline is not a matter of “six months” away.
A major institutional milestone is imminent. The CME Group is scheduled to list ADA futures contracts on February 9, 2026, following Cardano’s inclusion in the Nasdaq Crypto Index in 2025. This listing formally places ADA alongside other established crypto derivatives on a major traditional exchange.
Development activity continues at a high pace. For the week beginning January 22, the network reported 448 commits across 69 repositories, focusing on Mithril client enhancements and adjustments to the Ouroboros consensus mechanism. The prior week saw 682 commits, including work on simulations for “Ouroboros Leios,” a key upgrade aimed at significantly improving network throughput.
Governance body Intersect reported on January 29 that “Protocol 11” is entering early voting and planning phases. The upgrade is planned as an “intra-era hard fork,” designed to minimize disruption by maintaining the existing transaction format. Key goals include faster Plutus smart contracts, new cryptographic built-in functions, and streamlined ledger rules. Node version 10.7.0 is the candidate for the mainnet, with a target deployment within approximately three weeks from the January 29 announcement.
Key Upcoming Milestones:
– USDCx integration via Circle (deal signed January 30; implementation in early stages)
– ADA futures listing on the CME begins February 9, 2026
– Protocol 11 in voting/planning; Node 10.7.0 as mainnet candidate (target: ~3 weeks from Jan 29)
– Leios upgrade (target: 1,000 TPS) planned for Q1 2026
– “Midnight” privacy-focused sidechain planned for Q2 2026
Despite these developments, market sentiment remains cautious. ADA is trading near $0.33, close to its 52-week low, amid a broadly weak crypto environment. This fragile short-term outlook places even greater emphasis on the upcoming catalysts—the February 9 CME listing, alongside progress on USDCx and Protocol 11—which have the potential to tangibly improve Cardano’s liquidity and utility.
A dramatic and severe reversal has abruptly ended gold’s relentless rally. Investors are now confronting a massive liquidation event that erased trillions in market value within a short timeframe, triggered by a pivotal U.S. political appointment and a decisive move from futures exchanges that caught speculators off guard.
The scale of the collapse is extraordinary. On Friday, the price of gold plummeted by 9.13 percent, closing at $4,907.50. This sharp decline pushed the precious metal decisively below the psychologically significant $5,000 threshold. Combined with losses in the silver market, an estimated $5 trillion in market capitalization was wiped out over 48 hours, with gold accounting for approximately $3.5 trillion of that total. This sell-off stands in stark contrast to the record high of $5,450 reached just days prior, on January 28.
Market analysts point to a confluence of factors behind the sudden shift. The primary catalyst was the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chair by President-elect Donald Trump. Perceived by markets as a monetary policy “hawk,” Warsh’s expected appointment signals that interest rates may remain elevated for longer or see less aggressive cuts than previously anticipated. This prospect immediately strengthened the U.S. dollar. Since gold is priced in dollars, the appreciating currency made the metal more expensive for international buyers, applying significant downward pressure on its price.
The downward spiral was accelerated by regulatory intervention. Responding to extreme volatility, the CME Group announced it would raise margin requirements for gold futures from six to eight percent, effective Monday. This increase in collateral forced highly leveraged speculators to act: they were required to either inject fresh capital quickly or close out their positions. This triggered a cascade of forced liquidations, or margin calls, during special weekend sessions on Asian markets. These forced sales further accelerated the price drop, at one point driving futures contracts into limit-down halts.
Many observers are interpreting the plunge as a correction following a period of excessive speculation. Gold had rallied over 20 percent at points during January alone. The combination of technically overbought conditions and the new fundamental headwinds created a scenario where profit-taking collided with a fragile market structure.
The coming trading sessions are expected to remain volatile as the market continues to digest the new margin rules. The immediate focus for traders is whether the support zone between $4,800 and $4,900 will hold. A breach of this level could potentially extend the correction toward the 50-day moving average, currently situated around $4,548.