Today's Crypto Pulse
Bitcoin slides below $70k as energy‑price worries spark $1.8B in liquidations
Bitcoin fell under $70,000 amid heightened energy‑price uncertainty linked to U.S.–Iran tensions. The dip triggered roughly $1.8 billion in crypto liquidations, while institutional investors pulled more than $4.2 billion from digital‑asset positions.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Strive acquires 2,500 Bitcoin for $185.2M
KBC Bank to Launch Bitcoin and Ether Trading in Belgium Under MiCA
KBC, one of Belgium’s largest banks, will begin offering Bitcoin and Ether trading to retail investors on Feb. 16 via its Bolero platform, using a proprietary custodial solution. The service complies with the EU’s Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation (MiCA) and follows KBC’s CASP notification to regulators. Belgium’s MiCA framework only became effective on Jan. 3, 2026, making KBC the first Belgian bank to launch a regulated crypto‑trading product. The rollout occurs despite the absence of formally issued MiCA licenses in Belgium.
Trusted Smart Chain Completes CertiK Audit, Advancing Secure RWA Tokenization
Trusted Smart Chain announced the successful completion of a comprehensive security audit by CertiK, a leading blockchain audit firm. The audit examined smart‑contract logic, permissioning and threat resilience, confirming the network’s readiness for tokenized securities and real‑world asset issuance. By...
EMCD Reports Strong 2025 Growth as It Scales Beyond Mining Into a Global Crypto-Finance Platform
EMCD reported a 58% increase in hashrate to 34.11 EH/s, supported by over 66,500 miners in more than 100 countries. The firm’s crypto‑finance suite expanded, with Coinhold savings locking $60 million and generating $3.7 million in rewards, while its exchange processed $90 million in...
Good Tokens Broadens Adoption of Blockchain-Based Solutions for Global Good
Good Tokens, the nonprofit arm of KaJ Labs, announced a push to expand blockchain‑based solutions for humanitarian, education, sustainability, and digital equity projects. The initiative leverages decentralized ledgers and AI to increase transparency, efficiency, and accountability in social‑impact programs. By...
US Housebuilder to Launch Crypto Rewards After SEC ‘No-Action’ Letter
US homebuilder Megatel Homes announced the launch of MegPrime, a crypto‑rewards platform that issues MP Tokens for rent payments. The SEC issued a no‑action letter, allowing the program to proceed provided MegPrime follows the outlined compliance plan. Users can earn...
State Street Rolls Out New Crypto Tokenization Tools
State Street announced a new institutional digital‑asset platform designed to tokenise traditional assets such as money‑market funds, ETFs and stablecoins. The service combines blockchain connectivity, custody, and tokenisation tools for large‑scale investors. It builds on prior collaborations, including a Solana‑based...
More People Are Using Ethereum for the First Time, Data Shows
Ethereum on‑chain activity has surged in the last month, driven primarily by a wave of first‑time wallet creations rather than increased trading by existing users. Glassnode’s month‑over‑month retention data shows the “new” cohort spiking as ether steadied near $3,300 and...
Yieldseeker Unveils New Brand Identity as Platform Surpasses 3,700 Active AI Agents
Yieldseeker, the AI‑driven DeFi platform, announced a fresh brand identity as it crossed the 3,700‑active‑agent threshold. The rebrand signals the service’s shift toward a more mature, institution‑friendly image while retaining its focus on autonomous yield optimization. Users can launch self‑learning...
Iranians Grab Their Bitcoin as Protests Rage and Rial Tanks
Iranian protesters are rapidly moving Bitcoin from local exchanges into personal wallets as street demonstrations intensify and the rial collapses. Chainalysis data shows a sharp rise in withdrawals between Dec. 28 and Jan. 8, coinciding with an internet blackout. The rial has...
Interactive Brokers Accepts USDC Deposits; Ripple's RLUSD Coming Soon
Interactive Brokers announced that eligible clients can now fund their brokerage accounts with the stablecoin USDC, enabling 24/7 deposits that are converted to U.S. dollars within minutes. The service is powered by ZeroHash, which handles the conversion for a 0.30%...
XRP Falls 4% on Crypto Market Weakness Even as ETF Inflows Stay Strong
XRP slipped about 4% to $2.07 as traders sold into resistance near $2.13, despite strong institutional backing. Spot XRP ETFs have amassed roughly $1.26 billion in net inflows with no outflow days, while exchange‑held supply dropped below 2 billion tokens. Ripple secured...
Dogecoin Drops 4% as Traders Sell Rallies and Support Gives Way
Dogecoin fell 3.5% to $0.139, breaking the $0.1420 support level amid volume that spiked to 108% above its 24‑hour average. The decline was driven by active selling rather than low‑liquidity drift, with rallies near $0.1402 quickly extinguished. Technical patterns showed...
Bitcoin Slips to Nearly $95,000 as Senate Delay and Risk-Off Moves Weigh on Crypto
Bitcoin slipped to just under $95,000 after the Senate Banking Committee postponed markup of a key crypto‑market‑structure bill, ending a brief rally that had pushed the price near $97,000. Trading volume fell 13 percent and more than $320 million was liquidated,...
The Next Big Push Forms as Dogecoin and Bittensor Cool and Zero Knowledge Proof Targets $1.7B Setup
Dogecoin steadied near $0.137 after the 21Shares spot ETF received approval, with futures volume spiking 654 % as traders await confirmed inflows. Bittensor (TAO) remained confined between $280 and $286, eyeing a breakout above the $300 resistance that could unlock a...
Coinbase Rejects Clarity Act Draft over Tokenized Equity Ban
This is interesting. One of the reasons that Brian Armstrong said that Coinbase can't support the current draft of the Clarity Act is because it includes a "de facto ban” of tokenized equities. Apparently, from Coinbase's POV, a de facto ban means...
Aave V4 Scales Risk Management to Trillion‑Dollar Ecosystem
Read how Aave V4 evolves Aave’s risk management framework to scale from billions to trillions in value, serving millions of users and institutional partners.
Uniswap Lands on OKX’s X Layer as Exchange Deepens DeFi Strategy
Uniswap has launched on OKX’s X Layer, becoming the network’s preferred decentralized exchange. The integration lets X Layer users trade Uniswap’s token pairs and liquidity pools with layer‑2 gas costs and no fees from Uniswap Labs. X Layer, an EVM‑compatible...
New Stablecoin Leverages USDS for Optimal Yield
New stablecoin using USDS as yield generating infrastructure. USDS makes sense for this usecase since it is the only stablecoin that is entirely focused on providing the best possible risk adjusted return
Trump’s Rate Cap Push Meets Banks’ Stablecoin Yield Fight
Trump is calling for a cap on credit card interest rates as banks fight crypto over stablecoin yield. Is it linked? Listen to what Blockchain Association CEO and former CFTC commissioner @SKMersinger has to say… 👀 https://t.co/HRELgnHudK
Crypto Coin Minute for January 16th, 2026 at 05:15 AM Pacific Time.
On Jan 16, 2026 major cryptocurrencies slipped, with Bitcoin at $95,432 (‑1.45%) and Ethereum at $3,305 (‑1.64%). California fined crypto lender Nexo $500,000 for offering unlicensed loans, highlighting regulatory pressure on DeFi credit services. The Sui mainnet experienced a six‑hour outage...
Join Intents Day Live Stream on Jan 22
Join us at Intents Day on Jan 22nd - online video stream hosted by @therollupco to explore @near_intents
Stablecoin Yields Signal Crypto's Waning Momentum
Has crypto lost the fight over stablecoin yield? Here's what former CFTC commissioner @SKMersinger thinks 👇 https://t.co/pEBBqmqrcz
West Virginia Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Allow State Crypto Investments
West Virginia Senator Chris Rose introduced the Inflation Protection Act, allowing the state treasury to allocate up to 10% of its portfolio to precious metals, Bitcoin and other digital assets that exceed a $750 billion market‑cap, as well as to regulated...
Swift to Build Shared Blockchain Ledger for Tokenised Assets
Swift is adding a blockchain‑based shared ledger to its global payments network after successful interoperability trials that coordinated tokenised bond issuance, settlement and lifecycle events. The trials involved BNP Paribas, Intesa Sanpaolo and Société Générale and demonstrated delivery‑versus‑payment using both fiat and the...
DTCC Aiming to Make All 1.4 Million Securities in Its Custody Digitally Eligible
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation announced plans to make all 1.4 million DTC‑eligible securities digitally eligible through its tokenization platform. The initiative, built on the Securrency acquisition, will let participants convert assets to and from tokenized forms in as little...
Felix Protocol to Launch Spot Equities on HyperEVM
Felix Protocol announced a partnership with Ondo Finance to launch spot equities on HyperEVM, Hyperliquid’s Layer 1 blockchain. The initial rollout will list over 100 U.S. stocks, with a roadmap to exceed 1,000 equities in the coming months. By routing liquidity...
Hermes Subnet Adds Agentic AI to 50k+ Projects
New launch from the @YumaGroup subnet accelerator: @SubQueryNetwork and @graphprotocol already power 50k+ projects Hermes (SN82) brings agentic AI built on Bittensor $TAO to all of them
Ondo Finance TVL Doubles to Over $2B in Less Than a Year
Ondo Finance’s total value locked (TVL) surpassed $2 billion this week, more than doubling its level from early March 2024. The surge is anchored by its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, OUSG, which now holds over $820 million in short‑term Treasury bills. Ethereum...
California Penalizes Nexo $500,000 for Risky Crypto Loans
California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation fined Nexo Capital $500,000 for offering 5,456 crypto‑backed loans to state residents without a required financing license. The loans, issued between July 2018 and November 2022, lacked any credit‑worthiness assessment and were marketed...
Seeking Partner to Integrate Superstate Into DeFi
I'm looking for somebody awesome to work with me and integrate Superstate into DeFi. Best job of your life guaranteed https://t.co/jsGLNTcw2t
Aave V4 Contest Ends with Record Participation
The Aave V4 security contest has come to an end. With a record number of participants, enormous thanks to everyone who took part, and we hope you enjoyed our work. See you on mainnet.
Fogo Launches Public Mainnet After Binance Token Sale
Fogo, a Solana‑compatible Layer 1 blockchain, launched its public mainnet on Jan 15, 2026, featuring 40‑millisecond block times and over 1,200 TPS with more than ten dApps live at launch. Its native FOGO token opened at around $0.053, giving a market cap near...
Blockchain Leader Optimistic About Crypto Market Structure Bill
Can crypto market structure legislation pass? Blockchain Association CEO and former CFTC commissioner @SKMersinger says she is “optimistic” 👇 https://t.co/DKAidoSSYd
Bitcoin Whale Balances See 21% Bounce After Fastest Sell-Off Since 2023 Ends
Bitcoin whale addresses added roughly 46,000 BTC this week, marking a 21% rebound and the first positive one‑year net change since November 2025. The surge follows the steepest weekly drawdown for whales since early 2023, which saw a 220,000‑BTC loss....
Goldman Is 'Spending a Lot of Time' On Crypto, Prediction Markets Efforts, CEO Solomon Says
Goldman Sachs is intensifying its research into crypto‑adjacent technologies, especially tokenization, stablecoins, and CFTC‑regulated prediction markets. CEO David Solomon said a large internal team is evaluating how these tools could augment the firm’s trading and advisory services. He disclosed recent...
Ethereum Foundation Tackles Quantum Threat Head‑On
"I HAVE to highlight the work being done by the Ethereum Foundation to solve the quantum threat." https://t.co/5TvOPraNmP
Project Eleven Secures $20M Funding, CEO Explains
What is Project Eleven? And why did they raise $20m? Alex Prueden, co-founder and CEO, explains: https://t.co/5TvOPraNmP
House Democrats Slam SEC for Dropping Crypto Cases with Trump Ties
Three senior House Democrats wrote to SEC Chair Paul Atkins demanding the agency resume crypto enforcement after it dismissed more than a dozen cases, including actions against Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and Tron founder Justin Sun. The lawmakers allege the dismissals...
Quantum Threat Solves Crypto's Biggest Upcoming Challenge
"For all crypto protocols... solving the quantum threat is the most significant and biggest effort they'll have to undergo." https://t.co/5TvOPraNmP
Quantum Threat Highlights Bitcoin’s Need for Early Prep
Quantum computing isn’t science fiction anymore,a nd when it arrives, Bitcoin won’t be able to upgrade overnight. Alex Pruden explains why Bitcoin’s slow governance is exactly why devs need to start preparing now 👇 https://t.co/5TvOPraNmP
France: AMF Plans to Tackle AI in Finance, Tokenization, More in 2026
The French securities regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), unveiled its 2026 agenda, centering on confidence‑building measures across the financial sector. AI governance sits at the core of the plan, with a finalized roadmap slated for the year. The...
Bitcoin's Fate in the Quantum Computing Era
Coming next: What happens to Bitcoin when quantum computers get powerful enough? ⚛️ I'll talk with Alex Pruden of Project Eleven @qdayclock about the post-quantum roadmap 👇 https://t.co/5TvOPraNmP
KAITO Plummets as X Bans InfoFi Rewards
X’s head of product Nikita Bier announced a ban on rewarding users for InfoFi posts, sending the KAITO token down 17% to $0.56 within minutes. The decision also forced the 157,000‑member Kaito Yapper community and other InfoFi projects like Cookie...
Citrea Unveils U.S. Treasury-Backed Stablecoin for Its Bitcoin Ecosystem
Citrea, a Bitcoin layer‑2 platform, launched ctUSD, a U.S. dollar‑pegged stablecoin backed 1:1 by short‑term Treasury bills and issued by Moonpay. The token leverages zero‑knowledge proofs to settle transactions directly on Bitcoin, eliminating the need for bridged dollar assets that...
Bitcoin Poised for ATH, but Holder Sell‑off Risk Looms
Bitcoin will reach an ATH... But there are some risks: will long term holders keep selling? https://t.co/5TvOPraNmP
Coinbase Fears Tokenization Rival Securitize, Says Citron Research
Coinbase has withdrawn support for a crypto market‑structure bill, prompting Citron Research to back tokenization platform Securitize and its SPAC vehicle Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT). Citron argues that clearer regulations would benefit Securitize, which has issued over $4 billion in tokenized...
Crypto Momentum Builds: New Futures, XRP Surge, Privacy Gains
Crypto things you might have missed: -Ripple supports market structure, Coinbase doesn't -XRP search interest surges -CME Group to launch ADA, LINK, XLM futures -Privacy tokens are outperforming -JPMorgan expects crypto inflows to rise in 2026 JOIN THE 10:30 AM LIVESTREAM
Seeking BTC's Next Target and 100K Catalysts
What's the next price target for $btc? And what are the catalysts that will drive BTC to +100K? https://t.co/5TvOPraNmP
Inside Stripe’s Crypto Strategy with Privy CEO: Wallets as Global Financial Accounts and the End of Decentralization Dogmas
Stripe is deepening its crypto ambitions by integrating Privy, the developer‑focused embedded‑wallet platform it bought in June, into its stablecoin and blockchain initiatives. The company launched Stablecoin Financial Accounts that let users in over 100 countries send, receive and hold...
Crypto's Tiny Share Could Explode in Wealth Portfolios
"Less than 0.5% of U.S.advised wealth (RIAs, wealth advisors...) is allocated to crytpo." What happens when that grows to just a few percentage points? 💥 https://t.co/5TvOPraNmP