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Dogecoin has changed back to its technical structure as the price action digests the recent price rally. After the initial volatility seen earlier in the month, price action has begun to stabilize, and recent technical analyses are evaluating what the larger trend is revealing.

Based on that context, a higher-timeframe technical analysis shared on X by Javon Marks has outlined a scenario that frames the current price action as part of a wider bullish continuation built on repeating historical patterns on Dogecoin’s long-term chart.

Higher Lows Shaping The Trend

Technical analysis of Dogecoin’s 6-day candlestick timeframe chart shows an interesting formation taking place in its price action since 2024, and this goes back to how it traded much earlier cycles stretching as far back as 2016. 

The main idea behind this long-term technical analysis is Dogecoin’s ability to maintain a sequence of higher lows throughout different market cycles. The 6-day candlestick chart by the analyst shows that each major pullback in the Dogecoin price over the years has found support along a rising trend line, which has allowed the price to consolidate and reset without breaking the broader structure. 

The present setup reflects that same behavior, with recent pullbacks holding above ascending support. Dogecoin’s recent price action is holding above $0.13, and this can be considered a higher low compared to the lows in 2024 and 2025. As long as this pattern of higher lows is intact, then the macro trend can be viewed as supportive of higher prices over time.

Projecting A 369% Push Back To The All-Time High

The technical analysis on the chart also shows how earlier periods of consolidations and higher lows eventually resolved into powerful upward moves. Playouts of the previous rallies broke above their previous all-time highs and then created a new all-time high. The first case was a break above the 2014 high of $0.00232 in 2017 to finally end at a new high of $0.01877. This high was then broken again in 2021 to finally reach a new peak, which serves as the current reference level for current price action.

In this case, the reference level is Dogecoin’s all-time high around $0.73905. Based on current price levels, a rally of roughly 369% would be enough to carry Dogecoin back to that zone. 

Interestingly, the analysis goes a step further to predict a move past the current all-time high with a move of at least 4.5X from the current price level. Dogecoin’s current price level is trading at $0.14 at the time of writing, and this would put it trading at a price target of at least $0.8 when the move finally plays out. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren has reached out directly to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins, questioning how the regulatory agency intends to uphold its mandate of investor protection while supporting President Donald Trump’s executive order to allow crypto investments in retirement plans.

Warren Against Crypto In Retirement Plans

Warren expressed deep concerns in a letter addressed to Atkins on Monday, in which she emphasized that for most Americans, 401(k) plans are a vital source of retirement security and should not be treated as a “playground for financial risk.” 

She warned that permitting digital assets into these accounts could create significant risks, leaving workers and families vulnerable to substantial financial losses.

“The volatility associated with cryptocurrencies, the lack of market transparency, and potential conflicts of interest make me apprehensive about the Trump Administration’s decision to introduce these risky assets into critical retirement plans,” Warren stated in her letter. 

The anti-digital asset senator also expressed skepticism about the potential benefits of allowing 401(k) plans to offer alternative investments, arguing that these options often come with higher fees and expenses. 

SEC Chair Says Innovation Is Key

In her letter, Warren also posed several questions to the SEC aimed at clarifying how it plans to mitigate risks associated with cryptocurrencies in retirement plans. 

She inquired whether the SEC has ensured that publicly traded companies disclosing information about cryptocurrencies are accurately representing fair market values, given the inherent volatility of these assets. 

She also sought information on whether the SEC’s Division of Risk and Analysis has evaluated manipulative practices in digital asset markets and whether it plans to publish educational materials for retail investors.

Despite her concerns, Warren’s viewpoint may face challenges, given the Trump administration’s pro-digital asset stance and Chair Atkins’s previous statements that suggest a more favorable approach to cryptocurrencies in the United States. 

Back in August, during an interview on CNBC, Atkins indicated that while the SEC aims to encourage innovation in the crypto space, protecting investors remains a primary objective. He noted that the SEC’s “Project Crypto” aims to position the United States as the world’s leading crypto hub.

Featured image from NBC, chart from TradingView.com 

Technical analysis of Dogecoin’s price action on the daily candlestick timeframe chart shows that the meme coin has spent the past several months grinding lower inside a clearly defined descending channel. However, technical analysis proposes that the structure may be nearing its end. 

A daily chart shared on X by crypto analyst Jonathan Carter points to a setup that shows Dogecoin is about to break out of the descending channel. Although the meme coin has yet to confirm a full breakout, the chart now shows multiple conditions aligning that traders are closely watching.

Descending Channel Nearing Its Breaking Point

Dogecoin has spent an extended period moving within a declining structure that has repeatedly limited upside attempts since September 2025. This prolonged compression has kept price action controlled and largely predictable, but it has also stored directional pressure beneath the surface. Each attempt to move higher was previously rejected at the upper boundary, keeping the price compressed into a descending channel.

That structure, however, now appears to be weakening. According to technical analysis from Jonathan Carter, that pressure is now beginning to tilt upward, with recent trading behavior showing less follow-through from sellers than in recent weeks.

Recent candles show Dogecoin pushing higher from the lower boundary of the channel and pressing toward its upper trendline. Although it was rejected at the upper boundary early January, it hasn’t veered far away from the top of the channel. This is important because descending channels often act as continuation patterns only until buying pressure overwhelms sellers at resistance.

50-Day Moving Average And The Path Back To $0.30

One of the more notable details on the chart is Dogecoin’s interaction with the 50-day moving average. After spending weeks trading below this level, price has now reclaimed it and is attempting to hold above it. 

Holding above the 50-day average strengthens the case that the current move is not just another short-lived bounce. As long as the Dogecoin price continues to hold above this moving average, then the bullish outlook is valid.

If Dogecoin manages to break cleanly above the channel resistance, the analysis outlines a sequence of upside levels that could come into play quickly. Initial follow-through would place the price back into the mid-$0.15 range, followed by a push toward the high-$0.18s and the $0.20 region, areas that previously acted as congestion zones. 

After that, the chart points to $0.24 as the next target and then finally $0.28 to $0.30 as the last recovery target zone before any rejection comes into the picture.

These are short- to mid-term price targets, not long-term projections. These targets are very feasible and can even be reached within the next few weeks if a bullish wave of sentiment were to sweep across the entire crypto market. 

Bitcoin and the broader crypto market are heading into a tightly packed US macro calendar just as Washington’s crypto rulebook lurches toward a key committee vote.

The week’s tone was set late Sunday when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell disclosed that the Justice Department had served the Fed with grand jury subpoenas and threatened a criminal indictment tied to his prior testimony on a Federal Reserve building renovation.

Powell framed it as political pressure aimed at monetary policy and dismissed the probe’s stated rationale in unusually blunt terms: “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Fed setting rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”

The immediate market reaction was measured but clear: dollar softness and weaker US equity futures, meanwhile Bitcoin rallied back above $92,000 while major altcoins also registered modest gains. However, it needs to be seen how these gains can be sustained when the US market opens.

#1 Bitcoin And Crypto Face Crucial Macro Week

The first major scheduled macro waypoint is US CPI for December 2025, due Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET. With crypto still trading as a high-beta expression of global liquidity and real-rate expectations, CPI remains the week’s most direct input into the front end of the curve and, by extension, the dollar’s near-term direction.

For the US inflation prints, the market is walking into Tuesday with a fairly tight consensus: December CPI is expected at +0.3% month-over-month, with headline inflation seen holding at 2.7% year-over-year. On the core side, estimates cluster around +0.31% m/m and 2.7% y/y.

The last CPI read (November 2025) was 2.7% y/y on headline and 2.6% y/y for “all items less food and energy” (core). Because the October CPI observation was not published due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations, BLS reported the monthly change as a two-month move: CPI-U rose 0.2% from September to November on a seasonally adjusted basis.

On Wednesday, attention shifts to the delayed producer-price release. BLS is scheduled to publish the November 2025 PPI on Jan. 14, and it has said October data will be published alongside that November release (there will be no standalone October PPI report).

As for the numbers traders will key off, calendar consensus going into the Jan. 14 release points to headline PPI at +0.3% m/m and 2.7% y/y, with core PPI seen at +0.1% m/m and 2.6% y/y. The last available PPI print before that batch release was September 2025, which showed +0.3% m/m and +2.7% y/y for final demand.

Later the same day, markets may also have to price a legal headline with macro reach: The US Supreme Court is expected to issue rulings on Jan. 14, with President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs among the major cases still pending. The Court does not pre-announce which cases will be decided, but a tariff decision could have a heavy price impact on all financial markets, with Bitcoin and crypto likely to follow the move from US equities.

#2 Senate Committee Markup Set For Jan. 15

On the crypto-native side, US market structure legislation is moving toward a decisive committee step. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott announced the committee will hold a markup on “comprehensive digital asset market structure legislation” on Thursday, Jan. 15.

That markup matters less as a final outcome than as a signal on whether negotiators have the votes and the coalition to advance a coherent framework toward a floor process.

#3 BNB Chain’s Fermi Upgrade

BNB Chain has scheduled its Fermi hard fork for Jan. 14 at 02:30 UTC, delivered via the BSC v1.6.4 client release. The chain’s own blog positions the upgrade as a speed-and-reliability push: “Fermi focuses on making BSC faster […] predictable and reliable as network usage grows. The upgrade shortens block times, strengthens finality […] and ensures the chain continues to perform consistently.”

The headline technical changes are a reduction in block time from 0.75 seconds to 0.45 seconds and tightened fast-finality rules—parameters that matter most for latency-sensitive applications and high-throughput periods.

#4 Polygon’s Open Money Stack

Polygon is teeing up a Jan. 13 X Spaces event (12 p.m. ET) billed as an “inside scoop” on its “Open Money Stack” vision from Sandeep Nailwal and Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron. The published vision frames the initiative as a modular stack spanning rails, wallets, on/off-ramps, stablecoin interoperability, compliance, and onchain identity—aimed at making stablecoin and tokenized-money movement feel more like default internet plumbing than a bespoke crypto workflow.

Polygon’s own write-up makes the ambition explicit: “But our north star is clear: move all money onchain […] Because onchain money is more versatile, money will move and remain onchain.”

At press time, Bitcoin traded at $90,768.

Despite several drawbacks in Bitcoin price lately, the flagship asset appears to be gaining bullish momentum and holding above the $90,000 mark. Looking at the current market structure, BTC is hinting at one of its rarest setups that could reshape and determine the next potential direction.

Uncommon Bitcoin Market Structure In Sight

As seen in the cryptocurrency space, every market cycle has its own peculiarities, but Bitcoin is about to experience one of its most peculiar times yet. Alphractal, an advanced investment and data analytics platform, shared this development, which could reshape the current BTC trend.

Although no single indication can predict a result, the current configuration indicates that something uncommon is developing beneath the surface. It is worth noting that bear markets have been linked to negative 1-year percentage changes in the past when a small decline was followed by a robust bull market, with the exception of July 2020.

Currently, the ongoing setup is demonstrating a very similar trend to that of 2020, which makes this a rare event. However, for the flagship asset to flip this key metric to green again and become the second time in its history, it only has to increase by 4.5%.

In an alternate scenario where the metric fails to turn green or move upward, the annual performance will continue to be negative in line with prior bear market cycles. Meanwhile, whether Bitcoin breaks yet another uncommon historical pattern and initiates a new trend shift will depend on a move of about 5%.

Amid this impending rare shift, the buying pressure around Bitcoin is slowly picking up pace, as reported by Maartunn, a market expert and author at CryptoQuant. The BTC Taker Buy Sell Ratio metric is showing strong aggression on the buy side, particularly on the Bybit exchange, indicating a renewed conviction among investors.

Maartunn highlighted that the measure on Bybit has recently reached the 30.33 level, signaling overwhelming market buy pressure. Furthermore, this level of taker dominance indicates that large positions are steadily being created, with aggressive buyers taking control of the market.

BTC Experience A Key Breakout

Even in the volatile cryptocurrency market, several crucial metrics are beginning to flash strength and moving into positive territory again. One of the most recent metrics that has turned bullish is the Bitcoin Sharpe Ratio, a key gauge that measures returns against volatility.

In an X post, crypto expert CW noted that the metric has re-entered the yellow as seen on the chart, which suggests a breakout from a short-term bottom. The current trend indicates that the ongoing cycle has transitioned into a brief period of a high-risk zone.

During this period, there has been a consistent accumulation by large holders or whales, and indicators are demonstrating a breakout from the bottom. Such a bullish scenario hints at a possible rally in the near future, rekindling the bull market.

Talks of an impending altcoin season are once again gaining traction in the market as major cryptocurrencies saw a fresh rebound at the start of this year. A crypto analyst has likened the current altcoin market trend to that seen in January 2019—a period that marked the early stages of a major market turn. The comparison now has many traders watching closely to see whether the market could be setting up for a similar move. 

Current Altcoin Market Echoes Trend From January 2019

Crypto pundit Chad Steingraber said in a recent X post that today’s market feels a lot like January 2019, when investor sentiment was extremely negative. At the time, Bitcoin was trading near $3,000, and Ethereum’s price was around $100, when most believed the market was over. Yet despite the downtrend, the analyst revealed that he had invested heavily in both cryptocurrencies. 

Although the market was recovering from a bear market, Steingraber revealed that things began to turn around in April of that year, leading to the strong long-term results that are now widely known. Notably, during that time, the crypto market saw a strong breakout that changed sentiment across the space. 

According to CoinGecko’s yearly report for 2019, Bitcoin’s price surged over $13,000 in June and ended the year 95% higher than where it started. This price jump helped drive a broader market rally and marked a key transition from bear market lows earlier in the year. Altcoins also reacted to this surge in market momentum, as traders and investors sought growth beyond Bitcoin and diversified into lower-cap cryptocurrencies. 

While some altcoins, including Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash, climbed by more than 40% in 2019, other large-cap tokens, such as XRP, performed poorly, finishing the year significantly weaker despite earlier strength in 2018. Excluding individual altcoin gains, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization grew by more than 44% in 2019, peaking at $350 billion in late June. The market also experienced a surge in trading volume of over 600%, along with renewed enthusiasm among investors who had stayed on the sidelines during the prior downturn. 

Altcoin Market Eyes Breakout As Analyst Flags 221B Level

In a separate post, crypto analyst @brain2jene shared a chart tracking the total altcoin market capitalization, excluding the top 10 coins. He explained that a Falling Wedge breakout has already set the stage for the market’s next move. The analyst noted that the wedge pattern has been forming for weeks and emphasized that altcoins typically begin to move once the price breaks above the wedge lines shown on the chart. 

The chart also shows a clear pullback after the price hit the 221.87B resistance, which @brain2jene identified as the key level to watch. He explained that a clean break above 221.87B is critical and could add another $50-$60 billion to the market, with the target zone near the upper trend line.

Related Reading: Altcoin Season Index Crashes To Low 17 As Bitcoin Price Struggles, What This Means

Supporting this outlook, momentum appears strong, as the RSI on the chart has broken out of a downtrend. The analyst noted that this could signal the start of a broader altcoin rally, potentially boosting the price of coins like VeChain (VET), SUI, Internet Computer (ICP), and IMO.

South Korea is reportedly planning to allow corporations to invest in crypto, a move that would see the overturn of a nine-year-old ban.

South Korea Sets Crypto Corporate Investing Limit At 5%

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has drafted guidelines to allow listed companies and professional investors to trade crypto, according to a report from South Korean media outlet BusinessKorea. The FSC shared the draft with a public-private task force on January 6th, and according to a high-ranking financial industry official, authorities are expected to release the final guidelines between January and February.

Since 2017, corporate and institutional players in South Korea have been under an effective prohibition from trading and investing in digital assets like Bitcoin, with the government citing speculation and money-laundering risks. The country’s stance began to shift in February 2025, when the FSC announced a plan to gradually allow institutional participation in the space. The latest guidelines are a follow-up to this announcement.

South Korea easing up on corporate crypto investments hasn’t come without restrictions, however. Authorities have reportedly set an investment cap of 5% of equity capital, which companies can only deploy into coins inside the top 20 by market cap list. These assets will be determined based on the semi-annual market cap data sourced from the top five domestic digital asset exchanges.

Stablecoins tied to the US Dollar, like USDT and USDC, currently fall inside the top 20 list, but whether they will be included as permitted investment targets is still being discussed.

While South Korea is planning on a 5% investment cap, other countries like the US or Japan have no such limits on corporate investing. One financial industry insider has raised concerns about the restriction, saying that “investment limit restrictions not found overseas could weaken capital inflow factors and prevent the emergence of virtual currency investment specialist companies.”

South Korea has also made other developments related to the crypto industry recently. The East Asian nation is planning to introduce digital asset spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this year, looking to investment vehicles active in the US and Hong Kong as reference points.

The FSC is also working on the next phase of its digital asset legislation, which could see the establishment of a regulatory framework for stablecoins. As reported by Bitcoinist, the bill has so far been delayed due to a dispute between the FSC and the Bank of Korea (BoK).

The BoK, South Korea’s central bank, has been pushing for banks to own at least a 51% stake in any stablecoin issuer seeking approval in the country. While the FSC agrees that financial institutions should be involved in the issuance of won stablecoins, the regulator has raised concerns that a bank majority requirement could limit market participation and innovation.

Bitcoin Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $90,600, down 2.5% over the past week.

Ethereum’s current strength is largely linked to its network performance and activity, which has been demonstrating robust growth. While the leading blockchain has witnessed sharp growth in several key areas, one area is currently standing out, and that is the economic activity on the network.

A Divergence Between Ethereum’s Real Activity And Price

With the broader cryptocurrency landscape evolving, Milk Road, a market expert and trader, has revealed that the Ethereum network is showcasing signs of robust strength. When compared to its recent price performance, the leading network subtly conveys a different narrative. 

Despite the fact that ETH’s market value has occasionally fluctuated or even lagged behind riskier assets, the quantity of economic activity being settled on the blockchain has continued to rise. The disparity highlights a crucial aspect of ETH’s current cycle that its fundamentals are strengthening beneath the surface, while market sentiment is not accurately reflecting it.

At the same time, the Ethereum network is being chosen for live deployment by increasing institutional capital. This kind of increases a chain that is becoming less of a speculative asset and more of a financial infrastructure. 

According to Milk Road, these participants are more focused on uptime, liquidity, settlement certainty, and compliance, which narrows the set of viable networks quickly. Meanwhile, the economic weight placed on Ethereum’s base layer becomes significant as more activity occurs on the chain, increasing transaction volume and fee income.

As seen in the past, ETH has had difficulty staying flat for extended periods of time when demand is high. However, the analyst expects the price of ETH to increase as adoption rises.

Real Assets Are Swamping The Network

According to a report from Leon Waidmann, the head of research at On-Chain Foundation, Tokenized Real-World Assets (RWAs) are quickly emerging as one of Ethereum’s key growth drivers. With real-world assets moving into ETH, the development is bringing traditional finance activity on-chain at a fast rate.

This change is more than just buzz as institutional infrastructure, token issuance, and settlement volumes are all growing at the same time, transforming ETH’s status. Data shows that the market cap of stablecoins found on the network is approximately $190 billion, indicating ETH’s growing choice as the major chain for crypto finance. 

Meanwhile, the total amount of tokenized funds has reached between $6 billion and $7 billion, and is still growing rapidly. Its tokenized commodities have hit over $4 billion, which appears to be still breaking out to new highs.  Furthermore, ETH’s tokenized stocks are valued at around $400 million to $500 million, but this is just the beginning. Such a scenario suggests that tokenization of real-world assets may be the foundation of Ethereum’s next significant adoption phase.

Considering the robust growth in these areas, Waidmann stated that “ETH is becoming the default settlement layer for real assets.” Waidmann’s claims are not based on simple narratives, but on the fact that the network already works at scale.

Ethereum needs “better decentralized stablecoins,” Vitalik Buterin said this weekend, arguing that the next iteration has to solve three design constraints that today’s models keep skirting. His comments landed alongside a broader claim from MetaLeX founder Gabriel Shapiro that Ethereum is increasingly a “contrarian bet” versus what much of the venture-backed crypto stack is optimizing for.

Shapiro framed the split in ideological terms, saying it is “increasingly obvious that Ethereum is a contrarian bet against most of what crypto VCs are betting on,” listing “gambling,” “CeDeFi,” “custodial stablecoins,” and “’neo-banks’” as the center of gravity. By contrast, he argued, “Ethereum is tripling down on disrupting power to enable sovereign individuals.”

Why Ethereum Lacks A Decentralized Stablecoin

Buterin’s stablecoin critique starts with what to stabilize against. He said “tracking USD is fine short term,” but suggested that a long-horizon version of “nation state resilience” points to something that is not dependent on a single fiat “price ticker.”

“Tracking USD is fine short term, but imo part of the vision of nation state resilience should be independence even from that price ticker,” Buterin wrote. “On a 20 year timeline, well, what if it hyperinflates, even moderately?” That premise shifts the stablecoin problem from simply maintaining a peg to building a reference index that can plausibly survive macro regime changes. In Buterin’s framing, that is “problem” one: identifying an index “better than USD price,” at least as a north star even if USD tracking remains expedient near term.

The second issue is governance and oracle security. Buterin argued that a decentralized oracle must be “not capturable with a large pool of money,” or the system is forced into unattractive tradeoffs that ultimately land on users.

“If you don’t have (2), then you have to ensure cost of capture > protocol token market cap, which in turn implies protocol value extraction > discount rate, which is quite bad for users,” he wrote. “This is a big part of why I constantly rail against financialized governance btw: it inherently has no defense/offense asymmetry, and so high levels of extraction are the only way to be stable.”

He tied that to a longer-running discomfort with token-holder-driven control structures that resemble markets for influence. In his view, “financialized governance” trends toward systems that must continuously extract value to defend themselves, rather than relying on a structural advantage that makes attacks meaningfully harder than normal operation.

The third problem is mechanical: staking yield competes with decentralized stablecoins for capital. If stablecoin users and collateral providers are implicitly giving up a few percentage points of return relative to staking ETH, Buterin called that “quite bad,” and suggested it becomes a persistent headwind unless the ecosystem changes how yield, collateral, and risk interact.

He laid out what he described as a map of the “solution space,” while stressing it was “not endorsement.” Those paths ranged from compressing staking yield toward “hobbyist level,” to creating a staking category with similar returns but without comparable slashing risk, to making “slashable staking compatible with usability as collateral.”

Buterin also sharpened what “slashing risk” actually means in this context. “If you’re going to try to reason through this in detail,” he wrote, “remember that the ‘slashing risk’ to guard against is both self-contradiction, and being on the wrong side of an inactivity leak, ie. engaging in a 51% censorship attack. In general, we think too much about the former and not enough about the latter.”

The constraint bleeds into liquidation dynamics as well. He noted that a stablecoin “cannot be secured with a fixed amount of ETH collateral,” because large drawdowns require active rebalancing, and any design that sources yield from staking must reckon with how that yield turns off or changes during stress.

At press time, ETH traded at $3,118.

Asheesh Birla, the CEO of the largest XRP treasury company, Evernorth, has explained what his company is focused on, even as they continue to accumulate more XRP. Birla also explained what makes XRP stand out from other crypto assets in the market. 

What The XRP Treasury Company Evernorth Does 

During an interview on Paul Barron’s Podcast, Birla explained how his company’s approach differs from that of other digital asset treasury companies. He noted that the XRP treasury company helps grow the XRP ecosystem by offering both technical and financial support. The Evernorth CEO highlighted his background in creating products, which enables him and his company to innovate in the DeFi landscape. 

Furthermore, in addition to building products in the XRP ecosystem, the CEO of the XRP treasury company also mentioned that they deploy capital to earn yields through DeFi protocols on the network. As such, he believes that his company stands out from other digital asset treasury companies, since most other DATs focus solely on providing investors with exposure to crypto assets. 

Meanwhile, the CEO of the XRP treasury company stated that, in the long run, Wall Street will reward those who build in the ecosystem and provide yields to investors at the same time. It is worth mentioning that Evernorth just partnered with Doppler to advance institutional liquidity and treasury use cases on the XRP Ledger. Both firms are also exploring structured frameworks for deploying XRP at scale. 

Evernorth is backed by Ripple, which contributed some of its XRP holdings to kickstart the company’s treasury. Birla also praised Ripple, while noting how the company’s acquisitions last year will help push XRP’s institutional adoption. He also highlighted the uniqueness of the XRP Ledger (XRPL), stating that it is well-positioned to meet the DeFi needs of institutional investors. 

Future Plans For Evernorth

Evernorth’s CEO stated that his XRP treasury company plans to build more partnerships, even as it seeks to extend its business model beyond generating yields from DeFi protocols. He hinted that they are already looking to partner with some XRP stakeholders in Japan and South Korea. His company is also working closely with XRP Ledger developers. 

Birla noted that these developers are currently working on institutional lending on the XRP Ledger, and he believes his company could help by deploying capital and generating yields. Based on their roadmap, the Evernorth CEO is confident his company will remain the leading XRP treasury for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, he predicted that companies with the expertise to build in these crypto ecosystems will be the ones that will stand the test of time, even as he expects some DATs to fail. 

At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $2.08, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Crypto.com has launched a fresh rewards campaign inside Airdrop Arena, giving users a new opportunity to earn Solana incentives through simple CRO allocation. The event offers a total pool of US$250,000 in SOL tokens, running from 1 January 2026, 10:00 UTC to 31 January 2026, 09:59 UTC, with boosted point multipliers designed to reward early and active participants.

At the center of the campaign is a points-based system that distributes SOL rewards based on user activity over the event period. To kick things off strongly, Crypto.com is giving the first 10,000 users who allocate CRO an exclusive points boost of up to 120%, which can significantly improve reward outcomes compared to later participants.

Beyond early access rewards, the campaign includes a second incentive layer. Users who purchase at least 1,500 CRO and transfer it into Airdrop Arena may qualify for a daily points boost of up to 120%, as long as the purchase task is completed before allocating CRO.

How to Join the Airdrop Arena Event

Participation is handled entirely inside the Crypto.com app and requires no trading. Users can access Airdrop Arena via the Account tab, the Earn tab, or the Supermenu. Once inside, they simply allocate CRO to begin accumulating points throughout the event period.

The system is structured to stay low-effort. After allocation, points are earned automatically during the campaign, and the SOL reward pool is divided based on each user’s accumulated points total once the event ends.

Reward Distribution and Lockup Conditions

After the campaign finishes, Crypto.com will distribute token rewards within 7 days. Users who activate Loot Locker will receive SOL after the lockup period ends, while others will receive rewards directly into their Crypto Wallet based on standard distribution rules.

Allocated CRO comes with a 6-month lockup period. Once completed, users can withdraw their CRO, or leave it allocated to continue participating in future Airdrop Arena events automatically. This creates a longer-term participation loop, where CRO holders can stay eligible for ongoing platform campaigns without needing to re-enter each time.

Why SOL Rewards Matter in This Campaign

Solana has remained one of the most active ecosystems in crypto, with strong attention from developers and investors due to its speed-focused infrastructure and expanding on-chain activity. By using SOL as the reward asset, Crypto.com increases the campaign’s appeal, since users are earning exposure to a top market token rather than a niche incentive asset.

Pairing CRO allocation with SOL rewards also gives the event a dual-ecosystem angle, connecting Crypto.com’s native token base to broader market demand around Solana.

Airdrop Arena Signals a Push Toward Low-Activity Rewards

This campaign fits into a wider trend across exchanges: rewarding longer-term participation instead of encouraging constant trading. Airdrop Arena focuses on consistency and allocation rather than volume, making it especially attractive for users who prefer passive-style reward structures.

For CRO holders, the event offers a structured way to earn SOL without selling assets or taking on additional trading complexity. For Crypto.com, it strengthens ecosystem engagement and helps build retention through lockups and recurring event mechanics.

Visit Airdrop Arena Allocate now and start building points faster.

Memecoins were hammered last year, and the fallout was huge. According to CoinGecko research, about 11.6 million tokens stopped trading or became inactive in 2025. That number dwarfs previous years and has left investors and market watchers sorting through losses and broken projects.

Memecoin Failures Spike After Major Sell-Off

Based on reports from CoinGecko, roughly 7.7 million token failures happened in the fourth quarter of 2025. That quarter accounted for most of the total, driven by a sharp market move on October 10, 2025, when reports show more than $19 billion in crypto liquidations occurred in a single day.

Small tokens with little liquidity were hit the hardest. Many of those lists of dead tokens were dominated by memecoins and low-effort projects that rarely had active development or real trading depth.

A Flood Of New Tokens Met Weak Demand

Launch tools made it easy to create tokens, and that contributed to the problem. Reports note that platforms which simplified token creation led to a surge in new, cheaply issued coins. When market conditions turned, many of those coins had no buyers left.

In contrast, mainstream tokens with deeper pools of trading and clearer use cases were more likely to survive the shock. CoinGecko compared the scale: around 1.3 million tokens failed in all of 2024, showing how dramatic last year’s collapse was.

What This Means For Traders And Exchanges

Trading activity fell for countless small tokens. Volume dried up fast for poorly backed projects, and price swings became more extreme. Some exchanges and data sites had to update lists and delist tokens that no longer met minimum activity rules. The memecoin sector’s share of speculative trading fell sharply as risk appetite faded and traders moved into assets with more liquidity.

Regulatory And Market Watchers React

Calls for better oversight of token listings grew louder. Some market analysts said exchanges should tighten listing standards and that clearer labels for experimental tokens could help retail buyers avoid traps. Others warned that stricter rules might slow innovation. For now, updates from research platforms are being used to map which tokens vanished and why they failed.

Market Sentiment Remains Fragile

Investors are picking through the wreckage, looking for lessons. A number of small projects were abandoned by teams, and a long list of inactive tokens now serves as a warning to traders chasing hype. Based on CoinGecko’s data, the scale of failures in 2025 is unparalleled in recent years, and it signals that, without buyers and liquidity, newly minted coins can disappear quickly.

Featured image from Phantom, chart from TradingView

Thursday, 8 January 2026 – As 2026 kicks off at full throttle, it’s impossible to overlook the strong “risk-on” signals lighting up markets worldwide. Just look at the Caracas Stock Exchange: Venezuelan equities have gone parabolic, posting a 44x surge since 2024, driven by recent political turmoil and a full-scale market re-rating.

Investors are now chasing high-beta opportunities, but while legacy markets need years to pull off a 44x move, crypto can do it in moments. For those searching for pure, high-octane upside, Maxi Doge (MAXI) is the one project to watch.

Maxi Doge can be viewed as Dogecoin (DOGE) multiplied by 1,000. It represents the most aggressive, most jacked evolution of the original meme coin to date – quite literally. This Shiba Inu isn’t just lifting weights; it’s aiming for a near-vertical move on the charts.

And this isn’t a launch fueled by hype alone. The project runs on the combined conviction of seasoned players who dominate this space. It’s a direct call to every hardcore bro who lives by the code and understands that stocks are simply stonks waiting for ignition.

Time is limited, however. In the next 15 hours, the current MAXI price of $0.0002765 will disappear. The upcoming funding phase sets a higher buy-in, so anyone looking to secure a position before the increase needs to act now.

Venezuelan Stocks Rally, While Meme Coins Show Big Gains Can Come Quicker

Venezuela’s main equity benchmark, the Caracas Stock Exchange, has climbed 172.3% since the start of the year, with momentum accelerating after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces.

Gains in Venezuelan equities have been building since 2024, with some stocks rising as much as 44x. Put into perspective, a $1,000 investment in the index two years ago would now be worth $44,000.

As markets move back into a clear “risk-on” phase, sentiment has shifted sharply. The Fear and Greed Index jumped from extreme fear in December to a neutral reading, signaling that investors are once again actively seeking opportunities across markets to boost returns.

Although a 44x move in equities is uncommon, the crypto market has delivered similar results far more frequently. Consider the original meme coin, Dogecoin (DOGE): from its early January 2021 price to its peak four to five months later, DOGE surged 73.76x, a move achieved 81.5% faster than the recent run of the Caracas Stock Exchange.

DOGE is only one case. Other leading meme coins, including Pepe (PEPE), have also recorded explosive rallies. There are even historical reports of a trader turning $27 into $52 million, representing a 192,592,811.85% return, or a 1,925,926x gain.

Despite their potential for outsized returns, these tokens share common characteristics: strong meme appeal and highly engaged communities that drive momentum. Still, it’s important to note that expecting a repeat of past performance may not be realistic. Many of today’s top meme coins now carry multi-billion-dollar valuations. While upside remains possible, the scale of earlier gains is unlikely to be repeated.

This is where the real opportunity in meme coin hunting emerges. There are still undervalued projects, or tokens that are not yet broadly available to investors, which display similar traits to established names.

One such example is Maxi Doge, currently in presale. Its core DNA closely mirrors that of Dogecoin, but with a key difference: it brings 1,000x more attitude and a far louder, more aggressive presence than the original.

The Evolution of the Beast

Maxi Doge contains all the fundamental ingredients needed for a meme coin with breakout potential. It is upfront about its role as an unrestrained market disruptor, intentionally distancing itself from the rigid, traditional assets typically preferred by conventional investors.

In many respects, it mirrors Dogecoin in its early days, when the original pup openly mocked Bitcoin by poking fun at the very principles its most devoted supporters held dear. Maxi Doge, however, isn’t directing its humor at Bitcoin or even its own predecessor.

Instead, it represents a high-energy extension of the foundation Dogecoin created, redesigned to fit today’s fast-moving, ultra-aggressive crypto environment.

HERE'S MAXI! pic.twitter.com/jowah6kyVk

— MaxiDoge (@MaxiDoge_) December 20, 2025

Think of this built-up pup as the released form of a Dogecoin that stayed dormant for too long. While the original remains iconic, MAXI is the product of endless late nights—investors fueled by Red Bulls and gym sessions until they brought to life an asset capable of pumping with the same intensity DOGE once delivered.

Operating on that shared, rapid-fire mindset, they’ve produced a new version of the OG that loudly signals 1,000x potential to anyone paying attention.

The market response is already evident. While meme coins are driven by memetics, they endure through community strength, and Maxi Doge has quickly assembled a sizable reserve, with investors contributing more than $4.4 million to its presale so far.

The project is fully committed to broad exposure. This phase is only the beginning; with 65% of the total marketing budget allocated to amplifying its presence, it’s only a matter of time before every bro in the crypto space hears the message.

How to Buy MAXI

As Venezuelan oil stocks rally following the recent change in regime, meme coins such as MAXI highlight just how quickly the crypto market can deliver results that take traditional equities years to achieve.

If Venezuelan assets represent the high-beta opportunity within TradFi, then a heavily rebuilt, muscle-packed version of DOGE stands as the nuclear-level alternative for crypto investors.

To take part, join the presale by visiting the official presale page. MAXI can be purchased using ETH, BNB, USDT, or USDC, and buyers also have the option to pay with a bank card.

For storage, Maxi Doge recommends Best Wallet, widely regarded as one of the top crypto wallets available. It’s free to download on both Google Play and the Apple App Store.

Newly acquired MAXI tokens are eligible for a dynamic 70% APY.

Security is also covered. The Maxi Doge smart contract has been fully audited by Coinsult and SOLIDProof, confirming the absence of security issues.

To keep up with announcements and discussions, follow the community on X and Telegram, or visit the Maxi Doge Token website.

Charles Hoskinson used a January 9, 2026 video update to outline an aggressive 2026 push that aims to turn Cardano’s DeFi stack into a cross-ecosystem product, explicitly targeting Bitcoin and XRP DeFi integrations alongside Midnight, new bridges, expanded oracle coverage, stablecoin work, and a faster cadence of ecosystem delivery.

2026 Is a Defining Year For Cardano

Broadcasting from Colorado, Hoskinson framed the year as an execution cycle, with Cardano’s “Pentad” integrations effort positioned as the on-ramp for liquidity, users, and what he described as “commercially critical” infrastructure. He said contract signings slowed during the holidays, but insisted the deals were still in motion and would feed into near-term announcements around “bridges and more oracles and stablecoins and analytics,” as well as “more listings.”

The core thesis of Hoskinson’s update was that Cardano can’t win a marginal arms race against other smart contract platforms, and instead needs differentiated features and distribution through interoperability. In his telling, the Pentad structure is meant to ensure Cardano “is no longer an island,” enabling liquidity and users to “flow freely,” and setting up what he called the “next stage after pentad phase one.”

That next stage, Hoskinson said, should focus on upgrading Cardano’s most important applications to reach beyond the chain’s current boundaries. “I’m going to propose that we take the top 15 dabs top 20 dapps we got to figure out a list on Cardano and get them sons of ***** upgraded to Bitcoin DeFi, XRP DeFi and Midnight and also get them tier one listings, get them aboard, get them incubated, accelerated so we can 10x their TVL, their users and their transaction volume,” he said.

He framed this as both an internal ecosystem support plan and a growth strategy built around bringing Cardano-native apps to where large pools of capital and users already sit.

Hoskinson repeatedly returned to privacy, positioning it as the “new experiences” Cardano can ship rather than competing on incremental improvements. He argued that Cardano DeFi won’t be competitive “by being slightly better, slightly faster, slightly cheaper than Ethereum or Solana,” and said copycat strategies fail.

“You beat those guys by doing something that no one’s ever seen before,” he said, before laying out the product concept in unusually direct terms. “And when you add privacy and get private stablecoins, that’s going to be sexy. Show private prediction markets, private DEXes, you’re bringing something new to the conversation. You’re bringing something new to the table, something that people haven’t seen before.”

In Hoskinson’s framing, the pitch is not just privacy on Cardano, but portability of those capabilities across ecosystems once the bridge and stablecoin plumbing is in place, naming Solana, Ethereum, Bitcoin, XRP, BNB, and Avalanche as targets for that distribution.

Happy New Year https://t.co/P3GXCCQdzV

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) January 10, 2026

2025 Frustration, 2026 Cadence

Hoskinson also used the update to vent about industry expectations and what he called unmet promises from US policy narratives in 2025, arguing the sector needs to refocus on adoption and delivery rather than waiting for validation. He described 2026 as “our year,” and pointed to a schedule of near-term public-facing moments: workshops, a Japan tour, and Consensus Hong Kong where he said Cardano will show “some amazing announcements and special surprises.”

He also previewed a more regimented output rhythm. “And then, the rest of the year, every two months, a bag of goodies comes. That’s the cadence,” Hoskinson said, characterizing it as a “death march” of shipping.

At press time, ADA traded at $0.3953.

According to official releases and news reports, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) rolled out tougher Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering checks that crypto platforms must use when bringing new users on board.

Based on reports, the rules add live biometric checks, location data capture, and bank-account verification steps designed to cut down on anonymous accounts and suspicious flows.

Live Selfie And Geo-Tagging Required

Reports have disclosed that new sign-up flows must include a live selfie verified by liveness detection — such as eye blink or head movement checks — so a static or doctored photo can’t be used.

Platforms must also record latitude and longitude, the device IP address and a timestamp at the moment a user registers. Those pieces of data will be kept as part of the KYC record, according to coverage by major outlets.

A Penny-Drop To Confirm Bank Ownership

Exchanges are required to carry out a so-called penny-drop — a nominal ₹1 transfer — to confirm the customer actually controls the linked bank account. Users must supply PAN plus a secondary government ID such as Aadhaar, passport or voter ID, and verify phone and email addresses with OTPs. These steps are intended to tighten the link between identity and on-chain activity.

Enhanced Ongoing Checks And Reporting Duties

Exchanges must refresh KYC every year for ordinary users and every six months for clients flagged as higher risk. Reporting duties have been stepped up: platforms will register as reporting entities with the FIU under the Prevention Of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and file suspicious transaction reports when triggers are hit. Based on industry commentary, that will raise compliance costs and slow down onboarding for new retail customers.

Market And User Impact

Industry participants told reporters that the new steps are likely to increase the time it takes a user to open an account and will push up operational costs for platforms that must integrate biometric and geolocation systems. While regulators say the measures aim to block illicit finance, some retail investors may find the process harder to complete, which could affect volumes in the near term.

According to sources, the FIU expects exchanges to implement these checks promptly and to keep records for audit. Failure to comply could invite action under PMLA rules. Observers say the move aligns India with stricter global KYC norms and signals that regulators plan active oversight as crypto use grows.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty slipped to a little over 146 trillion in the network’s first difficulty recalibration of 2026, offering a small but measurable easing for miners. According to multiple reports, the adjustment completed in early January reduced the metric from levels seen at the end of 2025.

First Adjustment Offers Brief Relief

Average block times across the network were running near 9.88 minutes at the time of the change — a touch faster than Bitcoin’s target of 10 minutes — which helped produce the slight downshift in difficulty. That gap means the protocol briefly eased the hurdle miners face, because blocks were being produced a little quicker than expected.

Reports have noted that, even with this dip, difficulty remains high compared with earlier years and miner margins are under pressure following the 2024 halving and heavy hardware investment in 2025. Some miners reported thinner returns as hash price softened and energy and equipment costs stayed elevated. The drop to 146.4T gives a short window of relief, not a turnaround.

Next Adjustment Expected On January 22

Based on CoinWarz estimates and other trackers, the next difficulty recalculation is projected for January 22, 2026, with a likely uptick toward 148 trillion as average block times slow back toward the 10-minute target. If that pattern holds, the pause in difficulty will be temporary and competition among miners may ramp up again.

Why The Number Matters

Difficulty is the protocol’s built-in way of keeping block production steady: it changes every two weeks (2016 blocks) to match the total computing power securing the chain. When more hash power joins, difficulty rises; when it drops or blocks come too fast, difficulty ease. These adjustments affect how quickly miners find blocks and how much work they must perform to earn rewards.

Miners will be watching hash rate trends, power costs, and Bitcoin’s price because those factors determine profitability in the days after an adjustment. Markets, meanwhile, often take such technical tweaks in stride, but sustained moves in difficulty or hash power can signal broader shifts in miner behavior that may influence supply dynamics over time.

According to the latest coverage, January’s first adjustment cut difficulty to roughly 146.4T and came as block times averaged 9.88 minutes. Estimates point to a likely rise around January 22 to roughly 148.20T if conditions change as expected. Observers say the change offers temporary breathing room for miners but does not erase the financial pressures many faced through 2025.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

The price of Bitcoin is infamous for its inactivity during the weekends, and it has not disappointed in the past day. The premier cryptocurrency continues to hover around the psychological $90,000 mark, with no significant movement observed over the past 24 hours.

While the Bitcoin price action — or lack thereof — has lulled most investors to sleep, a particular market participant has just woken from their slumber. According to the latest on-chain data, a Satoshi-era miner just moved a significant amount of Bitcoin over the weekend.

Satoshi-Era Miner Moves 2,000 BTC On Saturday

In a post on the social media platform X, CryptoQuant’s head of research, Julio Moreno, revealed that a Bitcoin miner from the Satoshi era moved 2,000 coins on Saturday, January 10. This would represent the first time such movement would be occurring from this group of network participants since November 2024.

The Satoshi-era miners refer to entities that mined BTC during its earlier years, typically between 2009 and 2011, when the flagship cryptocurrency’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was still active. At the time, mining BTC was a less competitive sport (could be done with a consumer CPU), with greater rewards.

Moreno noted that, historically, the Satoshi-era miners have only ever moved their coins at key inflection points. In November 2024, when the last miner from this group made a transaction, the price of Bitcoin was around $91,000.

The premier cryptocurrency has since gone on to set multiple all-time highs before reaching the current cycle peak of $126,080. While it is difficult to say what the Satoshi-era miner saw before its latest move, the pattern-like nature of these coin movements makes them too relevant to ignore.

Why Bitcoin Investors Should Watch Out For $84,500 

As earlier inferred, indecisiveness seems to be returning to the Bitcoin market, as the bulls and bears continue their battle around the $90,000 level. While this region has gained relevance in recent weeks, recent on-chain data has identified another crucial level beneath it.

According to Alphractal’s CEO and founder, Joao Wedson, this level is the 2-year moving average (2Y MA) of Bitcoin. The on-chain expert highlighted that this level represents the last major support cushion for the market leader.

From a historical perspective, the loss of the 2Y MA, which is currently around $84,500, could increase the probability of capitulation significantly. In essence, the premier cryptocurrency faces the risk of extended downward movement once it crosses below $84,500.

As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $90,435, reflecting no change in the past 24 hours.

Tennessee’s sports betting regulator has ordered Polymarket, Kalshi, and Crypto.com to cease offering sports betting contracts, bringing focus to the regulatory landscape of event contract exchanges. The agency accused the three major prediction market platforms of violating state gambling laws by operating in Tennessee without the required licenses.

Polymarket, Others Threatened With Fines For Offering Sports Event Contracts

On Friday, January 9, the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council (SWC) issued cease-and-desist letters to Polymarket, Kalshi, and Crypto.com’s Derivatives Exchange. In the letters, the state regulator asked all three prediction market firms to stop offering sports event contracts to the residents of Tennessee.

The state’s SWC also demanded that the three firms void all pending contracts entered into by Tennessee residents, and refund all customer deposits by January 31, 2026.

SWC Executive Director, Mary Beth Thomas, wrote in the letter to Polymarket:

The sports events contracts offered on Polymarket’s exchange are not compliant with these [Tennessee state consumer] protections (and many others) and are an immediate and significant threat to the public interest of Tennessee.

The language in the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council letters to Kalshi and Crypto.com was quite similar to Polymarket’s cease-and-desist letter. This comes despite all three platforms being registered as designated contract markets with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), allowing them to offer event-based derivatives contracts nationwide.

Despite this CFTC designation, these prediction market firms have had regulatory run-ins with different states in the US. In December 2025, the state of Connecticut sent a trio of cease-and-desist orders to Robinhood, Kalshi, and Crypto.com. The firms based their defense at the time on receiving the CFTC’s approval to operate in the United States.

This Tennessee cease-and-desist order seems to be the first state-level regulatory issue faced by Polymarket, which currently only offers sports event contracts in the United States. In the letters, the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council threatened a range of penalties for any of the firms’ failure to comply.

One of the letters further read:

Failure to comply with the SWC’s demand will result in the imposition of fines pursuant to the Act, which states that the SWC shall impose a fine against any person offering wagers in Tennessee without a license in the amount of $10,000 for the first offense; $15,000 for a second offense; and $25,000 for a third or subsequent offense. ‘ Moreover, failure to comply with the SWC’s demand will result in the SWC seeking injunctive relief.

Prediction Markets Facing Increased Regulatory Scrutiny

The prediction markets, which gained prominence during the 2024 US elections, have continued to enjoy interest from users and institutional investors. However, the regulatory scrutiny faced by the industry has seen a similar surge lately.

For instance, a Polymarket trader reportedly netted record gains of over $400,000 from predicting the recent US military action in Venezuela, prompting talks of introducing a bill to prevent insider trading. As Bitcoinist reported, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) plans to introduce a bill that would ban all government-affiliated individuals from participating in state-related events in the prediction market.

A recently ratified law in the state of  Louisiana has helped seniors recover $200,000 following a Bitcoin ATM-related scam operation. This development represents a fine example of government protecting users’ interests even while encouraging digital asset adoption.

Louisiana Law Presents Major Hurdle For Crypto Scammers

According to a report by local media 7KPLC, a group of scammers recently targeted senior citizens in Louisiana and Texas in a sophisticated scheme resulting in at least four known victims. It was gathered that the scammers usually deceived the unsuspecting seniors into believing their bank accounts had been compromised and falsely implicated them in child pornography charges.

Thereafter, these bad actors would proceed to threaten the elderly citizens with arrest unless they were obliged to pay lump sums of money. Eventual victims were guided to Bitcoin ATMs, which allow users to swap cash for cryptocurrency, to process these fraudulent transactions to anonymously owned wallets.

According to data from Bitcoin ATM Map, there are 288 resident Bitcoin ATM/Tellers in Louisiana, representing the Southeastern state’s friendliness towards the crypto industry. However, a recently passed legislation in Louisiana introduced several measures to combat crypto scams. These include mandatory signage on all Bitcoin ATMs, which states that no government-affiliated person or entity would ever demand cash deposits into these machines. 

Furthermore, the machines are also programmed to display warning messages to users during transactions. In particular, users are advised to stay alert to scams, especially when provided with a QR code or wallet ID by someone else. In addition, the new regulations include a $3,000 daily limit on deposits and a 72-hour waiting period for all transactions to potentially detect all malicious fund transfers and scams. 

According to KPLC, these new regulations allowed authorities to recover $200,000 for four targeted senior citizens. Other victims of this scam are admonished to reach out to the AARP Louisiana branch, a large nonprofit, nonpartisan US organization focused on supporting and advocating for people 50 years and older and their families.

Bitcoin ATM Scam: The Next Menace?

While Louisiana has recently formulated laws to tackle scams involving the Bitcoin ATMs, Bitcoinist reported that the Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway had recently started an investigation into companies operating these machines, citing concerns around deceptive fee structure and fraudulent use by bad actors.

As seen in Louisiana, Hanaway claimed to have received reports of new scam operations involving the key use of Bitcoin ATMs, thus resulting in the statewide probe. Notably, companies under the AG’s investigation include GPD Holdings, Rockitcoin, Bitcoin Depot, Athena Bitcoin, and Byte Federal.

Nasdaq and the CME Group have stepped up a joint effort to give big investors a single, regulated way to measure crypto markets. According to Nasdaq, the firms have reintroduced the Nasdaq Crypto Index as the Nasdaq-CME Crypto Index (NCI), a benchmark built to support products like ETFs and structured funds. The announcement was made early this month and is presented as a move to bring clearer rules and governance to index-based crypto exposure.

Nasdaq And CME Combine Index Expertise

Reports have disclosed the NCI will be calculated by CF Benchmarks and overseen by joint committees that include representatives from both exchanges. That arrangement is intended to mirror traditional index practices used in equities and derivatives, with regular reconstitution and transparent methodology. CF Benchmarks has already handled Nasdaq Crypto Index reconstitutions, including the reconstitution on December 1, 2025, which is part of the index family’s work ahead of the rebrand.

What The Exchanges Say

CME’s public materials describe the move as part of an expanded collaboration that links Nasdaq’s indexing work with CME’s regulated trading platform. The CME website also highlights plans for more product and contract activity tied to crypto, and it points to the ability to support markets that operate around the clock. Based on those reports, the aim is to give institutional managers a benchmark they can use when building regulated products.

Index For Diversified Crypto Exposure

According to news releases and market reporting, the Nasdaq-CME Index is not limited to a single token. The index tracks a basket of major coins so that a product tied to it would offer diversified exposure rather than a single-asset bet. Market outlets picked up the story quickly; several trading and financial news sites published pieces within days of the announcement, noting the index name change and the partners’ shared governance approach.

Operational And Timing Details

Nasdaq has also updated its market data listings to reflect name changes tied to the index family, with some effective dates scheduled later in January 2026. That timing suggests the firms plan a phased rollout: first the naming and governance alignment, then data and product support for issuers and market makers. The reconstitution timetable from CF Benchmarks shows the operational work has already been underway since December 2025.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView