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Russian lawmakers have moved forward with legislation that will formally allow the regulation of crypto asset seizures in criminal proceedings, eliminating legal vacuums that complicated previous investigations.

Crypto Seizure Bill Advances At State Duma Committee

On Monday, the Committee on State Building and Legislation at the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, advanced a bill to regulate the seizure of crypto assets in criminal proceedings.

In an official Telegram message, the ruling political party in Russia, the All-Russian Political Party United Russia, revealed that the legislation was recommended for adoption in its upcoming third reading.

Although cryptocurrencies are already recognized as property under several laws, their status has not yet been established in criminal procedure laws, the statement noted, which has complicated the investigation of crimes and the enforcement of property claims.

As a result, the recently passed crypto bill is designed to reduce the risks associated with the use of cryptocurrencies in criminal activities, such as money laundering, corruption, and terrorist financing.

To address this, the bill proposes recognizing digital assets as property under the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. In addition, it intends to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure with a new article to regulate the actions of investigators upon discovering digital assets subject to seizure.

The legislation will also grant relevant authorities investigating a case the power to seize assets by taking control of physical devices, including servers, computers, and cold wallets, or by transferring the assets to a special address to ensure their preservation. Lastly, it will introduce a mechanism for freezing digital currency for subsequent confiscation or to secure a civil claim.

“The adoption of the law will eliminate the legal vacuum and create effective mechanisms for law enforcement agencies to work with modern digital assets, based on international recommendations and the successful experience of foreign legal systems,” said Pavel Krasheninnikov, head of the State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation.

Russia Prepares For New Regulatory Landscape

If approved, the bill would complement Russia’s upcoming crypto framework, which is expected to take effect by July. In December, the Central Bank of Russia unveiled new comprehensive regulatory proposals to enable retail and qualified investors to buy digital assets through licensed platforms in the country.

The new rules will allow non-qualified investors to purchase up to 300,000 rubles annually in the most liquid cryptocurrencies after passing a knowledge test. Moreover, qualified investors will be able to buy unlimited amounts of any digital asset after passing a risk-awareness test.

Under the proposed framework, transactions must be conducted through platforms that are already licensed, including exchanges, brokers, and trust managers, with additional requirements applied to custodians and exchange services.

Additionally, residents will be allowed to buy crypto assets abroad and transfer their holdings through Russian-licensed intermediaries, subject to the necessary tax reporting. Leading stock exchanges, the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) and SPB Exchange, have shared their support for the central bank’s proposed regulatory framework.

As reported by Bitcoinist, the institutions confirmed they are prepared to launch crypto trading services under the upcoming rules as soon as they are enacted. The Moscow Exchange affirmed that it is actively working on solutions to serve the cryptocurrency market, with plans to offer them as soon as the relevant regulations are in place.

Meanwhile, the SPB Exchange also stated that it is prepared to participate in joint efforts to develop the relevant infrastructure within the regulated market, highlighting the Central Bank’s efforts to create “transparent and secure conditions” for crypto trading.

A crucial amendment that was expected to delay passage of the CLARITY Act, also known as the crypto market structure bill, could be scrapped ahead of a vital committee vote this week, potentially simplifying the bill’s path forward.

Senate Crypto Bill Clears Key Hurdle

According to a report by Politico, Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas has agreed not to offer a proposed amendment targeting credit card swipe fees during the Senate Agriculture Committee’s markup of the crypto legislation, scheduled for Thursday, January 29. 

Three people familiar with the private discussions said the decision was made over the weekend and could help secure broader backing for the bill from the cryptocurrency industry.

Marshall had filed the amendment just last week, seeking to force payment networks to compete on credit card swipe fees. The proposal closely mirrors the long‑running Credit Card Competition Act, which Marshall has championed for years alongside Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. 

However, in private conversations on Saturday, Marshall reportedly agreed not to bring the amendment forward during the markup, according to those with knowledge of the matter.

Marshall’s swipe‑fee amendment, which is also supported by Durbin and Senator Peter Welch of Vermont, was widely seen as a potential obstacle. Some Republicans who are inclined to support the crypto bill oppose the credit card provision, which would place major financial institutions in direct conflict with large retailers.

Durbin is not currently expected to introduce the amendment himself during the markup, according to a person familiar with the situation, although a final decision has not been confirmed.

Amendments Still Loom

The issue has reportedly drawn attention from the White House as well. Several people with insight into internal deliberations said administration officials became involved out of concern that the swipe‑fee amendment could derail the legislation. 

One person described the amendment as something that would have “jeopardized” the bill’s passage, at a time when the White House is pushing for the measure to advance out of committee.

While the Marshall amendment may be off the table, other changes could still emerge. Journalist Eleanor Terrett noted on X (previously Twitter) that several amendments remain under consideration. 

These include proposed ethics rules for US officials, a requirement that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) maintain at least four sitting commissioners following consultation with the minority party, anti‑fraud measures targeting crypto ATMs, and limits on participation by foreign adversaries in crypto markets.

Despite two additional weeks of bipartisan negotiations—negotiations that already delayed an earlier planned markup from January 15—the bill remains sharply divided along party lines. So far, only Republican members of the Senate Agriculture Committee have publicly expressed support for the legislation.

Nonetheless, the committee’s latest draft, posted on Wednesday, January 21, has received a positive response from the broader crypto industry. Industry participants have praised the text for providing explicit protections for noncustodial software developers and blockchain infrastructure providers. 

The bill is seen as narrowly targeting intermediaries, rather than protocols or end users, a distinction many in the sector consider essential for maintaining innovation.

The draft also excludes provisions that would regulate stablecoin yields, a decision viewed as particularly significant following Coinbase’s recent withdrawal of support for the Senate Banking Committee’s version of the legislation. 

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

Traders have been looking at a chart that lines up XRP’s major moves with decades of silver data. The match is not perfect. It is, however, striking enough to get people talking about what might happen next. Some see it as a warning. Others see a possible roadmap for big gains.

Silver And XRP In Parallel

According to chart comparisons shared by market watchers, silver’s long swings since 1980 echo many of XRP’s moves since 2016.

Silver climbed to about $48 in early 1980, crashed to roughly $3.4 by the early 1990s, then drifted for years before a run toward $50 in 2011.

XRP, on a far faster clock, pushed to highs above $3 in 2018, fell sharply into 2020, recovered, then found a new peak in late 2024.

The shapes on the charts — rises, deep drops, long quiet stretches — look similar. That resemblance is what’s being discussed.

#Silver looks like #XRP.

The time guide we follow, the White Rabbit, is the event itself, which will point out the treasure!

A nova flash, getting closer. pic.twitter.com/eAqAfZXEo7

— Dark Defender (@DefendDark) January 26, 2026

What The Numbers Show

Reports say silver has jumped roughly 278% since 2025, sitting near $109 per ounce in recent sessions. Gold has also moved, trading above $5,000 per ounce as investors seek safety.

Those metal moves have pulled attention back to assets that follow big macro flows. XRP, currently trading around $1.90, is much smaller and far more volatile than either metal, so any similar move could be much larger in percentage terms, but it would likely be sharper and riskier too.

History Moves At Different Speeds

Silver’s shifts played out over many years. XRP’s similar pattern appears compressed into a few market cycles. That is important. Time matters in markets because long pauses can build a stronger base, and quick cycles can spark fast moves that reverse just as fast.

Reports have disclosed that some traders believe crypto cycles keep pace with liquidity and headlines; metals react more to reserve flows and long-term real rates. Both effects can push prices hard, but they do so at different paces.

Risk And Reward In Plain Sight

If XRP keeps following this pattern, a large upswing could follow a breakout. At the same time, the pattern is no guarantee. Price moves have many causes. Legal shifts, big fund flows, and macro shocks can all change the path.

XRP has shown it can fall far and recover in dramatic ways. That playbook brings opportunities but also steep pain for those who buy late or hold through violent swings.

Where Traders Might Look Next

According to some analysts, key levels from past cycles will matter. Support near recent lows could act as a floor; fresh inflows into crypto or a rotation out of metals might be the trigger for a large move. Volume, broader market risk appetite, and where big holders place their bets will all be watched closely.

Featured image from CoinFlip, chart from TradingView

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan says crypto’s near-term trajectory is being pulled by two very different macro forces: a breakout in gold that signals a deeper institutional trust problem, and a suddenly uncertain path for the Clarity Act that could determine whether the current pro-crypto regulatory posture becomes durable US law.

In a Jan. 26 memo titled “Gold Rising, Clarity in Suspense,” Hougan framed the moment as a split-screen. On one side is a traditional store of value repricing violently higher. On the other is a legislative process that—if it stalls—could shift crypto from expectation-driven markets to an adoption-driven proving ground.

Gold Above $5,000, And Crypto?

Hougan called gold’s move “staggering.” After rising 65% in 2025, gold is up another 16% in 2026 and is now trading above $5,000, he wrote, adding that it’s “pretty wild” to consider that gold “has gained half of its value (in dollar terms) in the last 20 months.”

For Hougan, the price action is less about commodity cycles and more about confidence. “I think the spiking price of gold says something profound about the world,” he wrote. “First, it says that years of money printing, debt, and debasement is catching up with fiat currencies. And second, it shows that people no longer want to keep all of their wealth in a format that relies on the good graces of others.”

That second point is the hinge to crypto. Hougan argued that the last few years have accelerated a global shift in how institutions think about sovereign risk and custody, tracing the inflection to 2022 when the US seized Russian treasury assets after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Central banks, he said, “doubled their annual purchases of gold” after that event, effectively deciding that some reserves need to sit outside any single power’s reach.

He pointed to recent examples as evidence the trend is widening: German economists publicly urging the government to withdraw gold stored at the New York Federal Reserve and bring it back to Germany, and a warning from a Norwegian government panel that its sovereign wealth fund may be “subject to increased taxation, regulatory intervention and even confiscation” in today’s geopolitical climate. “There is a global breakdown in trust among institutions, and it is accelerating,” Hougan wrote.

Crypto’s pitch, in this framing, is straightforward: systems designed to minimize reliance on centralized intermediaries. “To own bitcoin or other crypto assets, you don’t have to trust anyone,” he wrote, adding that “no single person can change the rules for how platforms like Ethereum and Solana operate.” The industry’s usual vocabulary—self-custody, censorship resistance, trustless—can sound abstract, Hougan acknowledged, but he argued it starts to look more concrete in a world that is increasingly skeptical about who ultimately controls assets and rules.

The Clarity Act’s Wobble

Hougan’s second focus was the Clarity Act, which he described as critical because it would “cement the current pro-crypto regulatory environment into law.” Without it, he argued, a future administration could reverse course—he illustrated the stakes by asking readers to “picture Senator Elizabeth Warren as the next chair of the SEC.” Earlier this month, he wrote, prediction markets were confident: Polymarket had the odds of passage around 80% in early January. After recent setbacks, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong calling the current version “unworkable”, Hougan said those odds have fallen closer to 50%.

If Clarity fails, Hougan expects a multi-year reset in how markets price the sector. “If the bill fails, I believe crypto will enter a ‘show me’ period,” he wrote. “That means it will have three years to make crypto indispensable to the everyday lives of regular Americans and the traditional financial industry. If it succeeds, regulations will take care of themselves. If it fails, there could be real challenges.”

He compared the dynamic to technologies that forced legal accommodation by becoming unavoidable, citing Uber and Airbnb operating “on the edge of regulations” until usage made the old framework untenable. In crypto’s case, the proof would be unmistakable penetration into mainstream rails—Hougan’s examples were Americans “using stablecoins and trading tokenized stocks.” If that happens, he argued, supportive legislation becomes politically resilient regardless of who holds power. If it doesn’t, a shift in Washington could become “a huge setback.”

Hougan tied the legislative outcome directly to market structure. If a version of Clarity passes that the industry can support, he expects investors to treat stablecoin and tokenization growth as effectively guaranteed—and to price that future in quickly. If Clarity fails, the market may demand real-world adoption before rewarding valuations, because otherwise crypto would be “built on a regulatory foundation of sand.”

At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $2.94 trillion.

Stablecoins could pose a significant challenge to the US banking system over the next several years, with as much as $500 billion in deposits potentially moving out of traditional banks by the end of 2028, according to a new analysis from Standard Chartered.

Stablecoins Could Pressure Bank Earnings And Deposits

The forecast, reported by Reuters and published Tuesday, suggests that regional US banks are likely to be the most vulnerable to deposit losses driven by the growing adoption of dollar‑pegged digital tokens. 

Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, said smaller and mid‑sized lenders face greater exposure as stablecoins increasingly take on roles traditionally handled by banks, including payments and other core financial services.

Standard Chartered’s analysis focused on banks’ net interest margin income — the spread between what lenders earn from loans and what they pay out to depositors. 

As deposits leave the banking system, that income stream could come under pressure, particularly for institutions that rely heavily on consumer and commercial deposits as a funding source. 

Kendrick warned that US banks face mounting risks as payment networks and fundamental banking activities gradually migrate toward stablecoin‑based systems.

Banks And Crypto Firms Clash

While the country’s stablecoin bill, the GENIUS Act, presently prohibits issuers from paying interest on the tokens, banks are concerned that it would allow third parties, including cryptocurrency exchanges, to offer returns on stablecoin holdings. 

Over the past few months, banking industry groups have argued that this “stablecoin loophole” could intensify competition for deposits, potentially triggering large-scale outflows from banks and raising broader financial stability risks. They have called for changes to the bill regarding this matter.

Crypto companies have pushed back against those claims, arguing that prohibiting interest payments tied to stablecoins would limit competition and innovation in the financial sector, thereby delaying the anticipated markup of another key piece of legislation for the crypto market. 

Earlier this month, a Senate Banking Committee hearing to debate and vote on the anticipated crypto market structure legislation was postponed, in part because lawmakers could not agree on how to address banks’ concerns over deposit flight.

Kendrick noted that the ultimate scale of deposit losses will depend in part on how stablecoin issuers manage their reserves. If issuers hold a substantial portion of their backing assets within the US banking system, the impact on deposits could be less severe. 

The two biggest stablecoin issuers in the crypto market, Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), hold most of their reserves in US Treasuries rather than bank deposits, meaning little of the funds are recycled back into the banking system.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs have continued to observe weak demand as their monthly average netflows have remained in the red.

Bitcoin & Ethereum Spot ETFs Have Been Observing Net Outflows

As pointed out by on-chain analytics firm Glassnode in a new post on X, the average netflow for both Bitcoin and Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has remained negative recently. Spot ETFs are investment vehicles that allow investors to gain indirect exposure to an underlying asset. In the case of cryptocurrencies, this means that traders never have to interact with blockchain infrastructure themselves. Instead, the fund buys and custodies tokens on its behalf.

ETFs and similar investment vehicles for digital assets are available in various parts of the world, but currently, the most dominant funds are those based in the United States. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) first approved spot ETFs for Bitcoin in January 2024 and for Ethereum in July 2024. Since their establishment, ETFs have grown into a cornerstone of the market, tapping into demand from traditional institutional entities.

First, here is a chart that shows the trend in the 30-day simple moving average (SMA) of the Bitcoin spot ETF netflow over the last couple of years:

As shown in the above graph, the US Bitcoin spot ETFs saw their 30-day SMA netflow dip into negative territory back in November, suggesting net capital outflows began.

Since then, the indicator has mostly remained inside this territory, although the capital bleeding has slowed down recently. Earlier this month, the 30-day SMA netflow even flipped into the positive zone, but the net inflows lasted only briefly, with the indicator quickly returning to the red region.

A similar pattern has also been witnessed with Ethereum spot ETFs, as the chart below shows.

From the graph, it’s visible that the US Ethereum spot ETFs have also seen their 30-day SMA netflow return to the underwater zone after a brief wave of net capital inflows.

This means that interest in the digital asset market as a whole continues to be down among ETF users. “There is no sign of renewed demand,” noted the analytics firm. It now remains to be seen how long the wave of outflows will go on.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is floating around $88,000, down 3.5% in the last seven days.

Bitcoin is struggling to regain momentum below the $88,000 level as fear and uncertainty continue to weigh on market sentiment. After a volatile selloff, price action remains compressed near key support, with buyers hesitant to step in aggressively and sellers pressing rallies at lower levels. While attention has largely focused on derivatives pressure and macro risk, on-chain signals are now adding another layer of concern to the current setup.

Top analyst Darkfost points to a critical indicator of Bitcoin’s underlying network health: the hashrate, which measures the total computing power securing the network and reflects overall mining activity. Under normal conditions, a sharp decline in hashrate suggests that miners are voluntarily shutting down machines, often due to unprofitability or stress—typically associated with miner capitulation phases near market lows.

That is exactly the type of move unfolding now. Over just two days, Bitcoin’s hashrate has dropped dramatically, falling from 1.133 ZH/s to 690 EH/s. Such a rapid contraction is highly unusual and immediately raises questions about its cause. Importantly, Darkfost notes that this episode does not fit the classic miner capitulation narrative driven by collapsing prices or shrinking margins.

Instead, the decline appears to be linked to external disruptions rather than economic pressure within the mining sector itself. This distinction matters. While price remains under pressure below $88K, the hashrate shock introduces a new variable—one that could influence short-term dynamics, miner behavior, and market psychology as conditions evolve.

Hashrate Shock Linked To US Ice Storm, Not Miner Capitulation

According to Darkfost, the sharp drop in Bitcoin’s hashrate appears to be driven by external disruptions, not by economic stress within the mining sector. A large number of ASIC machines have been shut down during the past few days, coinciding with a severe ice storm hitting the United States, a country that accounts for roughly one-third of global Bitcoin hashrate. The timing strongly suggests a weather-related shock rather than voluntary miner capitulation.

The cold wave has been especially disruptive in Texas, a key hub for industrial-scale mining operations. Major players such as MARA and Foundry Digital are heavily exposed to the region’s power grid. Darkfost highlights that MARA’s hashrate has fallen by roughly a factor of four over the last three days compared to its monthly average, underscoring how abrupt and severe the disruption has been.

Extreme cold places stress on power infrastructure, forcing grid operators to curtail non-essential loads, while electricity prices spike as demand surges. For miners, this combination makes continued operation temporarily unviable, leading to widespread shutdowns.

As a consequence, block times are likely to lengthen, and mining difficulty is expected to adjust lower, with the next adjustment already estimated near -4.54%. If the storm persists, Darkfost warns that some miners could be forced to sell BTC to cover fixed operating costs, adding another short-term pressure point for the market.

Bitcoin Medium-Term Structure Remains Under Pressure

Bitcoin is trading around $87,850 on the 3-day chart, sitting at a critical inflection zone after a prolonged corrective phase. The broader structure shows that BTC peaked near the $125K area in late 2025 before entering a sustained downtrend, marked by sharp selloffs and increasingly weaker rebound attempts. While price has managed to stabilize above the mid-$80K region, momentum remains fragile and conviction on the buy side is limited.

From a trend perspective, the moving averages outline the current market regime clearly. Bitcoin is trading below the 50-period moving average (blue), which has rolled over and is now acting as dynamic resistance near the low-$90K area.

The 100-period moving average (green) is flattening and beginning to turn lower, signaling a loss of medium-term trend strength and confirming that prior upside momentum has broken. Meanwhile, the 200-period moving average (red) continues to slope upward well below price, near the low-$90K to high-$80K region, acting as the last major long-term support reference.

Price action over recent candles suggests compression rather than capitulation. Volatility has contracted, and volume has declined compared to the November selloff, indicating reduced urgency from sellers. For bulls, holding the $86K–$88K zone is essential to avoid a deeper breakdown.

A decisive move back above $90K–$92K would be required to shift structure and signal early recovery, while failure here keeps downside risk open toward the low-$80K range.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin is moving into mainstream banking in small, steady steps. What once seemed unlikely is becoming routine as traditional banks test ways to hold, trade, or lend against Bitcoin. Reports say a sizable slice of the biggest US banks are now planning real customer offerings.

60% Of Top Banks Preparing Bitcoin Products: River Study

A study conducted by Bitcoin financial services firm River shows about 60% of the top 25 US banks are at some stage of building Bitcoin services, from custody to trading and client-facing products. This shift is not just talk; it shows up in boardroom plans and pilot projects across several large lenders.

Banks Moving From Caution To Practical Steps

For years, many banks kept their distance. But change came fast after clearer rules and big exchange-traded funds put Bitcoin on more mainstream radars. Spot ETF approvals and rising demand from big investors nudged banks to revisit their stance and to test practical, compliant ways to serve customers interested in digital assets.

60% of the top US banks are into bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/AqceDDfjDP

— River (@River) January 26, 2026

Some major names are already on the record with pilot projects or new services. Reports mention that JPMorgan Chase is looking at crypto trading, Wells Fargo has rolled out credit and custody-linked offerings to institutional clients, and Citigroup is exploring custody and payments tied to tokenized assets. Those moves signal a shift from theory to products customers can use.

How This Changes The Picture For Clients

Customers could get simpler access to Bitcoin without needing separate crypto accounts. That means an investor might see Bitcoin as another line on a bank statement, with custody and reporting wrapped into services they already use. Some banks plan to partner with specialists to avoid taking on all the technical work themselves, keeping risk and compliance squarely in focus.

Regulation, Risk, And The Role Of Policy

Regulatory moves earlier in the year reopened options that were closed when tight capital rules made custody costly. Reports note that a change in guidance helped some banks resume or rethink custody services, and that the current political climate under US President Donald Trump has been described as more favorable to broader crypto adoption. These shifts are nudging banks to act where they had hesitated.

Expect more pilot announcements and a slow roll of services into client offerings. Not every bank will move at the same speed. Some will stay cautious, others will move sooner. The practical test will be whether banks can offer secure custody, clear accounting, and easy reporting without taking on outsized risk.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

Крупные держатели криптовалюты Cardano за последние два месяца накопили более 450 млн ADA, тогда как розничные инвесторы сокращают свои запасы актива, выяснили аналитики Santiment.

XRP’s price action has been quiet in the past few days, with the majority of recent trading sessions spent trading just below and above $1.9. 

Interestingly, one analyst noted that the altcoin’s price action has already done most of the heavy lifting needed for a trend reversal after weeks of controlled downside and repeated reactions around descending resistance. The remaining question, according to the analysis, is whether price confirms what the structure is already suggesting.

Reset By Liquidations And Whale Activity

Technical view of XRP’s price action shared by a crypto analyst known as CW on the social media platform X begins with a reset in market positioning. Most of the long positions that were accumulated during its earlier rally to $2.40 in the first week of January have been cleared, and this has removed excess leverage.

Interestingly, that liquidation phase has coincided with the XRP price tagging the lower boundary of a descending channel structure on the 4-hour candlestick timeframe chart. Over the past 24 hours, the token’s price bounced from the lower trendline in the mid-$1.80 region and has since rotated higher to now retesting the upper boundary of the converging structure, which is around $1.90.

This move was accompanied by an increase in net buying, and according to the analyst, all that remains is a breakout of the upper line. From a structural standpoint, this outlook is important, as it reduces forced selling and allows spot demand to play a larger role in determining direction. 

A decisive break above the upper trendline would invalidate the current downtrend and begin an uptrend. In practical terms, this scenario will only come to pass if the altcoin is able to confirm that buyers have regained control by securing multiple candlestick closes above $1.90.

Breakout, Retest, And The Case For Continuation

A separate technical perspective, illustrated in the chart below, frames XRP’s current structure within a much longer price history stretching back to 2024. This analysis also shows how XRP is well advanced in a broader bullish setup and has already completed the majority of the conditions needed for an upward rally continuation. 

XRP first achieved a major structural shift when it broke above the long-term resistance line drawn from its late 2024 peak, a move that ultimately carried the price to a new peak of $3.65 in 2025. Following that breakout, XRP transitioned into an extended accumulation phase that has now lasted for more than a year. The only thing missing now is the upside continuation. 

According to crypto analyst ChartNerd, the only missing element is a sustained upside follow-through. Based on that structure, XRP is estimated to be about 90% of the way through the work needed for a rally continuation.

Рост рынка стейблкоинов может привести к сильному оттоку средств из финансовой системы США, в результате которого больше всех пострадают региональные банки, заявил глава отдела исследований цифровых активов Standard Chartered Джеффри Кендрик (Geoffrey Kendrick).

The XRP Ledger, a decentralized public blockchain developed by Ripple, has surpassed $1 billion in total on-chain assets, according to recent reports. This growth is apparently being fueled by Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD, and other asset classes which continue to attract significant interest on the blockchain network. 

XRP Ledger Achieves Monumental Milestone

The XRP Ledger crossed a significant financial milestone this week, with reports confirming that more than $1 billion in tokenized assets are now held directly on its blockchain. This surge highlights the growing confidence in Ripple’s infrastructure as a platform for tokenized finance and Real-World Asset (RWA) integration. It also cements XRPL’s role as a core bridge between traditional finance and blockchain technology. 

Data from analytics firm RWA.xyz shows that stablecoins and tokenized instruments are driving much of this ledger growth. In particular, the RLUSD stablecoin has emerged as the most active asset on the blockchain, attracting increasing investment flows and a growing base of holders. 

At the time of writing, the XRP Ledger hosts approximately $338,005,246 in RLUSD, held across 33,105 addresses. Notably, both investment volume and holder count are at their highest levels ever recorded among other tokenized assets on the network. Beyond RLUSD, other stablecoins, including Circle’s USDC, Braza USDB, BBRL, and EURØP, have also contributed significantly to the overall rise in the value of tokenized assets on the ledger. 

Institutional participation is further accelerating this growth as banks and financial firms explore tokenizing funds, treasury products, and credit instruments on the XRP Ledger. On-chain data shows that the second-largest contributor the $1 billion tokenized asset milestone came from the private credit sector. 

The largest single private credit allocation on the network totaled approximately $108,740,785, issued through the Vert Capital platform and held by a single address. After private credit, other asset classes that have also fueled XRPL’s growth include US treasury debt, commodities, private equity, real estate, etc. 

Reasons Why Ripple’s Ledger Is Standing Out

Behind the scenes, several factors are driving the XRP Ledger’s growth and helping it stand out among the competing blockchain networks. Paul Barron, the founder of the Paul Barron Network, has suggested that XRPL’s fast settlement times, high scalability, and low transaction costs make it an incredibly attractive option for institutional users. 

The ledger’s compliance-focused architecture is another major catalyst for adoption. This design enables financial firms to tokenize funds, treasuries, and stablecoins while remaining aligned with regulatory standards. In addition, security enhancements on the blockchain network, including the integration of quantum-resistant Dilithium cryptography, are strengthening institutional trust and reinforcing XRPL’s long-term resilience. 

Barron has described the Ledger as “the world’s financial infrastructure,” suggesting that its evolving role in tokenized assets and institutional finance positions the network as a foundational layer for the future of global payments. 

Senator Roger Marshall moved to add a swipe fee rule to a crypto market structure bill last week, a step that briefly put card fees back in the spotlight as lawmakers weigh how to rein in rising costs for small sellers.

The change would push banks and payment networks to allow more than one route for processing card payments, giving merchants a choice that could drive down swipe fees. Some analysts also say it could have implications for crypto payment solutions in the US.

Marshall Files Swipe Fee Amendment

According to reports, the amendment filed by the Republican lawmaker would require large banks to let at least two unaffiliated networks handle debit and credit transactions.

That is meant to let merchants pick the cheapest route. Swipe fees, also called interchange fees, are usually in the 1.5%-3.5% range on most purchases.

Small stores say those charges add up fast. Reports say some retailers supported the idea because it could lower their costs and help them keep prices steady for shoppers. The amendment could even affect crypto debit card networks that process payments for digital currencies.

What The Measure Would Change

The plan echoes a long-running effort known as the Credit Card Competition Act. Under that law, the aim is to break the near-exclusive hold that a couple of big networks have on transaction routing.

Supporters argue that adding competition would force fees down. Banks and card firms warn that changing the rules might raise fraud risks and could make new rules costly to implement.

The tradeoffs are plain. Competition could mean savings for stores. It could also mean changes to how banks protect customers. Some lawmakers worry that forcing changes might unintentionally affect crypto platforms integrated with traditional payment networks.

On Crypto, Politics And Pushback

Reports have disclosed that the swipe fee idea did not make it onto the final agenda at a recent committee markup. Marshall reportedly agreed not to press the amendment at that stage, after talks with other senators and concerns from various groups.

Some lawmakers were wary of adding a high-stakes fight to a bill they want to keep moving. The White House and some senators were said to be uneasy that the swipe fee fight might derail broader market rules being debated. Support and opposition cross party lines, which makes any final outcome uncertain.

Who Stakes Claim

Merchants and retail groups are vocal. They want lower costs now. Consumer advocates back measures that aim to lower everyday prices.

On the other hand, banks, many credit unions, and card networks say their systems are finely tuned to stop fraud and that any forced changes risk weakening those safeguards. Reports note that smaller financial firms worry about compliance costs that could hit their customers.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

Спрос на специалистов по блокчейну Биткоина вырос за год на 6% — число вакансий увеличилось с 1707 до 1801, сообщили специалисты платформы Bitvocation. Лидером найма подобных работников названа майнинговая компания Riot Platforms.

Cardano’s price and the sentiment of investors are demonstrating a divergence that is crucial in the altcoin’s short-term and long-term performance. Despite the waning price action over the past few days, seasoned investors are showing robust interest in ADA as they continue accumulate the altcoin.

Big Brains Are Buying Back Cardano

Even with heightened volatility in the market, major Cardano investors are jumping into the market at a steady pace. Santiment, a leading market intelligence and on-chain data platform, reported that smart money seems to be quietly positioning itself in Cardano, with seasoned investors building up ADA at a steady and encouraging rate.

In the research shared on the X platform, the platform highlighted that the smart money wallet addresses have been accumulating ADA while the token’s price is being suppressed due to the current market state. Interestingly, these individuals are gradually increasing their exposure during times of muted emotion and low volatility rather than chasing short-term price movements.

Typically, such buying activity among smart traders signals conviction in the token’s long-term prospects since smart capital often moves ahead of the general market’s enthusiasm. With the ongoing bullish sentiment from key investors, there is a possibility that the underlying market structure of Cardano is getting stronger.

The cohort appears to have been quietly buying more ADA for several weeks. However, smaller holders, who are also regarded as retail investors, have been offloading their stash during this period. In the last 2 months, wallet addresses holding between 100,000 ADA and 100 million ADA have acquired an additional 454.7 million ADA, which is valued at more than $161.42 million. 

Meanwhile, retail investors, those holding 100 ADA or less, have dumped over 22,000 ADA, worth $7,810 over the past 3 weeks. When cryptocurrency markets start to stabilize, Santiment stated that whales adding and retail dumping have traditionally created the ideal conditions for an eventual resurgence.

A New Landmark In Terms Of Total Transactions

Despite ADA facing steady volatility that has capped its upward attempts, the Cardano network continues to wax strong. The leading network is experiencing significant adoption and interest as transactions carried out on the blockchain have increased exponentially. 

Cexplorer, the most featured OG blockchain, announced that the network recently hit a new record level in total transactions. Data shared by Cexplorer shows that the total transactions conducted on the network since its foray into the cryptocurrency market have surpassed 118,400,000. 

With more value and interactions resting on the network than ever before, the growth indicates a growing appetite for Cardano and its broader ecosystem. Furthermore, rising transaction counts frequently indicate ongoing demand from users, apps, and developers as opposed to transient increases caused by speculation.

At the time of writing, the ADA’s price was trading at $0.35, indicating a 0.77% increase in the last 24 hours. Its price may be slowly turning bullish, but trading volume has sharply declined by more than 28% over the past day.

On-chain sleuth ZachXBT has revealed the identity of a threat actor who stole over $40 million from the U.S. government’s crypto stash. The White House has confirmed that it is looking into the situation but has not yet said whether its Bitcoin holdings were affected by the theft. 

How This Threat Actor Stole Over $40 Million From the U.S. Government Crypto Wallets

In an X post, ZachXBT revealed that threat actor John Daghita, also known as Lick, stole over $40 million from the U.S. government’s seizure addresses, as his dad owns Command Services & Support (CMDSS), which has an active IT government contract. CMDSS was awarded a contract to assist the U.S. Marshals in managing and disposing of seized and forfeited crypto assets. However, the ZachXBT noted that it remains unclear how John obtained access from his dad. 

The CMDSS company X account, website, and LinkedIn were all deactivated following ZachXBT’s revelation. Meanwhile, the crypto investigator had first drawn attention to John in an earlier X post, stating that the threat actor had been caught flexing $23 million in a wallet address. 

He noted that this wallet was directly tied to over $90 million in suspected thefts from the U.S. Government in 2024 and multiple other unidentified victims from November 2025 to December 2025. John revealed this crypto wallet during a heated argument with another threat actor, Dritan Kapplani Jr., in a group chat about who had more funds in their crypto wallets.  

The Source Of The Funds

Following John’s messages, ZachXBT traced the source of the threat actor’s funds to a wallet (0xc7a2) that received $24.9 million from a U.S. Government address in March 2024 related to the Bitfinex hack seizure, which was a theft from the government. John’s wallet (0xd8bc), which he showed off during the heated argument, is also said to be tied to $63 million in inflows from suspected victims and government-seizure addresses in the fourth quarter of last year. 

John quickly removed all of the NFT usernames from his Telegram account and changed his screen name after ZachXBT’s post. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the crypto investigator identified John as John Daghitia after rumors began circulating that the threat actor was the same person previously arrested in September 2025. However, it remains unclear for what John was arrested last year. 

Is The U.S. Government’s BTC At Risk?

White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt confirmed in an X post that they are investigating the theft and will provide an update soon. This development is also significant, as U.S. President Donald Trump has already signed an executive order that allocates all U.S. government Bitcoin holdings to the Strategic BTC Reserve. 

Based on the timeline of these thefts from the government’s seizure addresses, John looks to have stolen some of these crypto assets after Trump signed the executive order. Meanwhile, part of the theft occurred under the Biden Administration. There has yet to be confirmation from the government on how much BTC it holds. However, BiTBo data shows that the U.S. government currently holds 198,012 BTC.

В селе Майданское Унцукульского района Дагестана полицейские остановили работу подпольной майнинг‑фермы, которую организовал 52‑летний местный житель.

SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom, who previously led BlackRock’s digital assets strategy, framed the Ethereum-versus-Solana debate as a mismatch between narrative and actual institutional behavior: TradFi firms may praise speed and low fees, but the highest-value financial use cases are gravitating to networks optimized for trust, security, and liquidity.

Why Ethereum Beats Solana

Speaking with CoinDesk’s Jennifer Sanasie on Jan. 26, Chalom said he would avoid positioning his view as opinion and instead point to what he called observable market signals. “Maybe I’ll just share facts,” he said. “The fact is that Ethereum has been around for 10 years. It’s the secure, trusted, and liquid ecosystem. And I talk about both the layer 1 mainnet as well as the long set of layer 2s who help do that rollup strategy.”

That longevity, in his telling, matters because institutions aren’t selecting chains the way consumers pick apps. They’re selecting settlement rails for moving money, tokenizing assets, and representing ownership, workflows where operational failure and security assumptions are existential. Solana, Chalom acknowledged, has carved out a reputation for performance. But he drew a hard line on reliability. “Solana has been fast and cheap but it has not been secure. It has had downtime,” he said, arguing that downtime risk is disqualifying for “high value projects.”

Chalom’s thesis is that when the use case is “tokenizing assets” and “moving money,” the decision criteria compress into three buckets. “The real institutions who care only about three things,” he said, are “trust, security, and liquidity.” On that basis, he argued, “they’re building on Ethereum for high value projects,” adding: “It’s happening on Ethereum.”

He also anchored the comparison in stablecoin and tokenized-asset activity, citing a sharp share gap as evidence of where the market is allocating serious volume. “More than 65% of stablecoins and tokenized assets are happening there,” Chalom said, describing that as “10x what you see on Salana.” He reinforced the directional claim immediately after: “Ethereum leads in high quality assets in DeFi, tokenization, and stable coins by a factor of 10 to one over Salana. And that gap is only getting larger.”

Still, Chalom did not argue for a single-chain world. Instead, he mapped Ethereum and Solana to different product surfaces based on security tolerance. “I do think there’s a role for cheap, fast, less secure chains,” he said, and suggested Solana’s comparative advantage shows up where finality speed and cost trump institutional-grade assurances. “I think Solana will win in the memecoin, maybe the gaming space where actually security matters a lot less and speed matters more.”

The subtext is a segmentation story: Ethereum as the default rail for high-value, regulated, reputation-sensitive flows; Solana as the venue for high-throughput consumer and speculative activity where users accept different risk tradeoffs. Chalom insisted this is not about persuasion so much as migration patterns. “It’s not my perspective,” he said. “People are voting with their feet.”

Notably, SharpLink Gaming (Nasdaq: SBET) has emerged as one of the largest corporate ETH holders, with public trackers putting its holdings at roughly 864,840 ETH (about $2.5B at recent marks).

At press time, ETH traded at $2,921.

Эмитент крупнейшего по капитализации стейблкоина USDT, компания Tether, объявила о выпуске привязанного к доллару США стейблкоина USAT, созданного специально для американского рынка.

As Bitcoin’s price continues to face downside pressure and performance, speculation about BTC’s price bottom has grown significantly within the sector or community. However, to accurately determine whether BTC has reached a bottom is highly dependent on on-chain data from several metrics, which are now showing that the bottom is not yet in.

Bitcoin May Not Be Done Correcting

Determining the Bitcoin price bottom has become quite difficult in the ongoing market cycle. In the meantime, several key on-chain metrics are flashing caution and showing data that suggests that the flagship cryptocurrency asset may not have fully found its bottom yet for this market cycle.

After an on-chain analysis, Alphractal, an advanced investment and on-chain data platform, outlined that the BTC market is witnessing steady bleeding, but the true bottom has not been achieved yet. The platform’s analysis is focused mainly on two key metrics, which include the BTC Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) and the BTC Delta Growth Rate (Market Cap vs. Realized Cap).

These indications suggest that the market may still be dealing with excess supply and uncertainty, as evidenced by the ongoing pullback in BTC’s price. With the bearish signal from the two indicators, it is clear that the confirmation of a true bottom could need extended data-driven validation or more time.

As seen on the chart, the Net Unrealized Profit/Loss metric has started to drop, suggesting that unrealized gains across the network are starting to compress. In spite of the decline, the metric is still in positive territory. This implies that market participants continue to remain in profits rather than losses.

Alphractal highlighted that the true cycle bottom historically only unfolds once the metric flips negative, entering full capitulation mode. Meanwhile, the BTC Delta Growth Rate is already demonstrating negative movement, signaling the end of speculative activity and the start of the fundamental accumulation phase.

Bearish Outlook Has Intensified Along With BTC’s Price Drop

Following a pullback last weekend, the Bitcoin price is now trading below the $90,000 mark again. According to Swissblock, an investment pioneer, recent price action has reinforced the bearish outlook of the market. 

As the crypto king loses key support at the $89,200 level, the Bitcoin Risk Index is seeing a steady climb, heightening the general bearish sentiment. However, the platform noted that Bitcoin bulls are persistently holding a critical line of defense at the $84,500 mark, which is currently serving as the immediate target for the downside. Swissblock has outlined two separate scenarios that could play out in the upcoming sessions. 

For the bullish case, the platform predicts that if the $84,500 support holds, a liquidity sweep could occur at this point. At the same time, the Risk Index begins to cool off, channeling a high-conviction entry for long positioning. Breaking down the bearish scenario, Swissblock noted that a decline and consolidation below the $84,500 level would likely spark a deeper correction, targeting new lows below the November levels with a primary target at $74,000.