Cryptopolitan

Semiconductor manufacturer and Nvidia partner TSMC reported its fourth quarter profit on Thursday, posting a 35% increase and setting a new record as demand for AI chips stayed strong.

TSMC’s net income came in at NT$505.74 billion, beating the NT$478.37 billion expected by analysts tracked by LSEG SmartEstimates. The company’s eevenue reached NT$1.046 trillion, or $33.09 billion, also ahead of the NT$1.034 trillion forecast.

The company has now delivered eight straight quarters of year over year profit growth. December quarter revenue rose 20.5% from a year earlier and crossed NT$1 trillion for the first time.

AI and high performance chips drive quarterly results

TSMC continues to benefit from the surge in artificial intelligence hardware spending. The company produces advanced processors used by major clients such as Nvidia and AMD, and this work is now the main engine of its business. Its high performance computing unit, which includes AI and 5G products, made up the largest share of sales in the October to December period.

Advanced chips sized 7 nanometers or smaller accounted for 77% of total wafer revenue during the quarter. Smaller chip sizes allow faster speeds and better energy use, which is why customers keep ordering more of them.

“The demand for AI remains very strong, driving overall chip demand across the entire server industry,” Counterpoint Research senior analyst Jake Lai said. With TSMC’s ongoing 2nm capacity expansion and new production contributing to revenue, along with continuous expansion of advanced packaging… TSMC is expected to maintain strong performance in 2026.”

TSMC’s relationship with Apple, Qualcomm, and Nvidia

TSMC still gets a big share of its business from Apple’s iPhone and smartphones that run on Qualcomm’s high-end processors.

That exposure matters because the memory shortage is expected to hit phone sales hard in 2026, with Macquarie Capital predicting that global smartphone shipments will fall 11.6% year over year, which could weigh on volumes tied to mobile devices.

TSMC is also expected to play a central role in a coming US–Taiwan trade deal. As part of that process, the company is likely to commit to building more chip fabrication plants on American soil. That would add to its existing plan to invest up to $165 billion in the US, one of the largest overseas manufacturing pushes in the semiconductor industry.

Outside the United States, TSMC is moving ahead with new factories in Japan and Germany. These projects are part of a broader push to spread production across key regions while keeping its most advanced chip development anchored in Taiwan.

On the demand side, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said this month that appetite for AI accelerators remains strong. His view lines up with comments from AMD CEO Lisa Su, who said demand for AI computing power and the number of users are still climbing.

The global rush to build AI data centers has turned into a spending wave of more than $1 trillion in planned investments. That surge has helped TSMC post over 30% annual sales growth over the past two years.

TSMC results landed on a mixed day for Asia Pacific markets. South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.57%, while the smaller Kosdaq was flat. The won weakened about 0.2% to 1,466.6 per dollar. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.05%, while Topix added 0.15%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.46%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.66%, and China’s CSI 300 slipped 0.42%.

Market data showed the ASX 200 at 8,861.70, up 41.10 points. The Hang Seng stood at 26,868.36, down 131.45 points. Japan’s Nikkei closed at 53,870.94, down 470.29 points. India’s Nifty 50 fell 0.26%, and Shanghai ended at 4,106.687, down 19.406 points.

The Japanese yen strengthened slightly to 158.34 per dollar after hitting an 18 month low earlier in the week.

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Toyota shares jumped 4% on Thursday to hit a new all-time high right after the company raised its buyout offer for Toyota Industries to over $35 billion, a major increase from last year’s bid.

Shares of Toyota Industries itself rallied by nearly 6% to 19,080 yen, going even higher than the new offer price of 18,800 yen.

Late Wednesday, Toyota said it would pay 18,800 yen per share (about $118.11) to buy out the rest of Toyota Industries. That’s a 15%+ increase from the earlier 16,300 yen per share offer it made last June. The goal is to fully privatize the company.

Toyota Industries says raised buyout price is still not enough

Let’s back up. Last year, Toyota tried to buy the entire Toyota Group, a corporate giant in Japan, for 4.7 trillion yen. Part of that deal included 1 billion yen from Chairman Akio Toyoda’s own pocket and 700 billion yen in non-voting preferred shares.

But by December, Toyota Industries pushed back. They said the deal wasn’t good enough and asked for more money. That move now looks like it worked.

But there’s still some pushback. The new price is still under the middle of the range suggested by an independent adviser. That suggests Toyota Industries might still be undervalued, even with the increased offer. And the fact that the stock price has already jumped beyond the revised offer only adds to that.

Toyota Industries, which started the Toyota brand decades ago, isn’t just some side business. It builds forklifts, engines, electronic parts, and metal stamping tools. It’s got its own weight, and the board clearly knows it.

On the operations side, Toyota isn’t having the easiest time. Its latest report showed global production dropped 5.5% in November, down to 821,723 vehicles. That was the first year-on-year decline in half a year. Global sales also fell 2.2%, with the Chinese market slipping after the government pulled back subsidies.

To make things worse, Toyota said U.S. tariffs are going to hit hard. They estimate a 1.45 trillion yen (over $9 billion) dent to their current fiscal year, which ends in March. That’s not pocket change.

Even with the hits, they’re still spending. Back in November, Toyota said it would invest $912 million across five factories in the Southern U.S. states. That’s part of a wider plan to sink up to $10 billion into U.S. operations by 2030.

In Europe, Toyota sold 1,143,963 cars in 2025, holding its spot as the second best-selling passenger car brand across the continent. Its electrified mix hit 77%, a 5% increase from the previous year. Inside that number, battery electric vehicles rose 46%, plug-in hybrids jumped 76%, and hybrid models went up 3%.

Commercial vans are doing well too. The Toyota Professional light van range hit 158,270 units, a record, and a 19% rise from the previous year.

Sales boss Till Conrad said, “We are very proud to deliver another strong sales performance in Europe during 2025… We have continued to introduce new, exciting models to our line-up, among them the Aygo X Hybrid, new RAV4, and battery electric Toyota C-HR+ and Urban Cruiser, with more new products coming in 2026.”

And the EV push continues. Plug-in hybrid sales hit 71,845, up 91% year-on-year. Battery electric vehicles sold 51,919 units, a 53% increase. Big growth came from strong demand for the new C-HR plug-in hybrid.

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US President Donald Trump has enacted a 25% tariff on imports of specific cutting-edge semiconductors as part of a major deal that enabled Nvidia Corp. to effectively ship Taiwan-made H200 artificial intelligence processors to the Chinese market. 

Concerning the president’s order released on Wednesday, January 14, sources close to the situation, who wished to maintain anonymity due to the confidential nature of the matter, noted that the government was instructed to tax the chips immediately upon arrival in the US before being sent to clients based in China and other nations. 

Trump participates in the Nvidia-China deal, with the imposition of a 25% tariff

Nvidia, which designs the H200 processor, depends on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for its production and received approval from the Trump administration in December to sell the chip to China.

Speaking at a signing event on Wednesday, President Trump said the 25% tariff was “not the highest level, but a very good level,” adding that strong demand from China and other markets would allow the US to capture a share of the sales.

Trump has delayed tariffs on a broader range of imported chips after a Section 232 investigation found they could pose national security risks. In his proclamation, he directed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to negotiate import agreements and report back within 90 days, while a White House fact sheet signaled that new tariff rates and incentives for domestic chip manufacturing could be announced soon.

At this point, a White House fact sheet was released, hinting at the possibility of Trump adopting new tariff rates and a program to foster domestic manufacturing very soon. 

On the other hand, Trump admitted in the proclamation that, “The 25% tariff affects a very specific group of semiconductors that are crucial to my administration’s AI and technology plans.”

Following his statement, the fact sheet highlighted that this group consists of the H200 and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s MI325X. However, analysts conducted research and discovered that Trump had granted an exemption for chips imported to support the development of the country’s technology supply chain.

Negotiations between Taiwan and leading tech firms hit up

Trump’s recent move in the tech ecosystem comes a day after reports revealed that the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security eased its established regulations for issuing licenses to export H200 chips to China. 

Following this news update, analysts weighed in on the situation. They alleged that Trump demanded an extra fee in return for permitting Nvidia to export its products to China.

Nonetheless, sources mentioned that the US is still required to implement further action before the tech giant can effectively send the chips to the Asian country. Some of these efforts include securing export permits from BIS. This approval process is expected to take weeks or even months. Surprisingly, it is unclear when this process will be completed.

Currently, goods produced in Taiwan are subject to a 20% tariff, imposed in August last year, when imported to the United States. For semiconductors, they are exempt from this tariff rate as Commerce officials investigate some of the national security concerns raised, which demand an answer on whether newly imposed tariff rates should be applied throughout the chip industry. So far, the president has delayed the imposition of tariffs as negotiations between Taiwan and leading tech firms have stalled.

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CleanSpark, Inc., a leading US Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure company, has agreed to purchase 447 acres of land in Brazoria County, Texas, to construct large-scale data centers for AI and high-performance computing, as Bitcoin mining has become too expensive in relation to the profit margins.

The land acquisition, part of a definitive agreement announced on Wednesday, complements a long-term extension of transmission facilities that will enable 300 megawatts (MW) of immediate power demand, with expansion options up to 600 MW.

Together with CleanSpark’s existing Austin County site and power assets, the company is building a regional compute hub in the greater Houston area, with nearly 1 gigawatt of potential capacity, positioning itself as a major supplier of infrastructure for AI workloads.

CleanSpark is adding more power so it can serve more customers who use AI

CleanSpark acquired land near Houston due to the strong grid and large energy supply from the nearby ERCOT power market. The region has a high demand for AI computing and can supply electricity at a scale that many other markets can’t offer, which is a big advantage for the company.

AI and HPC data centers operate continuously, requiring a substantial amount of electricity every hour. For this reason, CleanSpark has signed long-term agreements that enable it to connect directly to high-voltage power lines, ensuring its machines receive the optimal amount of energy to maintain operations.

The company can now create campuses for data centers that expand without requiring renegotiation of access to power or rebuilding of infrastructure later. Access to direct transmission also reduces the risks of power limits, grid congestion, and delays that small local connections often face.

CleanSpark also wants its data centers to be located close together, allowing them to share resources easily. And since they already have another development site nearby, in Austin County, they can quickly achieve their goals and become more efficient than if each project were spread across different states.

Large AI customers require consistent power, predictable costs, and ample space to grow over the long term. The Houston-area and Austin County sites, combined, could provide up to 890 megawatts of power to help customers expand without disruption.

Some customers require direct grid access, while others prefer dedicated on-site power solutions close to their computing operations, so CleanSpark plans to support both front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter power setups across its developments in Texas. The data center developer wants customers to view it as a long-term partner in a market where reliable power is one of the most valuable resources.

Harder Bitcoin mining is pushing miners toward AI and faster computing

Bitcoin mining has become extremely expensive, and profit margins have shrunk even further due to increased competition in 2025, as more miners joined the market. Companies had no choice but to use more resources to maintain the same margins they had before.

Companies began seeking alternative sources of income, and since most large-scale miners operate sites with robust grid connections, they opted for AI and HPC. Unlike Bitcoin mining, whose profit margins have become unpredictable due to intense competition, AI and HPC have long-term agreements with steady payments, allowing miners to predict future revenue better.

Companies like CleanSpark can quickly integrate AI and HPC operations with minimal limitations on new construction, as the company has already been handling large amounts of power efficiently. The firm can now continue mining BTC where it makes sense and accommodate other projects that support long-term planning. 

Miners now want to reduce their dependence on Bitcoin because the prices are unstable and competition is high. Several firms have already modified parts of their operations to incorporate AI or computing, while others have announced plans to do so in the near future. 

Texas has become a favorite for miners making this transition because it has large amounts of available power, strong transmission infrastructure, and an increasing demand for computing services. 

CleanSpark aims to leverage its mining roots by transforming them into computing platforms and will continue to expand its portfolio in Texas, negotiating with potential partners who require co-location and large-scale compute campuses. 

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Investment bank TD Cowen analysts have revised their pricing prediction for Strategy, estimating it would be $440, down from their previous estimate of $500. 

They changed the plan because they believe the company’s methods of acquiring more Bitcoin could ultimately result in each share of the company being worth a little less. 

Strategy is acquiring Bitcoin quicker than the majority of analysts expected. It is now projected to acquire around 155,000 Bitcoins in fiscal 2026, up from 90,000. It intends to fund that accelerated acquisition by issuing more common shares and preferred stock. When a company sells more shares, each existing share represents a smaller piece of the company—a process called dilution—which can reduce the amount of Bitcoin attributed to each share and, in turn, its value

The analysts calculated that in 2026, the firm’s “Bitcoin yield” will be 7.1%. This is lower than their previous estimate of 8.8%, and much lower than the 22.8% yield in 2025. In simple terms, even though the company will get more Bitcoin, each share will benefit a little less because more shares are being issued.

Strategy snaps up Bitcoin while prices drop

Even though Bitcoin prices have been lower recently, Strategy has not slowed down. The company has been using the dip in Bitcoin prices to buy more. For example, in the week ending January 11, 2026, the firm sold approximately 6.8 million shares of its regular stock and 1.2 million shares of its special preferred stock, designated as STRC. This raised around $1.25 billion. Nearly all of this money was used to buy an extra 13,627 Bitcoins.

The analysts said that many people might have expected Strategy to slow down, since the company’s Bitcoin price seemed very low. But Strategy chose to continue buying aggressively. The analysts believe the company made this decision because they expect Bitcoin prices to go up again in the future.

Because most of these new Bitcoin purchases were funded by selling shares close to their current value, they did not increase the “Bitcoin yield” much. In other words, while the company bought more Bitcoins, the benefit for each share was small.

The analysts believe this strategy only works if Bitcoin prices rise, which they consider likely due to improved regulations from governments and stronger economic conditions.

Strategy drives growth and prepares for bigger Bitcoin gains

TD Cowen’s analysts expect Strategy to keep selling shares and preferred stock as long as Bitcoin prices stay low. They predict that by December 2026, the price of Bitcoin could reach around $177,000. By December 2027, the price is expected to increase to approximately $226,000. As prices rise, the Bitcoin yield per share is expected to improve in 2027, meaning each share will represent a greater value of Bitcoin again.

Even though the analysts lowered the price target and expect a smaller Bitcoin yield in the short term, they still think Strategy is a good way for people to invest in Bitcoin. They said the company’s preferred stocks could provide investors with both income and the opportunity to make a profit if the stock price increases. For example, they highlighted the senior STRF preferred shares, which could offer a return of approximately 30%.

The analysts also mentioned news about MSCI, a company that makes indexes for investors. MSCI recently decided not to remove Bitcoin treasury companies, such as Strategy, from its indexes. This is good news for Strategy in the near term. However, the analysts cautioned that uncertainty could persist in the future. They explained that big investors, such as BlackRock, make a significant amount of money from Bitcoin investment products, and sometimes these investors may view companies like Strategy as competitors. This could influence decisions by index makers in the long term.

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The Sui blockchain, a rapidly growing cryptocurrency network for sending and receiving transactions, has been restored and is now operational after nearly six hours of downtime. The outage that began in the afternoon halted transactions and froze over $1 billion in value on the network. 

The Sui Foundation, the blockchain’s organization, acknowledged the problem at 3:24 p.m. UTC on X and reassured users that core developers were currently working to resolve the issue. “The Sui network is now back and fully operational. Transactions are flowing normally. If you continue to experience issues, please refresh your app or browser window. Thanks for your patience. We will share a full incident review in the coming days,” the Foundation said.

According to the Foundation, the team began investigating the problem at 2:52 pm UTC and resolved it at 8:44 pm UTC, restoring the network after 5 hours and 52 minutes. The outage was described as a “Consensus outage,” a technical issue that prevents the blockchain from confirming transactions. The Foundation has not yet explained what caused the problem.

Sui is a Layer 1 network developed primarily by Mysten Labs, a team spun out of Meta’s canceled Diem stablecoin and wallet project, similar to rival high-throughput networks like Aptos. The network has reportedly seen steady growth and investor interest, having surpassed $10 billion in 30-day DEX volume around the time 21 Shares announced its intention to launch a leveraged ETF tracking its native token.

Sui faces its second major outage

The incident on Wednesday is the second severe outage of the Sui network since it began operating in May 2023. The first occurred in November 2024, when the high-speed blockchain developed challenges over time. 

Other networks, such as Solana, have faced comparable issues in the past. Solana has not experienced outages in the last 18 months, at least in part due to emergency updates that enable validators – computers responsible for maintaining the network – to engage in more effective communication and address critical issues more quickly.

Blockchain outages may include 51% attacks, technical errors, and other issues. A typical error occurs in this case, as nodes, i.e., individual entities responsible for processing transactions, are unable to synchronize with each other, resulting in the blockchain becoming offline.

Software bugs may be another error vector, where outdated code can render the network’s processes inoperable. Just last week, Solana’s status account on X urged validators to upgrade to a new version featuring a “critical set of patches.” Updates like these are made to prevent downtime and ensure seamless transaction continuity. Even high-speed blockchains are vulnerable to technical failures, as the comparison suggests, so preventive maintenance can help avoid such scenarios.

In a related development, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has recently suggested that decentralized applications (DApps) could help address recurring issues with internet infrastructure. Citing events like the major Cloudflare outage in November, he emphasized the need to strengthen and stabilize online systems.

Following these ongoing issues with internet infrastructure, Buterin shared an X post dated Thursday, January 1, arguing that Ethereum needs to put in extra effort to attain its goal of developing the world computer, which functions as a key infrastructure piece of a freer and open internet.

Afterwards, he asserted that this strategy starts with DApps that carry out their activities without fraud, censorship, or interference from third parties. Ethereum’s co-founder also noted that DApps can be broadly utilized on the blockchain.

Sui token surges briefly during network issue

Sui’s native token, SUI, held roughly the same throughout the outage. CoinGecko data showed that the token’s price jumped by 4% upon news of the network issue, before returning to around $1.84.

Market reactions to the outage and subsequent service recovery may have triggered the temporary spike. Despite the pause in transactions, investor and user confidence in the network is not only indicative of the increasing acceptance but also indicates the rapidity with which the Sui team was able to resolve the problem.

The Sui Foundation is still investigating the root cause of the “Consensus outage,” but users can now resume normal activity on the network.

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Big and established tokens are also sought by investors to gain stability and value in the long term. However, once that material gets into long periods of consolidation, a lot of traders will start to scan smaller projects with greater potential upside before landmark protocols. A single cheap crypto that sells under $1 has attracted interest as capitals are shifting towards smaller tokens like Binance Coin (BNB) onto the new opportunities powered by product development and the structure of mechanics.

Binance Coin (BNB)

One of the leading cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization has been Binance Coin or BNB. The price of BNB usually shows the movement in the wider crypto sector, such as the use of exchanges, staking, and the overall mood in the market. According to the latest information, BNB costs approximately between $900, and the market capital of the token is more than $120 billion, which is one of the biggest in the industry.

Price charts demonstrate that BNB has been experiencing resistance at the arrears of established technical levels, which have been halting positive upward movements in the recent periods. Price rallies have been halted at resistance zones of about $900-$1000 several times over. 

Areas of support which are below the current levels indicate consolidation as opposed to the sudden breakout behavior. This dynamic is not new to large assets such as BNB where large moves often demand large capital inflows or new drivers of usage in addition to the normal exchange capabilities.

What Mutuum Finance (MUTM) Is

Although larger assets such as BNB tend to fluctuate within the broad market bands, new cryptocurrency projects that are closer to reaching major utility phases can attract specific investors to them. Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is one of such projects.

Mutuum Finance is creating a protocol where lending and borrowing structures are done systematically through controlled mechanisms like collateral protections, interest rate logic, and liquidation implementation. Rather than hype, the utility story behind the token is pegged to actual involvement in credit markets which provide revenue streams and use statistics.

The MUTM presale was launched at the beginning of 2025 with a starting price of $0.01. The organized presale has progressed under several tiers of price and currently retails at an estimated price of approximately $0.04 in Phase 7. The confirmed launch price will be at $0.06 which will present a clear valuation support when the liquidity to the masses is made available.

To date, Mutuum Finance has raised more than $19.7 M and drawn in additional than 18,800 holders. Security preparation is also done: Mutuum Finance has been fully audited by Halborn Security, with a 90/100 Token Scan score of CertiK.

Price Prediction Contrast

Comparing the possible upside scenarios of BNB and MUTM, structural differences are obvious. The price behavior of BNB indicates that the stock will continue moving in a range unless there are new strong catalysts.

The technical and peer projections have a tendency to situate BNB in a medium growth range in 2026. Certain analysts may view 10-25% increases out of the current prices under cases of macro liquidity and with the exchange usage continuing to be robust.

On the contrary, Mutuum Finance is just at the adoption stage. Analysts model the scenarios of token revalues before the usage data with the protocol moving towards V1 protocol launch. Conservative pricing models set an early post-launch objective within the $0.10-$0.12 bracket since simple lending and borrowing indicators are starting to emerge.

An additional growth model that is related to the revenue mechanism, yield demand, and structural demand curve puts MUTM in a $0.24-$0.30 range with a longer horizon with the assumption that adoption increases once V1 and oracle/stack functionality are enabled.

This opposition explains why capital can move out of established giant tokens and into new crypto assets that have definite activations. As BNB is associated with the general trends in the ecosystem, and MUTM has its valuation heavily future-oriented, the risk-reward profile of the two is contrasting.

Whale Allocation Signals

Whales active have also been observed. Massive allocations into the current pricing phases would indicate the interest of bigger holders in trying to achieve lower exposure to the cost basis ahead of the higher pricing levels being shut down. 

Phase 7 is located right below the established launch price of $0.06, and allocation that is staying at this point is slowly becoming constrained. This supply window can narrow well before more attention is received as utility milestones are neared.

Structured phases of pricing, complete security stack indications, the presence of incentives to participate, and impending protocol release are some of the reasons why Mutuum Finance is on the radar of some investors along with other top crypto assets such as BNB, particularly when the price dynamics of BNB are range-bound or less aggressive.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan is forecasting a continuation — and potential acceleration — of capital inflows into the cryptocurrency market in 2026, driven increasingly by institutional investors following a record year in 2025. Analysts at the firm say the trend underscores growing confidence in digital assets as a legitimate investment class.

According to JPMorgan’s latest research, total capital flowing into crypto markets reached nearly $130 billion in 2025, marking a roughly one-third increase from 2024 and setting a new annual record.

This announcement followed Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, Managing Director of Global Market Strategy at JPMorgan, and his team’s public assertion that the projected surge in institutional investment activities for this year should be primarily driven by newly released crypto regulations, such as the Clarity Act in the United States.

Additionally, with these regulations present in the market, the JPMorgan executive claimed that more institutions will demonstrate heightened interest in embracing the use of cryptocurrencies and improve crypto-related activities like crypto venture capital funding, mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings in significant sectors comprising stablecoin issuers, payment firms, exchanges, wallet providers, blockchain infrastructure, and custody services. 

JPMorgan analysts anticipate an increase in institutional investment activities in the crypto industry 

To determine the total capital flows into crypto markets, JPMorgan analysts considered several key factors. These factors include flows from exchange-traded funds (ETFs), trends proposed by CME futures, fundraising for crypto ventures, and purchases of digital asset treasuries (DAT). 

Regarding last year’s rise, the analysts argued that the escalation primarily resulted from inflows into BTC and Ether ETFs, which, according to them, were likely driven by retail investors. Apart from this finding, they also discovered that DAT firms initiated considerable, off-strategy investments in Bitcoin.

As significant investments in the crypto ecosystem sparked excitement in the crypto community, sources noted that the industry also experienced a drastic decline in purchasing activity related to Bitcoin and Ethereum CME futures in 2025 compared to the previous year. At this particular moment, institutional investors and hedge funds reduced their engagement in the industry.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that in 2025, over 50% of the funds directed into digital assets, which were approximately $68 billion, originated from Digital Asset Trusts .

Strategy Inc. alone contributed around $23 billion of the total funds. This figure is comparable to the $22 billion specifically allocated for the purchase of Bitcoin in 2024. In addition, other DATs purchased approximately digital assets worth $ 45 billion last year, representing a sharp rise from the $8 billion recorded the previous year. 

As these publicly traded firms conducted these purchases, they did so at the beginning of the year. In October, they reduced their purchasing power. Some of the activities impacted by this decision included the purchases of significant players in the industry, such as Strategy and BitMine.

Crypto venture capital funding encounters sluggish growth 

Analysts noted that crypto venture capital funding also contributed to the broader flow of capital. However, they alleged that its contribution was significantly lower than the peaks recorded in the years 2021 and 2022. 

In the meantime, reports indicated that while the total number of crypto venture capital funding experienced minor growth last year compared to 2024, the number of agreements struck drastically decreased, driven by a shift in focus among individuals who opted for later-stage rounds. At this time, funding for early-stage initiatives also dropped sharply across the year.

To several analysts, the sluggish growth observed in crypto venture capital funding came as a surprise, given that US regulations are establishing a conducive environment for crypto-related activities.

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Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has withdrawn his support for the US Senate crypto market structure bill. He even called the latest draft worse than having no legislation at all. He mentioned that Coinbase could not support the bill after reviewing the Senate Banking Committee draft over the past 48 hours.

Armstrong suggested that the proposal would leave the crypto industry in a weaker position from now on. This comes in when the digital assets market is riding on a bullish wave. The cumulative crypto market cap spiked by 3% in the last 24 hours amid the bill being announced. Bitcoin is moving ahead to reclaim $98,000 while Ethereum looks to smash $3,500.

Coinbase CEO flags privacy risks

In an X post, Coinbase CEO stated that the company would prefer no bill to what he described as a bad bill. He added that the draft contains too many problems to fix through minor changes. He warned that the text would ban tokenized equities. However, it would also restrict DeFi activity and reduce user privacy by giving the government access to financial records.

As per his list, the bill would weaken the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It would expand the authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Armstrong criticised draft amendments tied to stablecoins. He said proposals that would limit or eliminate rewards on stablecoins. This move would allow banks to block competition. Such changes would protect incumbents rather than consumers.

He further wrote that “We appreciate the hard work by members of the Senate to reach a bipartisan outcome.” “But this version would be materially worse than the current status quo. We would rather have no bill than a bad bill.”

Coinbase would continue to engage with lawmakers and push for changes to the draft. Meanwhile, he remains positive that a better version could still come out through further negotiations.

Over 137 amendments filed

Massive comments were made to the public after US senators unveiled draft legislation for crypto. Lawmakers expect that the bill would clarify which regulators oversee different parts of the crypto sector if it becomes law.

The crypto industry has been asking for such laws for years after witnessing multiple hacks, scams, Rug pulls, and more. One of the main goals of the bill is to define when a digital token should be treated as a security or a commodity. This definition has been at the core of disputes between crypto firms and regulators. 

The proposal would give the CFTC authority to oversee spot crypto markets. That approach has been supported by much of the industry. Many firms view the CFTC as a more principles based regulator than the SEC. Banks have argued that paying rewards on stablecoins could pull deposits out of the insured banking system. They have warned that this could raise financial stability concerns if large amounts of money move into such products.

The draft has reportedly attracted more than 137 proposed amendments till now. Lawmakers expect several changes before any final vote. Meanwhile, Industry groups have accused banks of exerting heavy influence over the process. Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger said progress is being slowed by pressure from large financial institutions.

She said that banks are seeking to rewrite the bill to protect their market position. She added that proposals to eliminate stablecoin rewards are designed to limit consumer choice. This will also block new products before they can compete.

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Bitwise is expanding its presence in Europe with the launch of seven new crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) in Sweden. The product lineup is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, the main Swedish stock exchange, which trades in Swedish krona (SEK). 

The company noted that the ETPs were accessible to a healthy mix of both retail and professional investors, adding that they were available on standard brokerage platforms commonly used by Swedish investors. The firm also explained that, depending on the platform, some of the products could qualify for Sweden’s tax-advantaged ISK savings accounts.

During the announcement, the U.S.-based digital asset management company also said that Marco Poblete and Andre Havas have been appointed to help lead the company’s growth across the Nordic region, which includes Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland.

Bitwise combines crypto and traditional assets in new ETP lineup

The seven Bitwise ETPs in Stockholm offer several cryptocurrencies. Some are based on a single cryptocurrency, while others offer a wider range of digital assets or a mix of cryptocurrencies and traditional assets, such as gold. 

One of the new listings features a Bitwise Core Bitcoin ETP, offering straightforward exposure to the price of Bitcoin. Bitwise has launched spot Bitcoin and spot Ether ETPs, which are backed by actual tokens, including Bitcoin and Ether, held in secure facilities. This provides investors with assurance that real assets back the products. 

The company provided staking-linked ETPs tethered to Ether and Solana. These products link to a network using its staking facility. Staking helps to keep the blockchain secure and can earn rewards over time. 

Meanwhile, Bitwise also added its MSCI Digital Assets Select 20 ETP, which tracks the twenty largest cryptocurrencies by market value. These add to a single product that cuts exposure to multiple large digital assets. 

The digital asset management company is rolling out a hybrid product that combines Bitcoin with gold, appealing to investors seeking both modern and traditional stores of value. Gold has always been seen as a classic safe-haven asset.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin has sometimes been called “digital gold,” and the pairing is said to offer a healthy and diverse blend of the two. Bitwise underlined that the underlying crypto assets fully support all of these ETPs. The holdings are stored in institutional cold storage, where they are kept offline at secure facilities to help reduce hacking risk and improve security. 

Bitwise also pointed out that independent auditors verify the holdings every week, so investors can go away confident that everything is accurate and correct in their accounts.

Bitwise accelerates U.S. expansion

Bitwise has also been expanding in the United States, particularly in 2025, as American regulation of digital assets has become clearer. With clearer rules, there was less confusion and fewer enforcement worries for companies working in the crypto space.

In September 2025, Bitwise filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create a Stablecoin & Tokenization ETF. This fund is designed to track companies that work with stablecoins, tokenization technology, payment systems, exchanges, and regulated cryptocurrency funds. Tokenization refers to the process of converting real-world assets, such as property, art, or financial instruments, into digital tokens.

In October 2025, Bitwise launched a Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This allowed U.S. investors to gain exposure to Solana (SOL) and its staking rewards through a traditional financial product, rather than using a cryptocurrency wallet.

Then, in December 2025, Bitwise filed to launch a spot Sui ETF that would follow the price of the Sui token. Bitwise selected Coinbase to act as the custodian for the Sui assets. The SEC has not yet decided on similar spot Sui ETF filings submitted by Canary Capital and 21Shares.

According to Bitwise researcher Ryan Rasmussen, changes made by the SEC in September 2025 may enable the launch of more than 100 new crypto ETPs in 2026, thanks to the adoption of generic listing standards that facilitate faster and simpler approvals.

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Base App is redesigning its consumer application around a trading-first business model, based on early user reaction.

In an announcement by jesse.base.eth in an X post, the group indicated that the Base App is now going to make trading its main operation to bring demand and distribution to assets throughout the on-chain economy. The app, introduced in July, through which hundreds of thousands of individuals have created, traded, saved, spent, and built, is being rebranded as a key asset-trading and use hub.

User feedback drives trading-first focus

On his thread, jesse.base.eth explained the new direction as making the Base App trading-first, to have the ability to push demand and distribution of all assets, and to be the best app at whatever you do in the onchain economy. He has identified three key themes in user feedback. Several respondents have requested high-quality assets, and interaction with such assets is cited as one of the applications. 

Tl;dr: We’re focusing the Base app to be trading-first to drive demand and distribution for every asset and to be the best app for whatever you do in the onchain economy.

Since announcing the Base app in July, hundreds of thousands of you have used the app to create, trade,…

— jesse.base.eth (@jessepollak) January 14, 2026

The update showed that the Base App will be use-case-oriented and provide a broader selection of assets. It declared that on a tokenized and tradable world, the ambition is to move demand and distribution everywhere, and that the app would be the ideal location for trading and using all assets.

The change raised questions on the suitability of mini apps, which had been sold as consumer experience tools and onboarding creators, to the new focus. Juampi.eth, in a response, questioned the relevance of mini apps and stated that he considered the finance-first strategy to align with previous feedback. He stated that he was looking forward to seeing how the Base App evolves in what he referred to as a new tokenized era.

In reply to that, jesse.base.eth said that mini apps are still a priority. He said that miniapps will still be part of this vision, and the team is working on improving discoverability and refining tooling to measure their performance. The tooling has leaderboards and impact measures, including the number of people mini apps have onboarded. He further stated that the aim of transitioning to the trading-first model is to move more distribution, rather than less, which suggests that mini apps will also benefit from the distribution focus.

Armstrong outlines retail and multichain priorities

Brian Armstrong also shared some words on the development of the Base App. He confirmed that the product is still in iteration mode following its launch. In the future, Armstrong indicated that the app would target retail investors and traders, with the latter segment expected to grow. He further explained that the feed will be extended to cover a larger range of assets and assist all those building on the foundation.

Armstrong also indicated that the Base App will be multi-chain, with Base being its main focus, allowing users to access anything they desire onchain using the product. He stated that the goal is to establish an environment that enables innovation and onchain to build as a result of concentrating on introducing more demand.

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China is weeding out American technology to fulfill its goal of technological self reliance. Local firms in China have now been instructed to stop using cybersecurity from certain companies in the U.S. and Israel citing concerns that Western technology is vulnerable to cyberattacks. 

Chinese authorities have instructed local firms to stop using cybersecurity software produced by more than 12 companies from the United States and Israel. The decision is due to concerns that Western software could be used to collect and transmit sensitive Chinese data to foreign governments.

What cybersecurity companies are banned in China? 

The list of embargoed U.S. companies includes Broadcom-owned VMware, Palo Alto Networks, and Fortinet. Other major American firms affected are CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Rapid7, and McAfee. Even Alphabet-owned firms, such as Mandiant and Wiz, are included on the blacklist. 

The ban also targets some companies from Israel including, Check Point Software Technologies, Orca Security, and Cato Networks. CyberArk, which was recently purchased by Palo Alto Networks, is also on the list. Additionally, Imperva, which is now owned by the French firm Thales, has been restricted.

In reaction to the news, Broadcom’s shares dropped by more than 5% during Wednesday trading. Palo Alto Networks saw a decline of about 1%, while Fortinet fell by roughly 2%. 

CrowdStrike, SentinelOne and Recorded Future clarified that they do business in the country, but other companies like Fortinet operate three offices in mainland China and one in Hong Kong. Broadcom has six locations in China, and Palo Alto Networks has five. 

Why is China banning cybersecurity firms?

China and the U.S. are currently in a period of intense competition for the lead in technological innovation. Beijing has long promoted a policy known as “Xinchuang,” which aims to achieve self-reliance in the technology sector. 

Chinese officials have also expressed growing concerns that Western equipment is inherently vulnerable to hacking by foreign powers since Western cybersecurity firms frequently allege Chinese state-sponsored hacking. 

Check Point, for instance, recently published a report about a Chinese operation targeting European government offices. Palo Alto Networks also recently alleged that Chinese hackers were targeting diplomats worldwide. Beijing has consistently denied these allegations.

Chinese firms are also being pressured to switch to local providers like 360 Security Technology and Neusoft. The U.S. previously took similar actions against Chinese and Russian firms, banning Russia’s Kaspersky Lab software in 2024. 

Recently, China has also increased pressure on its state-owned enterprises to stop using Western consulting firms and hardware.

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DeFi advocacy group DeFi Education Fund has highlighted some of the proposed amendments that have been submitted by some U.S. senators regarding the proposed crypto legislation known as the CLARITY Act, warning that those amendments are anti-DeFi. 

DeFi Education Fund found eight amendments whose descriptions, it says, would “seriously harm DeFi technology and/or make market structure legislation worse for software developers.”

It called on senators to oppose measures submitted by Senators Jack Reed, Andy Kim, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Elizabeth Warren ahead of the committee’s consideration of the CLARITY Act.

The latest pushback is one of many that have been ongoing with regard to the CLARITY Act, which the Senate is attempting to pass before the 2026 midterm elections.

DeFi Education Fund’s post comes just one day before the Senate Banking Committee markup session, which will address the amendments filed by senators, some of which touch on developer protections, stablecoin yields, and anti-money laundering requirements.

What are the proposed amendments to the CLARITY Act?

DeFi Education Fund singled out proposals that would authorize Treasury to sanction smart contracts, narrow definitions of non-controlling developers, and expand FinCEN authority over blockchain platforms.

The group warned that Amendment 42, submitted by Senators Reed and Kim, would grant Treasury powers to sanction “smart contracts and centralized platforms facilitating illicit activity.” It also flagged while Amendment 75 by Senator Cortez Masto for proposing to prohibit transactions with unlawful DeFi protocols.

“We’re very conscious of how illicit finance is treated in the bill, but we need to make sure that there are not obligations put on codes instead of person, or make sure that there isn’t some inadvertent way that the technology is burdened in a way that it can’t comply,” Amanda Tuminelli, chief legal officer at the DeFi Education Fund, told CNBC.

The group has partnered with Stand with Crypto to score senators based on how they vote on amendments affecting DeFi and self-custody rights.

Senator Warren, who is one of the leading critics of the legislation, has submitted more than 20 amendments. DeFi Education Fund pointed out that the senator made Amendment 104, where she struck out “gratuitous distribution carveout for crypto offerings.”

Committee moves to debunk myths surrounding CLARITY Act

The Senate Banking Committee, led by Republican Chairman Tim Scott, released a “Myth vs Fact” document this week.

The committee debunked the myth that “the bill enables illicit finance to occur through decentralized finance (DeFi) trading protocols.”

The committee stated that the bill does the opposite. “It targets illicit activity while protecting lawful software development and innovation,” the committee wrote, adding that “code is protected — misconduct is not.”

The committee also debunked the myth that “the bill puts banks, taxpayers, and the financial system at risk.” It stated that “at its core, this is an investor protection bill. It brings digital assets into a clear regulatory framework, where bad actors are held responsible for fraud, manipulation, and abuse.”

According to the committee, the bill is designed to prevent a repeat of the FTX collapse and provide a “regulatory framework where investors are informed about material risks, insiders are prevented from manipulating markets, and bad actors are penalized.” It went further to clarify five other myths that have spread with respect to the bill.

The House passed its version of the CLARITY Act in July 2025 with bipartisan support by a vote of 294 to 134.

November midterm elections loom large

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has threatened to withdraw support if the Senate introduces restrictions on stablecoin rewards.

However, critics of the framework have claimed that it largely benefits established players such as Coinbase and Circle at the expense of smaller innovators.

Crypto advocates admit the urgency of speeding up this legislative push, with one eye on the November midterm elections. Depending on how those votes go, a lot of the legislative progress achieved could skid off the rails under a less conducive political climate.

The Senate Banking Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee are expected to hold respective hearings on Thursday, January 15, 2026, on the CLARITY Act and also consider possible amendments.

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OpenAI has just entered into a major multi-billion partnership with Cerebras Systems, which is reportedly backed by Sam Altman. The partnership will see OpenAI purchase up to 750 megawatts of computing power over the next three years. 

Cerebras Systems is an AI chip startup building purpose-built AI systems to accelerate long outputs from AI models. It attributes its products’ speed to pairing massive compute, memory, and bandwidth together on a single giant chip to eliminate the bottlenecks that cause sluggish inference on conventional hardware. 

That is what OpenAI plans to capitalize on.

OpenAI signs deal with Altman-backed cloud computing provider 

According to an official statement from OpenAI, integrating Cerebras into its mix of compute solutions, is all about making its AI products respond more rapidly. This means that when users ask a hard question, generate code, create an image, or run an AI agent, the thinking process becomes faster so that the AI can respond in real time, allowing users to do more with it, stay longer, and run higher-value workloads.

According to the statement, OpenAI plans to integrate this low-latency capacity into its inference stack in phases, expanding across workloads.  

Sachin Katti of OpenAI had this to say about the development: 

“Cerebras adds a dedicated low-latency inference solution to our platform. That means faster responses, more natural interactions, and a stronger foundation to scale real-time AI to many more people.” 

According to her, this aligns with OpenAI’s compute strategy, which is to build a resilient portfolio that matches the right systems to the right workloads. 

Speaking about the partnership, Andrew Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Cerebras, expressed delight at the opportunity to partner with OpenAI as it means pairing the world’s leading AI models with the world’s fastest AI processor. 

“Just as broadband transformed the internet, real-time inference will transform AI, enabling entirely new ways to build and interact with AI models,” Feldman said.

The capacity is expected to come online in multiple tranches through 2028. The development comes as OpenAI continues to struggle under explosive demand and a severe shortage of compute resources. 

The company has been trying to wean itself off heavy dependence on Nvidia and major cloud providers like Microsoft and Oracle, though the move has also raised eyebrows, given what it means for Sam Altman, who is listed as an investor of Cerebras Systems.

OpenAI reveals partnership with SoftBank

OpenAI announced a strategic partnership with SB Energy⁠, a SoftBank Group company, as part of project Stargate⁠, and it has been touted as a significant step forward in the build-out of next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) and energy infrastructure in the United States. 

To support the partnership amid accelerating demand for AI compute, OpenAI and SoftBank Group have each pledged $500 million, which will be invested in SB Energy. 

OpenAI has also selected SBE to build and operate its previously-announced 1.2 GW data center site in Milam County. The equity funding will support SB Energy’s growth while it focuses on developing several multi-gigawatt data center campuses that are expected to launch service this year.

Communities push back against data centers

According to the official statement, each project will see SB Energy and OpenAI invest in communities by providing well-paying jobs, workforce development, and grid modernization, thereby facilitating durable economic growth for partner communities.

The Milam County Data Center is expected to create thousands of construction jobs and it has been designed to minimize water usage. There are also plans to support the Milam County Data Center’s energy needs while protecting Texas ratepayers.

All of those moves show that OpenAI is aware of the growing disdain from regular citizens living around data centers. 2025 saw an uptick in the spread of the Not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) movement as more people, tired of the noise pollution and water-consuming data centers in their neighborhoods, started clamoring for them to be dismantled or prevented from being built. 

In response to those grievances, companies have been working on better solutions like liquid cooling to replace the noisy HVACs and promises of durable economic growth for those areas. However, people remain skeptical, and many have downright refused, attempting to fight what they’re now calling a cancer.

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The cryptocurrency market is full of activity, with networks like Avalanche implementing token burns and exploring new applications for music royalties. In this dynamic setting, GeeFi is differentiating itself by focusing on practical utility and building a comprehensive, user-centric decentralized finance platform. The project has demonstrated considerable market appeal, with its presale successfully raising over $2.6 million. This strong investor support is fueling the development of an all-in-one application designed to make digital asset management more secure and straightforward for users everywhere.

Presale Success Indicates Strong Market Demand

GeeFi’s fundraising progress highlights a growing appetite for integrated crypto solutions. The project’s Phase 3 presale is now 90% sold out, showing a high level of confidence from its expanding community. A recent update to the GeeFi wallet, which introduced a direct in-app purchasing portal for the $GEE token, helped accelerate this momentum by simplifying the investment process. With only 3 million tokens remaining at the current price, the window of opportunity for early investment is quickly closing.

The Investment Case for the $GEE Token

The $GEE utility token is the cornerstone of the GeeFi ecosystem and presents a clear investment case. Currently priced at $0.10, the token’s value is structured to increase with each new presale phase, rewarding early supporters. GeeFi has also announced a public exchange listing price of $0.40, which represents an immediate 300% return for current-phase investors when the token becomes publicly tradable. Analysts are also looking at long-term potential, with some forecasts suggesting the token’s value could rise to $3 or more as the platform expands. A $1,000 investment at the presale price could become $4,000 at listing and potentially reach $30,000 as adoption grows.

Building a Unified Decentralized Finance Hub

GeeFi is allocating its resources toward developing a decentralized wallet that functions as a complete financial center. The project’s roadmap is focused on integrating features that improve both convenience and security for users. A major development is the creation of a native Decentralized Exchange (DEX) within the application. This will allow users to trade digital assets efficiently without leaving the security of the GeeFi environment, reducing the risks associated with third-party platforms. By offering these tools in a single interface, GeeFi is making decentralized finance more accessible to a broader audience.

Bridging Digital Assets and Real-World Spending

A significant component of GeeFi’s strategy is the launch of its own Cryptocards. This initiative is designed to solve a common challenge in the crypto space: the difficulty of using digital assets for everyday expenses. The GeeFi Cryptocard will allow users to spend their holdings at merchants around the world, effectively connecting the digital economy to traditional commerce. This feature turns the wallet from a passive storage tool into an active financial instrument, giving users the ability to manage and spend their digital wealth with ease.

Fostering a Strong and Rewarded Community

GeeFi’s growth model is built on cultivating a loyal and active user base. The project has introduced several programs to incentivize participation and reward its community. A staking mechanism allows $GEE holders to earn passive income while helping to secure the network. Additionally, a 5% referral program offers commissions in USDT to users who bring new investors to the platform. GeeFi also has plans for a bonus system to further reward its earliest supporters, reinforcing its commitment to shared success.

Conclusion

GeeFi is establishing a solid position in the crypto market by delivering practical solutions that address the needs of modern users. The successful presale, a clear development roadmap, and strong community-focused initiatives provide a durable foundation for future growth. By focusing on utility and accessibility, GeeFi is building a platform designed to simplify digital asset management and increase its real-world application.

Learn More

Website – geefi.io

Buy $GEE Token – hub.geefi.io/buy

Whitepaper – docs.geefi.io

Telegram Chat – @geefichat

Twitter/X – @GeeFiOfficial

Discord – discord.com/invite/geefi

Download App – geefi.io/download

CoinMarketCap – coinmarketcap.com/currencies/geefi/

Visa is now clearing stablecoin payments at a yearly rate of $4.5 billion, as demand picks up from companies offering crypto-linked cards. It’s still a tiny slice of the $14.2 trillion in payments Visa processed in 2025, but it’s growing month after month, according to Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto.

Sheffield told Reuters that Visa sees a real shot at staying ahead by helping stablecoins plug into the payment world we already use. “Even if you’re building something new with stablecoins, you still have to connect it back to the current system if you want people to actually use it,” he said. Right now, that system is still Visa’s turf.

Visa tests USDC settlements while stablecoins keep growing

Visa is already running programs tied to stablecoins, including cards that let users spend crypto. In December, it rolled out a pilot in the U.S. where some banks are allowed to settle transactions with Visa using USDC, the stablecoin created by Circle.

Still, Sheffield made it clear that things aren’t there yet when it comes to actually spending stablecoins at stores.“There’s no merchant acceptance at scale,” he said. That means people might hold USDT or USDC, but they can’t just walk into a store and use it. So, companies making stablecoin cards? They need a Visa to close that gap.

“They need Visa’s products and services more than ever to be able to actually get real customers using them,” he added.

USDT, issued by Tether out of El Salvador, has the largest circulation, about $187 billion worth. But even with numbers like that, people can’t use those coins at most shops. This is where Visa comes in.

Banks move into stablecoins, while traders drive most volume

Some of the world’s biggest banks are watching this very closely. Last year, Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Citi said they were looking at making their own stablecoins.

This came after growing talk that stablecoins could weaken how much control commercial banks have over global payments. In Europe, banks like ING and UniCredit went further. They teamed up to create a new company that’s building a euro-backed stablecoin, trying to reduce U.S. grip in digital payments.

Sheffield said he was “excited” about that. “I think the stablecoin story shouldn’t just be about dollars,” he said.

But while all this is happening, a big chunk of the stablecoin world is being driven by traders. A Visa-Allium Labs data tracker shows there’s now over $270 billion worth of stablecoins in circulation, more than double the $120 billion from two years ago.

But out of the $47 trillion in stablecoin transactions logged on blockchain, only $10.4 trillion was counted as real activity by Visa’s site.

Sheffield explained that the rest was cut out because it came from bots and high-frequency traders flipping coins across exchanges or doing other non-payment stuff. “We revised it down to remove volumes from high-frequency traders… and non-payment activity,” he said.

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In the crypto markets, the big cryptos can provide consistent value and rarely provide explosive value gains off of current levels because of their size. In this case, some investors switch attention to smaller assets when they are close to major protocol milestones in hopes of gaining bigger growth potential before utility becomes visible. This cheap crypto with a current price of around $0.04 is being mentioned due to a potential 800% appreciation as it nears some of the most tracked protocol launches ever.

Solana (SOL)

Solana (SOL) is trading at approximately the $140 mark at a market capitalization of over 78billion current making it among the largest cryptocurrencies. This valuation indicates a high level of network activity and widespread implementation in the smart contract applications and decentralized systems. Analysts appreciate SOL because of its throughput, low charges and broad application in the decentralized projects.

Nonetheless, current market action indicates that it has become resistant around the $150 area, where the market has developed stagnation in several consecutive sessions. The price charts have shown that SOL has failed to maintain a breakthrough beyond this scale and it is possible that the buyers are reluctant to act without a new trigger. 

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is one of those tracked new altcoins that is in presale. The sale began at a low price of $0.01 early in 2025 and it has since gone through a number of pricing stages. During Phase 7 MUTM is valued at approximately $0.04. The actual launch price is confirmed at $0.06 that the early backers can use to get a clear reference point when the liquidity becomes publicly available to support its valuation.

The protocol is now developed to establish ordered lending and borrowing markets in which users may provide liquidity and acquire yield or borrow by placing collateral through regulated rules. 

Security is one of the priorities: Mutuum Finance underwent a full audit of its smart contract by Halborn Security and achieved a 90/100 Token Scan rating on CertiK and a $50,000 bug bounty program to minimize the risk before it goes live.

Structural Differences and Upside Potential

The primary distinction between Solana and Mutuum Finance is the stage of each asset. Solana is already a huge capital network that has significant liquidity. Moving large assets require heavy inflows to move and, as such, it makes fast multiples more challenging.

Mutuum Finance is in a new crypto stage. MUTM is a nascent product and the price is based on progress of development and not on complete use. Since it is at the last stage of its pricing before introduction, token has an additional space to move after borrowing, lending, and mtToken policies generate quantifiable activity.

As an example of the variance, a stock holding of $500 in SOL at present can give small rewards in case the resistance is taken off and the general situation is positive. The same $500 dollars invested in MUTM at $0.04 would obtain approximately 12,500 tokens.

A number of analysts that simulate early-stage lending tokens envisage possible events that result in MUTM falling within a $0.18 to $0.24 band within the initial major usage period as long as borrowing demand and mtToken yields progress as planned. This would have approximately a 4.5x -6x upside versus the 10x -20x estimates found in hypothetical stories.

Protocol Launch and Phase 7 Importance

The second significant trigger to Mutuum Finance is V1 protocol release, which will enable live lending and borrowing markets, including collateral controls, interest logic, and liquidation logic. This shift between development and usage usually narrows the expectation gap and causes revaluation as the metrics of usage and revenue flows begin to emerge.

The fact that Phase 7 is immediately lower than the set price of the confirmed launch at $0.06 is vital to the participants. With the approach of the presale closing and the approach of the protocol being activated, allocation at lower pricing becomes narrower. A closing out stage (phase) can be an indicator of momentum and can create the liquidity period post-launch setting.

That is why analysts who talk about structural token pricing have an 800% upside scenario on MUTM at current levels where usage rises, liquidity gets consumed upon launching and demand based on revenue reinforces. This is a model using adoption curves like successful lending protocols of the early days.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

Jensen Huang’s Nvidia (the most valuable company on earth) has been getting slapped around on Wall Street for weeks, and it’s starting to get weird.

The NVDA stock is down 2.6% in 2026 so far, and even though it’s still up 38% over the last year, it’s clearly lost its grip compared to the rest of the AI gang.

And that’s with constant announcements and new gear flooding out of the pipeline. Earlier in the year, Cryptopolitan reported that Nvidia rolled out its Vera Rubin platform at CES, made a big noise about demand staying strong, and has continued pitching new AI products like it’s on a mission.

Q4 earnings season has officially kicked in, as you likely know, and Nvidia Day is coming on the 26th of February.

Investors are blaming weak AI sentiment for stock crash, not Nvidia itself

Freedom Capital Markets’ veteran tech analyst Paul Meeks says he still backs Nvidia hard and sees it going to $250 per share in the next two years. For anyone not holding the stock, he says it’s time to start buying.

Meeks also said that a major boost could come from Nvidia signing deals outside tech, like with General Motors or Johnson & Johnson, and also AI capex plans for 2026 from the cloud giants.

Chris Caso, an analyst at Wolfe Research, also still sees Nvidia as a leader, calling it his “favorite AI idea”. He pointed to the aforementioned Vera Rubin platform’s leap over the older Blackwell chips, saying the tech improvements let Nvidia keep pricing power and protect profit margins.

But Caso says the recent slump came from three main things: the late launch of Blackwell, fears about how long AI spending will last, and Nvidia possibly losing ground to custom AI chips built in-house by big players.

Rotation away from growth stocks added pressure on Nvidia’s stock

Hank Smith, head of strategy at Haverford Trust, says Nvidia’s weakness doesn’t mean any other company can overtake it, at least not anytime soon anyway. The analyst is waiting for the stock to crash around $150 to $160, where he expects tons of investors (both retail and institutional) to “rapidly buy the dip.”

Smith added that Nvidia is currently trading around 25–27 times forward earnings, which he says means it’s no longer in “nosebleed territory.”

But not everyone’s been scared off. On Wednesday, NVDA fell another 2%, but analysts doubled down on their bullish takes. Tristan Gerra at Baird called Nvidia one of his top ideas for 2026, citing its low multiple compared to other AI names and its dominant spot in AI data centers. He set a $275 price target, saying Nvidia has no serious competition in the medium term.

Gerra also rejected the view that Nvidia’s market share will fall once inferencing becomes more popular. “Hyperscalers own their custom chip designs,” he wrote, “but Nvidia owns all of its own IP.” That, to him, is a huge edge.

Stacy Rasgon at Bernstein also called Nvidia a top pick this week. He pointed to steady AI spending and a stock price that’s now far more reasonable than it was during the hype surge. Rasgon said the valuation is “extremely attractive” given Nvidia’s scale and tech pipeline.

Data from TradingView shows Sundar Pichai’s Alphabet has surged by 77% YTD, Lisa Su’s AMD has exploded 91%, and even Hocky Tan’s Broadcom is sitting on a 51% gain, all outperforming Nvidia.

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission concluded its review of the Zcash Foundation on Wednesday. The agency also informed the public charity that it doesn’t intend to take any enforcement action or other charges against Zcash Foundation regarding its crypto offerings. 

The SEC subpoenaed Zcash Foundation on August 31, 2023, in connection with an inquiry regarding certain digital asset offerings. The foundation stated that the outcome reflects its commitment to transparency and compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. 

Zcash network launches five new DNS seeders

We are pleased to announce that the SEC has concluded its review and informed us that it does not intend to recommend any enforcement action or other changes against Zcash Foundation regarding this matter. https://t.co/zjxfh3mmst

— Zcash Foundation 🛡️ (@ZcashFoundation) January 14, 2026

The SEC’s probe focused on regulations regarding anti-money laundering, economic sanctions, and securities. The announcement followed a 12% surge in the price of Zcash over 24 hours, which is currently trading at $437. On-chain data revealed that the digital asset has nearly doubled in the past three months, despite a decline in digital asset prices in October.

The conclusion of the SEC’s probe comes as the nonprofit organization announced an expansion to the Zcash Network Infrastructure on Tuesday. The foundation deployed five new DNS seeders in South Carolina, Oregon, Belgium, Germany, and Finland. Zcash Foundation currently has six ZF-operated seeders, with one in Iowa. 

The ZF-linked DNS aims to help new nodes establish their initial connections, enabling fast transactions on the network. The Zcash network previously relied on a flurry of DNS seeders operated by the Electric Coin Company (ECC), the Zcash Foundation (ZF), and Zcash Core developer Jack Grigg (str4d).

Zcash Foundation noted that the DNS operated by ECC stopped responding on January 8. The organization argued that ECC seeders had gone offline, resulting in slower-than-usual bootstrapping for new Zcash users. The hiccup reduced the number of available seeders, allowing additional infrastructure to ensure reliable peer discovery for users.

ZF acknowledged that multiple DNS seeders in different geographic locations will boost reliability. The firm believes it will ensure wallets and nodes can always find peers on the network, even during outages. The organization also noted that the initiative enhances performance by reducing startup times for wallets and nodes.

The Zcash Foundation stated that it’s considering additional deployments in other regions to further improve coverage and reliability. The organization also revealed that Shielded Labs is working to deploy additional seeders.

Zcash Foundation focuses on advancing privacy-preserving technology

After the resignations at Electric Coin Company, ZF maintained that it’s focused on advancing privacy-preserving financial infrastructure for the public good. The organization added that it’s making efforts to steward Zcash as a decentralized and open-source protocol.

ZF confirmed that no contributor, team, or organization controls Zcash, since its codebase is open-source. The organization revealed that Zcash’s consensus rules are enforced by independent node operators globally. Other organizations and contributors also support the development of the protocol.

Zcash Foundation stated that the structure ensures that changes within organizations do not compromise the integrity or continuity of the Zcash blockchain. The organization argued that the network continues to operate normally by continuing to produce blocks, settle transactions, and ensure users’ funds and privacy remain secure.

ZF revealed that it’s focused on maintaining and supporting the development of the Zcash protocol, as well as allocating funding for independent research and engineering. The foundation is also focused on supporting decentralization across governance and will also advocate for privacy in the protocol.

The organization stated that although transitioning within the ecosystem creates uncertainty, it’s important for users to distinguish between organizational shifts and the health of the network. ZF acknowledged that its network is independent of any single organization, board, or corporate entity. The firm stated that its network’s resilience and future depend on users, miners, researchers, developers, and organizations united by a shared commitment to privacy-preserving technology.

Zcash Foundation also maintained that it remains committed to transparency, continuity, and collaboration with all ecosystem participants. The organization has also promised to act in the best long-term interests of the Zcash network and community.

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