Crypto_GR

The S&P 500 index reached a new all-time high, going above 7,000 for the first time in history.
US President Donald Trump also reacted, saying: “America is back!!!”
Even with this new stock market record, cryptocurrencies did not react much. According to Newhedge, Bitcoin’s correlation with the stock market is still quite low, at around 0.39.

The company said it bought more Bitcoin, increasing its corporate $BTC holdings. Earlier, Steak ‘n Shake started accepting Bitcoin payments and promised to put all money from these orders into its Bitcoin fund.
Crypto payments have already helped the business. Sales went up by 15% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and by 18% in 2026. Including earlier purchases, Steak ‘n Shake now holds about 167–168 $BTC in total.

Tether has gathered more than 140 tons of gold, worth around $24 billion, making it the largest known private holder of physical gold outside governments and banks. By the size of its reserves, the company has already surpassed the official gold holdings of several countries, including Australia and Saudi Arabia.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino calls this approach “quasi–central bank”, saying that gold is a key asset in a world of growing geopolitical tension and declining trust in fiat currencies. In this context, Tether plans not only to store gold, but also to actively trade it, competing with major global banks.

I made many people rich, even people I don’t like.
The market reached 52 record highs, and Americans’ savings grew by $9 trillion. In one year, we brought in $18 trillion in investments. Biden did not even reach $1 trillion in four years.
We lowered interest rates, even though we have a bad head of the Federal Reserve. We call him “Jerome the Brake.” Soon I will announce a great new head of the Fed, and then you will see interest rates go down a lot.
I cut the trade deficit by 77%. Before, if someone reduced it by just 1%, they were called a genius. I reduced it by 77%.
We make hundreds of billions of dollars from tariffs. Before, other countries were taking advantage of us. Now they pay us. The USA has become a rich country.

The total value of stablecoins on the Ethereum network fell from $162 billion to $155 billion in one week. Analysts at CryptoQuant say this is the first decline in the current market cycle.
They believe this shows money leaving the market. Investors are changing stablecoins into cash and leaving the crypto market during the price correction.
Experts say this is bad for the market, because fewer stablecoins means less available money. CryptoQuant also reminds that a similar situation happened in 2021, before the start of a bear market.

Changpeng Zhao said in an interview with CNBC that he does not plan to return to manage Binance, even after receiving a full pardon from Donald Trump. He said the company is doing well without him, and the current management does not need his control.
CZ explained that he remains a passive shareholder. He advises governments and projects in the BNB Chain ecosystem and is also working on an education project called Giggle Academy.
Zhao also denied rumors about connections between Binance and the Trump family. He said there are no real business relationships.
He added that he will share more details about his time in prison and his exit from Binance in a book. The book is expected to be released in late February or early March 2026.

There is a stronger conflict in Congress about funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Democrats are ready to block the budget if money for DHS is not put into a separate bill with new limits on immigration enforcement officers.
Republicans refuse to compromise and insist on passing the full spending package, including funding for ICE and the Border Patrol. The situation is made worse because the House of Representatives has left Washington and because of the strong position of Donald Trump, who blamed Democrats.
If the two sides do not reach an agreement, funding for the federal government may end on January 31, leading to a shutdown. On Polymarket, the chance of this happening is estimated at 77%.

The growth of Web3 is no longer limited to finance. Gaming, immersive digital experiences, and creator-driven platforms now demand blockchain infrastructure that can operate at scale without compromising performance. @Vanarchain addresses this shift by building Vanar Chain as a high-speed, low-latency Layer 1 blockchain specifically optimized for creators and interactive applications.

Vanar Chain is engineered to handle complex on-chain activity such as in-game assets, real-time interactions, and AI-driven content without friction. Its architecture focuses on fast finality and consistent execution, allowing developers to design experiences that feel seamless to end users, even during periods of high network activity. This makes Vanar especially suitable for gaming studios and platforms that require reliability rather than experimental throughput.

The native token $VANRY underpins the entire network. It is used for transaction fees, staking, and ecosystem incentives, ensuring that validators, developers, and users are economically aligned. This structure supports long-term network security while encouraging continuous innovation and adoption.

As digital ownership becomes a core part of online interaction, Vanar Chain positions itself as infrastructure built for the next phase of Web3, where creators, not platforms, define value. With its performance-focused design and creator-centric tools, Vanar is laying the foundation for scalable, interactive, and truly decentralized digital ecosystems. #vanar

What differentiates @Plasma from many blockchain projects is not only its technical performance, but the philosophy behind its design. Plasma approaches blockchain infrastructure from a user-first and payment-first perspective, aiming to remove unnecessary complexity while preserving decentralization and security. Instead of forcing users to adapt to blockchain mechanics, Plasma adapts the blockchain to real financial behavior.

At its core, Plasma is built to support stable and predictable value transfer, an essential requirement for businesses, merchants, and everyday users. Network efficiency, fast settlement, and consistent execution are prioritized to ensure that transactions behave reliably under different market conditions. This focus makes Plasma suitable for use cases where trust, clarity, and timing matter as much as decentralization.

The $XPL token plays a foundational role in maintaining this balance. It is used to secure the network through staking, incentivize validators, and support the long-term operational health of the chain. Rather than acting only as a transactional asset, $XPL aligns economic incentives between infrastructure providers and users, reinforcing network stability over time.

Plasma also places strong emphasis on developer clarity and system modularity. By offering a clean, EVM-compatible environment, it allows teams to build applications with predictable behavior and minimal overhead. This encourages serious development focused on scalable products rather than short-term experimentation.

As digital finance matures, blockchains must evolve beyond raw throughput and focus on reliability, usability, and economic structure. Plasma represents this next stage of infrastructure, where technology serves financial reality, not the other way around. #plasma

On January 22, 2026, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) spoke at the World Economic Forum and pointed out three key areas for the next phase of growth in the crypto market: tokenization, crypto payments, and artificial intelligence.
According to CZ, today the only truly developed parts of the industry are exchanges and stablecoins. However, the future will be shaped by:
the tokenization of assets (including government assets),
the integration of crypto payments into traditional financial systems,
and the use of cryptocurrencies as native money for AI agents.
CZ also highlighted the size of Binance, with more than 300 million users and trading volumes higher than those of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
He added that the future belongs to fast and low-cost digital finance, and that physical bank branches will become less important in the coming years.

The vision behind @Plasma is clear from its design choices: create a blockchain that is not just technically advanced, but genuinely practical for everyday financial activity. While many networks aim to support multiple use cases at once, Plasma focuses on a specific and growing demand in crypto — efficient, scalable, and user-friendly stablecoin transactions.
Plasma is a Layer 1 blockchain optimized to handle high transaction volumes without sacrificing speed or security. Its architecture allows transactions to settle quickly, making it suitable for real-time payments, remittances, and on-chain financial operations where delays and unpredictable fees are unacceptable. This approach shifts the blockchain experience closer to traditional digital payments, while preserving decentralization.
A key component of the ecosystem is the $XPL token. Rather than serving a purely speculative role, $XPL is deeply integrated into the network’s functionality. It is used to secure the chain through staking, align incentives for validators, and support the long-term sustainability of the protocol. This creates a balanced economic model where network growth and security reinforce each other.
Another important aspect of Plasma is its compatibility with existing blockchain infrastructure. By supporting EVM standards, Plasma allows developers to deploy applications using familiar tools and smart contracts, reducing friction and accelerating ecosystem growth. This makes Plasma not just a standalone network, but a bridge between established crypto systems and a new generation of stablecoin-focused applications.
As adoption of stablecoins continues to expand globally, networks like Plasma play a critical role in shaping how digital money is transferred, stored, and used. With its targeted design, practical focus, and clear utility for XPL, Plasma positions itself as a serious infrastructure layer for the future of on-chain payments and decentralized finance. #Plasma