Cryptopolitan

The crypto market is being given a second look by investors, who believe the market is moving toward the direction of a stronger second quarter in 2026. The capital has been moving into new projects as opposed to the same large caps that supported the previous cycle. 

Preliminary feeling is that Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is one of the possible best cryptos to purchase currently ahead of Q2 rearranging performance rankings. Analysts believe that the next breakout can be made by altcoins that have some connection to real use and not tokens that operate based on memes or pure momentum. Mutuum Finance fits the thesis and the figures of its presale are beginning to support that.

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is a decentralized lending protocol. Users are allowed to lend, borrow and become liquidators. The protocol concentrates liquidity in a model that some commentators have likened to early Aave and Compound which they argue were some of the greatest cryptocurrency investments of their time.

The first market is called P2C. Other users borrow the assets in a common pool supplied by the lender participants. The suppliers are awarded mtTokens that indicate that they own a portion of the pool and the amount of interest they obtain over a period. 

The second market is P2P. It manages assets that do not necessarily fit well within a large communal pool and establishes a separate lending and borrowing setting with unique borrowing rates and Loan to Value limits. 

In the case that a user pledges a 70% LTV collateral, he or she is allowed to borrow 70% of the collateral. In case volatility drives the loan to exceed the safe level, liquidators will be able to settle some debt and acquire the collateral at a discount. The design also maintains the protocol in solution when the markets are moving very quickly.

The pre-sale has received massive interest. Mutuum Finance has collected $19.8 million in total. Over 18,800 holders participated and sold 830 million tokens. Mutuum Finance issued its presale at the beginning of 2025 at $0.01. Phase 7 started at $0.04, that is 300% growth since phase 1. The launch price is officially set to be $0.06.

V1 Launch and Security Confidence

V1 protocol is scheduled to be deployed on testnet. The team updates development show that there are Sepolia deployment and mainnet deployment. V1 also contains liquidity pools, mtTokens, debt tokens and liquidation bots. The first day one asset will be ETH and USDT with additional ones.

Security has been managed prudently. The audit of the V1 protocol was done by Halborn. MUTM token also received a CertiK scan of tokens at 90 out of 100. 

Certain analysts pin this degree of preparation towards the perspective that MUTM may end up being one of the finest cryptocurrency investments in the first half of 2026. Early price forecasts on the bullish side will have a value of more than the $0.10 to $0.14 range.

Stablecoin and Layer 2 Alignment

The on-chain lending is based on stablecoins and layer 2 networks. Stablecoins offer the predictability of prices to the borrower. The layer 2 networks facilitate gas costs that increase throughput and decrease liquidation friction. Mutuum Finance in its turn intends to align with these segments and provide stable collateral and low cost execution. 

In case the crypto prices move up, the collateralized loans demand is likely to increase. This explains why there are traders who have branded MUTM as the best crypto to invest in before the next liquidity cycle. They consider it a revenue associated altcoin, but not a story only presale.

In brief, Mutuum Finance has established itself as a new utility cryptocurrency with valid use, solid presale mathematics and legitimate launch implementation. When seeking the next big crypto, many investors believe MUTM has climbed that list with increased confidence.

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

Website: https://www.mutuum.com

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

Silver tanked -7.3% on Thursday, after peaking at an all-time high of $93.7515. That comes after a four-day rally that sent it up more than 20%.

Bitcoin stayed firm around $97,000 with $844 million of ETF inflows on January 14. Gold dropped 0.7%, while platinum and palladium lost more than 2%.

The NCAA has requested the CFTC to put a hold on college sports betting on prediction markets, emphasizing its negative effects on student-athletes. NCAA president Charlie Baker told CFTC chairman Michael Selig that the college sports association will work with the regulator to establish appropriate safeguards.

In a letter to the CFTC chair dated January 14, Baker expressed concern over college sports betting via prediction market trading. He noted that protecting the well-being of student athletes and the integrity of competition are of the highest priority to the NCAA. Baker believes the growth and nature of college sports betting on prediction markets pose a significant threat to both. 

Baker’s letter comes almost a month after he strongly opposed Kalshi’s reported plans to offer wagers on events on the transfer portal.

Kalshi filed to accept bets on whether a player enters or withdraws from the NCAA transfer portal, or where the player would commit.

However, the prediction market platform later stated that it had no immediate plans to list those portal-related contracts. Baker also supported the delayed deployment of the portal-related contracts, noting that those markets pose a threat to the competitive integrity of the recruiting processes.  

NCAA president Baker stresses the need for proper safeguards 

The NCAA president emphasized the importance of establishing proper safeguards, including integrity monitoring, advertising and age restrictions, preventing prop markets, and anti-harassment procedures. According to Baker, Congress needs to stabilize eligibility, while federal regulators stabilize prediction markets to establish a single set of fair and transparent standards.

Baker further explained that the NCAA’s betting harm reduction program includes educating hundreds of thousands of student-athletes on the dangers of sports wagering. The association monitors over 23,000 contests annually for suspicious activity and conducts globally regarded research.

Baker mentioned that the NCAA advocates for over 1,100 member schools and more than half a million student-athletes.

“Given the potentially addictive and harmful nature of wagering on sports, most states restrict sports wagering to those at least 21, while college sport prediction markets often allow participants as young as 18.” 

–Charlie Baker, President of the NCAA

Baker believes that this minor oversight could heavily entice college students, as well as high school students, into engaging in these markets in a harmful way. He, however, noted that most states that allow legalized sports betting get a piece of the revenue to fund harm reduction programs.

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Social data from Santiment Feed suggests Bitcoin commentary on social media has turned more and more bearish as the coin’s price flipped its negative run to a 7% uptick in the last seven days.

According to Santiment, markets are moving in the opposite direction of retail sentiment. Bitcoin has crossed the $95,000 mark and is changing hands 1.82% above its value 24 hours ago, and some market watchers expect the price to continue climbing towards the end of this business week. 

However, social media is witnessing the most FUD seen in the last 10 days, which the social chatter analysis platform believes might push the king coin to its first revisit above $100K since last November.

Fear dominates social chatter as Bitcoin price hits $97,000

Santiment’s behavioral analysis chart, which tracks Bitcoin’s market value against the ratio of positive and negative commentary on social media, showed that when Bitcoin traded in the mid-$80,000 range 30 days ago, the market sentiment was extreme fear.

Greed, Neutral, Fear Index against the BTC price chart. Source: Santiment

Bitcoin spent large portions of late December in this zone, with prices consolidating well below $90,000, and traders doubting any possibility for a near-term upside.

When the calendar turned to January, sentiment briefly moved into the neutral zone and pushed Bitcoin above $93,000 for the first time in weeks. But that equilibrium did not last enough to map the largest coin by market cap’s course to six figures.

On Wednesday, bulls finally put up a fight for BTC to climb up to a 2-month high of $97,500, but according to Santiment, the market does not currently believe it can sustain its rally. The platform suggested that this lack of conviction could become the catalyst for a positive price movement to $100,000.

Market bull index records historic lows, whale exchange inflows slump from December highs

Over the past six years, the Bitcoin Bull Score Index has dropped to 20 or lower only seven times. According to CryptoQuant’s BSI index, the market is currently within the seventh instance of a low bullish sentiment.

Yet, Binance exchange flow since the beginning of 2026 counted whale transfers reaching approximately 15,800 BTC, significantly lower than December’s total of about 37,133 BTC. Binance whale inflows so far this year amount to 42.5% of the volume recorded in December. 

When compared with the total Bitcoin transferred to Binance since the New Year, nearly 75,800 BTC, whales accounted for only 20.85% of total inflows.

Lower whale activity on exchanges spells the end for selling, and when coupled with a 10% price uptick in the last two weeks, Bitcoin holders might be confident of a six-figure comeback before the end of January.

Moreover, Glassnode analysts mentioned that long-term holders are realizing profits at a far slower pace than during the previous cycle, which could further lessen the sell signals on the market.

The Long-Term Holder Supply Distribution Heatmap shows a dense cost-basis cluster between $93K and $109K, forming a substantial overhead supply zone.
Any sustained push higher must first absorb this supply, with a decisive breakout above this range typically required to reopen… https://t.co/m1oD2wiuxl pic.twitter.com/3nKtF7cMbD

— glassnode (@glassnode) January 13, 2026

When Bitcoin traded well above $100,000 in last year’s peak spells, these holders were offloading more than 100,000 BTC per week in realized profits, equivalent to $9.62 billion, but they are now selling approximately 12,800 BTC per week.

“This moderation suggests profit-taking remains active, but far less aggressive than during prior distribution phases,” Glassnode said in a recent note.

Bitcoin support level peaks $90,000, old holdings yet to enter markets

According to CryptoQuant contributor Carmelo_Alemán, Bitcoin confirmed its new support level by breaking above the $94,200 resistance level and then surging to the $97,500 zone, amid the heavy pessimism seen on social media platforms. 

Alemán supported his theory with the Value Days Destroyed indicator, a chart of the average age of coins being spent on the network and by how long coins remained inactive before moving.

So far in January, the VDD reading is near a historical low of 0.53, which means that “young coins” are changing hands more than older holdings. Long-term investors are not aggressively distributing their positions, and the trend would likely continue as prices recover toward six-figure territory.

“When Bitcoin’s price rises while VDD remains low, the market tends to be in a healthy expansion phase, where demand absorbs the available supply without generating structural selling pressure. A sustained increase in the indicator would signal distribution from long-term holders,” the analyst concluded.

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Wikipedia is taking a new approach to make money by charging big tech firms for the massive amount of data they use. On Thursday, the group that runs the site announced a string of deals with names like Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon.

For years, the Wikimedia Foundation has watched tech giants use its free articles to build their products. Now, the non-profit is finally turning that reliance into a source of income. Over the last year, they have signed up newer players like the AI startup Perplexity and France’s Mistral AI. These companies join a growing list that already includes Meta and Amazon, as well as Google, which signed a deal back in 2022.

High costs of AI training

Wikipedia’s data is a tech treasure trove. Chatbots and virtual assistants are trained to speak and respond to inquiries using its 65 million articles, which are authored in more than 300 languages. However, there is an additional expense. Wikipedia’s servers are heavily taxed when these businesses “scrape” or extract massive volumes of data from the website. These expenses are typically covered by modest contributions from the general public, but the increased demand from AI businesses has increased those expenses.

To solve this, Wikimedia is pushing its “Enterprise” service. It allows big companies to pay for the content they need in a format that works better for their high-tech systems. Lane Becker, who leads the Enterprise branch, said these companies realize they need to help fund the site if they want it to survive. He said it took some time to figure out exactly what features to offer to get companies to switch from the free site to the paid version.

Supporting the volunteer community

The site itself is still kept running by a massive team of 250,000 volunteers who write and check the facts for free. Tim Frank from Microsoft said that having access to honest, high-quality info is a big part of how they see the future of AI. He noted that by working with Wikimedia, they are helping to keep a system where the people who write the content are still supported.

Amidst these business changes, the foundation is also getting a new leader. Bernadette Meehan, a former U.S. Ambassador, is set to take over as chief executive on January 20.

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Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams has dismissed the accusations raised against his involvement with the NYC Token, a newly released speculative cryptocurrency that he promoted, as false. Some had speculated that he transferred funds from the wallet associated with that token, while others claimed that he profited from it.

The Solana-based digital asset briefly surged to a market valuation of nearly $580 million but collapsed swiftly, leaving many investors deeply in the red. As accusations surrounding Adams continued to mount and the ongoing debate in the ecosystem heated up, Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Adams, shared an X post stating that, “To be completely clear: Eric Adams did not transfer any investor funds. He did not benefit from the launch of the NYC Token. No money was taken from the NYC Token.”

Fraud claims erupt as NYC token crashes

Just after the spokesperson shared his remarks, allegations of fraudulent activity began to surface. This occurred at a time when the NYC Token dropped to more than 80% in the early hours of trading. 

The backlash intensified after on-chain analysts flagged unusual liquidity changes in the token’s smart contract, which critics liken to a “rug pull,” causing the token’s price to collapse.

Responding to these allegations, several crypto analysts had placed strong bets that Adams’ team could have withdrawn funds, resulting in a total loss of more than $3.4 million for investors.

Nonetheless, even with these assumptions raised, Shapiro still insisted that these allegations lacked credibility due to an absence of evidence. Afterwards, he released a statement stating that, “At no time was his involvement meant for personal or financial gain,” pointing out market volatility as the primary cause of the token’s substantial decline.

Still, criticism of Adams’ team continued to intensify, but Shapiro maintained his stance that no funds had been withdrawn from the NYC Token. However, sources reported that his statement appeared to differ from an earlier message displayed on the NYC Token’s X post. 

According to this X post, the individual managing the token’s X account claimed that it had modified liquidity provisions in response to overwhelming initial demand. Additionally, more funds were added to the liquidity pool of the NYC Token, according to a post on the X account. 

Meanwhile, during an interview with FOX Business, Adams discussed what they intend to do with the funds from the NYC Token. According to him, they plan to allocate these funds to non-profits that seek to initiate efforts to ensure all individuals have a better understanding of antisemitism and anti-Americanism via educational programs. 

Shapiro still insists Adams did not transfer funds from the NYC Token

The former mayor, who presented himself as a strong advocate for crypto, claimed that apart from funding these non-profits, the funds would also establish a scholarship program to support students in marginalized communities in New York. 

Following his remarks, Shapiro affirmed that the controversial introduction of the NYC Token has not interfered with Adams’ strong commitment to these initiatives. 

“Mr Adams is still dedicated to responsible innovation and using new technologies to build trust, education, and shared civic values,” he said.

In the meantime, data from DEXScreener noted that the current price of the Solana-based token is approximately $0.133. Interestingly, the token has maintained this price unchanged since it declined from $0.475 just after its introduction. 

Since attaining this early peak, reports alleged that the total losses incurred amount to more than $400 million from the NYC Token’s market capitalization.

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Whale deposits to Binance slowed down in January, after more substantial transfers in December. At the start of 2026, around 15,800 BTC were sent to the exchange, signalling a slower pace of deposits. 

Binance data shows that since the beginning of 2026, whales have slowed down the rate of transfers to the platform. For December, whales transferred a total of 37,133 BTC. To date, transfers to Binance are around 42.5% slower. The whale’s approach may signal a wait-and-see strategy. 

Whale inflows also dominated over retail deposits, increasing the average size of transfers to Binance. However, even whale deposits could abruptly slow down, signalling a shift in market sentiment. For now, BTC indicators are not yet bullish, but may signal a market bottom. 

Whale movements are closely watched for signals on a potential price recovery for BTC. The recent slowdown coincided with a BTC recovery to over $97,000. BTC retreated to $95,449.56, with predictions for regaining the $100,000 level soon. The most recent price upturn also did not lead to immediate selling, as holders did not rush to liquidate at the higher price. 

Mean inflows remain whale-sized

Mean inflows to Binance remain near all-time highs. The mean deposit is over 20 BTC. 

Whales make up around 20.85% of total inflows, but are more influential on the size of deposits. Daily whale transfers are at around 2,200 BTC, a moderate level that can easily be absorbed by the market. 

Binance deposits remain larger on average, although whales have held onto their coins. The centralized exchange absorbed around 2,200 BTC daily as whale activity slowed down in January. | Source: CryptoQuant.

The recent activity shows that the potential for capitulation is lower. BTC sentiment returned to neutral based on trader activity, and only retail remains bearish. 

The December downturn also coincided with a rotation into stocks and precious metals. However, the liquidity did not entirely abandon crypto assets, leading to a price recovery. 

Whale transfers may accelerate with more dramatic price moves. If BTC rises with a new rally, deposits may be an attempt to take profits. Whale transfers also happen during downturns, as a way to cut losses. 

BTC is 101 days from its all-time high

The recent market downturn has continued for 101 days since the all-time high above $126,000. The current market cycle took only 236 days to achieve a new all-time high. During the past three months, BTC turned more volatile, ranging from its peak to lows just under $80,000. 

Historically, big liquidation events take between 3 and 6 months to rebuild liquidity. For now, the market is still affected by last October’s downturn. 

BTC open interest is back down to $30B, and is yet to recover reliably. The market still awaits signs of a direction, instead of a range-bound liquidation of short and long positions. 

At the current price range, over 77% of BTC supply is held in profit, up from 62% in November. The improved market price may mean some whales will be ready to hold onto their assets. 

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One thing that early Shiba Inu and Dogecoin investors who bought early have in common is the huge gains they made as SHIB and DOGE soared. Most of these investors are now taking a keen interest in Mutuum Finance (MUTM), a DeFi crypto that has entered Phase 7 of its presale and is valued at $0.04. MUTM is developing a lending and borrowing platform that aims to create actual on-chain demand through the use of borrowing and staking functionality. It is being considered the top crypto to buy by many investors who are looking to capture the same kind of asymmetric upside as SHIB and DOGE when they first launched.

From Meme Coin Millionaires to Utility Hunters

In 2021, the price of Shiba Inu (SHIB) increased by over 1,000,000% while Dogecoin (DOGE) pumped 10,000%. But in both instances, the underlying assets had no real-world use cases, and once the hype died down, SHIB fell by well over 95% from its peak while DOGE fell by more than 80%. Investors who bought these tokens early still managed to make millions. These investors are now turning to  Mutuum Finance as the DeFi crypto shows similar potential but with a utility focus.

Presale Phase Rewards Early Adopters

Mutuum Finance has structured their presale in an approach, whereby the plan benefits those who participate earlier in the presale. From the presale prices of $0.01 to the current price of Phase 4, priced at $0.04, MUTM has recorded 300% growth. The presale will usher in higher prices in the upcoming phases, which makes buying today important for investors seeking huge returns. The project has raised over $19.8 million and attracted more than 18,800 different investors.

Market Interest & Whale Activity

The presale has also attracted the attention of retail participants, as well as large accounts, which goes to prove that the level of confidence in the project remains high. One whale who was early in Dogecoin and Shiba Inu has for instance put $105,000 into the presale. This is a strong vote of confidence in Mutuum Finance as the 2026 bull run draws closer. It also indicates that MUTM has gotten more visibility, which is why it has been identified as one of the cryptos to buy now.

MUTM has a fixed total supply of 4 billion tokens. There will be no minting of new tokens to dilute the market, thus giving MUTM a degree of scarcity. Of the 4 billion tokens, 1.82 billion has been set aside for early investors via the ongoing presale. Over 850 million of these tokens have already been bought up by investors.

Infrastructure & Price Discovery

 For the prices to be accurate and updated, the Mutuum Finance system makes use of Chainlink oracles, which validate the prices of the tokens in highly liquid currencies such as USD, ETH, and AVAX. For example, a user can deposit 10 ETH as collateral when ETH is $2,000, giving $20,000 in total value. Using Chainlink’s price feeds, Mutuum Finance could then allow this investor to borrow $14,000 at a 70% LTV ratio. If ETH drops to $1,500, the collateral falls to $15,000, raising the loan-to-value ratio. Accurate, real-time pricing is essential to prevent risk, especially during volatile markets. Mutuum Finance works with fallback oracles, aggregation feeds, and on-chain data to ensure that the prices are always updated regarding the assets’ collateral, risk management, and liquidation. This makes Mutuum Finance the best cryptocurrency to buy now.

Why Investors Are Taking Notice

With its early-stage presale investment model, functional DeFi crypto platform, concept of scarcity, and comprehensive infrastructure, Mutuum Finance has tremendous ROI potential. Unlike Shiba Inu and Dogecoin, the new DeFi crypto offers a strong utility focus and sustainable price drivers. Whale participation further cements the token as the best crypto to buy now.

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

Website: https://mutuum.com/ 

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance 

Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan is telling lawmakers that forcing stablecoin issuers to pay interest could take trillions away from banks, reduce lending capacity, and raise borrowing costs in the US economy.

In its latest market structure bill, unveiled on Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee discussed restrictions on stablecoin yields.

Moynihan, speaking on the competitive impact of stablecoins, said Bank of America would adapt regardless of regulatory outcomes, although he insists the banking system would face a liquidity crunch. 

“So I think I would not, look, we’ll be fine. We’ll have the product. We’ll meet customer demand, whatever may surface. And so I don’t worry about it,” Moynihan surmised, before citing a US Treasury-commissioned research of how dire deposit migration could be.

According to those studies, as explained by the BOA CEO, as much as $6 trillion in deposits could flow off bank balance sheets into stablecoin vehicles if consumers see themselves taking higher yields outside the regulated banking system. 

Banking deposits are already low

US banks are trying to reconcile the gap between what they pay depositors and what they earn on government securities, and the battle seems almost lost. Per Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data, the national average savings accounts paying about 0.39%, checking accounts around 0.07%, and money market a meagre 0.58%, while Treasury yields stood at about 3.89% as of mid-December.

Screenshot of Bank of America Q4 earnings. Source: X.

The difference is a spread of about 3.82 percentage points, which is a major source of bank profitability. The traditional financial institutions could be looking to protect that margin by fighting what could help consumers count returns on their cash-like holdings.

On page 189 of the Senate’s market structure bill, companies are barred from paying interest simply for holding stablecoin balances, though they may issue rewards only when linked to specific actions like opening accounts, making transactions, staking assets, providing liquidity, posting collateral, or network governance.

“And the key of that is to think that the restrictions to be a stablecoin is basically think of it as a money market mutual fund concept,” Moynihan explained, adding that stablecoin reserves would be limited to deposits, central bank accounts, or short-term Treasuries, not deployed into lending. “And so when you think about that, that takes lending capacity out of the system.”

The impact, according to the banking executive, would fall disproportionately on small and medium-sized businesses, which use bank credit more than capital markets. 

“So I think in the end of the day, at the margin, the industry gets loaned up. And if you take out deposits, they’re not going to — they’re either not going to be able to loan or they’re going to have to get wholesale funding and that wholesale funding will come at a cost that will increase the cost of borrowing.”

Congress is ‘threatening’ banks with proposed stablecoin law

Moynihan is among the trading groups that are pressing legislators to account for the risks stablecoins come with for banking institutions, and he admitted that the lobbyists are uncertain what changes might be made if the bill goes through Congress unopposed.

Opponents of the banking sector on social media have accused lenders of wanting to “preserve profits” at the expense of consumers. Some users on X blasted the industry’s grievances and accused banks of taking advantage of depositors.

“They basically steal all the yield YOUR money earns.. giving you pennies on the dollar. Then they find a laundry list of stupid fees to charge you… Overdraft fees? Yea you got a pay them for being poor. If we draw the line against the bank lobby. Stablecoin yield is where to do it,” said one commenter responding to the BOA head’s sentiments.

As reported by Cryptopolitan, the legislation was initially expected to be marked up today, but has now been pushed to the final week of January. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman confirmed that a scheduled markup meeting was postponed, saying lawmakers had made progress but needed more time.

“I am committed to advancing bipartisan crypto market structure legislation. We have made meaningful progress and had constructive discussions as we work toward this goal,” Boozman said, thanking Senator Cory Booker’s camp for being open to discussing the unresolved policy issues.

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Top crypto privacy projects have outperformed in the crypto markets in 2026 due to demand for privacy cryptocurrencies that offer layers of anonymity. Most of these privacy tokens focus on concealing wallet addresses, providing transaction anonymity, and enabling sender-receiver identity features that regular blockchains cannot provide. 

Top performers in 2026 include Zcash, Decred, and Dash, which have attracted investor interest alongside the established Monero token, recognized as one of the best coins of 2026. These projects aim to address the growing concern about digital monitoring across blockchains amid tight regulations. Users now seek privacy-focused blockchain solutions. 

Pirate Chain token ARRR posts 168% jump this week

In 2026, privacy coins are posting results that have never been seen before. For instance, Monero just posted 58% this week, Dash posted 109% in the same period, and Decred recorded 65% this week. The token movements have sparked a rally across multiple privacy-focused tokens, pushing their market caps to over $100 million and outperforming other niche cryptos. 

80% of privacy tokens are up in 2026

As privacy meta continues to shine, many tokens are reaching new highs.

Our data shows that 14 out of 18 privacy tokens with a $100M+ market cap have grown since January 1.

Top gainers:$XNC +102%$DASH +74%$XMR +60% pic.twitter.com/eTRzwMEBGN

— CryptoRank.io (@CryptoRank_io) January 14, 2026

According to CoinMarketCap data, Monero dominates the privacy niche with a market cap of approximately $12.9 billion, followed by Zcash at $7.1 billion. Litecoin trails in third place with an approximate market cap of $5.7 billion. At the time of publication, Monero was up 0.56%, trading at $699.58, while Zcash was $431.2, representing a 0.26% growth on the 24-hour chart. Litecoin token LTC was down 0.27%,% trading at $74.4 during the same period.

Among the top gainers this week is the Pirate Chain token ARRR, which has posted roughly 168% growth over the past seven days, with a 28% increase on a single day. ARRR was trading at $0.664 at the time of publication. Pirate Chain’s rebound after losing almost 98% of its value from 2021’s ATH of $16.9 reflects a significant shift across the privacy-focused crypto niche. 

Dash, on the other hand, shook the market this week after posting a 107% jump and the third-largest single-day rally of 32%, behind Mind Network FHE and Decred DCR, with roughly 52% and 36%, respectively. Dash, which launched almost 13 years ago, has also rebounded after losing roughly 95% of its value from an ATH of $1,642 in 2017 to the current value of $83.3. Dash peaked this week, rallying 107% and reaching a market cap of $1.02 billion. 

The crypto market’s attention shifted to privacy-focused tokens, particularly Zcash, with notable trades involving ZEC. These privacy-focused projects make it impossible to trace individual transactions and the source of funds for accounts, unlike other transparent blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

AngelList founder says Zcash is insurance against Bitcoin

Naval Ravikant, founder of AngelList, posted in October that Bitcoin is insurance against fiat and Zcash is insurance against Bitcoin. This suggested that privacy and transparency had become major concerns across the industry. The developments sparked a rally across privacy-niche tokens, with the ZEC token nearly breaking its eight-year high of $703 set in 2018. ZEC recorded a high of $698 in November before dropping to $540 by the end of December. 

The EU’s DAC8 directive, which became effective on January 1 2026, requiring all crypto service providers to collect user tax data based on the Cryptopolitan report, reignited the rally across the privacy niche. The Dubai Financial Services Authority added to the rally by enforcing the updated regulatory framework for crypto in the Dubai International Financial Centre, which bans privacy tokens across trading, promotions, fund activity, and derivatives. The framework further bars regulated firms from using mixers, tumblers, and other forms of obfuscation services. 

According to research, privacy-focused tokens utilize advanced cryptographic tools to conceal data while ensuring that transactions across blockchains remain valid and verifiable. Tools such as Ring Signatures help conceal the true signer by blending with decoys. Other tools include Stealth Addresses, which generate one-time addresses for enhanced privacy and anonymity. zk-SNARKs, on the other hand, verify transactions without exposing underlying data, and MimbleWimble compresses data and hides transaction details for maximum anonymity. Collectively, these tools form the foundation of modern privacy technologies, strengthening anonymity across blockchains.

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The Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates anytime soon since new economic data released this week indicates that inflation is still not declining as quickly as anticipated.

These most recent data are already being examined by Federal Reserve experts to forecast potential price changes through 2026. Throughout the present year, this information will serve as the main basis for their interest rate determinations.

The Labor Department released a delayed report on Wednesday that showed a 3% increase in wholesale prices in November. This came after a rise of 2.8% in October.

A spike in energy costs played a large role in driving these numbers up. However, even when stripping out volatile categories like food, energy, and trade services, wholesale prices rose 3.5% for the year ending in November. This matches the 3.5% increase seen back in March, marking the highest level in months.

Stephen Brown, an economist with Capital Economics, noted that the impact of tariffs on these numbers seemed minimal for now.

Consumer costs and the Fed’s goal

Data released on Tuesday regarding consumer prices for December showed a similar trend of “sticky” inflation. The “core” Consumer Price Index, which does not include food or energy, landed at 2.6%. While this was slightly lower than the 2.7% experts predicted, it is the same rate seen since September. Most importantly, it remains above the Federal Reserve’s official 2% target.

Brown predicts that the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, the Fed’s favored metric, may rise to 3% based on these combined statistics. For the past three months, it had remained stable at about 2.8%.

Tariffs were a big worry in early January, according to the Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book,” which compiles reports from companies all throughout the nation. While some companies initially tried to pay for these extra costs, many are now starting to raise customer prices to protect their earnings. However, certain sectors have been less willing to shift such costs, such as restaurants and retail businesses. Businesses generally expect prices to stay high as they deal with these increased expenses.

The economy as a whole has shown signs of strength in spite of these pricing restrictions. Compared to the previous four months, when most locations saw little to no increase in activity, eight of the twelve Fed districts reported a minor improvement.

Diverse views among fed leaders

The implications of the statistics for the future are seen differently by various Federal Reserve executives.

The Philadelphia Fed’s president, Anna Paulson, stated on Wednesday that she believes tariff-related price increases are primarily restricted to tangible items rather than services. She does not think that it will result in long-term inflation as a result. She anticipates that goods inflation will revert to the 2% target by the end of 2026, with the most impact occurring in the first half of the year.

Paulson stated, “I am feeling cautiously optimistic,” implying that the short-term trend would reach the 2% barrier by December, even though the full-year figure might appear excessive. She anticipates some “modest” rate reductions later this year if inflation slows down and the labor market remains stable.

Fed Governor Stephen Miran is even more aggressive. He predicts that falling prices in services and housing will balance out the rise in goods. Miran has penciled in 150 basis points of rate cuts for 2026, significantly more than the single 25-basis-point cut predicted by most of his colleagues.

Miran argues that interest rates should come down because the “neutral rate”, the level where the Fed is neither helping nor hurting the economy, has dropped. He believes lower population growth due to immigration changes will eventually bring inflation down. He added that it is still an “open question” as to what is driving up goods prices if not tariffs, citing possible lingering effects from the pandemic or tech export restrictions.

Caution regarding lower-income families

Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Fed, is less certain about the timeline. While he believes inflation is falling, he isn’t sure if it will reach 2.5% or stay higher by year’s end.

Kashkari noted that while high-income families are doing well, lower-income Americans are struggling. However, he clarified that their struggle is due to the high cost of living, not a lack of work. He warned that cutting interest rates too quickly to help the job market could actually backfire by making inflation worse for those same families.

“Overall, the economy seems quite resilient,” Kashkari said. He noted that strong consumer spending and new investments in Artificial Intelligence are keeping the economy moving. The fact that the economy hasn’t slowed down more despite high rates has led him to wonder if current policies are actually as “tight” as they seem.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates exactly where they are, between 3.5% and 3.75%, at their meeting later this month. This follows a period last autumn when the central bank cut rates three times.

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Russia won’t be able to combat fraud without comprehensively regulating its crypto space, business and government officials in Moscow have concluded.

The statements come amid legislative efforts to achieve that, which have resulted in a new draft law that will be reviewed in parliament this next spring.

Russian crypto exchanges must be legalized, lawmaker insists

Authorities need to develop rules allowing the legal operation of domestic cryptocurrency exchanges, according to Anton Gorelkin, first deputy chairman of the Committee on Information Technology and Communications at the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislature.

He took to Telegram on Wednesday to make his case, highlighting that fraudulent schemes are now utilizing foreign coin trading infrastructure to launder proceeds from their activities in Russia, which makes it difficult to investigate such crimes.

He pointed to cases of fraudsters using Belarusian crypto exchanges to defraud Russian citizens, making millions of dollars in turnover in the neighboring country.

From a legal standpoint, the crimes are thus committed in Belarus, which significantly complicates things for Russian law enforcement agencies that are trying to identify the perpetrators.

Quoted by the Interfax news agency, Gorelkin stated in his post:

“This is precisely why it is necessary to regulate crypto exchanges and create conditions for them to operate legally in Russia.”

He also reminded that the new regulatory concept, an excerpt of which was released recently by the Central Bank of Russia, features a 300,000 ruble ($3,800) annual limit for the digital asset purchases of non-qualified investors.

“Since victims of such schemes typically have a rather superficial understanding of the crypto market, this threshold will help mitigate the damage caused by fraudsters,” the lawmaker explained.

Sberbank calls for proper legal framework for cryptocurrencies

Meanwhile, Russia’s largest bank joined calls for introducing proper crypto rules, too. It’s impossible to effectively fight fraud without comprehensive regulation of this space, a high-ranking representative of the institution warned.

According to Stanislav Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of the Management Board of Sberbank, cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by criminals as a tool to convert and withdraw stolen funds.

The absence of clear legislation limits actions against these crimes to merely addressing the consequences rather than the causes, he remarked this week.

In an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency, also quoted by Gazeta.ru, the executive of the majority state-owned giant insisted:

“To combat illegal schemes, it is necessary to create a modern legal framework and a system of transparent standards and rules for participants in the cryptocurrency sector.”

Kuznetsov emphasized crypto exchanges and other platforms should be involved in efforts to prevent trading through money mules, including by participating in data exchange within the national “Antifraud” information system.

The Sber official highlighted that without regulating the cryptocurrency market, it is impossible to block withdrawal channels for stolen funds, which results in less effective measures to stop fraud.

He referred to the experience of Belarus in this area, noting that cryptocurrency transactions in the jurisdiction of Russia’s closest ally are permitted only through platforms registered in the country, allowing for stricter control and the freezing of suspicious transactions. The banker elaborated further:

“The timely establishment of balanced regulation will not only effectively combat fraud but will also become another driver for the development of a modern and secure digital economy in Russia.”

Stanislav Kuznetsov also revealed that financial pyramid schemes active in the Russian Federation, which are increasingly posing as crypto brokers, defraud citizens of 1 billion rubles on average, as reported by Cryptopolitan.

Russian lawmakers have already drafted a bill to implement the policy proposed by the Bank of Russia, the head of the Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov, unveiled at the start of the week. The legislation is expected to be adopted by July 1, 2026.

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Currently, XRP finds itself in a tough spot. The current price of XRP has plummeted, falling by as much as 15% in one week, although it is heartening that some devoted investors have chosen this time to invest in XRP, it is clear that this is not yet a positive trend on the market. XRP needs to break through many critical points just to halt its depreciation, and its future prospects in terms of growth in 2026 are far from clear, which is leaving many investors wondering if XRP is still the best cryptocurrency on which to invest. 

At the same time, there is a shift in focus to new crypto coins with excellent plans and development activities in place. One such project that has caught the attention of many people is the Mutuum Finance (MUTM), which is considered the best cheapest crypto to buy today because of its presale price and the growth strategy in place. Instead of waiting for other assets to recover in value, MUTM provides an opportunity to earn when looking for the best crypto to buy today. 

The Uphill Battle Facing XRP 

The current decline in the price of XRP is a continuation of its struggles, given that the token has fallen below a number of key technical support levels that previously helped to support the price. Some holders of the token believe that a recovery is possible, and therefore they have continued to accumulate the token. 

If XRP wishes to regain momentum in 2026, it has to overcome significant resistance levels, apart from the uncertainties associated with market sentiment and legal issues, without depending on new mechanisms for the generation of income. Since XRP, at the moment, lacks the mechanism for the generation of yield or passive income, the speculative nature associated with XRP makes it difficult to be perceived as the next big thing in the crypto market for steady growth.

Mutuum Finance Presale Opportunity

Another project that is getting popularity among the best cryptos to buy now is Mutuum Finance. The project is at Phase 7 in its presale stage, with token costs set at only $0.04. It is the most affordable option in the cryptos to buy now list, with the last opportunity to invest at this low price. It costs only $200 to buy 5,000 MUTM tokens.

However, once the phase is complete, the price of the token begins to appreciate to $0.06 at launch, causing the $200 to instantly escalate to $300, which marks a $100 profit. According to market analysts, the increasing demand may drive the price up to $0.10, increasing the value of the same investment to $500. This straightforward trajectory makes MUTM one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy for short-term returns and the best cryptocurrency to invest in right now.

Flexibility of Peer-to-Peer Lending

In addition to presale functionality, Mutuum Finance has a real-world use case for Peer-to-Peer lending, enabling lending and borrowing of digital assets based on customized terms, which can be particularly useful for investors who hold assets that require customized terms for lending. For instance, an investor with $5,000 worth of Shiba Inu could use the money to lend at an annual rate of 12%, thus accumulating $600 within the first year without selling the investment. This addresses the question of what crypto to invest in when considering passive income and proves the point that the next big cryptocurrency could be MUTM. 

Stablecoin Issuance for Safe Income

Mutuum Finance will also be launching an over-collateralized stable coin. This is yet another revenue stream. Users can lock more valuable assets as collateral, like locking $15,000 of ETH to mint $10,000 of stablecoins. These stablecoins can be lent out to generate returns, and with an annual return of 10%, an investor would be able to generate $1,000 in returns per annum. This further enhances the position of MUTM as a new crypto coin with long-term value and also one of the best crypto to buy.

Your Chance for Major Growth

Whereas XRP struggles with achieving stability, Mutuum Finance is moving with its functional model and multiple profit-making features that appeal to today’s investors. The presale stage of Mutuum Finance represents an early entry opportunity, while its lending and stablecoin models represent ways to accumulate profits. 

For those looking for the best crypto to invest in, the fact that MUTM is very inexpensive to enter and offers ways to earn and obvious growth potential makes it the best crypto to invest in as the markets change.

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

Website: https://mutuum.com/ 

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance 

FTX has set the next distribution record date to February 14, with the actual distribution to holders of allowed claims expected to commence on March 31. The exchange also filed an amended notice with the Bankruptcy Court to cut the disputed claims reserve by $2.2 billion, which is subject to the Court’s approval.

If approved, the disputed claims reserve will be reduced from $4.6 billion to $2.4 billion, after which cash will be released for distribution to holders of allowed claims in the next distribution. FTX’s Distribution Service Providers (DSPs), Kraken, Payoneer, and BitGo, will be in charge of making the next distribution.

FTX notified all holders of allowed claims that distributions will only be made to holders who have met pre-distribution requirements. Additionally, distributions for transferred claims will only be made to the transferee holder of an allowed claim that is processed and reflected on the official register of claims maintained by the Notice and Claims Agent. The 21-day notice period must pass without objections for the claim to be considered valid.

FTX requests creditors to complete KYC with selected DSPs

FTX is urging all customers and creditors to continue completing their Know Your Customer (KYC) verifications and submit their relevant tax forms to onboard with Kraken, Payoneer, or BitGo, in order to receive a distribution. Transferees will also receive their distributions if they are reflected on the official register of claims as of the February 14 record date. The 21-day notice period must also have elapsed without objection.

The exchange has also cautioned all customers to remain aware of phishing email scams as distributions begin. The exchange is warning holders of allowed claims to be on the lookout for emails from scam sites that appear to be received from the FTX Recovery Trust or the Customer Portal. The phishing advisory notice clarified that the Recovery Trust will never request that customers connect their wallets to any external service.

Meanwhile, FTX will be represented by Sullivan & Cromwell LLP as legal counsel. The legal team will also be assisted by Alvarez & Marsal North America LLC as financial advisor, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP as special counsel, and Landis Rath & Cobb LLP as Delaware counsel. The exchange previously received approval from the Bankruptcy Court to reduce the disputed claims reserve by $1.9 billion, from $6.5 billion to $4.3 billion, releasing cash for distribution on the scheduled date (September 30, 2025).

FTX pursues over $1B lawsuit against Genesis Digital 

Reports on January 13 suggest that FTX is still pursuing the lawsuit against Bitcoin miner Genesis Digital to recover $1.15 billion as part of its clawback strategy. However, the Bitcoin miner has moved to dismiss the lawsuit seeking the funds invested by Sam Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund before the FTX empire collapsed. Genesis Digital emphasized that the claims are misguided and jurisdictionally barred.

According to Genesis Digital, the Cypriot company, headquartered in Dubai, does not have a U.S. office and should, therefore, not be required to defend claims asserted in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware by a trust for FTX. However, the FTX Recovery Trust is attempting to circumvent the jurisdictional issue.

The Recovery Trust sued Genesis Digital, claiming that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried used misappropriated funds from his Alameda Research hedge fund to invest in the mining company ahead of FTX’s collapse. The trust described it as one of Bankman-Fried’s most reckless investments, involving “commingled” funds. It also claimed that the former FTX CEO paid far higher prices than what the company was actually worth.

The purchases took place between August 2021 and April 2022, and the funds allegedly came directly from FTX user accounts. The trust specifically names Genesis Digital’s founders, Marco Krohn and Rashit Makhat, in the complaint. 

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Lighter, a decentralized exchange platform, has introduced a new staking feature for its native token, LIT, requiring all users to stake LIT to access liquidity pools. Lighter launched LIT tokens last month, staking 50% of its supply, including airdrops and funding for future incentive programs.

Perpetual futures trading and the Ethereum-based DEX announced that they have introduced LIT staking as a core utility feature for accessing their tools and features, beginning with the Lighter Liquidity Pool (LLP). Staking LIT is now mandatory, and depositing into the LLP unlocks a 1:10 deposit ratio, meaning one stacked LIT unlocks deposits of up to 10 USDC. The rollout is mandatory for new users.

Existing LIT holders get a two-week grace period to begin staking

According to the Lighter DEX, existing members have a two-week window ending on January 28 to maintain access to LLP without staking. After the deadline, all participants will be required to stake their LIT tokens in the liquidity pools. The Perpetual futures trading DEX noted that the introduction of mandatory staking for LIT will lead to greater alignment between LIT holders and LLP holders, thereby improving LLP risk-adjusted returns. The platform promised to replicate similar mechanisms across public pools to align with the vision of democratizing on-chain hedge funds. 

We are rolling out staking of LIT on Lighter! Here we will describe the initial utility from staking and how it will affect the Lighter ecosystem. pic.twitter.com/5NC8b4utuv

— Lighter (@Lighter_xyz) January 14, 2026

Lighter noted that accessing liquidity pools (LPs) is vital across DEX ecosystems, as they provide insurance against liquidations and offer rewards to participants. The DEX platform announced that it will adjust premium fees for market makers and high-frequency traders in the next two weeks. According to the DEX platform, overall fees will increase, and staking LIT will introduce fee discounts, noting that current fee levels will be marked as the lowest fee tiers.

Staking 100 LIT will unlock zero fees for withdrawals and transfers in addition to the existing features. Staking is also being rolled out to mobile users in the coming days, according to Lighter’s statement. 

According to a recent Cryptopolitan report, Lighter launched its native token, LIT, at the end of last month, just two months after its public mainnet launch in October. The platform distributed 25% of the supply to users via airdrops, with the remaining 75% fully unlocked and ready for trading. Additionally, 50% of the supply was allocated to the team and the ecosystem. 75% of the LIT tokens are to be vested over time through buybacks, staking, and incentives for growth and governance.

Lighter to detail premium fee tiers for trading firms to adjust algorithms

Lighter plans to roll out the exact details of the premium fee tiers soon so that trading firms can adjust their current algorithms accordingly. The DEX confirmed that retail trading will remain free on the platform. Importantly, staking LIT on Lighter will unlock yields, with the firm set to begin publishing the APR once it goes live. Based on the previous mechanism, yields were generated from staking rights granted to premium users. 

The perpetual futures trading DEX platform gained popularity after launching its public mainnet in October and reported approximately $200 billion in trading volume in December, according to DeFiLlama data. The platform outperformed other Perp rivals such as Aster, which registered $177.5 billion in December, and Hyperliquid, which recorded $169.3 billion during the same period. Lighter has so far achieved $54.9 billion in trading volume this month, against Hyperliquid’s $81.4 billion. 

The LIT token price was down approximately 12% at the time of publication, trading at $1.88, with a market cap of $469 million. The launch of LIT in December saw the price surge to $2.62 before dropping to $2.30 later. The token reached an ATH of $4.04 24 hours later, but has since been in a downward trajectory. 

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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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