Bird, the developer of the XRPL-based meme coin DROP, has triggered discussion by saying that anyone holding more value in XRP than in their bank account is a "genius." He contrasts bank savings rates of around 4–6% with rising living costs and frames XRP as a forward-looking asset, while also noting that how much XRP to hold is subjective and depends on personal circumstances.

Market analyst Michaël van de Poppe views the CLARITY bill’s failure to advance in Congress as positive for crypto markets. Coinbase withdrew support on Wednesday, while CEO Brian Armstrong flagged tokenized stocks and yield-bearing stablecoin concerns and later denied reported White House tensions on Saturday. Negotiations to refine the bill are continuing.

Software stocks have dropped 15% since the start of January 2026, marking their weakest year-opening performance since 2022. A new AI product from Anthropic unveiled on January 12 triggered renewed concern over disruption, hitting names like Intuit, Adobe, Salesforce and widening the gap with surging chipmakers that are forecast to deliver far stronger profit growth.

On January 18, Bitcoin was trading near $95,056 after slipping 0.48% in 24 hours but remaining up 4.51% over the week. If the price loses support around $94,249 and the daily bar closes near local support, technicians expect possible moves into the $94,500 and $92,000–$94,000 zones. Market focus is on how the weekly candle behaves around the $95,938 level, which could determine whether sellers gain more control.

A derivatives analytics report from Bybit and Block Scholes links a shift in market sentiment to bitcoin's move into the upper $90,000 band, with open interest across nine major coins surpassing $8 billion. Bybit's Risk-Appetite Index edged higher as traders opened more perpetual positions, while altcoin spot ETFs in ether, Solana, and XRP registered several consecutive days of inflows.

Bitcoin rebounded to about $97k after sliding from $126k to near $80k, easing pressure on short‑term holders as unrealized losses fell to roughly $65 billion. STH average drawdowns improved to 6.4% and Sell‑Side Risk printed 0.000875, while price stabilized around $95k with the 100‑day EMA near $95,942.

On 18 January 2026 at 19:49, data from Santiment indicated that Ethereum's Proof-of-Stake deposit contract holds about 77.85 million ETH, valued at just over $256 billion. That equals roughly 46.6% of supply, with withdrawals gated by protocol exit limits. The scale has intensified debate over long-term supply stability versus potential exit-driven pressures.

On January 18, 2026, South Korea's National Assembly approved legislation to create a dedicated regulatory framework for tokenized securities, with implementation slated for January 2027. The law sets clear rules for issuing, trading, and safeguarding blockchain-based representations of traditional assets under existing financial oversight. Regulators plan to use the transition period to help banks, brokerages, and asset managers integrate distributed ledger settlement with established clearing infrastructure.