On Jan. 19, Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the NYSE, outlined plans for a separate trading venue for tokenized US‑listed equities and ETFs, built around stablecoin-based funding and blockchain settlement. The platform aims to enable 24/7 trading, near‑instant settlement with tokenized capital, and fractional share trading while preserving traditional investor rights and remaining subject to regulatory approval. Industry debate now centers on how much value this shift in market plumbing will actually deliver to existing crypto tokens versus blockchains and DeFi infrastructure.

Bitcoin is highlighted as a possible long-term winner in a scenario where authorities confirm the existence of non-human intelligence, according to analysis by former Bank of England analyst Helen McCaw. Her framework suggests an initial phase of broad risk-off selling and liquidity stress, followed by a second phase in which investors reassess trust in state-linked assets and may seek borderless alternatives like Bitcoin.

On Jan. 16, Jefferies' Christopher Wood removed a 10% Bitcoin allocation, citing quantum-computing tail risk. In contrast, ARK Invest's Cathie Wood points to weak correlations, with ARK reporting 0.14 versus gold and 0.06 versus bonds. Grayscale calls quantum fears a 2026 "red herring," while Bitwise's Andre Dragosch highlights today's vast computational gap.

Chainalysis told CryptoSlate that in 2025 stablecoins comprised 84% of the $154 billion in illicit crypto transaction volume, overtaking Bitcoin as the preferred asset for criminal use. The report also highlights DPRK-linked hacks totaling $2 billion and Russia’s ruble-backed A7A5 token moving $93.3 billion within its first year, while illicit activity remained under 1% of the crypto economy.

On Jan. 6, MSCI decided to keep Digital Asset Treasury Companies like Strategy in its global equity indices for the February 2026 review but froze key share-count metrics for these stocks. The move removes the risk of forced passive sell-offs yet severs the automatic buying mechanism that previously supported Strategy's large-scale Bitcoin-funded equity issuance model.

At the start of 2026, XRP has become the best performer among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, rising 28% since the beginning of the year to $2.37, its highest level since November 2025. Spot XRP ETFs in the U.S. have attracted more than $1 billion in cumulative inflows since launching on Nov. 13, while exchange balances have fallen to multi‑year lows and on‑chain liquidity metrics and derivatives data point to strong institutional participation.

On Jan. 5, Bitcoin rose above $94,000, its highest in more than a month, and is up over 3% year‑to‑date. Large holders are accumulating while smaller wallets take profits, and derivatives metrics show reduced leverage; renewed ETF inflows and options positioning suggest improving institutional demand.

On New Year's Day, trader Vida reportedly earned over $1.5 million by trading around an abnormal $26 million bid wall on Binance for the small-cap token BROCCOLI714. Vida shifted from an arbitrage hedge to directional longs and later shorts as Binance's circuit breakers distorted spot-futures prices and the bid wall disappeared. The episode raised questions about the source of the orders and how the exchange's risk controls functioned under extreme conditions.

In 2025, Ethereum posted record network activity, yet ETH fell 10% year-to-date under $3000 and the ETH/BTC ratio dropped 6%. Layer-2 revenues totaled $129.17 million, with only around $10 million paid to the mainnet, leaving $119 million to operators; Base generated more than $75 million, nearly 60% of the sector. The Dencun upgrade cut fees and weakened burn-driven support for ETH.