Santiment's Brian Quinlivan said in a YouTube video published Saturday that Ethereum's social sentiment has dropped to levels similar to those before its 2025 surge. He pointed to the Aug 23 move back to the 2021 peak of $4,878 after an April low of $1,472 and a near 70% four-month climb. Ether traded around $3,089, roughly 36% below its high, amid broader risk aversion.

On January 11, 2026, Ethereum's Beacon Chain saw its staking entry queue rise to about 1.759 million ETH (roughly $5.5 billion), according to ValidatorQueue. The exit queue fell to zero, while price hovered near $3,000, with traders eyeing $2,700 if support breaks.

Nasdaq Inc. and CME Group Inc. plan to relaunch the Nasdaq CME Crypto Index (NCI™) on January 8, 2026, positioning it as a renewed benchmark for institutional participation in digital assets. The index, which includes major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, is expected to support market transparency and infrastructure as Bitcoin trades above $90,000 with a market cap of $1.81 trillion. Analysts suggest the move could encourage new institutional-grade crypto products and reinforce the sector's overall maturity.

Bitcoin’s first mining difficulty adjustment of 2026 reduced the metric to 146.4 trillion, offering miners a brief improvement in conditions after a challenging 2025. Average block times of about 9.88 minutes now point to a likely increase toward roughly 148.2 trillion at the next recalibration expected on January 22, while profitability remains under pressure amid elevated competition, weaker prices and rising costs.

On Jan. 9, Tennessee’s Sports Wagering Council directed Polymarket, Kalshi, and Crypto.com’s Nadex to halt sports event contracts, void pending wagers, and refund deposits by Jan. 31, 2026. The letters warned that unlicensed betting could trigger criminal referrals and fines up to $25,000 under state law.

In 2026, Solana’s price action was increasingly driven by ETF inflows and renewed whale accumulation, even as key support zones came under pressure. The network processed around eight times more Daily Transactions than major rivals, while SOL traded near $136 on 10 January with downside levels flagged at $122 and $102. Clustered liquidity below $120 and weakening RSI and MACD pointed to rising downside risks if those supports failed.

On-chain data indicates that more than $1.25 billion in USDT was withdrawn from Binance in a single session, while the exchange's stablecoin reserves fell by nearly $1.7 billion over two days. At the same time, very large wallets holding over $100 million in USDT reportedly added about $4.7 billion, suggesting capital is moving into off-exchange storage, softening short-term trading activity but not necessarily signaling market distress.

Bitcoin's mining difficulty eased in the first 2026 adjustment, slipping to 146.4 trillion on Thursday. The next recalibration is projected for Jan. 22, 2026 at about 04:08 UTC, with estimates pointing to 148.20T as average block times run at 9.88 minutes. Despite the brief relief, miners' profitability remains thin after 2025's margin squeeze.