Developers who left the Electric Coin Company on Wednesday are preparing to release a new Zcash wallet called cashZ, built on the existing Zashi codebase. The team plans to launch the wallet within a few weeks and enable seamless migration for Zashi users, while emphasizing a return to cypherpunk ideals and faster scaling for Zcash.

Anthropic, developer of the Claude AI chatbot, is reportedly preparing to raise $10 billion at a targeted $350 billion valuation, nearly doubling its prior $183 billion mark after a 2025 funding round. The prospective deal, led by GIC and Coatue, comes alongside up to $15 billion in planned backing from Nvidia and Microsoft, as the firm forecasts breaking even by 2028 and eyes an initial public offering this year. New data also shows AI companies attracted roughly half of global funding in 2025, with OpenAI securing a single $40 billion round.

Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan argued that crypto must clear three major checkpoints before setting new all-time highs in 2026, including post-October liquidation stability, passage of the CLARITY Act in the US Senate and a resilient equity market. He noted that the market has rebounded since the Oct. 10 crash, while other analysts highlighted a supportive macro backdrop despite the Federal Reserve signaling no imminent rate cuts.

In the first two trading days of 2026, US spot Bitcoin ETFs drew more than $1.2 billion in new capital, with almost every fund reporting inflows. At this rate, projected annual inflows could reach about $150 billion, roughly 600% higher than the $21.4 billion recorded in 2025, while Morgan Stanley has filed to launch new Bitcoin and Solana ETF products.

Since mid-December 2025, large Bitcoin holders controlling between 10 and 10,000 BTC have accumulated 56,227 BTC worth over $5.3 billion while retail traders with less than 0.01 BTC have been taking profits. This divergence, combined with BTC trading near the top of its $87,000–$94,000 range and option interest clustering around $100,000 for January expiry, is seen by analysts as supporting a bullish continuation scenario.

Ethereum’s validator exit queue dropped to roughly 32 ETH with about a one-minute wait, the lowest level since July, while the entry queue climbed to 1.3 million ETH. BitMine began staking on Dec. 26 and added 82,560 ETH on Jan. 3, contributing to renewed staking demand and easing perceived selling pressure.

In 2025, ESG specialist Daniel Batten used peer-reviewed research to dispute nine common claims about Bitcoin mining’s energy and environmental impact. He argues that resource use is not tied to transaction volume, that miners can stabilize renewable-heavy grids instead of destabilizing them, and that mining does not raise consumer power prices. Batten also contends that proof-of-work offers unique environmental benefits and that Bitcoin mining can expand access to renewable energy rather than waste it.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, Ethereum's network handled over $8 trillion in stablecoin transfers, almost twice the volume recorded in the second quarter. Over the same period, daily transactions, monthly active addresses and unique active wallets on Ethereum all climbed to new all-time highs, while the chain kept a leading share in stablecoin issuance and real-world asset tokenization.

In December, the Federal Reserve's dot plot showed disagreement on 2026 policy, while the Dec. 10 move lowered the target range to 3.5%–3.75%. According to CME Group, investors see a 20% chance of a 25 bp cut in January and 45% in mid-March, with analysts debating one to two cuts and potential impacts on crypto flows.