On 11 January 2026 at 17:42, the International Monetary Fund highlighted that stablecoins are increasingly used for cross‑border payments. Its analysis says stablecoin flows are growing faster than Bitcoin and Ethereum activity, and heavy backing with short‑term US Treasuries is binding these tokens to traditional finance while policy responses remain uneven.

Vitalik Buterin outlines three structural issues he believes still undermine decentralized stablecoins: dependence on USD-based price pegs, vulnerability of oracle systems, and conflicts created by staking yields when used as collateral. He argues that long-term resilience will require new reference indexes, more robust oracle designs, and mechanisms that balance staking returns with stablecoin usability and risk management.

Meme cryptocurrency Shiba Inu (SHIB) has formed a mini golden cross, with its 23-day simple moving average crossing above the 50-day SMA and price holding near $0.00000810. With SHIB currently around $0.00000870 and the 200-day EMA near $0.00001054, there is about 22% upside that could lift its market cap by roughly $1 billion if the pattern continues. The bullish setup remains intact as long as support near $0.00000810 is not lost.

Binance top-trader data shows 76.16% of leading accounts are long XRP, with a 3.19 long/short account ratio and a 1.97 position-based ratio. The price recently rebounded from the $1.80 area to $2.10 and nearly tested $2.40 in early January. A move toward $2.80–$3 is presented as possible if $2.40 breaks before month-end.

BitMine Immersion Technologies staked 86,400 ETH in a single-day allocation worth $266.3 million, lifting its staked total to 1,080,512 ETH. The deposits were routed via Ethereum's BatchDeposit contract, and with ETH near $3,091, the firm's holdings are estimated around 2.74 million ETH valued at roughly $8.5 billion.

XRP's price climbed to $2.41 on Jan. 6, 2026 before pulling back over five consecutive days and attempting a rebound around $2.10. A crypto analyst notes that a gravestone doji pattern seems to be forming on XRP's weekly chart, while the asset trades within a broad $1.77 to $2.41 range and recently saw its first $40.8 million net outflow from U.S. spot XRP ETFs.

On January 11, 2026, reports indicated the UAE began government-sponsored Bitcoin mining powered by its natural gas. CZ, founder of Binance, said on social media the country has been mining "for a while." In August 2025, Arkham Intelligence reported roughly 6,300-6,450 BTC worth $700 million were accumulated via state-backed operations through Citadel Mining.

Lithuania-licensed payments app Brighty has arranged over 100 real estate purchases worth $500,000 to $2.5 million across the UK, France and Malta. Serving 100–150 wealthy clients who spend about $50,000 monthly, Brighty reports average euro stablecoin transactions rising from €15,785 in Q3 to €59,894 in Q4 as buyers shift to EURC over USDC.