Ripple is piloting Amazon Bedrock with Amazon Web Services to accelerate XRP Ledger operational log reviews, reducing checks from 2–3 days to about 2–3 minutes. Details were shared by a solutions architect at a recent tech conference, and a post on January 7, 2026 highlighted ongoing discussions about Bedrock's use for XRPL.

Zscaler ThreatLabz reported three malicious Bitcoin-themed npm packages that installed a remote access trojan dubbed NodeCordRAT. The packages bitcoin-main-lib, bitcoin-lib-js, and bip40 were removed from the npm registry in November 2025 after accumulating over 3,400 downloads, and the malware targets Chrome credentials, .env tokens, and MetaMask wallet secrets.

Panos Mekras, founder of Anodos Finance, argues that 2026 is a narrow window for the XRP Ledger to enter the top tier on liquidity and usage, provided Ripple and the XRPL Foundation prioritize consumer onboarding, mainstream payment rails, and faster funding. He flags current metrics—daily DEX volume frequently under $10m, AMM TVL below $50m, and only a few thousand active users—and calls for a clear target: top 3 by volume, liquidity, and overall activity.

On January 8, 2026, traders on X reiterated bearish views after Bitcoin failed to clear $95,000 and drifted back toward its yearly open near $90,000, according to TradingView. Several participants highlighted support at $87.5k–$89k and warned of a potential slide toward $76,000, citing a developing weekly "Death Cross" as a reason to sell strength.

Bitcoin is trading below $90,000 after a failed attempt to hold above $94,000 in early January, leaving its 2026 outlook highly divergent. Institutional and analyst forecasts for that year now range from potential drops toward $25,000 or $60,000 to bullish targets as high as $1,000,000. Expectations cluster around six‑figure levels from major banks and asset managers, but opinions remain sharply split on how the market will evolve by the end of 2026.

On January 5, 2026, Coinbase cofounder and CEO Brian Armstrong defended his record of 88 stock sales and zero open-market purchases executed under a 10b5-1 plan. He said regulatory rules bar him from buying COIN on Coinbase as a Section 16 officer and argued it would be unreasonable to keep virtually all his wealth in a single stock after more than a decade at the company. Armstrong maintains that most of his net worth remains in Coinbase shares and says some sale proceeds are being used to help launch other businesses, as the exchange pushes toward an "everything exchange" strategy including traditional stock trading.

A Polymarket account identified as "0x31a56e" that made roughly $400,000 from a wager on former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's capture and removal is now inaccessible on the platform. The account had placed about $32,000 on Maduro's ouster and related U.S.-Venezuela conflict markets, and later moved more than $436,000 in USDC from its Polygon address on Jan. 3. Its disappearance, while other user pages remain visible, is intensifying scrutiny over potential insider trading and transparency issues on prediction markets.

Solana's stablecoin capitalization reached $15 billion after nearly $10 billion was issued over the past year, with more than $900 million minted in the last 24 hours. Memecoin trading revived, led by Bonk's 50% and PENGU's 40% gains, while applications generated $2.39 billion in 2025 and Western Union plans a dollar-backed token.