On 9 January, the latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls report showed 50,000 jobs added and an unemployment rate near 4.4%, with average hourly earnings around 3.8% YoY. Despite the softer-than-expected labour figures, the total cryptocurrency market capitalisation remained broadly stable above $3 trillion, hovering near $3.07 trillion after a volatile fourth quarter. This muted price response points to a cautious, wait-and-see stance as investors focus more on future inflation data and Federal Reserve guidance than on single data releases.

Large Bitcoin addresses reduced balances over the past year, while long-term holders showed little spending. The cohort has seen a steady drawdown rather than disorderly selling, and BTC traded around $91,000 as momentum cooled but market structure held. On-chain signals imply rotation rather than broad distribution.

On 7 January, Truebit reported a security breach in its "Truebit Protocol: Purchase" smart contract that led to the loss of more than 8,500 ETH, valued around $26–26.5 million. An on-chain pricing flaw allegedly allowed attackers to mint tokens for free, sell them back through the bonding curve, and later move roughly half the stolen funds via Tornado Cash, while the TRU token price plunged by over 60%.

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to mark up its long-awaited market structure bill next week, reopening debate on whether stablecoin issuers may offer rewards, an issue previously addressed in the GENIUS Act. The discussion centers on how rewards could affect competition in payments, community bank deposits, and the role of the U.S. dollar in onchain commerce, with industry research and geopolitical considerations shaping lawmakers' positions.

Between 5 and 7 January, XRP saw consecutive liquidation waves across major exchanges, with Binance handling the largest share. Short liquidations reached about $24.4m on 5 January, then long-side losses jumped to roughly $22.9m on 6 January, signaling an ongoing leverage reset rather than trend confirmation.

After briefly climbing back above $90,000 following the Christmas weekend, Bitcoin has fallen below $87,000 as extreme negative sentiment eased into neutrality. Ethereum followed a similar pattern, with both assets consolidating in tightening ranges instead of extending their late-December rebound. Price action and positioning now suggest compression and uncertainty rather than a confirmed recovery trend.

Ethereum’s total value locked remains elevated despite the latest market pullback, with onchain capital consolidating around core protocols. TVL on Ethereum is about $68.6 billion, while aggregate DeFi TVL stands near $182 billion. A 2026 outlook from Joseph Chalom foresees a potential 10x increase driven by stablecoins and tokenized RWAs.

BNB Chain developers plan to activate the Fermi hard fork on the mainnet on 14 January 2026 at 02:30 UTC, introducing shorter block intervals and execution upgrades. The network change is designed to improve block times, throughput, and validator coordination, while validators and node operators must update their clients before the fork to stay aligned with the chain.

Crypto exploit losses tied to TVL in 2025 have exceeded $2.53 billion, with social engineering responsible for 55.3% ($1.39 billion), according to Sentora. Chainalysis estimates $2.7–$3.4 billion was stolen across all theft categories this year, including $2.02 billion linked to DPRK-affiliated groups and an estimated $1.4 billion taken from Bybit.