Binance will adjust its VIP program at 00:00 UTC on Jan. 29, 2026, and launch a zero maker fee promotion for selected FDUSD spot and margin pairs, BlockBeats reports. Standard taker fees will apply to BTC/FDUSD, BNB/FDUSD, DOGE/FDUSD, ETH/FDUSD, LINK/FDUSD, SOL/FDUSD and XRP/FDUSD, while maker fees on these pairs will remain at zero. Trading volumes on the above pairs will be included in all users' maker volume and VIP tier calculations starting at the same time.

Whale address 0x50b3 added 65.72 BTC worth about $6.48M to its long position on Jan. 15, lowering its average entry price from $96,981.90 to $96,917.50, HyperInsight data show. The address holds a total BTC long position of around $59.99M with an unrealized loss of roughly $411,700. The whale also opened a new ETH long position, purchasing 329.26 ETH at an average price of about $3,303.32 per token for a position size near $1.09M.

Strategy counterparty opened long positions totaling $460 million 11 hours ago and partially trimmed BTC longs in the past hour, now holding combined BTC, ETH, and SOL long positions worth $440 million with an account unrealized loss of approximately $5.3 million, Coinbob hot address monitoring data show via BlockBeats. BTC OG insider whale reports an overall unrealized gain of $39 million, including an ETH long position with $27.8 million in unrealized profit at an average price of $3,147 and a position size of approximately $670 million; it also holds BTC and SOL longs, bringing total account position size to approximately $837 million and ranking first in ETH and SOL longs on Hyperliquid, with long positions held for over 30 days. CZ counterparty shows an ETH long position with $5.3 million in unrealized profit on a position size of approximately $190 million at an average price of $3,190, while the XRP long position remains at an unrealized loss of $8 million on a position size of approximately $82 million; total account position size is approximately $280 million, ranking as the largest XRP long and second-largest ETH long on Hyperliquid. The largest ZEC short bought spot and shorted FARTCOIN on contract with a combined spot and contract hedge of $6.4 million and continues to close WLFI short positions, with total account short positions at approximately $174 million, now the largest ETH short on-chain; the altcoin short leader bought spot and shorted HYPE on contract with a combined spot and contract hedge of $17.2 million and continues to close XPL short positions, with total account position size at approximately $55 million; pension-usdt.eth fully closed ETH long positions in the past hour, cumulatively reducing holdings by approximately 20,000 tokens worth approximately $66.4 million, recording a profit of approximately $740,000.

Bitcoin briefly fell below $96,000 on Jan. 15, trading at $96,075, HTX market data show. Ethereum dropped under $3,300 to $3,298 on the same day.

Binance will remove 20 spot trading pairs at 11:00 a.m. on Jan. 16 (UTC+8), including AAVE/FDUSD, ORDI/FDUSD, ARB/FDUSD, OP/FDUSD, FET/FDUSD, PYTH/FDUSD, TRX/FDUSD, APE/FDUSD, HMSTR/FDUSD, 2Z/FDUSD, YB/FDUSD, ZKC/FDUSD, A/BTC, API3/BTC, LAYER/BTC, EUL/BNB, MIRA/BNB, WCT/BNB, ZBT/BNB and LAYER/FDUSD, BlockBeats reports. The exchange said the delisting follows its periodic review of listed trading pairs.

On Jan. 15, a crypto whale sold 300 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) near $97,053, generating $29.11 million in USDT to repay loans, according to EmberCN. The sale locked in a $39.15 million realized loss as Bitcoin briefly topped $97,000. Despite the loss, the address still holds 1,000 WBTC worth about $96.81 million.

Whale "255 $BTC Sold" added to BTC, ETH and SOL long positions on Jan. 15, lifting total position value to about $471 million, OnchainLens data show. Holdings now are 2,578.51 BTC, 45,124 ETH and 479,601 SOL. The whale closed a FARTCOIN position with a loss of about $85,000 and a PUMP long position with a loss of about $138,000.

On Jan. 15, multiple Federal Reserve officials said interest rates are likely to remain unchanged at the late-January Federal Open Market Committee meeting and reaffirmed the Fed’s policy independence, BlockBeats reported. Officials including Neel Kashkari, Austan Goolsbee, Raphael Bostic, and John Williams cited a resilient economy and elevated inflation, stressing data-driven decisions despite a DOJ subpoena tied to Fed renovations. Most said policy must remain restrictive to reach the 2% inflation target, with markets largely pricing rate cuts after June.