Market Signal Briefing

The precious metals industry has continued with a bullish explosion this week, while Bitcoin (BTC), the altcoin market dropped. During the past five days, the gold price surged 6.9% to trade at about $4,975 per ounce at press time.

Silver price gained 9.89% during the past five days to trade above $101 per ounce for the first time in its history. Meanwhile, Bitcoin price has dropped 5.44% to trade at about $90,305 at press time. 

According to Tom Lee, Chairman at BitMine, the parabolic surge of Gold and Silver is a leading indicator for Bitcoin. Lee pointed out the mean reversion principle, which states that a variable that deviates significantly from its historical average will, over time, move back to the same average.

While Gold and Silver have heavily benefited from the global geopolitical tensions, Bitcoin has lagged. The current Bitcoin price action has been compared to the post 2019 period that was heavily influenced by the Federal Reserve’s Quantitative Easing (QE).

What’s Next?The next phase for Bitcoin and the wider altcoin market will be influenced by the regulatory outlook in the United States. The expected approval and enactment of the Clarity Act in the United States has been described as a major trigger for a bullish outlook in 2026.

Source: X

Moreover, capital rotation from Gold and the wider precious industry has already been kick-started by BlackRock’s IBIT. Since the beginning of 2026, BlackRock’s IBIT has recorded a net cash inflow of over $5 billion.

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The precious metals are on the run again. BTC tried but failed.

With the growing global uncertainty and rising geopolitical tension, it’s evident that investors tend to pick more stable and historically proven assets such as gold and silver, while leaving cryptocurrencies aside, at least for the time being.

In the past few hours alone, BTC attempted a breakout, which was quickly halted at $91,000 while gold and silver charted fresh all-time highs.

BTCUSD Jan 23. Source: TradingView Bitcoin’s early 2026 gains were quickly erased this week as Trump and the EU went on a full-scale verbal war with tariff threats and potential “bazookas” over Greenland.

As a result, the primary cryptocurrency fell from over $95,000 to a multi-week low of $87,200 before it staged a recovery to nearly $90,000, where it spent most of the past day. It finally tried to break out hours ago, but the bears stepped up at $91,200 and didn’t allow another run.

Just the opposite, BTC tumbled again by almost two grand immediately. Most altcoins followed suit, leaving over $300 million worth of liquidations on a daily scale, according to Coinglass data. Over half of that amount was wrecked in the past 4 hours alone.

At the same time, the precious metal market continues to boom. Gold peaked at $4,970 earlier today, where it faced some rejection, but broke through that level and marked a new all-time high at $4,980. As such, it has neared $5,000 for the first time ever. The bullion is up by over 15% since the start of the year.

Silver is the other massive gainer as of late. After surging by triple digits in 2025, it continues its run as 2026 began and has now surged by a whopping 42% in the matter of just a few weeks. Its latest record came hours ago when it soared past $100.

You may also like: Will Markets React When $1.8B Bitcoin Options Expire Today? Trump Cancels Greenland Tariffs, Bitcoin Volatility Spikes Bitcoin Price Reclaims $90K After Trump Rules Out Using Force Over Greenland A large portion of those gains against the greenback can be attributed to its poor performance. As reported by Bloomberg, the dollar is set to close its worst week against other currencies (and asset classes) since June.

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An exchange-traded fund tracking Dogecoin is the latest addition to 21shares' growing crypto lineup, marking another step in the memecoin’s push into traditional finance.

On Thursday, the crypto ETF issuer launched the 21shares Dogecoin ETF, which trades under the ticker TDOG on the Nasdaq exchange.

"Dogecoin is a unique asset with a global community and expanding real-world use cases," said Federico Brokate, global head of business development at 21shares, in a statement. "TDOG offers investors regulated, physically backed exposure to DOGE through an ETF structure they already understand and trust."

21shares has also previously rolled out ETFs tracking bitcoin, ether, Solana, and XRP. The firm noted that it is the only ETF provider endorsed by the Dogecoin Foundation.

"TDOG is another step toward making Dogecoin accessible through established financial structures, supporting broader participation as the ecosystem matures, and we're pleased to see our partnership with 21shares helping advance that progress," said Marco Margiotta, CEO of the foundation's corporate arm, House of Doge, in a statement.

Slow roll for doge ETFs Dogecoin is the tenth largest crypto by market capitalization at $20 billion, according to The Block's price data. The token began as a joke based on the Shiba Inu meme before gaining mainstream attention, helped in part by frequent public endorsements from billionaire Elon Musk.

The first spot Dogecoin ETF hit the U.S. market in September 2025, with the REX-Osprey DOGE ETF. The fund (DOJE) generated $17 million in day-one trading volume, which at the time put it as one of the top-five biggest debuts of the year. But despite subsequent listings from Bitwise and Grayscale, Wall Street's appetite for doge has been minimal.

Since DOJE's big debut, Dogecoin ETFs have generated cumulative trading volume of around $200 million, according to The Block's data. Together, they hold less than $40 million in assets under management. For comparison, six spot XRP ETFs, which also debuted in the fourth quarter of 2025, have generated more than $2 billion in volume.

Given its role as a memecoin, the flop from the ETF side is not a surprise to some.

"It's the people's coin, built on memes, community energy, and viral moments," Dominant Strategies CEO Alan Orwick told Sherwood News earlier this month. "The fact that Dogecoin can pump 21% in a week without a single dollar of ETF inflows shows the community still has pricing power independent of Wall Street."

House of Doge is trying to fix that. The firm is working with Nasdaq-listed Brag House Holdings to develop a new mobile app expected to launch in the first half of 2026. The app seeks to broaden Dogecoin's role in payments and commerce by pairing a self-custodial wallet with integrated tools for merchants.

"We want to see Dogecoin become a widely used global decentralized currency," House of Doge's Margiotta said in a statement.

Meanwhile, firms such as Bit Origin, CleanCore, and Thumzup have established corporate Dogecoin treasuries, the latter of which has explored potential rewards integration; Thumzup's platform enables users to earn cash rewards for sharing authentic content about advertisers' products.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

"Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary is pivoting his crypto strategy from tokens to energy infrastructure, declaring that power generation is now the real prize.

In brief Bitcoin remains trapped in bearish territory below the death cross with weak momentum despite reclaiming $90K. Meanwhile, GameFi tokens lead crypto gains, outpacing Bitcoin's sideways grind. Axie Infinity (AXS) surged 131% this week, and more than 250% in the last month. While Bitcoin struggles to break out of a multi-month consolidation pattern, trading in the $90,000 zone with bearish charts intact, a different corner of crypto is absolutely ripping. GameFi tokens are posting double-digit gains this week, led by a stunning 131% weekly surge in Axie Infinity and a very solid bounce by The Sandbox.

The broader market backdrop is wild. Gold pierced $4,900 per ounce for the first time ever on Thursday, while silver broke past $99—both metals hitting all-time highs as investors rotate out of risk assets.

The S&P 500 is headed for its second consecutive weekly decline after President Donald Trump's Greenland rhetoric and proposed E.U. tariffs sparked a sell-off earlier this week. Goldman Sachs is now calling for gold to hit $5,400 by year-end as the "debasement trade" accelerates.

Bitcoin (BTC) price: Death cross deadlockBitcoin is up a modest 1.6% today, trading at $90,895 after bouncing from Wednesday's lows around $88,000. That sounds fine on the surface, but the technicals show weakness and indecision among bulls, especially those betting on long-term plays.

Bitcoin (BTC) price data. Image: TradingviewThe most glaring issue is the bearish pattern that traders refer to as a “death cross,” which formed on Wednesday after invalidating a “golden cross” attempt that only lasted a few days. When the average price of Bitcoin over the last 50 days (also known as the 50-day EMA, or EMA50) sits below the 200-day average, that forms a death cross—a bearish configuration that typically signals downward pressure or at minimum extended sideways action. A golden cross is, well, the opposite of that.

For context, when a faster-moving average crosses below a slower one, it suggests that recent price action is weaker than the medium-term trend, and traders usually interpret this as a sign that momentum has shifted to the bears.

What makes this especially concerning is that Bitcoin is trading right around $90,895, which sits below both EMAs. The 50-day EMA is acting as immediate resistance near the Fibonacci level of $91,353. (These are natural supports and resistance zones that form organically in established trends.)

Bulls need to reclaim these moving averages decisively to flip the narrative—but so far, they haven't been able to hold above them for more than a few days at a time.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s Relative Strength Index, or RSI, sits at 48.3, smack in the middle of neutral territory. RSI measures buying and selling pressure on a scale of 0 to 100, with readings above 70 considered overbought and below 30 oversold. At 48.3, Bitcoin is showing neither strong buying momentum nor capitulation selling, but still suggests a slightly bearish mood among traders.

Axie Infinity (AXS) price: The GameFi moonshotNow let's talk about the complete opposite of Bitcoin's deadlock: Axie Infinity, which trades as AXS, is absolutely ripping.

AXS, the reward token that powers the Axie Infinity game, is up 7.6% today alone, trading at $2.88, and has posted a mind-bending 131% gain over the past week and a 251% jump in the past month, all in the middle of a bear market. This is the kind of move that reminds people why they got into crypto: The token has gone from complete irrelevance to suddenly becoming one of the hottest crypto assets in the entire market this week.

Axie Infinity (AXS) price data. Image: TradingviewIt seems Axie Infinity is pumping hard lately due to a mix of factors: bullish news from the creators of the Axie Infinity game, Sky Mavis, and traders chasing those gains with price momentum that’s now reignited interest in the token.

Sky Mavis earlier this week launched Origins Season 16 with a new reward system built around bAXS, a non-transferable token backed 1:1 by AXS that reduces immediate sell pressure and discourages bot farming, signaling a more sustainable in-game economy.

The update triggered a surge in trading volume, a recovery in daily active users, and heavy whale accumulation, while broader GameFi tokens are rallying as capital rotates out of a stagnant Bitcoin market.

Image: DappRadarOf course, the hype around the Axie Infinity game died a long time ago, and the AXS token is still down almost 99% from its all-time high four years ago, at the peak of the crypto gaming fervor. So, anyone who bought AXS anywhere near the top probably couldn’t care less about the “pump” right now.

But for those who may have clairvoyantly bought Axie in the last month or so, the gains have been substantial.

The technical setup on the AXS charts here is the polar opposite of Bitcoin. AXS is showing extremely bullish signs across multiple indicators, suggesting this coordinated move may have some momentum behind it.

Let's start with the Average Directional Index, or ADX, which reads 50—more than double Bitcoin's 27.0 and well into "very strong trend" territory. ADX measures trend strength, regardless of direction, on a scale from 0 to 100. Scores above 25 indicate a clear trend, and readings above 40 are considered extremely strong. At 50, AXS is showing powerful directional movement, and unlike Bitcoin, this trend is pointing straight up.

The exponential moving averages paint a bullish picture too. The token entered a golden cross last week. More importantly, price is trading above both moving averages, meaning bulls are firmly in control and the EMAs are providing support rather than resistance on any pullbacks.

But there are some potentially dangerous signals for latecomers. The Relative Strength Index is at 82.4, deep into overbought territory. RSI above 70 is generally considered overbought, meaning buying pressure has been so intense that a pause or pullback becomes more likely. At 82.4, AXS is flashing bright red warning signs that it's due for a breather.

Combine this with a 131% spike and it may take some guts to put in a long position right now expecting good results without a major correction.

Looking at the chart, AXS has broken out of a massive descending channel that had contained its price since early 2024. After months of lower highs and lower lows grinding Axie’s price down from $4+ to around $1.00, the breakout above $2.00 represents a major shift in market structure. The token is now marking higher highs and higher lows—the definition of an uptrend.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.

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Bitcoin mining consumed around 171 TWh in 2025, representing 16% of total data center energy use.

All traditional data centers worldwide consumed between 448 and 1,050 TWh in 2025, with estimates varying across analysts' data. Gartner has it at 448 TWh, while Socomec and the IEA cite a range between 600 and 1050 TWh.

Gartner projections suggest this will reach 980 TWh by 2030, but IEA data also proposes we'll break the 1,000 TWh landmark this year (if we haven't already).

AI-focused facilities are officially estimated to have consumed between 82 and 536 TWh in 2025, accounting for 11-40% of all data center energy usage. The wide range is driven by the speed of AI deployment and the difficulty of tracking exact usage data.

Therefore, traditional data centers, including cloud computing, enterprise applications, streaming, and social media, certainly accounted for north of 388 TWh in 2025.

2025 metricRange (TWh)Average used (TWh)NotesAll data centers (ex BTC)448–1,050800Conservative working average for analysisAI-focused data centers (derived from total)88–536350MidpointTraditional / non-AI data centers (derived)388–712450Total minus AI (800 − 350)Bitcoin mining (electricity use)138–204171Range spans Cambridge estimate (~138) to Digiconomist annualized estimate (~204)Gartner states,

“In 2025, AI-optimized servers are projected to represent 21% of total center power usage and 44% by 2030. In 2030, they will represent 64% of the incremental power demand for data centers.”

While Socomec states,

“Data centers will consume approximately 536 TWh of electricity in 2025, representing about 2% of global electricity consumption. This figure could double to 1,065 TWh by 2030 as AI computing power requirements continue to escalate”

For this analysis, we'll use an average of 1,000 TWh for all data centers in 2026, given the vast deployment of new infrastructure. However, this could underestimate AI usage by the same amount of energy as Bitcoin consumes in an entire year.

Still, given there is no official consensus on the exact energy use and split, I believe this is the fairest split.

2026 projection metricShare of totalImplied electricity (TWh)NotesAll data centers (ex BTCl)100%1,000Projected global data center electricity footprintAI data centers40%400AI share projected at 40% of totalTraditional workloads60%600Remaining share of totalBitcoin mining (context)–150Comparison benchmark accounting for difficulty dropThese estimates put Bitcoin far below AI, video streaming, and social media in terms of energy usage.

I wonder how many of the ‘Buttcoin' community will be offended by this fact while watching videos about how much of a scam Bitcoin is on YouTube or posting about it on Reddit?

Energy mix for Bitcoin and traditional data centersThe energy landscape for digital infrastructure shows Bitcoin operating at 52.4% sustainable energy (renewables plus nuclear) compared to the broader data center industry average of 42%, according to the Cambridge Digital Mining Industry Report 2025.

AI data centers are projected to consume 40% of total data center electricity in 2026, up from 14% in 2024. Traditional workloads account for the remaining 45% of the total 1,000 TWh global data center footprint, with Bitcoin making up the remainder.

Bitcoin miners face constraint scenarios in 2026 as AI companies bid up prices for firm power supply.

The network's difficulty reached 148.2 trillion at the end of 2025, then dipped slightly at the start of 2026 as hashrate fell due to Bitcoin's declining price.

Competition for low-cost electricity could push Bitcoin consumption to a minimum of 142 TWh by late 2026 if efficiency improvements offset hashrate growth. In constrained scenarios where AI infrastructure outbids mining operations, consumption could fall to 100–140 TWh by 2030.

Bitcoin's renewable energy mix now stands at 43%, with hydropower representing 23.12%, wind 13.98%, and solar 4.98% of the total energy profile, according to Cambridge Judge Business School.

Nuclear power contributes 9.8–10%, bringing total sustainable energy to 52.4%.

Natural gas has replaced coal as the primary fossil fuel source, accounting for 38.2% compared to coal's 8.9%, down from 36.6% in 2022.

The shift in fossil fuel composition represents a migration toward lower-emission sources. The overall sustainable energy percentage exceeds both the global grid average of 40% and the data center industry standard of 42%.

Bitcoin's per-user environmental impact, however, measures approximately 2,768 kg CO2e annually per user, based on 30 million global users. Though more users does not increase energy usage like social media does.

While this is 57 times higher than TikTok's 48.5 kg per user and 46 times higher than the average social media user's 60 kg footprint, it scales differently.

ScenarioBTC usersTotal footprint (Mt CO₂e/yr)Per-user footprint (kg CO₂e/user/yr)Comparison notesBaseline30,000,00083.042,768.00≈57× TikTok (48.5 kg); ≈46× a 60 kg “avg social” benchmarkSocial media equivalent energy per user1,384,000,00083.0460.00This is the BTC user count required if total footprint stays flatTikTok-scale user count1,500,000,00083.0455.36At TikTok-scale, BTC per-user would be ~55 kgData center growth in 2026AI infrastructure investment reached $400–450 billion in 2026 capex globally, with over half allocated to processors including GPUs, TPUs, and custom ASICs, according to Deloitte Technology Predictions 2026.

The Stargate Initiative announced by OpenAI represents $500 billion in total investment, exceeding the Apollo space program's inflation-adjusted $280 billion.

Google allocated $75 billion to AI infrastructure in 2025, including the $4.75 billion acquisition of Intersect Power for data centers with co-located clean energy development.

Inference workloads now consume 66% of AI computing power in 2026, up from 33% in 2023, with training representing the remaining 33%.

This reversal reflects the deployment phase of AI models, where continuous query processing dominates energy consumption rather than one-time training events.

ChatGPT processed up to 200 million requests daily at 0.3 Wh per query for GPT-4o, totaling approximately 60 MWh daily. Earlier model versions consumed up to 2.9 Wh per query before optimization.

GPT-5 projections indicate 18.35 Wh per 1,000-token response, representing an 8.6-fold increase over GPT-4o's per-query consumption.

If processing 2.5 billion requests daily, GPT-5 could consume up to 45 GWh daily, equivalent to the electricity needs of 1.5 million U.S. households, according to analysis from Windows Central and PatentPC.

Traditional data centers, which include social media platforms, streaming services, cloud computing, enterprise applications, SaaS, e-commerce, and financial services, are projected to consume 400 TWh in 2026.

Available data does not isolate social media and streaming consumption from broader traditional data center categories. These platforms are estimated to represent 15–30% of traditional workloads.

CategorySustainable Energy MixGrowth RateAI Data Centers42%~40% annuallyTraditional Data Centers42%~9% annuallyBitcoin Mining52.4%Constrained by competitionTotal Data Centers42% average2.5x from 2024Meta reported a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.09 for its data centers in 2025, representing industry-leading efficiency compared to the enterprise average of 1.5–1.6.

The company avoided 16.4 million metric tons of CO2e since 2021 through efficiency improvements and renewable energy procurement.

TikTok's parent company ByteDance reported approximately 50 million tons of CO2e in total company emissions annually. Per-user emissions were calculated at 48.49 kg CO2e based on third-party analysis of usage patterns.

Streaming energy usageNetflix consumed 451,000 MWh annually as of 2019 data, enough to power 37,000 homes.

Streaming energy breakdown shows viewing devices accounting for 72% of emissions, data transmission 23%, and data centers 5%. Per-hour streaming energy measured 0.077 kWh in 2019, though efficiency improvements of approximately 20% annually since 2010 suggest current consumption is lower.

The International Energy Agency stated:

“Contrary to a slew of recent misleading media coverage, the climate impacts of streaming video remain relatively modest, particularly compared to other activities and sectors.”

The Shift Project's 2019 claim that one hour of Netflix streaming consumed 6.1 kWh was corrected in 2020 to approximately 0.8 kWh.

This represented a seven-to-eightfold overstatement that continued circulating despite the correction.

Current estimates from the Carbon Trust place streaming emissions at approximately 55g CO2e per hour on European grids. The IEA's 2020 analysis calculated 36g CO2e per hour, with variance reflecting different grid carbon intensities and efficiency improvements over time.

Bitcoin benefits the energy grid unlike streaming or social mediaBitcoin mining facilities can curtail demand within seconds, enabling participation in demand response programs and consumption of otherwise-curtailed renewable energy.

Flexible loads like Bitcoin mining could add 76 GW to grid capacity, approximately 10% of peak demand, based on Duke University modeling, according to CPower Energy.

Texas ERCOT integrated Bitcoin miners as flexible load following 2021 blackouts, avoiding an estimated $18 billion in gas peaker plant construction.

AI and traditional data centers require continuous, reliable power for service delivery, limiting their ability to provide grid balancing services.

Data center occupancy rates reached 85% in 2023 and are projected to exceed 95% by late 2026, leaving minimal flexibility for demand response.

Water consumption projections for U.S. AI servers range from 731 to 1,125 million cubic meters annually by 2030, according to MIT News.

Bitcoin's air-cooled ASIC systems consume minimal water compared to liquid-cooled data center infrastructure.

ASIC technology evolution shows top-tier 2026 models achieving 9.5–12 joules per terahash (J/TH), compared to legacy 2020–2023 models operating at 25–30+ J/TH.

The Antminer U3S23H delivers 1,160 TH/s at 9.5 J/TH, while the S21 XP Hydro achieves 473 TH/s at 12 J/TH.

These efficiency improvements of 50–70% are enabled by transitions from 7nm to 5nm and 3nm chip architectures. Total network consumption remains stable or grows due to Jevons Paradox, where efficiency gains enable more mining activity at lower costs.

The pattern repeats across all three sectors.AI inference efficiency improved tenfold from early GPT-4 estimates to GPT-4o, yet total AI consumption is projected to increase sevenfold from 60 TWh in 2024 to 420 TWh in 2026.

Streaming data center energy intensity has decreased 20% annually since 2010, yet total streaming hours and absolute consumption continue rising.

Efficiency improvements reduce cost per unit, enabling more consumption that often exceeds efficiency savings.

Goldman Sachs projects 60% of increased data center electricity demand through 2030 will be met by fossil fuels, adding approximately 220 million tons of CO2 to global emissions.

Natural gas serves as “bridge fuel” during the 2026–2028 transition period while renewable and nuclear projects remain under construction.

Tech giants including Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google have contracted over 50 GW of renewable capacity, equivalent to Sweden's total generation capacity. Delivery lags by two to five years due to development timelines.

Microsoft's $10 billion Brookfield renewable energy deal will deliver 10.5 GW of capacity beginning in 2026, equivalent to the output of 10 nuclear power plants.

Google's NextEra partnership will restart Iowa's Duane Arnold nuclear plant in 2027. Meta partnered with Oklo to develop small modular nuclear reactors for data center power in Pike County.

Meta's Louisiana data center represents a $10 billion investment with 1,500+ MW of new renewable energy scheduled for grid connection.

Critical power capacity for data centers globally measured 55 GW in 2023 and is projected to reach 82–96 GW by 2026, representing a near-doubling of infrastructure in three years.

Regional distribution shows the U.S. and China accounting for approximately 80% of global data center electricity growth through 2030. The United States is projected to add 240 TWh, up 130% from 2024, and China will add 175 TWh, up 170% from 2024.

Ireland currently allocates 21% of national electricity to data centers, with projections reaching 32% by 2026 if current growth continues.

Grid connection timelines of two to five years in many regions, combined with transformer and substation supply chain bottlenecks, constrain expansion rates.

Local utility capacity approaches limits in several markets, while cooling water availability presents challenges in drought-prone areas including Arizona, Nevada, and Texas.

Energy use across cryptoEthereum's transition to proof-of-stake on September 15, 2022, reduced energy consumption by 99.988%, from 23 TWh annually to 0.0026 TWh.

The network now processes more transactions than Bitcoin while consuming 0.0015% of Bitcoin's energy, according to Ethereum.org.

Carbon emissions decreased 99.992%, from 11,016,000 tonnes to 870 tonnes CO2e annually, demonstrating that blockchain technology does not inherently require high energy consumption.

Bitcoin's proof-of-work security model represents a design choice rather than a technological limitation.

The Bitcoin community maintains that proof-of-work provides superior security guarantees through energy expenditure, while proof-of-stake achieves security through economic incentives and staked capital.

Both models offer valid approaches with different trade-offs between energy consumption and security mechanisms.

Total global data center consumption of 1,000 TWh in 2026 represents 3.5% of projected global electricity consumption of 29,000 TWh.

Bitcoin's 150-171 TWh equals 0.6% of global electricity, comparable to Poland's annual consumption and similar to global aviation's 180–200 TWh.

The data center sector grew from 460 TWh in 2022 to a projected 1,000 TWh in 2026, representing a 2.5x increase driven primarily by AI infrastructure expansion.

By 2030, projections of total data center consumption range from 1,000 to 1,900 TWh in the US alone.

Conservative scenarios assuming continued 20% annual efficiency improvements could reduce total consumption to 200 – 400 TWh. Aggressive cases with accelerated AI adoption and increased model complexity could exceed 2,500 TWh worldwide.

Bitcoin consumption scenarios for 2030 range from 100–140 TWh under constraint scenarios where AI outbids miners for low-cost electricity, to 150–200 TWh in baseline scenarios with moderate growth.

If Bitcoin price increases enable mining at higher electricity costs, consumption could reach 200–300 TWh.

The Lightning Network's off-chain transaction capability could enable 100–1000x transaction throughput with minimal energy increase. Network consumption serves primarily to maintain security rather than process individual transactions.

The renewable energy integration timeline shows corporate commitments outpacing deliveryRenewable power generation is projected to grow 22% annually to 2030, targeting 40–45% of data center electricity demand growth. This falls short of meeting total new demand.

The long-term vision for 2030 and beyond includes solar and wind providing 40–50% of supply, battery storage enabling 10–20% through renewable firming, nuclear delivering 20–30% baseload, and natural gas reduced to 10–20% for backup and peaking.

Bitcoin's ability to consume curtailed renewable energy provides immediate grid benefits that new-build renewable projects cannot deliver during their two-to-five-year construction timelines.

Mining facilities can prevent up to 40% of renewable energy waste by consuming power during low-demand periods. This enables renewable projects in locations without transmission infrastructure.

This “buyer of first resort” role makes projects financially viable during grid build-out phases, particularly for hydroelectric installations in Siberia and Iceland, geothermal in Iceland and El Salvador, and solar in Texas.

The distinction between interruptible and continuous power demand affects grid management and renewable integration capacity.

Bitcoin's flexible load characteristics enable higher renewable penetration on grids by absorbing surplus generation and curtailing during peak demand periods.

Data centers requiring continuous operation necessitate fossil fuel backup capacity or baseload nuclear power. Battery storage technology cannot yet economically support multi-day backup for facilities consuming hundreds of megawatts.

Data centers will eat more energy than Bitcoin ever willData center power distribution shows servers and compute equipment consuming 40–60% of facility electricity demand.

Cooling systems use 7–40%, with hyperscale facilities achieving 7% and less-efficient enterprise data centers reaching 30%+. Storage systems account for approximately 5%, networking equipment 5%, and power distribution plus other systems 5–10%.

Hyperscale operators including Google, Meta, and Amazon achieve PUE ratios closer to 1.1, while enterprise average approaches 1.5–1.6.

Why does Bitcoin get all the hate?The attention-consumption disparity shows Bitcoin receiving approximately three to four times more critical media coverage per TWh consumed compared to traditional data centers.

AI receives approximately twice the per-TWh coverage intensity.

Near-term emissions trajectories will worsen before improving as demand growth outpaces renewable deployment through 2028.

Natural gas will power the majority of new data center capacity during this transition period, with renewable and nuclear projects scheduled to come online between 2027–2030.

The temporal mismatch between climate urgency requiring immediate action and infrastructure reality requiring five-to-ten-year transition periods creates a gap that fossil fuel generation currently fills.

Bitcoin isn’t “free” from environmental trade-offs. It’s an always-on security system that converts electricity into hardness: the cost of making history expensive to rewrite. That’s a design choice—and it deserves scrutiny.

But scrutiny should be proportional to reality.

By the numbers, Bitcoin sits well below the electricity appetite of the modern internet’s real growth engine: data centers, and increasingly AI.

Those facilities are expanding beyond a 1,000 TWh footprint on an uncertain mix of gas, renewables, and nuclear, because reliability matters more than ideals when you’re serving billions of real-time requests.

If the criticism is “we should be careful with power,” then the spotlight can’t stop at mining while AI inference, streaming, and social platforms quietly scale into the same grids.

And Bitcoin is not just another “always on” load. Miners can curtail in seconds, show up as demand response, and buy energy that would otherwise be wasted, helping finance renewables in places the grid can’t fully absorb yet. That doesn’t erase emissions, but it changes the comparison.

A flexible load that can turn off is not the same thing as a continuous service that can’t.

The fairest way to talk about Bitcoin’s energy is the same way we should talk about every digital system: total consumption, energy mix, flexibility, and what society gets in return.

If we apply that standard consistently, the conclusion is uncomfortable for Bitcoin’s loudest critics: the network isn’t the outlier, it’s the easiest target.

Mentioned in this article

Jurrien Timmer, Fidelity’s director of global macro, has questioned whether Bitcoin’s bounce to $95,000 is a return to trend or a "countertrend" trap. 

The executive has warned that the "huge outlier" status of Bitcoin’s momentum curve may signal that further rebalancing is required before a true bottom is established.

In a Friday market update, Timmer compared the underwhelming performance of the world’s largest digital asset to the robust performance of gold. The latter continues to set new highs as a reliable hedge against global monetary expansion.

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The $116 trillion benchmarksTimmer’s analysis begins with the "ever-expanding" global money supply, which currently sits at a staggering $116.5 trillion and is growing at an annualized rate of 11.4%.

According to the Fidelity executive, gold is doing exactly what it is designed to do in this environment: "Gold has continued to perform extremely well amid this evolving global world order," Timmer noted. 

However, the signal for Bitcoin is far less clear. The cryptocurrency corrected sharply and then rallied from $80,000 to the $95,000 range.

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"It’s hard to know whether the correction is over and the uptrend is resuming, or whether the rally from $80k to $95k is a countertrend bounce," Timmer wrote.

Timmer pointed to two critical liquidity metrics that suggest institutional exhaustion. First, futures interest has "dropped substantially," meaning that leverage is leaving the system. Moreover, inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs have cooled substantially.

The momentum outlinerPerhaps the most bearish note in Timmer’s assessment is his view of Bitcoin’s "momentum curve." He described the asset’s recent price velocity as a "huge outlier" compared to historical norms and other asset classes.

"Perhaps some rebalancing is in order here as well," Timmer concluded. 

Timmer’s analysis offers a sobering reality check for some bulls who believe that the worst is already over.

Key NotesPlasma joins over 25 blockchains in NEAR Intents' chain-abstracted liquidity pool with native token XPL and USDT0 stablecoin.The integration leverages Plasma's high-performance infrastructure backed by Framework Ventures, Bitfinex, and Peter Thiel from a $24M funding round.NEAR Intents processes significant USDT volume with 39% of cross-chain transactions involving Tether in the last 24 hours. Plasma—a purpose-built layer-one (L1) blockchain for stablecoins—has integrated NEAR Intents for large-volume stablecoin cross-chain settlements and swaps, joining a list of more than 25 other networks. Plasma got popular mostly due to Tether and Peter Thiel, a PayPal co-founder, backing, having a strong focus on efficient USDT operations.

The integration was announced on Jan. 23 with social media activity from both Plasma and the NEAR Protocol. With that, Plasma’s native token, XPL, and the USDT0 stablecoin have joined a chain-abstracted liquidity pool of more than 125 other digital assets running in over 25 blockchains.

Plasma is now live on NEAR Intents.

Users can seamlessly swap 125+ assets across 25+ major chains to and from Plasma’s native token XPL.

USDT0 deposits and withdrawals on @Plasma are also now supported via the NEAR Intents app. https://t.co/CITya0itE4 pic.twitter.com/R3yuuJwIFR

— NEAR Protocol (@NEARProtocol) January 23, 2026

In early 2025 Plasma raised $24 million in a private funding round led by Framework Ventures, with contributions from Bitfinex, Peter Thiel, and Paolo Ardoino. Thiel was also named one of the project’s advisors, leveraging his expertise co-founding PayPal.

Since then, the high-performance, purpose-built L1 has made significant movements in the crypto industry, as Coinspeaker covered. In September 2025, they unveiled Plasma One, a stablecoin-native neobank and card system offering 10%+ yields and 4% cashback across 150 countries. Later in October, the project integrated Chainlink after reaching a milestone of $6 billion in stablecoins running onchain.

What NEAR Intents Unlocks for Plasma NEAR Intents is a cross-chain protocol developed by the NEAR-based Aurora team, running an MPC network of market makers called “solvers,” who read and solve users’ intents across different systems and chains. It has reportedly been the fastest-growing cross-chain protocol in 2025 and received relevant industry-level recognition, with honorable mentions and awards, as Coinspeaker reported when the protocol surpassed $10 billion in total volume.

Data from Dune Analytics’ NEAR Intents dashboard shows that 39% of the cross-chain volume in the last 24 hours belongs to transactions involving Tether’s USDT, Plasma’s main focus. Moreover, the protocol had more than half a million unique addresses in the last 30 days.

NEAR Intents onchain data as of Jan. 23, 2026 | Source: Dune Analytics Dashboard

By integrating—and being integrated by—NEAR Intents, Plasma leverages its high-performance infrastructure, backed by industry leaders, connecting it with the broader crypto ecosystem and other leading blockchain networks and communities of builders and users.

“Plasma builders can now integrate NEAR Intents directly into their products using the 1Click Swap API, giving users frictionless access to assets and unified liquidity across 25+ blockchain ecosystems,” NEAR Protocol account on X wrote earlier on Jan. 23.

Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.

Near Protocol News, Cryptocurrency News, News

Vini Barbosa has covered the crypto industry professionally since 2020, summing up to over 10,000 hours of research, writing, and editing related content for media outlets and key industry players. Vini is an active commentator and a heavy user of the technology, truly believing in its revolutionary potential. Topics of interest include blockchain, open-source software, decentralized finance, and real-world utility.

Vini Barbosa on X

World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin has overtaken PayPal’s PYUSD in market capitalization, following accelerated adoption driven by a major incentive program announced by Binance. Eric Trump highlighted the milestone on X, framing USD1’s growth as part of a broader shift in global payments as the stablecoin expands across exchanges and merchant payment rails.

Momentum has been reinforced by Binance’s four-week, $40 million WLFI airdrop, which rewards users for holding USD1 on eligible accounts through February 20, 2026. The program distributes $10 million in WLFI weekly, with higher rewards for USD1 used as margin or futures collateral, though participation is restricted in several jurisdictions due to regulatory constraints. The initiative positions USD1 as a rapidly scaling stablecoin amid increasing political and regulatory focus on tokenized dollars in the U.S.

Source: World Liberty Financial, Eric Trump (X)

Disclaimer: Crypto Economy Flash News is prepared using official and publicly available sources verified by our editorial team. Its purpose is to provide rapid updates on relevant developments within the crypto and blockchain ecosystem.

This information does not constitute financial advice or an investment recommendation. We recommend always verifying official project channels before making related decisions.

Journalist

Posted: January 23, 2026

Grayscale Investments has filed to launch a Binance Coin [BNB] exchange-traded fund on 23 January. The filing adds another major altcoin to the expanding list of crypto ETF proposals in the U.S. 

However, unlike previous ETF-driven rallies seen in Bitcoin and Ethereum, the filing has so far failed to trigger a decisive upside move in BNB’s price.

According to recent filings, Grayscale is seeking regulatory approval to offer a spot BNB ETF, positioning the token alongside a growing roster of assets being packaged into traditional investment vehicles. 

Source: US SEC

The move underscores institutional interest in broadening crypto exposure beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. This is particularly as ETF demand reshapes capital flows across the market.

BNB price action remains muted Despite the significance of the filing, BNB’s price reaction has been notably restrained. At the time of writing, BNB is trading around $890–$900, remaining locked within a multi-week consolidation range that has persisted since December.

The daily chart shows that BNB is still well below its October 2025 peak, when prices surged above $1,300 during a broader market rally. 

Source: TradingView

Since then, the token has established a series of lower highs, with repeated rejections near the $950–$1,000 resistance zone.

Trading volume has also remained relatively subdued, suggesting limited speculative positioning following the ETF news.

This muted response contrasts sharply with earlier ETF-related developments in the market, where announcement momentum often translated into immediate price expansion. 

In BNB’s case, the absence of a breakout indicates that investors may be treating the filing as a longer-term structural development rather than a near-term catalyst.

ETF optimism meets market caution The lack of immediate upside may reflect broader market conditions. Crypto markets have recently experienced heightened volatility, with risk appetite cooling after sharp drawdowns across major assets. 

In this environment, ETF filings alone may no longer be sufficient to override prevailing technical trends.

Additionally, BNB’s performance remains closely tied to activity within the Binance ecosystem, including trading volumes, regulatory developments, and on-chain usage. 

While an ETF could improve accessibility for traditional investors, its impact may depend on sustained demand rather than headline momentum.

What to watch next From a technical perspective, a confirmed break above the $1,000 level would be required to shift BNB out of its current range-bound structure.

On the downside, sustained weakness below the $850 support zone could expose the token to deeper retracements.

For now, Grayscale’s BNB ETF filing adds to the narrative of institutional expansion into altcoins.

Still, price action suggests markets are waiting for clearer confirmation—either through regulatory progress or a broader recovery in crypto sentiment.

Final Thoughts The BNB ETF filing signals continued institutional interest in altcoins, but its impact appears structural rather than immediate. BNB remains technically range-bound, suggesting regulatory progress or stronger market sentiment is needed to unlock upside.

Despite the latest crypto market drawdown, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s faith remains unshaken. Garlinghouse has predicted that the crypto market will hit new historic highs in 2026, buoyed by favorable regulation and institutional adoption.

Speaking with CNBC, the Ripple boss asserted that he’s “very bullish,” suggesting that crypto is headed to new all-time highs this year, although he did not provide details on particular assets or an exact target.

Bitcoin’s early-January breakout attempt has faltered, with the world’s oldest and largest crypto slipping below the $90,000 mark once again. However, Garlinghouse dismissed the ongoing bearishness, predicting a new ATH.

“I’ll go on record as saying I think we’ll see an all-time high,” Garlinghouse postulated.

He strongly believes that institutional interest in crypto is not fully priced in. Additionally, he is convinced that the much-anticipated Clarity Act will “get done.”

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The bill has endured a wild week, as reflected by prominent U.S. crypto exchange, Coinbase, abruptly withdrawing support for the major crypto market structure bill. Coinbase’s move sent the whole industry into a frenzy and triggered the “crypto versus banks” debate over whether banks are pushing to kill the legislation to keep their competition at bay. Following the exchange’s withdrawal, the U.S. Senate postponed the hearing on the bill just hours before it was scheduled to commence.

Despite that, US President Donald Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Wednesday that he hopes to sign the market structure bill into law “very soon.”

XRP Poised For $8 In 2026? As for XRP, the Ripple-linked cross-border payments token, Garlinghouse did not make any comments during the CNBC interview — though he anticipates “continued, very positive momentum.” 

“We are a very vested party in what goes on in the XRP ecosystem,” the Ripple CEO opined.

XRP soared past a seven-year-old milestone to set a fresh peak of $3.65 in July 2025. Much to the chagrin of the XRPArmy, the crypto has retraced by 47.7% since that time, currently trading hands around $1.91.

Even still, British multinational bank Standard Chartered has previously predicted that XRP could push above the coveted $8 mark in 2026.

As Cardano advances with a series of ecosystem improvements, one analyst has highlighted the network’s increasing utility in real-world applications. On the other hand, whispers of an impending ADA rally are gathering momentum, buoyed by a raft of positive technical and fundamental indicators.

Traceability Is Cardano’s Biggest Upside, Says Analyst Pseudonymous cryptocurrency analyst Dave has argued in favor of Cardano’s immutability features, tipping it to support broad real-world applications. Dave, in an X post, noted that the network’s immutability makes it ideal for traceability use cases in a range of high-volume industries.

Dave, doubling as a Cardano DRep, reiterated that transactions on Cardano cannot be rewritten, adding that “facts are preserved exactly as they were recorded.” He disclosed that the network’s immutability is directly linked to Cardano’s eight years of continuous reliability despite several protocol upgrades.

“Cardano is exceptionally well-suited to real-world use cases like traceability,” said Dave. “Once data is written, it stays written.”

Apart from the immutability features, Dave highlighted Cardano’s accessibility functionality, designed to allow users to follow specific transactions within a particular period. He argued that this functionality will support audits while proving provenance for commodities, a positive for real-world assets on the network.

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“This is where Cardano quietly stands apart,” said Dave. “It isn’t just a store of value. It’s a store of truth, continuity, and real utility.”

While Cardano’s uptime has remained continuous, the network has come within the crosshairs of bad actors in the past. Back in 2024, Cardano was hit by a massive DDoS attack, and the network underwent a chain split at the tail end of 2025.

Is ADA Rally Imminent? Dave’s comment on Cardano’s real-world utility comes on the heels of multiple reports of an incoming growth spurt for ADA’s price. Crypto analyst Ali Chart identified a forming cup-and-handle pattern, predicting a short-term spike to $0.5.

Furthermore, Cardano whales are indicating bullish optimism after purchasing 210 million ADA since the start of the year. Others are eyeing the launch of CME Group’s Cardano futures in February as the trigger for an ADA rally, citing the impact of Solana futures on SOL’s price.

Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko has warned that the network will face extinction if it stops making improvements. Yakovenko’s comments came on the heels of Vitalik Buterin’s push to “ossify” Ethereum, potentially slowing an avalanche of network changes.

Solana’s Founder Disagrees With Buterin, Pushes For Steady Improvements Yakovenko, in an X post, revealed that Solana’s long-term future depends on steady improvements to the blockchain to better serve users and developers.

He argued that the network should put users’ needs at the top of the pyramid to ensure its survival. Yakovenko stated that if Solana is “materially useful,” developers will spare LLM token credits to upstream improvements to the blockchain.

“To not die requires to always be useful,” wrote Yakovenko. “So the primary goal of protocol changes should be to solve a dev or user problem.”

While solving users’ needs is a priority, Yakovenko disclosed that providing a solution to every problem is not feasible in the real world. He pushed for a balance, clarifying that “saying no to most problems is necessary” for efficient network operations.

Going forward, the Solana co-founder added that the protocol changes should not be left to a particular group or individuals, urging new players to push for network upgrades. At the moment, a significant number of Solana’s improvements are powered by Anza, Firedancer, the Solana Foundation, and the validators’ community.

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“You should always count on there being a next version of Solana, just not necessarily from anza, labs or fd,” Yakovenko said. “The way things are going we are likely to end up in a world where a simd vote pays for the GPUs that write the code.”

Ethereum Founder Eyes Ossifying The Network Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin is pulling strings to reduce the spate of Ethereum’s network changes. Per Vitalik, Ethereum will undergo an improvement spree in the coming years to add key upgrades, reducing dependency on features that are not already in the protocol.

“Do the right thing once, based on knowledge of what is truly the right thing (and not compromise halfway fixes), and maximize Ethereum’s technological and social robustness for the long term,” said Buterin.

In the coming year, Buterin wants Ethereum to prioritize upgrades to ensure full quantum resistance, an architecture to support scalability, and a state architecture designed to last for decades. Furthermore, Buterin is backing changes to ensure decentralization and a gas schedule that is impervious to DoS vulnerabilities.

SEC removed special limits on Bitcoin ETF options, treating them like regular ETF options. This boosts liquidity and makes institutional trading easier. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a rule that removes the special restriction on the options trading linked to Bitcoin ETFs on the Nasdaq Options Market. The decision was published under SEC Release No.34-104649 on January 21, 2026.

How the New Rule Changes Bitcoin ETF Options Before the New rule change, options on the spot Bitcoin ETFs were treated as a restricted category. They were subject to tighter position and exercise limits than most other ETF options. Now, under the new rule, Spot Bitcoin ETFs are treated like the standard commodity-based ETFs. Bitcoin ETF options are now coming under the same framework used for oil, gold, and other commodities.

The SEC approval applies to options trading on ishares Bitcoin Trust, the Grayscale Bitcoin trust and the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF. These funds now operate under the same option rules as other large ETFs traded on U.S. Exchanges.

Reason Behind the SEC’s Accelerated Approval Normally, SEC-approved rule changes include a 30-day waiting period before taking effect. But in this case, the SEC removed the waiting period and allowed the rule to take effect immediately. Nasdaq has argued that a delay would place the Bitcoin ETF options at a disadvantage compared with the other high-volume ETF options. The SEC agreed and allowed the changes to take effect immediately.

This change is important for institutional investors such as hedge funds, asset managers, and market makers. When the limits are higher, then they can buy and sell larger positions without pushing the prices. This makes it easy for them to protect their investment and manage risk. This improves liquidity, and trading becomes smoother. 

This decision shows the broader shift in U.S. regulators viewing the digital assets. SEC is now focusing on setting the rules more quickly and regulating crypto as the traditional financial markets, instead of responding after the problem arises. 

Highlighted Crypto News:

‌US Bank Lobby Makes Stablecoin Yield Restrictions a Top 2026 Priority

TL;DR

Grayscale filed an S-1 with the SEC for a spot BNB ETF to give regulated access to BNB without self-custody. The sponsor formed a Delaware statutory trust and said the fund would trade on NYSE Arca, putting Binance Chain exposure in an ETF wrapper. The filing tests the SEC’s stance on exchange-native tokens as market-structure legislation clarifies pathways; the SEC has 45 days for a response; BNB rose. Grayscale says it filed an S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch what it calls the first spot BNB exchange-traded fund in the United States. The filing reframes altcoin exposure as a compliance-led allocation tool rather than a speculative side bet. The application expands Grayscale’s lineup beyond bitcoin and ether, aiming to provide retail and institutional investors regulated access to BNB without direct self-custody. BNB is the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and flags demand for simpler, exchange-listed exposure in traditional accounts through one ticker at brokers.

What the filing signals for altcoin ETFs The filing follows weeks of administrative groundwork, including the registration of a statutory trust in Delaware earlier this month. If approved, the Grayscale BNB ETF would trade on NYSE Arca. By building the legal wrapper up front, the sponsor is signaling institutional readiness and tighter governance expectations. A Grayscale spokesperson said the submission reflects a commitment to provide investors “the most comprehensive access” to digital assets, arguing the Binance Chain ecosystem is maturing as a leading layer for decentralized finance and tokenized assets, and that a regulated, transparent vehicle is timely, tracking BNB’s performance directly.

The filing will test the SEC’s stance on exchange-native tokens, a category that has drawn heightened attention in prior enforcement debates. The strategic hinge is whether regulators treat BNB as a mature network asset or as a token requiring extra perimeter controls. SEC has previously scrutinized BNB’s regulatory status, but broader market structure legislation implemented in early 2026 is providing a clearer pathway for altcoin-linked products. That legislative context could shape timelines, disclosures, and listing conditions. For issuers, this is a credibility checkpoint now.

Grayscale’s research division predicts 2026 will be the “dawn of the institutional era” for crypto, ending the traditional four-year market cycle. In execution terms, the market now shifts from narrative to process, as the SEC’s review clock becomes the next catalyst. The agency has 45 days to deliver an initial response to the S-1, although extensions are typical for first-of-its-kind applications. BNB prices reacted positively late Friday morning, outperforming a consolidating broader market. Investors will watch whether approval creates a template for additional altcoin ETFs and institutional participation.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says cryptocurrency markets could hit new all-time highs this year, as momentum builds across the sector and the regulatory environment turns more supportive.

Speaking in an interview with CNBC, Garlinghouse said he remains strongly optimistic about the broader crypto market and the future of XRP.

“I’m very bullish,” he said. “I think we’ll see an all-time high.”

Ripple Deeply Invested in the XRP EcosystemGarlinghouse said Ripple is closely tied to the growth of XRP and its ecosystem, adding that the company is focused on long-term development rather than short-term price moves.

“We are very vested in what happens across the XRP ecosystem,” he said. “Over the next five to ten years, you’re going to see continued, very positive momentum.”

He declined to comment on specific price forecasts made by analysts, including projections that XRP could reach higher levels later in the decade.

Regulation and Trust Driving Crypto GrowthSpeaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Garlinghouse said trust and momentum are becoming key forces behind crypto adoption, especially in areas such as stablecoins and tokenization.

He pointed to a major shift in the United States, where policy makers have moved away from a hostile stance toward crypto and are now supporting innovation.

According to Garlinghouse, clearer rules are helping the industry mature and encouraging real-world use cases instead of speculation.

Stablecoins, Tokenization, and Real Use CasesGarlinghouse said legislation such as the GENIUS Act could allow stablecoins to scale much faster, making everyday processes like payroll and cross-border payments more efficient.

He also stressed that tokenization should only be used where it brings real benefits, such as better transparency or lower costs.

“We shouldn’t tokenize everything just for the sake of it,” he said, adding that the focus must remain on practical outcomes.

U.S. Shift Could Bring Major Players BackLooking ahead, Garlinghouse said the improving regulatory climate could even lead to Binance re-entering the U.S. market, a move that could further boost liquidity and confidence across the crypto space.

He also expressed confidence that upcoming crypto legislation, including the Clarity Act, is closer than ever to becoming law.

“Clarity is better than chaos,” Garlinghouse said, referring to Ripple’s long legal battle with U.S. regulators.

The Bigger Picture for XRP and CryptoGarlinghouse said digital assets are now entering a phase of steady growth rather than hype-driven cycles.

“Crypto is settling into a really strong opportunity for the next 10 years,” he said.

For XRP investors, the message was clear: while short-term price moves remain uncertain, Ripple’s CEO believes the foundations are being laid for long-term growth — and possibly a new all-time high ahead.

Trust with CoinPedia:CoinPedia has been delivering accurate and timely cryptocurrency and blockchain updates since 2017. All content is created by our expert panel of analysts and journalists, following strict Editorial Guidelines based on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Every article is fact-checked against reputable sources to ensure accuracy, transparency, and reliability. Our review policy guarantees unbiased evaluations when recommending exchanges, platforms, or tools. We strive to provide timely updates about everything crypto & blockchain, right from startups to industry majors.

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Journalist

Posted: January 24, 2026

Long-dormant Bitcoin [BTC] supply is re-entering circulation at an unprecedented pace in this cycle. Historically, the prior record occurred during the 2017-2018 bull market.

At that time, roughly 900k to 1 million BTC held for over two years became active, valued at around $15–20 billion.

That distribution phase increased market liquidity and ultimately capped upside momentum, leading to extended volatility and a cyclical top.

However, the current cycle far exceeds those levels. Since 2024, more than 1.6 million dormant BTC have moved.

Source: CryptoQuant

At prices near $95,000-$100,000, this amount equates to roughly $150-160 billion in value.

Importantly, these movements aligned with price expansions rather than drawdowns. As a result, the market absorbed supply without structural breakdowns.

Investor behavior signals calculated profit-taking, not selling distress. Long-term holders are distributing in strength, reinforcing liquidity while maintaining bullish conviction.

ETF Outflows reflect a broader liquidity rebalancing cycle ETF Outflows are emerging as an active liquidity catalyst rather than a purely bearish signal.

CoinGlass data shows over $700 million exiting Bitcoin ETFs in a single session, matching the largest withdrawal since the 20th of November 2025.

Historically, similar outflow episodes in early 2024 and late 2025 coincided with short-term price compression.

However, those phases did not trigger structural breakdowns. Instead, they redirected liquidity sources.

Source: CoinGlass

As ETF demand cooled, older coins began re-entering circulation. Long-term holders supplied liquidity where ETFs stepped back.

Consequently, dormant Bitcoin activity increased alongside ETF redemptions, suggesting rotation rather than panic.

Investors adjusted their exposure rather than exiting the market. This shift was reflected in price consolidation lasting several weeks, followed by renewed trend continuation.

At the time of writing, ETF outflows aligned with revived long‑term supply, suggesting near‑term volatility may remain elevated. However, if absorption continues, prices are likely to stabilize once redistribution is complete.

Are STHs absorbing the supply? Short-term holder supply has expanded in clear cycles over the years, tracking phases of price acceleration and redistribution.

In early bull markets, short‑term holder (STH) supply rose to 5–6 million BTC as new demand absorbed circulating coins. During stronger rallies, supply peaked at 7–8 million BTC, reflecting rapid turnover in ownership.

More recently, STH supply has again climbed toward the upper end of that range, reflecting renewed inflows.

Source: CoinGlass

This growth did not occur in isolation. Coins released from long-dormant holdings are fed directly into STH accounts. As older holders sold their coins to take advantage of market strength, newer participants absorbed the available supply.

Consequently, market liquidity improved while volatility increased. Sentiment shifted toward short-term trading rather than long-term conviction, leading to consolidation phases after rallies.

Historically, similar STH expansions followed dormant releases during 2017 and liquidity-driven macro easing in 2020-2021.

If dormant coin releases persist, STH supply may continue rising. That would likely sustain choppy price action before a clearer trend resumes.

Final Thoughts Bitcoin is seeing its largest liquidity rotation ever, as dormant coins and ETF outflows feed supply into price strength rather than distress-driven selling. ETF redemptions are shifting liquidity to short-term holders, raising volatility and signaling consolidation before potential trend continuation.

TL;DR

Kraken has enabled USDC deposits and withdrawals on the Algorand network, expanding stablecoin transfer options with faster settlement and lower fees. The feature is now live across Kraken, Kraken Pro, and mobile, giving users a practical alternative when other networks face congestion. Kraken is also preparing to operate an Algorand node, supporting decentralization and improving reliability for real-world USDC payment flows.
Kraken expands USDC transfers with new Algorand Integration by enabling USDC deposits and withdrawals on the Algorand blockchain, adding a stablecoin rail built for speed and cost efficiency. The rollout is available on Kraken, Kraken Pro, and the company’s mobile products, making it easier for users to move dollar-denominated liquidity with near-instant settlement.

Stablecoin transfers have become a key tool for traders, businesses, and everyday users who want to keep value in a dollar-pegged asset while staying flexible on-chain. By adding Algorand support, Kraken offers an additional route that can reduce friction during periods when other networks experience higher fees or slower confirmation times.

New Algorand Integration For Faster Settlement With Algorand-based USDC now supported, Kraken users can select Algorand as the network when funding their accounts, then send or receive USDC with minimal transaction costs. The update targets practical use cases such as transferring collateral, rebalancing between venues, and moving funds between trading accounts and self-custody wallets.

The move also reflects a wider shift among exchanges toward multi-network stablecoin support. When transfer rails diversify, users gain more control over costs and execution, choosing the chain that best fits their needs based on speed, fees, and compatibility with specific on-chain applications.

Algorand Node Support Strengthens Network Reliability Beyond enabling transfers, Kraken is taking a deeper infrastructure role by operating an Algorand node. That contribution can improve network resilience by increasing the number of independent operators validating the chain and distributing infrastructure more broadly.

Algorand Foundation executives have framed the integration as a way to expand access to fast digital dollar transactions at global scale. Devan Moorthy, Head of Business Development at the Algorand Foundation, said the Kraken rollout helps bring low-cost USDC transfers to millions of customers worldwide.

In the near term, Kraken’s Algorand rail gives users a straightforward option to move USDC quickly while keeping fees predictable. Over time, stronger stablecoin infrastructure across major exchanges may accelerate real adoption by making on-chain dollars easier to send, hold, and deploy across financial applications.

XRP/USD 4H Chart (Binance) – Source: TradingView

However, the trend seems to have reversed as XRP hit a strong area of support at around $1.90. This level was once again confirmed as highly relevant for market participants during today’s session, causing a spike in the price during the American session.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has also been on an uptrend, indicating that bearish momentum could be decelerating. If the price breaks above $1.95, that would mean a confirmed reversal of XRP’s bearish structure, which could lead to the beginning of the token’s next leg up.

This would also confirm a breakout of the falling wedge shown in the chart – a price compression pattern that often precedes a reversal as well.

In contrast, if the token breaks below $1.90, it could fall to $1.83 at least, meaning a 6% downside risk.

We are seeing some early signs of a rejection in this time frame, but it is still too early to tell if this will lead to a reversal.

Buy Signals Pile Up in the Hourly Chart – Are Whales Accumulating Ahead of Breakout? Heading to the hourly chart. There have been four consecutive buy signals. However, the first two were followed by a strong drop. As we have explained in previous articles, this system flags decisional candles at key levels.

Apple has expanded the job of hardware chief John Ternus to include design work, a move solidifying his status as a leading contender to eventually succeed current Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman discusses the move with Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow on "Bloomberg Tech.

At this point, it’s no secret that advisors and investors should be keeping a very close eye on how gold is doing. 

Ever since the later half of 2025, the precious metal has been on a momentous rally, repeatedly approaching new price highs. Gold even hit a new record high earlier this week. 

This should not come as a particular surprise. Many look to gold as a time-tested safe haven in moments of uncertainty. Considering the tumultuous state of U.S. foreign policy, along with the uncertain future for the Fed, many advisors and investors are continuing to flock to the metal. 

However, it’s crucial for advisors and investors to remember that direct gold exposure is not the only way that they can play off the metal momentum. There are many strategies one can use to hop on the gold train, but one that has been working especially well is to gain exposure to gold miners. 

Gold miners, more so than most other companies, stand to benefit from the significant price growth that gold has seen over the last few months. As price demand continues to soar, so will the revenue of the gold mining companies. 

This creates a great opportunity for advisors and investors to capitalize on. Gold miners offer a diversified way for portfolios to ride the gold wave without being as directly exposed to the metal itself. 

Leveraged Gold Miner Exposure: Is the Risk Worth the Reward? For instance, take a look at the MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETN (GDXU). This 3X leveraged ETP offers distinct, tilted exposure to many of the most compelling gold mining stocks on the market. 

Sure, leveraged products do incur a good deal of risk, but with risk comes reward. Year-to-date, GDXU is already up nearly 60%, according to FactSet data. 

Whether or not an advisor or investor chooses to take a leveraged approach, the momentum in the gold mining industry is likely not stopping any time soon. With the precious metal continuing to hit new highs, it could pay off to pick up some pickaxe exposure before it’s too late. 

For more news, information, and analysis visit the Thematic Investing Content Hub.

VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”) is the index provider for GDXU, for which it receives an index licensing fee. However, GDXU is not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi, and VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of GDXU.

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LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, reminds investors of a class action lawsuit against CoreWeave, Inc. (“CoreWeave” or “the Company”) (NASDAQ: CRWV) for violations of §§10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investors who purchased the Company’s securities between March 28, 2025, and December 15, 2025, inclusive (the “Class Period”), are encouraged to contact the firm before March 13, 2026.

If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at [email protected].

The class, in this case, has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.

According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. CoreWeave falsely claimed that it could meet customer demand while also downplaying the risk of relying on a single third-party vendor for data centers. The Company’s failed acquisition of Core Scientific, delays in bringing data centers online, and media reporting revealed the truth about its operations. Based on these facts, the Company’s public statements were false and materially misleading throughout the class period. When the market learned the truth about CoreWeave, investors suffered damages.

Join the case to recover your losses

The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.

CONTACT:

The Schall Law Firm
Brian Schall, Esq.,
www.schallfirm.com
Office: 310-301-3335
[email protected]

SOURCE:

The Schall Law Firm

Key Takeaways WM is set to report Q4 2025 results Jan. 28, with consensus calling for $6.4B revenues and $1.95 EPS.WM's top line is expected to be led by Collection at $3.9B, with Landfill and Transfer rising too.WM Healthcare Solutions revenues are seen jumping 53% to $616M, while Renewable Energy is projected up 60%. WM (WM - Free Report) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2025 results on Jan. 28, 2026, after market close.

WM surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters and missed twice, the average earnings surprise being a negative 0.9%.

WM’s Q4 ExpectationsThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pinned at $6.4 billion, indicating a 14.5% rise from the year-ago quarter’s actual. A robust segmental performance, primarily driven by the Collection, is expected to have aided the top line.

The consensus estimate for revenues from Collection is pegged at $3.9 billion, suggesting a 4% increase on a year-over-year basis. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Landfill’s revenues is pinned at $958 million, suggesting 12% growth from the year-ago quarter’s actuals. For theTransfer segment, the consensus mark for revenues is kept at $381 million, hinting at a 6% rise on a year-over-year basis.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the Recycling Processing and Sales segment’s revenues is pegged at $360 million, a 10% decline from the year-ago quarter’s actual. For the WM Healthcare Solutions, the consensus mark for revenues is kept at $616 million, a 53% upsurge from the year-ago quarter.

The consensus estimate for WM Renewable Energy revenues is pegged at $149 million, increasing 60% year over year. For the Corporate and Other segment, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pinned at $5 million, flat with the year-ago quarter.

The consensus estimate for earnings per share is pinned at $1.95, hinting at 14.7% growth from the year-ago quarter’s actual.

What Our Model Predicts About WMOur proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for WM this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

WM currently has an Earnings ESP of -2.85% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks to ConsiderHere are a few stocks from the broader Business services sector, which, according to our model, have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this season.

Gartner (IT - Free Report) : The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 revenues is pinned at $1.7 billion, indicating 1.7% year-over-year growth. For earnings, the consensus estimate is kept at $3.5 per share, implying a 35.8% dip from the year-ago quarter’s actual. The company beat the consensus estimate in the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 24.4%.

IT has an Earnings ESP of +0.80% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. The company is scheduled to declare its fourth-quarter 2025 results on Feb. 3, 2026.

Mastercard (MA - Free Report) : The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 revenues is $8.8 billion, suggesting a 17.1% year-over-year rise. For earnings, the consensus estimate is kept at $4.2 per share, indicating a 10% increase from the year-ago quarter’s actual. The company beat the consensus estimate in the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 3.1%.

MA has an Earnings ESP of +0.53% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. The company is scheduled to declare fourth-quarter 2025 results on Jan. 29, 2026.

Shares of AMCON Distributing Company (DIT - Free Report) have gained 0.4% since the company reported its earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025. This compares favorably to the S&P 500 index, which declined 0.9% over the same period. Over the past month, AMCON shares have appreciated 2.3%, while the broader market index has slipped 0.6%.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2026, AMCON reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.28, which marks a substantial increase from 57 cents EPS in the same quarter of the prior year. 

Revenues for the quarter came in at $730.1 million, up 2.6% from $711.3 million in the year-ago period. Gross profit increased to $48 million from $46.9 million, representing a 2.5% improvement. Operating income rose to $3.9 million compared to $3.7 million a year earlier, a gain of 7.4%.

AMCON’s net income of $0.8 million represented a substantial increase from the $0.3 million in the same quarter of the prior year, a 127.6% year-over-year rise.

Segment Performance Reflects Mixed TrendsThe company’s operations are divided into wholesale distribution and retail health food segments. The wholesale distribution business — AMCON’s primary revenue driver — generated $719.3 million in sales and $6.9 million in operating income for the quarter. In contrast, the retail health food segment posted $10.8 million in revenues but incurred a $0.2 million operating loss, indicating ongoing challenges in that business line.

Operating expenses, including selling, general, and administrative costs along with depreciation and amortization, totaled $44.1 million, up modestly from $43.2 million in the prior-year quarter.

Management Commentary Highlights Strategic FocusChairman and CEO Christopher H. Atayan emphasized the company’s continued investment in its proprietary foodservice and merchandising programs, which aim to provide a competitive advantage to AMCON’s retail partners. 

President and COO Andrew C. Plummer echoed this customer-centric theme, highlighting the company’s advertising and marketing support services. According to Plummer, AMCON’s integrated marketing tools — spanning print and electronic displays — offer customers a “competitive edge,” especially under challenging conditions such as adverse weather.

CFO Charles J. Schmaderer addressed the ongoing impacts of inflation, noting cost pressures in areas like labor, product sourcing, insurance, and equipment. Despite these challenges, the company reported shareholders’ equity of $114.1 million as of Dec. 31, 2025, up from $113.1 million at the end of September.

Factors Driving PerformanceThe earnings boost was supported by several operational and financial factors. Inventory levels decreased significantly from $153.3 million at the end of September to $144.4 million in December, freeing up cash and possibly reflecting improved supply chain management. Additionally, accounts payable were reduced by over $21 million quarter-over-quarter, indicating potential improvements in working capital management.

However, inflation continues to weigh on operating costs, and total interest expense remained high at $2.7 million, only marginally lower than the $2.9 million recorded in the year-ago quarter. These pressures partially offset the gains from higher revenues and operational efficiencies.

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, reminds investors of a class action lawsuit against Bath & Body Works, Inc. (“Bath & Body Works” or “the Company”) (NYSE: BBWI) for violations of §§10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investors who purchased the Company’s securities between June 4, 2024 and November 19, 2025, inclusive (the “Class Period”), are encouraged to contact the firm before March 16, 2026.

If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at [email protected].

The class, in this case, has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.

According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. Bath & Body Works’ strategy of seeking “adjacencies, collaborations and promotions” failed to grow its customer base and net sales. The Company then resorted to brand collaborations to “carry quarters” despite weak financial results. Based on these facts, the Company’s public statements were false and materially misleading throughout the class period. When the market learned the truth about Bath & Body Works, investors suffered damages.

Join the case to recover your losses

The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.

CONTACT:

The Schall Law Firm
Brian Schall, Esq.,
www.schallfirm.com
Office: 310-301-3335
[email protected]

SOURCE:

 The Schall Law Firm