Market Signal Briefing

There probably won't be any reasons to be euphoric about this asset.

In crypto, when new technical infrastructure launches, investors tend to assume that the price of the corresponding coin should instantly rerate upwards. That's a tempting mental shortcut to take, because it sometimes proves to be true. But the odds are good that for XRP (XRP 0.16%), the path forward will be more about proving that the new tech is valuable rather than simply reaping returns from the headlines documenting its launch.

In other words, 2026 will probably be a year of stress-testing the stuff that shipped in 2025. Here's why you shouldn't be holding your breath for 2026 to be a massive year for this coin.

Image source: Getty Images.

The new sidechain needs to find users In mid-2025, the XRP Ledger's (XRPL's) new Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) launched. Now, developers can run smart contracts using familiar tools from the Ethereum ecosystem, instead of learning a completely new tech stack. That's a big enabler for the chain, as it massively lowers the switching costs for developers who are currently building on other networks but would be willing to build on the XRPL if there was a reason to do so -- like lots of capital seeking a return from an investment in a new decentralized finance (DeFi) service, for example.

Still, compatibility with the languages programmers are already using is not the same thing as actual traction. There are plenty of other leading blockchains with EVM compatibility. A chain can offer great tooling and still fail to attract users or developers (or capital) if there isn't a compelling reason to be there instead of somewhere else. So in practice, the growth of activity on XRP's EVM sidechain in 2026, or lack thereof, will be one of the things driving the coin's price.

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Thus far, the evidence is pretty clear on how strong an effect the current level of EVM sidechain activity is having on XRP's price. For all of Jan. 7, a piddling $38 in chain revenue was generated. There is effectively zero in the way of economic activity happening there. That could and probably will change for the better over time. But for now, there's no reason to suspect that it might power XRP to a huge bull run in 2026, because there's no trend of growth.

This could change if Ripple, the company that issues XRP, does a big push to promote the sidechain and other XRPL features, which is the topic we'll now turn to.

Ripple's development and acquisition work is ongoing Ripple's activities will be another major driver of XRP's performance in 2026. If their recent actions are any indication, they'll probably give investors at least a few reasons to want to buy more of the coin.

For example, in 2025, Ripple purchased the prime broker called Hidden Road, as well as a crypto custody company, a payments company, and other related businesses. It also launched the XRPL's native stablecoin, Ripple USD, which it now has the freedom to scale up so as to give clients like financial institutions more liquidity with which to trade. If RLUSD becomes used meaningfully in clients' financial workflows centered around collateral and transaction settlement, it'll bring more traffic to the XRPL by default, and it might boost XRP's price along the way.

Still, the unavoidable truth is that XRP's path in 2026 is far more likely to be a slow grind forward rather than an upward explosion. The financial institutions and institutional investors that Ripple is hoping will want to use XRP and its stablecoin are, by nature, slow-moving and conservative. At the same time, after a year of making big acquisitions and improvements to the XRPL, it's also quite hard to see how Ripple will maintain the same pace of expanding its repertoire in 2026.

So will 2026 be a massive year for XRP? Probably not, but the stars are nonetheless very much aligned for it to still be worth more at the end of the year than it is right now.

Solana has announced the v3.0.14 update for both staked and unstaked Mainnet-Beta validators. The update includes critical patches aimed at improving network stability.

Nvidia isn't the only AI name that can help investors reach financial independence over the long term.

Nvidia (NVDA 0.10%) has been a significant winner so far from the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. That makes sense, as it's the supplier of the most sought-after high-performance chips needed to train and power AI models.

However, in 2025, shares of numerous other tech companies soared as investors flocked to just about anything related to AI. Investors who want to gain exposure to the trend at this point should look for companies with staying power, though, as in general, life-changing returns come from long-term investing. Nvidia certainly qualifies, and it still looks to have a long runway for growth. Yet I'm also focused on another name in the sector that could be an excellent long-term investment.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia holds the lead Nvidia's plan to release new and updated hardware on an annual cadence -- an acceleration from the 2-year cadence it historically followed -- is one reason the stock remains a great holding. In its most recent quarterly report, CEO Jensen Huang stated that "Blackwell sales are off the charts, and cloud GPUs are sold out." While the Blackwell GPU architecture was announced in early 2024, the first Blackwell GPUs delivered to customers are less than one year old.

Yet Nvidia has already begun production of its next-generation Rubin architecture, which it calls an AI supercomputer.

Here's how Huang described it when he introduced the platform at this month's CES conference in Las Vegas: "Rubin arrives at exactly the right moment, as AI computing demand for both training and inference is going through the roof. With our annual cadence of delivering a new generation of AI supercomputers -- and extreme codesign across six new chips -- Rubin takes a giant leap toward the next frontier of AI."

The Rubin platform offers several improvements compared to Blackwell. Nvidia is innovating to propel agentic and physical AI, which could be the next wave in AI use cases.

Rubin can enhance advanced AI reasoning and optimize model inference, all at a cost per token that will be as low as one-tenth of the Blackwell platform's cost per token. That lower cost should attract even more demand, as it can improve profitability for model developers. Developers using the Rubin platform will also be able to train some types of AI models with 75% fewer GPUs, which could accelerate AI adoption, according to the company.

The China market, though, remains a wild card for Nvidia's business. Management has not factored any potential sales to Chinese customers into its guidance due to the evolving situation around trade restrictions and geopolitical tensions. Yet progress has been made regarding both U.S. export and Chinese import restrictions. Nvidia has ordered its foundry partner to produce mass quantities of its H200 chips, as Huang expects high demand from the Chinese market, and anticipates that Chinese authorities will approve those purchases. Chinese tech companies have reportedly expressed interest in ordering hundreds of thousands of H200s.

That additional revenue could propel Nvidia shares higher.

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Nvidia's boosting other AI winners, too All of that business is also spurring demand for other companies. Physical AI is another major phase of the AI revolution. Huang discussed it extensively at CES, stating, "The ChatGPT moment for physical AI is nearly here." Specifically, that relates to machines that are able to understand, reason, and take action.

Among the likely beneficiaries of the physical AI trend will be companies developing driverless vehicles and those working on robotics. One that is immersed in both of these fields is Serve Robotics (SERV 4.54%). Nvidia at one time had a stake in Serve, but sold it about a year ago. But the companies still have a partnership, and speaking at CES, Huang said he "loves" Serve.

Serve Robotics' delivery robots utilize Nvidia's Jetson Orin platform hardware and software to operate using Level 4 autonomy. Serve is a pioneer in autonomous delivery systems that travel via sidewalks, and has deployed a fleet of over 2,000 delivery robots so far.

It has expanded its active fleet 20-fold within a year, driven by growing partnerships with restaurant chains, retailers, and delivery platforms, including its largest shareholder, Uber Technologies. Serve is also integrated with DoorDash, and is launching in new markets while expanding its scale in its established ones.

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Serve Robotics remains a speculative investment that's already trading at a level that bakes in a lot of hoped-for growth. Management guided for revenue of just $2.5 million for 2025, while its market cap has grown to over $1 billion. Yet if management's expectations for this year are correct, the stock could still soar further. Its early estimates project revenue of approximately $25 million for 2026.

If it shows progress toward that rate of growth and can maintain it over the longer term, current shareholders should be well rewarded.

CoreWeave stock has slipped in recent weeks.

CoreWeave (CRWV +3.96%) has been one of the early success stories of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company offers its customers something in great need these days -- capacity for AI workloads -- and this has led to soaring revenue. The stock also turned heads as, after an initial public offering in March, it climbed more than 300% in about three months.

The company has gained an additional nod from investors thanks to the confidence of a key partner: AI chip giant, Nvidia. The tech powerhouse works closely with CoreWeave, offering it quick access to the latest chips, and Nvidia has even invested in CoreWeave, holding a 7% stake.

But in recent times, CoreWeave has faced some headwinds. The company predicted delays at a third-party data center would weigh on its fourth-quarter sales performance. Investors have worried about the growing debt levels CoreWeave has relied on to expand its capacity. Finally, all of this has hurt the stock, dragging it down more than 40% since Nov. 1.

And just this week, CoreWeave chief Michael Intrator made a move that may grab investors' attention. Is it a cause for concern? Let's find out.

Image source: Getty Images.

CoreWeave's GPU-as-a-service business First, though, let's take a closer look at the CoreWeave story so far. The company is involved in the GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS) market, meaning it offers customers access to its fleet of graphics processing units (GPUs), or top AI chips, as they need them. This service helps companies save both money and time because they don't have to buy their own GPUs or set up their own data centers. CoreWeave already has done the job, and unlike larger cloud companies that offer a broad range of services, CoreWeave focuses specifically on AI workloads.

CoreWeave's solid relationship with Nvidia also has helped this company to become the first to make Nvidia's latest platforms, such as Blackwell and Blackwell Ultra, generally available.

All of this has led to skyrocketing revenue -- in the most recent quarter, revenue advanced more than 130%.

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Still, as mentioned, investors have worried about various headwinds, from the recent data center delay to CoreWeave's growing debt.

These factors have interrupted the stock's momentum in recent weeks. Now, let's consider CoreWeave chief executive officer Michael Intrator's latest move. In a Form 4 filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Intrator reported selling about $4.7 million in CoreWeave shares on Jan. 6.

When investors see company insiders such as Intrator selling shares, they may wonder whether this suggests a loss of confidence in the company's future. After all, if these executives are confident, wouldn't they buy the stock?

A planned move Before going down that road of worry, though, it's important to consider the context of Intrator's move. The sale was part of the CEO's 10b5-1 plan, one that he adopted in May of last year. This framework allows insiders to organize the buying or selling of their shares without breaking insider trading laws. These trades are put into place well in advance, and as they are planned, insiders must not have access to material nonpublic information. So Intrator's latest move was a routine sale and not a reaction to a particular event or piece of news.

Now, the next question is: Should you still worry that Intrator planned to sell rather than buy the stock? Not necessarily. Company insiders, just like the rest of us, at some point need to lock in gains from investments to allocate cash into other areas or use on everyday things -- from the purchase of a home to university tuition for a child, for example. So it isn't alarming to see a CEO or other corporate executives schedule sales for a certain amount of stock.

All of this means that CoreWeave shareholders shouldn't worry about Intrator's recent move; instead, they should turn to the company's earnings reports and comments on demand for clues about what may lie ahead.

From fees to diversification, key differences between these tech ETFs could influence your portfolio’s risk and sector exposure.

Both iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX +2.88%) and State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK +1.32%) aim to give investors access to the U.S. technology sector, but they differ in scope and risk. SOXX zeroes in on semiconductor companies, making it more concentrated, while XLK casts a wider net across software, hardware, and IT services. This comparison highlights which fund may appeal more depending on your desired balance of sector focus, cost, and performance history.

Snapshot (Cost & Size)MetricSOXXXLKIssuerISharesSPDRExpense ratio0.34%0.08%1-yr return (as of Jan. 02, 2026)42.0%23.2%Dividend yield0.55%0.62%Beta1.511.21AUM$17.7 billion$93.4 billionBeta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year weekly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months.

XLK is significantly more affordable, charging just 0.08% in annual expenses compared to SOXX’s 0.34%, and its yield is slightly lower at 0.55% versus SOXX’s 0.62% — a modest difference for income-focused investors.

Performance & Risk ComparisonMetricSOXXXLKMax drawdown (5 y)(45.76%)(33.55%)Growth of $1,000 over 5 years$2,599$2,346What's InsideXLK holds about 70 stocks and has been around for 27 years, tracking the Technology Select Sector Index. Its portfolio covers nearly the entire technology landscape, with top positions in Nvidia (NVDA 0.05%) at 13.72%, Apple (AAPL +0.19%) at 12.82%, and Microsoft (MSFT +0.24%) at 11.17%. This broad approach means exposure to hardware, software, IT services, and communications equipment, not just semiconductors.

SOXX, by comparison, is made up of 30 positions entirely within the technology sector, but with a sharp focus on semiconductors. Its largest holdings include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 0.74%), Broadcom (AVGO +3.76%), and Nvidia, together making up a significant portion of the fund’s assets. This sector tilt makes SOXX more sensitive to chip industry cycles, while XLK spreads risk across more tech subindustries.

For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.

What This Means For InvestorsThe iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) is a more specialized, higher-fee fund with a focus on semiconductors, while the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) delivers broader tech exposure at a much lower cost and with greater scale.

First, let's focus on SOXX, which has delivered superior returns over the last five years. The fund has generated a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.1%, thanks to the excellent returns of top holdings like Nvidia and Broadcom. Yet, those fantastic results come with some trade offs. Most notably, SOXX has experienced several steep pullbacks, the worst of which saw the fund lose more than 45% of its value in 2022. In addition, SOXX sports an expense ratio of 0.34%. While this isn't overly expensive for an ETF, there are cheaper options to be found.

Now let's turn to XLK. This fund is more broad than SOXX, focusing on the entire tech sector, rather than just the semiconductor industry. It holds more than twice as many stocks (70), compared to SOXX (30), and it has experienced greater stability over the last five years, with a max drawdown of 33.5%. In addition, investors pay less in fees, owing to the ETF's expense ratio of 0.08%. As for performance, XLK has generated a five-year CAGR of 18.6%. While that's well above the S&P 500 (14.8%), it does trail SOXX's 21.1% CAGR.

In summary, there are many similarities between these two funds, however a few key differences stand out. More conservative investors may be better suited with XLK, due to its cheaper fees and lower historic drawdowns. Meanwhile, more aggressive investors may find the higher returns and greater sector concentration of SOXX to be irresistible.

GlossaryETF: Exchange-traded fund; a basket of securities traded on an exchange like a stock.
Expense ratio: The annual fee, as a percentage of assets, that a fund charges its investors.
Dividend yield: Annual dividends paid by a fund, expressed as a percentage of its share price.
Beta: A measure of a fund’s volatility relative to the overall market, typically the S&P 500.
AUM: Assets under management; the total market value of assets a fund manages.
Max drawdown: The largest observed loss from a fund’s peak value to its lowest point over a period.
Total return: The investment’s price change plus all dividends and distributions, assuming those payouts are reinvested.
Sector tilt: When a fund has a heavier weighting in a particular industry or sector compared to the broader market.
Subindustries: Distinct segments within a broader industry, such as software or semiconductors within technology.
Issuer: The company or entity that creates and manages an ETF or mutual fund.

Nike is hoping that it can perform better for shareholders going forward.

Investors in Nike (NKE +0.96%) wish to forget about the past five years. Since early January 2021, this consumer discretionary stock has seen its price collapse 55% (as of Jan. 8). For a business that inspires athletes to perform their very best, Nike has been failing in a remarkable fashion. But it's hoping it can turn things around.

Shares currently trade 63% below their peak. But where will Nike be in five years?

Image source: Nike.

CEO Elliott Hill has a lot of work to do As was the case with many other companies, the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed Nike's strategic priorities. Consumer behavior changed, as people leaned more toward shopping online and away from the physical retail experience. This shift had an immense effect on Nike's vision.

The previous leadership focused on core franchise products, like the Air Force 1, Air Jordan 1, and Nike Dunk, whose excessive supply might have led to these items losing their "cool" factor. Nike also pushed aggressively into the direct-to-consumer e-commerce channel, while simultaneously cutting ties with some third-party retail accounts. The rise of competitor products also hasn't made things easy.

As the economic backdrop and consumer behavior normalized, Nike was not positioned well to keep up its momentum in a post-pandemic world. Sales and profits have been under immense pressure, explaining the stock's fall.

Elliott Hill, who took over the CEO job in October 2024, has implemented a "Win Now" strategy that emphasizes product innovation based on different sports, fostering better relationships with wholesale accounts, and strengthening the brand.

"I'd say we're in the middle innings of our comeback," Hill said on the second-quarter 2026 earnings call.

Turnarounds are never easy. And they don't always result in the desired outcome. This challenge introduces a high level of uncertainty for prospective investors who are interested in Nike as a possible portfolio addition.

Will Nike's revenue and profits be higher in 2031? Consensus analyst estimates call for Nike to collect $46.7 billion in revenue in fiscal 2026 (ending in May), with earnings per share coming in at $1.56. The top line would represent a 0.9% year-over-year increase, while the bottom line would be a huge 28% decline. These certainly aren't encouraging trends.

Over the next year or two, investors must be comfortable with the ongoing struggles continuing. For one, Nike is dealing with the negative effects of tariffs. In Greater China, historically Nike's fastest-growing market, revenue fell 16% in Q2. Competition is stiff worldwide, and there's soft consumer confidence in the U.S.

Long-term investors must keep their attention on the next five years, though. This mental framework begs the question of whether or not Nike's revenue and profits will be higher in fiscal 2031 than they will be in fiscal 2026.

One undeniable reason to be optimistic is that Nike has a key intangible asset in its brand that supports its competitive position, global visibility, and pricing power. It still has leading market share in the worldwide sportswear industry. Given its scale, it possesses more resources than rivals to invest in marketing and research and development efforts. People will always want to gravitate to the shiny new object. But Nike has what it takes to get back on track.

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Nike is a high-risk, high-reward investment opportunity With shares being so far below their peak, Nike isn't an expensive stock to buy. It trades at a price-to-sales ratio of 2.1. That represents a 40% discount to its trailing 10-year average of 3.5, and it indicates just how much the market has soured on the business and its prospects.

Low expectations like this mean that investors have higher upside should Nike eventually start to report improving financial results. The problem is that this could take a while.

Therefore, buying the stock today is a high-risk, high-reward proposition. Five years from now, Nike could work out to be an extremely successful investment. There is just a lot of uncertainty, so investors should think things through before making a decision.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, reminds investors of a class action lawsuit against Ardent Health, Inc. (“Ardent” or “the Company”) (NYSE: ARDT) 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 July 18, 2024 and November 12, 2025, inclusive (the “Class Period”), are encouraged to contact the firm before March 9, 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. Ardent did not rely on “detailed reviews of historical collections” to determine what accounts receivable were still collectable, despite its claims to investors. The Company “utilized a 180-day cliff at which time an account became fully reserved,” an approach that allowed it to delay recognizing losses on uncollectable accounts. The Company failed to maintain appropriate levels of professional malpractice liability insurance. 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 Ardent, 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.

Top 3 U.S. Marijuana Stocks to Watch in January 2026 The U.S. cannabis sector continues to evolve as regulatory momentum slowly builds. Although volatility remains, strong operators are positioning for long-term growth. As January 2026 begins, investors are watching companies with scale, brand power, and improving financial discipline. Three names continue to stand out among U.S. multistate operators. These include Trulieve Cannabis Corp., Curaleaf Holdings, Inc., and Cresco Labs Inc. Each company combines retail reach with operational experience. As a result, they remain key stocks to monitor in the new year.

[Read More] 3 Marijuana Stocks That Can Make You Money In 2026

Best U.S. Cannabis Stocks to Watch in January 2026 Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (OTC: TCNNF) Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (OTC: CURLF) Cresco Labs Inc. (OTC: CRLBF) Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (TCNNF) Trulieve Cannabis Corp. is one of the most established multistate operators in the U.S. cannabis industry. The company maintains a dominant presence in Florida, which remains its largest market. Trulieve also operates dispensaries in states such as Arizona, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, and Georgia. In total, the company operates more than 190 dispensaries nationwide. This wide footprint supports consistent retail traffic and strong brand recognition. Moreover, Trulieve offers a broad product lineup, including flower, vapes, edibles, and concentrates. These products are sold under several in-house brands. Additionally, Trulieve emphasizes vertical integration, which helps control quality and pricing. The company also focuses heavily on customer loyalty programs. As a result, repeat customer visits remain strong. Furthermore, Trulieve continues expanding selectively rather than aggressively. This disciplined approach helps protect margins. Therefore, Trulieve remains a core name among U.S. cannabis operators entering 2026.

From a financial standpoint, Trulieve has focused on stability and cash preservation. The company continues generating strong quarterly revenue despite broader industry pressure. Gross margins remain among the highest in the sector. This reflects disciplined cost management and operational efficiency. Moreover, Trulieve continues producing positive operating cash flow. Free cash flow has also remained positive in recent quarters. These results support balance sheet strength. Although the company still reports net losses, those figures include non-cash charges and restructuring expenses. Adjusted earnings trends remain more favorable. In addition, Trulieve continues to reduce debt and improve liquidity. Capital expenditures remain controlled. This conservative strategy reduces financial risk. As federal reform discussions continue, Trulieve appears well-positioned. Therefore, its financial discipline could provide leverage if conditions improve in 2026.

[Read More] Top 3 U.S. Marijuana Stocks to Watch in January 2026

Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CURLF) Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. operates one of the largest cannabis footprints in the United States. The company runs approximately 150 dispensaries across more than a dozen states. Key markets include Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and California. Curaleaf also operates extensive cultivation and processing facilities. This allows consistent supply and brand distribution. Additionally, Curaleaf offers a wide product portfolio. These include flower, concentrates, edibles, and wellness-focused cannabis products. The company’s size provides national brand visibility. Moreover, Curaleaf continues expanding internationally. This includes operations in Europe and other emerging markets. These efforts diversify revenue sources beyond the U.S. market. Furthermore, Curaleaf benefits from scale efficiencies. Its nationwide reach supports long-term growth opportunities. Therefore, the company remains a bellwether stock for the cannabis sector entering 2026.

Financially, Curaleaf continues navigating a challenging cannabis environment. Quarterly revenues remain strong compared to most competitors. However, margins face pressure from pricing competition and regulatory costs. Gross margins remain near industry averages. Meanwhile, the company continues reporting net losses. These losses reflect expansion spending and non-cash accounting items. Despite this, Curaleaf generates positive operating cash flow. Free cash flow has also remained positive in recent periods. This supports liquidity and debt servicing. Additionally, international revenue growth continues to improve year over year. This trend adds optionality for future expansion. Management continues focusing on cost reductions and operational efficiency. These efforts aim to stabilize profitability. Therefore, while Curaleaf faces short-term challenges, its scale and diversification remain attractive for longer-term investors.

[Read More] Best Canadian Cannabis Stocks to Watch Entering 2026

Cresco Labs Inc. (CRLBF) Cresco Labs Inc. is a leading cannabis company known for its branded product strategy. The company operates across several high-value U.S. markets. These include Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan. Cresco also runs its Sunnyside dispensary chain in multiple states. The company’s brand portfolio includes Cresco, High Supply, Good News, and FloraCal Farms. These brands target different customer segments and price points. Moreover, Cresco emphasizes wholesale distribution alongside retail sales. This hybrid strategy increases market penetration. Additionally, Cresco invests heavily in product innovation. New formats and consistent quality drive brand loyalty. As a result, Cresco maintains a strong shelf presence in competitive markets. Therefore, the company remains well-positioned among consumer-focused cannabis operators.

Cresco’s recent financial performance reflects industry headwinds but improving trends. Quarterly revenue has remained stable despite market softness. Sequential revenue growth has recently returned. This signals potential stabilization. However, margins remain under pressure due to pricing competition. The company continues reporting net losses, although losses have narrowed. Operating efficiency initiatives remain a priority. Additionally, Cresco benefits from improving wholesale demand in core states. Federal policy developments could also improve profitability. Potential tax reform may reduce operating burdens. Investors have reacted positively to these expectations. Cresco also maintains a manageable debt structure. Liquidity remains adequate for ongoing operations. Therefore, Cresco Labs could benefit significantly from policy tailwinds entering 2026.

[Read More] Top 3 Marijuana Stocks To Buy While Things Are Getting Started In 2026

Final Thoughts As January 2026 begins, U.S. cannabis stocks remain speculative but compelling. Trulieve offers stability and cash flow. Curaleaf provides scale and diversification. Cresco Labs delivers brand strength and wholesale leverage. Together, these companies represent key pillars of the U.S. cannabis market. Investors should continue monitoring regulation, pricing trends, and financial discipline throughout the year.

MAPH Enterprises, LLC | (305) 414-0128 | 1501 Venera Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33146 | [email protected]

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

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Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) hasn’t enjoyed the same success as other AI stocks, with its shares only up by 15% over the past five years. However, that may soon change. The chipmaker told investors it is expanding to AI data centers and robotics, in a move that can boost momentum and generate meaningful stock gains.

However, an announcement isn’t enough to guarantee successful implementation. These are some of the details to consider as Qualcomm takes a closer look at AI and aims for the same type of run that Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) have enjoyed.

The Business Is Gaining Momentum Qualcomm posted 10% year-over-year revenue growth in Q4 FY25, along with a 14% year-over-year increase in earnings before taxes. Those are good metrics for a company that has a 36 P/E ratio, especially with data centers and robotics on the horizon.

The valuation leaves room for significant upside if Qualcomm can further scale its revenue. Qualcomm’s Q1 FY26 guidance suggests that revenue will continue to accelerate. The midpoint of guidance came in at $12.2 billion, which would be a 5% year-over-year increase.

While some momentum is better than slow growth, Qualcomm needs its AI investments to pan out to warrant a higher stock price. A mid-single-digit growth rate won’t be enough to excite investors, but if Qualcomm’s upcoming data center and robotics products become big hits, the stock is due for a rally.

The AI Business Has A Customer Qualcomm will have to prove that its AI chips can keep up with competitors. Once that’s proven, some businesses will invest in Qualcomm’s chips to save money. The development of more AI chips can create additional pricing pressure, which should translate into accelerated revenue growth.

The AI chipmaker revealed in its Q4 FY25 presentation that HUMAIN became the first customer for Qualcomm’s AI inference-optimized Qualcomm AI200 and AI250 SoCs. Qualcomm also believes AI can help its IoT segment jump from $6.6 billion in fiscal 2025 to $14 billion in fiscal 2025. That represents an annualized 21% growth rate for the next four fiscal years. Qualcomm also believes that its automotive segment will more than double during the same timeframe.

The next stage of Qualcomm’s AI pursuits depends on providing a good experience for HUMAIN. If that goes well, other companies will gradually line up and request Qualcomm’s AI data center products. Its robotics segment may exhibit higher growth rates as humanoid robots like Optimus become more common. 

Competition And Demand Are Both Intense Qualcomm’s expanded AI efforts put it in the ring with some of the most valuable tech companies. Those firms have also created effective AI chips that generate billions of dollars in quarterly sales. Qualcomm is no slouch and has plenty of capital to invest in research and development.

While competition is tough, the demand for AI chips is insatiable. The same tech giants that poured billions of dollars into AI have told investors that they will spend even more money on this technology in 2026. 

The AI industry can be filled with many winners as spending becomes parabolic. Investors should monitor Qualcomm’s progress with AI chips and may want to consider accumulating shares as more news comes out. For now, investing in current AI leaders or companies that are exhibiting tremendous growth is a better use of your money. Qualcomm stock is a relatively slow mover, which should give attentive investors enough time to enter a rally early once it gains momentum.

Released: The Ultimate Guide To Retirement Income (sponsor) Most investors spend years learning how to pick good stocks and funds. Far fewer have a clear plan for turning those investments into a reliable retirement paycheck. The truth is, the transition from “building wealth” to “living on wealth” is one of the most overlooked risks facing successful investors in their 50s, 60s and 70s.

That is exactly what The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income was created to solve. It’s a free guide that outlines the straightforward math and strategies you need to convert your investments to income. Learn more here.

Disclosure: The opinions, analyses, and evaluations here are ours and not provided by any bank, financial institution, or any other company. They have not reviewed, approved or endorsed our content.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Beta Bionics, Inc. (“Beta Bionics” or “the Company”) (NASDAQ: BBNX) for violations of the securities laws.

The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Beta Bionics disclosed on January 8, 2026, that it expected a lower number of patient starts than analyst expected. Based on this news, shares of Beta Bionics fell more than 37% on the next day.

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XRP is consolidating near a key level as Ripple expands its regulated global finance footprint, signaling patience in price action while adoption, institutional integration, and regulatory clarity quietly strengthen the crypto asset's long-term foundation. XRP Shows Patience as Ripple Pushes Deeper Into Regulated Global Finance At 2:30 p.m. on Jan.

An elderly couple was swindled out of their $1.3 million retirement fund by scammers pretending to be representatives from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The elaborate scam involved Bitcoin ATMs and gold bullion transactions.

Barbara and Larry Cook were approached by fraudsters in September 2023, who impersonated security representatives of Amazon and TD Bank. The scammers convinced the Cooks that their identity had been misused for illegal purchases on the dark web.

The Cooks were ensnared in a convoluted scam that had them depositing large amounts of money into Bitcoin ATMs and surrendering gold bullion in Maine and Florida. They were made to believe they were aiding the FTC in apprehending cybercriminals.

As per the report by Insider, the scam continued for over half a year before the Cooks realized they had been tricked. By this time, they had lost their entire savings of $1.3 million, earmarked for their retirement, charity, and family inheritance.

The couple was assigned a fictitious “FTC agent” named “Ryan Terry,” who walked them through the process of setting up a Bitcoin wallet and conducting transactions. The Cooks were convinced their actions were part of a legitimate investigation and that they were acting patriotically.

The scam was finally unmasked in April 2024 when Larry Cook attempted to contact “Terry” and found his WhatsApp was no longer operational. The FTC confirmed there was no such agent, and an investigation was initiated.

Despite the ongoing investigation, the authorities have suggested that the Cooks are unlikely to recover their lost savings. The couple is now sharing their story to alert others and provide solace to those who have been similarly scammed.

This incident underscores the growing threat of cybercrime and the sophistication of scams targeting vulnerable individuals. It serves as a stark reminder for individuals to exercise caution when dealing with unsolicited communications, especially those involving financial transactions.

It also highlights the need for financial institutions and tech companies to bolster their security measures and educate their customers about potential scams.

Image: Shutterstock/Igor Faun

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© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Cardano Stalls at Breakout Point: Holder Shifts Now Weaken The 50% Rally HopeADA holds bullish wedge, but possible long-term holder selling increased 135%.Short-term holders cut selling by 92%, supporting price but replacing stronger conviction.Derivatives skew 89% long, raising downside risk if ADA loses $0.351 support.Cardano price is slipping back into focus after failing to follow through on a breakout attempt. ADA is down about 2% over the past 24 hours and has trended lower since January 6. Still, the damage remains contained. Over the past seven days, the ADA price has been broadly flat and has not flipped negative.

That balance is not accidental. Cardano is holding a bullish structure, and buying pressure has not disappeared. But underneath the surface, the type of buying has changed. That shift is now the main risk factor deciding whether ADA stabilizes or slides.

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Bullish Wedge Holds as Momentum Signals Stay Supportive, for NowCardano continues to trade inside a falling wedge pattern that has been in place since early November. A falling wedge is generally bullish, as price compresses lower while selling pressure weakens. As long as the lower boundary holds, the breakout scenario remains valid.

This structure explains why ADA has defended the $0.383 support zone. That level previously acted as resistance and flipped to support after the January breakout attempt. Holding it has prevented a deeper pullback so far.

Momentum data initially supports this stability. The Money Flow Index, or MFI, measures buying and selling pressure using both price and volume. Between early November and January 10, ADA price trended lower, while MFI trended higher. That divergence suggests dip buyers are still active beneath the surface.

Bullish Pattern For ADA: TradingViewWant more token insights like this? Sign up for Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Crypto Newsletter here.

At face value, this looks constructive and helps explain why the price has not broken down despite being rejected at the upper trendline. But momentum alone does not reveal who is doing the buying. To judge whether this support is durable, holder behavior matters more than indicators.

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Holder Shifts Reveal Weakening Conviction Beneath the SurfaceOn-chain data shows a clear divergence between long-term and short-term holders.

Long-term holders are increasingly distributing. The spent coins age band for the 365-day to 2-year cohort rose sharply on January 9. Activity from this group jumped from about 1.92 million ADA to 4.51 million ADA, an increase of roughly 135% in just 24 hours. That spike signals that older holders could be exiting positions rather than sitting through volatility.

Convinction Holders Could be Selling: SantimentSpent Coins Age Band measures how long coins were held before being moved, showing which holder groups are actively selling.

Short-term behavior tells the opposite story. The 30-day to 60-day cohort has sharply reduced selling activity. Spent coins in this group fell from around 55.42 million ADA to 4.28 million ADA, a drop of nearly 92%. That decline indicates short-term participants could be absorbing supply instead of selling.

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Short-Term Holders Have Slowed Down on Selling: SantimentThis shift reframes the earlier MFI signal. The rising MFI now likely reflects short-term dip buying rather than renewed long-term confidence. When conviction holders sell, and shorter-term traders step in, the price can stabilize temporarily, but that support is fragile because the short-term holders’ capital is typically speculative.

This mix raises risk because speculative capital replaces patient capital. Derivatives positioning, discussed next, reinforces that imbalance.

Derivatives Skew and Key Levels Decide the Next Cardano Price MoveLiquidation data shows the market is leaning heavily one way. On Binance’s ADA-USDT perpetual market, cumulative long liquidation leverage stands near $26.66 million, while short liquidation leverage is closer to $14.11 million. That places long exposure roughly 89% higher than short exposure, signaling a strong bullish skew.

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While that bias may look positive, it also increases downside risk. If the price weakens as recently injected speculative capital is withdrawn, crowded long positions may unwind quickly, accelerating losses through forced liquidations.

From a price perspective, the roadmap is clear. To revive the bullish case, ADA needs a daily close above $0.437, which would break the otherwise weak descending trendline (only two touchpoints) and reopen the path toward the projected 49% upside, per the wedge’s target.

If the Cardano price fails to reclaim that zone, risk tilts lower. A break below $0.351 would weaken the wedge structure and expose $0.328 as the next major support. Losing those levels would confirm that recent stability was distribution, not accumulation.

Cardano Price Analysis: TradingViewFor now, the Cardano price remains balanced on the surface but unstable underneath. The wedge is intact, momentum looks supportive, but long-term holders are selling, short-term buyers are stepping in, and derivatives positioning leaves little margin for error.

The next move will depend on how long the speculative capital remains interested.

Disclaimer

In line with the Trust Project guidelines, this price analysis article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or investment advice. BeInCrypto is committed to accurate, unbiased reporting, but market conditions are subject to change without notice. Always conduct your own research and consult with a professional before making any financial decisions. Please note that our Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, and Disclaimers have been updated.

Published: Jan 10, 2026 at 20:31

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has continued its bullish ascent above the moving average lines, rallying to a high of $668.

BCH price long-term analysis: bullish The cryptocurrency has maintained a pattern of higher highs and higher lows. On January 3, bullish momentum broke above the barrier at $600 but was halted at the high of $660.

Now, buyers broke through the resistance at $600, but the price retraced and regained support above this level. BCH is trading within a confined range above the moving average lines, with resistance at $660. If the current resistance is broken, BCH could reach a high of $720. BCH is currently at $639.

Technical Indicators Key Resistance Zones: $600, $650, $700

Key Support Zones: $500, $450, $400

Bitcoin Cash price indicators reading The price has repeatedly risen above the upward-sloping 21-day and 50-day moving average lines. Long candlestick wicks below the current high indicate significant selling pressure at higher price levels. On the 4-hour chart, the price bars are positioned between the upward-sloping moving average lines.

What is the next direction for BCH/USD? The price of BCH has been moving horizontally after the upward trend ended around $668. Since January 5, the altcoin has retraced and regained support above its $620 low. The upward trend has been halted below the $660 high. The price has been locked in a range on the 4-hour chart, resulting in several days of persistent range trading.

Disclaimer. This analysis and forecast are the personal opinions of the author. The data provided is collected by the author and is not sponsored by any company or token developer. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell cryptocurrency and should not be viewed as an endorsement by Coinidol.com. Readers should do their research before investing in funds.

The Bitcoin (BTC) network mining difficulty, the relative computing challenge of adding a new block to the decentralized blockchain ledger, fell slightly to 146.4 trillion on Thursday, in the first difficulty adjustment of 2026. 

“The next Bitcoin difficulty adjustment is estimated to take place on Jan 22, 2026, 04:08:12 AM UTC, increasing the Bitcoin mining difficulty from 146.47 T to 148.20 T,” according to CoinWarz. 

Average block times are 9.88 minutes at the time of this writing, slightly below the 10-minute target, which means the next difficulty adjustment will increase slightly to align better with the target block time.

The Bitcoin network mining difficulty. Source: CryptoQuantMining difficulty reached new all-time highs in 2025, with the final adjustment of the year slightly increasing the difficulty level. However, even with the slight increase, difficulty remained well below the all-time high of 155.9 trillion recorded in November.

The rising difficulty means increased competition to mine blocks on the network, presenting more challenges to the mining industry, which suffered from macroeconomic, regulatory, and financial headwinds in 2025.

2025 was the “harshest margin environment” on record for Bitcoin minersBitcoin miners experienced one of the toughest profitability environments on record, as profit margins eroded due to the April 2024 halving, which slashed the block subsidy by 50% and macroeconomic developments.

The crypto market downturn, which began in November, placed additional pressure on Miners and mining companies.

Miner hash price, a critical metric for miner profitability, which tracks expected revenue per unit of computing power expended to mine blocks, fell below breakeven levels in November 2025.

Miner hash price over a 1-year period. Source: Hashrate Index$40 per petahash-second per day is the level at which miners must decide whether to turn their rigs off or continue mining blocks. In November, this metric dropped below $35 — a multi-year low.

The tariffs enacted by US President Donald Trump also strained Bitcoin miners, creating fears of supply chain shortages.

A sharp crypto market downturn, sparked by a flash crash in October, discounted BTC prices by over 30% in November, when BTC hit a low just north of $80,000.

Although Bitcoin prices have rallied since that time, they are still far below the all-time high of over $125,000 reached in October.

Magazine: Bitcoin mining industry ‘going to be dead in 2 years’: Bit Digital CEO

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Despite shifting market dynamics and evolving macro signals, Bitcoin keeps its long-term trend, while its deeper narrative is beyond headline price movements. This divergence between surface-level price action and underlying structure suggests that the BTC long-term thesis remains intact even as the forces shaping its next phase become more complex and more mature.

Why Bitcoin Trend Strength Persists Despite Cooling Momentum Bitcoin remains firmly aligned with its long-term uptrend, but the more important signal is not showing up in price. CryptoELITES revealed on X that liquidity has been quietly tightening, and one of the clearest signals is TOTAL/BTC, which continues to bleed while BTC holds its structural levels. 

This kind of setup does not leave the market in panic; it just needs patience. If liquidity conditions begin to ease while the BTC trend continues to hold, the response won’t be instant. However, it will emerge gradually through rotations first, but not headlines. “How are you reading this phase right now?” CryptoELITES ask.

The recent dip in Bitcoin doesn’t change the broader setup unfolding across the market. While BTC has chopped lower over the past few days, meme coins across the board have been quietly forming some of the cleanest corrective structures seen in this cycle. Crypto analyst 0xBossman highlighted that these meme coins have been reacting strongly to even modest BTC bounces and holding their structure during flash dips.

In combination with the tight corrective structures, overwhelming bearish sentiment across major assets has swung bearish again. At the same time, meme coins continue to act as the leading edge of this broader rally, which will lead to an explosion soon. From 0xBossman’s perspective, this setup suggests that 2026 is where many of these meme coins will fully express their upside. The signals are already visible for anyone paying attention.

From Downtrend Pressure To Structural Relief According to Ardi, one of the more constructive developments for Bitcoin over the past week has been the reclaim and hold of the 200 Simple Moving Average (200-SMA) on the 4-hour chart, a level that has acted as a reliable trend filter throughout this cycle. When this move slopes downward, price action will struggle to maintain local higher highs, and downside flushes will continue to appear.

However, when the price regains the level and begins to turn up, the market will transition into a phase of sustained momentum. What stands out is that this is the first reclaim and hold of the BTC 4-hour 200-SMA since the October crash. This doesn’t automatically signal that the bull run is back, but it would give BTC a better chance to continue pushing through the $94,500 level.

BTC trading at $90,752 on the 1D chart | Source: BTCUSDT on Tradingview.com Featured image from Pngtree, chart from Tradingview.com

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Godspower Owie is my name, and I work for the news platforms NewsBTC and Bitcoinist. I sometimes like to think of myself as an explorer since I enjoy exploring new places, learning new things, especially valuable ones, and meeting new people who have an impact on my life, no matter how small. I value my family, friends, career, and time. Really, those are most likely the most significant aspects of every person's existence. Not illusions, but dreams are what I pursue.

Big shift for altcoins in Wall Street hints at big things for Cardano in 2026, strongly-backed with high Futures volumes.

Market Sentiment:

Bullish Bearish Neutral

Published: January 10, 2026 │ 9:26 PM GMT

Cardano (ADA) is flashing one of the strongest bullish signals in months. The OG altcoin saw a tremendous upswing in Futures trading, with the demand growing beyond 16,000% on specific exchanges like BitMEX. On Saturday, the overall Cardano (ADA) price plays on leveraged markets breached $640 million, according to CoinGlass.

Cardano’s Quiet Build-Up Amid Looming ETF DecisionThis precedes a potential exchange-traded fund listing by Grayscale, one of the biggest players in the crypto ETF field. Cardano’s long-time holders are enthusiastic about the eventual approval of this ADA ETF due to the recent Solana (SOL) & Ripple (ETF) approvals. With the closest peers nailing an ETF, Cardano is the next in line.

Grayscale's spot Cardano $ADA ETF hasn't been approved by the SEC yet. 🇺🇸

The application is still under review, with a decision now expected in early 2026.

Fingers crossed we see an approval in the coming weeks! pic.twitter.com/h9c1gVWqfN

— Cardanians (CRDN) (@Cardanians_io) January 7, 2026 Now, market watchers are peeling their eyes on Q1 of 2026, after the altcoin missed out on the late 2025 ETF rally. With ADA price action completely consolidated in a tight range, Cardano’s bounce to $0.50 looks completely dependent on the ADA ETF news. According to technical analyst Quantum Ascend, the Elliott Waves promise double-digit targets.

Double-Digit Targets For Cardano If 2020 Repeats ItselfCiting the historical gains since the 2020 lows, Quantum Ascend revealed their conservative target to sit at $5, while the more bullish outlook potentially takes Cardano’s (ADA) price to $10. On one hand, ADA price projections like this align with the technical bounce backs in the Relative Strength Index (RSI) & MACD, but that might not be enough.

Technical Cardano price analysis based by the Elliott Waves fails to take in the macroeconomic factors, to which the crypto market is highly exposed to. Moreover, the altcoin season in 2026 highly depends on dominance against Bitcoin (BTC), as major-caps are competing against the apex crypto when it comes to the retail investor’s risk-on appetite.

Dig into DailyCoin’s hottest crypto news today:
Donald Trump’s Crypto Mercy Ends At SBF: Full Sentence Ahead?
HBAR Price Faces Early-Year Wall Ahead Of Q4 RWA Rally

People Also Ask:Is Grayscale’s ADA ETF approved yet?

No – the spot Cardano ETF (GADA) filing is still under SEC review. Grayscale registered the trust in 2025, but delays (including shutdowns) pushed decisions beyond 2025 deadlines; early 2026 is now the expected window.

What are the key volume hints right now?

Futures open interest spiked to 1.99 billion ADA ($817M notional) in a single day on Jan 7, up 1.29%, with heavy positioning on exchanges like Gate.io. This reflects traders betting on ETF-driven upside amid low spot momentum.

What happens if ADA ETF gets approved?

It would boost institutional access, potentially driving inflows and price stability (similar to BTC/ETH ETFs). Analysts eye short-term pumps to $0.50+ if greenlit, but rejection could pressure lower.

DailyCoin's Vibe Check: Which way are you leaning towards after reading this article?

Market Sentiment

100% Bullish

This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

2026 could be another big year for precious metals.

Gold is a shiny yellow metal that sells for a whopping $4,400 per ounce, but it isn't very useful, with very few industrial applications outside the jewelry industry. Instead, most of gold's demand comes from investors who buy it because of its status as one of history's oldest stores of value, which dates back thousands of years.

The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD +0.72%) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that directly tracks the performance of gold, and it rocketed higher by 64% during 2025, outperforming every major U.S. stock market index. Political turmoil, economic uncertainty, and soaring government debt were making investors nervous, so they flocked to the safety of the shiny yellow metal.

All of those issues are still present in 2026, which leaves the door open for further upside. History suggests annual returns of over 60% certainly aren't normal, so here's what is likely to happen this year instead.

Image source: Getty Images.

Investors are flocking to the safety of precious metals Gold earned its status as a store of value partly because of its scarcity, with just 216,265 tons extracted from the ground throughout all of human history. For some perspective, roughly 1.7 million tons of silver have been mined, along with billions of tons of other commodities like iron ore and coal.

While gold appreciates in value because of demand from investors, it also benefits from the depreciation of paper currencies. The U.S. used the gold standard up until 1971, which meant the government could only print paper currency if it had an equal amount of physical gold reserves to match. This prevented an unchecked increase in money supply, which kept a lid on inflation.

After abandoning the gold standard in 1971, money supply exploded, causing the U.S. dollar to lose around 90% of its purchasing power. The below chart shows how the price of an ounce of gold typically tracks the increase in money supply (and the debasement of the U.S. dollar).

Gold Price in US Dollars data by YCharts

The U.S. government ran a $1.8 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2025 (ended Sept. 30), catapulting the national debt to a record $38.5 trillion. Another trillion-dollar deficit is likely in fiscal 2026, so investors are increasingly worried that devaluing the U.S. dollar even further by increasing money supply is the only way the government can manage its growing debt pile. As a result, they are flocking to gold as a hedge.

History points to modest returns in 2026 Although the conditions are perfect for more upside in the price of gold during 2026, investors should temper their expectations after its 64% gain in 2025. Over the last 30 years, the shiny metal has averaged an annual gain of just 8%, which is probably a more realistic target.

Gold doesn't generate any revenue or earnings, so it is very tricky to value even with the U.S. dollar trending lower. Historically, the metal has actually underperformed income-generating assets like the stock market; the S&P 500 index, for example, climbed by an average of 11% per year over the last three decades (including dividends), trouncing gold's 8% annual gain.

Today's Change

(

0.72

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2.98

Current Price

$

414.47

Gold can still be a very valuable part of a diversified portfolio, especially in the current political and economic environment where it has the potential to occasionally outperform other assets. In fact, hedge fund legend Ray Dalio recently recommended that investors allocate 15% of their portfolios to the shiny yellow metal, precisely because of the U.S. government's mounting debt burden.

Buying physical gold is the surest way to profit from further upside, but this comes with storage and insurance costs. The SPDR Gold ETF offers a more convenient way for most investors to own the yellow metal, because it requires no storage and it can be bought and sold instantly with the click of a mouse through any major investing platform.

The ETF isn't free. It has an expense ratio of 0.4%, which is the proportion of the fund deducted each year to cover management costs. Therefore, an investment of $10,000 would incur an annual fee of $40, but that is likely much cheaper than storing and insuring $10,000 worth of physical metal.

Want to take your real investments global? These top real estate ETFs offer international income.

Both the Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF (VNQI +0.11%) and Xtrackers International Real Estate ETF (HAUZ +0.25%) offer exposure to real estate companies outside the United States, appealing to investors seeking global diversification beyond domestic property markets. This comparison highlights how each fund’s cost, performance, sector mix, and risk profile could matter for those weighing an allocation to international real estate equities.

Snapshot (cost & size)MetricHAUZVNQIIssuerXtrackersVanguardExpense ratio0.10%0.12%1-yr return (as of Jan. 8, 2026)21.27%19.63%Dividend yield4.34%4.58%*Beta0.730.71AUM$951.9 million$3.53 billion*Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year weekly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months.

Both funds have very similar metrics, with HAUZ having slightly lower investor expenses. But VNQI does edge out HAUZ in terms of dividend yield.

Performance & risk comparisonMetricHAUZVNQIMax drawdown (5 y)-34.54%-35.76%Growth of $1,000 over 5 years$891$876What's insideVNQI focuses on global real estate, excluding the U.S., holding 742 assets as of Jan. 8, 2025. Top holdings include Goodman Group (ASX:GMG.AX), Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. (JPX:8801.T), and Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. (JPX:8802.T). The fund has been in existence for nearly 15 years and is the largest global real estate ETF in terms of total assets, trailing only the iShares Global REIT ETF (REET +0.00%).

HAUZ has a very similar makeup to VNQI. However, the HAUZ is three years younger and excludes companies from Pakistan and Vietnam, along with the U.S., contributing to the fund having nearly 300 fewer total holdings than VNQI.

What this means for investorsWith very similar metrics and performance, either ETF is an ideal option for those who are looking to invest in global real estate. However, one of the biggest things investors should be aware of is the payout frequency of each of these ETFs.

The most common payout frequency for dividends across all assets is quarterly. But with HAUZ, dividends have been historically paid out semiannually, resulting in only two dividend payments per year. And with VNQI, the fund switched from quarterly to annual payments in 2023. The benefit of less frequent paid dividends is that investors receive a larger lump sum payment, which should be higher than the typical quarterly payment within the sector. For those who'd rather invest in global real estate ETFs with quarterly dividend payouts, they can search for similar ETFs such as the SPDR Dow Jones Global Real Estate ETF (RWO +0.07%) and REET.

GlossaryETF: Exchange-traded fund, a security that tracks an index or sector and trades like a stock.
Dividend yield: Annual dividends paid by a fund or stock, expressed as a percentage of its price.
Expense ratio: Annual fee, as a percentage of assets, that a fund charges to cover operating costs.
Beta: A measure of an investment's volatility compared to the overall market, usually the S&P 500.
AUM: Assets under management; the total market value of assets a fund manages.
Max drawdown: The largest percentage drop from a fund’s peak value to its lowest point over a period.
Ex-dividend: The date after which new buyers of a fund or stock are not entitled to the next dividend payment.
Pure-play: A fund or company focused almost entirely on a single industry or sector.
Sector allocation: The percentage of a fund’s assets invested in different industry sectors.
Tracking: How closely a fund follows the performance of its target index.
Liquidity: How easily an asset or fund can be bought or sold without affecting its price.
Total return: The investment's price change plus all dividends and distributions, assuming those payouts are reinvested.

For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.

Fineqia International Inc (CSE:FNQ) senior associate Matteo Greco talked with Proactive about how crypto exchange-traded products continued to attract strong institutional demand in 2025, even as digital asset prices declined.

Greco explained that 2025 reinforced trends first seen in 2024, highlighting ETPs as an effective vehicle for traditional investors seeking exposure to digital assets.

Despite a negative market trend in the second half of the year, total inflows were close to levels seen during the prior year, which had benefited from strong price action and the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs in the US.

He noted that institutional interest broadened beyond Bitcoin during the year, with Ethereum ETPs recording disproportionately strong inflows relative to market capitalisation. Greco said this reflected a natural progression in investor behaviour, similar to patterns previously observed in the native crypto market.

The discussion also touched on fourth-quarter weakness, which Greco attributed to a mix of seasonal portfolio adjustments, profit-taking, and increased macroeconomic and geopolitical caution. Despite this, altcoin ETPs proved resilient, supported by new ETF launches in the US that generated fresh inflows.

Looking ahead, Greco suggested short-term ETP demand may remain sensitive to price action, but said longer-term sentiment remained constructive as issuers continue to expand product offerings across the US and Europe.

Proactive: Hello you’re watching Proactive. I’m joined by Fineqia International Inc senior associate Matteo Greco. Matteo, happy New Year. Looking at crypto prices, they fell in 2025, yet ETP assets grew. What does that tell us about investor exposure to digital assets?

Matteo Greco: 2025 was an important year for crypto ETPs. It reinforced trends seen in 2024, confirming ETPs as an effective vehicle for traditional investors seeking exposure to digital assets. Demand remained strong despite negative market momentum, especially in the second half of the year.

Ethereum ETPs saw stronger inflows than price action suggested. Why is institutional money gravitating toward Ethereum?

Bitcoin was the first asset investors used for crypto exposure. Ethereum followed years later and has remained the second-largest asset by market capitalisation. In 2025, inflows into Ethereum ETPs were proportionally stronger, showing investors are broadening exposure beyond Bitcoin.

Q4 was the weakest quarter in three years. Was this seasonal or sentiment-driven?

It was a combination. Year-end portfolio adjustments and profit-taking played a role. At the same time, macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty led to a more cautious investor approach.

Altcoin ETPs were resilient. Is that a sign of growing comfort beyond Bitcoin?

Yes. New altcoin ETFs launched in the US created organic inflows. Despite being riskier assets, strong institutional demand during a weak quarter is a positive signal.

Looking ahead, do you expect continued growth?

Short-term demand may depend on price action. Long-term, interest remains strong as issuers expand product offerings in the US and Europe.

Quotes have been lightly edited for style and clarity

Small-cap stocks have historically outperformed their bigger siblings, and there are three reasons 2026 could see that trend reassert itself.

Small-cap stocks, or publicly traded companies valued anywhere from $300 million to $2 billion, lagged the broader markets in 2025. The Russell 2000, which tracks the performance of 2,000 small-cap stocks, returned 12% over the last year compared to the S&P 500's 17% rise. While not a huge gap, the underperformance is part of an ongoing 15-year streak of small caps trailing large-cap companies.

Yet, this 15-year run is an historical anomaly. It's been well documented that small caps have outperformed large caps over the last century, beating them by an average of 2.85% a year since 1927. And for every 10-year investing window, small caps beat large caps two-thirds of the time.

For context, the S&P 500's average annual gain of 10.37% since 1927 would have turned $100 into a whopping $1.75 million with dividends reinvested. But when you tack on the extra 2.85% in average annual outperformance that small caps enjoyed, the figure swells to $21.8 million.   

What's most interesting to me is that small-cap and large-cap market leadership tends to run in cycles, with large caps leading the way from 1946 to 1957, from 1969 to 1974, from 1999 to 2010, and most recently from 2011 to 2026, according to data compiled by Wellington Management. This means that this streak of large-cap dominance hasn't just lasted longer than usual; it's the longest era of large-cap market leadership on record.

Of course, large-caps' big run can't last forever. And increasingly, a number of big banks and institutional heavyweights are forecasting the end of an era in 2026, as large caps finally hand over the baton to small caps, and the historical norm reasserts itself.

In their annual investment outlooks for 2026, Vanguard forecast significantly more potential upside for small caps, while Invesco called small caps attractively valued. Meanwhile, Chris Hyzy, chief investment officer of Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank, pointed to small caps as one of several potential tools to "power your investments into a new era of growth."

Three reasons small caps could shine in 2026 and beyond Small caps and large caps rarely trade their market dominance every year or so; the runs of outperformance last over six years on average. So the question of whether small caps could be about to wrest leadership from their bigger siblings is likely one of multi-year importance. And there are three reasons to believe that small caps will outperform this year.

Image source: Getty Images.

First, there's valuation. The S&P 500 carries an average price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 31, while the Russell 2000 carries an average P/E of just 18. Lower P/E ratios indicate better bargains, tilting the odds more in investors' favor. As the great Warren Buffett famously asserted, excessive valuations are like gravity to stocks -- "The higher the rate, the greater the downward pull."

Second, there's the likelihood of interest rates falling further in 2026. With the Federal Reserve's next decision on interest rate policy due in just a few weeks, traders are forecasting no imminent change in rates, but they do pin the likelihood of interest rate cuts by late April at 61%.

And with Fed Chair Jerome Powell speculating that recent jobs reports showing unemployment ticking up to a multi-year high might still be too rosy, the Fed could be inclined to surprise with an imminent rate cut, especially if December's jobs numbers underwhelm. Small caps have more upside from falling rates because they are more heavily reliant on floating-rate debt, which can be refinanced more easily at lower borrowing costs.

Finally, and on a related note, small-cap companies tend to outperform during recessions, with the most recent examples being during the early months of the pandemic and from 2007 to 2013. Part of the reason for this is that the Fed lowers interest rates to fight recessions, but it's also the case that small-cap companies are more nimble and able to pivot to new economic conditions.

A simple way to play a small-cap comeback The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE: IWM) is an exchange-traded fund that seeks to track the performance of small-cap U.S. stocks. As of December, its holdings totaled 1,962 small-cap stocks, meaning anyone owning shares gained exposure to almost 2,000 small-cap companies.

Today's Change

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Since its May 2000 inception, the fund has achieved average annual gains of 8.05%, which is impressive considering that this 15-year era of large-cap outperformance amounts to more than half of the fund's 26-year history.

The fund also charges a management fee of 0.19%, which is considerably less than the industry average that generally falls into the range of 0.44% to 0.63%. For investors seeking a simple, low-cost, and catch-all way to play a resurgence for small caps, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF is worth considering.

Ubiquiti accelerated its growth, paid down debt, and increased shareholder returns.

Shares of Wi-Fi equipment company Ubiquiti, Inc. (UI +1.95%) rallied 66.7% in 2025, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Ubiquiti is closely held by founder and CEO Robert Pera, who owns a stunning 93% of shares outstanding. As such, information outside of earnings releases is scarce, and the stock is volatile in both directions, due to its low public float.

The stock was volatile to the upside in 2025, as Ubiquiti's business recovered from the post-pandemic hangover, Ubiquiti paid down debt, and growth surprised to the upside.

As a result, management introduced a new share repurchase program and substantially increased the company's dividend.

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Ubiquiti accelerates revenue and profits As a leading provider of ultra-fast Wi-Fi equipment and network management tools, Ubiquiti saw high demand but was struck by parts shortages during the pandemic. In response, Pera decided to load up on some debt in order to purchase more inventory so that wouldn't happen again. However, in 2022, inflation spiked, and interest rates rose at the fastest pace in modern history, depressing demand.

The decision would have been disastrous, but Ubiquiti has a very lean business model and operates at high margins. So even though growth slowed, Ubiquiti was able to stay afloat in 2022 and 2023.

In 2024, the recovery began, and growth accelerated in 2025. The company's fiscal third-quarter report in May and fourth-quarter earnings report in August, in particular, were impressive, with Ubiquiti posting 35% and 50% growth, respectively.

Ubiquiti (UI +1.95%)

December 2024 (FY25 Q2)

March 2025 (FY25 Q3)

June 2025 (FY25 Q4)

Sept. 2025 (FY26 Q1)

Revenue

$599.9 million

$664.2 million

$759.2 million

$733.8 million

Revenue Growth (YOY)

29%

34.7%

49.6%

33.3%

Adjusted EPS

$2.28

$3.00

$3.54

$3.46

Data source: Ubiquiti, Inc. press releases.

Ubiquiti's stock was actually up by about 150% at one point in 2025 after its fourth-quarter report in August. That's when Ubiquiti reported near-50% growth, management announced a new $500 million share repurchase program, and also raised its quarterly dividend by 33.3%, to $0.80 per share. The announcements indicated a transition away from paying down debt, and back to returning more cash to shareholders.

Although Ubiquiti didn't repurchase any stock in the subsequent quarter, that was probably prudent, as the stock had skyrocketed to a P/E ratio of 60.

Ubiquiti's stock actually had a severe correction following its November report, which showed a quarter-over-quarter decline in revenue. Still, year-over-year growth was an impressive 33.3%, and Ubiquiti's hardware-centric business can be lumpy from quarter to quarter.

Image source: Getty Images.

Could a squeeze be coming? Ubiquiti's valuation still isn't cheap at 43 times earnings. Still, the fact that management may repurchase stock with the public only owning 7% of the company could set up a squeeze higher, due to a lack of liquidity.

It's also possible, given the low public float, that Pera may make an offer to take the company fully private. The question is at what price Pera might be willing to buy out public shareholders, given that shares currently trade 31% below their 2025 inter-year high.

This real estate ETF uses strict criteria to maximize quality assets, but is it good enough to match up against the world's largest global real estate ETF?

Both the FlexShares Global Quality Real Estate Index Fund (GQRE +0.17%) and iShares Global REIT ETF (REET +0.00%) target global real estate equities, providing exposure to real estate companies and real estate investment trusts (REITs) worldwide. This comparison highlights their differences in cost, performance, risk, and portfolio composition, helping investors assess which may better fit their needs.

Snapshot (cost & size)MetricGQREREETIssuerFlexSharesISharesExpense ratio0.45%0.14%1-yr return (as of Jan. 8, 2026)7.08%6.65%Dividend yield4.66%3.62%*Beta0.960.97AUM$342.55 million$4.33 billion*Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year weekly returns.

GQRE costs investors three times more in expenses than REET, but it currently (as of Jan. 8) yields higher returns and dividends.

Performance & risk comparisonMetricGQREREETMax drawdown (5 y)-35.08%-32.09%Growth of $1,000 over 5 years$1,032$1,053What's insideEstablished in 2014, REET is the largest global real estate ETF by total assets and average volume, currently holding 377 assets around the world. Its largest positions are Welltower (WELL 0.12%), Prologis  (PLD +0.79%), and Equinix (EQIX +2.36%), collectively making up approximately 20% of the ETF's total holdings.

Created nearly a year earlier, GQRE shares similar holdings with REET, but its top three include American Tower Corporation (AMT 1.02%), Digital Realty Trust (DLR +3.67%), and Public Storage (PSA +2.59%). With 150 total holdings, GQRE is designed to maximize higher-quality real estate assets than the typical global real estate ETF.

What this means for investorsInvestors should be aware of the criteria GQRE uses for its holdings. The ETF tracks the Northern Trust Global Quality Real Estate Index (NTGQRE), an underlying index that selects securities within the real estate sector based on value, momentum, and a quality factor that comprises an analysis of profitability, management efficiency, and cash flow. The objective with Northern Trust's strategy is to sustain long-term capital appreciation while mitigating risk.

This criteria seems to be successful for GQRE even throughout a turbulent real estate market, which has impacted gains of various assets within the sector. In both 12-month and 5-year spans, GQRE has outperformed REET in terms of price gains. Its price is also currently about 20% higher since inception in 2013, while REET's is only up 0.68% since 2014. For better performance, GQRE is currently the more ideal investment. But if investors prefer a lower expense ratio and broader real estate exposure, REET may be more suitable.

GlossaryETF (Exchange-traded fund): A pooled investment that trades on stock exchanges like a single stock.
Expense ratio: The annual fee a fund charges investors, expressed as a percentage of assets invested.
Assets under management (AUM): The total market value of all assets a fund manages for investors.
Dividend yield: Annual dividends paid by a fund divided by its current share price, shown as a percentage.
REIT (Real estate investment trust): A company that owns or finances income-producing real estate and pays out most earnings as dividends.
Global real estate equities: Stocks of real estate companies and REITs listed on exchanges around the world.
Beta: A measure of how much an investment’s price moves relative to a benchmark index like the S&P 500.
Max drawdown: The largest peak-to-trough decline in an investment’s value over a specific period.
Total return: Investment performance including price changes plus all dividends and distributions, assuming they are reinvested.
Developed markets: Economies with mature financial systems and higher income levels, such as the U.S., Japan, and Western Europe.
Emerging markets: Countries with developing economies and financial markets that may offer higher growth and higher risk.
Portfolio concentration: The degree to which a fund’s assets are invested in a relatively small number of holdings or sectors.

For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.

HIVE Digital Technologies (TSX-V:HIVE, NASDAQ:HIVE, BVC:HIVECO) executive chairman Frank Holmes talked with Proactive about the company’s significant operational growth and strategic expansion across both Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing (HPC).

A key driver was a substantial ramp-up in Paraguay, where the company scaled from 6 to 25 exahash—a major contributor to the 306 Bitcoin mined in December, representing a 197% year-over-year increase.

Holmes attributed this growth to strategic capacity expansion and continued investments in more efficient ASIC mining chips, reducing energy consumption from 30 joules per terahash in the last cycle to as low as 11 in newer models.

In addition, HIVE is developing a new 100MW facility in Paraguay, aiming to add another 10 exahash, alongside building out its HPC data center in Manitoba with Bell Canada to power AI workloads using Nvidia chips.

Proactive: Welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. And joining me now is Frank Holmes. He is Executive Chairman of HIVE Digital Technologies. And Frank, Happy New Year. Good to see you, my friend.

Frank Holmes: Happy New Year to you.

So, exciting news out from the company talking about your December numbers for HIVE. Even though you had some cold weather in certain parts of the world, it still was another “December to remember.”

It was. I like that rhyme. Sound like a rapper? Yeah, it was great. We demonstrated year-over-year, quarter-over-quarter, and month-over-month growth — in what they call a difficult environment. So that is, for me, very thrilling. And how we are able to maintain top efficiency in how we're running our facilities.

It really shows when you have cold weather — and then hot weather in Paraguay. If you get rainy season there, then don’t worry, it’s usually summer in North America and Sweden. So that works out well.

The other exciting part was that just before Christmas, Motley Fool Canada published a series of articles. We were thrilled to see their validation — highlighting that if you miss HIVE, it’s a regret. We’re demonstrating the “dual engine” of growth. Very exciting.

Yeah, the dual engine obviously in the Bitcoin, but also in the computing part of it, right?

The dual engine as HPC and AI — using Nvidia chips. We saw a big bounce this week with Nvidia and Micron. The technology sector and AI space last quarter were under a lot of short pressure — a lot of chatter about a bubble. But they continue to rally, proving this is a huge supercycle. HIVE is positioned with two engines for it. We’re thrilled about that.

Frank, you produced 306 Bitcoin in December — a 197% increase over the same period last year. Is that a combination of capacity and the machines that you use? Give me some thoughts on what led to this growth.

The biggest driver was growth in Paraguay, going from 6 exahash to 25. That was spectacular — the biggest growth in the industry in one year.

We’ve also been upgrading and buying more efficient ASIC miners. These use substantially fewer joules per second. In the last cycle, it was about 30 joules per terahash. Now it's down to 17, and the latest chips are coming in at 11.

That’s innovation — like Moore’s Law — making Bitcoin mining more energy efficient globally. Operators with outdated machines are forced to shut down. But we continuously reinvest part of our cash flow to upgrade our chips and reduce energy use.

Okay. And lastly, Frank, in the news release, you talk about adding more capacity in Paraguay — about 100 megawatts more. Tell me a little about the plans ahead. That’s happening fairly quickly, right?

Yes. This year we’ll add 10 exahash — that’s about five Bitcoin a day, depending on the network difficulty. That’s very attractive additional cash flow.

At the same time, we’re building out a data center in Manitoba with Bell Canada. That project is at full throttle to support our Nvidia chip-based HPC operations.

Some of the team are heading to Winnipeg — a very cold time to visit — or as we say in San Antonio, “super frio.” But we’re growing, and that project will really ramp up. A year from now, our HPC numbers should be substantially better.

Last year we doubled — and this year we’re expecting a multiple factor of that.

Quotes have been lightly edited for style and clarity

BlackRock is telling clients to stop looking at artificial intelligence as software and start treating it as energy.

In its 2026 Global Outlook, the BlackRock Investment Institute argued that the AI buildout is pushing against physical limits and highlighted electricity as the constraint investors are underpricing.

The report’s headline-grabber is its warning that AI-driven data centers could consume as much as 24% of US electricity by 2030, a scale that would reorder everything from utility capex to industrial siting.

That kind of forecast lands with an obvious follow-on question in crypto: if grid access becomes the scarce asset, what happens to the industry that built a business model around turning cheap, interruptible power into Bitcoin?

In 2025, narratives arrived around the potential synergy of crypto and AI due to the theory that AI agents will want to use crypto for payments over traditional finance. However, a power war may tarnish this relationship going forward.

For years, mining has lived in a political argument about energy waste. The industry’s counterargument has always been operational: miners can be the flexible load, switching off when the grid is stressed and soaking up surplus generation when prices collapse.

In Texas, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has explicitly designed programs for “large flexible customers, such as Bitcoin mining facilities,” encouraging curtailment during peak demand.

But AI data centers come with a different consumption profile, different contract terms, and a different level of political support. They don't want to power down, ever. They want the baseload.

A power problem hiding inside a tech boomBlackRock’s broader point is that the AI boom is unusually capital-intensive. The firm cites a $5 trillion to $8 trillion range of total capital spending intentions for the AI buildout through 2030, with heavy spending on compute, data centers, and energy infrastructure.

What began as a race for chips has quickly become a race for megawatts.

There’s wide agreement that data center electricity demand is rising fast, even if analysts debate the ceiling. A Department of Energy announcement tied to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s data center report says data center load growth in the US has tripled over the past decade.

Moreover, it is projected to double or triple by 2028. EPRI modeling from 2024 cited by Utility Dive put US data centers at 4.6% to 9.1% of US generation by 2030, depending on AI uptake and efficiency gains.

A World Resources Institute explainer, citing a Berkeley Lab study, points to 6.7% to 12% of US electricity consumption by 2030. (wri.org)

BlackRock’s “up to 25%” framing sits at the aggressive end of that spectrum, and is meant to be provocative. Yet even the lower-end scenarios would be enough to tighten power markets and harden the grid politics around who gets to plug in first.

Reuters reported that utilities and grid operators are already adjusting rate structures and rules as hyperscalers and colocation firms scramble for capacity, especially in hotspots like Texas and Northern Virginia.

That’s the environment Bitcoin miners are walking into. They are large, mobile power users, and they're first in line in regions with abundant generation or attractive pricing. Until now, those traits looked like advantages.

Miners built on flexibility. AI runs on certaintyBitcoin mining is brutally simple at the physics layer. Specialized computers perform hashing to secure the network, and electricity is the dominant input cost. When power is cheap relative to Bitcoin’s price and network difficulty, miners print cash. When power is expensive, they shut down, relocate, or go bankrupt.

That operational flexibility has become the industry’s best talking point as public scrutiny has increased. The US Energy Information Administration estimated crypto mining likely represented about 0.6% to 2.3% of electricity consumption in the US in 2024, a small share in percentage terms but large enough to show up in local politics and grid planning.

Texas is the cleanest case study because the state’s competitive power market turns that flexibility into revenue. In a 2023 SEC filing, Riot Platforms said it curtailed power usage by more than 95% during periods of peak demand in August 2023, choosing to forego mining revenue to support ERCOT reliability.

CryptoSlate reported that ERCOT paid a miner $31.7 million in energy credits that month to power down during a heat wave, a detail that captures both the value of flexibility and why the politics can get ugly fast.

Now put that model next to AI. Training and serving large models need constant power and tight uptime. A hyperscaler signing a long-term lease wants predictable delivery, not voluntary curtailment.

If miners are the shock absorber, then AI is the shock creator.

And BlackRock’s yearly outlook effectively says that the shock is coming and there's no stopping it.

Grid constraints make cheap power a moving targetIn the mining playbook, “cheap power” means stranded hydro, surplus wind at night, or a friendly industrial tariff. But as data centers scale, cheap power becomes a moving target, because grid access itself becomes the bottleneck.

Interconnection queues and transmission delays are the new friction. Even when a region has generation, it may not have the wires, the transformers, or the permitting pathway to deliver it to a new 500-megawatt campus.

NERC has warned about reliability threats from rapid load growth tied to AI, data centers, EVs, and electrification colliding with generator retirements and slow buildouts. (Financial Times)

That matters for miners because their advantage is speed.

They can drop containers on a site, energize, and start hashing faster than a conventional industrial plant can ramp. But if the gating item becomes substation capacity and interconnection approval, then that speed turns into a regulatory contest.

The political optics are shifting, tooWhen power markets tighten, lawmakers start looking for villains. Mining has often been convenient because it feels optional, even to people who understand nothing about it. In contrast, AI is now being both to the public and to lawmakers as national competitiveness.

That asymmetry is what will shape policy. It's easier to impose reporting requirements or additional tariffs on miners than on the data centers the local chamber of commerce is courting. It's also easier to frame mining as a speculative luxury and frame AI as the backbone of defense, productivity, and medicine.

If BlackRock is right that AI’s energy footprint will become a macro risk, the political coalition supporting grid investment may widen, but so may the pressure to prioritize “productive” loads.

Miners might respond by leaning harder into the flexibility story. A Duke University report cited by Utility Dive argues the existing US grid can handle significant new load if it can be curtailed during stress events, and mining can do that. Many AI workloads, especially inference for consumer products, generally can't.

That creates a potential wedge: miners as a controllable load that helps integrate renewables, versus data centers as an inflexible load. This argument is already brewing in policy circles and utility commission hearings.

However, whether it wins will depend on local economics and lobbying, not internet debates.

The hedge: turning mining sites into AI sitesThere's another adaptation path already underway: pivoting from hashing to hosting.

The logic is straightforward. If you already own land, power rights, and a substation, you have what AI developers need most. And if your legacy business is volatile, the prospect of contracted cash flows from compute hosting is tempting.

CryptoSlate reported in October that some firms originally focused on Bitcoin mining have been pivoting toward AI infrastructure, with deals tied to cloud and AI workloads, precisely because power access in places like Texas has become valuable. The article’s message is not that every miner will become an AI landlord, but that the industry’s prime asset is shifting from machines to megawatts.

This pivot is harder than it sounds. AI data centers require different cooling, different network architecture, and different uptime guarantees. Mining can tolerate interruptions, but many AI customers won't.

The cost of retrofitting can be enormous, and the competition includes specialist data center operators with deep relationships and financing advantages.

Yet the direction of travel is clear. When power becomes scarce, the highest-value use of a megawatt tends to win.

Where Bitcoin mining landsBlackRock’s forecast isn't about Bitcoin specifically, but about the end of cheap abundance. If AI pushes the US toward a world where electricity demand grows fast, and transmission remains slow, any business built on marginal power economics gets squeezed.

Of course, miners won't disappear. Bitcoin’s incentive structure is designed to keep hash power online somewhere, and the industry’s mobility means it can chase new energy pockets. But the center of gravity could shift.

Regions with surplus generation and friendly policy will likely see miners as a stabilizing industrial load, especially if they can credibly offer curtailment. Regions courting hyperscalers will surely treat miners as a second priority.

The likely outcome is a barbell.

On one side: miners that integrate with grids, sign structured demand-response agreements, and become part of utility planning.

On the other: miners that turn their energy positions into broader compute infrastructure, essentially arbitraging their early arrival in power markets into a new line of business.

Either way, the easy era is ending. BlackRock’s warning that AI data centers could swell to an enormous share of US power demand is a reminder that the next phase of digital infrastructure won't be constrained by code, but by the messy physical world of wires, permits, turbines, and heat.

Mentioned in this article