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South Korea has begun building out the infrastructure to support the exchange of won-pegged stablecoins based on local currencies, the Seoul Economic Daily reported. The digital asset wallet service 'Bidan Jumeoni,' a project developed through a tripartite memorandum of understanding between Hashed, Naver Financial, and the Busan Digital Asset Exchange in May 2025, recently launched its official application. The app is currently in a pre-launch phase, only showcasing its main upcoming features. A key function will be the ability to exchange foreign currencies for 'Dongbaekjeon,' Busan's local currency, which is issued in the form of a KRW-pegged stablecoin.

South Korean crypto exchange Upbit announced it has updated the circulating supply plan for Zilliqa (ZIL) at the request of the project's team. A CoinNess analysis shows the change affects the first-quarter supply, which increased by 443,195,861 ZIL from 19,905,499,223 to 20,348,695,084. Additionally, the circulating supply for the second quarter is now listed as 20,458,855,084 ZIL.

Spot gold has surpassed $5,100 per ounce, setting another new all-time high.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $88,000. BTC is trading at $88,006.51 on the Binance USDT market.

A South Korean court has dismissed a damages lawsuit filed by an Upbit user against the exchange's operator, Dunamu, over losses incurred during a system failure amid the country's martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024, Digital Asset reported. On Jan. 15, the Daejeon District Court rejected the plaintiff's claim for approximately 130 million won (about $93,000) in damages and compensation. The court ruled that the martial law declaration and the resulting surge in order volume were unforeseeable and found no evidence that Dunamu had breached its management duties.

The following are the long/short position ratios for BTC perpetual futures over the last 24 hours on the world's top three crypto futures exchanges by open interest: Overall: 47.95% long, 52.05% short 1. Binance: 47.2% long, 52.8% short 2. Bybit: 47.85% long, 52.15% short 3. OKX: 46.83% long, 53.17% short

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched the final consultation phase for its proposed cryptocurrency regulations, Cointelegraph reported. According to the report, the FCA is seeking additional market feedback on 10 key regulatory proposals in what is effectively the last public consultation before the rules are finalized. The proposals cover business conduct standards, restrictions on purchasing crypto on credit, regulatory reporting requirements, and custody rules for client assets. The deadline for submissions is March 12.

Approximately 70% of institutional investors believe Bitcoin is undervalued, Cointelegraph reported, citing Coinbase's first-quarter cryptocurrency report. A survey conducted from early December to early January polled 75 institutional and 73 retail investors. The results showed that 71% of institutional investors and 60% of retail investors consider Bitcoin to be undervalued. Additionally, 80% of the institutional respondents indicated they would either maintain their holdings or purchase more if the crypto market were to fall by another 10%. Regarding the current market cycle, 54% of all respondents identified it as an accumulation phase or a bear market. The report also suggested that if the Federal Reserve cuts its benchmark interest rate twice this year, the resulting monetary easing could create a favorable environment for risk assets.

The growing possibility of a U.S. federal government shutdown is causing a downturn in Bitcoin and other risk assets, according to an analysis by The Block. Rick Maeda of Presto Research explained that the recent BTC decline stems from macroeconomic factors like U.S. political uncertainty rather than crypto-specific issues. He noted that the U.S. Congress is currently facing a budget deadlock and political conflict, increasing the chances of a shutdown. Meanwhile, Vincent Liu, chief investment officer at Kronos Research, stated that the market is pricing in this political risk, with the probability of a shutdown rising to 75% on Polymarket. According to CoinMarketCap, BTC is trading at $87,781, down 1.25% from the previous day.

A large-scale altcoin bull market similar to those seen in previous cycles is unlikely to occur in 2026, BeInCrypto reported, citing an analysis of CryptoRank data. The report highlights several structural headwinds, including capital dilution from a rapid increase in the number of new tokens and persistent selling pressure from projects with low circulating supplies and high fully diluted valuations (FDV). Furthermore, the analysis suggests that speculative capital is being diverted to alternative investments like memecoins and perpetual futures, while institutional funds continue to concentrate in major assets such as ETH, SOL, and XRP. This has entrenched a market structure that makes it difficult for capital to flow into small and mid-cap altcoins.

LBank Labs has released its "Comprehensive Outlook for the 2026 Cryptocurrency Market" report, co-published with CoinGecko and CoinGape. The report analyzes key investment themes and structural changes expected to shape the crypto industry this year. The analysis identifies seven core topics, including the evolving macroeconomic and regulatory environment, the convergence of Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization with DeFi, the rise of stablecoins and PayFi, and the emergence of AI-driven economies. The report highlights the strategic partnership between LBank and World Liberty Financial (WLFI) for the launch of the USD1 stablecoin as a key example in the stablecoin sector. It projects a market shift toward real utility and institutional demand, with RWA tokenization and the integration of AI with decentralized technologies serving as primary growth drivers. Czhang Lin, Head of LBank Labs, stated that the organization aims to provide practical insights for investors and builders in the rapidly evolving crypto space. He added that the outlook report not only outlines major trends but also demonstrates the firm's leading role in new fields like AI and stablecoins. LBank Labs, the venture capital arm of the LBank exchange, collaborates with institutions such as UC Berkeley and Stanford and has previously co-hosted an AI and Web3 event at Stanford. The firm announced it will continue to support global crypto industry growth through strategic investments and research.

The following shows estimated liquidation volumes and position ratios for major crypto perpetual futures over the past 24 hours: - BTC: $196 million liquidated (93.88% longs) - ETH: $219 million liquidated (92.9% longs) - SOL: $63.04 million liquidated (96.6% longs)

Cryptocurrency startup Entropy has announced it is shutting down. According to Cointelegraph, Entropy founder and CEO Tux Pacific stated on X that the business is no longer sustainable. Pacific explained that after four years, multiple pivots, and two rounds of restructuring, the company has decided to cease operations and return the remaining capital to investors. Entropy launched a decentralized self-custody solution in 2021 and secured funding in 2022 from investors including Coinbase Ventures and a16z.

A whale address that had been dormant for nine years transferred 50,000 ETH, valued at $145 million, to Gemini approximately 12 hours ago, according to EmberCN. The address still holds a balance of 85,000 ETH, worth $244 million. Transfers to exchanges are typically interpreted as a potential precursor to selling.

Blockchain mobility platform MVL announced that it is pursuing a $100 million investment to expand the U.S. operations of its ride-hailing subsidiary, TADA. The company also plans to expand its services to New York in June of this year.

Foundry USA's Bitcoin hashrate has fallen by approximately 60% since last Friday as winter storm Fern sweeps across the United States, Cointelegraph reported. The storm has directly affected the network, with slowdowns in mining operations and power disruptions causing delays in block generation. Approximately 200 EH/s of hash power has gone offline from Foundry USA alone, temporarily extending the average block time to 12 minutes. With power outages affecting over one million households, mining firms are voluntarily halting operations to alleviate strain on the power grid.

Stablecoin issuers generated an estimated $5 billion in revenue in 2025 by utilizing the Ethereum network as a primary settlement layer. According to data from Token Terminal, the supply of stablecoins on Ethereum increased by $50 billion during the year, surpassing a total of $180 billion in the fourth quarter. As a result, issuers' quarterly revenue also grew, reaching approximately $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter alone.

The threat of quantum computing to cryptocurrencies is exaggerated, and the industry should prioritize solving more immediate problems like security vulnerabilities, according to Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Crypto. In a post on X, the firm explained that a quantum computer capable of breaking current cryptosystems within a month using Shor's algorithm does not yet exist, based on public technological forecasts. a16z argued that major public chains like Bitcoin and Ethereum face more pressing issues, including difficult protocol upgrades, complex governance, and security flaws. While the quantum threat is a long-term challenge, the firm stated that fixing practical vulnerabilities such as bugs and side-channel attacks should be the immediate priority.

Coinone, South Korea's third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, is on the market, the Seoul Economic Daily reported. According to financial industry sources, the exchange is proceeding with the sale of a portion of the stake held by its chairman, Cha Myung-hun. Cha holds a majority stake of 53.44%, combining his personal holdings of 19.14% with the 34.30% owned by his private company, The One Group. The report also raises the possibility of an investment from Coinbase, the largest exchange in the U.S., which is scheduled to visit South Korea this week for meetings with major local firms, including Coinone. A Coinone official confirmed that the company is discussing cooperation plans, including equity investments, with overseas exchanges and domestic financial firms, but added that no specific arrangements have been finalized.

Whale addresses holding 1,000 BTC or more currently hold a total of 7.17 million BTC, marking the highest level since September of last year, according to Santiment.

Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) is expected to permit the trading of spot cryptocurrency ETFs, including Bitcoin, by 2028, Nikkei reported. The agency plans to amend the enforcement order of the Investment Trust Act to classify cryptocurrencies as "specified assets" eligible for investment. Major financial institutions such as SBI Holdings and Nomura Holdings are reportedly developing related products. If approved for listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, these ETFs would also become available to retail investors.

South Korean prosecutors believe a phishing attack is the likely cause for the loss of seized Bitcoin worth tens of billions of won, Segye Ilbo reported. The cryptocurrency was reportedly stored and managed on a hardware wallet. According to the prosecutors' explanation, this suggests a security key may have been compromised when someone connected the wallet to a device and accessed a phishing site. As the seized assets were under shared management, the possibility of an intentional theft by an insider is also being considered.

World Liberty Financial (WLFI) sold 93.77 WBTC, worth approximately $8.07 million, and purchased 2,868.4 ETH at an average price of $2,813, Onchain Lens reported.

According to Tokenomist, this week’s key token unlocks are as follows: - SIGN: 290 million tokens ($11.61 million), representing 17.68% of circulating supply, at 10:00 UTC on Jan. 28 - JUP: 53.47 million tokens ($9.94 million), representing 1.70% of circulating supply, at 14:00 UTC on Jan. 28 - TREE: 85.73 million tokens ($8.34 million), representing 39.41% of circulating supply, at 14:00 UTC on Jan. 29 - KMNO: 230 million tokens ($10.07 million), representing 3.68% of circulating supply, at 12:00 UTC on Jan. 30 - OP: 31.34 million tokens ($8.97 million), representing 1.62% of circulating supply, at 00:00 UTC on Jan. 31 - SUI: 43.53 million tokens ($60.94 million), representing 1.15% of circulating supply, at 00:00 UTC on Feb. 1 - EIGEN: 36.82 million tokens ($11.56 million), representing 8.88% of circulating supply, at 04:00 UTC on Feb. 1

CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season Index currently stands at 27. The index is calculated by comparing the price performance of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization against Bitcoin over the past 90 days, excluding stablecoins and wrapped tokens. An "altcoin season" is declared when 75% of these top 100 coins outperform Bitcoin over the 90-day period. A score closer to 100 indicates a stronger altcoin season, while the current low score suggests market conditions favor Bitcoin.