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A former Bank of England (BOE) analyst, Helen McCaugh, has written to BOE Governor Andrew Bailey suggesting that the official confirmation of alien life could severely disrupt financial markets and trigger a surge in demand for cryptocurrencies, according to a report from Asia Business Daily. McCaugh explained that such a revelation could lead the public to question the legitimacy of governments, eroding trust in government-backed assets. This loss of confidence, she argued, could drive a significant increase in demand for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, making them an attractive alternative.

South Korean crypto exchange Coinone announced that it will list RIVER (RIVER) for trading against the South Korean won at 3:00 a.m. UTC on Jan. 20.

An anonymous whale with an address beginning in 0x81d0 withdrew 32,000 ETH, valued at $100 million, from Binance a few minutes ago, according to on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain. The move follows earlier activity seven hours prior, when the same address withdrew 10,000 ETH ($33.68 million) from Binance. The whale then staked that ETH on Lido, received stETH, and used it as collateral on Aave to borrow $45 million in USDT. Subsequently, the address purchased 13,000 stETH and deposited it back into Aave. Lookonchain suggested the whale may deposit the latest 32,000 ETH withdrawal into Aave to borrow more USDT for further ETH purchases.

Binance has announced that it will list the BTC/U and LTC/USD1 spot trading pairs on Jan. 20 at 8:00 a.m. UTC.

Naver has stated that promotional content for unregistered Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) could violate South Korea's Specific Financial Information Act and is restricting such posts on its blog platform, Digital Asset reported. A company official said on Jan. 19 that because unregistered VASPs face criminal penalties under the act, any related advertising is also potentially illegal. Naver clarified that its policy restricts all illegal content and is not limited to promotions for unregistered crypto businesses.

Binance has announced it will delist 23 spot trading pairs at 8:00 a.m. UTC on Jan. 20. The affected pairs are 0G/BNB, 1MBABYDOGE/FDUSD, ADX/ETH, AGLD/BTC, ALT/FDUSD, ARKM/BTC, ATOM/ETH, BTC/ZAR, ENS/BTC, ETH/ZAR, HOLO/BNB, HOLO/FDUSD, MOVR/BTC, NEWT/FDUSD, OP/ETH, ORDI/BTC, OXT/BTC, POLYX/BTC, SLP/ETH, SSV/BTC, STO/FDUSD, STORJ/BTC, and TRB/BTC.

Whale Alert reported that 707,876,279 USDC has been transferred from Binance to an unknown wallet. The transaction is valued at about $708 million.

An employee at a publishing house in China's Fujian province has been sentenced to prison after embezzling company funds to invest in cryptocurrency and losing the entire amount, according to an announcement from prosecutors in the city of Xiamen. The employee, identified by his surname Guo, misappropriated 1.53 million yuan (around $214,000) by swapping the company's payment QR code with his personal WeChat QR code. After losing all the money in crypto investments, Guo turned himself in. A court sentenced him to two years and three months in prison and imposed a fine. Xiamen prosecutors said the case serves as a cautionary tale.

South Korea's banking sector has consolidated its position to advocate for the issuance of a won-backed stablecoin led by banks, on the condition that they are permitted to pay interest on it, the Electronic Times reported exclusively. According to financial industry sources on Jan. 19, the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) held a private briefing on Jan. 15 for its members, including major commercial banks, to coordinate a response on the matter. Discussions reportedly focused on a single, bank-centric stablecoin issuance model and the proposal to allow interest payments under that framework. The meeting was part of an interim review of a research project on won-backed stablecoins commissioned by the KFB from McKinsey & Company. The move is interpreted as a strategic effort by the banking industry to secure influence from the initial stages of regulatory design, as the South Korean government's enactment of the Digital Asset Basic Act approaches.

Asian Web3 research and consulting firm Tiger Research has projected a first-quarter price target of $185,500 for BTC, according to its "Tiger Valuation Methodology (TVM)" report. The firm stated that while the macroeconomic environment is favorable, citing U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cuts and an increase in the global M2 money supply, short-term momentum has been weakened by spot ETF outflows. On-chain analysis indicates support at $84,000 and resistance at $98,000, with key indicators like the MVRV-Z score having moved from an undervalued range to a state of equilibrium. Tiger Research added that the passage of the CLARITY Act could expand participation from the traditional finance sector. The report's TVM methodology calculated a neutral value of $145,000 for BTC, arriving at the $185,500 target after applying a +25% macro correction factor.

Over the last 24 hours, the BTC perpetual futures long/short ratios on the top three exchanges by open interest show a slight lean toward short positions. The aggregate ratio is 49.13% long to 50.87% short. By exchange, the ratios are: Binance (49.31% long / 50.69% short), OKX (48.38% long / 51.62% short), and Bybit (49.55% long / 50.45% short).

The Bitcoin network's hashrate has dropped below 1000 EH/s (1 ZH/s) for the first time in four months, Cointelegraph reported. According to data from the Hashrate Index, the network's seven-day average hashrate is currently 993 EH/s. This figure marks a 15% decrease from the peak of 1157 EH/s recorded on Oct. 19 of last year. Analysts suggest the decline is likely due to BTC miners reallocating power to artificial intelligence (AI) investments in pursuit of higher returns.

Trading volume on the decentralized perpetual futures exchange (PerpDEX) Lighter has plummeted since its recent airdrop, blockchain analysis platform Cryptorank.io reported via X. The platform's weekly trading volume has fallen by nearly three times from its peak. As a result of the decline, Hyperliquid (HYPE) has reclaimed its position as the leading PerpDEX by trading volume. Cryptorank also highlighted Variational as another noteworthy platform, with daily trading volumes around the $1 billion level.

Bitcoin's price has fallen sharply following U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose new tariffs on eight European nations as part of his administration's efforts to purchase Greenland, according to Cointelegraph. The move triggered a sell-off in cryptocurrencies while traditional safe-haven assets like gold and silver rallied. President Trump announced on Saturday that a 10% tariff would be applied to imports from countries including Denmark, France, Germany, and the UK, effective Feb. 1. He warned the rate could rise to 25% by June if a deal for Greenland is not reached. The resulting trade war fears appear to have spurred risk-off sentiment, leading to the liquidation of $860 million in BTC long positions over the past 24 hours. Analysts cited by the report suggest that Bitcoin is behaving like a tech stock, sensitive to macroeconomic shocks, and has decoupled from traditional safe havens.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb announced it has temporarily suspended Tether (USDT) withdrawals via the Tron network, effective 3:55 a.m. UTC on Jan. 19, due to wallet system maintenance.

U.S.-based selling pressure has recently reached its strongest level, according to an analysis by Mignolet, a CoinNess Content Creator and crypto analyst. He noted that the Coinbase Premium Gap (CPG) has widened significantly even while the ETF market is closed. Mignolet's analysis suggests this selling pressure likely originates from large U.S. investors operating through channels other than ETFs, identifying it as a traditional selling pattern that has been observed repeatedly in the past.

European sentiment is shifting from appeasement to a more confrontational stance against U.S. President Donald Trump after he used tariffs to pressure eight countries opposing the U.S. annexation of Greenland, Yonhap News reported, citing the Financial Times (FT). According to an FT report on Jan. 18, which surveyed about 10 European officials and diplomats, many believe Trump's latest tariff measure has crossed a red line and that a strategic change is now necessary. The FT noted that the move has taught European leaders the brutal lesson that their efforts to appease the U.S. president and protect the transatlantic alliance have failed.

The cryptocurrency perpetual futures market has experienced over $440 million in forced liquidations in the past 24 hours, with long positions being disproportionately affected. Bitcoin (BTC) led with $228 million in liquidations, of which 97.05% were longs. Ethereum (ETH) followed, seeing $153 million in liquidations, with long positions accounting for 76.7%. Solana (SOL) liquidations totaled $59.95 million, with longs making up 98.47% of that volume.

South Korean customs authorities have arrested a group for illegally transferring 148.9 billion won ($107.5 million) into the country from overseas using cryptocurrency, Yonhap News TV reported. The Seoul Main Customs office announced it has referred three individuals, including a Chinese national in his 30s, to prosecutors. The group allegedly operated for approximately four years, laundering funds by accepting payments in foreign currency from international clients for services like plastic surgery and tuition. They would then convert the funds into crypto before selling the assets for Korean won.

Decentralized perpetual futures exchange Aster announced on X that it will allocate an additional 20% to 40% of its daily platform fees to its token buyback program. This follows a five-stage buyback plan the platform unveiled last month.

According to Tokenomist, major token unlocks scheduled for this week (Jan. 19-25) are as follows. On Jan. 20 at 11:00 a.m. UTC, ZRO will unlock 25.70 million tokens ($43.19 million), representing 6.36% of its circulating supply. On Jan. 21 at 12:00 a.m. UTC, PLUME will unlock 1.367 billion tokens ($21.50 million), or 39.75% of its supply. On Jan. 22, RIVER will unlock 1.50 million tokens ($40.45 million, 4.32% of supply) at 12:00 a.m. UTC, and MBG will unlock 24.72 million tokens ($9.74 million, 12.13% of supply) at 12:00 p.m. UTC. Finally, on Jan. 25, H will unlock 105 million tokens ($18.95 million, 4.57% of supply) at 12:00 a.m. UTC, and XPL will unlock 88.89 million tokens ($11.12 million, 4.33% of supply) at 12:00 p.m. UTC.

The Altcoin Season Index from crypto data platform CoinMarketCap is currently at 25. The index is calculated by comparing the price performance of the top 100 coins by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins and wrapped tokens, against Bitcoin. An altcoin season is declared if 75% of these top coins have outperformed Bitcoin over the past 90 days; otherwise, it is considered a Bitcoin season. A score closer to 100 indicates an altcoin season.

Jan. 19 - U.S. markets closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Jan. 20 - 1:00 a.m. UTC: China announces its Loan Prime Rate (LPR). Jan. 21 - 1:30 p.m. UTC: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Davos Forum. Jan. 22 - 1:30 p.m. UTC: U.S. third-quarter GDP (preliminary) and initial jobless claims data released. - 3:00 p.m. UTC: U.S. November Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data released. Jan. 23 - 3:00 a.m. UTC: Bank of Japan announces its interest rate decision.

The price of spot gold has surpassed $4,666 per ounce to reach a new all-time high. Spot silver also set a new record, breaking past $94 per ounce. Gold is currently trading at $4,668.780, up 1.59% from the previous day, while silver is trading at $93.014, an increase of 3.26%.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $93,000. BTC is trading at $93,048.66 on the Binance USDT market.