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The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, compiled by data provider Alternative, rose one point from the previous day to 50, maintaining its Neutral status. The index measures market sentiment on a scale where 0 indicates extreme fear and 100 represents extreme optimism. It is calculated based on volatility (25%), trading volume (25%), social media mentions (15%), surveys (15%), Bitcoin's market cap dominance (10%), and Google search volume (10%).

U.S. mortgage lender Newrez will now recognize holdings of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum as eligible assets when underwriting home loans, according to Cointelegraph. The policy applies to Bitcoin, Ethereum, spot crypto ETFs, and U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins. This allows loan applicants to use their crypto holdings for asset verification and income estimation without having to sell them. The assets must be held at a regulated U.S. exchange or financial institution, and their volatility will be adjusted for during the evaluation process. However, all loan repayments and associated fees must still be paid in U.S. dollars. Newrez stated that the initiative aims to expand homeownership among younger generations, noting that approximately 45% of Gen Z and Millennial investors own cryptocurrency.

According to CryptoBriefing, silver has posted the strongest performance over the past 12 months compared to stocks, cryptocurrencies, and gold, with its market capitalization increasing by more than $3.9 trillion amid a price surge. Silver's market cap has now surpassed $5 trillion, making it the second-largest global asset after gold, which has a market cap of approximately $32 trillion. The price of silver soared to an all-time high of around $93 before correcting to the $89 range. Over the same period, gold gained about 70%, while the S&P 500 rose 17%, the Nasdaq climbed 21%, and Bitcoin fell 4%.

Leaders of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee have argued that a provision to protect cryptocurrency software developers should not be included in a market structure bill, CoinDesk reported. Senators Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin stated that while the clause aims to exempt developers from criminal liability if their software is misused, its inclusion could weaken federal laws against unlicensed money transmitters like Tornado Cash. The provision has been a point of contention during discussions in the Senate Banking Committee and is cited as one of the reasons for the recent delay in the bill's deliberation.

Ethereum could reach $15,000 by 2027 as it moves beyond regulatory uncertainty to become core infrastructure for Wall Street, according to Etherealize co-founders Vivek Raman and Danny Ryan. In a statement reported by CoinDesk, they noted that major financial institutions such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and JPMorgan are increasingly choosing Ethereum. The co-founders explained that this institutional adoption has been accelerated by recent U.S. legislation that has effectively legalized the use of stablecoins and tokenization. Raman added that if the stablecoin and real-world asset (RWA) markets each grow fivefold, Ethereum's market capitalization could be revalued in the trillions of dollars.

Whale Alert reported that 300,000,000 USDC has been transferred from USDC Treasury to Coinbase. The transaction is valued at about $300 million.

Patrick Witt, Executive Secretary of the White House Cryptocurrency Advisory Committee, stated that the U.S. government has not sold the digital assets seized from the Bitcoin mixing service Samourai Wallet. In a post on X, Witt said he confirmed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the assets have not been disposed of and will not be sold in the future, in accordance with an executive order. He added that the seized assets will remain on the U.S. government's balance sheet as part of a Special Blockchain Account (SBR). This clarification follows earlier media reports that the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) had sold 57.55 BTC from the seizure, a move that had prompted pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis to express concern.

Layer 1 blockchain platform Sui announced a partnership with crypto-to-fiat exchange service LINQ via its official X account. The collaboration will support users in Nigeria by enabling them to convert cryptocurrencies into their local fiat currency. Sui stated that its technology will allow users to cash out stablecoins, offering a fast off-ramp service with settlements completed in under one minute. The platform also mentioned that more features will be added soon.

Ethereum (ETH) founder Vitalik Buterin stated on X that by 2026, the network will no longer make the kinds of compromises it has in the past. He argued that over the last ten years, Ethereum has regressed in many areas, with node operation becoming more difficult, decentralized applications (DApps) turning into complex behemoths, and block generation growing more centralized. Buterin emphasized that these were compromises made in the name of mainstream adoption that diluted Ethereum's identity. He predicted that 2026 will be the year Ethereum reclaims its lost status in terms of self-sovereignty and trustlessness. To achieve this, he highlighted several key objectives, including simplifying full nodes, implementing Helios, ORAM, and PIR, and advancing social recovery wallets, timelocks, privacy UX, censorship resistance, and application UI.

Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer Canaan has received a delisting warning from Nasdaq, Decrypt reported. The notice, issued earlier this week, requires the company to raise its share price above $1 for at least 10 consecutive days by July to remain listed. Canaan's stock is currently trading at $0.7955, down approximately 3% from the previous day.

Blockchain security expert ZachXBT stated that a hardware wallet engineering scam resulted in the theft of over $282 million in LTC and BTC around 11:00 p.m. UTC on Jan. 10. According to the analysis, the attacker began converting the stolen assets into Monero (XMR) through multiple exchanges, which triggered a surge in XMR's price. ZachXBT added that the attacker currently holds 2.05 million LTC and 1,459 BTC. The stolen BTC has also been bridged to the Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and Litecoin (LTC) networks via THORChain (RUNE).

Bitcoin is currently at its most undervalued level relative to the price of gold, a condition that could signal a bullish turn, according to an analysis by Cointelegraph. The analysis suggests a high probability of a strong Bitcoin price in 2026 based on historical patterns. Cointelegraph noted that after a similar signal of undervaluation against gold appeared in late 2022, the price of BTC surged by nearly 150%. This precedent suggests that extreme undervaluation can be a precursor to a major bull market. The recent Z-score comparing BTC and gold prices has fallen below -2, indicating that the standard deviation of Bitcoin's price relative to gold is significantly lower than its long-term average. Historically, rebounds have often begun when the Z-score approached this level. Consequently, the analysis posits that Bitcoin's price appreciation could outpace that of gold in the coming months.

Mike Novogratz, CEO of crypto financial services firm Galaxy Digital, has stated that a compromise will eventually be reached on the U.S. crypto market structure bill (CLARITY Act) and that its passage is necessary for the industry to grow. In an interview with CNBC, Novogratz said that while the bill passing in its current amended form would not be ideal for the industry, he believes the outcome would ultimately be acceptable, adding that an imperfect law could be improved over time, The Block reported. His comments come amid widespread opposition to the CLARITY Act's current provisions from within the U.S. crypto industry. Coinbase, for example, has withdrawn its support for the bill, citing concerns over a de facto ban on tokenized stocks, the potential to block DeFi while allowing unrestricted access to financial data, a weakening of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) authority in favor of the SEC, and a possible prohibition on stablecoin reward features.

Bill Demchak, CEO of major U.S. bank PNC, has argued that stablecoins must choose whether to function as an investment product or a payment method. Speaking during an earnings call on Jan. 16, Demchak stated that stablecoins paying interest to holders are similar to money market funds and should be subject to the same regulations, CoinDesk reported. He warned against the dual use of stablecoins without clear rules, adding that he opposes the push by crypto firms to offer interest on these assets. Demchak emphasized that such a structure would not be permitted in the traditional financial system without strict regulatory oversight.

Ripple (XRP) CEO Brad Garlinghouse has voiced his support for the U.S. crypto market structure bill, known as the CLARITY Act, stating that an imperfect law is preferable to the current market uncertainty. In a recent interview, he argued that clarity is better than chaos and that the industry needs clear rules to operate effectively, even if they are not perfect initially, CryptoBasic reported. Garlinghouse urged industry participants to continue engaging with lawmakers and propose improvements rather than turning away in frustration. However, the CLARITY Act faces significant opposition within the U.S. crypto industry. Coinbase, for instance, has withdrawn its support for the bill, citing several concerns. These include a de facto ban on tokenized securities, the potential to block DeFi while allowing unlimited access to financial data, a weakening of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) authority relative to the SEC, and the possible prohibition of stablecoin reward features.

Global spending on cryptocurrency cards has reached an annual run rate of $18 billion, signaling the growing use of stablecoins for everyday payments, Coindesk reported, citing a report from on-chain data platform Artemis. According to the report, spending on crypto credit and debit cards has increased to a level nearly matching that of peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers. Monthly spending surged from around $100 million in early 2023 to over $1.5 billion by the end of the year. The crypto card payment market is expanding at an average annual rate of approximately 106% and is approaching the $19 billion annual volume of peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers. Visa processes more than 90% of on-chain card transaction volume, a result of its early partnerships with crypto infrastructure providers.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has fallen below $95,000. BTC is trading at $94,902.48 on the Binance USDT market.

On-chain data platform CryptoQuant stated in a post on X that while investor sentiment in the Bitcoin market has recently become enthusiastic, multiple indicators still point to a bear market. The firm noted that BTC has rallied this year, approaching its 365-day moving average on the daily chart, a level that previously halted rallies during the 2022 bear market. CryptoQuant added that the current chart pattern resembles the 2022 cycle, when a bear market began after BTC broke below this moving average following a peak. The analysis also highlighted decreasing on-chain spot demand, largely unchanged ETF-driven fund inflows compared to the same period last year, and increased BTC inflows to major exchanges, which suggests rising selling pressure. Based on these factors, CryptoQuant concluded that the year-to-date rally is likely a rebound within a broader bear market.

In a report on Jan. 16, JPMorgan attributed the strong performance of U.S.-listed Bitcoin mining stocks to a modest rise in BTC's price this year and improved profitability from a declining hash rate, CoinDesk reported. The bank noted that the combined market capitalization of 14 U.S.-listed miners grew by $13 billion in the first two weeks of the year, reaching approximately $62 billion. JPMorgan added that a trend of diversifying revenue streams into areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) has also contributed to the stock gains. The report suggested that the rally in mining stocks could accelerate if Bitcoin's price remains stable and the hash rate continues to cool.

A significant portion of fee revenue in the blockchain industry is flowing to decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and wallets rather than the network layer itself, Cointelegraph reported. This trend suggests that the focus of investors and developers may also be shifting toward the application layer. According to an analysis by Jamie Coutts, a crypto market analyst at Real Vision, DeFi apps are now generating five times the fee revenue of the blockchains they operate on. Cointelegraph explained that if this trend continues, a greater share of fees will be allocated to DeFi apps such as wallets, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and other protocols, leaving less revenue for the underlying blockchain networks.

Purchases of ETH by U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs this week have outpaced the cryptocurrency's new supply, Cointelegraph reported, citing data from Farside Investors. The funds recorded approximately $474.6 million in net inflows for the week, driven by rising demand as institutional investors increase their ETH exposure. On-chain data further supports this trend, with the number of active Ethereum addresses over the past 30 days increasing by 53% month-over-month. Daily transactions also hit a new all-time high of 2.9 million on Jan. 16. From a technical perspective, Cointelegraph noted that ETH is forming a symmetrical triangle pattern on its daily chart. A breakout above the upper resistance line could see the asset recover to $4,500, with the potential for a further rally to $5,500.

Steven McClurg, CEO of crypto asset management firm Cannery Capital, has stated that Ripple (XRP) is poised to lead the trend in real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Speaking on a podcast, McClurg noted that while XRP was not a primary personal interest of his in the past, he has observed significant development in the XRP Ledger (XRPL) over the last two years, CryptoBasic reported. He assessed that during this time, XRPL has proven its utility in traditional finance, positioning XRP to become a leading token for the RWA trend. McClurg also predicted that if Bitcoin's rally fails this year, its price could fall to between $60,000 and $70,000. He added that XRP has greater upside potential and could reach as high as $5, even if it rallies independently of Bitcoin.

Investor sentiment in the Bitcoin options market is unstable, with traders remaining cautious about downside risk, according to on-chain analytics firm Glassnode. The firm explained that implied volatility (IV) across all maturities is gradually contracting, indicating a slowdown in demand for hedges against sharp price movements. While short-term volatility still reacts to spot prices, it is being suppressed by sell-offs during rallies. Glassnode noted that skew, the difference in IV between call and put options, is sending mixed signals. The 25-delta skew still favors put options, which are bets on a price decline, but short-term skew is neutral, and long-term skew is tilted toward the upside. This suggests a growing demand for bullish bets over simple downside hedging. The firm also observed trend-following behavior, with a concentration of call option purchases when BTC surpassed $95,000. However, Glassnode concluded that overall sentiment remains fragile, as traders are reluctant to sell put options, showing that caution about downside risk persists despite recent price increases.

New York State is advancing legislation to impose criminal penalties on cryptocurrency companies that operate without a license. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie have introduced the new bill, dubbed the CRYPTO Act, according to Decrypt. The legislation would shift the state's enforcement from its current focus on civil penalties to criminal charges for unlicensed operations. The bill also includes provisions for escalating punishments based on the severity of the violation, particularly for firms that handle more than $1 million in crypto assets annually.

Binance has announced it will list SPORTFUN/USDT and AIA/USDT perpetual futures. The SPORTFUN contract will launch at 1:45 p.m. UTC today, followed by the AIA contract at 2:00 p.m. UTC. Both contracts will support up to 20x leverage.