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BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes argued that the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. would trigger a surge in Bitcoin's price, DL News reported. He analyzed that the U.S. government would seize Venezuela's oil assets to curb inflation while continuing its monetary expansion. Hayes stated that an increased dollar supply would, in turn, cause the prices of Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies to surge. He previously predicted that BTC could rise to $200,000 by March 2026.

Coinbase announced that it has added RAY, ENERGY, ELSA, and FUN to its listing roadmap.

Blockchain infrastructure provider Everstake has formed a strategic partnership with Cometh, a DeFi infrastructure and custody firm licensed under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, DailyHodl reported. The collaboration will enable clients to deposit fiat currency from their bank accounts, convert it into cryptocurrency for staking, and receive the resulting rewards back in fiat. Under the agreement, Cometh will handle MiCA-compliant custody and client onboarding, while Everstake will provide its institutional-grade staking infrastructure. The companies stated that the system is designed to offer access to Web3 yield opportunities with the convenience of a traditional bank transfer.

Mike McGlone, a senior macro strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, has warned that Bitcoin could fall to the $50,000 level in 2026, U.Today reported. He noted that Bitcoin's price is closely linked to stock market volatility and the recent strength in gold, pointing out that the combination of surging gold prices and low stock volatility has historically not been sustainable. McGlone further explained that if the stock market becomes unstable, Bitcoin could undergo a correction similar to other risk assets. He suggested that a spike in gold prices in 2025 could be interpreted as a leading signal of future market stress.

The three major U.S. stock indices have opened higher, with the S&P 500 up 0.07%, the Nasdaq Composite up 0.12%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.14%.

Tony Volpon, a former director of the Central Bank of Brazil, has unveiled a revenue-sharing stablecoin pegged to the Brazilian real called BRD, Coindesk reported. The stablecoin is backed by Brazilian government bonds and is structured to provide exposure to the country's current benchmark interest rate of 15%. Volpon stated that the goal is to give foreign and institutional investors easier access to Brazil's high-interest-rate environment. He also explained that the project is expected to reduce government borrowing costs by increasing demand for the bonds. BRD is the first real-pegged stablecoin to explicitly feature a revenue-sharing structure, distinguishing it from existing competitors like BRZ and BBRL.

Global Bitcoin ATM operator CoinFlip has launched a dollar-cost averaging (DCA) cryptocurrency investment program for U.S. workers, according to Cointelegraph. The service operates through direct payroll deductions, automatically purchasing assets on each payday. Users can invest in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and select stablecoins, with a minimum investment of $25 per paycheck. CoinFlip stated that the product is designed to meet demand from employees who favor long-term, installment-based purchasing strategies.

Cryptocurrency wallet infrastructure developer Dfns has partnered with blockchain privacy project Concordium to launch an identity-based Web3 wallet solution, Cointelegraph reported. The new offering allows financial institutions and businesses to provide regulatory-compliant, privacy-focused wallets without needing to build complex identity infrastructure.

JPMorgan is set to launch its deposit token, JPM Coin, on the Canton Network, a blockchain focused on the tokenization of real-world assets, The Block reported. This marks the second blockchain integration for the token, following its deployment on Base, Coinbase's proprietary Layer 2 network. JPMorgan has been using JPM Coin since 2023 to facilitate tokenized U.S. dollar and euro deposit transfers for its corporate clients.

Babylon Labs, the developer of a Bitcoin staking protocol, has secured a $15 million investment from a16z Crypto, Fortune reported. The company's specific valuation was not disclosed.

U.S. asset manager WisdomTree has voluntarily withdrawn its application for a spot XRP ETF, Cryptopolitan reported.

Strategy's preferred stock (STRC) has recovered to its par value of $100 in pre-market trading, Coindesk reported. According to the report, this marks the first time STRC has reached its par value in pre-market since last November, enabling the company to issue new shares through an at-the-market offering. This development opens up the possibility of the company making additional Bitcoin purchases.

Video sharing platform Rumble has launched Rumble Wallet, a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet, in partnership with USDT issuer Tether. The wallet is directly integrated into the Rumble platform and supports USDT, Tether Gold (XAUt), and BTC. Users can use the wallet to directly tip content creators with cryptocurrency.

South Korean crypto exchange Upbit has announced the addition of Time Weighted Average Price (TWAP) orders. This feature allows users to split a large order into smaller quantities and execute them at regular intervals over a specified period. The TWAP function is available for both market and limit orders on its won-denominated trading pairs, with order sizes ranging from 1 million won (approx. $730) to 50 billion won (approx. $36.5 million).

Stablecoins are transforming from a crypto-native tool into a core foundation for institutional markets, according to the "2026 Global Outlook" report from global credit rating agency Moody's. The agency estimates that stablecoins processed 87% more payment volume in 2025 than in the prior year, amounting to approximately $900 million based on on-chain transactions, CoinTelegraph reported. Moody's explained that stablecoins are evolving into a form of digital cash for liquidity management, collateral, and settlement, adding that the financial system is becoming increasingly tokenized.

Morgan Stanley has filed an S-1 application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to create an Ethereum Trust, following previous filings for Bitcoin and Solana (SOL) ETFs, CoinDesk reported. The establishment of a trust is generally considered equivalent to an ETF application. According to the report, the move reflects a broader trend of traditional financial institutions offering digital asset products through familiar and regulated channels.

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has identified privacy as the key battleground for blockchain networks this year, The Block reports. Ali Yahya, a crypto general partner at the firm, stated that privacy is the most critical element for global finance to fully transition on-chain, noting that most blockchains still lack this functionality. With network processing speeds and fees becoming increasingly similar, Yahya argued that privacy will be the feature that differentiates chains and fosters user lock-in. He added that while bridging assets between public chains is simple, moving confidential information is difficult because metadata such as transaction timing and size is exposed, making it easy to track.

Lloyds Bank, the UK's third-largest bank, has completed the country's first-ever purchase of government bonds using tokenized deposits, CoinDesk reported. The transaction was conducted in collaboration with digital securities exchange Archax and the Canton Network, a blockchain platform for tokenizing real-world assets.

Binance has announced it will list Binance Life (币安人生) and zkPass (ZKP) at 2:00 p.m. UTC today. The exchange will apply its Seed Tag to the listings, a designation for projects that may exhibit higher volatility and risk compared to other tokens.

OKX Boost has announced an X Launch event for River (RIVER), a chain abstraction stablecoin system, with a total reward pool of 33,333 RIVER. The event will run until 7:00 a.m. UTC on Jan. 8, with claims opening at 9:00 a.m. UTC the same day. Meanwhile, RIVER has experienced a significant rally this week, with its weekly gains reaching approximately 830%.

Binance Alpha has announced the addition of Zenchain (ZTC). The platform is an on-chain trading service within the Binance Wallet that focuses on listing early-stage coins.

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Korbit will decide at a board meeting this week whether to pay a 2.73 billion won ($2.0 million) fine imposed by the country's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), ZDNet reported exclusively. The penalty was levied on Jan. 1 after an FIU inspection last year found the exchange had violated its anti-money laundering obligations. According to the report, Korbit may need to sell some of its cryptocurrency holdings to cover the fine, as it holds only around 3.5 billion won ($2.6 million) in cash and cash equivalents. The exchange currently possesses approximately 7.3 billion won ($5.4 million) in digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Ripple.

RAKBANK, a state-owned bank in the United Arab Emirates, has received conditional approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to issue a Dirham-pegged stablecoin, Cointelegraph reported. The approval is contingent on the bank meeting specific regulatory and operational requirements. RAKBANK plans to operate the stablecoin via smart contracts that can provide real-time proof of reserves.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has fallen below $92,000. BTC is trading at $91,985.27 on the Binance USDT market.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb announced that it will temporarily suspend deposits and withdrawals for Story (IP) starting at 9:00 a.m. UTC on Jan. 14 to support a network upgrade.