Xiao Hong, the founder of Butterfly Tech behind the AI agent app Manus, was an early bitcoin advocate and holder for more than a decade before his company became Meta’s $2 billion acquisition target.

Stonex Digital obtains a EU MiCA CASP license, enabling regulated digital‑asset execution and custody across the European Union.

Brian Quintenz joins SUI Group’s board, bringing regulatory expertise from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to the company’s treasury strategy.

Certik has partnered with YZi Labs to strengthen security for startups in the latter’s incubation program, which supports top early-stage founders in Web3, artificial intelligence and biotech.

Privacy-first blockchains could emerge as crypto’s dominant power centers, as a16z crypto argues secrecy, not speed, may create winner-take-most dynamics and durable lock-in as onchain finance moves toward real-world adoption.

Regulated ethereum investors are now earning on-chain yield as Grayscale pushes staking rewards directly into a U.S.-listed spot crypto ETP, marking a first-of-its-kind distribution that links ethereum staking income to traditional investment access.

Bitcoin holders can now tap liquidity without selling, as Tim Draper backs Sats Terminal’s non-custodial bitcoin-backed lending marketplace designed to preserve long-term upside while avoiding custody risks and forced exits.

MSCI’s decision to keep digital asset treasury companies in its global benchmarks lifted a major overhang for crypto-linked stocks, easing index risk fears and stabilizing capital flow expectations across equity and digital asset markets.

Spot bitcoin ETFs roared into 2026 with explosive inflows, signaling intensifying investor demand and a shift toward sustained, large-scale adoption that could reshape how capital gains exposure to bitcoin.

Wall Street’s biggest players are moving decisively into crypto, committing capital, branding power, and regulated products as digital assets shift from side projects to core institutional priorities.

Where Innovation Meets Identity in Seoul

Following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, debate has intensified over whether the U.S. government might replicate such action elsewhere. This week, capital continues to flow into prediction markets, where bettors are staking wagers on whether countries such as Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, Iran, and even Greenland could face similar treatment.

Bitcoin options traders are positioning for a move back toward $100,000 after a sharp late-2025 selloff. Improving flows into crypto investment products and broader risk-on markets are helping rebuild confidence.

Bitcoin’s Jan. 6 surge past $94,000 quickly reversed to $91,500 erasing over 2% and triggering $96.5 million in long liquidations as total crypto market cap slipped by $70 billion. While skeptics framed the initial surge as a “dead cat bounce,” institutional inflows of $1.1 billion into spot exchange-traded funds and metrics showing strong accumulation suggest resilience.

With just 22 days remaining before the Jan. 28, 2026, Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, futures traders and prediction markets are sending a unified message: a rate cut looks very unlikely.