CoinPhoton

Institutional investors increased their exposure to U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs in Q4 2025 despite a sharp market correction that cut Bitcoin’s price by nearly 25%. While Bitcoin fell from an all-time high above $126,000 to below $90,000 by year-end, filings show 121 institutions collectively added nearly 893,000 ETF shares quarter-over-quarter.

Although total share counts rose about 17%, the dollar value of those holdings declined due to price depreciation, indicating that institutions were buying into the drawdown rather than exiting. Notably, BlackRock’s IBIT attracted $25.4 billion in net inflows in 2025 despite posting losses, underscoring strong institutional conviction.

However, rising ETF holdings do not always equate to long-term bullish bets. Some of the accumulation may reflect hedge fund arbitrage strategies, such as basis trades that pair long ETF positions with short Bitcoin futures. Regardless of motive, the key takeaway is that Wall Street ended Q4 owning more Bitcoin exposure via ETFs, even as prices fell sharply.

Utah Man Sentenced to Three Years for Unlicensed Cash-to-Crypto Scheme

Brian Garry Sewell, a 54-year-old Utah resident, was sentenced to three years in federal prison for wire fraud and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business tied to crypto transactions.

Prosecutors said Sewell misled at least 17 investors between 2017 and 2024 by falsely claiming expertise and promising high returns, while illegally converting large amounts of cash into crypto without proper registration. The scheme caused nearly $3 million in investor losses.

The court also ordered Sewell to pay more than $3.8 million in restitution to victims and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. His sentence will run concurrently with another three-year term from a separate federal case involving unlicensed money transmission.

The case highlights U.S. authorities’ growing willingness to pursue smaller, regional crypto operators under the same enforcement framework used against larger platforms, signaling that scale and geography offer no protection when crypto is used in illicit financial activity.

Ripple has secured preliminary approval for an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license in Luxembourg, giving the company a key regulatory gateway to passport its services across all 27 EU member states under the MiCA framework. Combined with its recent EMI and cryptoasset approvals from the UK’s FCA, Ripple is executing a two-hub European strategy, using London for UK treasury and FX markets while leveraging Luxembourg to access the broader EU Single Market.
The regulatory push is supported by live deployments, including AMINA Bank becoming Ripple Payments’ first European banking customer, using Ripple’s licensed solution for near real-time cross-border transfers. At the same time, Ripple is upgrading the XRP Ledger with compliance-focused features such as Permissioned Domains, designed to make public blockchain infrastructure suitable for institutional use.
While the developments are broadly seen as positive for XRP, the longer-term impact depends on how payment flows are routed. Ripple Payments can use either XRP or stablecoins like RLUSD, creating uncertainty over whether regulatory momentum will drive structural demand for XRP or instead favor a stablecoin-led payments model, with XRP competing where it offers clear cost, speed, or liquidity advantages.

According to Glassnode, Ethereum is experiencing a notable increase in new user activity. The network’s Month-over-Month Activity Retention metric shows a sharp rise in the “New” cohort, indicating a surge in addresses interacting with Ethereum for the first time over the past 30 days.

This trend suggests that recent network activity is being driven not only by existing participants, but also by a fresh influx of new wallets. The growth in first-time users may signal renewed interest in Ethereum and reflects its expanding role across areas such as DeFi, NFTs, and onchain applications.

Bitcoin-based NFTs are quietly gaining ground even as broader interest in NFTs fades. Total NFT sales on Bitcoin have climbed to around $5.8 billion, placing the network third globally behind Ethereum and Solana, and ahead of Ronin, Polygon, and Flow. At the same time, Ordinal inscriptions on Bitcoin have surpassed 100 million, reaching more than 117 million by mid-January 2026.
Introduced in late 2022, the Ordinals protocol allows arbitrary data such as images and text to be inscribed directly onto individual satoshis without changing Bitcoin’s core protocol. While inscription activity peaked around the latest Bitcoin halving—generating an estimated $646 million in fees for miners—revenue from inscriptions has since declined.
Despite NFTs losing cultural prominence and retail hype, Bitcoin’s NFT market continues to post steady sales, with strong recent monthly growth. Rather than signaling a full NFT revival, Bitcoin’s rise reflects a quiet, sustained level of activity driven by ordinals and a narrower user base, even as market attention shifts elsewhere.

Goldman Sachs is intensifying its focus on crypto-adjacent technologies, particularly tokenization, stablecoins, and regulated prediction markets, according to CEO David Solomon. The bank is studying how these areas could integrate into its trading and advisory businesses, with large internal teams working directly with senior leadership.

Solomon confirmed he recently met with leaders of major prediction market platforms, signaling potential opportunities where these markets could overlap with Goldman’s core operations, especially within a regulated framework.

At the same time, Goldman is actively engaging with policymakers in Washington on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a bill shaping the future regulatory landscape for digital assets in the U.S. While optimistic about the long-term importance of these technologies, Solomon cautioned that adoption may progress more slowly than some market observers expect.

Bitmine Invests $200M in MrBeast’s Beast Industries
Bitmine Immersion Technologies announced a $200 million equity investment in Beast Industries, the entertainment company founded by YouTube creator Jimmy Donaldson, widely known as MrBeast. The transaction is expected to close on or around January 19, 2026.
Bitmine said the deal aligns with its broader strategy of implementing digital asset solutions for institutional and public market participants. Chairman Thomas “Tom” Lee described MrBeast and Beast Industries as the leading creator-driven platform of the current generation, citing their massive reach across Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and millennials.
Beast Industries CEO Jeff Housenbold welcomed Bitmine as a new investor, calling the investment a strong endorsement of the company’s vision and growth strategy. He added that the partnership could open opportunities to integrate DeFi into Beast Industries’ upcoming financial services platform.
The announcement comes amid past scrutiny of MrBeast’s alleged involvement in crypto trading. While previous on-chain investigations linked wallets associated with his network to insider trading claims, MrBeast has denied wrongdoing, and direct control of the wallets has not been conclusively proven.

Three Democratic lawmakers have accused the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of pulling back from enforcing securities laws in the crypto sector and questioned whether political influence is shaping its priorities. In a letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins, they criticized the agency for dismissing more than a dozen major crypto cases since early 2025, including actions against Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Tron founder Justin Sun.
The lawmakers argued that the enforcement retreat coincides with a surge in political donations from crypto firms, raising concerns about a possible “pay-to-play” dynamic. They highlighted Justin Sun’s case in particular, noting the SEC has paused its lawsuit against him for nearly a year after he invested heavily in Trump-linked crypto ventures. The letter also raised national security concerns over Sun’s alleged ties to China and demanded preservation of all records related to the decision to halt the case.

CME to launch ADA, LINK and XLM futures as it expands regulated crypto derivatives

CME Group plans to expand its regulated crypto derivatives lineup with futures tied to Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), and Stellar (XLM), with trading set to begin on February 9. Each product will be offered in both standard and micro contract sizes, allowing traders to choose between larger exposure and smaller, lower-cost positions.

The new contracts add to CME’s existing crypto suite, which already includes bitcoin, ether, XRP, and solana futures and options. The expansion comes as crypto derivatives volumes cooled toward year-end after hitting record highs earlier in 2025.

CME reported that activity across its crypto futures and options reached record average daily volumes and open interest earlier in the year, driven by rising demand for regulated digital asset exposure. That momentum faded in the final months of 2025, with bitcoin futures seeing a sharp drop in December and ether and solana contracts posting consecutive monthly declines following a broad market liquidation in early October.

Despite the slowdown, CME remains confident in longer-term demand. The exchange is also positioning crypto futures as a testing ground for broader market structure changes, including smaller contract sizes and a potential shift toward continuous, “always-on” trading in the coming years.

Internet Computer (ICP) has emerged as one of the strongest performers in the crypto market, climbing nearly 40% over the past seven days amid renewed bullish sentiment. The token reached $4.78 on January 15, its highest level since late November 2025, before pulling back to around $4.30, still up roughly 9% on the day.

Analysts note similarities between the current rally and a previous move two months ago, when ICP briefly surged above $9.50. Some market watchers argue the latest advance appears more organic, supported by strong trading volume rather than hype-driven speculation.

Several analysts expect ICP to challenge the $5 level in the near term, with potential upside toward the $6–$6.15 range if it breaks above key resistance zones. However, technical indicators suggest caution, as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has risen above 70, signaling that a short-term pullback remains possible despite the broader uptrend.

U.S. crypto market structure bill still alive despite delayed Senate hearing

Despite the postponement of Thursday’s Senate Banking Committee hearing that could have advanced sweeping cryptocurrency legislation, lawmakers say the effort is far from dead.

The committee had been expected to hold an all-day session to consider amendments and vote on a bill that would broadly split oversight of digital assets between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those plans unraveled late Wednesday after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said he was withdrawing support, citing concerns over the treatment of stablecoin yields and what he viewed as excessive authority granted to the SEC. Committee Chair Tim Scott subsequently postponed the hearing.

While no new date has been announced, several lawmakers emphasized that negotiations are ongoing. Senator Cynthia Lummis said lawmakers are “closer than ever” to an agreement, while Senator Bill Hagerty expressed confidence that a consensus framework could emerge soon. Industry leaders, including executives from Kraken and advocacy groups like the Digital Chamber, also urged Congress to keep pushing the legislation forward, warning that inaction would prolong regulatory uncertainty for U.S. companies.

Analysts offered mixed assessments of the delay. Some see it as a strategic pause that could help build stronger bipartisan support and produce a more durable bill. Others are more skeptical, noting that addressing Coinbase’s objections while retaining Democratic backing may prove difficult, especially given the 60-vote threshold required in the Senate. With midterm elections approaching, timing pressures are also mounting, adding another layer of complexity to the path forward for crypto market structure legislation.

Ripple integrates RLUSD into LMAX’s institutional trading infrastructure

Ripple is accelerating its institutional push as its stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), becomes deeply integrated into the global trading infrastructure of LMAX Group. On Jan. 15, LMAX — a financial technology company operating a leading institutional exchange for FX and crypto — announced a partnership with Ripple to embed RLUSD across its cross-asset marketplace.

Under the multi-year collaboration, RLUSD will be integrated as a core collateral asset throughout LMAX’s institutional trading environment. This enables LMAX’s global client base, including banks, brokers, and buy-side institutions, to use RLUSD for cross-collateralization and improved margin efficiency across spot crypto, perpetual futures, and CFD trading within a regulated venue.

The structure positions RLUSD as both a settlement currency and a margin instrument, allowing institutions to manage liquidity and capital more efficiently while gaining exposure across crypto, derivatives, and select FX products. The move highlights the growing role of fiat-backed stablecoins in bridging traditional finance and digital asset markets amid increasing regulatory clarity.

The partnership also includes significant financial backing, with Ripple providing $150 million in financing to support LMAX’s long-term cross-asset growth strategy. In addition, the integration of LMAX Digital with Ripple Prime combines regulated exchange infrastructure with multi-asset prime brokerage and credit capabilities, helping address counterparty risk and market fragmentation.

The collaboration follows a record year for LMAX Group, which processed $8.2 trillion in institutional trading volume in 2025, and builds on Ripple’s global compliance footprint of more than 75 regulatory licenses and registrations supporting enterprise-grade digital asset activity.

MetaMask rolls out native Tron support across mobile app and browser extension

MetaMask has launched native support for the Tron network across its mobile app and browser extension wallets, following a partnership with Tron DAO first announced last year. The update extends MetaMask’s multichain strategy beyond EVM networks, alongside Solana and Bitcoin.

The integration allows users to manage Tron-based assets and interact directly with native decentralized applications on the Layer 1 blockchain within MetaMask’s self-custody wallet. With the rollout now live, users can swap assets across Tron, EVM-compatible networks, Solana, and Bitcoin, as well as send USDT on Tron, stake TRX, and manage assets without relying on additional wallets.

Sam Elfarra, community spokesperson at Tron DAO, said the integration significantly broadens access to a blockchain that processes more than $21 billion in daily stablecoin transfer volume, supporting payment and DeFi use cases through a familiar wallet interface.

MetaMask framed the launch as another milestone in its push to natively support non-EVM networks. The update builds on the wallet’s recent additions of Solana and Bitcoin, as MetaMask continues positioning itself as a multichain access point rather than an Ethereum-only product.

Tron has emerged as a major settlement layer for global stablecoin activity, reporting hundreds of millions of user accounts, billions of transactions, and more than $25 billion in total value locked as of this month.

Fogo, a new blockchain built on the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), is launching its public mainnet on Thursday. Developed by former Wall Street executives, the network is optimized for real-time trading and targets 40-millisecond block times, claiming speeds up to 18x faster than high-throughput rivals like Solana and Sui.

Alongside the mainnet launch, holders of “Fogo Flames” points can convert their rewards into FOGO tokens. The token is immediately tradable on major exchanges including Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, Gate.io, MEXC, LBANK, and Backpack.

Ahead of launch, the Fogo Foundation completed a strategic token sale on Binance, selling 2% of the total supply at a $350 million valuation and raising about $7 million. The team had previously canceled a planned pre-sale in favor of airdrops and expanding its points program. Fogo has also raised funding through a community-first round on Echo and a separate seed round.

At launch, around 10 dapps will go live on the mainnet, including the Valiant decentralized exchange, Moonit launchpad, liquid staking protocol Brasa, and lending platforms Pyron and Fogolend. Chainspect data ranks Fogo as the fastest chain by TPS over the past 30 days, with a reported peak of 136,866 transactions per second.

Donald Trump Confirms Arrest and Jailing of Venezuelan Attack Leaker

U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that the individual responsible for leaking information about the Venezuela attack before it took place has been arrested and is currently in custody.

According to statements cited by blockchain security platform Lookonchain, President Trump said the leaker—whose gender has not been disclosed—will remain in prison for a long time. He also noted that authorities are continuing to search for other individuals who may have collaborated in spreading the information ahead of the attack, although so far only one suspect has been identified and detained.

Suspicious Polymarket Bets Ahead of Maduro’s Arrest

Less than 24 hours after the United States launched an attack on Venezuela and detained President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, Lookonchain identified three wallets on the blockchain-based prediction platform Polymarket that had accurately wagered on the outcome.

According to Lookonchain, the wallets placed bets predicting that Maduro would be removed from office just hours before his arrest, generating total profits exceeding $630,480. The firm described the activity as a clear case of insider trading, suggesting the bettors had prior knowledge of classified developments—pointing directly to a leak.

Notably, all three wallets were created and pre-funded several days in advance. They showed no history of other betting activity and were exclusively used to wager on events related to Venezuela and Maduro.

Wallet 0x31a5 wagered $34,000 and earned approximately $409,900. Wallet 0xa72D invested $5,800 and walked away with $75,000. Meanwhile, the wallet labeled SBet365 placed a $25,000 bet and generated profits of $145,600.

New Bet Targets Iran’s Supreme Leader

In the latest development, Lookonchain reported that two of the three wallets became inactive after cashing out, showing no activity for the past 11 days. Only the SBet365 wallet has continued placing bets.

Anchorage partners with Spark to enable onchain lending with off-chain custody

Anchorage Digital has partnered with Spark to offer institutional borrowers access to onchain lending while keeping their collateral in off-chain custody.

Under the arrangement, clients can borrow through Spark — a DeFi credit protocol associated with Sky (formerly MakerDAO) — while their BTC collateral remains held at Anchorage Digital Bank. The model is designed for institutions seeking DeFi-native liquidity without fully moving collateral onchain.

Phoenix Labs, the core developer behind Spark, will take direct legal title to the pledged assets. Anchorage’s collateral and settlements platform, Atlas, will act as collateral agent, overseeing loan-to-value monitoring, payments, margin calls, and liquidations.

Anchorage CEO Nathan McCauley said institutions want access to efficient crypto capital markets but also require trusted custody, operational rigor, and risk management. Atlas allows DeFi protocols like Spark to meet institutional borrowers where they are without sacrificing transparency, controls, or speed.

Anchorage said the partnership demonstrates how DeFi lending protocols can expand beyond crypto-native users to meet institutional demand at scale by outsourcing collateral management and risk functions while focusing on capital formation and market design.

Cake Wallet integrates Zcash, enables shielded transactions by default

Privacy-focused Cake Wallet, long associated with the Monero ecosystem, has integrated Zcash (ZEC), expanding its suite of onchain privacy tools.

According to the announcement, Cake now enables Zcash shielded transactions by default, meaning transaction details are hidden unless users explicitly choose to disable them. Zcash supports two transaction types: transparent transactions, which are traceable like those on most blockchains, and shielded transactions, which use zero-knowledge proofs to encrypt sender and receiver information as well as transaction amounts.

Cake Labs CEO Vikrant Sharma said privacy should not be treated as an advanced option. By making shielded transactions the default, the wallet aims to establish strong privacy protections as the standard user experience rather than an optional feature.

The move reflects growing interest in blockchain privacy and increasing adoption of Zcash, despite its long-debated privacy features. Zcash’s share of shielded transactions has now climbed above 23%, signaling greater trust in its cryptography and a reduced perception of legal risk around using privacy-preserving blockchain tools. Regulated exchange Gemini added support for shielded Zcash withdrawals late last year.

Cake said the Zcash integration followed repeated community requests. Even transparent Zcash transfers will always originate from a shielded source, with the wallet automatically rotating receiving addresses and autoshielding funds to strengthen privacy for all users.

Beyond Zcash, Cake Wallet supports additional privacy features for Bitcoin and Litecoin and has also introduced NEAR Intents, a cross-chain swap mechanism popular among Zcash users.

Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR) has launched 24/7 account funding using USDC, allowing clients to fund their brokerage accounts and begin trading within minutes, effectively enabling round-the-clock trading.

The new feature is powered by Zerohash, a B2B crypto and stablecoin infrastructure provider backed by Interactive Brokers. Clients can transfer USDC from their personal wallets on Ethereum, Solana, or Base, with the stablecoin automatically converted into U.S. dollars and credited to their brokerage accounts.

CEO Milan Galik said stablecoin funding offers faster settlement, lower costs, and greater flexibility for international investors compared with traditional methods such as wire transfers, which are limited by local banking hours.

Zerohash charges a 0.30% conversion fee per deposit, with a minimum fee of $1, in addition to standard blockchain transaction fees. Interactive Brokers plans to expand support to additional stablecoins, including Ripple’s RLUSD and PayPal’s PYUSD, as early as next week.

Founded in 1978, Interactive Brokers is a major electronic brokerage known for its low-cost trading model. The firm entered crypto trading and custody in 2021 and has since expanded its digital asset offerings.

Kaito announced it will shut down its Yaps product after X updated its policies to ban apps that financially reward users for posting, a move aimed at curbing AI-generated spam. The decision triggered an immediate backlash, including the banning of Kaito’s 157,000-member Yapper community on X, and sent the $KAITO token down about 17%.
Yaps, part of the emerging InfoFi model, allowed users to earn rewards for promoting brands and projects, but increasingly fueled low-quality, AI-generated content. Following discussions with X, Kaito concluded that incentive-driven, permissionless distribution models are no longer viable under current platform rules.
The company will replace Yaps with Kaito Studio, a more traditional, tier-based creator marketing platform focused on selective brand partnerships, analytics, and cross-platform distribution across YouTube and TikTok. Other Kaito products will remain unaffected, and $KAITO will continue to play a role in the new Studio model, with details to be announced.

Galaxy issues $75M tokenized CLO on Avalanche

Galaxy Digital Inc. (GLXY) announced the initial closing of its first tokenized collateralized loan obligation (CLO), a $75 million issuance deployed on the Avalanche blockchain. The transaction is anchored by a $50 million allocation from Grove, an institutional credit protocol within the Sky ecosystem, formerly MakerDAO.

The CLO provides capital for an uncommitted credit facility extended to Galaxy Ventures-backed Arch Lending, which originates consumer loans overcollateralized with crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ether. To date, roughly $75 million has been financed through the progressive purchase of outstanding loans, with capacity to scale up to $200 million as new loans are originated.

The structure carries a senior coupon priced at SOFR + 570 basis points, with an initial maturity in December 2026. Debt tranches were issued and tokenized by INX on Avalanche and are expected to be listed on INX’s ATS platform, enabling secondary trading access for qualified investors within a regulated venue.

Anchorage Digital Bank serves as bond trustee and qualified custodian, while Atlas Settlement Network acts as collateral and administrative agent, supporting real-time monitoring and onchain settlement. Galaxy also partnered with data verification platform Accountable to provide continuous transparency into loan performance and collateralization.

The deal comes as Galaxy continues to diversify its operations. Following Bitcoin’s fourth halving in April 2024, the firm has expanded into high-performance computing and AI infrastructure, including a $460 million strategic investment closed in October 2025 to convert its Helios campus in Texas into an AI data center hub.