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A top analyst from crypto analytics firm Santiment says the crypto market is going through a quiet but important phase, even as gold and silver steal the spotlight.
Brian, an analyst at Santiment, explained that Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP are not collapsing. Instead, they are being ignored while money flows into precious metals due to global uncertainty.
Bitcoin Sentiment Turns Negative, But Not Dangerous
Over the past week, Bitcoin-related discussions jumped by 47%, but not for positive reasons. Many traders have been calling Bitcoin a “dead asset” simply because it has failed to keep up with gold and silver.
Brian pushed back on that idea. Bitcoin is down just 10–12% over the past year, which is normal in crypto terms and can be recovered quickly. The negative chatter is mainly driven by frustration, not panic.
At the time of analysis, Bitcoin was trading around $87,500, after briefly moving above $90,000 earlier in January. Social sentiment has cooled since then, but there is no major fear in the market yet.
Gold and Silver Are Pulling Attention Away From Crypto
Brian pointed out that gold and silver have become the center of attention, especially silver, which has surged sharply in recent weeks. This has pulled discussion and capital away from Bitcoin.
He compared the situation to crypto market cycles, where money often rotates from Bitcoin to altcoins. Right now, that rotation is happening across asset classes, not just within crypto.
Gold’s strong rally is also acting as a fear indicator, reflecting concerns about geopolitics, tariffs, and broader global uncertainty. Large institutions and central banks are buying gold, which explains the strong price action.
Why This Could Actually Be Bullish for Bitcoin
According to Brian, the widening gap between Bitcoin and gold could be setting up a strong future move for Bitcoin.
As retail investors move away from crypto, long-term holders and large players are quietly accumulating coins. He noted that major buyers have been increasing their holdings during this period of low excitement.
“If fear increases and Bitcoin drops fast toward $80,000, that could create a powerful setup for a sharp rebound,” he explained. A quick drop matters more than a slow grind lower, as it can trigger stronger buying signals.
Ethereum Follows Bitcoin’s Lead
Ethereum is showing a very similar pattern to Bitcoin. It is down slightly more in recent weeks, but sentiment remains neutral.
Brian said Ethereum is currently below its “neutral” valuation level, which is generally a positive sign. However, there is not enough data yet to say Ethereum is clearly a better buy than Bitcoin right now.
XRP Shows Bullish Signs, But That’s a Risk Short Term
XRP stands out slightly. While its price is down over 21% from recent highs, long-term valuation metrics suggest it is in a stronger buy zone compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
However, sentiment around XRP has been more optimistic, with sudden bullish spikes linked to short-lived news events. Brian warned that too much optimism can limit short-term upside.
“In the near term, XRP has more FOMO than Bitcoin and Ethereum, which usually isn’t ideal,” he said. Long term, though, XRP’s outlook remains solid based on valuation data.

In a significant shift for digital finance, Bitcoin is demonstrating unprecedented characteristics of a stable macroeconomic asset, according to a landmark joint report from Coinbase Institutional and Glassnode. This evolution, detailed in analysis published in March 2025, marks a pivotal departure from Bitcoin’s volatile past, suggesting the premier cryptocurrency is maturing into a cornerstone for institutional portfolios. The transformation stems from a fundamental purge of excessive leverage and a growing alignment with global macroeconomic forces.
Bitcoin Sheds Speculative Excess to Forge Macro Asset Status
The report provides a compelling narrative of market maturation. Analysts highlight a crucial cleansing event during the Q4 2024 sell-off, which systematically purged dangerous levels of leverage from the Bitcoin ecosystem. Consequently, the market structure now exhibits far greater resilience. This deleveraging dramatically reduces the risk of cascading liquidations that previously amplified price swings. Therefore, Bitcoin is better equipped to absorb macroeconomic shocks without entering a destructive feedback loop. The asset’s price action increasingly correlates with broader financial indicators rather than isolated crypto-native sentiment.
Market participants now prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term speculative speed. This represents a profound cultural shift within the ecosystem. The momentum and leveraged trading flows once dominated by retail investors have receded. In their place, a more measured, institutional approach to capital allocation has taken root. This new paradigm fosters price discovery based on fundamental value propositions and macro liquidity conditions.
The Three Pillars of Bitcoin’s Macro Influence
Glassnode and Coinbase analysts identify three primary drivers behind Bitcoin’s emerging role as a macro asset. First, the global liquidity environment, particularly central bank policies and the strength of the US dollar, now exerts a measurable influence. Second, institutional investor positioning through regulated vehicles like ETFs provides a steady, transparent demand base. Finally, large-scale portfolio adjustments by asset managers and corporations treating Bitcoin as a distinct asset class create new price dynamics.
The following table contrasts Bitcoin’s historical and current market drivers:
Historical Drivers (Pre-2023) Current Macro Drivers (2025)
Expert Analysis on Structural Resilience
Financial historians compare this transition to the maturation of other alternative assets. The process mirrors how gold evolved from a volatile commodity to a recognized monetary hedge over decades. Bitcoin’s compression of this timeline is remarkable. On-chain metrics support this thesis. For example, the percentage of Bitcoin supply held in long-term storage has reached all-time highs, indicating strong holder conviction. Meanwhile, exchange reserves continue to decline, reducing immediate sell-side pressure. These behavioral metrics provide tangible evidence of the shift from a trading vehicle to a held asset.
The report’s authors emphasize that this does not eliminate volatility entirely. Instead, it recontextualizes it within a macro framework. Price movements now more frequently reflect reassessments of global risk, similar to movements in long-duration treasury bonds or tech stocks, rather than internal market manipulation or panic. This recalibration enhances Bitcoin’s credibility for pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds conducting rigorous asset allocation studies.

Bitcoin has limped into 2026, flailing in the wake of a gold price boom that’s catapulted it to an eye-watering $34 trillion market capitalization (triggering predictions of even more gains to come).
The bitcoin price, which plummeted under $100,000 per bitcoin in November, has struggled to regain its early 2025 momentum as Bank Of America’s chief executive issues a serious $6 trillion warning.
Now, with bitcoin and crypto primed for an imminent, “massive” shock, bitcoin-backing BlackRock fixed income chief Rick Rieder has become a surprise favorite to be named as U.S. president Donald Trump’s pick as Federal Reserve chair.

US Stocks Push Higher on Improved Risk Sentiment – Nasdaq up 0.9%

US equities pushed higher again in yesterday’s session as risk sentiment continued to improve around Greenland and European tariff concerns. The Dow Jones climbed 0.63% to close at 49,384, while the S&P 500 added 0.55% to finish at 6,913. The Nasdaq outperformed, rising 0.91% to close at 23,436. US Treasury yields edged higher, with the 2-year yield up 2.2 basis points to 3.607% and the benchmark 10-year ticking 0.2 basis points higher to 4.245%. Despite the move in yields, the US dollar was sold hard, with the DXY sliding 0.47% to 98.29. Commodity markets were mixed. Oil prices slipped back as improving risk sentiment weighed on crude, with Brent falling 1.47% to $64.28 a barrel and WTI dropping 1.75% to $59.56. In contrast, precious metals continued their powerful run. Gold defied the broader risk-on backdrop, surging 2.15% to settle at $4,936.02, while silver also pushed to new highs, reinforcing the strong demand for hard assets.

Precious Metal Flow Relentless in 2026

Both gold and silver powered to more fresh record highs in trading yesterday despite an overall ‘risk-on’ sentiment hitting most other parts of the market. In a continuation of the pattern that dominated gold trading in particular, and silver towards the end of 2025, precious metals are driving to higher levels in most market environments. Goldman Sachs recently increased its year-end gold estimate to $5,400 on the back of strong investor demand and central bank buying, but that may prove to be an underestimate in the current environment. Silver’s rally has been even more dramatic in percentage terms. After an extraordinary run in 2025, silver has continued to ascend in 2026, surpassing $95 per ounce overnight as its dual role as both an industrial metal and a safe haven has amplified demand, while constrained supplies have bolstered price performance. Both metals now look to be targeting significant psychological levels at $5,000 and $100 an ounce, and this could be hit in hours or sessions rather than days or weeks if we see similar demand today.

Busy Calendar Day to Close Out the Trading Week

Looking ahead, it shapes as a busy end to the trading week, with a full event calendar across all sessions and the potential for further geopolitical updates to drive volatility. We have already seen a higher-than-expected print for New Zealand CPI data (+0.6% vs exp +0.5%) in the Asian session, but the focus is now squarely on Japanese markets and the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision and guidance. In Europe, UK retail sales (exp 0.0% m/m) are due early in the day, followed by flash services and manufacturing PMI data from France, Germany, and the UK, before ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks later in the morning. The US session sees Canadian retail sales (exp 1.2% m/m) close to the open, before focus drops back south of the border to the US for its flash services (exp 52.9) and manufacturing (exp 51.9) PMI data later in the day.

Ether is the worst performer among the major cryptos, down more than 6% over the past 24 hours and tumbling below $3,000.
What to know:
Bitcoin added to earlier losses, falling below $90,000 in U.S. morning trade, while ether dropped below $3,000.
The declines occurred amid a global risk-off move as Japan's bond market collapsed on Tuesday and President Trump raised new trade threats against the European Union.
Altcoins are faring worse than bitcoin, with ether's 7% decline leading among the major cryptos.
Bitcoin
BTC
$90,055.69
dropped 3% to below $90,000 during U.S. morning trading on Tuesday after a meltdown in Japan’s government bond market combined with U.S. President Trump’s ongoing tariff threats against Europe to push risk assets sharply lower.
Ether
ETH
$3,028.95
fell more than 7% over the past 24 hours, sending the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network back below a crucial $3,000 mark for the first time since January 2.
Highlighting altcoin weakness, bitcoin's grip over the crypto market has been steadily climbing. The bitcoin dominance metric, which shows the largest crypto's market share of the overall digital asset market capitalization, rose to 59.8% on Tuesday, according to TradingView data.
"Volatility is back and so in keeping with risk assets, I expect bitcoin to trade lower in response and altcoins would likely be most impacted short-term here," Paul Howard at trading firm Wincent said in a note.
The Nasdaq is lower by nearly 2% on Tuesday. The Nikkei fell 2.5% overnight, while Germany's DAX declined 1%. Precious metals, though, continue to be the preferred safe haven, with gold soaring 3% and silver 7%, both hitting new record highs.
With today’s decline, bitcoin has given up much of its 2026 gains, now trading just 3% above its level at the start of the year.

According to Grok, XRP can rise to a new all-time high of $5 in the first three months of the year, whereas PI can reach a maximum of $0.50.
Pi Network’s PI and Ripple’s XRP are among the top-trending cryptocurrencies, driven by the large number of investors and frequent developments across both ecosystems.

We decided to check which asset could deliver stronger performance in the first quarter of the year and, for that purpose, asked four of the most popular AI-powered chatbots for their assistance.

Does XRP Have the Edge?
According to ChatGPT, XRP is better positioned for posting significant gains in the coming months due to its deep liquidity, solid reputation, and the removal of regulatory uncertainty (after the Ripple vs. SEC case was officially closed last year). It estimated that the maximum price the asset can reach throughout Q1 is $6, although it will require major catalysts.

PI, on the other hand, was described as “a longer-horizon, narrative-driven play.” ChatGPT suggested that without support from a leading exchange like Binance, the price may continue to decline in the near future. Recall that several hours ago, PI nosedived to approximately $0.18, which is quite close to the all-time low witnessed in October 2025.

Grok, the chatbot integrated within the social media platform X, shared a similar stance. It claimed that XRP has “the clearer path to meaningful upside in the short term, while PI remains trapped in a high-risk, low-momentum consolidation phase with limited near-term catalysts.”

Furthermore, Grok praised the cross-border token for its growing adoption and the advancement of the entire Ripple ecosystem, such as the progress of the stablecoin RLUSD. It predicted that XRP could explode above $5 during the first quarter of the year, whereas PI can reach a maximum of $0.50 if perfect conditions are met.

More in Favor of XRP
Perplexity and Google’s Gemini also leaned towards Ripple’s cryptocurrency. The former argued that XRP holds a stronger position to outperform PI in Q1, supported by institutional momentum, regulatory clarity, and ETF inflows.

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The interest in spot XRP exchange-traded funds is indeed impressive. The companies that have launched such products so far include Canary Capital, Bitwise, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, and 21Shares, and the cumulative total net flow since day one (in mid-November) has reached almost $1.3 billion.

According to Gemini, XRP and PI have two very different market dynamics. It claimed that the former has the upper hand because it is a “mature asset,” whereas the latter has been in a “make or break” phase over the past several months.

“XRP has transitioned from a speculative asset to a regulated, institutional tool with clear demand from ETFs. In contrast, Pi Network is still in a “discovery phase,” where the high volume of circulating tokens from years of mobile mining acts as a heavy anchor on its price,” it concluded.

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The new week promises to be intense for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, with considerable market fluctuations anticipated. The European Union’s recent statements have significantly heightened risks for the week of January 19-25. Traders in cryptocurrencies should brace for challenging days when substantial liquidations are expected to occur in both directions. Although the markets are full of surprises, the current week’s outlook does not seem favorable.
EU Tensions Supreme Court and Tariffs
EU Tensions
Donald Trump sets his sights on Greenland, maintaining his belief that whatever he desires can be achieved. In previous years, he has wanted to oust Fed Chair Powell and even considered the incorporation of Canada as a U.S. state. Though not always successful, Trump’s unyielding stance has been evident through imposing significant tariffs worldwide last year, reaching unprecedented levels.
Currently, the notion of acquiring Greenland is met with resistance, as the EU is determined to prove they are not an easy target. Trump argues that the U.S., as the world’s policeman, is owed debts by other nations. Particularly, the EU’s lack of military strength means they remain tethered to the U.S. within NATO, a fact that Trump leverages skillfully.

The coming days likely herald further confrontations between the EU and the U.S. Over the past year, similar situations have arisen two to three times, each resulting in a drop in cryptocurrencies. A tariff standoff akin to previous confrontations seems imminent. The declaration by U.S. diplomats suggests that beginning February 1st, retaliatory measures will commence, including additional tariffs imposed by Trump. Measures such as excluding American companies from the European Economic Area and applying around $100 billion worth of opposing tariffs have been proposed.
Supreme Court and Tariffs
Legally, Trump’s practice of imposing heavy tariffs without limits is contestable. Lower courts have revoked these tariffs, but final decisions rest with the Supreme Court. The court is expected to announce its decision on January 20th at 18:00, although this remains uncertain. Delayed for two weeks, the White House’s assertion that “a decision will be made in January” suggests this week is crucial for resolution.
If tariffs are annulled, Trump will potentially lose revenue worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Consequently, countries pressured to make trillion-dollar investments in the U.S. may no longer feel compelled to comply. Negotiations conducted throughout 2025, meant to prevent market collapse, will be rendered ineffective. Nations will revert to their former customs duties with the U.S. Additionally, tariff cancellations may contribute to a slight reduction in inflation.
To counter potential losses, Trump may propose alternative investment methods to other countries, resorting to military threats if cooperation is not achieved. The general climate of uncertainty is unsettling, leaving a pool of ambiguity threatening global economic stability. While Trump claims a backup plan exists, he faces limitations on imposing taxes exceeding 15% for over six months, creating hurdles in finding sustainable solutions.
Cryptocurrencies thrive in stable environments, making uncertainty their enemy. Consequently, this unpredictability poses a significant challenge for digital asset markets.

Meanwhile, the PI token continues to move sideways with little-to-no volatility.
With just over a week into the new year, the Core Team behind Pi Network has published its first new update, which will allow developers to integrate Pi payments into their apps in under ten minutes.
Despite this, the project’s native token has failed to make any major move over the past month, even though the broader crypto market has shown revival signs after January 2.
Pi Network’s New Update
The blog post from the team, published on Friday, indicated that they have released a new developer library to reduce the Pi payment integration process to under ten minutes. The library bundles the Pi SDK with backend APIs into a single, streamlined setup, the team said, which aims to ‘significantly’ reduce the amount of time needed to add payments to apps.
The post explained that simplifying the payment integration will allow developers to spend more time creating and improving products for users, which aligns with the project’s longer-term strategy to “strengthen and expand Pi’s utility-driven ecosystem where apps are practical, usable, and ready for real-world adoption.”
At first, the update will support commonly used stacks, which makes the library immediately usable for many existing apps. Developers will be able to use JavaScript or React on the frontend, while backend support includes Next.js and Ruby on Rails.
After an eventful 2025, the team reassured its community that it would continue to build in 2026 and encouraged developers to do the same to expand utilities for users across the entire Pi ecosystem.
PI Price Stagnation
The cryptocurrency market charted impressive gains in the first week of the new year, with many altcoins skyrocketing by double digits. However, Pi Network’s native token couldn’t follow suit. It was also in the green for a couple of days, but its move was capped at under $0.22. It now trades just under $0.21, which means there’s no actual movement on a daily, weekly, or even monthly scale.
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The number of tokens to be unlocked in the following 30 days has also flattened, with under 4.5 million coins reaching investors daily on average. There are a few spikes to around 5.5 million, which might intensify the immediate selling pressure at times.

Ethereum and Solana ETF trading accelerated sharply in early January amid increasing institutional interest in crypto assets.
Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have recorded unusually high trading volumes in recent sessions.
Such a pattern indicates increased investor activity as ETF markets for major cryptocurrencies continue to mature.
Growing Institutional Interest
In its latest analysis, Santiment reported that Ethereum ETF trading volume surged to record levels in early January, with the 2nd and 5th seeing the highest daily volumes on record outside of a single anomaly observed on August 21. The analytics firm said that the continued increase in Ethereum ETF trading volume over several weeks stands out from the short-lived, single-day spikes typically associated with short-term market reactions.
As such, the recent Ethereum exchange-traded funds’ volume growth reflects a prolonged period of high activity rather than an isolated event. While the firm warned that Ethereum price movements remain closely tied to Bitcoin’s broader market direction, it noted that steady ETF volume increases have historically differed from anomaly-level spikes that often appear near local price extremes.
Trading activity of exchange-traded funds for Solana has also accelerated sharply, according to its findings, despite the relatively short trading history of these investment funds. The firm reported a record $220 million in daily Solana ETF trading volume, after surpassing the previous high of $122 million recorded on the second day after the ETF became publicly available. The volume increase coincided with SOL reclaiming the $140 level for the first time in four weeks.
Santiment said that for newly launched ETFs such as Solana’s, record-breaking volume days may carry added significance due to limited historical data. The firm noted that later-stage volume surges, as opposed to early launch-related spikes, can indicate expanding liquidity and broader participation as the product gains traction.
The analytics firm added that the recent increase in Solana ETF figures has occurred alongside reports of growing institutional interest in crypto products beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. Morgan Stanley’s filing for its first Solana-linked ETF has been a potential factor that drew additional attention to SOL-focused investment vehicles.

With the BOJ letting rates run to levels not seen in decades, the structural "term premium" is rising, a direct headwind for long-duration crypto exposure.
Tokyo bond traders have a new number burned into their screens this week, 3.5%.

For most of the past two decades, Japan’s long end was the place the world went to forget about interest rates. If you were a pension fund trying to match liabilities, a bank trying to park liquidity, or a global macro desk hunting cheap funding, Japanese government bonds were the quiet corner of the room.
That corner is getting loud.
Japan’s 30-year government bond yield has risen to roughly 3.5%, a level that would have sounded absurd in the years when “Japan” and “near zero” were essentially the same sentence. TradingEconomics shows the move as a fresh step higher in early January, after a year of steady pressure building in the long end.
If you only trade Bitcoin, you might be tempted to scroll past a Japanese bond chart and get back to the candles. The problem is that Japan isn’t just another country’s bond market. Japan has been a pillar holding up the whole global price of money.

When that pillar shifts, the vibrations travel, and Bitcoin is now wired into the same global risk system as everything else.

The Japan shift that matters for crypto
Japan is exiting an era that shaped a generation of markets, cheap funding, abundant central bank liquidity, and a sense that rates would stay pinned forever.
The Bank of Japan has moved its short-term policy rate up to 0.75%, with officials publicly signalling they can keep tightening if the economy and prices track their forecasts.
Reuters reported Governor Kazuo Ueda reiterated that path this week, and the BOJ itself lists its next meeting for January 22 to 23, a date that will matter far beyond Tokyo.

Ethereum and Solana may be setting up for their next big breakout, but one thing could decide everything: regulation.
According to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan, both blockchains could hit new all-time highs if the U.S. passes the long-discussed Clarity Act, a bill designed to clearly define how crypto assets are regulated.
Ethereum has already shown strength this year. After falling close to $1,500 earlier in the cycle, ETH rebounded sharply and nearly tripled at its peak. That recovery has helped restore investor confidence, especially among institutions watching from the sidelines.
Solana’s story is more complicated. While its technology and ecosystem continue to grow, some investors remain unsure whether SOL can push past previous highs. Hougan believes regulation could change that mindset quickly.
“The whole world is moving on-chain,” he said, pointing to growing interest in tokenized stocks, bonds, and real-world assets. Even U.S. regulators have suggested that traditional financial markets could shift onto blockchains in the coming years.
The problem, Hougan explained, is uncertainty. Crypto’s current progress relies heavily on supportive regulators rather than permanent laws. If political leadership shifts, that support could disappear overnight. Large financial institutions, he said, will not fully commit billions of dollars without clear legal foundations.
That’s where the Clarity Act comes in. If passed, it would provide long-term certainty and signal that the U.S. is serious about a blockchain-based financial future. Hougan says that could unlock markets worth hundreds of trillions of dollars.
In that scenario, today’s valuations for Ethereum and Solana could look surprisingly small. Solana, in particular, remains well below a $100 billion market cap, something Hougan says would be hard to justify in a fully regulated on-chain economy.
Still, timing remains uncertain. Washington moves slowly, and lawmakers are juggling multiple priorities. While some officials suggest progress could come early next year, nothing is guaranteed.
For now, Ethereum and Solana sit at a crossroads. If regulation brings clarity, history suggests the market may not keep them down for long.

XRP’s on-chain story strengthened even as its price stayed stuck in neutral on Dec. 31, 2025 — trading around $1.87 — suggesting adoption advanced quietly beneath the surface.
What changed under the hood
- XRPL’s real-world asset (RWA) activity surged nearly 18% over the prior 30 days, making it the second-fastest-growing RWA network (behind Canton) and outpacing Ethereum, Solana and Avalanche in relative expansion. This points to growing adoption of tokenized finance and compliance-focused use cases.
- Exchange reserves plunged to roughly 1.6 billion XRP, a seven-year low down from about 3.76 billion in October, shrinking the immediate sell-side supply. Source: Glassnode
- U.S. spot XRP ETFs continued steady accumulation, recording roughly $15 million in daily inflows and extending a multi-week streak that likely helped absorb tokens pulled off exchanges.
Derivative and price structure
- Binance orderbook data showed dense unclaimed liquidity concentrated above $2.50–$3.20, areas where leveraged positions and liquidation interest cluster — effectively forming overhead resistance. Source: Steph Is Crypto
- Since mid-November, XRP traded in a fairly tight channel between $1.73 (support) and $2.32 (resistance). Momentum indicators reflected indecision: RSI sat near neutral and MACD signals were mixed. Source: TradingView
How these signals fit together
- The convergence of shrinking exchange supply, steady ETF demand and accelerating XRPL infrastructure suggests institutional and compliance-oriented adoption is rising even while spot price remains range-bound.
- Infrastructure-led adoption has historically preceded price discovery, but any meaningful breakout would likely require broader market liquidity and expanding traded volume to overcome concentrated overhead liquidity and mixed momentum.
Bottom line
XRP appears to be consolidating amid tighter supply and growing institutional participation — a setup that could set the stage for a move if broader liquidity and volume return. For now, price action remains muted while on-chain and derivatives dynamics quietly realign.
Disclaimer:
AMBCrypto's content is informational and not investment advice. Cryptocurrency trading is high-risk; readers should do their own research before making decisions. © 2026 AMBCrypto
CZ: Pakistan Racing to Crypto Leadership as PVARA Issues NOCs, Plans Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
CZ: Pakistan Racing to Crypto Leadership as PVARA Issues NOCs, Plans Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
Headline: Why CZ says Pakistan is racing to the front of the crypto world Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) landed in Pakistan this week with a message: the country is no longer a bystander in the crypto story — it’s accelerating toward leadership. His visit came as Pakistan rolls out major regulatory changes and the newly formed Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) issued its first-ever No Objection Certificates (NOCs), a tangible signal that regulation and market activity are finally converging. Fresh off a high-profile U.S. pardon, CZ argued that Pakistan’s combination of a young, fast-growing crypto user base and rapid policy moves gives it a rare chance to “leapfrog” legacy financial systems. “If we keep moving at this speed in five years, Pakistan will be one of the crypto leaders in the world,” he said. On capital flight and policy Addressing a perennial concern for emerging markets — capital flight — CZ offered a contrarian take. He warned that heavy-handed restrictions can backfire: “If you cannot take money out, foreign investments are unlikely to put money in.” His prescription is economic growth: make staying more profitable than leaving. He also suggested that regulators don’t have to choose between security and innovation — traditional banking tools like transaction limits and KYC can be mirrored in crypto to protect users without choking progress. CZ’s personal endorsement CZ underscored his confidence not just with words but with lifestyle. He described living outside the fiat system, using crypto for everyday expenses and earning in Bitcoin (BTC) and Binance Coin (BNB), positioning himself as a proof point for a future “governed by code rather than central bank policy.” “The crypto system has more volatility versus fiat… but if you look at the long term—10, 20, 50 years—crypto is going up,” he said. A government-level pivot: the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve CZ’s visit coincided with a major domestic development: Bilal bin Saqib, CEO of the Pakistani Crypto Council (PCC), announced plans to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). That move — coupled with PVARA’s initial NOCs — signals that Pakistan’s public and private sectors are actively building crypto infrastructure and policy frameworks rather than merely tolerating informal markets. What it means Taken together, regulatory action, public endorsements from major industry figures, and nascent sovereign-level initiatives suggest Pakistan is shifting from cautious experimentation to deliberate adoption. If momentum holds, Pakistan may become a regional — if not global — example of how emerging economies can pair regulatory oversight with rapid crypto-driven innovation. Disclaimer: This content is informational only and not investment advice. Cryptocurrency trading involves high risk. Do your own research before making financial decisions.
Toncoin Rallies as Telegram Brings U.S. Self-Custodial Wallet — TVL and Liquidity Still Lag
Toncoin Rallies as Telegram Brings U.S. Self-Custodial Wallet — TVL and Liquidity Still Lag
Toncoin gains momentum as Telegram brings self-custodial wallet to U.S.—but liquidity lags Toncoin (TON) is picking up steam after a strong week of price action and a high-profile product rollout. With Telegram launching the network’s self-custodial wallet for U.S. users, interest is rising — and the market is responding. Price and technical picture - TON jumped nearly 10% over the past week after buyers re-entered following a mid-month dip. The token bounced from the $1.45–$1.50 zone and pushed toward $1.63, clearing short-term resistance (TradingView). - Momentum indicators have turned more supportive: RSI has improved, the MACD has flipped bullish, and price has trended toward the upper Bollinger Band, signaling rising volatility. It’s not an explosive rally yet, but the setup suggests upside may continue if volume follows. Why the catalyst matters Telegram’s U.S. rollout lets millions of users send, swap and store crypto natively inside a mainstream messaging app. The integration includes access to TON, Tether’s USDT, NFTs and other services within the Telegram ecosystem (announcement via X). Few blockchains have seen such seamless friction reduction into everyday apps — that utility could help drive sustained on-chain activity. On-chain and DeFi metrics - Total value locked (TVL) in TON’s DeFi ecosystem remains modest, around $85 million at the time of writing — well below the protocol’s previous highs (DeFiLlama). Large capital inflows haven’t arrived in force yet. - Stablecoin supply on TON is robust, hovering near $960 million, and daily app revenue and network fees are steady. Those figures point to active usage even if long-term liquidity locking is still limited. Bottom line Telegram’s wallet rollout is a clear adoption milestone for TON, and recent technicals support a near-term bullish bias. However, capital hasn’t fully followed the on-chain activity—liquidity and TVL remain subdued. If usage continues to rise inside Telegram and larger investors take notice, TON’s fundamentals could strengthen further. Disclaimer: This content is informational and should not be taken as investment advice. Cryptocurrency trading carries high risk; do your own research before making any decisions.
Institutions Tiptoe Back as Dollar Liquidity Recovers — Could Q1 2026 Spark a Crypto Breakout?
Institutions Tiptoe Back as Dollar Liquidity Recovers — Could Q1 2026 Spark a Crypto Breakout?
Headline: Institutions tiptoe back as global dollar liquidity turns — could Q1 2026 be the breakout? Institutions quietly re-entered the market on Dec. 30, signaling that the “crypto winter” narrative may be losing steam as global dollar liquidity shows signs of recovery. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes says this shift is more than noise: he argues the aggressive contraction in dollar liquidity that pressured risk assets throughout 2025 bottomed in November, and liquidity is now beginning to creep higher — effectively handing a green light to the “money printer” thesis. On-chain analysts and macro commentators have picked up the same thread. Popular analyst Mister Crypto highlighted a potentially market-moving catalyst: a projected $8.165 billion liquidity injection from the Federal Reserve scheduled for Jan. 6. “We are now on the bullish side of the liquidity cycle… Quantitative Easing. Are you bullish on 2026?” he asked. ETF flows underscore the institutional pivot. After a bruising week that saw $1.12 billion in cumulative net outflows, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs snapped their losing streak on Tuesday with a sizeable $355 million inflow — erasing nearly a third of the prior week’s exits. Farside Investors’ tally shows the largest beneficiaries as: - BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT): $143.75 million - Ark 21Shares (ARKB): $109.56 million - Fidelity (FBTC): $78.59 million - Bitwise (BITB): $13.87 million - VanEck (HODL): $4.98 million - Grayscale (GBTC): $4.28 million That rebound follows a stark moment on Dec. 26, when funds lost $275.9 million — a session many viewed as the capitulation point of year-end de-risking. For December overall, spot Bitcoin ETFs shed about $744 million as investors contended with falling prices and the typical liquidity vacuum between Christmas and New Year. Spot Ether ETFs showed a similar late-month turn. After more than $196 million of outflows — including a heavy $95.5 million exit on Dec. 23 — Ethereum funds steadied on Dec. 30 with $67.8 million of net inflows. Despite these institutional inflows, price action has been cautious. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum remain in a wait-and-see mode: even as liquidity expands across major economies such as the U.S., China and Japan, BTC is still roughly 30% below its all-time high. In short, the fuel is being added to the system, but it hasn’t yet ignited a full speculative rally. Traders appear reluctant to take aggressive positions until macro signals and year-end positioning settle. What to watch in Q1 2026 - Fed liquidity operations (including the Jan. 6 injection) and whether they translate to broader risk-on flows - Continued spot ETF flows and whether Tuesday’s rebound becomes sustained - Price reaction from BTC and ETH as liquidity metrics improve Disclaimer: This article is informational and not investment advice. Trading, buying or selling cryptocurrencies carries high risk; do your own research before making any decisions. Source: AMBCrypto (reworked)
Whale Sells $330M ETH, Opens $750M Leveraged Bets — Market Split: Short Squeeze or Deeper Drop?
Whale Sells $330M ETH, Opens $750M Leveraged Bets — Market Split: Short Squeeze or Deeper Drop?
A giant whale’s big bet has the market divided: is this a catalyst for a sharp short-term bounce — or a setup for more downside? On-chain sleuths tracked a high-net-worth wallet that sold roughly $330 million of Ether and then opened nearly $750 million in leveraged long positions across Bitcoin, Ether and Solana, according to Lookonchain. The largest single exposure is a $598 million long on Ether entered at $3,147 with a liquidation price below $2,143. Lookonchain’s post lists the other legs with entry prices near BTC $87,883 and SOL $124.43. At the time of the moves, ETH was trading near $2,975. On-chain data indicates the whale is carrying almost $50 million in unrealized losses on those leveraged positions. The activity is part of a broader shift among big holders. Lookonchain and on-chain records show large flows into Ether: about $5 billion of Bitcoin was moved into ETH holdings since August, including an earlier swap that converted $2.59 billion in BTC into roughly $2.2 billion in spot ETH and a $577 million perpetual long. In one concentrated burst, nine large addresses added a combined $456 million in ETH in a single day. Analytics firm Nansen reports 19 wallets amassed a total of about 7.43 million spot ETH in recent weeks. But professional traders tell a different story. Nansen’s data also shows that high-performing traders trimmed bullish Ether exposure by $6.5 million in one day and are now net short about $121 million on ETH. The same cohort holds net short positions of roughly $192 million on Bitcoin and $74 million on Solana. That split — heavy spot accumulation by large holders versus tactical short positioning from experienced traders — leaves the market divided: spot buying can lift prices briefly, but seasoned traders appear positioned for further weakness. The broader market backdrop heightens the tension. Bitcoin and Ether failed to produce the typical year-end rally in December, a reminder of how fragile crypto markets can be when liquidity thins and risk appetite wanes. Bitcoin’s repeated attempts to reclaim key levels fell short, leaving the quarter in the red while traditional havens such as gold posted gains. Traders will now be watching whether BTC can hold key support into the new year or whether the failed rally presages a deeper reset before any sustained recovery. Takeaway: large-scale spot accumulation and a massive leveraged long by a whale could spark a short squeeze if momentum flips, but with smart-money traders positioned short and liquidity low, the easy path for a durable rally looks uncertain. Sources: Lookonchain, Nansen, TradingView.
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