Cryptopolitan

Australia’s financial regulator scored a significant victory in court against BPS Financial. The financial firm has been ordered to pay 14 million Australian dollars ($9.3 million) in penalties for offering unlicensed financial services and making false claims about its Qoin Wallet cryptocurrency product.

This comes after a long legal battle led by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The ASIC claimed that BPS Financial breached the Corporations Act by promoting and running its Qoin Wallet product.

Federal court ruled that BPS ran a crypto wallet without a license

The Federal Court found that BPS Financial operated the Qoin Wallet from January 2020 to mid-2023 without the Australian Financial Services Licence. This license is required for businesses that provide or deal in regulated financial products.

At the same time, the court found that BPS also offered financial services and advice regarding the Qoin Wallet and the Qoin digital token, even though the company lacked the legal authority to do so. This put the company in breach of the Corporations Act.

The court heard the defence that BPS presented, namely that it relied on the “authorized representative” exemption under Australian law, and rejected it. The judges issued a 2024 ruling that the exemption didn’t apply to how BPS issued, promoted, and managed the Qoin Wallets. They even confirmed the decision after an appeal in 2025.

According to the court, BPS was solely responsible for holding the right license because of how it designed and offered the product to users.

Because the unlicensed conduct went on for years, the court was not lenient in its ruling. Justice Downes even said the company was responsible for assessing its legal obligations and ensuring it complied with all laws before releasing the product to the public. He even said that senior management must have been involved because they did nothing to stop the movement.

According to ASIC Chair Joe Longo, the ruling showed that crypto-related products are not exempt from the same financial services laws that other products have to adhere to when they operate like payment or investment services. He said these products can be complex, risky, and confusing to everyday users, so companies must hold all the right licenses and meet disclosure standards.

Judges found that BPS misled users about the Qoin Wallet

The court found that BPS Financial deliberately misled and deceived the public by making false claims about the Qoin Wallet and the Qoin digital token, which were central to the product’s promotion to customers.

Judges noted that BPS stated the wallet was officially approved or registered and that Qoin tokens could be easily exchanged for fiat currency or other crypto assets. The company also claimed that the token was generally accepted by merchants, even though all these claims were false.

According to the court, these statements gave the Qoin Wallet a false impression of safety and legitimacy, which may have led users to trust the product and use it without fully understanding how it actually works.

Judges also acknowledged that most retail users heavily rely on company claims when assessing crypto products. They explained that this is particularly true because such products tend to be complex and volatile, and it is challenging to evaluate them without clear, accurate information.

Given the type of deceptive behavior revealed, the court decided to allocate the largest portion of the total fine to BPS Financial for those dishonest representations.

Downes J remarked that the magnitude of the sanction was a mirror of the gravity of the statements and the objective recklessness that their making entailed. He also said it proved the involvement of senior executives who either approved or allowed such claims to be made in the first place.

Aside from monetary fines, the court also severely punished BPS Financial to reduce its future risks to consumers.

The firm was prohibited from running a financial services business without a license for 10 years. It was also ordered to post court-mandated warning notices on the Qoin Wallet app and website. The judge further directed BPS to bear the majority of ASIC’s court costs.

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The top cryptocurrency market is experiencing a colossal capital turnover at the moment. The so-called blue chip tokens can no longer sustain their momentum, but another wave of utility-oriented protocols is coming into focus of smart money. A lot of investors who perceived older projects to be safe havens are stagnating to find their portfolios. This changing environment is producing a decentralized finance (DeFi) project as a leading competitor in 2026. This period of pure speculative growth is disappearing, and the market is already paying off solutions to actual liquidity issues with demonstrated security.

Cardano (ADA) 

The price charts are not favorable to Cardano (ADA) at the moment. By the end of January 2026, the token had fallen below the crucial level of support of $0.35. ADA is a heavy asset as it has a huge market capital of about $12.3 billion. It implies that it needs an immense volume of new purchase pressure to provide a slight shift of the needle. The price has not been able to penetrate significant levels of resistance at $0.40 and $0.45 despite the implementation of its Voltaire governance era.

Technical signs demonstrate that ADA is within a consolidation level which has no evident upward driving element. As the ecosystem is developing further, the retail and institutional interest seems to be shifting to more agile protocols. The sellers have made the resistance of $0.42 a psychological wall that they will always defend. Unless there is a large influx of on-chain activity or a major partnership, analysts caution that the token will continue to trade in the channel or potentially even drop back to lower levels of support close to $0.30.

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is a developing Ethereum-based non-custodial lending protocol. It will enable its users to deposit assets such as ETH and USDT in liquidity pools to receive yield or borrow against them without having to sell their long-term assets.

The protocol design delivers this through a dual-market approach. Its Peer-to-Contract (P2C) model lets users earn rewards instantly by providing liquidity to automated pools. For those who prefer custom settings, the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) model allows for direct, individual lending agreements. 

The project has been able to raise a sum of over $19.9 million and it has over 18.900 holders. The token is still in Phase 7 of its presale at a price of $0.04. This is a 3x growth as compared to its initial price of $0.01. The new entrants are still making massive discounts on the token before the confirmed launch price of $0.06 according to the official whitepaper. 

Price Predictions: ADA and MUTM

The future of Cardano (ADA) is also pessimistic. Analysts indicate that the supply is too huge and the market capital is too high, so it is extremely unlikely to revert to the all-time high of $3.10 in 2026. The most bearish outlook of ADA is one that remains within the range of between $0.30 and $0.45 throughout the rest of 2026. Its main weakness is market saturation.

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) on the contrary has far more room to grow. Since it is currently at a lower valuation, any finite adoption will be able to push the price up significantly. Analysts cite its upcoming launch of V1 protocol in Q1 2026 as a significant trigger. 

Projecting on a bullish note, several analysts believe MUTM may experience a 750% growth after launch. This superior forecasting is supported by the fact that the protocol is able to earn money with interest charged on lending, which directly benefits the holders by a buy-back and redistribution scheme.

Security and Institutional Interest

One of the concerns in the current market is trust and one of the areas that Mutuum Finance has focused its attention is security. The protocol has gone through an entire independent audit of Halborn Security and has a high level of security score on CertiK. 

Whales are big investors who have begun to pay attention. According to the latest statistics, a number of allocations above $100,000 are in Phase 7. The importance of these whale allocations is that they give the liquidity required to have a successful market outing. 

As the V1 protocol launch on the Sepolia testnet is around the corner and the launch price of the MUTM set at $0.06 is expected shortly, the time to lock MUTM at its current value of $0.04 is closing. The transition of stagnant coins such as ADA to new developing cryptocurrencies such as MUTM, where the value is supported by utilities, is an obvious trend followed by those who want to invest in crypto currently.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

General Motors (GM) posted a big win Tuesday, beating Wall Street’s fourth-quarter earnings target with $2.51 per share, higher than the $2.20 estimate.

Revenue landed at $45.29 billion, just under the $45.8 billion analysts expected, and the GM stock has surged by more than 4% in premarket trading after the numbers dropped.

The company also told investors to brace for strong full-year performance in 2026. The forecast includes $10.3 billion to $11.7 billion in net income, $13 billion to $15 billion in EBIT-adjusted earnings, and $11 to $13 EPS. “We are confident in our ability to deliver another strong year,” said Mary Barra, GM’s CEO and Chair.

GM reports losses tied to EV write-downs and legal charges

Despite the earnings beat, GM still recorded a net loss of $3.3 billion for Q4, mostly because of $7.2 billion in special charges. The bulk of that had already been flagged earlier this month, but the final tally included some new hits. Legal issues tied to OnStar and airbags cost the company $357 million, the Cruise robotaxi shutdown cost $133 million, and the headquarters move added $5 million to the bill.

The fourth quarter still saw EBIT-adjusted earnings of $2.8 billion, and the company stressed this is all part of reworking its vehicle lineup and cost structure.

GM is backing off its aggressive all-electric push and cutting losses in international regions, especially in China, where the automaker booked a $316 million equity loss. That’s still better than the $4.4 billion hit it took there in 2024.

While GM is reevaluating its EV plans, it isn’t holding back on shareholder payouts. The board approved a 20% boost to its quarterly dividend, raising it to 18 cents per share, and gave the green light for a new $6 billion stock buyback. “We’re committed to delivering value to our shareholders,” Barra said.

Company outlines new guidance and breaks down regional performance

The 2026 outlook shows GM aiming high. Projected EPS of $11 to $13 lines up with the $11.73 consensus from LSEG. Spending is expected to hit between $10 billion and $12 billion.

In comparison, last year’s performance was much lower, with $2.7 billion in net income, $3.27 EPS, and $12.7 billion EBIT-adjusted. Automotive free cash flow for 2025 was $10.6 billion.

North America stayed at the top of GM’s regional breakdown. But profits there dropped 28.1% last year to $10.45 billion, and fourth-quarter earnings alone fell 1.3% to $2.24 billion.

Global numbers weren’t all bad. Adjusted earnings from international markets hit $737 million, up $434 million from the previous year. That includes better results from South Korea, Brazil, and the Middle East.

Share count has also slimmed. GM finished 2025 with 904 million shares outstanding, compared to 995 million the year before, and down from 1.2 billion in 2023. The continued repurchases are aimed at pushing the stock price up further by lowering share volume.

Investors are now watching how the 2026 plan plays out. The company is betting on tighter operations and less EV exposure while leaning into shareholder rewards. GM isn’t backing away from the tough calls, and they’re making it clear with the numbers.

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India and the European Union have officially signed a free trade agreement after nearly twenty years of stalled talks and political back-and-forth.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it the “mother of all deals” during his speech at India Energy Week on Tuesday. The announcement followed the agreement’s finalization on Monday.

The EU bloc, which accounts for around 25% of global GDP and nearly a third of worldwide trade, is now locked into an economic partnership with India.

Modi said this deal will sit alongside India’s other trade arrangements with Britain and the European Free Trade Association, tightening India’s global trade network. “This deal will prove to be very supportive to these sectors,” Modi said, pointing directly to textiles, leather, gems and jewelry, and footwear.

Trade deal follows decades of stalled negotiations

The signing marks the end of a negotiation process that began years ago but got real momentum again in 2022, when both sides decided to give it another go.

The delay came down to disagreements on agriculture and automotive trade, areas both sides have been known to protect heavily.

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director at the European Centre for International Political Economy, said both India and the EU tend to be “very protectionist,” which slowed the talks for years.

He said neither India nor the EU had managed to secure major trade deals in recent years, and with the U.S. and China off the table, this might be “one of the best they can get.”

The deal creates a trading block covering 2 billion people. The timing is no accident either. With global tensions and supply chain dramas still going on, both India and the EU are betting big on closer economic ties.

A joint statement from Modi and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was expected later Tuesday during the India-EU summit in New Delhi, outlining the fine print of the agreement.

U.S. criticizes EU for going ahead with India deal

The United States wasn’t thrilled. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hit back at the EU for going ahead with a major deal with India while the U.S. still has trade restrictions in place. Speaking on ABC News, Scott said:-

“The U.S. has made much bigger sacrifices than Europeans have. We have put 25% tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India.”

As for Donald Trump, now the 47th president of the United States, he hasn’t said anything publicly yet. But no one in D.C. is expecting applause.

Meanwhile, India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tried to keep the tone neutral when speaking to CNBC. “I would try and look at the positive side,” Puri said, brushing aside concerns about delays. He added that a U.S.-India trade deal is “at a very advanced stage” and suggested, “Everybody needs to chill a bit.”

Puri said he was told by officials in the negotiations that the U.S. deal could come soon, though he didn’t give a timeline. He also described India’s relationship with Washington as “very strong,” and claimed that India’s open stance on trade was clear from the EU agreement.

“There’s an economic opportunity here for others who want trade deals,” Puri added. “It’s going to be a mutual benefit, not only for the EU but the United States and elsewhere also.”

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SK Hynix Inc. shares jumped to a new high on Tuesday after local media reported the South Korean company is the only supplier of advanced memory for Microsoft Corp.’s latest artificial intelligence chip.

The stock closed 8.7% higher on the Korea Exchange. Earlier in the day it had dropped on fresh tariff threats from US President Donald Trump, but bounced back. Shares have been climbing all year, pushing SK Hynix’s market value past $400 billion.

Source: Google

Each of Microsoft’s new Maia 200 accelerators uses six units of SK Hynix’s HBM3E memory. The newspaper cited chip industry and brokerage sources. An SK Hynix spokesperson said the company can’t confirm or talk about customer information.

Microsoft unveiled the Maia 200 AI chip on Monday. Reports say it performs 30% better than competing chips. TSMC is making them.

SK Hynix shares have gone up ten times in about three years. That started when the company landed an early supply deal with Nvidia Corp. Investors got excited about anything related to AI, and SK Hynix was right in the middle of it.

Things are also looking better for regular memory chips

Prices for older types of memory have started going up again. That should help when SK Hynix reports earnings on Thursday.

Jung In Yun runs Fibonacci Asset Management Global. He said Tuesday’s gain came from “dip buying and rising HBM earnings expectations.” He added, “We will probably see SK Hynix earnings meeting expectations again.”

Citigroup Inc. raised its price target for SK Hynix by 56% to 1,400,000 won on Monday. That’s the highest target out there. The bank kept its buy rating and put the stock on a 30-day watch list for potential gains.

Analyst Peter Lee from Citigroup wrote about changes in the memory market. “The memory market is shifting toward semi-customization, with memory customers required to sign a contract a year prior to actual product delivery,” he said in a Monday note. “In 2026, we foresee global DRAM/NAND pricing growth to be significantly better than expected.”

Microsoft designed the Maia 200 to rely less on outside chip suppliers for AI work. The company makes its own accelerators but works with suppliers like SK Hynix for the memory parts. This setup is supposed to work better for Microsoft’s cloud and AI services.

High-bandwidth memory, like the HBM3E that SK Hynix makes, has become really important for AI. These chips move huge amounts of data way faster than regular memory. That matters a lot when you’re training big AI models or running them.

SK Hynix put a lot of money into developing this advanced memory technology early on, before the AI boom took off. Now that’s paying off. The company is ahead of most competitors in this area.

Prices for traditional memory chips are recovering too. That’s good news on top of the AI-related business.

SK Hynix plans $6.92 billion U.S. AI investment unit

The South Korean chipmaker is also considering establishing a dedicated artificial intelligence investment subsidiary, with reports suggesting the unit will be based in the United States.

It said in a regulatory filing that various measures were under consideration, including setting up the new subsidiary for AI investment.

The Maeil Business newspaper reported the U.S. subsidiary will manage approximately 10 trillion won ($6.92 billion) worth of AI-related assets held overseas by affiliates of SK Group. These assets include stakes in various AI ventures, including investments in U.S. nuclear energy firm TerraPower.

Investors will be watching Thursday when SK Hynix reports its earnings. The question is whether the company can deliver results that match all the optimism that’s been driving the stock higher.

Between Microsoft’s new chip orders, better pricing for standard memory, and ongoing AI demand, SK Hynix looks set to keep doing well. But Thursday’s numbers will show if all that confidence is justified.

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Bitcoin fell below $90,000 on Tuesday, triggering $1.09 billion in liquidations across crypto derivatives markets. Approximately 92% of the liquidations came from long positions, indicating how heavily traders were positioned for continued upside before the reversal. The move coincided with renewed tariff threats from Donald Trump and a sell-off in Japanese government bonds that pushed global yields higher. As leverage was forcibly removed and spot participation slowed, capital began rotating away from crowded directional exposure and into early-stage crypto projects where entry pricing is defined by issuance mechanics, including Bitcoin Everlight.

Liquidations Force A Reset In Positioning

The liquidation imbalance highlighted the fragility of recent market structure. Long exposure dominated open interest, leaving little margin for price compression once momentum faded. When selling accelerated, forced closures amplified downside movement and reduced near-term risk appetite across the market.

After events like this, capital deployment tends to change shape. Short-term traders reduce size or step aside entirely, while longer-horizon participants look for exposure that does not depend on immediate price recovery. Early-stage projects often see renewed interest during these periods because entry pricing is set by issuance mechanics rather than market momentum. Bitcoin Everlight has drawn attention in this context as participants reassess where exposure sits following the leverage unwind.

Bitcoin Everlight’s Transaction Architecture

Bitcoin Everlight is designed as a transaction-routing layer anchored directly to Bitcoin. Transactions are routed through lightweight nodes that validate activity and anchor it to Bitcoin without the use of channels, bilateral exposure, or liquidity balancing. There are no channels to open, no locked liquidity to manage, and no dependency on counterparties maintaining balances.

This structure keeps transaction routing separate from liquidity management. During volatile conditions, systems that avoid locked capital and bilateral exposure tend to maintain more stable participation, as operators are not forced to adjust positions in response to market swings. Network operation remains focused on routing and validation rather than liquidity provision.

Node Economics And Network Participation

Node operators earn variable rewards within a 4–8% range, based on uptime, routing contribution, and performance metrics. Rewards fluctuate with measurable activity and network reliability. 

Participation centers on maintaining infrastructure availability and transaction routing capacity. Because rewards are tied to performance instead of capital deployment, operators are not exposed to liquidity shocks or counterparty risk. This approach supports consistent network operation during periods when market conditions discourage capital-intensive participation elsewhere.

Supply Discipline And Allocation Logic

Bitcoin Everlight uses a fixed supply of 21,000,000,000 BTCL, with allocation defined at launch. 45% of supply is distributed through the public presale, 20% allocated to node rewards, 15% to liquidity, 10% to the team, and 10% to ecosystem and treasury functions.

Team and ecosystem allocations remain locked for longer periods than presale tokens, limiting early circulating supply once trading begins. Node rewards are drawn from a predefined pool rather than ongoing emissions, keeping supply expansion predictable. This structure establishes clear constraints around availability during the early stages of network operation, which becomes more relevant when market conditions are driven by macro pressure rather than protocol-level issues.

Presale Structure, Oversight, And Timing

The Bitcoin Everlight presale is divided into 20 phases, each distributing 472,500,000 BTCL. Phase 1 pricing is set at $0.0008. Tokens are delivered as ERC-20 assets at launch, followed by a planned migration to the project’s native chain. Vesting is paced, with internal allocations locked longer than public distributions to prevent early internal supply from entering the market during initial liquidity formation.

Presale contracts and infrastructure have undergone third-party review by SolidProof and Spywolf, covering contract logic, supply limits, and deployment integrity. Team identity verification has been completed through Spywolf KYC and Vital Block, establishing external accountability during the presale period.

With leverage clearing from the system and volatility reshaping risk allocation, BTCL is available through the current presale ahead of mainnet, offering entry pricing defined by issuance schedule while broader markets adjust to tighter financial conditions.

Website: https://bitcoineverlight.com/

Security: https://bitcoineverlight.com/security

How to Buy: https://bitcoineverlight.com/articles/how-to-buy-bitcoin-everlight-btcl

The problem of overwhelming debt has shifted. While poor countries struggled with this burden for years, the threat now comes from some of the world’s wealthiest nations.

Countries including the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Japan are carrying unprecedented or near-unprecedented levels of debt. This creates risks that could slow economic progress and destabilize financial markets worldwide.

Rising costs leave governments with fewer options

The constant need for additional financing has raised the cost of borrowing itself, consuming larger portions of tax revenue. These elevated rates spill over into business financing, personal loans, vehicle purchases, home mortgages and credit card interest. They can also fuel rising prices.

The most troubling aspect is that accumulating debt during periods of economic strength and low unemployment, as seen in the United States, leaves governments with fewer options when conditions deteriorate.

“You want to be able to spend big and spend fast when you need to,” explained Kenneth Rogoff, an economics professor at Harvard.

During last week’s World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, President Trump dominated headlines, yet finance ministers privately worried about funding growing requirements.

Government borrowing during prosperous times with favorable rates can fuel expansion, while emergency borrowing during crises can maintain spending levels. The surge in debt began during the 2008 financial collapse and economic downturn, when governments provided relief to troubled households as tax collections dropped.

Emergency measures during the Covid-19 outbreak, as economies halted and medical expenses soared, pushed obligations higher as rates climbed faster than economic expansion.

Yet debt amounts never decreased. Currently, six nations within the wealthy Group of 7 have national obligations matching or surpassing their yearly economic production, based on International Monetary Fund data.

Aging populations and infrastructure demands strain budgets

Growing numbers of countries face pressure from population trends and sluggish expansion. Across Europe, Britain and Japan, older populations have increased government healthcare and retirement expenses while reducing the workforce that generates essential tax income.

A year-long examination commissioned by the European Union’s leadership determined the 27-nation group must allocate an extra $900 billion toward priorities including artificial intelligence, interconnected energy systems, supercomputing capabilities and advanced workforce development to maintain competitiveness.

Britain requires at least 300 billion pounds ($410 billion) for infrastructure improvements across the coming decade, according to Future Governance Forum, a London research organization. Additional billions are necessary to strengthen its struggling National Health Service.

Attempts to reduce public expenditures in Italy, where obligations equal 138% of economic output, through healthcare, education and service reductions, or in France through retirement age increases, have triggered fierce public opposition.

France, experiencing months of political gridlock over budget matters, received a sovereign debt downgrade last autumn, prompting concerns about the nation’s financial reliability.

Simultaneously, global conditions have grown more hazardous. Friction between China and the United States has intensified. Europe confronts an increasingly hostile Russia and an antagonistic American president.

Japan’s election announcement rattles global markets

Tokyo’s obligations are already overwhelming. They exceed the nation’s yearly economic production by more than double.

The possibility of deeper financial trouble expanded last week when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi unexpectedly announced a snap election. Both Ms. Takaichi’s Liberal Democrats and rival parties are pledging spending increases and tax reductions.

Ms. Takaichi, specifically, has suggested halting the consumption tax on food and nonalcoholic drinks, which the Finance Ministry calculates would cost over $30 billion yearly.

“Movement remains cautious due to financial instability concerns”, said Harvard’s Mr. Rogoff. Japan has “stuffed debt into every orifice of the financial sector, pension funds, insurance companies, banks. And there are inflation pressures.”

Low rates combined with elevated inflation particularly damage working and middle-income households, whose savings lose value.

Ms. Takaichi’s declaration unsettled investors.

Last week, the 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield climbed to its highest point since August.

Ken Griffin, who leads hedge fund giant Citadel, described the selloff as an “explicit warning” to other heavily indebted countries like the United States, observing that even the globe’s most powerful economy faces risks.

Confidence in U.S. creditworthiness wavered briefly last April, when Trump’s rapid tariff reversals caused Treasury yields to spike suddenly.

U.S. national obligations now stand at $38 trillion, approximately 125% of the American economy’s size.

Analysts anticipate midterm elections will encourage the White House toward greater spending next year.

This month, Trump pledged further military spending increases to $1.5 trillion over the upcoming fiscal year, which the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget projected would add $5.8 trillion to national debt, including interest, across 10 years.

Net interest charges have tripled during the past five years, reaching approximately $1 trillion. They currently consume 15% of U.S. spending, the second largest expense behind Social Security.

Mr. Gale, who recently co-authored research on U.S. debt, cautioned that continued debt growth prospects threaten the country’s position as an economic leader and weaken investor confidence in Treasury bonds and the dollar.

It also burdens future generations. As Mr. Gale stated, “the more you consume now, the less you can consume later.“

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On January 26, Bank of Korea Governor Lee Chang-young said that the authorities are allowing South Korean citizens to invest in virtual assets due to market pressure. However, he mentioned that financial regulators are considering creating a new registration system to enable domestic institutions to use virtual assets.

Speaking at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, Chang-young believes that tokenized deposits would be used more for domestic payments. In contrast, won-denominated stablecoins would be used for international transactions.

He stressed that stablecoins remain controversial in South Korea. He voiced concern that won-denominated stablecoins, particularly when paired with U.S. dollar stablecoins, could be used to circumvent capital flow control measures if they are introduced.

Additionally, he said that U.S. dollar stablecoins are easily accessible, frequently used, and have much lower transaction costs than using U.S. dollars directly.

Chang-young highlights the risks and challenges of stablecoin regulation

Chang-young stated that large-scale cash transfers may result from money flowing into U.S. dollar stablecoins when exchange rate changes trigger market expectations. Furthermore, he claimed that regulation is challenging because various non-bank institutions issue stablecoins.

He continued by stating that retail central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) do not offer significant advantages and that South Korea’s quick payment system is highly developed. Chang-young asserted that the central bank is deploying tokenized deposits and wholesale CBDCs concurrently with pilot programs to preserve a two-tier structure.

Chang-young also believes that loosening and streamlining rules will boost actual economic activity in the near future. Still, he warned against forgetting the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis and contends that reform shouldn’t turn into a contest to lower standards. He believes regulations should be tightened, not loosened, at least in the area of digital banking.

Governor Chang-young’s warnings help explain why progress on crypto legislation has stalled. Tech in Asia, a news outlet, reported on January 26 that South Korea has delayed the second phase of the virtual asset law, which aims to regulate digital assets such as stablecoins, amid disagreements over who should be allowed to issue them and how exchanges should be regulated.

This delay of the second-phase virtual asset began last year. On December 30, deep regulatory disagreements over stablecoin monitoring led South Korea to postpone its long-awaited revision of its digital asset system to this year. 

To create a thorough legal framework for cryptocurrency activity, the Financial Services Commission made the Digital Asset Basic Act. The law sought to establish no-fault liability, allowing operators of digital assets to be held accountable for user losses even in the absence of evidence of negligence. 

The Digital Asset Basic Act aims to improve compliance standards among exchanges and service providers by imposing stricter disclosure requirements and customer protection measures. However, authorities struggled to resolve disputes over control of reserves, enforcement authority, and stablecoin governance. As a result, the bill’s filing was postponed until 2026.

Regulators suggested mandating that issuers keep all of their reserves in government bonds or bank deposits, entirely entrusted to authorized custodians. The Bank of Korea argued that stablecoins should be issued only by bank-controlled consortia with at least a 51% ownership stake to preserve monetary stability.

As previously reported by Crptopoiltan, fixed ownership thresholds were, however, challenged by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), which cautioned that they may marginalize tech companies and impede innovation in digital finance.

Regulatory disputes stall South Korea’s stablecoin legislation

The Financial Services Commission’s filing with the National Assembly was supposed to be reviewed this month, but has been delayed again due to ongoing disagreements among government agencies, business stakeholders, and political organizations.

According to the report, essential questions remain whether banks or other approved companies should be the primary issuers of won-pegged stablecoins and whether regulations separating finance from virtual assets should be loosened to promote innovation.

Critics argue that the proposed 15%–20% shareholding limitations for exchange stockholders are too restrictive.

Discussions about virtual asset transactions by listed businesses and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that rely on the law’s implementation have stalled due to the delay.

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Top Wall Street figure Tom Lee thinks Bitcoin and Ethereum will bounce back once gold and silver stop their current hot streak, even though digital coins have been struggling lately.

Tom Lee from Fundstrat told viewers on CNBC’s Power Lunch program Monday that the basic strengths of cryptocurrencies haven’t changed. He pointed to two factors that should help digital assets: a weaker American dollar and the Federal Reserve getting ready to ease up on tight monetary policy.

Gold and silver rally pulls investors away from crypto

But there’s a problem this time around. Lee explained that crypto markets don’t have the boost they used to get from borrowed money because the whole industry has cleaned up its debt.

“Crypto doesn’t have the leverage tailwind because the industry delevered,” Lee told the network. He said right now, people are chasing after gold and silver instead of putting money into digital currencies.

“There’s a FOMO into buying that instead of crypto,” he added. Lee believes past patterns show that when precious metals take a break from climbing, Bitcoin and Ethereum usually jump higher.

The split between metals and crypto has been clear in recent weeks. Gold reached an all-time high of $5,100 on Monday, going up about 17.5% since January started.

Silver has done even better, shooting up 57% so far this year and hitting $110.

Experts say the metal rally comes from several worries: tensions between countries, threats of new trade tariffs, and the continuing weakness of the dollar. These issues have pushed people toward old-school safe investments.

Lee said crypto is still recovering from a massive debt cleanup that happened on Oct. 10. He described that event as something that “crippled many key players” at trading platforms and among market makers.

The sector is “limping along,” he said, but the basic health of the industry has gotten much better since then.

Bitcoin struggles while institutional interest in Ethereum grows

Bitcoin hasn’t shown those improvements in its price. The biggest digital currency has dropped roughly 30% from where it stood in October. It can’t seem to get back above the $95,000 mark and has recently fallen back toward $86,000.

“The precious metal move has sucked a lot of the oxygen out of the room,” Lee said. He thinks prices aren’t matching up with fundamentals, rather than showing real problems.

Lee clearly still trusts Ethereum. On Monday, BitMine, a company focused on Ether that has ties to Lee, bought another 20,000 ETH for $58 million, based on data from blockchain tracker Lookonchain.

Lee also mentioned that recent talks at the Davos forum showed banks and financial firms are increasingly interested in building on Ethereum and similar platforms.

Not everyone agrees that a weak dollar alone will push Bitcoin higher. GugaOnChain, who analyzes data for CryptoQuant, said recent money leaving ETFs shows people still want gold when they’re worried.

“For BTC to thrive,” they said, “the weakness of the American currency must come from risk appetite, not from fear.“

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Vietnam has opened a five-year crypto exchange licensing pilot in an effort to develop a domestic crypto exchange industry.

Techcombank and its securities arm, Techcom Securities (TCBS), are the first to submit an application. Both meet the minimum charter capital requirement of 10 trillion dong (approx. $400 million) and are primarily backed by institutional shareholders.

There are also roughly eight other Vietnamese securities firms and banks that have expressed interest in submitting an application.

But the government only plans to license a small initial group of five crypto platforms.

On January 26, Vietnamese lawmaker Hai Nam Nguyen stressed the importance of properly assessing and calibrating risk to match Vietnam’s domestic realities.

“The volatility of digital and crypto assets can be even greater than that of traditional securities markets…. Our priority is innovation with risk control, investor protection, and system safety.”

Once Vietnam’s first licensed crypto exchange starts operating, crypto traders will have six months to link their wallets with government-approved platforms or face criminal penalties.

A market without a rulebook

Before the launch of the pilot on January 20, there were no crypto exchanges licensed in Vietnam and no legal channels to apply for one.

This led to residents opening an estimated 20 million wallets with offshore crypto exchanges such as Binance, Bybit and OKX, as well as peer-to-peer (P2P) channels like Remitano.

“Unregulated crypto flows moving offshore could make it harder for Vietnam to track capital and may eventually pressure the local currency,” said Huy Pham, Associate Professor in Finance at RMIT University, Vietnam.

Crypto faces the tax net

Crypto trading has flourished in the absence of a formal legal framework. It is widely used for remittances, salary payments and online trading, averaging about $600 million in daily transactions.

“Crypto traders have avoided taxes for a long time, and when companies pay salaries in crypto, employees often don’t pay tax because there’s no clear regulation,” said Pham.

The government now wants to rein in the outflow of untaxed crypto held on foreign exchanges.

Vietnam’s Digital Technology Industry Law came into effect on January 1, 2026, providing a foundation for tax authorities to develop management and oversight policies for digital assets.

Startups are not welcome

The crypto pilot program was designed to attract the country’s largest financial institutions. It has set a high bar for entry, with some of the world’s steepest minimum capital and shareholder requirements.

HCMC Blockchain Association General Secretary Tran Xuan Tien said the requirements act as a “filter” in selecting financial institutions with a genuine capacity and in turn, creating a robust environment for foreign investors.

Proving technical muscle

Crypto exchange license applicants must also demonstrate specialized expertise and robust cybersecurity systems.

Huy Pham said technological capacity is the last thing he is worried about as Vietnam embarks on growing its domestic crypto industry.

“The technological know-how is already here in Vietnam,” he said.”We have companies that could help with tracking crypto flows and detecting suspicious transactions.”

Vietnam is home to a hive of blockchain developers such as Verichains, Kyber Network, Sky Mavis, U2U Network and ONUS. The government is also working to attract foreign fintech companies.

In June 2025, Vietnam designated digital assets alongside AI and semiconductors as core drivers of its future economy under the Digital Technology Industry Law. The new law uses tax breaks, land incentives and state-backed R&D support to lower the cost of setting up a blockchain business.

Crypto is too popular to ignore

Vietnam is already one of Asia’s largest crypto markets. Chainalysis estimated more than $230 billion in crypto transactions between July 2024 and June 2025, placing Vietnam third worldwide, behind India and South Korea.

The integration of crypto trading is set to bring a $200 billion boost to the local economy. While Pham debates that estimate, even a lower figure of $50 billion would still deliver substantial economic growth.

A capital market experiment

“At the beginning, we’re going to see two separate markets to reduce the risk for the Vietnamese,” Huy Pham said, adding that tokenized products carry “very high” risks and are not yet available to Vietnamese residents.

“When the digital literacy of the Vietnamese improves these products could be offered domestically,” Pham said. “They want to test out those products first on a foreign investor base because they don’t want the Vietnamese to get scammed.”

However, limiting exchanges to domestic users could create liquidity constraints, similar to the so-called kimchi premium seen in South Korea.

“If liquidity isn’t high, it’s hard for an exchange to make money,” Pham said. “Spot trading alone generates thin margins and exchanges would need to scale to be profitable. ”

He believes allowing futures products would make exchanges much more commercially sustainable.

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AI-native neobanks are deploying hedge fund–style algorithms to actively manage user funds rather than just store them.

Traditional neobanks still struggle with profitability and offer limited protection against inflation and currency volatility.

Stablecoins are widely used as a hedge in volatile economies, but alone, they do not fully protect purchasing power.

AI-native neobanks have started to position themselves as the answers to static savings accounts by implementing algorithms to meet the demands of users looking for more than the currently available options.

In 2025, the global neobanking market size was valued at $210.16 billion, and projected to grow to $310.15 billion in 2026 and over $7.6 billion by 2034. However, after a decade and more than $32 billion in venture funding, neobanks have delivered instant transfers and digital interfaces, but 80% of players still can’t turn a profit. 

They have not evolved with user demands either. 

AI-native neobanks, a new class of banking options, offer income stabilization through automatic hedging when local currency volatility spikes, capital preservation through yield strategies that outpace inflation, and the ability to hold, convert, and deploy capital across stablecoins, fiat, and trading positions.

Neobanks move from passive storage to active management

Banks have traditionally been passive, holding deposits and executing user commands. 

Traditional neobanks have gotten quite good at moving money around, but they are not the best when it comes to protecting that money from inflation, currency swings, and economic turbulence.

AI-native neobanks operate differently, watching markets, managing risk, and taking action autonomously.

“I expect AI infrastructure to become something users just expect, the same way they expect instant transfers now,” says Bryan Benson, CEO of Aurum and former Managing Director at Binance.  “Neobanks that don’t offer it will feel broken by comparison.”

Aurum’s approach combines three elements: the neobank interface, the EX-AI bot engine, and a Visa card for daily spending. Users see a standard banking app while algorithmic systems manage the underlying complexity.

Stablecoins don’t solve all the currency inflation problems

Economic instability is no longer confined to emerging markets. Currency swings now affect importers in Germany as hard as farmers in Colombia; however, traditional neobanks are not offering defense mechanisms.

Users in volatile economies have begun seeking alternatives. Data from TRM Labs showed stablecoin transaction volume reached $4 trillion in the first eight months of 2025, an 83% increase from the same period in 2024.

Turkey saw 3.7% of its entire GDP flow into USD-backed stablecoin purchases in 2024, while nearly 12% of Nigeria’s population now holds stablecoins as a hedge against the naira.

“At Binance, I watched users in Latin America figure out the first part on their own,” Benson said. “They moved into USD-pegged stablecoins as a safe haven from local currency volatility. That solved the immediate problem of watching their savings collapse against the dollar.”

However, stablecoins alone don’t fully address the problem. “USD still inflates at 3–4% a year, which means your purchasing power is still bleeding, just slower,” Benson said. “That’s where the real benefit of yield products comes to light. AI-backed features like staking, liquidity providing, and lending. These let users put their stablecoin holdings to work and actually outpace inflation.”

AI-native neobanks expand Wall Street’s algorithmic infrastructure to retail

Institutional players use systems that analyze price and volume across exchanges simultaneously, track order book depth, monitor liquidity shifts, and catch arbitrage windows lasting seconds. AI-native neobanks are attempting to compress this infrastructure into consumer products.

Over 60% of US equity trades now flow through algorithmic systems. JPMorgan has over 200,000 employees using AI tools daily, while Goldman, Citadel, Two Sigma, and major trading desks have rebuilt their infrastructure around algorithms.

Until recently, retail investors had no access to this technology. The infrastructure remained behind institutional walls, reserved for clients meeting seven-figure minimums.

The new generation of AI-native neobanks expands these AI trading tools that operate around the clock, monitor markets in real time, and execute spot trades without human input to users, managing positions independently, applying risk protocols and adapting to market changes.

A Kobeissi Letter report claims that Europeans are flooding into U.S. stocks, with ownership surging to over 91% (~ $4.9T) over the past three years. According to the report, Europeans currently own a record $10 trillion in U.S. stocks, which is almost equal to the rest of the world’s holdings at $10.9 trillion.

Kobeissi Letter notes that Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK now hold roughly $5.7 trillion in U.S. equities. That accounts for over half (~55%) of the total European holdings. These European investors also account for almost half (~49%) of all foreign U.S. stock holdings. 

George Saravelos, the chief FX strategist at Deutsche Bank, also noted last week that European countries hold $8 trillion in U.S. equities and bonds. According to Saravelos, that is nearly twice as much as what the rest of the world owns combined. Meanwhile, European NATO countries hold $2.8 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities alone, rising to $3.3 trillion when including Canada.

However, U.S. Federal Reserve data contradict this, showing that the overall value of U.S. financial assets owned by European NATO countries is $12.6 trillion. The data also reveals that most of these bonds and stocks are overwhelmingly owned by the private sector (pension plans, insurance firms, banks, etc.), not European governments.

Nordic investor reassess U.S. exposure amid rising geopolitical tensions

Although European investors are notably piling into U.S. financial assets, big Nordic investors are growing increasingly wary of the risk of holding U.S. assets amid rising geopolitical tensions. Last week, two Nordic pension funds, Denmark’s AkademikerPension and Sweden’s Alecta, said they were either selling or in the process of selling their entire holdings of U.S. Treasuries.  

“We’re having a lot of discussions (with clients) around (whether) it is time to tilt away from U.S. assets.”

–Van Luu, global head of solutions strategy, fixed income and foreign exchange at Russell Investments

According to Luu, nearly 50% of Nordic countries are considering taking action against U.S. investments. He also mentions that the countries include the Netherlands and Scandinavia.

Meanwhile, Alecta said it has sold a big chunk of its U.S. bond holdings because risks related to the dollar and U.S. Treasuries are increasing. On the other hand, AkademikerPension blames weak U.S. government finances for its decision to divest its holdings by the end of the month.

Wall Street grapples with fears of European investors divesting  

Wall Street is reportedly grappling with fears that President Donald Trump’s belittlement of the European continent and belligerence could take some of the big investors of U.S. equities out of the market. Although Trump has softened his stance towards Europe, there are signs that this is already happening. 

Vincent Mortier, the chief investment officer at Amundi SA, also observes that more European clients appear to want to diversify from the U.S. financial assets market. He notes that the trend began in April 2025, but has accelerated somewhat this January. 

However, Mortier also notes that the “disentanglement” will be a long and complex process because clients will need to figure out how to depart from the main benchmarks. They will also be required to figure out how to hedge against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, more than half of the $10.4 trillion in U.S. stocks owned by European investors is held by investors in eight countries that Trump has threatened with tariffs. Hugo Ste-Marie, a portfolio and quantitative strategist at Scotiabank, notes that this is a big enough chunk to pose a threat to the U.S. market. 

Ste-Maries also believes that accelerated diversification could weigh heavily on U.S. equities, the dollar, and bonds over time. However, she thinks it is improbable that Europe would even want to ditch U.S. assets.

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The crypto market is traveling at a rapid pace at the beginning of the year 2026. As a lot of big cryptocurrencies are trading laterally, a new altcoin has become the focus of the DeFi community. Mutuum Finance (MUTM) has experienced a huge rise of 300% in interest and price since its presale launch. To a lot of people, this leap is only the start. Analysts are citing the foundation that the project has as an indication of the fact that the best is still ahead. 

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is a decentralized lending and borrowing protocol designed towards the contemporary investor. The aim is to allow users to deploy their crypto without selling. You can provide assets to generate an interest or you can make use of your holdings to borrow.

For example, a user who supplies assets could earn an APY of 15% on their deposits, turning a $2,000 balance into $2,300 over a year. If you choose to borrow, the protocol uses a 75% LTV for stable assets, allowing you to take out $750 in loan for every $1,000 you provide as collateral. These clear rules ensure the system remains balanced while giving you the liquidity you need.

The project is presently at presale stage and has already amassed the funds to an excess of $19.9 million. The number of holders on board has already exceeded 18,900, and the momentum is in question. Its presale began at only $0.01 and now it has attained a new height of $0.04 in Phase 7. This is the 300% growth that is making everyone talk. Nevertheless, as it officially launched at 0.06 per share, a discount on joining today is still built in.

V1 Launch and Security Confidence

The largest contributor to the recent momentum increase is the announcement of the V1 protocol launch. The team has ensured that the protocol will become active on Sepolia testnet in Q1 2026. This one will have liquidity pools, collateral management and automated liquidations.

Mutuum Finance is concerned with safety. The code has already undergone a stringent audit by Halborn which is one of the most admirable firms in the industry. CertiK also has a high score of security. Owing to this good technical base, analysts have come up with their initial price forecast. There is also the opinion that when the V1 protocol becomes live and mainnet follows, MUTM might grow by 10x as the lending volume enters the system.

Long-Term Growth

Mutuum Finance’s design operates around mtTokens. These tokens will then be given to you as a receipt when you supply liquidity. They are unique in that they increase in value as the borrowers repay interests. This implies that you receive a passive income by owning them.

To enhance further the power of the MUTM, Mutuum Finance adopts a buy-and-distribute model. Part of the total protocol fees is employed to purchase MUTM tokens in the open market. They are then reinstated to the users who invest their mtTokens in the safety module. 

The project also has a 24-hour leaderboard to maintain the excitement in the community. The best daily performer gets an additional MUTM of $500 a day. According to these catalysts and the opinion of several market analysts, the second price forecast is that MUTM could realistically hit a price of $0.45 by the end of 2026 as more individuals stake to get rewards.

Phase 7 Is Selling Out Fast

The Mutuum Finance roadmap is much more than the initial launch. The group intends to issue an over-collateralized and native stablecoin. This will provide the users with a trustworthy asset to utilize in the platform. They will also be migrating to Layer-2 networks such as Arbitrum or Optimism. This will render transactions very fast and cost effective to all.

We are in Phase 7 and it is moving at an all time rate. More than 830 million tokens are sold already. The most interesting thing is that there is a drastic rise in the allocation of whales. Big investors are rushing to acquire millions of tokens before the market price goes higher.

The fact that when the whales buy in indicates that they are confident with the long term value of the project. Their presence gives the rich liquidity to have a successful exchange listing. The window to enter at $0.04 is almost closing as the presale is almost half sold and the V1 launch is imminent. 

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

Micron Technology Inc. announced its intention to allocate an additional $24 billion (about S$31 billion) in Singapore over the next decade, aiming to enhance its manufacturing capabilities amid limited memory availability, driven by increased adoption of AI.

Based in Idaho, a state in the United States, the chipmaker clarified that it plans to utilize this investment to build a new NAND production facility. NAND is a type of non-volatile storage technology that retains data even when power is turned off. Considering this advantage, several individuals view it as a more efficient alternative to hard disk drives. 

AI demand drives NAND shortages

Micron’s investment is designed to boost NAND flash memory production, which is used in everything from enterprise solid‑state drives to AI data‑center infrastructure. Demand for these chips has surged as cloud providers, AI developers, and tech giants race to scale computing power and storage for increasingly complex models and data sets.

Within the global memory industry, Micron competes primarily with South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. The main focus for these tech giants is creating high-end chips essential to AI infrastructure; therefore, they have reallocated resources away from memory chips used in other sectors.

Following this decision, personal computer (PC) manufacturers and phone makers have expressed concern over the growing memory chip shortage, which has been impacting their operations since last year.

MS Hwang, research director at Counterpoint Research, commented on the matter, alleging that, “Lately, NAND’s role in AI has increased, leading to a significant rise in NAND prices.” He further explained that, “Suppliers are cutting back on traditional consumer products like client SSDs for PCs and mobile flash storage while boosting production of enterprise SSDs for data center servers.” 

As the memory chip shortage intensifies across the tech ecosystem, executives at Micron stated they are optimistic that their new initiative in Singapore will create around 1,600 jobs, with wafer production anticipated to commence in the second half of 2028.

Just after making this announcement, Micron’s shares rebounded from a 0.8% loss and stabilized on Tuesday, January 27,  during morning trading on the alternative platform Blue Ocean. 

Regarding this significant milestone, Manish Bhatia, Micron’s executive vice president of global operations, stated that, “This investment highlights Micron’s long-term dedication to Singapore as a key part of our global manufacturing network, improving supply chain reliability and supporting a thriving innovation ecosystem.”

In the meantime, reports indicate that Micron has initiated construction of a $100 billion facility in New York and has made clear its intention to spend approximately $1.8 billion on a Taiwan-based facility.

Singapore seeks to establish itself as an industry hub 

Micron released a statement in early 2025 stating that it is considering investing $7 billion over the next few years to expand its manufacturing footprint in Singapore. 

With this idea in mind, the leading American producer of advanced semiconductor memory and storage solutions seeks to meet the surging demand for AI training memory chips. For a long time, Micron has heavily relied on Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan as its primary production hubs.

Interestingly, the firm’s Singapore investment project aligns with the nation’s long-standing goal of establishing various high-tech industries, including advanced chipmaking and AI. To demonstrate its commitment to achieving this objective, the government has pledged to invest more than 1 billion Singapore Dollars, or about $786 million, to back local AI research projects.

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Draft law introducing a mechanism for cryptocurrency seizure in Russia is advancing faster than the comprehensive framework for the whole market.

The legislation has been greenlighted for adoption by an important parliamentary committee, while the other crypto-related acts will be passed by the summer.

State Duma committee recommends final adoption of crypto seizure law

Russia seems intent to make sure it has procedures for cryptocurrency arrest in place even before transactions with digital coins are properly regulated.

The Committee on State Building and Legislation at the lower house of Russian parliament, the Duma, has recommended the adoption of a bill establishing rules for confiscation of cryptocurrencies as part of criminal proceedings.

According to a statement issued by the committee’s press service on Monday, it’s designed to reduce the risk of using digital currencies in criminal activities, including money laundering, corruption, and terrorist financing.

The government-proposed document, which the chamber is now expected to pass on third and final reading, aims to recognize crypto and other digital assets as property under Russia’s Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law.

The lack of a clear definition of the property status in the two, which has been already provided in other Russian laws, is complicating the investigation of crimes and the enforcement of property claims, the press release noted, quoted by the Parlamentskaya Gazeta newspaper.

To resolve the issue, the bill suggests regulating the actions of investigators regarding digital currency deemed subject to seizure.

It also grants relevant bodies the authority to seize coins by either taking control over physical devices such as servers, computers, and cold wallets, or by transferring them to a dedicated wallet.

The legislation effectively introduces a complete mechanism for seizing digital currency for the purpose of subsequent confiscation by the state or to secure a civil claim.

In a statement released by the parliamentary faction of the ruling “United Russia” party on Telegram, the legislative committee’s chair, Pavel Krasheninnikov emphasized:

“The adoption of the law will eliminate the legal vacuum and create effective mechanisms for law enforcement agencies to work with modern digital assets, based on international recommendations and the successful experience of foreign legal systems.”

The federal government submitted the crypto seizure bill to the State Duma in April 2025, the business news outlet RBC recalled in an article. The draft was passed on first reading in June and on second reading in November.

Russia prepares for complete crypto regulation this year

Work is already underway to adopt a comprehensive framework for cryptocurrency transactions in Russia, where regulators have gradually changed their attitude toward decentralized digital money under the influence of sanctions.

The legislation will be based on the Central Bank of Russia’s new regulatory concept, published by the monetary authority in late December, and slated for adoption by July 1, 2026.

The policy envisages recognizing cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as “monetary assets” and expanding investor access to a strictly controlled market for digital assets, as previously reported by Cryptopolitan.

Also quoted by the official publication of the Russian parliament, the head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov, revealed that lawmakers intend to first approve the rules for the creation, mining, and circulation of cryptocurrencies.

This bill, which will also ban their use as a means of payment inside the country, will be considered on first reading within the next month.

“We plan to define administrative, financial, and, quite possibly, criminal liability for illegal activity in this market in separate legislative acts,” the prominent lawmaker pointed out.

The legislation will ultimately allow non-qualified investors, in other words, ordinary Russians, to legally acquire crypto assets like Bitcoin, although their purchases will be limited.

An annual cap of 300,000 rubles (less than $4,000) has been proposed, but the threshold is still subject to discussions and may be changed eventually.

Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation recently upheld the property rights of cryptocurrency owners, including the right to judicial protection.

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Whale orders have returned to BTC, but are currently protecting a price floor around $86,000 to $87,000. Above $90,000, price pressure is returning with a big sell wall. 

BTC is still attracting whales, which may establish a price floor at $87,000. Despite this, the coin remains range-bound, with spot selling pressure appearing above the $90,000 level. 

BTC traded at $88,842.62, recovering from a dip to the $85,000 range. For now, the leading coin finds buying support at the lower levels, as accumulation continues. 

BTC remains range-bound, with whale order liquidity setting the pace, establishing a price floor at $86,000 and a sell wall above $90,000. | Source: CoinGlass.

The orders are supporting relatively fearful trading, as the crypto fear and greed index dipped to 29 points, indicating fear. 

BTC is still seeking direction amid weakening trading volumes, with interest shifting to the record-breaking precious metals and stocks. 

BTC trading reverses to whale activity

After October’s downturn, most of the activity on major coins and tokens reversed to whales. BTC is now predominantly moved by whales, while accumulation is happening on mid-sized wallets. 

Recent data shows a pickup in the exchange whale ratio, with more big players making deposits and withdrawals. 

Whale orders remain relatively neutral at the moment, showing silent accumulation. Large-scale buying and withdrawals are happening more rarely. In January, big whale orders returned, although not at a scale seen during previous market rallies. The buying signals accumulation, rather than FOMO as BTC has lost its momentum.

For now, whale behavior shows no clear signs of bullishness or expecting a breakout. Binance reserves in stablecoins have decreased, while BTC deposits and reserves increased in the past weeks. 

BTC retains low open interest

BTC derivative trading remains slow, with open interest still at $27B. Historically, it would take three to six months for open interest to recover. However, after months of regular liquidations and range-bound trading, derivative markets lost their confidence. 

The current spot accumulation reflects some longer-term confidence, but the current positions are not indicating a bet on a bigger rally. Any recovery above $90,000 in the past weeks has led to another round of large-scale long liquidations. 

BTC whale orders are picking up, but remain smaller compared to previous market periods. | Source: CryptoQuant.

Based on the liquidation heatmap, most of the leveraged positions are longing BTC at the $86,000 range. There is more limited liquidity available only up to $92,000, with a limited potential for a short squeeze. 

Derivative markets also confirm the whale order range, with a potential price floor of $86,000. The recent price moves locked BTC into a lower price range, despite expectations for a rally at the start of 2026. In January to date, BTC only added a net 0.97%, with even more weakness observed for altcoins.

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China’s Moonshot AI, backed by e‑commerce giant Alibaba Group, today unveiled its newest artificial intelligence model, Kimi K2.5, intensifying what industry observers are calling the domestic race against rival startup DeepSeek and other global AI challengers.

Moonshot announced the launch of Kimi K2.5, its most advanced model yet, introducing a native multimodal architecture that processes text, images, and video in a single system.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that this update reflects a surging trend of omni models, led by key players in the tech industry, such as OpenAI and Google’s Alphabet Inc. 

Chinese AI titans race to upgrade models amid surging demand

The new version of Moonshot’s Kimi is one of the several upgrades launched over the last month. With this finding, sources noted that major AI firms in China are scrambling to get ahead of DeepSeek’s impending announcement.

Regarding its upcoming announcement, sources acknowledged that DeepSeek has been hinting at a major launch lately. Moreover, the Chinese artificial intelligence company’s research lab shared key publications from prominent team members, including its CEO, Liang Wenfeng, and code on GitHub, a premier cloud-based, Microsoft-owned platform.

In the meantime, reports revealed that Moonshot secured around $500 million in December last year from its significant supporters, including Alibaba and IDG Capital, demonstrating renewed investor interest in high-growth, technology-driven ventures. Furthermore, the company reached a $4.3 billion valuation through this deal.

On the other hand, sources with knowledge of the situation noted that Moonshot planned to release an enhanced version of its primary model at a time when demand for AI is surging. Therefore, to cope with this escalating demand, the AI startup initiated new funding rounds targeting a $5 billion valuation. 

This was after key Chinese AI rivals Zhipu and MiniMax Group Inc. announced in early January 2026 the successful introduction of their initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). Collectively, they raised more than $1 billion in the Special Administrative Regions of China.

Following their strategic approach to operations, Moonshot, Zhipu, and MiniMax Group Inc. are ranked among the top Chinese large language model developers, a competition once called the “War of One Hundred Models.” 

Nonetheless, analysts alleged that many smaller firms have struggled to implement necessary technology enhancements and secure adequate funding after DeepSeek’s R1 model reached key milestones at the start of 2025.

Moonshot ramps up AI race with coding tool

As competition in the tech ecosystem heated up, Zhipu launched a GLM-Image, an image generation model, in January, claiming it is China’s first state-of-the-art model fully trained on local chips without relying entirely on foreign chips. Just after this launch, Alibaba announced this week the introduction of a reasoning version of its leading proprietary model, Qwen3-Max.

Concerning Alibaba’s move, Moonshot asserted that it firmly believes its K2.5 AI model will outperform its open-source rivals in several benchmark tests. Additionally, the firm noted that this improved version of its main model is narrowing the coding skills gap compared to major proprietary models. 

To demonstrate its commitment to solidify its position as a leader in the industry, Moonshot made clear its intention to introduce an automated coding tool with the capabilities to compete with Claude Code, an AI-powered agentic coding tool developed by Anthropic.

Notably, Moonshot was established in March 2023 by Yang Zhilin, a former AI project lead at tech giants Meta Platforms Inc. and Google. He is also regarded as a leading expert in large language model development in China.

The artificial intelligence startup offers various subscription tiers for its chatbot and provides specialized technology solutions to enterprise clients; however, it still lags behind rivals such as Zhipu and MiniMax in commercialization. 

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China’s position as a major lender to developing countries has changed over the past 10 years, with fresh loans to low- and middle-income countries in Africa sharply declining while debt repayments have continued to rise.

Ten years ago, China was a net source of credit, sending $48 billion to low- and lower-middle-income nations through both public and private lenders. Today, it is a net extractor of $24 billion. The greatest significant reversal in Chinese finance has occurred in Africa. 

African nations experience net outflows from Chinese lending

ONE Data analysis released on January 27 found that African countries are now sending more money to China in debt repayments than they get in new loans.

The analysis revealed that Africa experienced the greatest impact in 2020–24, the most recent period for which data are available, with a $30 billion inflow from 2015–19 turning into a $22 billion outflow. “The fact that there’s less lending coming in, but that previous lending from China still needs to be serviced — that’s the source of the outflows,” said David McNair, executive director at ONE Data.

Many African governments are under increasing pressure to finance public services while relying less on external assistance as multilateral organizations step up funding. ONE Data analysis found that these multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank, now account for 56% of net flows, up from 28% ten years ago. Over this time, they have raised finance by 124%.

Cuts implemented in 2025 are not included in the data. David McNair stated that developing economies, particularly in Africa, have already been impacted by the closing of the U.S. Agency for International Development last year and a decrease in funding from other affluent nations.

McNair went on to say that official development assistance flows are expected to decline once data from 2025 becomes available in greater detail.

The research also noted a broader decline in private foreign debt and bilateral finance flows, both of which are expected to worsen with aid cuts starting in 2025. ONE Data revealed that long-term foreign debt from private sources, both public and publicly guaranteed, decreased from 19% of net flows to 1%. In the last five years, this kind of debt has dropped from $115 billion in net new resources between 2010 and 2014 to $7.3 billion.

African countries struggle under mounting public debt

African nations’ mounting debt to China and world lenders reflects the increasing fiscal strain on them. Between 2015 and 2024, African nations saw their average debt-to-GDP ratio climb from 44.4% to 66.7%. Lower public revenues and successive global crises drove this surge. 

Over this period, Angola led African countries with the largest debt to China, at $21.0 billion, followed by Ethiopia at $6.8 billion, Kenya at $6.7 billion, Zambia at $6.1 billion, and Nigeria at $4.3 billion. Beyond these countries, others such as Egypt, South Africa, Cameroon, and Côte d’Ivoire also have large loans, demonstrating a broader trend across the continent in which China continues to be a significant creditor.

This broader pattern is reflected in Kenya’s overall debt situation. As of June 2025, Kenya’s public debt stood at 11.81 trillion shillings ($91.3 billion). According to Kenya’s Finance Minister John Mbadi, the debt-to-GDP ratio was 63.7% in net present value terms, which is regarded as sustainable but carries a higher risk of hardship.

Of the total debt, Mbadi revealed that 5.48 trillion shillings, or $42.38 billion USD, was external debt owed to creditors and development partners such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and China.

In the fiscal year 2024–2025, the government spent 1.72 trillion shillings ($13.3 billion USD) on debt payments. It paid 579 billion shillings ($4.48 billion USD) to foreign creditors and 1.14 trillion shillings ($8.81 billion USD) to domestic lenders.

In November 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that Kenya’s debt was still manageable but fragile. Due to sluggish fiscal restructuring, it issued a warning about the serious dangers posed by excessive debt across both external and total public debt.

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Renewed macro uncertainty of yet another U.S. government shutdown and the resultant stalemate regarding the progress of the CLARITY Act have crippled Bitcoin and the broader crypto market. Most of the momentum we witnessed in the first two weeks of the year have now been stripped away. 

On top of this reset, Bitcoin is teetering on the edge of printing an unpleasant chapter in its history. For the first time since 2018, Bitcoin is close to printing a fourth straight red month. As the month draws to an end, traders are eyeing the $87.8K mark for BTC, as a close below this level would effectively confirm that outcome. 

A Rare Historical Pattern Emerging 

Bitcoin bull market corrections or drawdowns are not an uncommon phenomenon. In fact, when we look at history, the current correction of around 30% from the highs set in October last year sits well within the range of past bull-cycle corrections. We’ve actually seen steeper ones like in the 2021 bull cycle before the uptrend ultimately resumed. 

What stands out, however, is how rarely Bitcoin has printed four consecutive monthly red candles. Notably, the last time this happened in 2018, Bitcoin did not end its streak of red months with the fourth. Instead, Bitcoin went on to see a further  ~20% decline with two more red months. A similar setup played out in 2015, where losses ultimately approached close to 60% after the four month red streak. 

The takeaway is not that history must repeat, but that risk asymmetry increases around these inflection points. A fourth monthly red candle followed by confirmations such as steeper downside momentum, low volume and on-chain selling pressure would ultimately question the bull thesis. 

How Today Differs From 2018

The reason why history need not play out identically is because context matters. The dynamic and nature of Bitcoin as an asset class is completely different from what it was in 2018 and more so compared to 2015. Apart from being a much bigger asset in sheer market capitalization, which alone requires more capital to influence price, the composition of market participants has shifted meaningfully. 

For over a decade, Bitcoin was primarily front run by retail participants. That dynamic has categorically shifted with the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs, the expansion of institutional grade derivative markets and the maturation of liquidity and custody infra. The entry of some of the largest investment firms in Blackrock, Fidelity and others has anchored BTC deeper into traditional capital markets. 

At the same time, Public Bitcoin treasury companies entering the fray have added a new structural layer to Bitcoin’s supply dynamics. They now collectively own 5.42% of the total supply. 

Taken together, rising institutional participation and the rise of regulated avenues to gain exposure have fundamentally changed how Bitcoin should be viewed. It is no longer a retail-led ecosystem and this shift alters the assumptions that once underpinned many historical price patterns. 

What Traders Are Watching Into Month-End

As we approach month’s end, crypto sentiment has been oscillating between fear and extreme fear levels. Much of the bleak sentiment comes from the fact the macro uncertainties loom large but also by the sharp outperformance seen across other asset classes, particularly commodities. 

Right now, the line in the sand is the $87.8K mark. A close below here and BTC will print the fourth monthly red candle. Despite the downbeat outlook, follow through on volatility to the downside coupled with low volume will be the telltale sign of a move driven more by exhaustion than conviction.