Crypto World Echo

Valkyrie amends Bitcoin Fund S-1 filing with enhanced custody and valuation rules

Valkyrie Investments refiled an amended Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday for its Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund, adding more precise rules around custody, valuation, seed investments, and risks as the cryptocurrency investment vehicle awaits regulatory approval to trade on Nasdaq. The new filing updates the index used to value the fund’s Bitcoin from Lukka Prime to the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate – New York Variant, which calculates the reference rate as of 4 PM Eastern

Report: China’s Digital Yuan Processes $55B as Cross-Border CBDC Rails Take Shape

According to a Reuters report citing data compiled by the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank that tracks central bank digital currencies ( CBDCs) and their expansion, China’s CBDC, known as e-CNY, has processed $55 billion through the ‘mBridge’ platform. Digital Yuan Momentum Builds as mBridge Fuels Cross-Border Payments China’s CBDC is steadily finding its […]

Ethereum may finally kill “trust me” wallets in 2026, and Vitalik says the fix is already shipping

Vitalik Buterin framed 2026 as the year Ethereum reverses a decade of convenience-first compromises. His thesis: the protocol stayed trustless, but the defaults drifted. Wallets outsourced verification to centralized RPCs.Decentralized applications became server-dependent behemoths that leak user data to dozens of endpoints. Block building is concentrated in the hands of a few sophisticated actors. The base layer held, but the experience became something else entirely.The response is a concrete

Blockchain Sleuth Spots Gamestop Shifting 100 Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime

According to onchain analyst Sani, Gamestop—the specialty retailer known for video games, consumer electronics, and gaming merch—moved 100 BTC, valued at roughly $9.5 million, over to Coinbase Prime, the crypto heavyweight’s brokerage arm. Reportedly, Gamestop shifted 100 BTC to Coinbase Prime on Jan. 17, 2026. The move was flagged by Sani, the onchain analyst who […]

Weekly Prediction Market Volume Skyrockets as Several Competitors Square Off

In the final week of 2025, weekly prediction market notional volume cleared $5.3 billion, and the opening week of 2026 pulled the same trick—once again topping $5 billion and etching fresh records into the sector’s ledger. Prediction Markets Gain Serious Attention Prediction markets have been stealing the spotlight lately, and data compiled by Dune Analytics […]

Bitcoin is lagging while metals soar, but this rare divergence preceded every major crypto breakout since 2019

Gold and copper have moved higher even as the Federal Reserve continues to signal patience on rate cuts, a divergence that shows how markets tend to price liquidity conditions ahead of formal policy shifts rather than wait for confirmation from central banks.These metals are responding to changes in real yields, funding conditions, and forward expectations, and that behavior has often appeared in earlier stages of easing cycles. In previous cycles, Bitcoin reacted later to the same forces, with

Saylor’s ‘Bigger Orange’ Hint Has Strategy Closing in on 700,000 BTC

Strategy’s founder dropped another breadcrumb on Sunday, posting an image of the company’s purchase tracker and offering only a knowing nod with the words “₿igger Orange.” ‘₿igger Orange’ Points to a Major Strategy Buy as 700,000 BTC Milestone Comes Into View Just seven days earlier, on Sunday, Strategy’s Michael Saylor hopped onto X to share […]

Pocket Option Faces Israeli Criminal Investigation Over "Illegal Binary Options Marketing"

The Israel Securities Authority, which oversees thecountry’s financial market, is conducting a criminal investigation againstIsraeli citizens suspected of promoting the binary options trading platform“POCKET OPTION.Binary options trading is banned in Israel. TheISA prohibited marketing and distribution of such products in 2016following widespread scams, and in 2017 extended the ban to Israelismarketing these services internationally. Despite this, the regulator saidPocket Option has continued to

The AI Sector and Crypto Narratives: Comparing ZKP, Solana, and Hyperliquid

Global markets show intense volatility, with daily volumes dropping 15%. While the Hyperliquid price consolidates and Solana attracts institutional inflows, their larger market capitalizations may limit short-term upside. This raises questions about whether large-cap assets can continue to deliver outsized returns compared with smaller, emerging projects.Some analysts point to Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP) as one potential approach within the broader AI-related crypto narrative. The project focuses

Bitcoin is the only “escape valve” left as the ECB warns a political tussle will soon destabilize the dollar

European Central Bank chief economist Philip Lane delivered a warning that most markets treated as European housekeeping: the ECB can stay on its easing path for now, but a Federal Reserve “tussle” over mandate independence could destabilize global markets through higher US term premiums and a reassessment of the dollar's role.Lane's framing matters because it names the exact transmission channels that matter most to Bitcoin: real yields, dollar liquidity, and the credibility scaffol

Nearly a Decade Abroad, UTrade Chief Analyst Is Extradited to Israel Over Binary Options Case

Mexican authorities have extradited Roy Cuzin to Israel inconnection with a binary options fraud case linked to UTrade. The Israeli StateAttorney’s Office confirmed the extradition on Thursday evening, Israeli mediareported.Cuzin was wanted for his alleged role in the case and hadbeen under investigation by the Securities Department of the Israel SecuritiesAuthority. He is expected to stand trial in Israel.UTrade Executives Face Fraud Convictions IsraelAccording to the indictment filed in Israel

Digitap Raises Over $4M: A Comparison with DeepSnitch AI

Both DeepSnitch AI and Digitap ($TAP) have been highlighted within some crypto communities for their distinct approaches. Although the two coins take a very different approach to blockchain, both of them try to link crypto with fiat currency in some way.However, early trends show differing levels of interest between the two projects. Investor interest in Digitap has grown, with over 190 million tokens reportedly sold so far.Although sentiment around DeepSnitch AI remains generally favorable, Dig

Silver Could Set a Peak for Years — Strategist Flags Silver’s Rare Three-Sigma Extreme

Silver is flashing rare historical extremes that have preceded major turning points, with long-term valuation metrics and equity comparisons suggesting the metal could be nearing a decisive phase that reshapes its price trajectory into 2026. Strategist Sees Silver Set a Peak for Years as Three-Sigma Pressures Build Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, […]

Ethereum staking just hit a $118B record at 30% of all coins, but one whale might be skewing the signal

More than 36 million ETH is now staked in Ethereum's proof-of-stake system, close to 30% of the circulating supply and worth over $118 billion at recent prices.Graph showing the amount of ETH staked in the Ethereum network from Oct. 16, 2025, to Jan. 16, 2026 (Source: ValidatorQueue)That headline number sounds like a clean vote of confidence: holders are locking up their ETH to secure the network, collect yield, and signal they’re in no rush to sell. The trouble with using “confidence&#822

Bitcoin Derivatives Tighten as Options Open Interest Builds Around Crucial Price Levels

Bitcoin hovered between $94,869 and $95,115 per coin at 9 a.m. EST on Jan. 18, 2026, while derivatives traders remained anything but idle. Futures and options markets show crowded positioning, heavy open interest, and a growing fixation on a narrow band of price levels just below $100,000. Bitcoin Derivatives Data Shows Markets Bracing for Volatility […]

Targeting $900B Remittances Could Drive The Best Crypto To Buy 2026

Every year, hundreds of millions of people send money across borders to support families, pay bills, and run small businesses. This global remittance flow is now valued at around $900 billion, yet much of it still moves through slow, expensive systems. Fees take a painful share, transfers take days, and users often have little control over rates or timing. In a world where messages travel instantly, money still crawls. That gap has created one of the biggest opportunities in modern finance. Digi

Battle at $95K: Can Bitcoin Bulls Hold the Line?

With bitcoin priced at $95,101 on Sunday, its market cap holding strong at $1.89 trillion, and a 24-hour trading volume humming at $19.02 billion, traders are watching a tight intraday range between $94,869 and $95,543 like hawks. The mood? Restless. The charts are calling out indecision with the subtlety of a marching band. Bitcoin Chart […]

Bitcoin Nears $100K, Ordinals Boom, and More — Week in Review

Bitcoin Nears $100K, Ordinals Boom, RLUSD at LMAX, Institutional Crypto Shift, and more in this Week in Review. Week in Review Bitcoin pushed above $97,000 on Jan. 14 as a Supreme Court tariff delay and Fed–Trump tensions helped spark a rally, Bitcoin ordinals surpassed 100 million inscriptions even as inscription hype cools, Ripple locked RLUSD […]

How crypto is being devoured by TradFi, killing Satoshi’s dream by rewarding centralization

Bitcoin’s price, and thus the entire crypto market, is increasingly being anchored by flows through regulated wrappers. Crypto is increasingly being subsumed by TradFi rather than offering an alternative to the broken system Satoshi criticized.U.S. spot ETF subscriptions and redemptions are now posting day-to-day swings that increasingly dominate the daily narrative tape.In practice, “priced by ETF flows” means the ETF print has become the cleanest, most legible proxy for marginal U.S.-dollar de

Latam Insights: Venezuelan Link to Trump’s ‘Gasolina,’ Brazil Battles Stablecoin Taxation

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compilation of the most relevant crypto news from Latin America over the past week. In this week’s edition, discover how Venezuela might be linked to Trump’s viral “Gasolina” dance, Brazil’s crypto industry vows to battle stablecoin taxation, and Lemon launches the first bitcoin-backed card in Argentina. White House’s Oil Gambit […]