Mining Updates

Main evening news: Grayscale has officially applied for a spot BNB ETF. This is a historic moment for the Binance ecosystem. Following the success of BTC and ETH funds, the arrival of institutional money in BNB could radically change the top 10 cryptocurrencies.
What will this change?
Legitimization: $BNB is sufficiently coming out of the shadows of regulatory disputes.

In the last 24 hours $BTC lost about 1%, settling at $88,970. The 'Greenland Agreement' rally has fizzled out, and the market is once again looking at US macroeconomic indicators.
Key facts for today:
Support zone: $88,500 proved to be a strong price, where buyers began to buy the dip.
Inflation expectations: January forecasts in the US have been revised to 4%, putting pressure on risk assets.

Today, January 25, the FCA (British regulator) officially announced the implementation of new rules for crypto companies. This is not just "another piece of paper"; it is a game changer for the entire European market.
Why is this important?
Protection above all: Now, platforms are required to prove that their products do not harm retail investors.

2026 officially became the year of the "supercycle". Today's successful listing of BitGo showed that the stock market once again adores crypto. But alongside this, AI tokens (TAO, RENDER, NEAR) continue to capture the attention of miners and speculators.
Two sides of the coin:
📈 Crypto company stocks: Reliable, regulated, suitable for large capital.

The market sighed with relief. Statements about the framework agreement regarding Greenland and the easing of tariff threats have revived risk appetite. $BTC is trading around $89,800, trying to establish itself above the psychological level.
What do the numbers say for today?
IPO Supercycle: Today, the crypto giant BitGo (BTGO) debuted on the NYSE. This is just the beginning — in 2026, we expect a whole wave of listings (Circle, Gemini).

While we discuss the price, technology is making a quantum leap. Today, January 23, the global stress test MegaETH has started. This Ethereum L2 project aims for the impossible: to process 11 billion transactions in 7 days at a peak speed of 47k TPS.
Why is this important?
The death of high fees: If MegaETH confirms stability, transaction costs in the ETH ecosystem could become negligible.

Ethereum has just introduced an updated roadmap for 2026, where the main goal is to make crypto as simple as Apple Pay. No more complicated 12-word phrases that can be lost. The new standard "Trustless Wallets" will allow authentication through biometrics or social networks without compromising security.

While BTC consolidates, the AI sector (Artificial Intelligence) demonstrates incredible strength. In January 2026, we see how "computational power" becomes more expensive than gold. Projects providing GPUs for AI training are becoming the new market favorites.
Top 3 directions for this week:
Render (RNDR) / Fetch.ai (FET): The integration of AI agents into real business processes pushes these tokens to new highs.

In 2026, the battle of blockchains reached a new level. Ethereum finally became the "foundation" for corporations, while Solana transformed into the main hub for retail users. But where is it more beneficial to be right now?
Ethereum L2 (Base, Arbitrum, Optimism):
Pros: Highest security and immense liquidity. Institutional money (funds, banks) choose these networks.

We started the year 2026 with great expectations, but the January correction made many nervous. The market $BTC is at a crossroads. On one hand, there is institutional acceptance and ETFs, on the other hand, concerns about inflation risks and new trade tariffs.
Miners continue to hold coins (HODL), and network difficulty is hitting records. This indicates the belief of major players that the true peak is still ahead. However, many small investors are starting to doubt whether there will be enough fuel to break through the six-digit mark this quarter.

Currently $BTC is trading in the consolidation zone of $91,000–$93,000. Despite macroeconomic pressure and U.S. tariff policy, the fundamental indicators of the network remain "bullish."
Important point: in January, a recalculation of mining difficulty is expected. The forecast is an increase to 148.20 T. This means that competition is intensifying, and miners continue to deploy new equipment, despite the temporary price pullback from historical highs.

The world of mining has changed forever. If previously we only talked about hash rate, today the key term is HPC (High-Performance Computing). Why are giants like MARA and Bitdeer actively retrofitting their data centers for Artificial Intelligence?
According to the latest reports, AI contracts generate 3 times more revenue per megawatt of power than traditional bitcoin mining. The operational margin from AI deals reaches 80-90%, while in mining it often amounts to less than 20% due to the high network complexity.

The Polymarket prediction market has once again shocked the financial world with an incredible success story. On January 17-18, 2026, a trader under the pseudonym beachboy4 demonstrated a true masterclass, earning an impressive $6.12 million in just 24 hours. The most interesting thing is that this incredible leap allowed him to cover almost 90% of his previous losses, which had accumulated over months.

At the beginning of 2026, the crypto community was shaken by rumors that the US government had secretly sold 57.5 $BTC , confiscated from the developers of the Samourai Wallet. However, Patrick Witt, the head of the President's Advisory Council on Digital Assets, officially denied this information, clarifying the situation that could undermine trust in the new rules of the game.

The Trove Markets project, which creates a decentralized exchange for trading perpetual contracts on collectible items (such as Pokémon cards), has found itself at the center of a loud scandal. After receiving over $11.5 million from investors for a launch based on Hyperliquid, the team suddenly announced a complete transition to Solana.

As of January 19, 2026, the Bitcoin network's hash rate has fallen below the psychological threshold of 1000 EH/s (1 zettahash). The founder of the StandardHash platform, Leon Liu, cited a reason that shocked the crypto community: it is not just a technical failure, but the beginning of a large 'great migration' of power.

In January 2026, the crypto community witnessed a sharp conflict between two industry leaders. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson publicly expressed dissatisfaction with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse's position on the CLARITY Act bill. While Garlinghouse supports the document, believing that 'bad regulation is better than no regulation at all,' Hoskinson calls such an approach a dangerous compromise.

Recent statements by Donald Trump, which many interpreted as skeptical of cryptocurrencies, triggered an immediate reaction in the market. Bitcoin, the flagship digital asset, reacted with a significant drop of 3% within a few hours. This led to a chain reaction – millions of dollars in long positions were liquidated, further intensifying the pressure on the price.

The law enforcement agencies of South Korea completed a large-scale special operation, as a result of which an international group was uncovered that laundered over $101.7 million through digital assets. This case has become one of the most high-profile this year, highlighting Seoul's determination to restore order in the crypto space.

The restaurant chain Steak 'n Shake, known for its burgers and milkshakes, has recently taken a bold step by adding an impressive $10 million in Bitcoin to its treasury. This decision marks a significant moment, as traditional businesses are increasingly viewing cryptocurrencies as a viable asset for investment and risk hedging. The investment reflects the growing confidence of large companies in digital currencies and their potential as a means of preserving and growing capital.