Cointelegraph.com
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Found 6844 news
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Cointelegraph.com - 22:02 Jan 18, 2026
Overregulation of the crypto industry would negatively impact markets and gut decentralized finance (DeFi), according to Michaël van de Poppe. The failure of the CLARITY crypto market structure bill to advance in the United States Congress is positive for crypto markets and the industry, according to market analyst Michaël van de Poppe. Van De Poppe cited crypto exchange Coinbase withdrawing support for the bill on Wednesday and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s X post listing several concerns with the most recent version of the bill. The issues included a “de facto ban” on tokenized stocks, government access to user records on decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and prohibiting yield-bearing stablecoins, Armstrong said. Van De Poppe said: Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 20:53 Jan 18, 2026
The expanded prohibition on stablecoin yield in the CLARITY Act makes the US dollar less competitive than the Digital Yuan, Scaramucci said. The prohibition on yield-bearing stablecoins in the CLARITY Act puts the US dollar at a competitive disadvantage to China’s Digital Yuan, a yield-bearing central bank digital currency, according to Anthony Scaramucci, founder of asset manager SkyBridge Capital. “The whole system is broken,” Scaramucci said in response to the prohibition on crypto exchanges and service providers offering customers yield on stablecoins in the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure framework for the US. He asked: The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, began allowing commercial banks to pay interest on digital yuan deposits in January. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:41 Jan 18, 2026
Vitalik Buterin warns that Ethereum’s push to add new features while preserving backward compatibility is inflating protocol complexity, calling for a “garbage collection” process. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is urging developers to confront the protocol bloat driven by an endless push to add new features while rarely removing old ones. In a Sunday post on X, Buterin argued that true trustlessness and self-sovereignty depend less on raw decentralization metrics and more on simplicity. “Even if a protocol is super decentralized with hundreds of thousands of nodes, and it has 49% byzantine fault tolerance, and nodes fully verify everything with quantum-safe peerdas and starks, if the protocol is an unwieldy mess of hundreds of thousands of lines of code and five forms of PhD-level cryptography, ultimately that protocol fails,” he claimed Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:00 Jan 18, 2026
Crypto’s interoperability layer reveals a gap between the industry’s decentralization narrative and how value actually moves across blockchains. Moving value across blockchains is now largely mediated by a small group of centralized intermediaries despite crypto’s long-standing claims of decentralization. Michael Steuer, president and chief technology officer of Casper Network, framed this dynamic as a structural outcome of the industry’s approach to interoperability and user experience. With a background spanning mobile gaming, enterprise software and early blockchain development, Steuer approaches the industry’s interoperability problem as a question of how real users interact with technology. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 09:25 Jan 18, 2026
Security failures don’t just drain funds, they often destroy trust, leaving most hacked crypto projects unable to recover despite fixing the technical flaws. Nearly four out of five crypto projects that suffer a major hack never fully regain their footing, according to Mitchell Amador, CEO of Web3 security platform Immunefi. Amador told Cointelegraph that most protocols enter a state of paralysis the moment an exploit is discovered. “Most protocols are fundamentally unaware of the extent to which they are exposed to hacks, and are not operationally prepared for a major security incident,” he said. According to Amador, the first hours after a breach are often the most damaging. Without a predefined incident plan, teams hesitate, debate next steps and underestimate how deep the compromise may go. “Decision-making slows as teams scramble to understand what happened, leading to improvisation and delayed action,” he said, adding that this is frequently when additional losses occur. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 07:10 Jan 18, 2026
In 2024, the Bank for International Settlements stepped back from mBridge, seeking to distance itself from sanctions-related speculation surrounding the platform. China-led cross-border digital currency platform mBridge has processed more than $55 billion in transactions as efforts to build payment rails that operate outside traditional dollar-based systems find momentum. Project mBridge, a multi-central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform, has now settled over 4,000 cross-border transactions with a cumulative value of roughly $55.5 billion, according to data compiled by the Washington-based Atlantic Council. That figure marks a nearly 2,500-fold increase since the project’s early pilot phase in 2022. The platform is currently being tested by central banks in mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. China’s digital yuan, or e-CNY, accounts for an estimated 95% of total settlement volume on mBridge. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 06:27 Jan 18, 2026
Michael Saylor shares his thoughts on criticism around Bitcoin treasuries, an exec says CLARITY Act ‘has a long way to go‘: Hodler’s Digest -
Cointelegraph.com - 04:49 Jan 18, 2026
The massive staking inflows are strengthening ETH’s supply-demand dynamic, potentially setting the stage for upward price momentum this year. The Ethereum staking validator exit queue has dropped to zero — signaling a dramatic fall in selling pressure and strengthening confidence in Ether (ETH) as a yield-bearing asset. Data from Ethereum Validator Queue shows the exit queue has fallen from its September 2025 peak of 2.67 million Ether (ETH) to 0 ETH, while the entry queue has risen more than fivefold over the last month to 2.6 million ETH, the highest since July 2023. Wait times for the entry queue have now stretched out to 45 days, while exiting ETH is being processed in a matter of minutes. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 01:15 Jan 18, 2026
Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko said Solana fees could fund AI-assisted development to write and improve Solana’s codebase in the future. Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko said he wants Solana to be a constantly evolving network, continuously updating to meet the changing needs of users, contrasting with Vitalik Buterin’s vision of Ethereum as a self-sustaining blockchain. “Solana needs to never stop iterating. It shouldn’t depend on any single group or individual to do so, but if it ever stops changing to fit the needs of its devs and users, it will die,” Yakovenko stated in a post to X on Saturday. His remarks were in response to a post from Buterin, who said Ethereum needs to reach a point where it passes the “walkaway test,” meaning it becomes self-sustainable without developer influence for decades to come. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 22:06 Jan 17, 2026
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the industry is working on several ideas to help community banks in the CLARITY market structure bill. Brian Armstrong, the CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase, denied reports that the White House is considering pulling support for the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure bill, and also denied rumors that the administration is “furious” with Coinbase. “The White House has been super constructive here. They did ask us to see if we can go figure out a deal with the banks, which we're currently working on,” Armstrong said. On Friday, independent journalist Eleanor Terrett reported a clash between Coinbase and the administration of US President Donald Trump, with the White House threatening to withdraw support for the market structure bill if Coinbase did not resume negotiations. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 20:58 Jan 17, 2026
The company began accepting Bitcoin as a method of payment in May 2025, following hundreds of store closures between 2018 and 2025. Steak ‘n Shake, a fast-food restaurant chain that accepts Bitcoin (BTC) payments at its stores, announced on Friday that its BTC corporate treasury grew by $10 million in notional value. “All Bitcoin sales go into our strategic Bitcoin reserve,” the company said, adding that adopting BTC as a treasury asset has led to a flywheel effect that increases same-store sales, which, in turn, grows the company’s BTC stash. In May 2025, the company announced it would start accepting BTC as a method of payment at all its locations worldwide, in a phased rollout. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 18:36 Jan 17, 2026
The bill is still a "priority," White House Crypto Council Director Patrick Witt said, but interagency legalities remain a challenge. Progress is being made toward establishing a Bitcoin (BTC) strategic reserve in the United States, but “obscure” legal provisions are holding up the process, according to Patrick Witt, the director of the White House Crypto Council. Several government agencies are discussing the legalities and regulatory issues of establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve, including the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), Witt told the Crypto in America podcast. He said: US President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a “Digital Asset Stockpile” that included altcoins and other types of cryptocurrencies in March 2025. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 12:33 Jan 17, 2026
Bitcoin entered a decisive breakout phase, targeting $107,000 as long-term holder selling fades and BTC continues to leave exchanges, tightening supply. Bitcoin (BTC) could reclaim $100,000 as support and rally toward $107,000 in the coming days, driven by a combination of supportive technical and fundamental metrics. Key takeaways: Bitcoin’s breakout is gaining traction, backed by bullish technicals and fading selling pressure. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:27 Jan 17, 2026
Spot Bitcoin ETFs posted their strongest week since October as institutional investors returned via regulated products, helped by reduced whale selling and tightening effective supply. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded $1.42 billion in net inflows over the past week, marking their strongest weekly performance since early October amid a renewed return of institutional demand. According to data from SoSoValue, inflows into spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs peaked midweek, with Wednesday recording the largest single-day net inflow of roughly $844 million, followed by $754 million on Tuesday. Despite late-week pullbacks, including a $395 million outflow on Friday, the sequence of large midweek inflows pushed the weekly total to $1.42 billion, the strongest since early October when the funds attracted $2.7 billion. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 09:54 Jan 17, 2026
The crypto user was reportedly deceived by an attacker impersonating Trezor support, tricked into revealing their hardware wallet seed phrase. A crypto user has lost more than $282 million worth of Bitcoin and Litecoin in one of the largest social engineering attacks ever recorded in the crypto sector. The theft occurred on Jan. 10, 2026, at around 11:00 pm UTC, after the victim was tricked into revealing their seed phrase linked to a hardware wallet, according to blockchain investigator ZachXBT. The attacker gained full control of the wallet and rapidly moved the funds across multiple networks to obscure the trail. According to ZachXBT, 2.05 million Litecoin (LTC), currently worth $153 million, and 1,459 Bitcoin (BTC), now worth around $139 million, were drained. The attacker immediately began converting the stolen assets into Monero (XMR) through several instant exchange services, triggering a sharp spike in XMR’s price as well. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 06:44 Jan 17, 2026
Coinbase withdrew support for the CLARITY Act, warning the draft would restrict DeFi, ban tokenized equities and eliminate stablecoin rewards. The White House is considering withdrawing its support for crypto market structure bill following a similar move from crypto exchange Coinbase, according to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, citing a source close to the Trump administration. In a Sunday post on X, Terrett reported that the White House is furious over Coinbase’s decision to pull its backing for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, describing the move as a “unilateral” action that blindsided administration officials. “The White House is said to be furious with Coinbase’s “unilateral” action on Wednesday, which it apparently was not notified of in advance, calling it a “rug pull” against the White House and the rest of the industry,” she wrote. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 06:32 Jan 17, 2026
ETH price cooled down from its recent rally as US macroeconomic factors, reduced DApps activity and falling fees impact traders’ use of Ether derivatives. Key takeaways: ETH derivatives flash caution as pro traders remain neutral-to-bearish, and weak DApps demand and falling fees pressure Ether’s price. Corporate ETH buying and spot ETF inflows have not restored investor confidence, as lower staking yields and soft network activity persist. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 04:33 Jan 17, 2026
Vitalik Buterin wants improved private payments, easier running of full nodes, decentralized apps that don’t rely on centralized services, and more on-chain privacy. The Ethereum ecosystem’s core values of decentralization, privacy and self-sovereignty have been sacrificed in pursuit of mainstream adoption and that trend must stop now, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said. “2026 is the year that we take back lost ground in terms of self-sovereignty and trustlessness,” Buterin posted to X on Friday: To reverse that trend, Buterin wants to see improved private payments, lower the barrier to entry for users to run full nodes and decentralized apps that don’t run on centralized servers. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 02:25 Jan 17, 2026
Being the first federally chartered bank, Anchorage is looking to become a leading stablecoin issuer in 2026, with plans to double the size of its stablecoin team this year. Institutional crypto platform Anchorage Digital is looking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars of fresh capital as it eyes a potential Initial Public Offering. The raise would be in the $200 million to $400 million range, while a possible IPO is slated for sometime next year, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous. Anchorage’s affiliate, Anchorage Digital Bank National Association, became the first federally chartered crypto bank in 2021 and is now well-positioned to lead stablecoin issuance and related services following the passage of the GENIUS Act in July. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 00:05 Jan 17, 2026
Selling the Bitcoin would have violated President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14233, which mandates that any Bitcoin obtained through criminal or civil forfeiture “shall not be sold.” A White House crypto advisor said he received confirmation from the US Department of Justice that no Bitcoin forfeited from the Samourai case was sold, putting rumors to rest. The confirmation was shared on X by Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the White House President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets: “We have received confirmation from DOJ that the digital assets forfeited by Samourai Wallet have not been liquidated and will not be liquidated,” Witt posted to X Friday, adding that the forfeited Bitcoin would remain part of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Read more
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