Cointelegraph.com
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Found 6874 news
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Cointelegraph.com - 15:29 Jan 02, 2026
Bitcoin could be getting ready for a rally toward $94,500, but higher levels are expected to attract selling by the bears. Key points: Bitcoin’s tight range trading is expected to culminate with a range expansion in the near term. Some major altcoins are showing signs of strength and may start a relief rally in the short term. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:20 Jan 02, 2026
Axie Infinity will take more risks in 2026, Illivium’s working on a new risk-to-earn deathmatch, and Yat Siu’s thoughts on Trump: Web3 Gamer. One of the best known Web3 games, Illuvium, is taking a gamble on the emerging risk-to-earn gaming model, and wants players to help craft the rules of its mysterious new game. The game is meant to be simple, easy to understand, and full of risk, which, in turn, creates excitement and, ideally, viral, streamable moments, Illivium founder Kieran Warwick said in a recent X post. Warwick explained that 100 players will enter with their illuvials, which are creatures in the Illivium world, and fight to the death. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:02 Jan 02, 2026
Experts say the digital euro’s outcome hinges on a political compromise with parties fighting for the limits of privacy and online functionality. Trade-offs between local institutions are expected to shape the digital euro’s final form, as debates continue over holding limits and privacy features. The EU Council recently announced that it is backing the European Central Bank’s digital euro design, which includes both online and offline functions. According to Apostolos Thomadakis, head of the financial markets and institutions unit at the European Policy Studies think tank, "cash-like privacy” with anti-money laundering rules is among the digital euro’s “hardest political tradeoffs.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:00 Jan 02, 2026
Crypto exchanges are preparing their 2026 playbooks around licenses, stablecoins and tokenized assets, and OKX’s Haider Rafique argues that a tamer, macro‑driven Bitcoin is the backbone of that shift. The cryptocurrency industry is growing under tighter rules, as large exchanges shape their next cycle around licenses and products built to withstand regulatory scrutiny. Instead of chasing explosive growth through speculative listings and high-leverage trading, the focus for 2026 is shifting toward sturdier foundations, such as tighter fiat ramps, compliant derivatives in more jurisdictions and building out stablecoin and tokenization rails. Cointelegraph spoke with Haider Rafique, global managing partner at OKX, to unpack how major exchanges are preparing for the year ahead. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:49 Jan 02, 2026
Onchain data from Nansen showed Solana, BNB Chain, Base, Tron and NEAR handled the most transactions in 2025, as users looked for high‑throughput, low‑fee networks. Onchain analytics firm Nansen ranked Solana, BNB Chain, Base, Tron and NEAR Protocol as the busiest blockchains in 2025. Solana led the pack with 23.01 billion transactions, while BNB Chain followed with 3.89 billion. Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 Base handled 3.29 billion for third, as Tron trailed with 3.22 billion and NEAR came in fifth with 1.89 billion. Even as 2025 was marked by institutional adoption, retail-focused use cases continued to dominate transaction volumes, particularly on blockchains with low fees and high throughput. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:15 Jan 02, 2026
Memecoins added $3 billion in market cap in one day, led by PEPE’s 23% surge and the buzz around the MemeMax_Fi DEX, hinting at a possible "meme season" underway. Memecoins like Pepe (PEPE), Bonk (BONK), and Dogecoin (DOGE) were among the best-performing cryptocurrencies on Friday, posting significant gains as the market geared up for 2026. Key takeaways: Memecoin market cap surged 8% to $39.45 billion, a two-week high, signalling strong demand. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:00 Jan 02, 2026
India is urging other countries to develop CBDCs, and China is expanding the use of its digital yuan, allowing banks to offer interest on e-CNY wallets. Russia’s Ministry of Justice has proposed new fines for unregistered cryptocurrency miners. This comes after the finance minister raised concerns about the rise in unauthorized mining activities. A draft bill proposed by the ministry would impose a fine of 1.5 million rubles (about $19,000) and up to two years in a labor colony. Illegal mining involving “outsized profits” could see a maximum of five years in prison, 480 hours of forced labor and a fine of up to 2.5 million rubles. Unregistered miners are a growing problem in Russia, where only 30% have registered their operations as of June 19, according to Deputy Minister of Finance Ivan Chebeskov. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 12:30 Jan 02, 2026
Bitcoin faced familiar $90,000 BTC price resistance into the year's first Wall Street open as gold made a comeback from local lows. Bitcoin (BTC) approached $90,000 into the first Wall Street open of 2026 with a new CME futures gap in focus. Key points: Bitcoin attempts a breakthrough at $90,000 as markets brace for the first US trading session of the year. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 10:33 Jan 02, 2026
Coinbase's "everything exchange" includes an all-in-one platform as competition intensifies among crypto firms chasing the super app model. Coinbase intends to prioritize stablecoins, its Ethereum layer-2 Base and building out its exchange products past cryptocurrencies throughout 2026, according to CEO Brian Armstrong. In a New Year’s social media post Armstrong reaffirmed Coinbase’s “everything exchange” strategy, which includes products like prediction markets, equities and commodities. At its year-end conference in December, Coinbase launched stock trading and prediction markets as part of its push. The company has also rebranded its wallet app as an “everything app,” adding social networking and onchain features. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 09:04 Jan 02, 2026
With trading-hour extensions and digital finance upgrades underway, Korea Exchange is positioning for crypto ETFs while approvals remain stalled. South Korea’s securities and derivatives exchange operator, Korea Exchange (KRX), plans to increase its new investment products, including crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and derivatives, as part of a broader push to modernize capital markets. Speaking at the first trading day ceremony of the new year, KRX chairman Jeong Eun-bo signaled the exchange was operationally prepared to support crypto ETFs, even as regulators continued to deliberate whether such products could be approved under existing securities regulations. Jeong framed the move as part of South Korea's efforts to move beyond the “Korea discount,” a phenomenon where domestic stocks trade at lower valuations than global peers. The dynamic is different in crypto, where Bitcoin often trades at a premium on local exchanges compared with overseas platforms. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 06:48 Jan 02, 2026
Ethereum OG Kain Warwick, the founder of Infinex and Synthetix, missed the mark by about $20,000. Crypto executive Kain Warwick is set to pay up $50,000 after betting that Ether would hit $25,000 in 2025, joining one of many market participants who overestimated the speed of Ether’s recovery after its dip in October. Ether (ETH) ended Dec. 31 trading at roughly $2,980, around 13.7% lower than where it started at the beginning of the year, according to CoinMarketCap. Part of it was due to a $19 billion crypto market liquidation on Oct. 10 that triggered a downtrend, pushing Ether as low as $2,767 before it slowly crept upward again. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 04:54 Jan 02, 2026
The crypto sentiment indicator finally moved out of the “extreme fear” territory despite Bitcoin still treading below $90,000. A widely used crypto market sentiment indicator has shaken off its “extreme fear” rating as of Friday, returning to its highest levels in 21 days despite still trading under $90,000. The index, which measures overall crypto market sentiment, recorded a “fear” score of 29 in its Friday update, climbing out of the “extreme fear” zone to its highest level since Dec. 12. The price of Bitcoin (BTC) is $88,995 at the time of publication. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 04:49 Jan 02, 2026
Solana finished the year with record tokenized RWA activity and strong inflows into Solana ETFs, which could push SOL toward new highs in 2026. Solana appears poised to expand from its memecoin-focused, retail-dominant network this year, after posting record real-world asset tokenization activity in December. Data from RWA.xyz shows the value of tokenized RWAs on Solana increased nearly 10% over the last month to a record-high $873.3 million, while the number of Solana RWA token holders rose over 18.4% to 126,236 over the same timeframe. The majority of these RWAs back US Treasuries, such as the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund and the Ondo US Dollar Yield, which boast market caps of $255.4 million and $175.8 million, respectively. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 03:55 Jan 02, 2026
Crypto service providers in Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework-participating jurisdictions will start ramping up transaction data collection and begin sharing information in 2027. Crypto investors across 48 countries will start to have their crypto wallet transaction data recorded for tax purposes this year, as the long-awaited Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework rolls out globally. CARF, an international tax transparency framework developed by the OECD, officially goes into effect in 2027. However, as of Jan. 1, crypto service providers in participating jurisdictions — including centralized and certain decentralized exchanges, crypto ATMs, and brokers and dealers — are already required to begin collecting the necessary transaction data. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 03:38 Jan 02, 2026
Based on Bitcoin's realized price and past performance, CryptoQuant’s Julio Moreno predicts that Bitcoin will bottom around $56,000 to $60,000 in 2026. Bitcoin may already be two months into a bear market, according to certain metrics such as the one-year moving average, says CryptoQuant’s head of research. During an episode of the Milk Road show on Thursday, CryptoQuant’s Julio Moreno said most of the metrics he uses for the bull score index turned bearish in early November and have yet to recover. The index measures market conditions using indicators like network activity, investor profitability, Bitcoin demand, and liquidity, and ranges from 0 to 100. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 02:07 Jan 02, 2026
Polymarket traders are holding back their optimism back for Bitcoin this year, despite many analysts tipping the price to hit $150,000 and above. Prediction market traders on Polymarket are tipping 21% odds of Bitcoin hitting $150,000 this year, despite many analysts seeing 2026 as a belated bull year for Bitcoin. According to the current market, “What price will Bitcoin hit before 2027?” Polymarket shows 45% odds of Bitcoin reaching $120,000, a price point below its all-time high. The odds fall further at $130,000, with just a 35% probability, while $140,000 has a 28% chance and $150,000 has a 21% chance. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 00:37 Jan 02, 2026
Turkmenistan has started the year with a bang, with new laws legalizing the operation of crypto exchanges and crypto miners kicking in on Jan 1. Crypto mining and trading is now legal in Turkmenistan after a new law signed by President Serdar Berdimuhamedow in late November took effect on Thursday. Implementation of the new laws could see the Central Asian country’s economy expand beyond its heavy reliance on natural gas exports by tapping surplus energy for crypto mining, following the lead of neighboring country Kazakhstan. Turkmenistan is considered to be one of the more closed-off countries in the world, but has taken several steps to open up its economy in recent years, including to the tourism and energy sectors. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 22:02 Jan 01, 2026
Although monetary losses declined, users still lost tens of millions of dollars to common cybersecurity exploits like address poisoning scams. The total losses from hacks and cybersecurity exploits in the crypto industry amounted to about $76 million in December, a 60% decrease from November’s $194.2 million in losses, according to blockchain security company PeckShield. There were 26 major crypto exploits in December, PeckShield said in an X post, with one user losing $50 million in an address poisoning scams, a type of attack where the threat actor sends small amounts of cryptocurrency from a wallet that closely resembles a legitimate wallet address, betting that the intended victim won’t notice the discrepancy. Typically, the first and last four characters of the addresses match, with the attacker hoping that the victim will accidentally send funds to the fraudulent address by selecting the poisoned address from their transaction history without closely examining the entire string. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 21:38 Jan 01, 2026
The plan to address a multimillion-dollar exploit continued with "phase two progress" on EVM after it scrapped a plan to roll back the blockchain. The Flow Foundation is continuing to implement a remediation plan in response to a $3.9 million exploit of the blockchain on Saturday, flagging concerns about large token movements on a centralized exchange. In a Thursday X post, Flow said it had made “significant progress” in its recovery plan, now entering phase two and expected to take several days. According to the platform, developers had “identified a path to restore EVM [Ethereum Virtual Machine] functionality” as it addressed its non-EVM chain, Cadence. “The Community Governance Council continues executing cleanup transactions under validator-authorized boundaries, consistent with established precedents for digital asset recovery,” said Flow. “All remediation activity is publicly auditable on-chain through block explorers. Cadence and EVM remediation will now proceed simultaneously.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 20:00 Jan 01, 2026
Bitcoin cash-and-carry trades faded toward the end of the year, leading funds to shift to Bitcoin options for yield. Is the strategy putting a cap on BTC price? Key takeaways: Covered calls gained traction as cash-and-carry returns collapsed, but data shows they are not structurally suppressing Bitcoin’s price. Stable put-to-call ratios and rising put demand suggest hedging and yield strategies coexist with bullish positioning. Read more
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