Cointelegraph.com
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Cointelegraph.com - 14:00 Jan 14, 2026
Crossmint has secured MiCA authorization from Spain’s CNMV to operate as a crypto asset service provider, allowing it to passport stablecoin infrastructure services across the EU. Crossmint has secured a Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) authorization from Spain’s securities regulator CNMV to operate as a crypto asset service provider (CASP), positioning it as a regulated stablecoin infrastructure provider across all 27 European Union member states. Miguel Angel Zapatero, Crossmint general counsel, told Cointelegraph that the company was held to “the exact same standards” as traditional financial institutions, marking an end to any notion that MiCA offers a lighter regime for crypto businesses. He said that MiCA created a “level playing field” and built confidence in the sector thanks to “consistent standards and enforcement,” adding that the days of the “wild wild west” era were over, and that MiCA brought “certainty to more traditional clients who were not confident enough in crypto technology.” ... -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:55 Jan 14, 2026
Bitcoin ETF flows have swung sharply in early 2026 as investors pour billions into traditional ETFs, leaving crypto funds lagging behind. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have had a volatile start to 2026, with sharp swings in investor demand even as money pours into traditional ETFs at an unusually fast pace. US-listed spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs pulled in $753 million on Tuesday in their second consecutive day of inflows after a four-day losing streak, according to Farside Investors data. Bitcoin ETFs have raked in a total of $660 million in net inflows so far in 2026 as demand for the funds continued to fluctuate. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:26 Jan 14, 2026
Retail crypto access will initially cover Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and Cardano through participating cooperative banks. DZ Bank, one of Germany’s largest banking groups by assets, secured a license under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), clearing a key regulatory hurdle to operate crypto services within the jurisdiction. DZ Bank announced Wednesday that it had received approval from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) to operate its crypto platform, “meinKrypto,” which is designed to provide crypto trading infrastructure to banks within Germany’s cooperative banking network. The platform will be made available to participating local banks in the coming months. Under the model, DZ Bank will act as the central operator of the platform, while individual cooperative banks will determine whether to offer the crypto services to their retail customers. Each participating bank must file a separate MiCA notification with BaFin before enabling crypto trading. Read ... -
Cointelegraph.com - 12:35 Jan 14, 2026
Onchain gold products added billions in new value last year, outpacing physical bullion and most gold ETFs as trading activity increasingly shifted to blockchain rails. Onchain gold products added billions in new value last year, growing faster than the overall gold market and most major spot gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as onchain trading activity accelerated. The market capitalization of tokenized gold jumped 177% over the past year, while the number of holders nearly tripled, with more than 115,000 new wallets added during the year, outpacing most other RWA categories, according to data compiled by Cex.io from public blockchain and market sources. The tokenized gold market added close to $2.8 billion in net value in 2025, expanding from about $1.6 billion to $4.4 billion, per the report. That increase alone represented almost 25% of total net inflows across the RWA sector, exceeding the combined growth seen in tokenized stocks, corporate bonds and non-US Treasurys. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 12:07 Jan 14, 2026
Bankinter joins Tether and BBVA in the $35 million investment round after the Spanish crypto exchange received its MiCA license in 2025. Spanish bank Bankinter has taken a minority stake in Spanish cryptocurrency exchange Bit2Me, joining stablecoin issuer Tether and other investors as traditional banks deepen their ties to the digital asset industry. The investment, announced Wednesday, makes Bankinter the latest large financial institution to back Bit2Me following the exchange’s 30 million euro ($34.9 million) funding round announced in August. That round included Tether and Spain’s BBVA, and was aimed at supporting Bit2Me’s expansion across Spain and the wider European Union. The scope of the investments is to “achieve technological and knowledge synergies,” while supporting Bit2Me's fintech expansion throughout Spain and the European Union, Bankinter said. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:37 Jan 14, 2026
Perp DEXs handle only a fraction of the trading activity seen in TradFi investments, but their infrastructure is catching up to the slow and fragmented centralized trading venues. Perpetual decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are gaining traction as traders turn to blockchain-based platforms that promise lower costs and fewer intermediaries than traditional centralized venues. Perp DEXs are blockchain-based venues for trading perpetual futures contracts, allowing traders to bet on the underlying asset's price with leverage and without an expiry date. Crypto research firm Delphi Digital said in its outlook for 2026 that perp DEXs are poised to continue taking market share from traditional finance products. It argued that decentralized infrastructure is structurally more efficient than legacy systems, which it described as fragmented and expensive to operate. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:24 Jan 14, 2026
Backpack exchange launched an invite-only beta for its Unified Prediction Portfolio, letting users hedge and trade across markets in a single crypto account. Backpack, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by former employees of Alameda Research and the defunct FTX, is entering prediction markets with an ambitious plan to unify balances from different types of trading. The exchange has launched private beta testing for its new platform, called the Unified Prediction Portfolio, Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante said in a post on X on Tuesday. “This isn’t yet another wrapper over Kalshi, Polymarket, or any other prediction market platform,” Ferrante wrote, describing the forthcoming market as a “native system with everything tokenized and risk profiled, together.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:21 Jan 14, 2026
Visa has chosen BVNK to power Visa Direct pilots using stablecoins, enabling pre-funded cross-border payouts to wallets in select markets. Visa has chosen United Kingdom‑based stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK to power new Visa Direct pilots, allowing some business customers to pre‑fund cross‑border payouts in stablecoins and deliver digital US dollars directly to recipients’ wallets in select markets. The partnership, announced Wednesday, builds on Visa’s earlier stablecoin experiments, including onchain settlement tests with USDC on networks like Ethereum and Solana. The move follows a strategic investment in BVNK in May 2025 through its Visa Ventures arm, as card schemes race to embed tokenized dollars into their treasury and payout rails. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:05 Jan 14, 2026
Bitcoin held near yearly highs as traders weighed geopolitical risks and a potential US Supreme Court tariff ruling that markets appear to have already priced in. Bitcoin (BTC) consolidated around $95,000 toward Wednesday’s Wall Street open as analysis dismissed macroeconomic threats. While geopolitical risks and US trade policy uncertainty remain in focus, traders appeared more influenced by liquidity conditions and relative asset performance, with Bitcoin lagging gold and equities before reclaiming $95,000. Key points: Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 01:48 Jan 14, 2026
“We have never seen financial conflicts or corruption of this magnitude,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren on US President Donald Trump's links to World Liberty Financial. US Senator Elizabeth Warren is pressuring the country’s banking regulator to hold off on considering World Liberty Financial’s bid for a bank charter until US President Donald Trump divests his interest in the crypto platform. In a letter on Tuesday, Warren asked Comptroller of the Currency, Jonathan Gould, to delay reviewing World Liberty’s application for a national trust bank until Trump “eliminates all financial conflicts of interest involving himself or his family and the company.” “We have never seen financial conflicts or corruption of this magnitude,” Warren said. “The United States Congress failed to address them when it passed the GENIUS Act into law—so it is incumbent for the Senate to address these real and serious conflicts of interest as it considers crypto market structure legislation.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 01:29 Jan 14, 2026
An average of 327,000 wallets were created each day on average over the past week, likely pushed by a flurry of financial activity combined with recent network upgrades. A combination of protocol-level upgrades, stablecoin activity, and a shift in crypto sentiment has helped push Ether wallet creation to its highest levels in history. Over the last week, an average of 327,000 new wallets have been created per day, with Sunday recording the highest number ever for a single day at over 393,000, Santiment analysts said in an X post on Tuesday. New wallets can signal that fresh users, developers, or institutions are entering the ecosystem. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 00:10 Jan 14, 2026
Ugandan officials claimed that they could also shut down the internet-free, encrypted messaging app last week, but haven't done so yet. Bitchat has become the most-downloaded app in Uganda as state officials confirmed that internet access has been cut off and will remain inaccessible during the presidential election, which starts on Thursday. It marks the third straight election in which Ugandan authorities have cut internet access, a move officials said is necessary to mitigate the spread of online misinformation. However, critics argue that shutting off the internet suppresses election-related information and can potentially manipulate the outcome. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 22:14 Jan 13, 2026
The “digital-first“ bank created in 2022 is set to go public on the Nasdaq, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. Old Glory Bank, a crypto-friendly lender, said it will merge with Digital Asset Acquisition Corporation to form a Texas-based company listed on Nasdaq. In a Tuesday notice, Old Glory and special purpose acquisition company Digital Asset Acquisition Corporation said they plan to form OGB Financial Company as part of an effort to go public under the ticker symbol OGB. The deal is expected to close “at the end of the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2026,” subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. “We intend for Old Glory Bank to be the first chartered bank to fully integrate crypto into daily banking,” said the bank’s co-founder and chief innovation officer, Michael Shaw, adding: Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 22:04 Jan 13, 2026
The all-stock deal adds Semler’s 5,048 BTC to Strive’s treasury, lifting total holdings to 12,797.9 BTC and ranking it 11th among public companies. Strive’s stock fell about 12% on Tuesday after the asset manager announced an all-stock deal to acquire Semler Scientific, a transaction that will significantly expand its Bitcoin holdings. The company, co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, said on Tuesday that it has secured shareholder approval for the acquisition, which would add Semler Scientific’s 5,048.1 Bitcoin to Strive’s existing treasury. Following the transaction, Strive's total Bitcoin holdings would rise to 12,797.9 BTC. Strive is already the 11th largest publicly traded Bitcoin holding company, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET data. The company also disclosed the purchase of an additional 123 Bitcoin for its corporate treasury, lifting its standalone holdings to 7,749.8 BTC. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 21:29 Jan 13, 2026
Jeremy Barnum told JPMorgan shareholders that yield-bearing stablecoins risk creating a parallel banking system without the safeguards of traditional regulation. Stablecoins emerged as a topic during JPMorgan Chase’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, with executives expressing support for blockchain technology while warning that certain stablecoin designs could threaten the regulated banking system. The comments came in response to a question from Evercore analyst Glenn Schorr, who asked about stablecoins in light of recent industry lobbying by the American Bankers Association and ongoing congressional markups related to digital asset legislation. Responding to the question, JPMorgan chief financial officer Jeremy Barnum said the bank’s position aligns with the intent of the GENIUS Act, which seeks to establish guardrails around stablecoin issuance. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 21:28 Jan 13, 2026
Ethereum remains the leader in total value locked, but declining usage and economic uncertainty in the United States may hinder a rally to $4,000. Key takeaways: Ether trades near $3,200 as weaker network usage and US economic uncertainty limit its price upside. Layer-2 networks drive most Ethereum activity, but cheaper rival blockchains reduce the chance of Ether reclaiming $4,000 soon. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 21:16 Jan 13, 2026
Less than two weeks into office, Zohran Mamdani said ”no” when questioned whether he held any crypto or planned to invest in a former New York City mayor's memecoin project. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Monday that he does not own cryptocurrency and has no plans to invest in digital assets, distancing himself from crypto-related initiatives promoted by his predecessor. Speaking to the press at Samson Stages, Mamdani responded “no” when asked whether he held any cryptocurrency, adding that he also had no interest in buying the NYC Token launched earlier this week by former mayor Eric Adams. Adams launched a new memecoin, the NYC Token, on Monday in his first major public move since leaving office. He said proceeds from the token would support education initiatives and other social causes. However, the token faced “rug pull” allegations after unverified reports that the team intentionally removed liquidity, causing investors to lose millions of dollars. The details were not publicly known at the time... -
Cointelegraph.com - 19:40 Jan 13, 2026
Steady ETF inflows, a bullish cup and handle chart pattern and improving sentiment across the total crypto market could propel Solana price to $190. Solana (SOL) is getting more attention from traders now that its price structure is tightening beneath a key resistance zone. After months of consolidation, analysts suggest the altcoin may be preparing for a decisive trend break. Key takeaways: Solana has formed a high-time-frame cup and handle pattern, with a breakout target around $180 to $190. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 19:16 Jan 13, 2026
Bitcoin’s muted 2025 rally and fading altcoin cycle point to a structural market shift, leaving crypto’s 2026 outlook tied to institutions, rates and retail return. 2025 proved disappointing for many cryptocurrency investors, as Bitcoin’s traditional four-year cycle delivered a more muted rally that failed to spill over into the broader altcoin market. According to crypto market maker Wintermute, the shift reflects a structural change rather than a temporary pause, leaving any recovery in 2026 dependent on several uncertain factors. In its digital asset OTC market review, Wintermute said the market’s long-standing pattern of “recycling,” in which gains in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) flowed into altcoins and fueled extended, narrative-driven rallies, broke down in 2025. Instead, liquidity concentrated in a small group of large-cap assets, driven largely by exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and institutional inflows. The result was narrower market breadth and sharper divergence in performance, suggesting that capi... -
Cointelegraph.com - 17:52 Jan 13, 2026
With the CLARITY Act scheduled for a markup on Thursday, some lawmakers could still be at odds over decentralized finance, stablecoins and ethical concerns. As US senators prepare to mark up a major crypto market structure bill this week, industry leaders are weighing in on proposed changes that could shape whether stablecoin holders can earn interest and rewards. According to an amended draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act released on Monday, the bill states that “a digital asset service provider may not pay any form of interest or yield [...] solely in connection with the holding of a payment stablecoin,” effectively barring passive, deposit-like returns on stablecoin balances. The draft leaves room for structured reward mechanisms, as stablecoin rewards would not be prohibited under certain circumstances, including “providing liquidity or collateral” or “governance, validation, staking, or other ecosystem participation.” Read more
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