Cointelegraph.com
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Cointelegraph.com - 17:55 Jan 14, 2026
The investigation into Zcash, launched with an SEC subpoena over a “matter of certain crypto asset offerings,” ended this week, according to the foundation. The foundation behind Zcash (ZEC) said that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will not pursue an enforcement action into the privacy coin after the end of an investigation launched in 2023. In a Wednesday notice, the Zcash Foundation said the SEC “concluded its review” over a “matter of certain crypto asset offerings” and would not recommend enforcement actions or changes. According to the foundation, the regulatory probe started in August 2023 after it received a subpoena from the SEC. “This outcome reflects our commitment to transparency and compliance with applicable regulatory requirements,” said the foundation. “Zcash Foundation remains focused on advancing privacy-preserving financial infrastructure for the public good.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 17:45 Jan 14, 2026
Etherealize CEO Vivek Raman argues that ETH's lagging price masks strengthening fundamentals that could reshape how the token is valued in 2026. Ether’s price performance left many investors frustrated last cycle. While other assets captured attention with faster rallies, ETH has struggled to keep pace, raising questions about whether Ether is losing relevance or simply being misunderstood. In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Vivek Raman, CEO of Etherealize, offered a very different perspective. Rather than focusing on short-term price action, Raman pointed to a growing gap between market sentiment and Ether’s (ETH) underlying fundamentals, which he says may define the opportunity in 2026. Raman highlighted Ethereum’s continued dominance in areas that matter most to institutions. Today, the Ethereum network and its layer-2 chains host the majority of stablecoin activity, within a market that exceeds $300 billion globally. Ethereum is also the leading network for tokenized real-world assets, with data sh... -
Cointelegraph.com - 17:45 Jan 14, 2026
Bitcoin rallied to $97,500, and multiple data points suggest bulls are planning to push the price above $100,000. Is the bull market back? Bitcoin’s (BTC) start-of-year recovery continued into the second week of January as the cryptocurrency made fresh 2026 highs above $96,000. The rally confirmed a new higher high structure, and traders are hopeful that a rally above $100,000 is the next target. Key takeaways: Bitcoin secured a daily close above $95,000, confirming a higher high and weakening near-term resistance. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 17:05 Jan 14, 2026
Vitalik Buterin argues DeFi still lacks resilient decentralized stablecoins, highlighting benchmark risk, oracle design flaws and staking-driven incentives. A decentralized stablecoin aims to maintain a stable value while being issued and managed onchain, without relying on a single company to mint or redeem dollars. Stablecoins are already central to decentralized finance (DeFi). Because fiat money is not native to blockchains, stablecoins perform the day-to-day role of moving value between protocols and acting as collateral. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 17:02 Jan 14, 2026
The Nasdaq-listed company is rolling out an onchain equity system that allows real shares to be issued and lent directly on blockchain infrastructure. Figure Technology Solutions, a blockchain-focused financial technology company, is pushing stock lending on-chain with a new system that allows investors to lend shares directly to one another without relying on traditional securities intermediaries. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the company has launched the On-Chain Public Equity Network, known as OPEN, which allows companies to issue real equity directly on Figure’s Provenance blockchain. Unlike other tokenized stock offerings, which typically mirror existing shares through synthetic instruments, the equity issued on OPEN represents actual ownership. Those shares can be lent or pledged directly on the blockchain, bypassing intermediaries such as custodians, exchanges and brokers, according to Figure CEO Mike Cagney. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 16:22 Jan 14, 2026
DASH price surged as capital rotated into privacy coins, with traders shifting away from Zcash after its governance turmoil. Key takeaways: DASH surged on privacy-coin rotation following the Zcash fallout. Multiyear resistance raises odds of an 80% price correction. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 16:08 Jan 14, 2026
Banks argue that stablecoin rewards offered through exchanges exploit a GENIUS Act loophole, blurring the line between payment tokens and savings accounts. The GENIUS Act was designed to keep stablecoins as payment tools rather than savings products. As a result, it bans issuers from paying interest or yield to stablecoin holders. Community banks argue that a loophole exists because exchanges and affiliated partners can still offer rewards on stablecoin balances, even if the issuer itself does not pay yield. Smaller banks are more concerned than large banks because they rely heavily on local deposits. Any outflow of deposits could directly reduce lending to small businesses and households. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 15:34 Jan 14, 2026
Bitcoin price action headed to new eight-week highs, diverging from US stock markets after higher-than-expected November Producer Price Index data. Bitcoin (BTC) spiked to $97,000 at Wednesday’s Wall Street open as crypto markets shrugged off resurgent US inflation. Key points: Bitcoin reaches fresh eight-week highs, shrugging off high US PPI inflation data for November. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 15:07 Jan 14, 2026
The launch expands Aptos’ reach in CFTC-regulated derivatives markets and adds to Bitnomial’s altcoin futures offerings as investor interest in altcoins grows. Chicago-based crypto exchange Bitnomial has launched monthly futures contracts tied to the Layer-1 blockchain Aptos’ native token, marking the first APT derivatives product regulated under the US oversight. The contracts will be available to institutional clients through Bitnomial’s clearing members, with retail access expected in the coming weeks via the company’s Botanical platform. According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the contracts feature monthly expirations and settle in either US dollars or Aptos’ native APT (APT) token, depending on the position. Monthly futures are standardized derivatives that allow traders to gain price exposure over a defined period without holding the underlying asset. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:20 Jan 14, 2026
While US regulators dithered and Singapore moved cautiously, the United Arab Emirates has been forging ahead with its pro-crypto empire. -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:20 Jan 14, 2026
While US regulators dithered and Singapore moved cautiously, the United Arab Emirates has been forging ahead with its pro-crypto empire. -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:12 Jan 14, 2026
RWA blockchain Mantra is restructuring and cutting staff after an OM token collapse and prolonged market pressure strained its business model in 2025. Update Jan. 14, 2:20 pm UTC: This article has been updated to add comments from Manta CEO John Patrick Mullin. Mantra, a blockchain project focused on real-world assets (RWAs), is restructuring its operations after what its leadership described as the most difficult year in the company’s history, marked by a sharp token collapse and prolonged market pressure. On Wednesday, Manta CEO John Patrick Mullin announced that the company would transition to a leaner and more capital-efficient structure following a period of expansion. The changes include job cuts across multiple teams and a streamlining of operations to better match near-term market conditions. Read more -
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
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