ECC’s full Zcash dev team exited after a governance dispute with Bootstrap’s board; Josh Swihart cited “constructive discharge.” The departing team plans to form a new company, while Swihart and Zooko Wilcox said the open-source Zcash protocol stays

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has publicly expressed support for Roman Storm, a developer of the crypto-mixing service Tornado Cash, just days ahead of a key court hearing that could have far-reaching implications not only for Storm’s fate, but also for the future of open-source software devel

AGI Open Network has partnered with HPX to enhance the utility of digital assets in everyday life, providing secure crypto storage, spending, and yield opportunities. This collaboration aims to integrate AI with finance, unlocking new possibilities for users globally.

_Key Highlights:_ _Polygon ($POL) climbed over 6% following the launch of Polygon Labs’ Open Money Stack, despite broader market

_UK FCA plans a crypto licensing gateway in 2026, ending automatic registrations and tightening authorization rules before the 2027 regime._ The UK Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed plans to open a crypto licensing gateway in September 2026. This step precedes a new regulatory regime to

Ethereum’s Vision as the Internet’s Operating System Draws Closer The Ethereum network, often dubbed a decentralized layer-1 blockchain executing smart contracts, is increasingly being likened to an open-source operating system similar to Linux. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin emphasized

Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street investment banking giant, is accelerating its cryptocurrency business expansion. It plans to open spot trading for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana (SOL) on its electronic trading platform E-Trade in the first half of this year. Now, it also announces the launch of its own digital wallet in the second half of the year. Jedd Finn, head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, said in an interview with Barron’s: "This actually indicates that the way financial services infrastructure operates is about to change." Over time, as the infrastructure develops, we will be able to better integrate traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems. Notably, in the same week the news was revealed, Morgan Stanley also filed an S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Polygon launches Open Money Stack to move all money onchain. Record POL burns and planned upgrades reflect rising activity. Polygon has launched a new initiative called the Open Money Stack, which aims to bring all global money movement onchain. The protocol’s leadership believes this

According to CryptoQuant’s latest data, Bitcoin’s open interest in the cryptocurrency market has decreased to the lowest point since 2022, indicating that there is a significant change occurring in this market. Depending on what happens next, this could either indicate that we are entering a phase o

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently published an open letter supporting Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, directly stating that criminalizing software development activities could have far-reaching impacts on privacy rights, open-source innovation, and the overall tech industry. (Background: The U.S. Department of Justice convicted Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm of "unauthorized remittance," prompting collective support from the crypto community) (Additional context: From sanctions to legal trials: The debate over privacy and responsibility of the mixer Tornado Cash) Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently issued an open letter supporting Tornado Cash co-developer Roman Storm and criticized the recent trend of criminalizing software development activities.

ECC’s full Zcash dev team exited after a governance dispute with Bootstrap’s board; Josh Swihart cited “constructive discharge.” The departing team plans to form a new company, while Swihart and Zooko Wilcox said the open-source Zcash protocol stays

DeepNode (DN) has raised $5 million across community-first seed and strategic rounds to build what it calls the "world's first truly open intelligence network."

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that crypto asset service providers can apply to enter the UK market starting this fall. The application process is expected to open in 2026, with the new regime taking effect in 2027, requiring all companies to be authorized under the Financial Services and Markets Act.

Price remains range bound, showing hesitation and reduced momentum on the 12 hour chart. PENGU trades above $0.01221 support as sellers defend the $0.013 resistance zone. A confirmed break above $0.013 could open a path toward the $0.020 target. Pudgy Penguins price action has entered a

Dogecoin open interest has jumped 7% in the final trading sessions of 2025, reaching $1.52 billion as 12.25 billion DOGE tokens were committed to futures contracts—a potential bullish divergence amid ongoing price pressure.

Highlights of this Issue The weekly coverage period for this edition spans from January 2, 2026, to January 9, 2026. This week, the total on-chain market capitalization of RWA steadily increased to $19.8 billion, with holders surpassing 600,000; the total market cap of stablecoins slightly declined, but the monthly transfer volume surged by 29.04%, highlighting that "stock efficiency-driven" large-scale institutional settlements have become the main engine of activity, forming a structural divergence from the low activity of retail investors. Regulatory frameworks in multiple countries continue to improve: China's central bank explicitly states that it will steadily develop digital RMB, and cross-border scenarios are continuously being implemented, with WeBank completing the first cross-border QR code payment between China and Laos; South Korea plans to require stablecoin issuers to be bank-led, and Russia is accelerating the promotion of digital ruble applications within the budget system. Project activities are frequent: Jupiter launched the compliant reserve-backed stablecoin JupUSD, Tempo released the TIP-20 token standard designed specifically for payments. Traditional financial institutions are also actively engaging in...

On-chain data is real-time, transparent, and tamper-proof. TVL measures the total value locked but is easily affected by token prices and should be combined with USD net inflow. Trading volume tracks DEX and perpetual contracts, with market share changes being more important than absolute values. Open interest indicates liquidity. Fees are paid by users, while revenue remains with the protocol. Three steps: focus on continuous growth, track stock and flow, consider token unlocks.

Florida has experienced a clear shift in its legislative approach to cryptocurrency policy. Following the failure of previous proposals to significantly open up state-level investments in crypto assets, state lawmakers are now promoting related legislation in a more conservative manner, focusing on Bitcoin (BTC). The aim is to establish a strategically meaningful digital asset reserve for the state government while managing risks. According to Florida legislative records, the "Senate Bill 1038" proposed by Republican State Senator Joe Gruters was officially filed on December 30, 2025, and will be forwarded this week to the Senate Agriculture, Environment, and General Government Appropriations Committee for review. The bill still needs to pass committee hearings and votes before proceeding to the full Senate. SB 1038 Establishes a State-Level Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve The core of SB 1038 is to authorize the creation of a "Florida"

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has officially issued a "no-action" exemption letter to the cryptocurrency exchange Bitnomial, allowing it to launch "event contracts" and prediction markets based on digital assets, economic indicators, and other underlying assets. This decision not only clears a key regulatory hurdle for Bitnomial but also marks a more open attitude from U.S. derivatives regulators towards innovative financial products native to the crypto space. As the 2024 election cycle drives a surge in prediction market popularity, from Polymarket to Kalshi, on-chain prediction platforms are gaining unprecedented attention from mainstream culture and capital. This regulatory breakthrough could open a new chapter for the integration of traditional finance and decentralized finance in the complex derivatives field.

Zcash Core Team Establishes New Company to Launch “cashZ” Wallet and Promote Ecosystem Expansion Josh Swihart, a former core member of Electric Coin Company (ECC), announced that his team has left ECC and founded a new startup aimed at expanding Zcash to billions of users. The new company will launch a new wallet, “cashZ,” built on the Zashi codebase, with early access applications now open (cashz.org). Swihart emphasized that privacy should be a norm in the digital world, and Zcash needs an organizational structure with a “cyberpunk spirit” and scalable governance mechanisms to counteract large-scale surveillance trends and achieve true global adoption. AI Data Platform Protege Completes $30 Million Series A Funding Led by a16z

Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution Optimism's governance body, Optimism Collective, recently proposed a groundbreaking plan to allocate 50% of the total revenue of the Superchain ecosystem network for regular open market repurchases of its native token OP. This proposal is scheduled to enter governance voting on January 22, 2026. If approved, the buyback plan could be officially launched as early as February 2026, with an initial funding pool derived from 5,868 ETH (approximately $50 million) in protocol revenue accumulated over the past twelve months. This move aims to fundamentally reshape the value foundation of the OP token, aligning its value with the growth of the entire Superchain, including flagship chains like Base and World Chain. It marks OP's transition from a purely governance token to a new ecosystem asset with intrinsic value support and sustained demand.

_Key Highlights:_ _Polygon ($POL) climbed over 6% following the launch of Polygon Labs’ Open Money Stack, despite broader market

PIKZ has announced the launch of $PIKZ, the native utility token that will power its sports intelligence ecosystem. The launch marks a significant landmark for the platform, which combines sports analytics, artificial intelligence, and blockchain-based transparency into a single, open system. The t

The privacy track is shifting from early adversarial anonymity to a composable and compliant infrastructure model. As institutional participation deepens, regulatory frameworks take shape, and zero-knowledge technology matures, privacy has become an unavoidable key variable in crypto finance, developing towards programmable compliance and systematic approaches. This article is based on a piece by BitMart Research, organized, compiled, and written by Foresight News. (Background: Why is the privacy track the core narrative of crypto in 2026?) (Additional context: Slow Mist Yu Xian: Zcash is not default mandatory privacy, balancing architecture to open the door to compliance) Table of Contents 1. Current State of the Privacy Track: Structural Recovery in 2025 2. Why the Privacy Track is Key: Preconditions for Institutionalization and Complex Applications 3. Compliance Path of the Privacy Track: From Regulatory Confrontation

Ethereum’s Vision as the Internet’s Operating System Draws Closer The Ethereum network, often dubbed a decentralized layer-1 blockchain executing smart contracts, is increasingly being likened to an open-source operating system similar to Linux. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin emphasized

_BitMine starts 2026 with a $105M ETH buy, lifting its treasury to 4.07M ETH while holding $915M cash and expanding staking._ BitMine Immersion Technologies just made a massive move to open the new year.  The company spent $105 million to buy more Ether. This purchase confirms their plan to sta

Algorand (ALGO) price remains sideways around the 0.136 USD mark on Thursday, as it approaches a key support zone in the market. Maintaining this level could open up room for another rebound. Notably, investor sentiment is gradually improving, as reflected by the indicators

Huang Renxun announced at CES that the "ChatGPT moment for Physical AI is coming soon." NVIDIA released the Vera Rubin platform with a 5x increase in computing power, open-sourced Alpamayo autonomous driving, Cosmos world model, and Groot robot. Emphasized that two platform migrations occurred simultaneously: AI redo applications and Physical AI redoing reality.

Dogecoin has shown renewed strength in recent days, riding the broader uptrend across the crypto market. After posting a 20% weekly gain, DOGE has held above the $0.14 level and is now approaching a key resistance zone between $0.151 and $0.165. Since December 31, Dogecoin has advanced by

Written by: Liang Yu Edited by: Zhao Yidan The 2026 People's Bank of China Work Conference has concluded, with the deployment of "strengthening virtual currency regulation" and "steady development of digital RMB" clearly placed within the same policy framework. This is not merely a technical route choice but a profound declaration of a new financial development paradigm. It clearly indicates that the innovative trajectory of China's financial technology is being reshaped, and all explorations attempting to connect real assets with the digital world must navigate within this newly defined domain. According to Yicai on January 6, this conference set the tone for the year's work, emphasizing strict implementation of "penetrative regulation of payment institutions" and "strengthening virtual currency regulation, continuously cracking down on related illegal activities." Meanwhile, in terms of financial services, "steady development of digital RMB" has been listed as a routine key task. This combination of tightening and stabilizing,

RIVER rose 12% in a single day to $18.69, a 216% increase from the $7 low point over the week. RSI has been in the overbought zone above 70 for a long time, and the bulls are ignoring the warning signals. Open interest surged from 75 million to 108 million, with Binance perpetual contracts accounting for $20 billion in trading volume. The 24-hour trading volume decreased by 10%, and the shrinking volume with rising prices indicates hidden risks. Support levels are at $17.35 and $14.28, resistance at $21.71.

US President Donald Trump warned Republican lawmakers that a defeat in this year’s congressional midterm elections could lead to another attempt to remove him from office. According to Trump, if Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives, they would immediately look for a reason to

In brief Elon Musk says Nvidia’s autonomous driving software will not pressure Tesla for five to six years or longer. Nvidia unveiled Alpamayo, an open-source AI model family for self-driving systems, at CES 2026. Musk argues legacy automakers face long delays in integrating cameras and A

The price of Chainlink (LINK) has returned to the spotlight after a major regulatory catalyst. LINK is currently trading above $13, up roughly 12% over the past week, following the approval of a spot Chainlink ETF by US regulators for asset manager Bitwise. Analysts are now watching closely to see w

The crypto market experienced heavy selling pressure, with notable losses in Stellar (XLM) and XRP. Despite a recent price rally, profit-taking and liquidations led to declining open interest, yet overall market sentiment remains cautiously optimistic.

Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission Chair Peng Jinlong hinted at reviewing the NT$15 interbank transfer fee, which has remained unchanged for 12 years, with the possibility of lowering the rate. (Background recap: The 2025 review of stablecoins: You are in the Red Chamber, I am in Journey to the West) (Additional context: China's authorities have made their first official statement on stablecoins, marking the end of the gray era of StableCoin speculation) The NT$15 fee for each interbank transfer in Taiwan has been maintained for 12 years. During a question session at the Legislative Yuan Finance Committee on the 7th, FSC Chair Peng Jinlong stated that there is "reasonable room for discussion," indicating that the regulatory authority is open to reviewing the fee rate for the first time. > We will consult with the Financial Information Service Co. to understand whether there is room for adjustment in the current environment, balancing system stability and public burden. The gap between fixed fee rates and the doubling of transaction volume With technological evolution, interbank clearing is handled by the Financial Information Service Co., and automation on the banking side has significantly reduced manpower needs.

Dogecoin open interest has jumped 7% in the final trading days of 2025, reaching $1.52 billion as traders commit 12.25 billion DOGE to futures positions, signaling renewed conviction amid year-end volatility.

XRP outpaces Bitcoin and Ethereum as U.S. spot ETFs top $1b in assets, XRPL DEX liquidity surges, exchange balances sink, and futures open interest hits multi-month highs. Summary XRP has outperformed Bitcoin and Ethereum in early 2026 as U.S. spot XRP ETFs log over $1b in cumulative inflows an

Taiwan's cryptocurrency industry report shows that by 2025, the holding rate will reach a record high of 62.7%, with 82.7% of participants making profits. The Financial Supervisory Commission submitted the draft of the "Virtual Asset Management Act" to the Executive Yuan in June, establishing a licensing system and classification management. The Central Bank and the Hakka Affairs Council are promoting the Hakka Coin pilot program, issuing 280 million yuan to test retail CBDC. Four private banks have applied for custody services, and Taiwan Mobile's TWEX is open to the public.

Price Structure: SHIB holds above key demand zones, forming a base for potential bullish momentum. Golden Cross Potential: 50-EMA below 200-EMA may converge if price breaks out of descending wedge. Market Signals: Rising open interest and early MACD momentum support possible upside in 202

Interview: The Round Trip Compiled & Edited by Yuliya, PANews As the AI wave sweeps the globe at an unprecedented speed, a "arms race" centered around computing power has already begun. When Nvidia's market value surpasses one trillion, and giants like AWS and Google Cloud almost monopolize cloud computing power, a profound challenge faces all AI innovators: Will the high concentration of computing power stifle open innovation and lock the future of AI within the "walled gardens" of a few companies? With a successful track record of selling a company for $60 million to Snapchat and founding Product Science, which provides AI code optimization services for top enterprises, Gonka AI's co-founders David and Daniel

In brief EVA AI says it will open a pop-up Café in New York City where users can take their AI companions on real-world “dates.” The launch comes as AI companionship grows amid broader declines in dating and partnered intimacy. Experts are split, with some warning that the concept could d

Pundi AI has partnered with Pilot, an AI-powered Web3 co-pilot that aims to make the interaction between users and blockchain wallets and decentralized apps easier. The collaboration aims at leveraging open onchain data to build smarter and more intuitive AI wallet experiences that make it less

Hyperliquid has achieved significant growth, increasing its total value locked to $6 billion and user base to 1.4 million without external funding. Trading volume surged to $32 billion, with all fees returned to the community. New features and deepening liquidity mark its ongoing evolution in a competitive landscape.

iM Bank celebrates the opening of its new branch by launching high-interest deposit and savings products to attract customers to open accounts through non-face-to-face channels. The launched "The Coupon Deposit" offers an annual interest rate of 3.2%, while "The Coupon Savings" provides an annual interest rate of 15%. This strategy aims to stably attract customers. Although the short-term effects are significant, the long-term impact still needs to be monitored.

During the 2026 CES exhibition, NVIDIA (NVIDIA) officially announced a complete ecosystem called Alpamayo, composed of open-source AI models, simulation tools, and real driving data. The goal is to accelerate the development of "reasoning-capable" autonomous driving technology. This system targets the most challenging long-tail scenarios in self-driving, which are rare, complex, and seldom appear in past data. It aims to enable vehicles not just to see but to understand the situation like humans, reason about causality, and clearly explain why they make certain driving decisions. Alpamayo Open-Source Ecosystem Unveiled, Announcing Three Core Components At CES, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang (Jensen Huang) revealed the full architecture of the Alpamayo family, covering three main cores: VLA model with "thinking process"

Prediction markets and open-source intelligence signals are once again converging on a sensitive geopolitical flashpoint. On January 6, 2026, on-chain monitoring tool PolyBeats reported a 1250% spike in the so-called “Pentagon Pizza Index” over the past 24 hours—an indicator historically associated with heightened U.S. military activity.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview BTC (+1.17% | Current price 93,921 USDT): The daily chart shows that Bitcoin has broken above the medium- to long-term downtrend channel. The MACD green bars continue to rise, and the RSI is moving higher, releasing a somewhat positive technical signal, indicating that the price still has room for further upward movement. Currently, BTC is testing the resistance at around $93,400, a level that coincides closely with a previous high-volume trading zone. If this resistance is broken effectively, it could open the way to test the $100,000 mark. The liquidation heatmap indicates that recent major liquidation clusters are concentrated below the current price, especially in the $85,000–87,000 range, suggesting that leveraged long positions are relatively concentrated. In contrast, liquidity above is more dispersed, implying that before the market continues to rise, some time is still needed for momentum to build. The recent slow upward movement has already cleared some short

During the 2026 CES exhibition, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang delivered the keynote speech titled "NVIDIA Live" in Las Vegas. Rarely did he mention the GeForce graphics card product line, instead focusing entirely on data centers, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and open models. In this speech, Jensen Huang announced that NVIDIA has partnered with Mercedes-Benz, and the first AI autonomous vehicle has officially entered mass production. The safest Mercedes-Benz CLA, certified by NCAP, is equipped with NVIDIA's automotive model Alpamayo. It is expected to be launched in the US market in Q1, enter Europe in Q2, and potentially arrive in Asia as early as Q3 this year. The highly anticipated Vera Rubin is also fully投入 mass production. This is NVIDIA's in