At the World Economic Forum in Davos, the French central bank governor and Coinbase CEO clashed over whether trust in money comes from institutions or decentralized Bitcoin. The long-running tension between central banks and Bitcoin resurfaced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where senior executives and policymakers debated regulation versus innovation in digital finance. Trust in money must come from regulated public institutions rather than private crypto issuers, French central bank Governor François Villeroy de Galhau said during a panel titled “Is Tokenization the Future?” on Wednesday. “The guarantee for trust is independence on the central bank side,” Galhau said, adding: “I trust more independent central banks with a democratic mandate than private issuers of Bitcoin.” Read more
Crypto markets dip as global macro pressures mount, with US-EU trade tensions and Japanese bond sell-offs fueling institutional caution. Spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) faced heavy outflows on Tuesday, as macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on markets. Spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs recorded $483.4 million in daily outflows, with the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) leading the selling at $160.8 million, followed by Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) at $152 million, according to data from SoSoValue. Spot Ether (ETH) ETFs posted $230 million in net outflows, ending a five-day streak of positive flows, with BlackRock's ETHA seeing $92.3 million exit. Spot XRP (XRP) ETFs also registered their largest single-day outflow yet at $53.3 million, while Solana (SOL) ETFs bucked the trend with $3 million in net inflows. Read more
Several chartists warn that Bitcoin could decline toward $30,000 in February as the price action mirrors previous four-year cycles. Bitcoin’s (BTC) 30% drawdown from all-time highs did little to deter large investors, who continued to increase their holdings throughout January. Key takeaways: Large holders are buying the dip, signaling long-term confidence. Read more