Crypto

Tightening KYC regulations and growing scrutiny on the digital economy are triggering more investor demand for privacy-preserving digital assets like Monero. Privacy-preserving cryptocurrency Monero surged to a new all-time high on Tuesday as tightening digital asset regulations contribute to heightened investor demand for privacy coins. Monero (XMR) rose to a new all-time high above $687 on Tuesday, up around 14% rise over the past 24 hours, according to TradingView data. Monero has gained roughly 45% in the past week, becoming the 12th largest crypto by market cap as the total market capitalization of privacy-focused coins rose by 3.5%, and trading volume soared 32%, CoinMarketCap data shows. Read more

The U.S. Consumer Price Index came in roughly in line with expectations as market participants largely expects the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged at the January meeting.

Polygon Labs signaled that it’s becoming a regulated payments company by acquiring Coinme and Sequence for a combined $250 million.

Franklin Templeton is amending institutional money market funds to support stablecoin reserves and onchain cash use without launching new crypto-native products. Franklin Templeton has amended two Western Asset institutional money market funds (MMFs) to plug directly into the emerging US stablecoin regime and tokenized cash infrastructure rather than launching new crypto native products. According to a release shared with Cointelegraph, Franklin Templeton is adapting the two long‑running Western Asset institutional funds so they can be used more directly in US GENIUS‑aligned stablecoin reserve structures and blockchain‑enabled distribution channels, without changing their status as Securities and Exchange Commission‑registered 2a‑7 MMFs. The changes are designed to allow the funds to serve as regulated, government-backed collateral for payment stablecoins and other tokenized cash uses without altering their core regulatory status. Read more

By integrating WalletConnect Pay, Ingenico is testing whether stablecoins can function as a practical alternative to card networks in everyday commerce. Payments terminal provider Ingenico has partnered with WalletConnect Pay to enable in-store stablecoin payments across its point-of-sale (POS) systems, marking one of the clearest pushes yet to bring cryptocurrency payments into everyday retail checkout. In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Ingenico said the integration allows customers to pay using stablecoins including USDC (USDC), EURC (EURC) and USDt (USDT) directly from their WalletConnect-compatible mobile wallets without relying on traditional card networks.  Supported wallets include MetaMask and Trust Wallet. Transactions are initiated at the terminal and are settled through WalletConnect Pay’s infrastructure.  Read more

The financial services firm lays out a pretty straightforward bull case for Bitcoin as it matures—will it come to fruition?

The move comes as crypto projects increasingly position themselves as offering payment platforms that resemble traditional digital banks, but operate on blockchain rails.

The investment manager sees a split Bitcoin outlook but is bullish on gold and AI stocks, as political risks challenge traditional market anchors.

Crypto experts say political pressure on the US Federal Reserve could drive volatility, but also shift flows toward Bitcoin and gold in the long run. Global central bank leaders have rallied behind US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, warning that political pressure on the Fed risks undermining financial and economic stability worldwide. In a joint statement released Tuesday, governors from 11 major central banks said they “stand in full solidarity with the Federal Reserve System and its Chair Jerome H. Powell,” stressing the importance of central bank independence. The statement comes after US authorities opened a criminal investigation into Powell over a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s headquarters, a move that has intensified tensions between the central bank and the Trump administration. Read more

"We will exclusively give away $2,000 worth of PI,” X account Pi News promised.

ZKsync’s 2026 plan shifts focus from experimentation to production-ready infrastructure designed for banks, enterprises and regulated financial systems. Layer-2 network ZKsync released a 2026 roadmap that puts privacy, deterministic control and native interoperability at the center of its strategy for institutional digital asset adoption. Its plan, published by Matter Labs co-founder and CEO Alex Gluchowski, frames zero-knowledge technology as a foundational infrastructure for regulated finance.  The roadmap follows a year of infrastructure delivery. In 2025, the network rolled out core components including Atlas, Prividium and Airbender. According to Gluchowski, these systems were designed to meet operational realities faced by banks, enterprises and governments, where confidentiality and performance are critical requirements.  Read more

Blockchain data revealed suspicious liquidity manipulation, massive wallet concentration, and a rug-pull-like scenario in Eric Adams' NYC token launch.

The Fermi hard fork upgrade has improved BNB Smart Chain's throughput and finality, and Grayscale has filed for a BNB ETF.

The asset manager sent 3,290 bitcoin, worth about $298 million, along with 5,692 ether valued near $17.8 million.

Your day-ahead look for Jan. 13, 2026

The U.K. clearing bank has selected Taurus' wallet infrastructure as it expands into digital assets and stablecoin-based payments.

BNB Chain’s Fermi hard fork goes live on Wednesday, cutting BSC block times from 0.75 seconds to 0.45 seconds and tightening fast-finality rules. BNB Chain’s Fermi upgrade, which goes live Wednesday, will cut BNB Smart Chain (BSC) block times from 0.75 seconds to 0.45 seconds and push transaction finality to “around one second,” positioning the network as one of the fastest major Ethereum Virtual Machine chains.  The hard fork completes the final phase of BNB Chain’s “short block interval” roadmap and is framed as a performance and reliability upgrade rather than a cosmetic tweak. With Fermi, BSC validators will produce blocks every 0.45 seconds, almost halving the time it takes for transactions to be confirmed onchain.  Read more

Bitcoin investors are bracing for a rare convergence of market forces this week, walking into a gauntlet of three distinct macro and policy catalysts packed into a single 72-hour window. The catalysts include the release of December’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Tuesday, a potentially historic Supreme Court opinion day on Wednesday regarding executive tariff […] The post Bitcoin is walking into a perfect setup for a long-term bull run but first faces a brutal 72-hour gauntlet appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The 21Shares Bitcoin Gold ETP allocates two-thirds to gold and one-third to Bitcoin and trades in pounds sterling and dollars on the London Stock Exchange. 21Shares, a major global exchange-traded product (ETP) provider, has expanded access to its investment product that combines exposure to Bitcoin and gold. The 21Shares Bitcoin Gold ETP (BOLD), which tracks both Bitcoin (BTC) and gold, debuted trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Tuesday, according to an announcement. “Now that retail investors in the UK have access to crypto ETPs, 21Shares is dedicated to delivering a wider selection of innovative regulated products,” 21Shares CEO Russell Barlow said. Read more

Long-term holders bought 720M XRP in three days as the price holds above $2.04, with traders watching for a breakout above $2.10.