Watching blogger Lao Li's attitude towards different projects in 2026 from solid to flexible is quite interesting and worth further in-depth research #加密市场观察 $BTC
XRP: A Benchmark for Cross-Border Payments and Settlements in Digital Assets
In the complex ecosystem of the cryptocurrency market, most assets are still exploring the boundaries of practical value, while XRP has anchored a clear positioning since its inception—focusing on efficient cross-border payments and settlements, becoming a key bridge connecting traditional finance and the digital economy. This clear value orientation has allowed it to maintain a unique competitive advantage amidst market fluctuations, making it a core choice for institutional applications. The core advantage of XRP stems from its precise solution to the pain points of traditional cross-border payments. The traditional SWIFT system relies on multiple intermediaries and correspondent accounts, resulting in settlement cycles of 1-5 days, while incurring high intermediary fees and exchange rate losses, with trillions of dollars of global funds being idly occupied to maintain liquidity. In contrast, XRP, leveraging the native XRP Ledger (XRPL) technology, achieves instantaneous settlements in 3-5 seconds, with transaction costs at just a few cents, completely disrupting the efficiency bottleneck of traditional payments. Its innovative On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) mechanism is a revolutionary breakthrough: at the time of payment initiation, local fiat currency can be instantly converted into XRP as a bridging asset for cross-border transfer, which can then be quickly converted back to the target fiat currency at the receiving end, without the need to lock in funding reserves in advance, greatly unleashing capital vitality. Santander Bank has reduced the remittance time from Europe to Latin America from several days to minutes using the XRP corridor, and MoneyGram has optimized the U.S.-Mexico remittance corridor with the help of XRP, both demonstrating the commercial value of this technology.
Russell 2000 Index and Cryptocurrency K-line Analysis: Relationship Since 2021 and 2026 U.S. Policy Forecast
The Russell 2000 index, as a benchmark for small-cap stocks, has shown significant positive correlation with cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin and Ethereum, since 2021, with correlation coefficients reaching 0.72 and 0.70, respectively. Their price charts exhibit strong synchronization, both driven by shifts in risk appetite.
Historical K-line comparison Russell 2000 rose from around $193 at the beginning of 2021 to about 2,500 points by 2026, rebounding after the 2022 bear market low. Bitcoin surged from around $29,000 to over $110,000 at its 2025 peak, stabilizing near $90,000 in January 2026; Ethereum followed a similar trend, rising from $730 to over $3,000. Both assets rose in sync during the 2021 bull market, plummeted in 2022, and recovered in 2024–2025, highlighting the联动 of high-risk assets.
[Systemic Black Swan] Federal Reserve Chairman Powell Faces Criminal Prosecution Risk.
Powell issued a formal statement on January 11, confirming that the Department of Justice had issued a grand jury subpoena. Powell stated in a rare public statement that the investigation into his so-called "misleading testimony" is merely an "excuse" and is essentially political intimidation by the administration due to dissatisfaction with interest rate decisions. He warned that this would undermine the independence of the central bank. Original statement by Powell: "This new threat has nothing to do with my testimony from last June, nor with the renovation of the Federal Reserve building. This is not about Congress's oversight responsibilities; the Federal Reserve has made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project through testimony and other public disclosures. These are all excuses.
Cryptocurrency Market Liquidity Dilemma: The Underlying Logic Behind the Silence of Altcoins
Cross-market Liquidity and Asset Logic: Fundamental Insights from Precious Metals to Cryptocurrencies As a professional in the cryptocurrency industry, I have always been accustomed to identifying development patterns and trend signals in the crypto sector by analyzing global macro markets and the interconnections among various assets. Recent performances in the precious metals market, unusual movements in the US stock market, and the recent dormancy of altcoins—seemingly independent market phenomena—are actually tightly linked by two main threads: liquidity and macroeconomic indicators. Core concepts such as silver demand, central bank gold purchases, and real interest rates are crucial to understanding cross-market asset fluctuations. Today, I will break down the underlying logic behind these phenomena from my professional perspective and clarify the meanings of related key terms.
Why Has Bitcoin Become a Must-Have Amid the Fed's Ongoing Monetary Easing and Surging M2?
When I recently reviewed the M2 money supply data from the St. Louis Fed (FRED), one thought kept running through my mind — the purchasing power of the US dollar is being gradually diluted by the Federal Reserve's policies. Looking at the chart showing M2 rising steadily since 1950, with a near-vertical spike in recent years, the data for November 2025 has already reached $22.3224 trillion. Combined with the Fed's latest policy announcement — a 25 basis point interest rate cut and a commitment to purchase $20 billion in short-term Treasury bonds monthly — as a cryptocurrency professional, I increasingly believe that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are no longer 'optional' but a 'must-have' in any asset allocation strategy.
According to on-chain analyst Yujin's monitoring, the whale 0x94d...814 transferred 255 BTC (worth $21.77 million) into Hyperliquid 22 days ago at a price of $85,378, then used these funds to engage in high-frequency trading over the past 22 days, achieving a 62% win rate through 69 trades and earning $9.9 million in profit.
In the last two days, this whale has consistently been long, now holding long positions worth as much as $310 million, with an unrealized loss of $1.4 million:
1,699 BTC ($154 million), entry price $90,801. 33,000 ETH ($102 million), entry price $3,099. 336,000 SOL ($45.83 million), entry price $138.6. 3,777,000 XRP ($7.91 million), entry price $2.13. This whale's long positions are largely the same as those of the [whale with $230 million in longs], who currently holds $788 million in longs. Combined, their long positions are worth $1.1 billion, accounting for one-third of all longs on Hyperliquid.
January 10, Goldman Sachs analyst James Yaro led a team in a report stating that improved regulatory environment is the key driver behind institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies, especially for buy-side and sell-side financial institutions. The report mentions that the U.S. Market Structure Act is advancing in Congress and must be passed by the first half of 2026, otherwise the November midterm elections might delay the process. Jim Ferraioli, Director of Cryptocurrency Research and Strategy at Charles Schwab, said that after the sharp sell-off at the end of 2025, the pace of institutional adoption this year may slow down in the first half, but the passage of the Clear Act could accelerate institutional investor entry. Youwei Yang, Chief Economist at Bit Mining, predicts that Bitcoin's price could reach $225,000 in 2026, though macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties may intensify market volatility.#美国非农数据低于预期 #BTC走势分析
In a recent interview, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson offered a relatively optimistic assessment. But rather than focusing on price itself, he repeatedly emphasized a key direction long overlooked by the market—BTC DeFi. In his view, Bitcoin holds the largest, yet most 'sleeping,' asset pool in the entire crypto market. If Bitcoin can only be bought and held, but not used in economic activities without selling, then the long-term growth potential of the crypto industry is actually limited. In this video, I'll systematically break down why BTC DeFi is becoming important again in 2026 from four perspectives: 1. Why BTC DeFi might become a key variable in Bitcoin's next phase of value 2. How leading BTC DeFi development teams view 'activating Bitcoin's existing assets' 3. Where Bitcoin DeFi has failed over the past decade 4. And what role Cardano plays on this BTC DeFi path You'll see a core conclusion: The question has never been 'Should Bitcoin do DeFi?' But rather, 'Can we truly put BTC to use without compromising security or altering asset ownership?' If this succeeds this time, it could have an impact far beyond Bitcoin itself, possibly reshaping the entire crypto market structure. #ADABullish #BTC
Today's outlook According to PANews, the macro outlook for this week is as follows: Monday 1:30, 2026 FOMC voting member and Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari will speak at the U.S. Economic Association meeting; Tuesday 21:00, 2027 FOMC voting member and Richmond Fed President Barkin will speak; Tuesday TBD, the 'Technology Spring Festival' 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will be held in Las Vegas from January 6-9; Wednesday 21:15, U.S. December ADP employment numbers; Thursday 20:30, U.S. December Challenger job cuts; Thursday 21:30, initial unemployment claims in the U.S. for the week ending January 3, and October trade balance;
Market opinion for the afternoon of the 3rd. $BTC Opinion: The large pie broke through with volume at 90253; the hourly closing price is above 90253, consider going long on the right side, recover stop loss. 89999 volume drops below, unable to recover on the right side, watch for a short position; recover stop loss and pay attention to volume changes, ensure to set stop loss. After a pullback to 89000, a false breakdown occurs; recover and go long one lot, set stop loss at either the low of the false breakdown or below 88061; if it can't recover, don't go long. 🍌 The large pie broke through and stabilized at 90279, looking up towards 90922-91591; after breaking 90279, it continues to rise. When shorting the large pie, be cautious of the false breakout 2b above 91591; short one lot after breaking and stabilizing at 92786 for stop loss.
Aave Founder Responds to DAO Controversy: Will Strengthen the Mechanism for Aligning Interests between Aave Labs and AAVE Holders
On December 28, Aave founder Stani Kulechov stated that the recent controversy arising from the DAO vote reflects the normal tension of decentralized governance and acknowledged the previous lack of communication in aligning the interests of Aave Labs with AAVE holders. Stani said that Aave DAO's revenue this year has reached 140 million USD, exceeding the total of the past three years, and the related treasury funds are entirely controlled by AAVE holders. Regarding the discussion about spending 15 million USD to buy AAVE, Stani emphasized that the related tokens did not participate in the recent vote, and the purchase behavior stems from confidence in long-term development. #山寨币
Web2 practitioners entering Web3, the times have changed!
In the past three months, several of my friends from major companies have resigned and gone all in to enter the crypto space. I have had in-depth discussions with them, and they all have their own considerations. On one hand, after working in a major company for a few years, they have accumulated quite a bit of savings. They believe that even if they are just managing finances in the crypto space, it is better than continuing to work hard for others in a big company. On the other hand, there are indeed friends who are well-established in the crypto workspace with many years of experience, which can be directly utilized, so they don’t have to start from scratch. Although there hasn’t been any major market activity in the past few months, they feel that things are going well, transitioning from a tense work state to a work state where they can freely allocate their own time.
What can ordinary people do besides working for others?
Besides working for others, there are at least sixteen ways to make money: 1. Arbitrage: Don't think being a middleman is old-fashioned. Where things are cheap and where they are sold expensively, just moving them around makes money. This is the oldest and most reliable logic. 2. Make money from traffic: Nowadays, everyone is glued to their phones, and that's an opportunity! Publish articles, shoot videos, and start live broadcasts to gather traffic. With traffic, you can sell goods, take ads, and earn commissions—traffic equals real money. 3. Make money from scarcity: Take stock of what you have that 'others do not': unique technology, exclusive connections, special channels; what others lack is your trump card, and you hold all the pricing power.
On December 27, according to on-chain detective ZachXBT, hundreds of users' funds in Trust Wallet were stolen, with losses amounting to at least 6 million dollars. This morning, Trust Wallet officially released a security alert, confirming that the Trust Wallet browser extension version 2.68 has a security vulnerability. Users of version 2.68 should immediately disable the extension and upgrade to 2.69. Please upgrade via the official Chrome Web Store link.
Has the Federal Reserve's easing opened the door to a frenzied bull market?
Federal Reserve Repurchase: The Core Tool for Short-Term Liquidity Regulation Federal Reserve repurchase (Repo) is a key open market operation for adjusting the liquidity of the banking system and stabilizing short-term interest rates. Essentially, it is a short-term mortgage loan where the Federal Reserve borrows funds from qualified financial institutions using high-quality assets such as Treasury bonds as collateral, with the core goal of maintaining the federal funds rate within the range set by the FOMC. This tool forms a 'release and absorb' regulatory combination with reverse repurchase (RRP): repurchase operations directly increase bank reserves, injecting market liquidity and suppressing the rise of short-term interest rates; reverse repurchase recovers liquidity by selling assets, preventing interest rates from falling below the target lower limit, and the two work together to construct an interest rate corridor. The standing repurchase facility (SRF) established in 2021 is the core tool, and in December 2025 the Federal Reserve will remove its daily total cap of $500 billion, adopting a full allocation framework with a single transaction limit of $40 billion, further enhancing the flexibility and precision of liquidity regulation.
Be careful with U cards in the country, or Uncle might come knocking!!!
U card chaos: The carnival and collapse of virtual currency payments In the winter of 2025, the overwhelming promotional advertisements for U cards on social media gradually quieted down. This tool, referred to as the 'crypto payment card' in the cryptocurrency circle, once attracted tens of thousands of domestic users with gimmicks like 'USDT recharge and consumption' and 'freedom of cross-border payments'. However, as leading platforms such as OneKey and Infini successively ceased operations, risks such as fraud, theft, and inability to withdraw funds erupted, compounded by the continuous tightening of domestic regulatory policies. The festive development of U cards ultimately collapsed under the dual pressures of compliance and security.