MarketWhisper

Ripple President Monica Long confidently stated in a Bloomberg interview that the company currently plans to remain private and has no intention of initiating an IPO. This announcement comes shortly after a massive $500 million funding round completed in November 2025, valuing the company at $40 billion.
Ripple has chosen a different path from peers like Circle and BitGo, backed by a healthy balance sheet, a continuously growing $95 billion in payment processing volume, and the rapid rise of its stablecoin RLUSD, which surpassed $1 billion in market cap just seven months after launch. This marks a shift in the crypto industry’s leading players from pursuing the allure of public markets to leveraging private capital and strategic acquisitions to deepen their foothold in the next-generation global financial settlement layer.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to make a ruling on Friday regarding the legality of Trump's tariff policies, risking over billion in potential refunds. The case questions whether the president's imposition of tariffs under emergency economic powers exceeds legal limits, with lower courts already challenging the justification for the tariffs. If the government loses, importers who have paid tariffs may be eligible for refunds, which could put financial pressure on the government and disrupt trade relations. The market is on high alert, with trade and manufacturing stocks, the foreign exchange market, and cryptocurrencies potentially experiencing sharp volatility, as demand for safe-haven assets increases.

Emerging token RIVER experienced a remarkable start to 2026, surging another 12% in the past 24 hours, breaking through $18, with a market cap approaching $366 million. Its nearly one-month increase exceeds 340%, and the year-to-date gain has reached nearly 469%, making it the most eye-catching short-term target in the market.
This wave of frenzy was directly triggered by a public call from BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes and was strongly boosted by massive leveraged trading in the derivatives market, with daily trading volume on Binance futures alone reaching up to $2 billion. This "perfect storm" driven by opinion leaders, technological breakthroughs, and leveraged funds vividly demonstrates the emotional and highly volatile speculative nature of the crypto market.

Entering January 2026, XRP and Solana exhibit completely different market structures and recovery narratives. XRP achieved a structural reversal after successfully defending the $1.80 long-term support level, currently trading above $2.02. Its recovery is supported by increased institutional visibility and fundamental factors such as Ripple's acquisition of a corporate treasury management platform.
Although Solana has broken through its long-term downtrend channel, it faced resistance at the key $143 level and pulled back. The current price is around $135, testing the support validity of the $127-130 breakout zone. Its outlook is closely linked to the surge in DEX trading volume driven by the meme coin craze. This contest is essentially a style showdown between the "stable institutional narrative" and the "high volatility ecosystem momentum."

Fireblocks acquires crypto accounting platform TRES Finance for $130 million, marking the second deal within three months (October acquisition of Dynamic for $90 million). TRES helps enterprises track multi-platform crypto asset flows, with over 230 companies using the service. The acquisition will provide a comprehensive fund management solution for enterprises, filling the gaps in compliance and accounting.

Moody's 2026 Outlook Report shows that stablecoins are shifting from being crypto-native tools to becoming core infrastructure for institutional markets. In 2025, stablecoin settlement volume surged by 87% to $9 trillion, with fiat-backed stablecoins and tokenized deposits evolving into "digital cash" used for liquidity management, collateral transfers, and settlement. Moody's forecasts that by 2030, institutions will invest over $300 billion in digital finance and infrastructure.

Wall Street renowned broker Bernstein releases the 2026 crypto market outlook report, making a major prediction that a "tokenization super cycle" driven by stablecoins, tokenized capital, and prediction markets is about to begin. The report assesses that the crypto market has bottomed out at the end of 2025 and sets Bitcoin target prices for 2026 and 2027 at $150,000 and $200,000 respectively.
Analysis indicates that crypto-related stocks represented by Robinhood and Coinbase will become the core beneficiaries of this cycle, while the expected 56% growth in stablecoin supply and the doubling of on-chain tokenized asset values mark a transition of cryptocurrencies from speculative assets to a practical phase focused on building a new generation of financial infrastructure.

According to on-chain data dashboard statistics from Dune Analytics, the net consumption of crypto credit cards associated with Visa in 2025 skyrocketed from approximately $14.6 million at the beginning of the year to $91.3 million at the end of the year, an increase of 525%.
Behind this astonishing growth, the widespread adoption of stablecoins and the emergence of innovative banking applications on high-performance public chains like Solana are key driving forces. It marks a shift in cryptocurrency from speculative assets and digital gold to "digital cash" that can be used in daily life, and mainstream adoption may have reached a critical point. Despite short-term market fluctuations, this trend provides fundamental support for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the entire payment network beyond price.

Rumble and Tether jointly launch Rumble Wallet, a non-custodial crypto wallet integrated into the video platform supporting BTC, USDT, and XAUt for direct tipping. Tether holds a 48% stake in Rumble, providing strategic support, while MoonPay handles fiat and crypto conversions. Creators can receive tips without relying on traditional financial intermediaries, and users have full control of private keys to avoid custodial risks.

The global index giant MSCI announced that in its quarterly review in February 2026, it will retain the position of "Digital Asset Treasury Company" in its global indices, preventing companies like Strategy from being delisted and avoiding billions of dollars in passive sell-offs. However, MSCI also imposed a key restriction: freezing the circulating shares of these companies, and future stock issuances will not be included in the index weightings.
This decision is like a "double-edged sword," removing the "forced sell" sword while also cutting off the "infinite capital cycle" where DATCOs automatically gained index funds through stock issuance. The market structure has fundamentally changed, and crypto companies must return to fundamentals, while the US spot Bitcoin ETF may become a silent winner.

PINIX App announces that Pi coin mining profits over 30 days are 151%, with a daily return of 5%, claiming that cloud mining requires no equipment. A deposit of 1000 PI turns into 1500 PI in 30 days, but the community questions it as a Ponzi scheme. PINIX has not released audited financial reports and has not disclosed the source of the profits. Experts warn that a 151% return in 30 days severely violates financial common sense, and similar schemes have historically collapsed.

The Ethereum network has successfully executed the second "Blob-Only Parameter" upgrade, increasing the Blob target value for each block from 10 to 14, and the upper limit from 15 to 21. This upgrade is the planned concluding step of the Fusaka hard fork in December last year, marking the maturation of Ethereum's strategy to achieve data availability scalability through modularity and parameterization.
Higher Blob capacity means Layer 2 Rollup networks can bundle transaction data onto the Ethereum mainnet at lower costs, thereby maintaining extremely low user transaction fees for a longer period. This technological evolution not only consolidates Ethereum's core position as a decentralized settlement layer but also lays the foundation for a more prosperous DApp ecosystem and a potential revaluation of market value.

Digital asset infrastructure giant Fireblocks announced the acquisition of cryptocurrency accounting and financial reporting platform TRES Finance for a combination of $130 million in cash and equity. This strategic acquisition aims to bridge the critical gap between blockchain operations and traditional financial systems, providing institutional clients with a one-stop solution to convert on-chain data into financial reports that meet audit standards and global regulatory requirements.
As regulations such as the EU MiCA come into effect, the crypto industry is rapidly moving from the "gray area" to the "compliant world," with demand for professional financial infrastructure experiencing explosive growth. This acquisition not only highlights compliance as a core element in the next phase of industry competition but also marks the evolution of platforms represented by Fireblocks from "asset safekeepers" to "comprehensive enterprise-level service providers."

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.

Top global credit rating agency Moody's released the "Global Outlook 2026" report, explicitly stating that stablecoins have shifted from being a native tool in the cryptocurrency space to an indispensable "core infrastructure" in the institutional market. The report disclosed that in 2025, on-chain settlement volume of stablecoins surged by 87% year-over-year, reaching an astonishing $9 trillion.
This data marks the evolution of stablecoins and tokenized deposits into "digital cash" used by institutions to manage liquidity, transfer collateral, and settle transactions, becoming a key conduit connecting traditional finance with the growing world of tokenized assets. As global regulatory frameworks become clearer and infrastructure investments exceeding $300 billion are anticipated, the role of stablecoins as a "financial pipeline" has become irreversible.

Bernstein analyst Chhugani stated that Bitcoin has bottomed out, with $80,000 in November as the bottom. He predicts reaching $150,000 in 2026 and $200,000 in 2027. He believes that concerns about the four-year cycle are exaggerated, and that the "digital asset revolution" driven by institutional demand will extend the bull market.

XRP is launched on Hyperliquid through Flare with the FXRP/USDC trading pair, offering a $250 million perpetual contract hedging tool. XRP breaks through the downward trendline and tests the key support at $2.20, with a target of $2.70 if maintained. The RSI above 50 indicates buyer dominance, leaving room for further upward movement.

MSCI maintains MicroStrategy but freezes the number of shares, cutting off the link between new share issuance and passive buying, ending the flywheel effect. Bull Theory quantitative analysis shows that every 20 million newly issued shares result in a $600 million loss from passive buying. MicroStrategy plans to issue over $15 billion in new shares by 2025. Under the new regulations, the dilution effect is unsupported, increasing the risk of price correction.