The Bitcoin proposal caps arbitrary data in an attempt to combat spam from non-monetary transactions on the Bitcoin network.

Some European policymakers have floated the idea of selling off US debt as a way of combating US belligerence, but it may be much more difficult in practice.

Gemini's pivot to a super app could streamline user experience but may limit NFT market diversity and innovation.

The post Gemini to close NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway as it sharpens focus on super app vision appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Trump's tariff threat could strain US-Canada relations, impacting trade dynamics and potentially forcing Canada to reconsider its China strategy.

The post Trump threatens 100% tariff on Canadian goods over China deal appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

GameStop moved its entire Bitcoin stash into Coinbase Prime this month, according to blockchain trackers that monitor large transfers.

The wallet associated with the company sent a large deposit to the institutional arm of Coinbase, a platform used by big traders and companies.

Analysts watching on-chain flows immediately flagged the move as a likely setup for a sale, though no confirmed sell orders have been announced.

Big Move To Coinbase Prime

According to on-chain reports, GameStop holds 4,710 BTC that it bought last year, and that full balance was shifted into Coinbase Prime.

The company first bought the coins in May 2025 at prices that averaged near $107,900 per BTC, a buy that cost roughly $504 million at the time.

Moving a corporate treasury from cold storage to an active institutional account is often read as a step toward execution — to sell, hedge, or rebalance — but it is not the same as a sale itself.

GameStop throws in the towel?

Their on-chain wallets just moved all BTC holdings to Coinbase Prime, likely to sell.

Between May 14–23, 2025, they bought 4,710 BTC at an avg. price of $107.9K, investing ~$504M.

Now selling for around $90.8K, potentially realising approximately… pic.twitter.com/Bp7MwRVQ43

— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) January 23, 2026

What Analysts Are Saying

Reports say the math is simple and stark: selling now, with Bitcoin trading closer to the $90,000 area, would lock in a sizable loss versus the initial purchase price.

Several analytics firms put that figure near $76 million if the whole lot were sold at recent market levels. Some market watchers suggest the company could be doing tax-loss harvesting or trimming volatile assets on its books.

Others view it as a pragmatic adjustment to reduce treasury exposure to crypto swings. Still, defenders of the move point out that GameStop’s Bitcoin stake was never a core retail play; it was a treasury experiment meant to diversify.

Not all outlets agree on timing or size of day-by-day transfers. Reports note that some transfers earlier this month added up to about half of the original position — roughly 2,396 BTC moved in smaller tranches before the full deposit was flagged.

On-chain sleuths track each shift, and those staggered movements can mean many things: a staged sale, an internal reorganization, or simply routing through a trusted custodian before any trades.

Share action around GameStop has not mirrored the crypto chatter. While Bitcoin watchers focused on the wallet move, investors were also reacting to company news on other fronts, including fresh share purchases by CEO Ryan Cohen.

Featured image from PeterPhoto, chart from TradingView

Based on data from the weekly price chart, Bitcoin is witnessing a significant loss of over 6% following recent widespread market liquidations. Notably, the premier cryptocurrency has taken on a consolidatory stance in the past day, as if to lend credence to growing hopes of some price recovery. However, a recent on-chain analysis points out that Bitcoin’s outward show of resilience might merely be theatrical and that the flagship cryptocurrency could be facing a dark future ahead.

Bitcoin Enters 30-Day Cumulative Realized Loss Phase Since October 2023

In a recent Quicktake post on CryptoQuant, crypto education and research group XWIN Research Japan dissects the present on-chain situation of Bitcoin, with the center of attraction being the Bitcoin Net Realized Profit/Loss metric, which shows the leading cryptocurrency has recorded a net realized loss on a 30-day basis for the first time since October 2023. 

However, the losses seen in 2023 were short-lived and rapidly retraced, unlike the current decline, which is broader and more persistent, suggesting a possible structural shift in market dynamics. At this moment, it appears that investors are less-interested in “buying the dip,” nor are they looking to “HODL” through the Bitcoin price action, and are more willing to accept losses.

For this reason, the market can be more plausibly described as being in a state of caution. It is, however, worth mentioning that the present phase does not necessarily precede a market crash. If anything, it reflects that Bitcoin may be entering a more volatile phase, independent of speculative frenzies.

Realized Profits Signal Late-Stage Of Bull Cycle 

XWIN Research further reinforces the hypotheses by referencing the trend in realized profits. According to the market experts, Realized Profits peaked in March 2024 at approximately 1.2 million BTC, and reduced slightly to 1.1 million in December 2024. 

As of July, 2025, realized profits had sharply dropped to 517,000 BTC, reflecting an increasing exit of profit-taking activity within the market. But this pales in comparison to the lower 331,000 BTC recorded in October. The analytics group explained that this contraction occurred despite a rise in prices, thus suggesting an absence of deep upside momentum.

The group further highlights that this is a telltale sign of a late-stage bull market, one which was seen in 2021-2022. In this period, realized profits slowly dropped before the Bitcoin price flipped bearish. More shockingly, the annual timeframe tells a similar story, with annual net realized profits contracting from 4.4 million BTC to 2.5 million BTC, just within October 2025 and early 2026. This is also similar to the phase that preceded the bear market of 2022.

In essence, Bitcoin is in a transitioning phase, from a mature bull phase to a volatile environment. As of this writing, the Bitcoin price stands at $89,462. 

Featured image from Pexels, chart from Tradingview

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman on Jan. 21 released updated text for a crypto market structure bill and set a committee markup for Jan. 27.

The draft bill, titled the “Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act,” would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) a defined framework to supervise parts of the spot crypto market when activity runs through brokers, dealers, exchanges and custodians.

The bill is the AC's attempt to formalize what happens when something goes wrong. Crypto’s biggest retail pain points often show up as operational failures: account freezes, delayed withdrawals, outages during volatility, unclear complaint paths, and disputes over how platforms handle liquidations or restrict access.

Boozman’s text tries to turn those recurring issues into a regulatory feedback loop, while also answering the question lawmakers keep circling, whether the CFTC can afford and staff the job.

A watchdog with a mandate to turn outages into rule changes

One of the bill's clearest retail-facing provisions sits inside Section 211, which establishes an “Office of the Digital Commodity Retail Advocate” within the CFTC. The text also defines who qualifies as a retail participant: someone who isn't an eligible contract participant, who is active in a spot or cash digital commodity market, and who has completed a digital commodity transaction with a person or entity registered with the CFTC.

The retail advocate would report directly to the CFTC chair and be appointed from individuals with experience representing retail participants.

Unlike many market structure proposals that stop at broad mandates, this office comes with a list of duties that maps to how retail harm often emerges in practice.

The advocate would help retail participants resolve “significant problems” with the CFTC or with a registered futures association, track areas where retail participants would benefit from regulation or rule updates, and identify issues retail users face with CFTC-registered firms.

The office is also tasked with analyzing how proposed CFTC rules and registered futures association rules could affect retail participants, then recommending changes to both the Commission and Congress.

The practical value the bill would bring isn't a new office that will magically stop freezes or outages, but the statute that creates an internal unit with instructions to collect evidence, look for patterns, and force those patterns into the rulemaking process.

If a recurring failure mode shows up across multiple registered venues, the advocate’s remit is built to translate that into regulatory edits rather than leaving it as background noise.

The bill also sets confidentiality limits that cut both ways. The advocate can access CFTC and registered futures association documents as needed, but nothing in the text authorizes the advocate or staff to access or disclose proprietary or sensitive market data, whether publicly or within the Commission.

The office must report to Congress twice a year, with an objectives report due by June 30 and an activities report due by Dec. 31. If funded and staffed, those reports could become a running scoreboard of which retail issues keep repeating at registered firms and what the CFTC is doing in response.

Boozman’s text also confronts the capacity critique head-on, and does it with numbers. It directs the CFTC to assess and collect fees from registered digital commodity brokers, dealers, exchanges, and qualified digital asset custodians, depositing those funds as offsetting collections to the CFTC’s appropriations account.

The Commission would set fee rates intended to match the annual appropriation for covered activities, and the bill states that fee rates are not subject to judicial review. To cover the gap before that fee machinery exists, the bill authorizes an upfront $150,000,000 appropriation “to remain available until expended” until the Commission establishes and begins collecting registration fees.

It also gives the CFTC chair authority to appoint individuals with “specialized knowledge” of the crypto industry without the usual competitive service constraints.

That language is doing real work: oversight in spot crypto would depend on understanding how market operations, custody plumbing, and risk controls behave when venues are stressed.

The execution risk here is straightforward. Even with money, supervision requires monitoring, investigative capacity, and operational readiness when a venue changes behavior fast.

A fee model can fund headcount, but it has to survive the political process, and a hiring waiver still depends on the agency moving quickly enough to build a team that can keep up with market structure that shifts in days, not years.

DeFi’s line in the sand: who can touch funds, and who can pull the lever

Retail users aren't the only ones who should be concerned with the new draft of the bill. It could disproportionally affect builders and protocols as well, as it draws its DeFi boundary almost entirely through definitions rather than through blanket exemptions.

The text separates software that simply carries user instructions from systems where a person or coordinated group retains meaningful leverage over custody, execution, or rules.

A “decentralized finance messaging system” is defined as software that allows a user to create or submit an instruction to a DeFi trading protocol, paired with an exclusion that functions as a control test: the system cannot give anyone other than the user control over user funds or authority to execute the user’s transactions.

In plain terms, the statute pushes projects toward two questions: can anyone else touch the funds, and can anyone else pull the execution lever?

The definition of a DeFi trading protocol follows the same logic. It's a blockchain-based system that executes transactions under predetermined automated rules, without relying on a person other than the user to maintain custody or control of assets involved.

The bill then narrows that scope through exclusions that pull a protocol back into regulatory reach if a person or coordinated group can control or materially alter functionality or rules, if operations are not based solely on transparent, pre-established code, or if a group has unilateral authority to restrict or censor access.

That framing shifts compliance conversations away from marketing labels and toward operational facts: admin keys, upgrade authority, governance concentration, and access controls.

It also sets up a future enforcement record that documents who had the power to change the system, who could stop users from using it, and who could move transactions from automatic to permissioned in practice.

The Senate Agriculture crypto bill is attempting two builds at once: a CFTC-centered regime for spot activity routed through intermediaries, and an internal structure meant to keep retail failures on the agenda through mandated reporting and rule review.

Whether it becomes more than a paper framework will turn on capacity and political alignment as the committee heads into the Jan. 27 markup and the parallel Senate Banking track continues to drift into late February or March.

The post New $150 million CFTC war chest to end withdrawal delays and weaponize complaints against failing crypto exchanges appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its delayed Personal Income and Outlays report on Jan. 22, publishing October and November PCE inflation together.

The print put headline PCE at 0.2% month over month in both months, with headline PCE at 2.7% year over year in October and 2.8% in November. Core PCE was also 0.2% month over month in both months, with core PCE at 2.7% year over year in October and 2.8% in November.

Bitcoin’s reaction to the news was surprisingly restrained. BTC traded between about $88,454 and $90,283 on Jan. 22 and closed near $89,507, up about 0.16%.

That lack of trading activity is the main clue to what mattered most about this release, because this story definitely wasn't a dramatic inflation surprise.

The main story here is data quality, because the BEA had to publish PCE with patched inputs after the shutdown disrupted parts of the pipeline that normally feed into its calculation.

In that setting, it's useful to break the macro read into three pieces that tend to matter for BTC: the underlying core inflation pace, the policy path that markets price from it, and the real yield move that often carries the actual force into risk assets.

PCE traded as an uncertainty event, not a pure inflation event

PCE is a constructed index, built from multiple sources, with CPI serving as an important input for categories that depend on detailed price changes. When part of that input stream is missing, the inflation print becomes more dependent on estimation choices.

This time, the BEA filled gaps by using CPI information from the months before and after and seasonal adjustments to stand in for the missing pieces, which can smooth away month-specific bumps.

That's more important than it sounds, because a 0.2% monthly core reading can mean two different things. In a clean month, it's a straightforward measure of the month’s inflation pace. In a patched month, it can be a blend of true price behavior and statistical interpolation. The number still has information, but it carries less certainty about what changed inside that month.

A simple way to interpret the Jan. 22 core print is to focus on the level and the persistence. Core PCE near 2.8% year over year keeps inflation above the 2% target, and a 0.2% monthly pace, if repeated, tends to keep the year-over-year rate sticky. That's enough to keep rate-cut expectations constrained even without scary upside surprises.

The next step is to see how markets convert that inflation baseline into a policy path.

The Fed does't react to one report in isolation, but markets do update probabilities. With the Jan. 22 release, the more important question was whether traders would treat the data as strong enough to delay easing, or uncertain enough to wait for a cleaner read before taking big policy bets. A patched release often pushes traders toward the second behavior, because conviction is harder to justify.

Bitcoin usually reacts less to the inflation figure itself than to what happens in rates markets around it.

Real yields are a clean shorthand for the opportunity cost of holding a non-yielding asset, and they also map to liquidity conditions in a way that matters for the entire risk complex. When real yields push higher, the hurdle rate for BTC rises, and financial conditions tend to tighten. When real yields drift lower, the hurdle rate falls, and conditions ease.

That is why the best way to treat a messy PCE release is to use it as a context setter, then follow the rate market’s verdict.

A steady 0.2% monthly path with a core rate near 2.8% isn't a green light for rapid easing, but it also doesn't force an immediate repricing if traders don't trust the precision of the print. In that world, BTC often settles into trading the rate market’s follow-through rather than the headline number.

The final piece of the PCE framework is what happens next. When a report is patched, the next clean release tends to carry extra weight because it can validate or contradict the smoothed path. If the next clean month comes in hotter, the earlier calm may look like an artifact of the estimation method.

If the next clean month comes in similarly, the patched month becomes easier to accept as a reasonable stand-in.

Bitcoin's lack of reaction this week fits that setup. BTC had no clean shock to digest, it saw an update that mattered, but came with enough caveats to limit one-day conviction.

GDP was background noise unless it fed into yields

The same day delivered an updated estimate for Q3 2025 GDP, revised slightly higher to 4.4% annualized from 4.3%. That growth print is usually secondary for Bitcoin unless it moves the bond market.

The reason for that is simple. GDP can matter through two channels that often conflict. Stronger growth can keep the Fed cautious and keep real yields elevated, which is usually a headwind for BTC at the margin. Stronger growth can also support risk appetite and earnings expectations across markets, which can help speculative assets. Which force dominates depends on what happens to yields, not on the GDP headline itself.

In this case, the revision was small, and the number was backward-looking. That makes it a poor standalone input for BTC. The most usable takeaway we can make from this is that a solid growth backdrop gives the Fed room to be patient if inflation doesn't fall convincingly toward target. A patched PCE print near 2.8% core year over year, paired with strong past growth, supports a baseline of patience rather than urgency.

That baseline matters because it helps explain why BTC can trade flat even when inflation data looks benign at first glance. If the macro mix is strong growth plus sticky core inflation, rate cuts become harder to price aggressively. That tends to keep real yields from falling quickly, and that is often the lever that matters more for BTC than the growth print itself.

The practical macro read for this week is therefore compact. GDP adds some context, but it's not the driver. The driver is how the inflation story flows into yields. If yields drift up because growth optimism lifts term premium or because inflation uncertainty keeps policy expectations firm, BTC can feel heavy even without a scary headline.

If yields drift down because markets gain confidence that inflation is cooling, BTC can hold up and build a bid even when the inflation conversation stays messy.

This week's PCE print offered a useful reminder about how Bitcoin trades macro. The most important part of it wasn'tt the exact tenth of a percentage point in the PCE table, but the reliability of the data behind it and the rate-market reaction that followed.

The BEA published two months of PCE at once and did so with patched inputs, which reduces confidence in month-specific precision even if the overall direction still carries information. Bitcoin reflected that uncertainty with a tight trading range and a small day-over-day gain.

The next clean inflation release will matter more than usual because it can confirm whether the patched months gave an accurate read of the underlying pace. Until then, the most concrete macro signal for BTC sits in the rate market rather than in any single line of the Jan. 22 data dump.

The post Hidden inflation risks are lurking in “patched” data, leaving Bitcoin stuck in a high-stakes waiting game appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Major crypto exchanges Binance and OKX are reportedly exploring the reintroduction of tokenized US stocks.

The move marks a strategic pivot to capture traditional finance (TradFi) yields amid stagnant crypto trading volumes, pushing platforms toward diversification into real-world assets (RWAs).

A Return to Tokenized Stocks?

This move revives a product Binance tested and abandoned in 2021 due to regulatory hurdles. Nevertheless, it would position the exchanges to compete in a fast-growing but still nascent tokenized equities market.

In April 2021, Binance launched stock tokens for major names like Tesla, Microsoft, and Apple, issued by German broker CM-Equity AG with Binance handling trading.

The service was discontinued in July 2021 under pressure from regulators, including Germany’s BaFin and the UK’s FCA. Regulators viewed the products as unlicensed securities offerings lacking proper prospectuses.

Binance cited a shift in commercial focus at the time. However, recent reports from The Information indicate Binance is now considering a relaunch for non-US users to sidestep SEC oversight, creating a parallel 24/7 market.

Reportedly, OKX is also weighing similar offerings as part of the exchange’s RWA expansion. No official confirmations have emerged from either exchange, and details on issuers, exact listings, or timelines remain limited.

Citing a Binance spokesperson, the report described exploring tokenized equities as a “natural next step” in bridging TradFi and crypto.

Why Crypto Exchanges Want US Equities Now

Crypto markets have experienced persistent stagnation in trading volume in 2026, prompting exchanges to seek new revenue streams.

“BTC spot trading activity remains constrained so far in 2026: Average daily spot volumes for January tracking 2% below December and 37% below November levels,” wrote researcher David Lawant in a recent post.

Analysts also note that Crypto markets remain largely dormant in January, with volatility and trading volume pinned near December’s graveyard lows.

This is not calm consolidation but a liquidity trap, where thin order books amplify risk and a single poor execution can cascade into outsized losses for overexposed traders.

Meanwhile, US tech stocks (Nvidia, Apple, Tesla) have sustained strong rallies, driving demand among crypto holders, particularly those with stablecoin balances, for equity exposure without exiting the ecosystem.

Tokenized stocks allow 24/7 trading of synthetic assets that mirror underlying share prices, often backed by offshore custodians or derivatives rather than direct ownership.

The market, while small, is accelerating. Total tokenized stock value stands at approximately $912 million, with data on RWA.xyz showing it is up 19% month-on-month. Meanwhile, monthly transfer volumes exceed $2 billion, and active addresses are surging.

“I’ve bought NVIDIA on Binance Wallet before. Actually, right now, the top priority for both companies should be how to launch a precious metals market. Especially silver—apart from gold, which is suitable for physical storage, the others don’t have much storage value. I’m in China, and even paper silver is hard to buy; I can only buy ETFs,” one user stated.

Analyst AB Kuai Dong noted that official spot markets remain limited to futures or third-party tokens like PAXG for gold.

Intensifying Competition in Tokenized Assets

This push comes amid a broader race in tokenized real-world assets. Traditional players like NYSE and Nasdaq are seeking approvals for regulated on-chain stock platforms, potentially clashing with offshore crypto-led models in the future.

Robinhood has already captured a significant share in the EU (and EEA), launching tokenized US stocks and ETFs in mid-2025. Crucial metrics from Robinhood’s offerings include:

• Expanded to nearly 2,000 assets with zero commissions,
• 24/5 trading (migrating toward full 24/7 on its planned Layer 2 “Robinhood Chain” built on Arbitrum), and
• Integration into a retail-friendly app.

This targets younger, crypto-savvy users seeking seamless cross-asset access. Binance and OKX’s global scale, massive user bases, and always-on crypto infrastructure position them to challenge Robinhood’s EU dominance and expand into underserved regions (Asia, Latin America).

Their crypto-native audience is primed for tokenized equities as a natural extension, potentially accelerating adoption if launched.

The playing field also features a parallel turf war between Robinhood and Coinbase, both of which are building “everything exchanges” that blend stocks, crypto, prediction markets, and more.

Coinbase’s recent additions (commission-free stocks, prediction markets via Kalshi, derivatives via Deribit acquisition) directly target Robinhood’s retail strengths, while Robinhood counters with deeper crypto features and tokenized assets abroad.

If Binance and OKX proceed, tokenized stocks could serve as a liquidity lifeline, attracting capital back into crypto platforms and bridging TradFi yields.

Success, however, hinges on global regulations, ensuring liquidity and tracking accuracy, and building trust amid past shutdowns.

The post Binance and OKX To Enter TradFi With Tokenized Stocks appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Nifty Gateway, one of the most recognizable platforms to emerge from the NFT boom, has announced it will officially shut down its marketplace on February 23, 2026.

Gemini acquired Nifty Gateway in 2019. The Winklevoss-led exchange also provided the regulatory, custody, and security infrastructure that underpinned both the NFT marketplace and its later evolution into Nifty Gateway Studio as a Gemini-backed Web3 creative arm.

Nifty Gateway Enters Withdrawal-Only Mode Immediately

Effective immediately, the platform has entered “withdrawal-only mode,” urging users to withdraw funds and digital assets before the closure.

Nifty Gateway Studio shared the news, confirming that no further trading or new activity will take place on the platform.

“Today, we are announcing that the Nifty Gateway platform will be closing on February 23, 2026. Starting today, Nifty Gateway is in withdrawal-only mode,” the company said.

It added that customers holding USD, ETH, or NFTs would receive email instructions on how to move their assets off the platform.

Launched around 2020, Nifty Gateway quickly became a household name during the early NFT wave. It distinguishes itself through curated digital art drops and a user-friendly approach that allows purchases via credit cards and fiat currencies.

This accessibility helped onboard a broader, non-crypto-native audience at a time when NFTs were quickly entering mainstream culture.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Gemini exchange’s founders, acquired the platform in 2019. This positioned it as a flagship NFT marketplace backed by exchange-grade custody and compliance infrastructure.

At its height during the 2021 NFT boom, Nifty Gateway hosted dozens of high-profile creator and brand collaborations. It helped legitimize digital art and collectibles as a new asset class.

However, as NFT trading volumes collapsed in subsequent years and user interest waned, the platform struggled to regain traction. This is despite broader industry attempts to reframe NFTs around utility, gaming, and real-world assets. The network also suffered a hack in 2021 that compromised multiple accounts.

NFT Market Unwind Raises Questions Over Nifty Gateway Studio’s Future

The shutdown reflects the longer unwind of the NFT market, which has seen multiple marketplaces either close, consolidate, or pivot away from pure NFT trading models.

Besides Nifty Gateway, another player that exited the scene recently was Nike, only years after becoming the world’s highest-earning brand from NFT sales.

RTFKT, acquired by Nike in 2021, also shut down Web3 operations in January 2025 due to the NFT market’s sharp decline.

Therefore, this marks another high-profile retreat from the once-red-hot NFT sector, which has struggled to regain momentum since its 2021 peak.

While Gemini has continued to expand its regulated crypto services globally, Nifty Gateway’s closure suggests that even well-capitalized, early movers have found it difficult to sustain NFT-specific businesses in the current market environment.

What Next for Nifty Gateway Studio?

Notably, the latest development comes only weeks after Nifty Gateway Studio advertised open intern slots, likely indicating interest in new talent or a shift toward cost-consciousness.

Therefore, one open question following the announcement is the future of Nifty Gateway Studio (NGS), the company’s Web3 creative arm, which was formally launched in 2024.

NGS was positioned as a full-service digital production studio focused on immersive, on-chain creative experiences. It partnered with artists, brands, and creators on experimental NFT-based content.

Projects ranged from limited-edition collectibles to interactive drops blending AI, art, and blockchain-based ownership.

While closely tied to the original marketplace, it remains unclear whether Nifty Gateway Studio will:

• Continue operating independently
• Evolve under Gemini’s broader strategy, or
• Be wound down alongside the platform itself.

The company did not provide specific guidance on the studio’s future in its announcement, and neither did it immediately respond to BeInCrypto’s request for comment.

“Incredibly sad news. Very proud of what NG accomplished and the work that everyone did. In my time running NG with Griffin Cock Foster, we paid out over $500 million to artists. In 2021, it was ~1/8 of the money YouTube paid to creators in 2021. The NFT movement will continue,” said Duncan Cock Foster, ex-co-founder of Nifty Gateway Studio.

For users, the immediate priority is asset withdrawal. Nifty Gateway emphasized that customers must move all funds and NFTs before the February 23, 2026, deadline. Afterwards, the platform will cease operations entirely.

The post Gemini-Owned Nifty Gateway to Shut Down NFT Marketplace in February 2026 appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Crypto analyst CryptoBull has highlighted targets that XRP could reach as it eyes double digits. The analyst is confident the altcoin could reach these targets, noting that current price action is mirroring the previous bull run. 

XRP Eyes Rally To $11 And Then $70

In an X post, Crypto Bull stated that the next impulse will take XRP to $11 and that the last wave will take the altcoin to $70. This came as he noted that the price pattern is mirroring the previous bull run, with the only difference being time, which he claimed makes sense, as the altcoin needs longer accumulation to reach higher prices. 

The analyst also indicated that it could take a year of accumulation for XRP to reach the $11 price target, meaning the last wave to $70 could take much longer. This prediction comes despite the current decline in the crypto market, with XRP trading below the psychological $2 price level.  

Despite the current bearish sentiment, crypto analyst CW has also declared that the XRP rally is about to begin and that the road to $21.5 is just the beginning. He noted that this is the Phase 4 peak while the first goal is for the altcoin to break its current all-time high (ATH). 

His accompanying chart showed that XRP could reach this $21 target by year-end. Meanwhile, there is the possibility of the altcoin rallying above $100 in the next Phase 1, which could happen next year. Crypto Pundit X Finance Bull recently highlighted the CLARITY Act and Trump’s tariffs as factors that could boost XRP’s demand and lead to higher prices for the altcoin. 

He expects the CLARITY Act to boost XRP’s demand, especially with Trump’s Crypto Czar predicting that more banks will enter into crypto once the bill passes. X Finance Bull predicts that XRP will be the token of choice for these banks based on his belief that Ripple will provide the rails to onboard them. 

XRP Breaking Out Of Multi-Year Triangle

Crypto analyst XForce revealed in an X post that XRP is breaking out of the largest 6+ year triangle in history, yet people are calling it a fakeout. He added that he is not a permabull or permanbear on the altcoin but that he follows trends and plays macro breakout patterns. His accompanying chart indicated that XRP was on the verge of a move to the upside, with a potential rally above $11.50. 

On the lower timeframe, crypto analyst Chart Nerd stated that XRP is currently breaking out of a two-week falling wedge structure. He noted that this is a bullish reversal pattern that could send the altcoin back to $2.40 in the short term, as this is where the wedge formed. He highlighted a key resistance between $2.13 and $2.20, which the altcoin will need to break above to confirm a reversal. 

At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $1.92, up in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

A large investor shifted funds into tokenized gold this week, and Bitcoin felt the impact. Prices dipped while a whale quietly bought millions in XAUT, a gold-backed token, signaling a short-term move toward traditional hedges.

Whales Move Into Tokenized Gold

According to on-chain trackers, one address moved $1.53 million in USDC into Hyperliquid to buy XAUT. Reports note that the same wallet had earlier bought about 481 XAUT, a purchase worth roughly $2.38 million.

The address still holds close to $1.44 million in USDC, which suggests more purchases could follow. These moves were picked up on public blockchains and then flagged by analysts watching large transfers.

This kind of action can matter. When big players shuffle cash, smaller traders often take notice and hedge their bets. The shift is not proof of a long-term trend, but it shows that, at least for now, some large holders prefer gold exposure over extra crypto risk.

Whales are buying gold, not crypto.

~30 mins ago, whale 0x6B99 deposited 1.53M $USDC into Hyperliquid to buy $XAUT again.

He has already bought 481.6 $XAUT($2.38M) and still holds 1.44M $USDC, which may be used to buy more $XAUT.https://t.co/0uV2kNEiD0 pic.twitter.com/rYA09b1OEn

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) January 23, 2026

Gold And Silver Hit Fresh Highs

Reports say gold has been moving sharply higher, with spot prices climbing close to $5,000 per ounce in global trading this week. Silver also rose above $100 per ounce, with intraday gold prints near $4,988 before settling.

Traders tie the surge to geopolitical tensions and the idea that interest rates may ease, which encourages money into metal-based stores of value.

A weaker dollar has also helped. Market chatter points to increased demand as investors seek steadier places to park capital while global politics and policy choices create more worry.

Bitcoin traded around $88,653 at one stage, slipping about 1% on the day and nearly 30% below its prior cycle top. That gap is large. It has market participants questioning whether BTC will stay the go-to hedge during times of high stress. Some long-term holders remain confident. Others are watching liquidity and macro signals more closely.

Reports have disclosed renewed criticism from economist Peter Schiff, who argued that Bitcoin has underperformed versus gold since 2021.

He highlighted the opportunity cost for investors holding BTC while metals climb to record prices. Schiff wrote on social platforms that precious metals are outperforming and that this weak run for Bitcoin weakens its role as a store of value in the eyes of some.

Short-term rotations like this often reflect risk preferences rather than permanent shifts. Some funds and wealthy individuals seek lower-volatility assets when headlines grow louder and policy paths look uncertain.

Others still view Bitcoin as a long-term play tied to scarcity and network effects. The current picture is a mix: metals are strong, tokenized gold is drawing attention, and crypto markets are reacting.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView