NYSE unveiled a plan on Monday to enable blockchain-based 24/7 trading and instant settlement of stocks and ETFs, in addition to custody features.

The US Senate Agriculture Committee released a Republican draft of the market structure bill, which includes protections for crypto developers, setting it up for a markup next week.

Tokenizing ETF shares could revolutionize asset management by enhancing efficiency and adaptability while ensuring regulatory compliance.

The post F/m Investments seeks SEC permission to tokenize ETF shares appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Strive's strategic focus on Bitcoin investment and debt reduction could enhance its market position and influence in the crypto sector.

The post Vivek Ramaswamy’s Strive plans to raise $150M in preferred stock sale to buy Bitcoin and repay debt appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Vietnam has launched a pilot program to license cryptocurrency exchanges, aiming to bring the rapidly growing market into a formal legal framework after years of regulatory uncertainty.

Vietnam’s Crypto Licensing Pilot Begins

On Tuesday, Vietnam began its pilot licensing regime to officially regulate crypto trading platforms in the country for the first time, in an effort to gradually move the sector from the shadows into a properly supervised framework under the local financial authorities.

According to local reports, the Ministry of Finance issued Decision No. 96/QD-BTC on January 20, introducing procedures necessary for the implementation of Government Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP.

The three new administrative procedures cover the issuance, modification, and revocation of licenses for entities operating crypto asset trading platforms. The Ministry announced that it began accepting applications from businesses seeking to offer crypto asset trading services.

For context, the country’s cryptocurrency market lacked a clear legal framework, existing in an unsupervised, “gray area.” Last year, the National Assembly passed the “Law on Digital Technology Industry,” which took effect on January 1, 2026, to create a foundation for authorities to develop suitable management policies.

In September, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc signed Government Resolution No. 05/2025/NQ-CP, allowing a five-year pilot program for the issuance and trading of crypto assets.

As reported by Bitcoinist, under Resolution No. 05, organizations seeking to provide services for crypto trading markets must be registered with the financial authorities and fully comply with a strict set of rules, including a minimum contributed charter capital of VND10 trillion, worth around $380.66 million.

Notably, at least 65% of the charter capital must be held by institutional investors, with more than 35% contributed by at least two institutions such as commercial banks, securities companies, fund management companies, insurance companies, or technology enterprises.

The general director must have at least two years of experience in finance, while the CTO must have at least five years of experience in information technology. Moreover, firms must hire at least 10 technology staff with cybersecurity certificates and at least 10 staff with securities practice certificates working in other departments.

Financial Institutions Dive Into Digital Assets

Following the issuance of Resolution No. 05, major financial players, including securities companies and banking institutions, have announced their intention to participate in the pilot and enter the sector, noted the report.

In June, two SSI’s subsidiaries, SSI Digital Technology JSC and SSI Asset Management Company Limited, signed Memorandums of Understanding with Tether, U2U Network, and Amazon Web Services to develop a digital financial ecosystem in Vietnam based on blockchain and cloud computing platforms.

In addition, VIX Securities contributed capital to establish the VIX Crypto Asset Exchange and partnered with tech giant FPT Corp. to prepare its technology infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the banking sector saw MBBank enter a technical cooperation agreement with Dunamu, the operator of the Korean exchange Upbit, to establish a crypto exchange in Vietnam while jointly developing the legal framework and investor protection mechanisms.

Techcombank also established the Techcom Crypto Asset Exchange with a charter capital of several hundred billion VND. Similarly, VPBank stated it is fully prepared to begin operations as soon as it receives regulatory approval.

As discussions surrounding the CLARITY Act—often referred to as the crypto market structure bill—continue in Washington, Kristin Smith, President of the Solana Policy Institute, has provided insights on the current status of the legislation and the organization’s top priorities. 

Solana Policy Institute’s Optimism For CLARITY Act 

One of the main priorities disclosed by Smith in a recent post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), is the importance of protecting open-source developers in the legislative landscape.

Smith pointed out that the recent delay in the markup of the market structure bill last week after Coinbase’s withdrawal should be seen as a temporary setback. “Despite the delay, industry engagement remains robust, and there is clear bipartisan support to achieve durable regulatory clarity for market structure,” she noted.

The Senate Agriculture Committee is making advancements with its own draft of the legislation expected to be released on Wednesday, as earlier reported by Bitcoinist.

Smith also highlighted a shared objective: to create a framework that protects consumers, fosters innovation, and provides certainty for developers operating in the United States. A central tenet of this goal is the safeguarding of developers, which Smith argued is crucial for the success of the industry.

Smith Advocates For Developer Protections

The Solana Institute was founded to ensure that policymakers gain a comprehensive understanding of public blockchains and the protocols that underpin them. 

Smith articulated the critical role that open-source software plays within the crypto ecosystem, noting that developers around the world collaborate to produce software that anyone can inspect, use, or improve. “Openness is a strength—not a liability,” she asserted.

However, she raised concerns regarding the case against Roman Storm of Tornado Cash, indicating that it treats open-source innovation as something questionable. Smith warned that penalizing developers merely for writing and publishing open-source code endangers all those involved in such collaborative efforts. 

She emphasized the “chilling effect” that the prosecution could have on open-source developers, asserting that writing code is an expressive act protected by the First Amendment.

Smith called for clear policy that differentiates between bad actors and developers working on lawful, general-purpose tools. To bolster this cause, she encouraged supporters to draft letters expressing their stance in favor of open-source protections.

Roman Storm responded to Smith’s support, thanking her and the broader community for advocating for open-source principles. He remarked, “Criminalizing the act of writing and publishing code threatens not just one developer, but the foundations of digital security, privacy, and innovation.” 

At the time of writing, Solana’s native token, SOL, was trading at $130.33, mirroring the performance of the broader crypto market, dropping 11% in the weekly time frame.   

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com

European leaders facing a Greenland-linked dispute with Washington could treat U.S. Treasurys as a leverage point.

That would test not just the headline size of foreign holdings, but the market’s capacity to absorb speed, and how quickly higher yields would filter into the dollar, U.S. credit conditions, and crypto liquidity.

The Financial Times has framed Greenland as a plausible flashpoint for U.S.-Europe tensions and argued that Treasurys could sit on the menu of countermeasures.

That framing places the focus on execution mechanics and timing rather than a single “EU sells X” headline.

According to the U.S. Treasury’s Treasury International Capital (TIC) Table 5, foreign investors held $9.355 trillion in U.S. Treasurys at end-November 2025.

Of that total, $3.922 trillion was attributed to foreign official holders, a pool large enough that even partial portfolio shifts, especially if coordinated or fast, can register in rates.

The first constraint is measurement.

TIC country lines track securities reported by U.S.-based custodians and broker-dealers, and Treasury notes that holdings in overseas custody accounts “may not be attributed to the actual owners.”

That means the table “may not provide a precise accounting of individual country ownership,” a caveat that complicates any claim that “the EU” could dump a defined amount on command.

A portion of European beneficial ownership can appear in non-EU country lines, and European custody hubs can hold Treasurys for non-European owners. The practical implication is that “sell capacity” is not identical to “European-attributed holdings,” and policymakers have clearer influence over official portfolios than over private custody flows.

A defensible reference set exists inside the TIC data if it is described as custody attribution rather than EU ownership.

At end-November 2025, Treasurys attributed to Belgium ($481.0 billion), Luxembourg ($425.6 billion), France ($376.1 billion), Ireland ($340.3 billion), and Germany ($109.8 billion) totaled about $1.733 trillion.

Presented properly, that $1.73 trillion number is an upper-bound reference for identified major EU reporting and custody jurisdictions, not a verified EU-27 beneficial-owner total.

Custody data vs. “EU ownership” and why it matters

Official-sector positioning adds another layer because “official” can mean a classification in TIC reporting, while Fed custody data describes a location-based subset held in custody at Federal Reserve Banks.

The Federal Reserve’s international summary data show foreign official U.S. Treasury securities held in custody at Federal Reserve Banks at $2.74589 trillion in November 2025 (preliminary).

That location-based subset sits below the TIC “foreign official” total of $3.922 trillion at end-November.

How the Greenland dispute translates into selling would probably run through a sequence of policy signaling and portfolio mechanics rather than a single announcement of forced liquidation.

A preconditioning phase could unfold over weeks or months in which rhetoric hardens, and European policymakers discuss financial countermeasures in risk-management terms, consistent with the Financial Times framing that Treasurys could serve as leverage.

A second phase, spanning days to weeks, would center on a policy signal such as a coordinated call to shorten duration, reduce exposure, or adjust reserve-management guidelines.

Those steps can be executed without formally labeling the move as weaponization, and without requiring a centralized “EU” sale order.

The execution phase would then determine market impact, with two channels that can overlap.

One is official runoff through non-reinvestment at maturity, which can play out over quarters or years.

The other is active secondary-market sales by public and private holders, which can compress into weeks if hedging constraints, risk limits, or volatility targeting bind.

Even if the political intent is gradual diversification, volatility can turn it into a de facto flow shock if private hedgers and leveraged Treasury holders de-risk at the same time.

The liquidation timeline matters because research has linked month-scale changes in foreign official flows to rate moves.

A 2012 Federal Reserve International Finance Discussion Papers study estimated that if foreign official inflows into Treasurys drop by $100 billion in a month, 5-year Treasury rates rise about 40–60 basis points in the short run.

It also estimated long-run effects near 20 basis points after private investors respond.

The paper is dated, so the figures function as order-of-magnitude bounds for speed risk rather than a point estimate for today’s market structure.

Even so, the core implication remains: a faster “dump” (or a faster stop in marginal buying) has a different rate profile than a maturity runoff.

Important: The table below lays out editorial scenario constructs using an execution-speed lens. Sale sizes are illustrative except the $1.73 trillion line, which is a TIC custody-attribution reference for major EU reporting and custody jurisdictions and explicitly not a verified EU beneficial-owner amount. The rate language is framed as regime risk (orderly vs disorderly) rather than a linear “bps per $X” extrapolation.

Execution speed, yield shock risk, and broader market spillovers

Any sustained yield backup would land on a U.S. economy carrying a large debt stock.

U.S. gross national debt stands at $38.6 trillion as of press time.

That scale increases sensitivity to marginal funding-cost shifts even when refinancing occurs over time.

Higher Treasury yields typically tighten financial conditions through benchmark effects on mortgages, investment-grade issuance, and leveraged credit.

Equity valuations can also re-rate as the risk-free discount rate changes, channels that become more acute if the term premium reprices rather than only the policy path.

The spillover is broader than Treasurys because foreign investors hold a large footprint across U.S. markets.

The Treasury’s annual survey reported $31.288 trillion in foreign holdings of U.S. securities, including $12.982 trillion in long-term debt and $16.988 trillion in equities.

In crypto-adjacent markets, stablecoin issuers are also material Treasury buyers; see CryptoSlate’s breakdown of stablecoin issuers’ Treasury demand.

Dollar outcomes split into two regimes that can coexist across horizons.

In acute stress, a geopolitical shock can push investors toward dollar liquidity and U.S. collateral even as one bloc sells, a setup where yields move higher while the dollar holds up, or even strengthens.

Over longer horizons, sustained politicization can pull the other direction if allies treat U.S. government paper as a policy variable, nudging incremental diversification in official portfolios and gradually weakening structural dollar demand.

The International Monetary Fund’s COFER data show the dollar at 56.92% of disclosed global reserves in Q3 2025, with the euro at 20.33%.

That structure tends to change in steps rather than a single break.

The IMF has also described prior quarterly moves as sometimes valuation-driven, noting that the Q2 2025 decline in the dollar share was “largely valuation-driven” through exchange-rate effects.

That dynamic can blur interpretation of quarter-to-quarter shifts during volatility.

Crypto transmission: liquidity, discount rates, and narrative reflexivity

For crypto markets, the near-term linkage would run through rates and dollar liquidity rather than reserve shares alone.

A fast Treasury liquidation that lifts intermediate yields would raise the global discount rate and can tighten leverage conditions that feed into BTC and ETH positioning.

A slower runoff would transmit more through term-premium drift and portfolio rebalancing across equities and credit.

The narrative channel can cut the other way.

A high-profile episode where allied blocs discuss Treasurys as a policy tool can reinforce the “neutral settlement” framing that parts of the market apply to crypto, even if the first-order move is risk reduction under higher yields.

Tokenized Treasury products sit at the intersection of TradFi collateral and crypto rails; see CryptoSlate’s coverage as tokenized U.S. Treasurys reached a $7.45 billion all-time high.

What traders and policymakers would watch for is not a single “EU sells X” headline, because custody-based data can misstate beneficial ownership.

Instead, they would likely track a sequence of observable proxies, including shifts in foreign official custody holdings at the Fed and changes in TIC-reported totals over subsequent months.

If Greenland becomes the trigger for sustained U.S.-EU financial brinkmanship, the market variable that matters first is whether any Treasury reduction is executed as a one-month flow shock or a multi-year runoff.

The post US Treasurys face a $1.7 trillion EU “dump” over Greenland, forcing shift to Bitcoin if dollar safety vanishes appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has listed Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin on its platform.

On Jan. 21, the exchange announced that it would open spot trading pairs, including RLUSD/USDT, RLUSD/U, and XRP/RLUSD, on Jan. 22 by 8 AM UTC.

Critically, Binance will initiate trading on the RLUSD/USDT and RLUSD/U pairs with zero fees until further notice.

To a casual trader, this reads like a straightforward listing announcement. However, industry experts noted that the move could fundamentally alter the market hierarchy and cement RLUSD's rapid growth over the past year.

The logic here is not that Binance magically creates value, but that the exchange can change how the market routes value. If that routing translates into sustained net issuance, RLUSD could plausibly jump into the top three stablecoins in a rapidly expanding market.

Engineering a liquidity event

The specific mechanics of the Binance listing suggest a push for dominance rather than mere participation.

By waiving fees, Binance is not merely adding trading pairs; it is subsidizing adoption. Zero-fee stablecoin pairs have a history of changing market share on centralized exchanges by redirecting where trades clear.

Kaiko’s analysis of stablecoin dynamics on Binance offers a precedent for disrupting these numbers. After the exchange re-listed USDC in March 2023, the token’s market share on centralized exchanges reportedly surged from roughly 60% to above 90%.

This shift did not necessarily mean USDC instantly became the superior asset. It meant Binance made it the cheapest and most convenient rail, and the market followed the incentives.

Kaiko has also documented how zero-fee regimes can dominate exchange volume and reshape market structure.

This presents both a promise and a warning for Ripple’s stablecoin. Incentives can create deep liquidity quickly, but they can also inflate activity that evaporates when the subsidy ends.

For RLUSD to move toward the top three, two distinct “flywheels” must spin in sequence.

The first is routing adoption. Zero fees encourage market makers and high-frequency desks to quote tighter spreads and push more flows through RLUSD pairs.

This improves the experience for all participants by deepening the order book, reducing slippage, and ensuring more reliable execution. In stablecoin markets, where product differentiation is often thin, the preferred asset is frequently the one that trades most efficiently.

The second flywheel is balance-sheet adoption. Market cap grows only when RLUSD is actually held, whether as exchange collateral, in DeFi lending markets, or in treasury allocations.

Binance creates the environment for this by expanding RLUSD utility. The listing announcement confirmed that portfolio margin eligibility will be added, increasing the token’s utility in leveraged trading strategies.

Furthermore, inclusion in Binance Earn is planned. This would give users yield-bearing incentives to hold the asset rather than simply trade it.

The math behind the climb

Despite this strategic setup, the numerical gap RLUSD must close to reach the top three is substantial.

Data from CryptoSlate shows that RLUSD has a circulating supply of around $1.4 billion. This places it among the top 10-largest stablecoins by market cap but significantly behind market leaders Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC.

To breach the “top 3 stablecoin,” RLUSD would need roughly $5.1 billion in new circulation to displace Ethena’s USDe, whose supply sits around $6.47 billion.

Over a 12-month period, reaching that benchmark would require approximately $424 million in net new RLUSD issuance per month

These are large numbers that would require RLUSD to grow four to seven times from its current base within a relatively tight window.

However, macro tailwinds may assist this ascent.

The US Treasury has publicly argued that the stablecoin market, currently valued at around $300 billion, could grow tenfold by the end of the decade. That would imply that the market could reach $3 trillion by 2030.

Meanwhile, US banking giant JPMorgan is more optimistic, projecting that stablecoins could reach $2 trillion within two years under a bullish adoption scenario.

If those trajectories materialize, RLUSD reaching the top three will not only be about stealing market share from incumbents but also about riding a rising tide.

Institutional plumbing over retail hype

While the Binance listing provides the liquidity spark, Ripple’s best case for the top three relies on institutional plumbing.

Over the past two years, Ripple has assembled a stack that resembles that of a payments and capital markets infrastructure provider more than that of a typical crypto issuer.

The foundation of any potential growth is a regulatory posture that has resulted in RLUSD being issued under a New York DFS Limited Purpose Trust Company Charter. At the same time, Ripple has received conditional approval for an OCC charter.

This dual layer of state and federal oversight sets a bar for transparency and compliance that few other issuers can claim.

For corporate treasurers and bank compliance officers, this regulatory perimeter often matters more than brand recognition.

Perhaps the most direct catalyst for sticky institutional adoption is that Ripple has quietly positioned itself at the center of the global payment network as a platform that settles, secures, and moves digital money.

Last year, Ripple had a $4 billion acquisition spree that included the purchase of prime broker Hidden Road, custody firm Palisade, treasury-management platform GTreasury, and stablecoin payments provider Rail.

These firms form the foundation of a vertically integrated enterprise spanning trading, custody, payments, and liquidity management.

This move essentially expands RLUSD’s growth runway beyond crypto exchange wallets. It moves the asset into multi-asset margin and financing workflows where stablecoin balances can scale rapidly.

A stress test

The risk remains that while trading volume can be manufactured, adoption cannot.

Binance’s own spot market has cooled recently, with CoinDesk Data reporting spot volume fell to $367 billion in December 2025, the lowest since September 2024.

Yet even at these reduced levels, Binance remains large enough that a fee subsidy can reshape liquidity routing.

So, the ultimate danger in this move is that RLUSD could become a “cheap rail” but not a “held asset.”

If trading volume explodes but circulating supply barely grows, the market will have its answer: Binance can create liquidity, but not necessarily durable adoption.

For RLUSD to credibly challenge for the top three, the story must evolve from “listed and traded” to “used and held.”

The post Ripple’s RLUSD just got Binance’s strongest growth lever, can that catapult it into a top 3 asset? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The total crypto market cap (TOTAL) and Bitcoin (BTC) posted recoveries over the last 24 hours. This bounce back came from the US scrapping the 10% tariffs announced on 8 EU countries. This triggered a rise in MYX Finance (MYX) price as well, bringing the altcoin near $6.00

In the news today:-

• President Trump said at Davos that he hopes to sign crypto market structure legislation soon, but Congress remains deadlocked. Ongoing clashes between Coinbase and banking lobbyists over stablecoin yields risk stalling progress and pushing crypto innovation overseas.
• Elliptic reports that Iran’s central bank secretly acquired over $500 million in USDT as the rial crisis worsened. The transactions suggest a state-led effort to stabilize trade and bypass the global banking system using stablecoins.

The Crypto Market Bounces Back Above $3 Trillion

The total crypto market cap rose by $50 billion to $3.01 trillion as market sentiment improved. The rebound followed easing tensions between the USA and the European Union. Renewed risk appetite supported broad gains across digital assets, signaling short-term stabilization after recent volatility.

Improved macro sentiment could extend the recovery. As global financial markets open, bullish momentum may carry over into crypto trading. Strong follow-through buying could lift TOTAL toward $3.09 trillion, reflecting renewed confidence and increased capital inflows across cryptocurrencies.

Want more token insights like this? Sign up for Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Crypto Newsletter here.

Upside risk remains conditional on sustained demand. If investor response proves muted, the market may consolidate near the $3.00 trillion level. A lack of momentum could also trigger a pullback, reinforcing $3.00 trillion as a key support zone in the near term.

Bitcoin Aims At Crossing $90,000

Bitcoin slipped below $90,000 over the past 48 hours, hitting an intraday low of $87,250 before rebounding. At the time of writing, BTC trades near $89,832. The recovery suggests short-term stabilization, though investor sentiment remains cautious following heightened volatility across the broader crypto market.

Bitcoin approaching the $90,000 resistance could help restore investor confidence. A decisive move above this level may drive BTC toward $91,298. Breaking that resistance would strengthen bullish momentum and open the path to $93,471, allowing Bitcoin to recover a portion of its recent losses.

Downside risk persists if bullish follow-through fails. A rejection near $90,000 could push Bitcoin back below the $89,241 support. Under that scenario, BTC may slide toward $87,210, invalidating the bullish thesis and reinforcing short-term bearish pressure.

MYX Finance Recovers Sharply

MYX emerged as the top-performing altcoin over the past 24 hours, gaining 16.7%. The token trades near $5.97 at the time of writing. Strong upward momentum reflects heightened investor interest as MYX outperformed the broader crypto market during the latest trading session.

Price action now centers on the $6.07 resistance level. MYX remains supported above the $5.77 local floor, which has attracted buyers. A confirmed breakout above $6.07 could extend bullish momentum, providing the strength needed for a move toward the $7.00 psychological target.

Failure to clear resistance would shift the outlook. Rejection at $6.07 may keep MYX consolidating between $6.07 and the $5.10 support zone. Prolonged range-bound trading would weaken bullish momentum and invalidate the current upside thesis.

The post Why Is The Crypto Market Up Today? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Several traders on Polymarket are facing substantial losses after President Trump rolled back tariffs on the European Union and made fresh remarks on Greenland.

While the so-called “TACO trade” has proven costly for many participants, it has also fueled a renewed rally in crypto markets.

Trump’s Tariff Threats and Retreats Revive the “TACO Trade” Narrative

For context, the phrase “TACO trade” stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong introduced it in May 2025.

This strategy plays on a repeat cycle: Trump uses extreme threats as leverage, markets react negatively, and then he backs down, prompting rebounds.

This cycle stood out on April 2, 2025, called “Liberation Day.” The President announced sweeping tariffs that targeted nearly every US trading partner, triggering market chaos.

The policy was later scaled back. However, new tariffs targeting specific industries followed shortly thereafter.

A comparable pattern has emerged in January 2026. Over a weekend announcement, President Trump outlined plans to impose a 10% tariff on eight European nations, with implementation scheduled for February 1.

The proposal included a provision to raise those duties to 25% by June, with the duration linked to the US reaching an agreement on the purchase of Greenland.

On Wednesday, the President reversed course and called off the proposed tariffs. He also ruled out the use of military force to pursue control of Greenland.

“Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region. This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations. Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st,” Trump wrote.

Trump Tariff Reversal Triggers Losses on Greenland Bet in Prediction Markets

The abrupt shift prompted sharp repricing across political and macro-related contracts on prediction markets. On Polymarket, the odds for the question “Will Trump acquire Greenland before 2027?” fell to just 11%.

As a result, traders who placed sizeable wagers on a “Yes” outcome suffered significant losses. Lookonchain reported that a newly created account, GamblingRuinsLives, placed $105,000 on “Yes.”

Now, the trader is down $46,000, with their position valued at just $56,300. Another trader, opticnrvs, lost even more, over $91,000, also betting on the Greenland acquisition.

Top holders of the “Yes” position are now experiencing drawdowns of approximately 40% to 50%. By contrast, traders betting on a “No” outcome have recorded modest profits.

The episode highlights how quickly political narratives can unwind in prediction markets, particularly when policy threats are reversed or softened. It also reinforces the growing influence of short-term political signaling on speculative positioning.

Meanwhile, the “TACO trade” has continued to support crypto markets. According to BeInCrypto Markets data, total crypto market capitalization increased by 1.5% over the past 24 hours as investor sentiment improved alongside broader risk appetite. All top 10 crypto assets were in green, recording modest but broad-based gains.

The post Polymarket Traders Hit as Trump’s “TACO Trade” Wrecks Greenland Bets appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Solana failed to settle above $140 and nosedived. SOL price is now consolidating losses below $135 and might struggle to start a recovery wave.

• SOL price started a fresh decline below $136 and $135 against the US Dollar.
• The price is now trading below $135 and the 100-hourly simple moving average.
• There is a key bearish trend line forming with resistance at $138 on the hourly chart of the SOL/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The price could start a recovery wave if the bulls defend $128 or $125.

Solana Price Dips Further

Solana price failed to remain stable above $140 and started a fresh decline, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. SOL declined below the $138 and $135 support levels.

The price gained bearish momentum below $132. A low was formed at $124, and the price is now consolidating losses. The price recovered a few points and climbed above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $143 swing high to the $124 low.

Solana is now trading below $135 and the 100-hourly simple moving average. On the upside, immediate resistance is near the $134 level or the 50% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $143 swing high to the $124 low.

The next major resistance is near the $136 level. The main resistance could be $138. There is also a key bearish trend line forming with resistance at $138 on the hourly chart of the SOL/USD pair. A successful close above the $138 resistance zone could set the pace for another steady increase. The next key resistance is $144. Any more gains might send the price toward the $150 level.

Another Decline In SOL?

If SOL fails to rise above the $133 resistance, it could continue to move down. Initial support on the downside is near the $129 zone. The first major support is near the $125 level.

A break below the $125 level might send the price toward the $120 support zone. If there is a close below the $120 support, the price could decline toward the $112 support in the near term.

Technical Indicators

Hourly MACD – The MACD for SOL/USD is losing pace in the bearish zone.

Hourly Hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for SOL/USD is above the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $129 and $125.

Major Resistance Levels – $133 and $138.

Despite a mixed performance in the early weeks of 2026, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse remains optimistic about the future of crypto markets, predicting new record highs for digital assets this year. 

Ripple CEO Optimistic About Long-Term XRP Potential

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Garlinghouse noted that recent regulatory developments, including the landmark GENIUS Act, have “unlocked a lot of activity” in the sector.

When asked about crypto performance during an interview with CNBC, Garlinghouse confidently stated, “I’m very bullish, and yes, I’ll go on record as saying, I think we’ll see an all-time high.” 

He emphasized that major financial institutions are increasingly showing interest in cryptocurrencies, labeling this shift as a “massive sea change.” However, he believes that this development is not fully reflected in current market prices.

Despite his optimistic outlook, XRP, Ripple’s associated cryptocurrency, was trading at $1.88 and had experienced a notable 13% decline over the past week. The current market performance has led analysts to speculate about the possibility of a new bear market on the horizon. 

Nonetheless, he expressed confidence in the long-term potential of the XRP ecosystem, stating, “We are a very vested party in what goes on in the XRP ecosystem. In another five or 10 years, you’re going to see continued, very positive momentum.”

Garlinghouse Confident CLARITY Act Will Pass

Garlinghouse also anticipated that 2026 would see significant use cases for digital assets, mentioning that cryptocurrency exchange Binance is likely to re-enter the US market. 

He asserted that the GENIUS Act would facilitate the growth of stablecoins, potentially making operations like payroll more efficient. He believes cryptocurrencies are well-positioned for growth over the next decade.

Regarding the crypto market structure bill, or the CLARITY Act, a vital framework for regulating crypto, Garlinghouse voiced confidence that it will eventually succeed. “It’ll get done. We are as close as we have ever been,” he said. 

However, the proposed market structure bill has encountered significant challenges, particularly after key provisions came under scrutiny. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong withdrew support for the bill just 24 hours before an anticipated markup scheduled for January 15, leading to a postponement of the process.

Garlinghouse was taken aback by Armstrong’s strong opposition to the CLARITY Act, noting that “the rest of the industry, including exchanges that compete with Coinbase, were still supporting it.” 

The executive claimed that he still remains hopeful that industry leaders can navigate the current legislative impasse. “If we want the industry to continue to grow, we need things like the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act,” he affirmed.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com