Month: January 2026

Ripple Receives Luxembourg Green Light For EMI License

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Ripple is expanding its regulatory footprint in Europe after receiving what it described as a preliminary e-money authorization from Luxembourg’s financial regulators. The blockchain payments company said in a Wednesday announcement shared with Cointelegraph that it had received preliminary approval for its Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from Luxembourg’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF). Ripple said the step moves it closer to a full authorization, which would allow the company to provide regulated payment services in stablecoins and other digital assets across the European Union under passporting rules,…

Why Is Ripple’s (XRP) Price Up on January 14?

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XRP continues to battle BNB in terms of market-cap positions. Ripple’s native cross-border token has joined the broader market’s impressive rally over the past 24 hours and has surged by over 4% to $2.15. Although this price ascent is not as spectacular and headline-making as the one from last week, it appears to be more sustainable. At the time, XRP skyrocketed by 30% in the span of just a few days, going from under $1.90, where it closed in 2025, to just over $2.40 – a multi-week peak. However,…

France Flags Unlicensed Crypto Firms Ahead Of MiCA Deadline

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Financial regulators in France have reportedly flagged 90 crypto firms that remain unlicensed under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework ahead of a key deadline in June. France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) warned that around 30% of the unlicensed firms have not responded to the authority’s request on whether they plan to obtain the required license, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Stephane Pontoizeau, executive director of the market intermediaries and market infrastructures supervision directorate at the AMF, told Reuters the regulator notified the companies in November to…

UK Scraps Mandatory Digital ID Plans as Crypto Privacy Tech Gains Ground

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The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has dropped plans to make a centralized digital ID mandatory for workers, softening a flagship policy that would have required every employee to prove their right to work via a government‑issued credential rather than traditional documents like passports.  The move follows months of backlash from critics, including UK Member of Parliament Rupert Lowe, Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage and other cross‑party politicians, civil liberties groups and campaigners.  Opponents warned it risked building an “Orwellian nightmare,” centralizing sensitive data in a honeypot vulnerable…

Crypto Markets Add $110 Billion as BTC Taps $95K and These Alts Explode: Market Watch

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IP and PEPE lead the charge on January 14. Bitcoin’s price actions experienced a substantial uptick over the past 24 hours or so, as the asset surged to a new multi-month peak of around $96,500 on most exchanges. Most altcoins have followed suit, with ETH pumping above $3,300, ADA skyrocketing by over 8%, and XLM rocketing by 9%. BTC Sees 2-Month Peak Bitcoin had a sluggish weekend in which it remained sideways below $91,000 after it was rejected at $92,000 last Friday. The bulls woke up on Monday, pushing…

Ethereum Overtakes L2s Base and Arbitrum on Active Users

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Active users on the Ethereum network have overtaken major layer 2s as long-term development strategies begin to pay off. The number of active addresses on Ethereum exceeded 791,000 on Monday, higher than that of the network’s major L2 players, including Base, Arbitrum and Optimism, according to data from Nansen. Daily average transaction costs have also reached new lows. On Monday, average transaction fees were only $0.15. The average fee for a transaction on Ethereum was as high as $11 just one year ago. These metrics for Ethereum utility come ahead…

Pakistan Explores World Liberty Stablecoin Deal for Cross-Border Payments

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Pakistan has reportedly signed an agreement with a company connected to World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture linked to the family of US President Donald Trump, to explore the use of its dollar-pegged stablecoin for cross-border payments. The agreement involves SC Financial Technologies, a little-known company linked to World Liberty Financial, and marks one of the first publicly known partnerships between Trump-linked crypto ventures and a sovereign state, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the matter. Under the arrangement, World Liberty Financial will collaborate with Pakistan’s central…

Will Pi Network’s PI Token Finally Join the Broader Market’s Rally?

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PI is slightly up in the past 24 hours but not as impressive as other alts. The cryptocurrency markets have rallied over the past 24 hours, perhaps led by more optimism on the rate-cut front in the United States. The CPI data that came out yesterday was once again lower than expected, which only reaffirmed the POTUS’s claims that the rates should be lowered during the late January FOMC meeting, even though previous reports said Powell would pause the cuts. Bitcoin’s price surged to a two-month high of $96,600,…

Gate Further Expands TradFi Feature, Extends CFD Trading for Traditional Financial Assets

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[PRESS RELEASE – Cayman Islands, British Overseas Territories, January 14th, 2026] Gate, a leading global digital asset trading platform, has further expanded its TradFi feature, broadening access to contracts for difference (CFD) covering traditional financial assets, including gold, foreign exchange, stock indices, commodities, and popular equities. This feature, available in Gate App, marks Gate’s expansion beyond crypto asset trading into traditional finance price-based products, further strengthening its multi-asset trading framework. According to the platform, Gate TradFi contracts use USDx as the margin and account display unit. USDx is neither fiat…

Crypto Market Structure Bill Rulemaking May Take Years to Complete

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Rulemaking involves individual regulators and agencies fleshing out the details of a law passed by legislators. It can include publishing proposed rules and seeking public comment. It could take many years for the crypto market structure bill to be implemented due to a lengthy rulemaking process, according to Paradigm’s vice president of regulatory affairs, Justin Slaughter. The market structure bill has advanced to the Senate committee stage with bipartisan text and ongoing negotiations. It’s set for a markup with the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, while the Senate Agriculture Committee…