Month: January 2026

Crypto Takeaways From Davos: Politics and Money Collide

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While geopolitical tensions and the Greenland standoff set the tone at Davos 2026, crypto resurfaced as a secondary but consequential theme. US President Donald Trump used a few minutes of his Davos speech to double down on his ambition to turn the US into the world’s crypto capital and voice support for crypto-friendly legislation. His tone was different from central banks. In a panel with crypto bigwigs, the governor of the Bank of France criticized private money and yield-bearing stablecoins while promoting central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Crypto executives debated…

UBS May Be Eyeing Bitcoin and Ether Trading for Ultra‑Rich Clients

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The world’s biggest global wealth manager, UBS, is reportedly exploring a move to open crypto trading to its wealthiest clients.  Bloomberg reported Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter, that the Swiss banking giant aims to let select private banking clients in Switzerland trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) first, with a possible rollout to the Asia‑Pacific region and the United States later. The person also reportedly said that UBS was currently selecting partners for its crypto offering, although the bank has not publicly confirmed the details. UBS already…

Binance applies for MiCA license ahead of July deadline

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Binance, one of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, has filed for a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license in Greece through a holding corporation called Binary Greece as part of its bid for EU-wide operating rights. Athens-based Binary Greece was registered late last year, according to D News. The entity serves as Binance’s home base for securing a MiCA license, which, if granted, would allow the company to passport its services across all 27 EU member states from a single regulatory hub. The application is being reviewed by the Hellenic Capital…

Revolut Seeks US Banking License Amid Global Push: Report

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Crypto-friendly fintech unicorn Revolut plans to apply for a banking license in the United States, abandoning earlier plans to acquire a local lender as it seeks to expand its global presence, the Financial Times reported Friday. The United Kingdom-based fintech has been in discussions with US officials about applying for a bank license through the Office for the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the newspaper reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The move, if confirmed, would be a milestone in strategy for Revolut, which said in September 2025…

Recent Pi Network (PI) Updates, Ripple (XRP) Price Targets, and More: Bits Recap Jan 23rd

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Pi Network’s team introduced another update, while XRP and ETH have fallen below key levels. Pi Network (PI), Ripple (XRP), and Ethereum (ETH) have posted substantial price declines over the past week, driven by global geopolitical tensions surrounding Trump’s intentions to annex Greenland. In the following lines, we will touch upon everything most interesting and important involving these cryptocurrencies. Pi Network’s Latest Update Earlier this week, Pi Network’s Core Team introduced Pi payment integration directly within the Pi App Studio. The development is especially important for non-technical users, as…

Restaking Promises Yield But Delivers Only Stacked Risk

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Opinion by: Laura Wallendal, co-founder and CEO of Acre Restaking is often heralded as the next big thing in decentralized finance (DeFi) yields, but behind the hype lies a precarious balancing act. Validators are stacking responsibilities and slashing risks, incentives are misaligned, and much of the $21 billion in total value locked (TVL) is held by a handful of whales and venture capitalists rather than the broader market. Let’s break down why restaking lacks real product-market fit and how it compounds more risk than it yields. Most importantly, we need…

BTCC Exchange Nears 15-Year Mark with Plans for AI Trading Tools and Expanded RWA Offerings in 2026

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[PRESS RELEASE – VILNIUS, Lithuania, January 22nd, 2026] BTCC, the world’s longest-serving cryptocurrency exchange, reported record 2025 performance with $3.7 trillion in total trading volume and a global user base that reached 11 million, a 60% increase year-over-year. As the exchange approaches its 15th anniversary in 2026, it is shifting focus toward AI-enabled trading tools and expanded real-world asset offerings. 2025 Performance Highlights For the full year, BTCC recorded $3.27 trillion in futures volume and $431 billion in spot trading volume. The exchange’s tokenized real-world asset (RWA) trading recorded significant…

Ledger eyes US IPO at $4 billion-plus valuation

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Ledger, the Paris-based crypto security company, is preparing for an initial public offering in the US that could value the firm at more than $4 billion, according to FT. The hardware wallet maker is working with Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and Barclays on the deal, which could take place as soon as this year. “Money is in New York today for crypto, it’s nowhere else in the world, it’s certainly not in Europe,” CEO Pascal Gauthier told the FT in November. Rising demand from security-conscious crypto investors drove Ledger to a…

Farcaster Co-Founder Says Protocol Isn’t Shutting Down After Neynar Deal

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Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero moved to quell speculation around the project’s future, saying the protocol is not shutting down following its acquisition by infrastructure provider Neynar. Farcaster is a decentralized social networking protocol that allows developers to build interoperable social apps where users own their identities, social graphs and connections onchain rather than being locked into a single platform. In a post addressing the community, Romero said Farcaster remains operational and continues to see meaningful usage, citing roughly 250,000 monthly active users in December and over 100,000 funded wallets. He…

UBS considers allowing some banking clients to invest in Bitcoin and Ethereum

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UBS Group AG, the world’s leading wealth manager, is considering allowing select wealthy clients to invest in crypto assets, starting with Bitcoin and Ethereum, as it evaluates partners for a potential digital asset rollout, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. UBS may begin offering crypto services in Switzerland, with potential expansion to the Asia-Pacific region and the US. The $4.7 trillion wealth manager is still selecting partners and has not finalized plans. The initiative comes amid rising interest in digital assets among wealthy clients and follows similar initiatives…