In 2025, TRM Labs reported that wallets it classifies as illicit received around $158 billion in crypto inflows, the highest level in five years, largely tied to Russia-linked sanctions designations and better attribution. The firm noted that the A7A5 token and the A7 wallet cluster together accounted for over $100 billion in incoming value connected to Russian actors, including Garantex and Grinex, while illicit activity still represented only 1.2% of total on-chain volume.

Bitcoin long‑term holders moved more than 370,000 BTC on‑chain over the past 30 days, far exceeding what net position change alone suggests. Average LTH outflows topped 12,000 BTC per day, while net LTH supply declined by about 144,000 BTC as roughly 226,000 BTC matured from short‑term to long‑term status.

Bitcoin whales controlling between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC have stepped up accumulation, lifting their combined holdings to roughly 3.204 million BTC and marking the fastest buildup since 2024. In January, their share of trading activity on Binance rose to nearly 0.65, while 30‑day whale balances grew by about 152,000 BTC despite a BTC price drop of over 6% on January 30. Social media sentiment turned sharply negative after Bitcoin slid to below $82,000, a move some analysts link to conditions consistent with market capitulation.

On January 28, the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued staff guidance outlining how federal securities laws apply to tokenized securities. The statement divides these products into issuer-sponsored and third-party-sponsored categories, including custodial and synthetic structures, and emphasizes that tokenization does not change their legal treatment. It aims to guide firms and investors on using crypto assets to represent securities while remaining compliant with existing registration and disclosure rules.

Ethereum's non-empty wallet count has climbed beyond 175.5 million while ETH trades around the $3,000 mark after a recent dip to nearly $2,800. Analytics data links this growth to sustained staking demand, which is steadily reducing ETH balances on centralized exchanges and coincides with large-scale corporate accumulation and staking activity.

Approved by the US House in July 2025 and still under Senate review as of January 2026, the Clarity Act is central to crypto's next phase. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan warned that if it fails, the industry faces a roughly three-year show-me period focused on real-world adoption. He expects passage could spark a sharp, expectation-led rally.

At the start of the week, Bitcoin briefly fell toward $86,000 before recovering to around $87,800, while market commentators maintained that the trend remains bearish. One analyst argued that the recent drop to levels last seen in mid-December 2025 did not establish a lasting bottom and that much lower targets are possible. Another analyst described a worsening crypto winter that began in November, saying current conditions are defined by pressure, fatigue, and doubt for holders.

ARK Invest's "Big Ideas 2026" report projects that by 2030, smart contract networks and digital currencies could reach a combined market value of $28 trillion, with Bitcoin potentially taking about 70% of that total. The firm expects Bitcoin's market cap to climb from nearly $2 trillion to around $16 trillion, while Ethereum, Solana, and a small number of other Layer 1 platforms share roughly $6 trillion in value.

Solana Mobile has activated the SKR token distribution for its Seeker smartphone ecosystem, allowing eligible users to claim and stake allocations via the Seed Vault Wallet after the launch at 9:00 pm ET on Tuesday. Holders have 90 days to claim before unclaimed SKR is sent back to the airdrop pool after April 20, while the token’s 10 billion supply is split across airdrops, ecosystem growth, liquidity, community treasury, and allocations to Solana Mobile and Solana Labs.