President Donald Trump announced tariffs on eight European countries that begin at 10% on February 1 and escalate to 25% by June, conditioning removal on Denmark selling Greenland. Bitcoin trades near $95,000 after weeks in a $94,000–$97,000 range, with anxiety rekindled by October 2025’s $19 billion liquidation precedent.

On January 17, 2026, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko argued the chain's survival depends on continuous iteration, countering Vitalik Buterin's January 12 call for optional protocol ossification. He emphasized decentralized, developer-driven upgrades and disciplined governance. Recent metrics show 2.4 million daily active addresses (+5.64%) and $11.80 billion in DeFi TVL (+6.98%) amid a broader liquidity reset.

On January 16, 2026, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin outlined a 2026 initiative on X to restore self-sovereignty and trustlessness. The plan emphasizes ZK-EVMs and Block Access Limits to make full nodes practical again, privacy tools like Helios, ORAM and PIR, and onchain app hosting; the network also raised its blob limit from 15 to 21.

Analyst Don Wedge, with interpretation from Gigabrain, sees a rising wedge near $94,000, with $92,000 as key support and potential downside to $86,000. Coinglass notes whale accumulation at $90,000–$92,000 and sell walls around $95,000, while Glassnode places the Short‑Term Holder cost basis at $98,300, a level watched for trend validation.

On January 16, 2026, Bloomberg reported that Jefferies' global equity strategist Christopher Wood removed Bitcoin after four years, eliminating a 10% allocation and shifting the exposure to physical gold and gold-mining stocks due to quantum-computing concerns. Researchers estimate around 30% of circulating BTC could face quantum exposure under certain conditions, while debate across the crypto sector highlights divergent views on timelines and mitigations.

Starting January 28, Google Play will require crypto exchanges and wallet apps serving South Korea to provide proof of FIU VASP registration, with noncompliant titles removed and new installs blocked. The policy compels uploading a Report Receipt Complete document via the Developer Console and could affect overseas platforms lacking domestic corporate status and ISMS certification.

Bitcoin has reinforced its upside bias by breaking above the $94,200 resistance and moving close to the 50-week EMA near $97,200, with price action forming a double-bottom around the $86,300 area. On-chain Value Days Destroyed readings near 0.53 in January 2026 indicate that long-term holders are largely inactive, supporting a thesis that the advance toward and potentially beyond the $100,000 region is being driven by sustained demand rather than heavy distribution. Technical resistance around the $97,600-$98,200 band and higher levels at $103,650 and $111,600 remain key thresholds for confirming a stronger bullish continuation.

On January 15, Representative Maxine Waters sent a letter accusing the SEC of operating a pay-to-play scheme in its crypto enforcement strategy, focusing on the paused civil fraud case against Tron founder Justin Sun. The letter highlights Sun's $75 million investment in Trump family venture World Liberty Financial, his status as the largest holder of Trump's memecoin, and subsequent SEC moves to stay his case and drop other major actions against leading exchanges. Waters argues that these decisions create the appearance that political donations and financial ties to the Trump family may have influenced regulatory outcomes and calls on the SEC to either resume litigation or secure a settlement that reflects the strength of its original complaint.

Chinese state television reported on January 14 that former digital yuan architect Yao Qian allegedly received more than $8 million in cryptocurrency bribes while serving in top financial regulatory roles. Investigators traced 2,000 Ethereum and other funds through hardware wallets, shell accounts, and exchange transfers, linking the assets to a Beijing villa purchase and broader corruption involving business favors and recruitment decisions.