Layer-1 protocol Saga paused its Ethereum-compatible SagaEVM chainlet on Wednesday following a $7 million exploit. Its dollar-pegged stablecoin fell to $0.75 around 10:16 pm UTC, and TVL slid roughly 55% from over $37 million to $16 million. The team says the network remains sound and has begun blacklisting the attacker's address.

Ethereum co‑founder Vitalik Buterin proposed adding native distributed validator technology to streamline staking. In a Wednesday forum post, he outlined a design that lets a validator create up to 16 independent keys that the chain treats as one, aiming to cut downtime penalties and improve security for self-stakers.

Layer-1 network Saga has paused its SagaEVM chain at block height 6593800 following a January 21 exploit that moved nearly $7 million in tokens to Ethereum. The project is investigating the coordinated attack, working on remediation with partners, and keeping the chain offline while it validates the impact and strengthens security.

XRP attempted a recovery above $1.950 but was rejected near $2.00, and it now trades below the 100-hour SMA with $1.920 exposed. Resistance sits at $1.990–$2.00, followed by $2.065 and $2.10. A close under $1.90 could target $1.8650 and $1.820, while a break over $2.00 may open $2.150–$2.20.

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.

Trump Media scheduled a 2 February token airdrop for shareholders owning at least one whole DJT share, positioning it as a blockchain rewards program with non‑equity, non‑transferable tokens. After the news, the TRUMP memecoin fell 4%, reversing its early‑2026 rebound, having touched $5.8 on a 23% recovery before sliding toward $5 and hovering near $4.9.

On 22 January 2026, Elliptic reported that Iran's central bank amassed at least $507 million in USDT through a web of crypto wallets outside regular banking channels. The flows initially passed through local exchange Nobitex, then shifted to cross-chain and decentralized routes after a 2025 hack, with part of the funds later frozen on-chain. The pattern suggests USDT may have been used both to support the rial and to preserve access to dollar value under sanctions.

Solana Mobile rolled out the SKR token airdrop to Seeker phone users and select developers, as SOL hovers near the $120–$130 technical area. SKR opened around $0.006 and moved above $0.01 within hours, lifting its market cap past $70 million. More than 100,000 users can claim via the built-in wallet over a 90-day window.