The Neo Council met online to debate a proposal for creating a five-member Strategy and Treasury Board that would streamline decision-making and address ongoing governance and execution challenges. The proposed board would be elected by the Council, hold budget and strategy authority, and reduce the effective voting threshold from 11 of 21 Council members to three of five board members while preserving veto and removal powers for the wider Council. Participants, including core developers and ecosystem contributors, discussed incentive realignment, representation, and implementation paths, and agreed to continue refining the idea ahead of a follow-up meeting expected in about one month.

XRP has been the strongest performer among the top five cryptocurrencies since the start of the year, adding about 3% while Bitcoin and Ethereum have struggled. Its price is now approaching the $1.50 support area after a failed breakout from a falling wedge, with some traders eyeing upside targets at $2.50, $3.50 and $5 if momentum improves. Alongside this, pending U.S. legislation and steady inflows into XRP ETFs have strengthened the token's institutional narrative.

By early 2026, Elon Musk's Grok AI issued bullish projections for XRP, Solana and PEPE, linking potential upside to an extended crypto bull cycle and clearer U.S. regulation. The model suggests XRP could climb from about $1.90 toward $27.52, Solana from roughly $130 to $1,200 and PEPE from around $0.0000051 to approximately $0.000025 in a favorable scenario. Alongside these forecasts, meme token Maxi Doge has drawn attention in January through a presale that has raised over $4.5 million at a token price of $0.0002795 with up to 69% APY staking rewards.

On January 20, Grayscale filed an S-1 with the U.S. SEC seeking to convert its existing Grayscale Near Trust into a spot NEAR ETF to be listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker GSNR. The trust, launched in May 2024 and opened to public trading in September 2025, currently manages about $900,000 with a 2.50% expense ratio, while NEAR trades around $1.53 after a 69% annual decline.

The Sandbox's SAND recorded a 2.24% daily gain as trading volume rose over 113%, bucking broader market weakness. The token cleared a months-long declining structure and reclaimed mid-range levels, bringing the $0.20 area into view as derivatives interest builds and exchange outflows suggest steady accumulation.

XRP has fallen below the $2 level after a brief rebound to about $2.20 in mid-January, extending a week-long downturn that saw the price drop to $1.85 during a liquidity sweep. On January 20, XRP-linked ETFs registered roughly $53 million in outflows, their largest single-day withdrawal since launching in November 2025, adding to broader risk-off sentiment across U.S. markets. With XRP now trading below key moving averages and Ripple intensifying its focus on stablecoins like RLUSD for global settlement, investors are reassessing short-term demand for the token.

Binance announced on Jan. 21 that it will list Ripple's RLUSD and open RLUSD/USDT, RLUSD/U, and XRP/RLUSD spot markets on Jan. 22 at 8 AM UTC, with zero fees on RLUSD/USDT and RLUSD/U until further notice. RLUSD's circulating supply is about $1.4 billion, and analysts say fee-free routing can materially influence stablecoin market share and liquidity.

Ether's price closed a daily candle under $3,000 on Tuesday while large holders and institutions accumulated more than $130 million in ETH. Despite this buying, technical levels near $3,000 have broken and liquidity data still point to possible downside toward the $2,700 area.