According to the analysis, XRP is stabilizing above a major demand area in its USDT pair after an earlier-month rebound, but it has not reclaimed the broader supply zone near $2.40. Against BTC, the token remains in a downtrend, fading from 2,400–2,500 sats and hovering near 2,150 sats while momentum indicators ease.

Bitcoin is consolidating just under the $95,000 resistance zone after rebounding from its December lows, with the daily chart showing a clear pattern of higher lows. Technical structure now places BTC between a potential breakout toward the $100,000 area and a possible pullback toward support around $90,000, while on-chain data shows the share of supply in profit recovering from a deep reset.

Industry security leaders warn that close to 80% of crypto projects hit by major exploits fail to regain stability, with the outcome hinging on how teams act in the first hours. Immunefi CEO Mitchell Amador and Kerberus' Alex Katz argue that operational breakdowns and trust erosion, not just stolen funds, drive long-term damage. In 2025, reported hack-related losses reached $3.4 billion, and a single Bybit incident accounted for $1.4 billion.

On 18 January 2026, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that growing protocol complexity is a major long-term threat to the network's decentralization. He argued that constant feature additions and reliance on highly specialized cryptography can make users dependent on a small expert class instead of the code itself. Buterin called for an explicit focus on simplification, including removing or offloading rarely used features from the core protocol to preserve Ethereum's trustlessness over decades.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned in an X post that years of protocol complexity and bloat are undermining trustlessness and self-sovereignty. He advocated pruning underused features and slimming core components to restore simplicity, setting 2026 as a year to "take back lost ground."

Ethereum's Proof-of-Stake deposit contract holds 77.85 million ETH, representing 46.59% of supply and nearly $256 billion. The staked balance rose 38.4% year over year, easing near-term sell pressure while exit dynamics still pose volatility risk. Active validators climbed to roughly 977,000–1.04 million, up from about 890,000 at end-2023.

Since January 16 (Friday), Bitcoin slipped into tight consolidation after failing to extend earlier strength. In a January 17 X post, XWIN Finance said the Kimchi Premium has flashed a long signal again, a pattern that preceded a 370% advance in 2023. BTC sits near $95,280 with little 24-hour change.

Shiba Inu closed below its 20-day moving average and the mid-Bollinger Band yesterday, shifting the setup toward a pullback. The lower band near $0.00000718 sits 14.36% beneath the latest $0.00000839 reading, a gap that often narrows unless a swift recovery occurs. Bulls now need to reclaim the 20-day level to avoid further slippage.