French President Emmanuel Macron intends to ask the European Union to trigger its anti-coercion instrument after US President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on products from eight European nations starting February 1. Trump has also warned that tariffs could rise to 25% in June unless a deal is reached for the purchase of Greenland, putting the recently finalized but not fully approved EU-US trade agreement in jeopardy. EU ambassadors and European political leaders are now weighing potential responses, including possible countermeasures against the United States.

On 18 January 2026, the debate over whether US dollar-pegged stablecoins should be allowed to pay interest intensified as Congress worked on a major digital asset bill. Banks warn that interest-bearing stablecoins could pull trillions of dollars in deposits from the traditional system and tighten credit, while crypto firms argue that well‑regulated reserves and transparent yield mechanisms distinguish these products from bank deposits. Lawmakers are considering language that would ban "interest for holding" stablecoins, a move critics say could reshape stablecoin business models and their role in the financial system.

Ethereum has recently seen its daily on-chain transactions climb to around 2.8 million, marking a new all-time high and coming in about 64% above the peak activity of the 2021 bull run. At the same time, technical analysis on the three-week chart suggests ETH remains in a macro uptrend, with its market capitalization holding above the 21 EMA and compressing under historical resistance. This combination of record network usage and constructive market structure points toward a higher probability of continued upside, while still leaving room for a potential deeper correction if key support fails.

Dash fell to $76.21 as activity cooled, with trading volume down 24% to $1.36 billion and market capitalization slipping below $957 million. Derivatives open interest dropped to $162 million, with $20.38 million exiting and $3.4 million in liquidations, while Binance's taker buy/sell ratio was 1.002 and spot purchases reached $10.97 million.

Scott Bessent told NBC that Europe is too weak to secure itself, arguing this is why President Donald Trump, now in his second term, is pushing for U.S. control of Greenland and will not back down. He said Trump is using emergency powers to impose new tariffs on eight European countries starting February 1, which could rise in June if no Greenland-linked deal is reached, and added that the Supreme Court is unlikely to block this approach while he also called for more oversight of the Federal Reserve.

Over a recent 12-hour span, XRP recorded about $528,940 in liquidations, of which roughly $522,900 came from long positions, creating an 8,700% imbalance versus shorts. Despite this long-heavy squeeze, XRP has been trading almost flat around the $2 mark, with price action clustering near $2.04–$2.053 as algorithms and leveraged traders repeatedly contest this level.

Lumen Technologies' stock climbed 46.3% in 2025 versus the S&P 500's 16.4%, aided by August and October partnerships with the Pac‑12 broadcaster and Palantir ($200 million). Early 2026 shares are up about 8.8%, with earnings due February 3, 2026. Lumen targets 47 million total fiber miles by end‑2028, while analysts' median price target stands at $7.56.

A whale wallet known for offloading 255 BTC in December has opened a 10x leveraged long position on 15.6 million DOGE, with a notional size of $2.14 million and entry near $0.137621. The trade sits close to a $0.12309 liquidation level as Dogecoin hovers below its December peak of $0.15209, while the same portfolio also holds large long positions in Ethereum, Bitcoin and Solana.