Market Performance
| Asset / Index | Value ($) | Daily Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | 95,452.0 | -0.06% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | 3,305.59 | -0.37% |
| Bitcoin Spot ETF | +100.20M | Net Inflow |
| Ethereum Spot ETF | +164.40M | Net Inflow |
| Nasdaq (NAS100) | 25,680.1 | +0.53% |
| S&P 500 (SPX) | 6,944.46 | +0.26% |
| Russell 2000 (RUT) | 2,687.8 | +0.29% |
| U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) | 98.948 | -0.08% |
| VIX Volatility Index | 15.84 | -5.43% |
| U.S. 10-Year Yield | 4.16898 | +0.63% |
| Brent Crude Oil (BRENT) | 64.084 | +0.02% |
| LBMA Gold (XAU) | 4,607.59 | -0.17% |
| LBMA Silver (XAG) | 90.869 | -1.44% |
“Prepared at UTC 07.53 am”
Today’s Key Events
- President Trump Travels from Florida to the White House
- SEC’s Ripple Appeal Filing
- Fed Members Bowman and Jefferson to Speak
- Bank of England Governor to Speak
- Arbitrium Token Unlock
Trump Will Not Remove Powell
Trump announced that he has no plans to remove Fed Chairman Powell despite the investigation. He stated that it is too early to talk about removal and that he cannot announce his final decision at this stage. Trump, who said he is in a wait-and-see mode, argued that the president should have a say in Fed policy. Trump claimed to understand the economy better than Powell. While suggesting that former Fed governor Warsh or NEC Director Hassett could replace Powell, he ruled out Treasury Secretary Bessent.
Interest Rate Messages from Fed Officials
Fed officials shared differing views on interest rate policy and the economic outlook. The statements included assessments of inflation trends and the labor market. Officials highlighted their disagreement on the need to avoid rushing monetary policy. The emphasis on the Fed’s independence was among the prominent topics.
- Philadelphia Fed President Paulson (will vote in 2026, dovish): Said he supports rate cuts later in 2026, expects inflation to fall to 2% by year-end, and will focus on January price data.
- Kansas City Fed President Schmid (will not vote in 2026, hawkish): He expressed his opposition to interest rate cuts and stated that the cooling in the labor market was due to structural reasons such as technology and immigration policy.
- Fed Chair Barr (2025 voter, neutral): He noted that inflation remains high, while the job market is showing signs of stability, and said the Justice Department investigation is an attack on Fed independence.
- Chicago Fed Chair Goolsbee (will not vote in the 2026 election, dovish): He emphasized that there are signs of stability in the job market, that the focus should be on lowering inflation, and that weakening central bank independence leads to higher inflation.
Trump’s Iran Decision Pending
It was reported that the likelihood of Trump ordering an attack on Iran has decreased. While US forces continue to gather in the region to keep their options open, allies have warned Trump not to rush. US officials, Middle Eastern allies, and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have called on the administration not to launch an attack yet. It was assessed that attacks may not guarantee regime change and carry the risk of a wider regional conflict. It was stated that even limited action is unlikely to change Tehran’s stance toward protesters.
US Military Preparations Continue
It was reported that at least one US aircraft carrier has been deployed to the Middle East and that air, land, and sea elements continue to gather. It was reported that this process is expected to take at least a week. It was noted that the deployment will continue in the coming days and weeks in order to provide options should Trump decide to attack. Planners are working on multiple scenarios depending on the regime’s behavior. Missile defense systems are also expected to be deployed to strengthen U.S. bases and Israel’s defenses.
New Sanctions Against Iran from the U.S.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions against Iran. It was reported that sanctions were imposed on numerous Iranian individuals and organizations, as well as foreign companies linked to Iran. Iranian National Security Council Secretary Larijani was also added to the sanctions list. In addition, it was announced that 18 individuals and organizations linked to Iran’s oil and petrochemical exports were also included in the sanctions.
China December Financial Data
China shared its financial data for December with the public. The figures announced pointed to a picture exceeding expectations in terms of credit growth and money supply. The data provided important signals regarding domestic demand and financial conditions. Annual growth rates in money supply indicators were noteworthy.
- Total social financing: CNY 22,075 billion, Wind estimate: CNY 18,153 billion, previous estimate: CNY 24,885 billion.
- New RMB loans: CNY 9,100 billion, Wind consensus estimate: CNY 6,794 billion, previous figure: CNY 3,900 billion.
- M2 y/y +8.5% (forecast +7.1%, previous +8.0%), M1 y/y +3.8% (previous +4.9%), M0 y/y +10.2%.
Trump Bond Portfolio Revealed
Financial disclosures released by the White House revealed that Donald Trump owns bonds from companies affected by government policies. According to the disclosure, the total value of Trump’s municipal and corporate bond investments is at least $51.00 million. The portfolio includes bonds from Netflix, CoreWeave, General Motors, Boeing, and Occidental Petroleum. It was noted that only transaction ranges were reported as required by law, and exact amounts were not disclosed.
Fed Message from Hassett
Hassett, who has been mentioned as a candidate for the US Federal Reserve chairmanship, said he could convince his colleagues if he took office. Hassett argued that interest rates were lowered too slowly under Powell’s leadership. The statements echoed Trump’s criticism of the Fed. Fed observers, however, pointed out that interest rate decisions are made by a majority of the FOMC and that the chair cannot set policy alone.
Hope for the CLARITY Act
Crypto reporter Eleanor Terrett reported that the parties are evaluating the process following the cancellation of the CLARITY review hearing. Some industry representatives and Senate Banking Committee staff believe the bill could move forward if banks, Coinbase, and Democrats can agree on returns. The tokenized securities provision was not seen as a major obstacle. Talks between the White House and the Senate were also reported to be ongoing.
Democrats Pressure SEC
Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives demanded that the SEC explain why it has suspended numerous crypto cases. A letter sent to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins by Maxine Waters, Sean Casten, and Brad Sherman noted that more than ten cases, including those involving Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, have been withdrawn since the beginning of 2025.
The lawmakers emphasized that this process coincided with an increase in political donations and heightened concerns about “pay-to-play.” They stated that the 11-month suspension of the Sun Yuchen case created the perception of selective enforcement and requested all communication records related to this decision from the SEC.
Ethereum Attracts New Users
Activity on the Ethereum network has increased significantly in the last month. It was noted that this increase stems from new addresses interacting on the chain for the first time, rather than existing users conducting more frequent transactions. Monthly user tracking data pointed to a strong rise in the number of wallets making their first contact with the blockchain. Unlike previous periods, this increase revealed a broadening interest in $DeFi, stablecoin transfers, $NFTs, and new applications.
PancakeSwap Reduces CAKE Supply
PancakeSwap announced on the X platform that a proposal to reduce the maximum supply of the $CAKE token has been put to a vote. The proposal envisions reducing the maximum supply from 450 million to 400 million. Community members can vote on this proposal as part of the official governance process. The outcome of the vote is expected to have a direct impact on the token economy.
Sui Releases Outage Report
The Sui Foundation published an incident investigation report on the approximately 6-hour outage that occurred on the mainnet on January 14. It was stated that the outage was caused by internal disagreements in the validator consensus and that new checkpoints could not be validated. It was clarified that the incident was not related to network congestion or transaction volume, that user funds remained safe, and that no transaction rollbacks occurred. It was stated that the problem stemmed from an edge case in the consensus submission logic and was resolved with validator upgrades.
Ondo Finance TVL Record
Ondo Finance’s total value locked (TVL) exceeded $2 billion, driven by tokenized US Treasury bond funds. According to DefiLlama data, this level was recorded as the platform’s all-time high TVL. Ethereum held the top position with approximately $1.5 billion in on-chain assets, followed by Solana and the BNB Smart Chain. It was noted that the flagship product OUSG held over $820 million in Treasury bonds.
Solana Integrates STRK
Solana announced that the Starknet token $STRK has been integrated into the Solana network via Near. The announcement was shared on Solana’s official X account. Previously, mutual posts between the two ecosystems on social media had attracted attention. The integration aims to increase cross-chain access.
