Nasdaq, CME Group be a part of forces to launch Nasdaq-CME Crypto Index
The Nasdaq Inventory Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Trade (CME) Group joined forces to unify their crypto indexes, rebranding the Nasdaq Crypto Index (NCI) because the Nasdaq CME Crypto Index.
The NCI benchmark index contains Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, Chainlink, Cardano, and Avalanche, spokespersons for Nasdaq confirmed to Cointelegraph.
Sean Wasserman, head of index product administration at Nasdaq, stated in Friday’s announcement:
“We see the index-based method because the route buyers are heading, past simply Bitcoin. That’s just like what we’ve seen in different asset lessons, the place you’ve indexes which are consultant of the broader market.”
Stablecoin flows might close to $56T by 2030: Bloomberg
Stablecoin cost flows might faucet $56.6 trillion by 2030, in line with Bloomberg Intelligence, an increase that might make stablecoins some of the vital cost instruments in world finance.
Flows totaled $2.9 trillion in 2025, Bloomberg knowledge exhibits, implying progress of round 80% yearly over the 5 years to 2030 if the projection is realized — an increase pushed by growing institutional adoption and rising use of stablecoins in economies dealing with inflation and monetary instability.
Bloomberg famous that Tether continues to be the most-used stablecoin for on a regular basis funds, enterprise transactions, and as a financial savings car, whereas Circle’s USDC stablecoin is probably the most most popular on decentralized finance platforms.
Stablecoin flows rose 81% year-on-year in 2025; nonetheless, the share of quantity on decentralized crypto platforms fell, Bloomberg reported, citing knowledge from crypto analytics platform Artemis.
Artemis co-founder Anthony Yim attributed this shift to the expansion in US greenback stablecoin utilization in rising economies as they proceed to navigate an “more and more unstable geopolitical panorama.”
Trump guidelines out Sam Bankman-Fried pardon in NYT interview
US President Donald Trump reportedly is not going to grant a pardon to Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, who’s serving a 25-year sentence for his position within the collapse of cryptocurrency change FTX.
In response to a Thursday interview with Trump by The New York Occasions, the president stated he had no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried and others, together with music producer Sean Combs and former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez. Bankman-Fried has been behind bars since August 2023 when a federal choose revoked his bail earlier than his prison trial.
Ethereum is the Linux of blockchain, says co-founder Vitalik Buterin
The Ethereum community, a decentralized layer-1 (L1) blockchain that executes sensible contracts, is analogous to the open-source working system Linux, in line with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
Linux and Ethereum are each open supply and have custom-tailored implementations. Linux achieves this by builders constructing {custom} modifications of software program, whereas Ethereum does it by its layer-2 scaling networks, Buterin stated.
It has offered worth to “billions” of people, enterprises and state governments “with out compromising” on its open supply ethos or decentralization, Buterin stated, including:
“We should be sure that Ethereum L1 works because the monetary, and in the end identification, social, and governance house for people and organizations who need a increased degree of autonomy, and provides them entry to the complete energy of the community with out dependence on intermediaries.”
BitMine buys $105M Ether to kick off 2026, nonetheless holds $915M in money
BitMine Immersion Applied sciences, the largest-known company holder of Ether, resumed purchases of the cryptocurrency within the new 12 months, signaling continued confidence in Ethereum whilst some analysts anticipate near-term worth weak point.
The corporate purchased $105 million price of Ether in its first reported acquisitions of the brand new 12 months, in line with a Wednesday X submit from blockchain knowledge platform Arkham.
The treasury firm now holds 4.07 million Ether price $12.6 billion, representing 3.36% of the ETH provide, in line with knowledge from the Strategic ETH Reserve.
BitMine nonetheless holds $915 million in whole money reserves, in line with its newest replace on Monday, which can be used to accumulate extra ETH as the corporate pushes in direction of its strategic aim of amassing 5% of the availability.
Winners and Losers
On the finish of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $90,595, Ether (ETH) at $3,088 and XRP at $2.09. The entire market cap is at $3.09 trillion, in line with CoinMarketCap.
Among the many largest 100 cryptocurrencies, the highest three altcoin gainers of the week are Render (RENDER) at 54.73%, JasmyCoin (JASMY) at 44.57% and Polygon (MATIC) at 37.88%.
The highest three altcoin losers of the week are Midnight (NIGHT) at 24.15%, Canton (CC) at 14.68% and ZCash (ZEC) at 14.27%. For more information on crypto costs, make certain to learn Cointelegraph’s market evaluation.
Most Memorable Quotations
“I bought a whole lot of votes as a result of I backed crypto, and I bought to love it.”
Donald Trump, president of america of America
“I don’t assume we’ll see a -50%+ crash from ATH like previous bear markets. Simply boring sideways for the following few months.”
Ki Younger Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant
“One of many causes I feel we’ve rallied to start out this 12 months is that buyers have put October 10 within the rearview.”
Matt Hougan, chief funding officer at Bitwise
“So all of that is massively optimistic for Bitcoin, which seems to be prefer it’s put in a better base than it did within the spring of ’25.”
Invoice Miller, American investor and founding father of Miller Worth Companions
“Which means quantum computer systems truly pose two separate threats. They might probably break the cryptographic safety of personal keys, permitting attackers to steal funds from susceptible addresses, and so they might probably mine blocks extra effectively, disrupting Bitcoin’s financial and safety mannequin.”
David Duong, world head of funding analysis at Coinbase
“We should be sure that Ethereum L1 works because the monetary, and in the end identification, social, and governance house for people and organizations who need a increased degree of autonomy, and provides them entry to the complete energy of the community with out dependence on intermediaries.”
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum
High Prediction of The Week
Bitcoin faces ‘boring sideways’ grind in coming months: CryptoQuant CEO
Bitcoin’s worth might keep flat within the first quarter of 2026, despite the fact that historic developments counsel in any other case, says CryptoQuant CEO Ki Younger Ju.
“Capital inflows into Bitcoin have dried up,” Ju stated on Wednesday, including that investor curiosity has returned to “shares and glossy rocks” as the value of gold and silver have skyrocketed.
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Ju added that Bitcoin is unlikely to crash from its peak because it has performed up to now, and anticipated “simply boring sideways for the following few months.”
Bitcoin is buying and selling at round $90,890 on the time of publication, down over 2% up to now day and has fallen from a excessive this week of $94,400, in line with CoinMarketCap.
High FUD of The Week
Bitcoin and Ether ETFs shed over $1B as early 2026 inflows reverse
United States spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have shed over $1 billion in mixed outflows since Tuesday, marking an early-year pullback after a short rebound to start out 2026.
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SoSoValue knowledge exhibits spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.13 billion in outflows between Tuesday and Thursday, offsetting $1.17 billion in inflows on Jan. 2 and Monday. Spot Ether ETFs had an identical sample, with about $258 million exiting since Wednesday, after posting modest inflows earlier in January.
The reversal erases good points accrued within the opening days of the 12 months and alerts renewed warning amongst buyers. It additionally means that early inflows have been fragile, with buyers trimming publicity as sentiment softened.
Polymarket person who gained $400K on Maduro ouster guess quietly disappears
A Polymarket account that earned about $400,000 from a controversial and well-timed guess on the seize of then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is not accessible on the platform.
The Polymarket web page for account “0x31a56e,” which positioned about $32,000 on Maduro’s removing as president simply earlier than information emerged of his seize by US army and legislation enforcement, now returns a lifeless hyperlink, Cointelegraph has confirmed.
As of Thursday about 1:00 p.m. UTC, the web page confirmed an error saying, “Oops… we didn’t forecast this,” whereas different customers’ pages stay accessible.
The event comes amid rising concern within the crypto group over excessive‑profile bets and weird buying and selling exercise on prediction markets.
Ray Dalio says 2026 US midterm elections might reverse Trump insurance policies
The steadiness of energy in america Congress might shift in favor of Democrats within the 2026 midterm elections, fueled by inflation considerations, threatening to undo regulatory insurance policies below the Republican Celebration and US President Donald Trump, in line with billionaire hedge fund supervisor Ray Dalio.
“The affordability problem will in all probability be the primary political problem subsequent 12 months, contributing to the Republicans shedding the Home and a really messy 2027 on the best way to a really attention-grabbing 2028 election,” Dalio stated, including:
“Due to how our democracy works, President Trump has a two-year unimpeded mandate that may be weakened tremendously within the 2026 mid-term elections and reversed within the 2028 elections. These days, it’s uncommon for one social gathering to have the ability to keep in energy for lengthy.”
High Journal Tales of The Week
One metric exhibits crypto is now in a bear market: Carl ‘The Moon’
Carl “The Moon” Runefelt says there may be “no hype” within the crypto market proper now and he’s “50-50” on how 2026 will play out.
Davinci Jeremie purchased Bitcoin at $1… however $100K BTC doesn’t excite him
Bitcoin OG Davinci Jeremie might simply afford a fleet of Lamborghinis however says they’re “small, cramped and tough to drive.”
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