Nasdaq, CME Group be a part of forces to launch Nasdaq-CME Crypto Index
The Nasdaq Inventory Alternate and the Chicago Mercantile Alternate (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, mentioned 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 got indexes which are consultant of the broader market.”
Stablecoin flows may close to $56T by 2030: Bloomberg
Stablecoin fee flows may faucet $56.6 trillion by 2030, in accordance with Bloomberg Intelligence, an increase that will make stablecoins one of the vital fee 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 rising institutional adoption and rising use of stablecoins in economies going through 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 essentially the most most well-liked on decentralized finance platforms.
Stablecoin flows rose 81% year-on-year in 2025; nevertheless, 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 won’t grant a pardon to Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, who’s serving a 25-year sentence for his function within the collapse of cryptocurrency alternate FTX.
In accordance with a Thursday interview with Trump by The New York Instances, the president mentioned 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 decide revoked his bail earlier than his legal trial.
Ethereum is the Linux of blockchain, says co-founder Vitalik Buterin
The Ethereum community, a decentralized layer-1 (L1) blockchain that executes good contracts, is analogous to the open-source working system Linux, in accordance with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
Linux and Ethereum are each open supply and have custom-tailored implementations. Linux achieves this via builders constructing {custom} modifications of software program, whereas Ethereum does it via its layer-2 scaling networks, Buterin mentioned.
It has supplied worth to “billions” of people, enterprises and state governments “with out compromising” on its open supply ethos or decentralization, Buterin mentioned, including:
“We should guarantee that Ethereum L1 works because the monetary, and finally identification, social, and governance dwelling for people and organizations who desire a increased stage 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 at the same time as some analysts count on near-term worth weak spot.
The corporate purchased $105 million value of Ether in its first reported acquisitions of the brand new 12 months, in accordance with a Wednesday X publish from blockchain knowledge platform Arkham.
The treasury firm now holds 4.07 million Ether value $12.6 billion, representing 3.36% of the ETH provide, in accordance with knowledge from the Strategic ETH Reserve.
BitMine nonetheless holds $915 million in whole money reserves, in accordance with its newest replace on Monday, which can be used to accumulate extra ETH as the corporate pushes in the direction of its strategic purpose 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 accordance 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, ensure to learn Cointelegraph’s market evaluation.
Most Memorable Quotations
“I acquired a variety of votes as a result of I backed crypto, and I acquired to love it.”
Donald Trump, president of the USA 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 believe we’ve rallied to begin 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 appears prefer it’s put in the next 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, they usually may probably mine blocks extra effectively, disrupting Bitcoin’s financial and safety mannequin.”
David Duong, world head of funding analysis at Coinbase
“We should guarantee that Ethereum L1 works because the monetary, and finally identification, social, and governance dwelling for people and organizations who desire a increased stage of autonomy, and provides them entry to the complete energy of the community with out dependence on intermediaries.”
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum
Prime 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 recommend in any other case, says CryptoQuant CEO Ki Younger Ju.
“Capital inflows into Bitcoin have dried up,” Ju mentioned on Wednesday, including that investor curiosity has returned to “shares and glossy rocks” as the worth of gold and silver have skyrocketed.
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Ju added that Bitcoin is unlikely to crash from its peak because it has finished prior 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% prior to now day and has fallen from a excessive this week of $94,400, in accordance with CoinMarketCap.
Prime 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 quick rebound to begin 2026.
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Ethereum restaking: Blockchain innovation or harmful home of playing cards?
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 positive aspects collected within the opening days of the 12 months and alerts renewed warning amongst buyers. It additionally means that early inflows had been fragile, with buyers trimming publicity as sentiment softened.
Polymarket consumer who received $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 elimination as president simply earlier than information emerged of his seize by US army and legislation enforcement, now returns a useless 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 neighborhood over excessive‑profile bets and strange buying and selling exercise on prediction markets.
Ray Dalio says 2026 US midterm elections might reverse Trump insurance policies
The stability of energy in the USA Congress might shift in favor of Democrats within the 2026 midterm elections, fueled by inflation issues, threatening to undo regulatory insurance policies beneath the Republican Celebration and US President Donald Trump, in accordance with billionaire hedge fund supervisor Ray Dalio.
“The affordability challenge will most likely be the primary political challenge subsequent 12 months, contributing to the Republicans shedding the Home and a really messy 2027 on the way in which to a really attention-grabbing 2028 election,” Dalio mentioned, including:
“Due to how our democracy works, President Trump has a two-year unimpeded mandate that may be weakened vastly within the 2026 mid-term elections and reversed within the 2028 elections. These days, it’s uncommon for one occasion to have the ability to keep in energy for lengthy.”
Prime Journal Tales of The Week
One metric exhibits crypto is now in a bear market: Carl ‘The Moon’
Carl “The Moon” Runefelt says there’s “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 may simply afford a fleet of Lamborghinis however says they’re “small, cramped and tough to drive.”
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