Cryptocurrency exchanges have prolonged their downturn notwithstanding highly anticipated political events occurring in the US.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump enacted a funding measure to conclude the unprecedented 43-day US government closure, following its approval in the Senate<\/a> on Monday and ratification by<\/a> the House of Representatives on Wednesday.<\/p>\n This legislation allocates finances for the government until Jan. 30, 2026, allowing both Democrats and Republicans more time to negotiate broader funding strategies for the upcoming year.<\/p>\n The conclusion of the shutdown did not enhance interest among Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) exchange-traded fund (ETF) purchasers. Spot BTC ETFs experienced a fleeting rebound on Tuesday, drawing $524 million in inflows<\/a>, but outflows swiftly resumed, resulting in an astonishing $866 million in daily net outflows on Thursday, according<\/a> to Farside Investors.<\/p>\n Bitcoin dropped to a six-month low of $95,900 on Friday, a price last recorded in May as its primary demand factors continued to lack energy.<\/p>\n Investments from ETFs and Michael Saylor\u2019s Approach<\/a> were the two major engines driving Bitcoin\u2019s value this year, as per Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency analytics platform CryptoQuant.<\/p>\n The absence of interest in spot Bitcoin ETFs is raising alarms about Bitcoin\u2019s potential for the remainder of the year.<\/p>\n On Monday, the US Senate validated the funding measure, bringing Congress closer to resolving the shutdown. The legislation proceeded for a complete vote in the House of Representatives, which occurred on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Despite encouraging news from the US<\/a>, spot Bitcoin ETF investments remained stagnant on Monday, with merely $1.2 million of inflows, according<\/a> to data from Farside Investors.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough the US shutdown appears to be concluding, and the S&P and Gold have rebounded sharply, Bitcoin ETFs saw NO interest yesterday,\u201d stated Capriole Investments founder, Charles Edwards, adding that this is not a trend we wish to witness persist.<\/p>\n \u201cRisk assets typically experience a robust bid during the weeks following a Shutdown. There\u2019s still time to steer this ship in the right direction, but it needs to change,\u201d Edwards noted in a Tuesday X post<\/a>.<\/p>\n Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows were the key catalyst for Bitcoin\u2019s momentum in 2025<\/a>, Standard Chartered\u2019s global head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, recently shared with Cointelegraph.<\/p>\n Continue reading<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan is increasingly optimistic that cryptocurrency markets will flourish in 2026, especially as there hasn\u2019t been a late 2025 surge.<\/p>\n During a conversation with Cointelegraph at The Bridge conference in New York City on Wednesday, Hougan mentioned that a cryptocurrency market surge at the end of 2025 would have aligned with the four-year cycle thesis, suggesting that 2026 would signal the onset of a bear market, similar to 2022 and 2018.<\/p>\n When questioned to adjust his forecast<\/a> on whether the cryptocurrency market would thrive in 2026, Hougan expressed: \u201cI\u2019m indeed more assured in that statement. The primary risk was [if] we surged towards the end of 2025 and subsequently faced a pullback.\u201d<\/p>\n Hougan asserted that interest in the Bitcoin debasement trade,<\/a> stablecoins, and tokenization<\/a> would keep advancing, contending that Uniswap\u2019s fee switch proposal<\/a> introduced on Monday would rejuvenate enthusiasm in decentralized finance protocols in the coming year.<\/p>\n \u201cI firmly believe the fundamental aspects are extremely solid,\u201d Hougan remarked. \u201cI believe these earlier influences, institutional investment, regulatory advancements, stablecoins, tokenization, I just think those are too significant to suppress. Therefore, I anticipate 2026 will be a favorable year.\u201d<\/p>\n Continue reading<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The privacy coin sector has reemerged into the limelight after BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes encouraged Zcash holders to withdraw their funds from centralized exchanges (CEXs).<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Hayes advised<\/a> holders to \u201cshield\u201d their funds, a function that facilitates private transactions within the Zcash network. \u201cIf you possess $ZEC on a CEX, transfer it to a self-custodial wallet and shield it,\u201d Hayes noted on X.<\/p>\n His remarks came as Zcash (ZEC<\/a>) experienced volatile price movements in recent days. The token surged to $723 on Saturday before plummeting to $504 on Sunday. It then rose to a peak of $677 on Monday, only to witness another significant dip. At the moment of writing, ZEC was trading around $450, representing a 37% decrease from its high on Saturday.<\/p>\n Analysts had cautioned that ZEC might face a steep correction<\/a> due to its relative strength index (RSI) reaching a record high after maintaining its rally above its overbought region.<\/p>\n Continue reading<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has penned and endorsed the latest \u201cTrustless Manifesto,\u201d which aims to preserve core principles of decentralization and resistance to censorship while urging developers to avoid introducing intermediaries and checkpoints for the sake of broader acceptance.<\/p>\n The Trustless Manifesto, also co-authored by Ethereum Foundation experts Yoav Weiss and Marissa Posner, asserted that cryptocurrency platforms compromise trustlessness as soon as they implement a hosted node or centralized relayer. It noted that while this may appear innocuous, it leads to habitual reliance on such checkpoints, rendering the protocol progressively less permissionless.<\/p>\n \u201cTrustlessness is not merely an additional feature. It is the fundamental essence,\u201d the Ethereum Foundation members stated<\/a> in the manifesto released on Wednesday. \u201cIn its absence, all else \u2014 efficiency, user experience, scalability \u2014 serves as mere adornment on a delicate foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen challenges tempt us towards centralization, we must remind ourselves: every line of convenience code can turn into a bottleneck.\u201d<\/p>\n Though the manifesto was not directed at any specific individual or organization, several Ethereum layer 2 solutions have faced criticism for prioritizing scalability over decentralization to enhance adoption.<\/p>\n Continue reading<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Sonic Labs, the entity behind the Sonic layer-1 blockchain, has announced a significant strategic transition as it moves from prioritizing transaction speed to developing long-lasting business value and token durability.<\/p>\n After claiming industry-leading results last year, Sonic Labs indicated its next phase will concentrate on enhancements that yield measurable financial benefits, such as new Ethereum and Sonic Improvement Proposals (EIPs and SIPs), reductions in token supply, and redesigned incentives for network participants.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery choice we make from now on will be steered by the commitment to generate genuine value, with price, growth, and sustainability consistently in our sights,\u201d stated Mitchell Demeter, the new CEO of Sonic Labs.<\/p>\n This strategy aims to deliver \u201cquantifiable, enduring value\u201d for builders, validators, and token holders, Demeter wrote in a post on X on Tuesday post<\/a>. \u201cOur aim at Sonic is to transcend hype and construct a sustainable business framework for a layer one that creates, seizes, and returns actual value to token holders.\u201d<\/p>\n The upcoming fee monetization upgrade will feature a tiered reward structure for builders and fixed incentives for validators.<\/p>\n Sonic Labs will furthermore escalate the frequency of programmatic Sonic (S) token burns, effectively permanently withdrawing tokens from circulation to tighten the overall supply.<\/p>\n Sonic claims to be the fastest Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chain globally, boasting a \u201ctrue\u201d finality<\/a> of 720 milliseconds (ms) \u2014 the confirmation that a transaction is irreversible, which takes place once it is integrated into a block on the blockchain ledger.<\/p>\n Continue reading<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Based on information from Cointelegraph Markets Pro<\/a> and TradingView, the majority of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization concluded the week in negative territory.<\/p>\nBitcoin ETF interest stagnates as US shutdown optimism fails to boost sentiment<\/h2>\n
Bitwise executive predicts 2026 will be crypto\u2019s genuine bull year; here\u2019s why<\/h2>\n
Arthur Hayes urges Zcash holders to withdraw from CEXs and \u201cshield\u201d assets<\/h2>\n
\n“““html<\/p>\nVitalik Buterin advocates for decentralization in \u201cTrustless Manifesto\u201d<\/h2>\n
Sonic Labs shifts focus from speed to sustainability with a business-centric approach<\/h2>\n
DeFi market summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n