Summary
gm, Coinbase announced the addition of Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita to its Global Advisory Council, signaling closer ties between the crypto industry and political spheres. The Bitcoin price rallied above $105,000 following the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain interest rates, with Fed Chair Powell indicating banks are capable of serving crypto customers. Kraken reintroduced staking services for U.S. clients after a two-year hiatus, reflecting a shifting regulatory environment. Additionally, Tether announced plans to integrate its USDT stablecoin with the Bitcoin and Lightning networks, potentially enhancing Bitcoin's utility for payments and transactions.

News Headlines
🚀 Bitcoin Breaks $106K as Fed Holds Rates Steady

  • The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, pausing its easing campaign after three consecutive cuts. The federal funds rate remains between 4.25% and 4.50%.
  • Bitcoin initially dropped sharply following the announcement but later rebounded to a three-day high around $106,000, demonstrating volatility in response to Fed decisions.

🌐 Solana Captures Nearly Half of DEX Market Share

  • Solana has surged to capture nearly 50% of the decentralized exchange (DEX) market, driven by the memecoin launchpad Pump.fun.
  • Solana achieved an 89.7% DEX market share at the end of December and has maintained shares above 50% for the past five weeks.

🏦 Kraken Restores Staking Services in US After 2-Year Hiatus

  • Kraken has resumed staking services for US clients across 37 states, offering staking for 17 digital assets including Ethereum and Solana.
  • This marks the end of a two-year pause following a settlement with the SEC in 2023 over unregistered staking services.

💰 Fairshake PAC Raises $116 Million for 2026 Elections

  • Pro-crypto PAC Fairshake has raised over $116 million to influence the 2026 US midterm elections.
  • Major donors include Coinbase, Andreessen Horowitz, and Jump Crypto.

Market Metrics

Fundraising & VC
1. Elastos (Strategic, $20M) - SmartWeb development and BTCFi protocol
2. Mevvy (Seed, $2.8M) - Execution platform for MEV searchers
3. SyFu (Strategic, Undisclosed) - Payment data DePIN

On-chain Data
1. Portal (PORTAL) token unlocked today ($6.16M, 18.33%)
2. Biconomy (BICO) token unlocked today ($1.85M, 0.81%)
3. Celo (CELO) token unlocked today ($1.10M, 0.36%)
4. ZetaChain (ZETA) token unlock in 1 day ($19.62M, 6.98% )

Regulatory
🏛️ SEC Approves Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF

  • The SEC has approved the launch of a Bitwise ETF that combines exposure to both Bitcoin and Ethereum, weighted by market cap.
  • This marks a significant step in integrating cryptocurrencies into mainstream financial markets.

💼 Coinbase Files to List Solana and Hedera Futures

  • Coinbase has submitted a self-certification application to the CFTC to list futures for Solana (SOL) and Hedera (HBAR).
  • The proposed Solana futures would be sized at 100 SOL, with smaller 'nano' contracts also available.

⚖️ Illinois Pushes for Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

  • Illinois has advanced House Bill 1844, proposing a state-run Bitcoin reserve with a minimum five-year holding period.
  • The bill aims to create a special fund in the state treasury for holding Bitcoin as a financial asset.

🚫 ECB President Dismisses Bitcoin as Central Bank Reserve Asset

  • ECB President Christine Lagarde expressed confidence that Bitcoin will not become part of central bank reserves in the EU.
  • Lagarde emphasized that central bank reserves should be "liquid, secure, and safe," suggesting Bitcoin doesn't meet these criteria.

🚨 South Korea to Upgrade Crypto Task Force to Full Investigative Unit

  • South Korea plans to transform its crypto task force into a permanent investigative unit.
  • The expanded unit aims to improve the efficacy of investigations and prosecutions related to virtual asset crimes.

Technical Analysis
Bitcoin - Investors have paid higher prices over time to buy Bitcoin and the currency is in a rising trend channel in the short term. This signals increasing optimism among investors and indicates continued rise. The currency is between support at points 102000 and resistance at points 106000. A definitive break through of one of these levels predicts the new direction. Negative volume balance weakens the currency in the short term. The RSI curve shows a falling trend, which is an early signal of a possible trend reversal downwards for the price as well. The currency is overall assessed as technically slightly positive for the short term.

Ethereum - Ethereum is in a falling trend channel in the short term. This signals increasing pessimism among investors and indicates further decline for Ethereum. The currency is between support at points 3170 and resistance at points 3340. A definitive break through of one of these levels predicts the new direction. Volume tops and volume bottoms correspond badly with tops and bottoms in the price. Volume balance is also negative, which confirms the trend. The currency is overall assessed as technically negative for the short term.

Governance & Code
⚖️ Karrat DAO | Split-Save Mechanism (KIP 2) (Active Vote)
- This proposal aims to implement a Split-Save mechanism within the KARRATco ecosystem.

💧 Lido DAO | Ensuring Compatibility with Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade
- This proposal outlines technical updates to the Lido protocol to ensure compatibility with Ethereum’s upcoming Pectra hardfork.

🐄 CoW DAO | Balancer x CoWSwap Strategic Alignment Token Swap
- This proposal aims to initiate a BAL/COW token swap of 200,000 BAL and ~631,000 COW to further align incentives between the CoW and Balancer DAOs in advance of the next stage of CoWAMMs.