Invest ideasNews
21 Jan 2026, 11:52
Bitcoin Advocate Urges Federal Reserve to Add BTC to Stress Tests
Pierre Rochard, CEO of The Bitcoin Bond Company, has formally requested that the Federal Reserve include Bitcoin as an explicit variable in its 2026 supervisory stress tests, arguing the asset’s extreme volatility and growing institutional adoption warrant standalone treatment in banking risk assessments. The letter , submitted January 20 to the Federal Reserve Board, challenges the practice of grouping Bitcoin with other cryptocurrencies and proposes quantitative calibration based on the asset’s historical behavior dating back to 2015. Rochard’s submission arrives as the US government navigates conflicting policies on Bitcoin holdings, amid recent confusion over whether forfeited assets from the Samourai Wallet case violated Executive Order 14233, which requires seized Bitcoin to be transferred to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve rather than liquidated. However, the Department of Justice later confirmed , through White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt, that the 57.5 BTC had “ not been liquidated and will not be liquidated, ” resolving speculation after blockchain analysts flagged a November transfer to a Coinbase Prime address. It is in the United States national interest to become the Bitcoin Superpower. To that end, the Federal Reserve should begin integrating bitcoin into its stress tests and scenarios. I've sent in a comment letter explaining what I believe to be reasonable path forward. ( 1/3) pic.twitter.com/rDILZMpFv5 — Pierre Rochard (@BitcoinPierre) January 20, 2026 Extreme Volatility Demands Separate Treatment Rochard’s letter presents a detailed analysis showing Bitcoin’s 73.3% annualized realized volatility over the 2015-2026 sample period, compared to just 18.1% for the S&P 500 over the same timeframe. The analysis documents a maximum drawdown of 83.8% from peak to trough, with daily return tails ranging from -10.0% at the 1st percentile to 10.7% at the 99th percentile, far exceeding typical asset behavior. Source: X/@BitcoinPierre “ Bitcoin’s risk profile is unusually idiosyncratic and materially non-linear: it has experienced repeated, deep peak-to-trough drawdowns and sustained periods of very high realized volatility ,” Rochard wrote. He argued these properties affect valuations, margin requirements, counterparty exposures, and liquidity demands “ in ways that cannot be reliably inferred from other scenario variables. “ The submission includes rolling correlation analysis demonstrating Bitcoin’s unstable dependence structure with macro-financial variables, with correlation between Bitcoin and S&P 500 returns ranging from negative to strongly positive across 90-observation windows. Source: X/@BitcoinPierre Rochard warned that “ a fixed ‘beta’ mapping from equities (or risk sentiment) to bitcoin will understate risk in some regimes and overstate it in others, ” making explicit scenario variables essential for consistent stress testing across banks. Implementation Would Reduce Model Divergence Rochard recommends that the Federal Reserve provide quarterly Bitcoin price paths for baseline, adverse, and severely adverse scenarios, with optional daily paths for global-market-shock datasets. He suggests three calibration methods: Historical feature matching tied to peak-to-trough drawdowns and realized-volatility percentiles Regime-switching time-series models with different volatilities for bull and bear markets Jump-diffusion frameworks with stochastic volatility explicitly representing tail risk “ The calibration goal is not to forecast bitcoin, but to supply a consistent and severe, but plausible, path that stress tests can translate into market and counterparty outcomes, ” Rochard explained. He emphasized that firms without Bitcoin exposure could simply ignore the variable, while those with direct or indirect exposure would gain “ transparency, reproducibility, and consistent scenario translation ” rather than relying on inconsistent proxy assumptions. The timing coincides with broader market stress, as Bitcoin plunged to $88,000 amid $1.07 billion in liquidations over 24 hours while gold surged past $4,800 per ounce . The divergence has renewed debate over Bitcoin’s role as either a risk asset or a strategic reserve, particularly after President Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Greenland triggered a flight from US assets. CEO of Galaxy, Mike Novogratz, noted “ the gold price is telling us we are losing reserve currency status at an accelerating rate, ” adding that Bitcoin “ is disappointing as it is still being met with selling .” The gold price is telling us we are losing reserve currency status at an accelerating rate. The long bond selling off is not a good sign either. $BTC is disappointing as it is still being met with selling. I will reiterate it has to take out 100-103k to regain its upward… — Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) January 20, 2026 The Federal Reserve’s comment period for the 2026 stress test scenarios closes February 21. Senator Cynthia Lummis, who previously criticized potential government Bitcoin sales as squandering “ strategic assets while other nations are accumulating bitcoin, ” has proposed legislation to acquire up to 1 million Bitcoin over five years through budget-neutral methods, including tariff revenue and revalued gold reserves. The post Bitcoin Advocate Urges Federal Reserve to Add BTC to Stress Tests appeared first on Cryptonews .
21 Jan 2026, 11:30
Ripple President Long Unveils Her 2026 Crypto Predictions
Ripple President Monica Long says 2026 will be the year institutional crypto usage shifts decisively from pilots to production, as regulated infrastructure and clearer rules pull banks, corporates, and market intermediaries deeper onchain. In a January 20 blog post, Long frames the next leg of adoption around four forces: stablecoins, tokenized assets, custody consolidation, and automation powered by AI. #1 Stablecoins (Ripple USD) As The Settlement Layer Long’s central prediction is that stablecoins will stop being treated as an “alternative rail” and become foundational to global settlement. “Within the next five years, stablecoins will become fully integrated into global payment systems—not as an alternative rail, but as the foundational one,” she wrote . “We’re seeing this shift not in theory, but in practice, as heavyweights like Visa and Stripe hard-wire these rails into incumbent flows.” She ties that trajectory to US policy momentum, arguing the GENIUS Act “inaugurated the digital dollar era,” and positioning “highly compliant, US issued stablecoins, including Ripple USD (RLUSD)” as a standard for programmable, 24/7 payments and collateral use in markets. Long also points to “conditional approval from the OCC to charter the Ripple National Trust Bank” as part of Ripple’s compliance strategy. The near-term demand driver, in her telling, is B2B, not retail. Long cites research claiming B2B payments became the largest real-world stablecoin use case last year, reaching an annualized $76 billion run-rate—up sharply from early 2023 levels. She argues stablecoins can unlock liquidity and reduce working-capital drag, citing “over $700 billion” of idle cash on S&P 1500 balance sheets and “more than €1.3 trillion across Europe.” #2 Institutional Exposure And Tokenization Long argues crypto is increasingly used as financial infrastructure rather than just a speculative asset. “Crypto has evolved from a speculative asset into the operating layer of modern finance,” she wrote. “By the end of 2026, balance sheets will hold over $1 trillion in digital assets, and roughly half of Fortune 500 companies will have formalized digital asset strategies.” She points to a 2025 Coinbase survey she says found 60% of Fortune 500 companies are working on blockchain initiatives, and notes “more than 200 public companies” holding bitcoin in treasury. She also highlights the rise of “digital asset treasury” firms, claiming they grew from four in 2020 to more than 200 today, with nearly 100 formed in 2025 alone. On market structure, Long forecasts “collateral mobility” as a key institutional use case, with custodians and clearing houses using tokenization to modernize settlement. Her stated expectation is that “5–10% of capital markets settlement” moves onchain in 2026, supported by regulatory momentum and stablecoin adoption by systemically important institutions. #3 Custody Consolidation Accelerates Long frames digital asset custody as the institutional on-ramp and predicts consolidation as custody offerings commoditize. “M&A activity in this space is a signal of maturity, not just momentum,” she wrote, citing $8.6 billion in crypto M&A in 2025. She argues regulation will push banks toward multi-custodian setups and predicts “more than half of the world’s top 50 banks” will add at least one new custody relationship in 2026. She also points to convergence between crypto and traditional finance through deals such as Kraken’s purchase of NinjaTrader and Ripple’s acquisitions of GTreasury and Hidden Road , positioning them as steps toward safer, more integrated institutional workflows. #4 Blockchain And AI Converge Long’s final theme is automation: smart contracts paired with AI models running treasury and asset-management processes continuously. “Stablecoins and smart contracts will enable treasuries to manage liquidity, execute margin calls and optimize yield across onchain repo agreements, all in real-time without manual intervention,” she wrote. She argues privacy tech is critical for regulated deployment, pointing to zero-knowledge proofs as a way for AI to assess risk or creditworthiness without exposing sensitive data. Long’s overarching claim is that 2026 marks a transition from experimentation to infrastructure: stablecoins as settlement and collateral, tokenization in core market plumbing, custody as a trust anchor, and AI-driven automation as the efficiency layer. At press time, XRP traded at $1.905.
21 Jan 2026, 11:15
Bitcoin Breaks Below $90,000 Support: Bear Market Confirmed or Bullish Hope Remains? – BTC TA January 21, 2026
Amidst the global political upheaval in Davos, the Bitcoin price is continuing to be battered mercilessly. While gold streaked to new highs, Bitcoin fell below the critical $90,000 support. Can Bitcoin recover, or is the selling going to remain a feature? Concerns in the short-term time frame Source: TradingView First glance at the short-term chart for the $BTC price does not instil confidence. Not only has the price fallen down through the bottom of the ascending triangle , but it has lost the crucial $90,000 horizontal support . This has now been turned into resistance with a quick candle wick back to this level as confirmation. A down trend line from $95,000 is being respected, and until the price breaks up and through this, the downtrend will continue. In addition, the longer the price stays below $90,000, the more likely it is that $BTC could fall further. It will be very important for the bulls to hold the $87,500 horizontal support. A standard retracement for the $BTC price? Source: TradingView Zooming out into the daily chart and applying the Fibonacci tool, one can see that the $BTC price came relatively close to the 0.618 Fibonacci level, which is the optimum retracement. The price could still come down and tag this properly, or it could even fall to the lowest Fibonacci level of 0.786 at $84,200. As far as the bulls are concerned, one more reversal to that 0.618 Fibonacci, which generally lines up with the $87,500 horizontal support, would probably be the preferred outcome. At the bottom of the chart, the Stochastic RSI indicators for the daily are nearly at the bottom. All the shorter term indicators have already bottomed and are starting to rise. This would indicate that a recovery could be on the way. The bulls will need to take the best possible advantage of this . Next few days could be crucial Source: TradingView The weekly time frame chart shows that the major trendline runs through the middle of the 0.5 Fibonacci and the $90,000 level. Because this is such a big time frame there is the chance that the $BTC price will close the week back above that $90,000 level, thereby keeping it as support. The rest of this week is extremely important for Bitcoin. If the price can reverse back inside the ascending triangle by the end of the week, a successful breakout would still be a possibility. On the other hand, if the price takes hold below the major trendline it could then head down to the $80,000 horizontal support . This would be the last line in the sand before a drop to $74,000/$69,000, which was the last bull market top. The stakes are high. How could Bitcoin react to a major US/Europe trade war? Will its superpower of not being beholden to any third party make it the go-to purchase? We are perhaps about to find out. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
21 Jan 2026, 10:58
Solana Mobile Launches SKR Token for Seeker Users: How to Claim
Solana Mobile has rolled out its new token, SKR, and it is now live with a fresh airdrop for Seeker phone users. The company confirmed the claim window opened on Tuesday, giving eligible users a direct way to collect tokens inside the Seeker’s built-in wallet. Significantly, the move ties mobile hardware to on-chain ownership, as Solana Mobile positions SKR as the core asset that will steer incentives and long-term participation across its ecosystem. SKR Airdrop Goes Live With a 90-Day Claim Window Solana Mobile said Seeker owners can claim SKR directly through the device’s native wallet experience. Additionally, the company set a 90-day deadline for claims. After that period, unclaimed allocations will return to the airdrop pool, which could support future community distribution. The eligibility list also extends beyond hardware buyers. Developers who launched high-quality apps in the dApp Store during Season 1 also qualify. Consequently, Solana Mobile rewards both early users and builders who helped shape its mobile app marketplace. Token Supply, Airdrop Allocation, and Inflation Design Solana Mobile has set SKR’s total supply at 10 billion tokens. Moreover, the project allocates 30% to airdrops and unlocks at launch, aiming to seed broad ownership early. The company framed SKR as the main asset for ecosystem control, economics, incentives, and ownership. Solana Mobile also encouraged recipients to stake SKR after claiming. Hence, staking becomes a key part of how users may stay involved over time. The project uses inflation events every 48 hours, which creates frequent reward cycles for early participants. The inflation schedule starts at 10% annually and drops by 25% each year. However, once inflation falls to 2%, the rate stays fixed for future issuance. This structure aims to balance early rewards with longer-term supply discipline. Seeker Season 2 Expands Apps and Rewards The SKR launch arrives alongside Seeker’s Season 2 campaign, which begins on Wednesday. Additionally, Solana Mobile plans new apps, rewards, and early access opportunities. The company will highlight categories such as DeFi, gaming, payments, trading, and DePIN. Seeker also continues Solana Mobile’s push to build crypto-ready Android devices. It follows the earlier Saga phone and includes Seed Vault key storage for added security. Besides that, the Seeker includes a built-in Solana dApp Store for discovering on-chain apps. Solana Mobile previously reported 150,000 Seeker preorders and planned shipments to over 50 countries. Consequently, the company now has a larger base to test whether crypto phones can scale.
21 Jan 2026, 10:30
Gates Foundation and OpenAI launch $50M Horizon1000 program to deploy AI in African healthcare
The Bill Gates Foundation and OpenAI have launched a $50 million collaborative effort to front-run artificial intelligence usage in Africa’s health systems. Horizon1000, the AI program announced by the Gates Foundation earlier this week, is meant to provide African governments with the know-how to use artificial intelligence in healthcare. It would also reduce mortality rates and fill gaps in Africa’s medical workforce, the charitable foundation said. Bill Gates and OpenAI fund AI-driven healthcare services in Africa According to Gates, many African health systems are struggling with workforce shortages and uneven access to quality care. The partners said the project will work directly with policymakers and health leaders to make sure AI tools meet local needs, not the imported products from offshore aid. Horizon1000 plans to support up to 1,000 primary health clinics and surrounding communities in several African countries by 2028, starting with Rwanda. The foundation has already established an artificial intelligence health hub in Kigali. Speaking at the official opening of the Africa Health Tech Summit last October, Rwanda’s Minister of Health, Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, said AI is a transformative force in medicine. “There are two major discoveries that changed the history of medicine: the invention of vaccines in 1796 and the discovery of antibiotics in 1928. The third, today, is Artificial Intelligence in healthcare,” Nsanzimana told healthcare and technology leaders in the summit. The minister talked about how AI has helped doctors identify illnesses before symptoms worsen, which in turn has helped the healthcare providers’ timely intervention. He cited Rwanda’s experience with Zipline, a national drone delivery program that transports blood and medical supplies to remote hospitals. “At the beginning, many people did not believe it was possible. They asked, ‘How can blood fall from the sky and arrive at hospitals?’ But today, it’s normal. All rural hospitals can access these supplies quickly and save lives,” he boasted. In its press statement , the Gates Foundation noted severe staffing gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the world’s highest child mortality rates. The charity estimated a shortfall of nearly six million healthcare workers, a deficit that training programs are unlikely to close in the near term. The World Health Organization estimates that poor-quality care contributes to between six and eight million deaths each year in low- and middle-income countries. That figure does not account for millions more who die in rural areas because they are unable to access healthcare services at all. “In poorer countries with enormous health worker shortages and lack of health systems infrastructure, AI can be a game-changer in expanding access to quality care,” Gates said. AI can give ill medical advice, doctors debate Despite enthusiasm surrounding AI-sponsored health services , medical advocacy groups are still not quite sure the technology is in the right state to provide services, more so, unsupervised. One concern is that AI systems can wrongfully diagnose patients if they provide any incorrect symptoms, which a doctor would be mindful of. Research has further suggested that AI may worsen health outcomes for understudied populations, including women and ethnic minorities. Many AI models are trained on datasets that underrepresent diseases affecting these groups, and could provide biased or incomplete recommendations. Africa is home to thousands of languages and dialects, but most existing health data and AI models are trained in English. This means that patients and clinicians who do not speak English as a first language would be purportedly helpless. A study published last year by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that the phrasing of a health question influences AI responses. Patients whose messages contained spelling mistakes, informal language, or uncertain wording were between 7-9% more likely to be advised against seeking medical care compared to those using perfectly formatted text. Speaking on the prospects of Horizon1000, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said developers have a huge responsibility to mould AI into a system that health companies can use effectively. “AI is going to be a scientific marvel no matter what, but for it to be a societal marvel, we’ve got to figure out ways that we use this incredible technology to improve people’s lives,” Altman noted . Get seen where it counts. Advertise in Cryptopolitan Research and reach crypto’s sharpest investors and builders.
21 Jan 2026, 10:20
Galaxy launches new crypto hedge fund strategy
*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id="request-WEB:154d9fde-8d19-4494-923b-e49f6d0ec877-22" data-testid="conversation-turn-8" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn="assistant"> Galaxy, a leading, publicly traded financial services and investment management firm under the leadership of US billionaire Michael Novogratz, intends to implement a revenue-driven strategy by establishing a $100 million hedge fund to solidify its position in the digital asset market. Sources familiar with the plan say the fund is expected to be operational in the first quarter of this year. Once launched, it will be designed to generate profits in both rising and falling markets. To demonstrate its commitment to exploring the crypto industry, Galaxy asserted that it will allocate around 30% of its total assets to crypto tokens. In comparison, the remaining 70% will be invested in the stocks of financial services firms that are vulnerable to shifts in digital asset technologies and regulations. Galaxy holds onto its hedge fund plan Sources with knowledge of the situation who wished to remain anonymous revealed that Galaxy has already raised $100 million in funding from wealthy investors, family offices, and some significant institutions. However, they pointed out the likelihood that the company would start this strategic move with much greater commitments. Concerning Galaxy’s plan for a new hedge fund, reports noted that the company stated it will provide initial capital for the fund but did not specify the precise amount. Notably, this move was adopted just after Bitcoin’s price hit a 28% low since its all-time high last October. This level has ignited tension in the crypto market, further raising concerns among investors after the current price dropped significantly from the level reached when US President Donald Trump assumed office, vowing to establish the United States as the global hub for digital asset innovation and regulation. To further illustrate the growing uncertainty in the crypto market, recent reports highlighted that Bitcoin’s price drastically declined by approximately 5% this week. As of now, the cryptocurrency is trading at around $89,207.26 , down 1.92% over the last 24 hours. This recent drop is projected to result from Trump’s announcement that he will impose stiff tariffs on eight European countries that refuse to support his plan to acquire Greenland in its entirety. In the meantime, several reports demonstrated heightened interest in Galaxy’s project and reached out to Joe Armao, who leads the fund, for more clarity on the hedge fund plan. Responding to their request for comment, Armao said, “the ‘up only’ phase of this cycle might be ending,” but expressed optimism about the fate of Bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies such as ETH and Solana. Based on his argument, Bitcoin “cannot be overlooked this year with more Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, as long as equity markets and gold perform well.” Founded in 2018, Galaxy was originally intended to operate as a hedge fund. However, due to changing market conditions, Michael Novogratz shifted the company’s focus to crypto investment banking and asset management. Despite this change, Novogratz admitted he felt uneasy about the decision. Even with these challenges, he expressed pride in the company’s performance, noting that financial reports showed Galaxy earned around $505 million in profit in the third quarter of last year. After the report, Armao said the new fund is a strong idea but emphasized that its success depends on analyzing both winning and losing firms. He added that the strategy should focus on disruptors and emerging trends in financial services. Armao highlights the current challenge faced in the crypto industry Several major crypto firms, including Circle , the issuer of the regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin USDC, and cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, secured initial public offerings (IPOs) last year. At the same time, hundreds of digital asset treasury companies were globally listed. Following this success, Armao issued a warning that some banks, payment firms, financial software providers, and other financial service groups are at risk of significant disruption from digital asset technologies, regulations, and the influence of AI. He explained that, “There are major payments firms like Fiserv that dropped by 50% last year… data analytics and ratings companies have seen a 30% decline in a quarter due to fears around AI. The entire sector is experiencing significant changes, which is reflected in stock prices.” Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .
