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20 Jan 2026, 14:34

Strategy Purchases $2.13 Billion of Bitcoin, the Most in Seven Months

Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc. acquired almost $2.13 billion in Bitcoin over the previous eight days, marking the digital asset treasury company’s largest purchase of the original cryptocurrency since July.

20 Jan 2026, 14:30

Ripple Exec Pushes Central Banks To Back Regulated Stablecoins

Ripple’s UK & Europe policy director Matthew Osborne is urging central banks to stop treating stablecoins as an external threat and instead fold well-regulated issuers into core safeguards, arguing that oversight plus access to official infrastructure can make stablecoins a net stabiliser for payments and settlement. Writing for the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum on 19 January 2026, Osborne said stablecoins have moved well beyond a niche experiment, citing a market value “in excess of $300bn” and annual transaction volumes that he wrote now surpass Visa and Mastercard combined. He argued momentum could accelerate in the US after the Genius Act, which he said would introduce federal rules and allow banks to issue stablecoins. The Ripple exec framed the shift as already visible among central banks themselves. He pointed to the European Central Bank’s recent recognition of stablecoins’ benefits for cross-border payments and its view that tomorrow’s financial system will host multiple forms of money. He also cited the Bank of England ’s stance that stablecoins could support “faster, cheaper retail and wholesale payments” as part of a “multi-money” system underpinned by central bank money. Ripple Exec: Bring Stablecoins Into The Safety Net At the centre of his case is the claim that stablecoins should be treated as an incremental evolution rather than an adversarial replacement. “Regulated stablecoins could play a key role in financial markets alongside other forms of money,” Osborne wrote. “First, stablecoins are more likely to complement the existing financial system than replace it. This is evolution, not revolution.” He then added: “The solution lies in central banks channelling stablecoin momentum, not fighting it.” Osborne argues central bank money will remain essential as a risk-free settlement asset and safe store of value, but its relative role could shift in digital markets. He pointed to atomic settlement, where legs of a transaction settle simultaneously and conditionally, as reducing the traditional need to use central bank money purely to mitigate settlement risk. Where stablecoins could be structurally preferred, he wrote, is in cross-border flows and multi-chain markets. “Cross-border payments are one example, given that stablecoins can move value anywhere in the world in seconds,” the Ripple exec said. “In contrast, central bank money is likely to be less suitable for cross-border payments given access may be geographically limited and adoption of on-chain central bank money is far from universal around the world.” He also argued stablecoins are likely to exist across more blockchain networks than central bank money, making same-chain settlement between tokenized assets and cash more achievable while interoperability remains uneven. Central banks have repeatedly warned that stablecoins could pull funds from bank deposits, weakening bank credit creation and potentially amplifying stress events. Osborne pushed back, arguing the risk is overstated because markets already accommodate instruments backed by highly liquid assets, money market funds, e-money, and “narrow banks”, without causing sustained deposit runs. His bigger point is that regulation, while necessary, is insufficient without a backstop. “But regulation alone is not enough,” Osborne wrote. “Stablecoin issuers lack access to the safety net that gives bank deposits their resilience. Without it, even well-managed stablecoins are more vulnerable to shocks – as seen when USDC temporarily lost its peg following exposure to Silicon Valley Bank in 2023.” He argued central banks should consider extending elements of that safety net, including allowing well-regulated stablecoin issuers to hold part of their backing assets in central bank accounts, offering liquidity insurance against market-wide shocks, and granting more direct payment-system access to reduce tiering risk. The Ripple exec closed by positioning the choice for central banks as strategic: resist stablecoins and risk the market scaling beyond official influence, or “bring them inside the tent,” shaping development through prudential oversight and infrastructure access as tokenized settlement rails mature. At press time, XRP traded at $1.9216.

20 Jan 2026, 14:20

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urges Europe against escalating Greenland threats

Scott Bessent told European countries on Tuesday that they should not respond to American trade tariffs that President Donald Trump announced in the Greenland dispute. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos , the US Treasury Secretary asked countries and businesses to wait and see what happens. Trump had said he would put 25% tariffs on several European countries while he tries to get Greenland, which Denmark currently controls as an autonomous territory. Bessent brought up last year’s tariff fight between America and China as an example of what Europe should avoid. He said countries would be making a mistake if they tried similar moves back at Washington as world markets dropped because of the political tensions. “I would say this is the same kind of hysteria that we heard on 2 April,” Bessent told reporters at the meeting. “There was a panic.” “What I am urging everyone here to do is sit back, take a deep breath, and let things play out,” Bessent said . “The worst thing countries can do is escalate against the United States.” He said Trump’s threats about Greenland are different from other trade deals. He wants all countries to stick with the trade agreements they already made, since those are done and give everyone certainty. Treasury secretary dismisses debt concerns Bessent also said he does not think European countries will sell their American debt because of the Greenland crisis. He called predictions that Europe might stop lending to the US and sell off US treasuries a fake story that does not make sense. He went after the media for paying too much attention to a Deutsche Bank report on this, calling the coverage hysterical. “I think it is a completely false narrative. It defies any logic, and I could not disagree more strongly,” he said. This matters because US national debt is over $38 trillion, and the country had a deficit of $1.78 trillion in 2025. If big investors stopped buying American debt, it would cost more for the US to borrow money and lower the value of the debt that investors already hold. Bessent appeared to be talking about research that George Saravelos from Deutsche Bank put out on Sunday. As reported by Cryptopolitan earlier, Saravelos pointed out that Europe owns Greenland and also owns a lot of American treasury bonds. Saravelos wrote that even with its military and economic strength, America has one big weakness. It needs other countries to help pay its bills through large external deficits. Europe is the biggest lender to the United States. “European countries own $8 trillion of US bonds and equities, almost twice as much as the rest of the world combined,” Saravelos wrote. He asked why Europeans would keep doing this when the economic stability between Western partners is being seriously disrupted. Markets see US government debt as risk-free and use it to price other things. Bessent said European governments will keep holding it. EU leaders promise firm response The Treasury Secretary is part of the biggest American group ever sent to Davos. Trump will speak at the meeting on Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Trump’s economic threats about Greenland are a mistake that breaks a trade deal made between the partners last year. “The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July,” von der Leyen said in her Tuesday speech at the forum. “In politics as in business, a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something.” She said the bloc’s answer will be firm, united and measured, but she did not say what that answer might look like. Top EU diplomats had emergency talks on Sunday and talked about bringing back plans to put tariffs on £81 billion of American goods. Those tariffs were put on hold after last summer’s trade deal with Trump. France already wants the EU to use its anti-coercion instrument, which can go after foreign investment and financial markets as well as trade. EU leaders will meet on Thursday in Brussels for an emergency session to look at possible ways to respond. Neil Shearing from Capital Economics wrote in a Sunday note that a 10% tariff going up to 25% would cut GDP in affected NATO countries by 0.1 to 0.3 percentage points and add 0.1 to 0.2 points to American inflation. “The political ramifications would be far greater than the economic ones,” Shearing said. He warned that any American move to take Greenland by force or pressure could do permanent damage to NATO. European officials have said Greenland’s independence is a line they will not cross. The Trump administration is not backing down either. The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them .

20 Jan 2026, 14:18

U.S. Dollar index just crashed below its 200-day moving average; Here’s why

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) plunged below its 200-day moving average ( MA ) on January 20, showcasing the continued turmoil in the international currency markets. The decline that took the DXY to its press time level of 98.511 has largely been triggered by the resurgence of ‘sell America’ sentiment driven by President Donald Trump’s escalating diplomatic clashes with adversaries and allies alike. DXY 12-month chart. Source: TradingView Why the DXY is plummeting The latest important catalyst came over the last weekend as the commander-in-chief doubled down on his drive to acquire Greenland in what appears to be a lose-lose-lose situation. Specifically, the U.S. pressuring NATO allies into surrendering sovereign territory bodes ill for the country’s soft power and international relations, the E.U. cannot resist America militarily – President Trump has refused to rule out an armed takeover of the island – and, should it give in, the E.U. is likely to face massive backlash at home. Arguably, the biggest catalyst for the decline of the DXY has been the new escalation in the cross-Atlantic trade war, with the Trump Administration ordering the implementation of a 10% tariff against eight European countries starting on February 1, with a 25% increase on June 1, should the confrontation not be resolved by the date. In return, the E.U. is threatening to suspend its trade deal with the U.S., is itself preparing a tariff package worth some $100 billion , and is reportedly mulling over the closure of American military bases on its soil. Why the world might be turning on the American dollar While the North Atlantic rupture has been the primary catalyst in recent trading – as also evident in the sudden Sunday upsurge in the price of ‘safe haven’ assets like gold and silver , and the plummet in the high-risk cryptocurrency market – it represents only the latest layer in global geopolitical uncertainty. The U.S. has previously implemented new tariffs on countries trading with Iran, potentially further harming the relationship with one of its biggest trade partners, China, and potentially cooling many international actors from relying on the American currency. USD loses ground against major global currencies Looking at the relevant pairs of the DXY – the index represents USD weighed against a basket of foreign currencies that includes the Euro, Yen, Pound, Canadian Dollar, Krona, and Swiss Franc – the American dollar appears on a retreat against almost every other major national tender. The Japanese Yen (JPY) is, in fact, the only major currency that hasn’t shot up against USD in recent trading, though it, arguably, is a signal of potential trouble to come as well, considering it came amidst a historic upsurge in bond yields in the island nation. Lastly, it is worth pointing out that the latest DXY plummet below the 200-day MA failed to send the index into the red in 2026, and it is, in fact, 0.24% up in the year-to-date (YTD) chart. Similarly, at 98.511, it is notably above the December 2025 lows at approximately 97.88. Featured image via Shutterstock The post U.S. Dollar index just crashed below its 200-day moving average; Here’s why appeared first on Finbold .

20 Jan 2026, 14:09

Crypto portals land on the chopping as Russia looks at AI tools to block prohibited sites

Russian regulators’ decision to employ artificial intelligence (AI) to censor content on the Internet is likely to affect cryptocurrency users in the country. The move may limit access to foreign digital asset exchanges and mining pools in the future, if Moscow makes good on its promise to legalize domestic services. Russian telecom watchdog to spend over 2 billion rubles on AI tools The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, better known as Roskomnadzor (RKN), intends to use machine learning technology to analyze and restrict traffic to banned websites, the local press revealed. According to a recent report by the Russian-language edition of Forbes, the agency intends to allocate nearly 2.3 billion rubles (over $29 million) for the development of AI tools needed for the task. The investment is part of the telecom watchdog’s continuous efforts to constantly update and improve a system designed to prevent Russians from accessing online content prohibited by their government. The agency has been particularly active in targeting attempts to circumvent its restrictions using virtual private networks (VPNs). In 2025 alone, the RKN blocked almost 260 VPN services by October, a marked increase over the previous year, as well as 1.2 million websites, 50% more than in 2024. According to crypto industry watchers, interviewed by the Russian business news portal RBC, the strengthening of these measures could result in interrupted access to foreign-based crypto platforms, including trading venues, mining pools and sources of information. While the experts believe it’s still early to worry about it, they admit that the comprehensive regulations for the digital currency space, expected to be adopted in the first half of 2026, may certainly change that. Towards the end of a pivotal year , the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) proposed in late December a new regulatory concept for the nation’s crypto market. According to a published excerpt , traditional exchanges , brokers and trustees will be permitted to process crypto transactions under their existing licenses, while specialized crypto exchanges and depositories will have to meet a separate set of specific requirements to obtain authorization. What will be the consequences of Roskomnadzor’s venture into AI? The RKN’s database of blacklisted sites does not currently contain critical entries for the Russian crypto community, noted Nikita Zuborev, senior analyst at Bestchange.ru. However, he acknowledged that the blocking of such platforms is possible in the future, especially after Russian authorities legalize domestic exchanges. Once that happens, trading venues that are not registered or licensed in the country may cease to be available until they are cleared by Russian regulators. Bestchange.ru, which is a popular crypto exchange aggregator in Russia and the region, has been taken offline by the RKN on more than one occasion over the past few years. Online traffic is already being filtered in Russia through so-called threat-countering measures implemented by internet providers. Introducing AI technologies will likely increase the accuracy and speed of detection of mirror domains and services that help to bypass the restrictions, suggested Anton Gontarev, commercial director for Intelion, a major Russian operator of data processing centers. Last month, Roskomnadzor updated the equipment deployed by Russian telecom networks to improve the prevention of VPNs, after accusing more than 30 providers of permitting unfiltered traffic earlier last year and later fining some of them. Gontarev elaborated that this would lead to increasingly unstable access to certain foreign-based elements of the crypto infrastructure, such as exchanges, analytical platforms, and API services, especially if they are tied to commonly available VPN solutions. Crypto mining, which was legalized in Russia in late 2024, will not be affected as much, highlighted the representative of the Russian coin minting giant, explaining: “This isn’t about banning mining, as it’s difficult to stop it. It’s about the state increasing traffic control through technology and reducing the accessibility of foreign crypto infrastructure.” While Russian authorities intend to expand access to cryptocurrencies with the upcoming rules, investments will be capped at 300,000 rubles a year (a little over $3,800) for non-qualified investors. Many ordinary Russians are currently using the services of major exchanges like Bybit. The blocking of such platforms will depend on how the proposed regulations are implemented, remarked the crypto market analyst Viktor Pershikov. While foreign crypto exchanges popular with Russian users may be allowed to maintain a presence, it’s also possible to see market access limited only to Russian companies, he commented. One reason for that would be their failure to comply with local data protection rules, he added, as these platforms are obtaining and keeping the personal information of Russian citizens on servers located abroad, in the EU or the U.S., Pershikov explained. Sharpen your strategy with mentorship + daily ideas - 30 days free access to our trading program

20 Jan 2026, 14:08

Strategy Buys 22,305 Bitcoin as Blackrock Circles Its Credit Stack

Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy just scooped up another 22,305 BTC, pushing its stash past the 700,000 mark. The company’s founder broke the news on Tuesday while equity markets were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, adding that Strategy shelled out an average of $95,284 per bitcoin for the latest haul. Saylor’s Bitcoin Bet Grows