Cooling Inflation Leaves Rate-Cut Expectations Intact; Bitcoin Breaks Key Resistance
Summary
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Macroeconomy: U.S. CPI data showed continued disinflation, but did not materially alter market expectations for the Fed’s rate-cut path. JPMorgan’s earnings guidance came in below expectations, weighing on banks and the broader financial sector, with the three major equity indices closing lower. Meanwhile, President Trump announced the cancellation of all meetings with Iranian officials, escalating geopolitical tensions and lifting oil prices. Precious metals remained strong, with both gold and silver hitting new all-time highs.
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Crypto Market: Bitcoin decisively broke above the key 94.5k resistance, peaking near 96k and rising 4.5% on the day to a nearly two-month high. Overall market volatility picked up and sentiment recovered from fear to neutral. Bitcoin’s market dominance remained stable, indicating no clear spillover of risk appetite into altcoins.
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Project Updates
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Hot tokens: BTC, DASH, AIDEN
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Privacy sector: DASH, DCR, STRK, ZEN and other privacy-related tokens rotated higher
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ZK: zkSync released its 2026 roadmap, focusing on Prividium (bank-grade privacy), ZKStack (coordinated systems), and Airbender (a universal standard)
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CAKE: PancakeSwap proposed reducing CAKE’s maximum supply from 450 million to 400 million
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RAY: Coinbase to list Raydium (RAY) for spot trading
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Major Asset Moves
Crypto Fear & Greed Index: 48 (24 hours ago: 26), Neutral
Today’s Outlook
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U.S. Supreme Court postpones its ruling on Trump tariff cases to January 14
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U.S. releases November retail sales (MoM) and November PPI (YoY/MoM)
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Federal Reserve releases the Beige Book
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Tom Lee urges BitMine shareholders to approve increasing authorized shares from 500 million to 50 billion by January 14
Macroeconomy
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U.S. December CPI YoY rose 2.7%, in line with expectations; core CPI YoY rose 2.6%, below expectations
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“Fed whisperer”: December CPI is unlikely to change the Fed’s current wait-and-see stance
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Trump praised December inflation data, saying “Powell should cut rates aggressively”
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Trump said the Fed chair nominee will be decided in the coming weeks
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Trump confirmed the cancellation of all meetings with Iranian officials
Policy Direction
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The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee rescheduled the crypto bill hearing to January 27
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SEC Chair Paul Atkins said he is confident the crypto market structure bill “CLARITY” will be sent to Trump for signing this year
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Thailand tightens digital asset regulation, emphasizing the Travel Rule and wallet-to-wallet identity verification, and plans to establish a national data bureau
Industry Highlights
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Polygon Labs spent over $250 million acquiring crypto startups Coinme and Sequence, strengthening its stablecoin and on-chain payments stack
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A Bitwise survey of financial advisors showed client crypto allocations surged to a record high last year
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Franklin Templeton upgraded two institutional money market funds to align with “stablecoin reserve asset standards” and launched on-chain share classes
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ETHGas launched its governance token GWEI and announced an airdrop, with a snapshot at 00:00 UTC on January 19
Industry Highlights Extended Analysis
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Polygon Labs’ $250M Acquisition of Coinme and Sequence
This massive acquisition signals a pivotal shift for Polygon Labs, moving from a pure scaling solution to a compliant payment ecosystem. By acquiring Coinme, Polygon gains access to 48 U.S. Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs) and 50,000 physical fiat ramps, solving the most difficult hurdle in crypto: regulatory compliance for on-ramps. Combined with Sequence’s seamless wallet and cross-chain infrastructure, Polygon is effectively building an "Open Money Stack." This allows traditional fintechs and banks to integrate on-chain stablecoin settlements as easily as they would integrate a service like Stripe.
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Bitwise Survey: Crypto Allocations by Financial Advisors Hit Record Highs
The latest Bitwise annual survey marks 2025 as the breakout year for professional wealth management in the crypto space. Data shows that roughly 32% of advisors now allocate crypto in client accounts (up from 22% last year), while 56% hold crypto personally. This transition from "curiosity" to "substantial allocation" is driven by the maturation of spot ETFs and a clearer regulatory landscape. For the broader market, this suggests that the multi-trillion dollar "Managed Assets (AUM)" pool—previously locked behind traditional walls—is finally flowing into the on-chain economy through professional gatekeepers.
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Franklin Templeton’s Upgrade of Institutional Funds and On-Chain Shares
Franklin Templeton is actively redefining the standards for stablecoin reserve assets. By upgrading institutional money market funds (such as LUIXX and DIGXX) to align with stablecoin regulatory frameworks, the asset management giant is positioning itself as the "plug-and-play" treasury layer for stablecoin issuers. The launch of on-chain share classes does more than just provide 24/7 liquidity; it erodes the barrier between TradFi and DeFi, allowing regulated money market instruments to serve as high-quality, yield-bearing collateral directly within on-chain lending and payment protocols.
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ETHGas Launches GWEI Token and Announces Airdrop Snapshot
The launch of ETHGas and its GWEI governance token represents a new frontier in the financialization of Ethereum blockspace. By breaking down blockspace into tradable, composable units, the protocol aims to solve the unpredictability of transaction fees and confirmation times—essentially building a "Realtime Ethereum." The GWEI token is central to this programmable blockspace marketplace. The January 19th snapshot targets historical gas consumers and community participants, serving not just as a marketing move, but as a strategic effort to bootstrap a liquidity layer for the "gas commodity market."