Fed Signals a Hawkish Pause in Rate Cuts; BTC Faces Pressure in High-Range Consolidation
Summary
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Macro Economy: The Fed’s statement and press conference leaned hawkish overall. It upgraded its description of economic activity from “moderate” to “solid,” while keeping the federal funds rate target range unchanged at 3.5%–3.75%. This marks the first pause since the rate-cutting cycle began last September.U.S. Treasury yields rebounded amid volatility, and the U.S. Dollar Index rose about 0.75%. Precious metals remained strong—spot gold climbed steadily, approaching $5,600, before seeing a notable pullback. Still, gold has broken multiple key psychological levels this week.
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Crypto Market: Against the backdrop of a hawkish Fed pause, BTC’s upside momentum is clearly capped. The market is more likely to remain in a high-range consolidation between $85k–$95k, awaiting macro repricing. Funding rates across major CEX/DEX venues suggest bearish sentiment has eased slightly versus the previous day. However, BTC continues to face resistance near the $90k threshold and is at risk of recording a rare fourth consecutive monthly decline, the first since 2018. Altcoin liquidity remains fragile, and overall risk appetite has yet to recover.
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Project Updates
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Trending Tokens: XAUT/PAXG, HYPE, PIPPIN, BIRB
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XAUT/PAXG: Gold continues making new highs, breaking above $5,500/oz
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HYPE: Coinbase added HYPE to its listing roadmap; a whale address again transferred 45M USDC into Hyperliquid to purchase spot HYPE
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BIRB: Binance Alpha and Bybit spot listings upcoming; BIRB jumped over 80% intraday
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USAT: A compliant stablecoin asset launched by Tether, gradually being listed across major exchanges
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Major Asset Performance
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Crypto Fear & Greed Index: 26 (vs. 29 24h ago) — Fear
Today’s Key Events
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U.S. Dec Core PCE release
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Earnings: Microsoft, Tesla, Meta
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U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee rescheduled its crypto bill hearing to Jan 29
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Crypto payments firm Truther to launch a non-custodial USDT Visa card in El Salvador on Jan 29
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Pendle introduces the new sPENDLE mechanism replacing vePENDLE; snapshot of existing vePENDLE holders on Jan 29
Macro Economy
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The Fed announced it will hold the benchmark rate steady at 3.5%–3.75%
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Powell: Inflation remains slightly above target; Dec Core PCE inflation may rise toward 3%
Policy & Regulation
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Japan’s FSA opened public consultation on detailed rules for digital payments and crypto regulation
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South Korea drafting the Digital Asset Basic Act, requiring stablecoin issuers to hold minimum capital of $3.5M
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Bitwise registered the “Bitwise Uniswap ETF” in Delaware
Industry Highlights
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Bitcoin network hashrate dropped sharply from ~1.16 ZH/s to 690 EH/s, marking the largest single decline on record
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Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF is now available on Morgan Stanley’s E*TRADE platform
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Ripple launched its corporate finance platform Ripple Treasury
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Precious metals trading surged: Hyperliquid gold/silver contracts exceeded $1.3B in 24h volume
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Tether has become the largest non-sovereign, non-bank gold holder, with reserves exceeding 140 tons
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Privacy stablecoin USDCx, launched by Aleo and Circle, is now live on mainnet for institutional users
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BitMine restaked 62,304 ETH, bringing cumulative staked ETH to 2.328M
Deep Dive: Industry Highlights (January 29, 2026)
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Bitcoin Hashrate’s Epic Volatility: A Grid Stress Test
The Bitcoin network hashrate plummeted from a peak of ~1.16 ZH/s to 690 EH/s, marking a nearly 40% drop—the largest single decline in history. This massive swing was primarily triggered by "Winter Storm Fernan" sweeping across North America, causing power demand to spike in mining hubs like Texas. To prioritize residential heating, miners participated in massive demand-response shutdowns, while others went offline due to grid failures. This event served as a real-world "stress test" for the network’s decentralized resilience.
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Wall Street Accelerates Adoption: Grayscale Mini ETF Hits E*TRADE
Grayscale’s low-cost Bitcoin Mini Trust (Ticker: BTC) is now officially available on Morgan Stanley’s E*TRADE platform. This move signals a successful pivot for Grayscale as it seeks to reclaim market share lost from the original GBTC by offering a more competitive fee structure (approx. 0.15%). For E*TRADE users, this provides a regulated, cost-effective entry point for Bitcoin allocation within the broader $7.4 trillion managed asset ecosystem of Morgan Stanley.
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Ripple Targets Corporate Finance: Launching Ripple Treasury
Ripple has officially debuted Ripple Treasury, its enterprise-grade finance platform, following its 2025 acquisition of GTreasury. The platform enables unified management of fiat and digital assets—including XRP, RLUSD, and tokenized funds like BlackRock’s BUIDL. By bypassing the limitations of traditional banking hours, CFOs can now manage global liquidity 24/7, moving idle cash into tokenized money market funds to optimize yields in real-time.
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On-Chain Precious Metals Surge: Hyperliquid Volume Hits $1.3B
Trading volume for gold and silver contracts on the decentralized derivatives protocol Hyperliquid exceeded $1.3 billion in 24 hours. This milestone highlights the rapid growth of Real-World Assets (RWA) on-chain and reflects a strong investor appetite for safe-haven assets amid macro uncertainty. Hyperliquid’s high-performance infrastructure has successfully captured professional traders migrating from centralized exchanges, proving that on-chain synthetics can now compete with traditional commodity markets in scale.
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Tether’s "Gold Empire": Largest Non-Sovereign Holder
Tether revealed that its gold reserves have surpassed 140 tons, cementing its status as the world’s largest non-sovereign, non-bank gold holder. With reserves exceeding the national holdings of countries like Greece and Australia, Tether now ranks among the top 30 gold-holding institutions globally. These reserves, reportedly stored in a nuclear-hardened Swiss vault, underpin Tether's goal to build a sophisticated gold-trading platform to rival traditional commodity giants like JPMorgan.
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A New Era of Privacy Compliance: USDCx Launches on Aleo
USDCx, a privacy-preserving stablecoin co-developed by Aleo and Circle, is now live on mainnet for institutional users. Leveraging Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP), USDCx allows institutions to conduct sensitive business—such as payroll and vendor payments—with hidden transaction details while remaining fully compliant via Circle’s xReserve framework. This marks a shift from "fully transparent" to "on-demand privacy," meeting the confidentiality requirements of mainstream finance.
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BitMine Doubles Down: Liquid Restaking Expansion
BitMine recently restaked 62,304 ETH, bringing its cumulative staked Ethereum to a staggering 2.328M ETH. This massive inflow underscores institutional confidence in the restaking yield models pioneered by ecosystems like EigenLayer. BitMine’s aggressive positioning not only bolsters the security of the Ethereum consensus layer but also signals that in 2026, the "capital efficiency" of ETH has become the primary battleground for institutional alpha.