On January 29, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are extending their geopolitical and economic rivalry into the gold trade sector. According to BlockBeats, Saudi Arabia plans to procure gold from war-torn Sudan to weaken the UAE's longstanding dominance in the country's gold exports. Previously, Sudan's military government primarily exported gold to the UAE. Official data indicates that in the first nine months of 2024, Sudan exported approximately 10.9 tons of gold, valued at $1.05 billion, with most of it going to the UAE. However, after Sudan accused the UAE of interfering in its civil war and formally severed ties last year, Sudan is actively seeking new export channels. Sudan's state-owned mineral resources company disclosed that the Saudi Gold Refinery Company has expressed readiness to "immediately start purchasing gold" from the Sudanese government. The scale and timing of these transactions have not been disclosed, and Saudi officials have yet to respond. Analysts suggest this move signifies a further escalation in tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, potentially opening new competitive fronts in the commercial sector. However, some believe that Saudi Arabia may struggle to completely replace the UAE's central role in Sudan's gold trade in the short term, viewing the move more as a political statement. With the ongoing civil war and financial pressures, gold revenue is crucial for Sudan. Officials have estimated that about 80% of gold production may be lost to smuggling, causing the country to lose up to $5 billion annually. As Saudi Arabia increases its involvement, the flow of Sudanese gold may undergo significant structural changes.

The number of validator nodes on the Solana blockchain has significantly decreased from a peak of 2,560 in March 2023 to 795, marking a 68% reduction. According to PANews, this decline has raised concerns about the network's decentralization, as increased operational costs and zero-fee competition make it challenging for smaller node operators to sustain their operations. Independent validator node operator Moo expressed on the X platform that many small validators are contemplating shutting down their nodes, not due to a lack of confidence in Solana, but because of economic difficulties. Moo highlighted that large validators charging 0% fees leave smaller validators unprofitable, turning decentralization into a "charitable act." Furthermore, Solana's decentralization metric, the Nakamoto Coefficient, has dropped from 31 in March 2023 to 20, a decrease of 35%. This metric assesses the degree of decentralization in a blockchain, and its decline indicates a more concentrated distribution of Solana's staked supply, reducing the network's decentralization. The surge in operational costs is likely a major factor behind the reduction in validator nodes. According to technical documentation from Solana validator node Agave, validators must hold at least 401 SOL annually to cover voting fees, in addition to hardware and server costs, requiring an initial investment of approximately $49,000 in SOL tokens to maintain operations. The Solana Foundation has yet to comment on the situation.

Robinhood plans to roll out 24/7 tokenized stock trading and settlement to mitigate GameStop-like disruptions as regulatory clarity matures. source: https://www.theblock.co/post/387563/five-years-after-the-gamestop-saga-robinhood-ceo-wants-tokenized-stocks-to-trade-onchain-24-7?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

Tom Lee’s cryptocurrency infrastructure firm Bitmine has added another large block of Ethereum (ETH) to staking, reinforcing its long-term positioning around ETH as opposed to short-term price movement. As it happens, recent data shared by blockchain and crypto market analytics platform Santiment in an X post on January 29 shows that Bitmine staked an additional […] The post Tom Lee’s Bitmine Deepens Massive Ethereum Staking Bet to $7. com source: https://www.techgaged.com/tom-lees-bitmine-deepens-massive-ethereum-staking-bet-to-7-6b/

Hang Seng Investment Management has introduced the Hang Seng Gold ETF, marking a major milestone for regulated, asset-backed products in […] The post Tokenized Gold Debuts in Hong Kong as U. S. source: https://coindoo.com/tokenized-gold-debuts-in-hong-kong-as-u-s-crypto-rules-face-senate-vote/

من بين أبرز القطاعات في سوق الكريبتو التي لاقت رواجا ونجاحا مشاريع العملات الرقمية المستقرة وخاصة القديمة منها أي التي دخلت السوق بشكل مبكر مثل شركة التيثر و Circle التي تيسطران على نسبة كبيرة من القيمة الاجمالية المقدرة ب312 مليار دولار. source: https://arab-btc.net/fidd-stablecoin/

Heavy outflows from Bitcoin ETFs have diminished, putting BTC price in a better position to overcome the next hurdle at $93,000. source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-rejected-at-90k-again-what-will-trigger-breakout?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

Dogecoin (DOGE) is approaching a technical level that has quietly shaped its price action for most of January, and traders are watching closely to see whether it holds. On the 4-hour chart shared by popular cryptocurrency industry expert Trader Tardigrade on January 29, DOGE is retesting a previously broken downtrend line that has now flipped […] The post Dogecoin Bulls vs. com source: https://www.techgaged.com/dogecoin-bulls-vs-bears-one-key-line-decides-everything/

The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission released comprehensive guidance on January 28, 2026, removing lingering ambiguity around the legal status of tokenized securities. The message from regulators was direct: placing a security on a blockchain does not change its legal obligations under U source: https://www.ethnews.com/sec-draws-clear-rules-for-tokenized-securities/

حافظ سعر سولانا SOL على قوته منذ الساعات الأولى للتداول، ويبدو أنه تعافى من الخسائر الأخيرة. حيث أنخفض حجم التداول إلى النصف مقارنةً بالفترة التي سجل فيها أدنى مستوياته دون 120 دولارًا، مما قلل من تقلباته. وعموما تحاول العملة الرقمية الآن الاستقرار بعد تراجع حاد، عقب رفض السعر قرب مستوى 145 دولارًا source: https://www.tradersup.com/%d8%a3%d8%ae%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d9%85%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%aa/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ae%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%ac-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%aa%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%87-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%87%d8%a8%d9%88%d8%b7%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%82%d9%88%d9%89/151978

Meme, DOGE, you can turn everything into a meme, but cherish this cathedral. Golden Finance, when this frenzy recedes, what will remain is a vast ruin of trust.

While U.S. regulators continue to debate how — or whether — to formally approve dollar-backed stablecoins, the United Arab Emirates has quietly moved first.

Bybit will launch retail banking services in February, offering users personal IBAN accounts to send, receive, and hold multiple currencies. The service will let customers deposit fiat, pay bills, receive salaries, and trade crypto, in partnership with banks including QNB and Pave Bank.

Web 3.0, NFT, what are some good paths for Web3 startups in China? Golden Finance: Digital collectibles are not a quick money track.

Cere Network is facing renewed legal trouble after its co-founder and board were named in a $100 million lawsuit alleging fraud and insider misconduct tied to the project’s 2021 public token launch.

Illegal cross-border human trafficking in Southeast Asia is one of the most important foundational industries of local organized crime networks.

The UAE central bank has approved USDU, the country’s first US dollar-backed stablecoin, allowing regulated institutions to use it for digital asset payments and settlement. Issued by Universal Digital and fully backed by US dollars held in local banks, the token operates under strict regulatory oversight.

By 2026, privacy will rise from a niche cryptocurrency sector to an indispensable infrastructure of the digital economy era.

On January 29, 2026, according to data from Coingecko, the total market capitalization of tokenized gold and silver once exceeded $6 billion, setting a new historical high.

Fidelity is launching its first stablecoin, the Fidelity Digital Dollar, on the Ethereum blockchain, backed by cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries. The move shows large financial firms are becoming more open to using public blockchains for payments and settlement.