Bitcoin’s latest rally toward the $100,000 milestone is being driven less by speculative leverage and more by renewed institutional demand, as sustained inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs push prices back toward cycle highs.Bitcoin reclaimed levels above $97,000 this week, supported by a steady return of capital into U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Market participants say the trend signals a potential structural shift in demand after months of range-bound trading.ETF inflows underpin Bitcoin’s move higherSince the start of the year, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have attracted nearly $1.5 billion in net inflows, according to data cited by Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg.One day alone accounted for $843.6 million in net inflows, pushing weekly inflows to roughly $1.07 billion. While single-day spikes grabbed headlines, analysts say the more important signal is the consistency of demand returning after subdued flows late last year.Balchunas noted on X that the pattern “suggests that maybe the buyers have exhausted the sellers,” pointing to Bitcoin’s breakout from its prolonged consolidation around the $88,000 zone.At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading near $97,000, holding gains that many traders now see as ETF-supported rather than momentum-driven.Is institutional demand changing Bitcoin’s cycle?Bitcoin’s rebound comes during a phase that has historically been challenging for the asset. Previous four-year cycles — loosely aligned with Bitcoin halving events — typically peaked 12–18 months after supply reductions, leading some analysts to argue that Bitcoin may already be past its cyclical high.However, the persistence of ETF inflows is raising questions about whether institutional accumulation is weakening the relevance of past cycles.In 2025, Bitcoin reached new all-time highs but failed to generate a sustained rally across the broader crypto market. Altcoins underperformed, and the long-anticipated “altcoin season” never fully materialized, dampening retail enthusiasm.According to crypto market maker Wintermute, a broader recovery heading into 2026 may depend on whether ETF issuers and corporate digital asset treasury firms continue to accumulate Bitcoin — or expand their mandates beyond BTC.Retail absence leaves institutions in the driver’s seatWintermute’s analysis highlights another key dynamic: retail investors largely stayed on the sidelines in 2025. Instead of rotating back into crypto, many pursued alternative growth themes such as artificial intelligence, robotics and space-related equities.Without strong retail participation, Bitcoin’s current rally appears increasingly institution-led, relying on balance-sheet buyers, ETF allocators and long-term capital rather than speculative inflows.Wintermute added that for a broader crypto recovery to take hold, Bitcoin and other major assets may need to post stronger and more consistent performance, creating a wealth effect that eventually pulls retail capital back into the market.What comes next for BitcoinWith Bitcoin now hovering just below the psychologically important $100,000 level, the focus has shifted to whether ETF inflows can remain resilient — and whether institutional demand alone is sufficient to sustain a breakout.If inflows persist, analysts say Bitcoin’s price behavior in 2026 may look increasingly different from prior cycles, with structural demand replacing speculative excess as the primary driver of market moves.

X updates API rules to ban reward‑based InfoFi apps like Kaito and Cookie, sparking token sell‑offs and prompting major shifts across crypto social platforms. source: https://cryptonews.com/news/x-bans-infofi-projects-kaito-plummets-20/

يرى آرثر هايز أن بيتكوين قادرة على استعادة جزء من «الزخم» الذي انتقل إلى الذهب وناسداك في 2026، مدعومة بعدة محفزات قد تؤدي إلى توسّع سيولة الدولار الأميركي. source: https://ar.cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-will-get-groove-back-despite-soaring-gold-and-nasdaq-arthur-hayes?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

Kaito has officially announced the shutdown of Yaps and its incentivized leaderboards, marking a strategic pivot toward a new product called Kaito Studio, as the InfoFi sector undergoes a major reset following platform and market changes.The move comes after prolonged challenges around spam, content quality, and shifting platform dynamics on X, as well as a broader industry shift away from mass airdrops and open-ended incentive schemes.Why Kaito is sunsetting YapsYaps was designed as a permissionless, merit-based reward system that paid users and creators for amplifying brands across social platforms. According to Kaito, it reflected core Web3 values: open access, transparency, and rewards based on contribution rather than connections.However, despite multiple iterations — including:tighter eligibility ruleshigher leaderboard thresholdssocial and on-chain filteringredesigned incentivesKaito said low-quality content and spam persisted, driven by:X algorithm changesuneven standards across competing InfoFi projectsthe rise of zero-threshold reward modelsAfter discussions with X, Kaito concluded that fully permissionless reward distribution is no longer viable, either for the platform, serious creators, or high-quality brands.From airdrops to analytics: what is Kaito Studio?Kaito Studio represents a fundamental shift in strategy.Instead of open incentives, Studio will operate closer to a tier-based, selective creator marketplace, where:brands work with vetted creatorscampaigns have defined scopes and deliverablesrewards are driven by relevance, performance, and analyticsKey features of Kaito Studio include:Best-in-class analyticsCross-platform reach (X, YouTube, TikTok, and more)Cross-vertical expansion beyond crypto into finance, AI, and other industriesKaito says this model will benefit high-quality creators far more than open leaderboards, rewarding relevance and consistency rather than volume.Crypto sentiment shift behind the decisionKaito noted that over the past year, both teams and creators have moved away from:global, high-volume distributionmass airdropspurely engagement-driven incentivesToward:targeted campaignshigher-quality creator partnershipsmeasurable ROIThis mirrors a broader industry trend as crypto matures and integrates more deeply into traditional finance, payments, tokenization, and capital markets.Beyond Crypto Twitter and beyond cryptoKaito emphasized that this transition is not just about product changes, but about long-term vision.The company believes:the original “ownership economy” vision did not materialize as expectedcrypto’s largest opportunity now lies in becoming infrastructure, not just cultureAreas highlighted include:stablecoins and paymentstokenization and privacyperpetuals and global capital marketsprediction marketsAs a result, 2026 will be the year Kaito expands beyond Crypto Twitter (CT) as its core platform and beyond crypto as its sole vertical, targeting the broader creator economy — a market Kaito estimates at over $200 billion.What stays the sameKaito confirmed that the transition:does not affect Kaito Pro, Kaito API, Kaito Launchpad, or the upcoming Kaito Marketswill involve coordination with existing partner projects over the coming dayskeeps $KAITO integrated into the ecosystem, with more details on its role in Kaito Studio to be announced later.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins told Fox Business in December that he expects US financial markets to move on-chain “in a couple of years. ” The statement landed somewhere between prophecy and policy directive, especially coming from the architect of “Project Crypto,” the Commission's formal initiative to enable tokenized market infrastructure. However, what does “on-chain” mean when […] The post SEC Chair predicts 2-year timeline to put US fully on chain but the real $12 source: https://cryptoslate.com/sec-chair-predicts-2-year-timeline-to-full-tokenization-but-the-real-12-6-trillion-opportunity-isnt-equities/

On Jan 15, 2026, 19:03 PM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, BNB has dropped below 930 USDT and is now trading at 925.809998 USDT, with a narrowed 1.83% decrease in 24 hours.

تتجه بروتوكولات التمويل اللامركزي الكبرى إلى استبدال قنوات Discord المفتوحة على مدار الساعة بأنظمة دعم قائمة على التذاكر وخدمات دعم مباشر، في محاولة للحد من الاحتيال وحماية المستخدمين. source: https://ar.cointelegraph.com/news/defi-protocols-exit-discord-scams-support-channels?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

null source: https://x.com/BSCNews/status/2011876546018148449

A sweeping policy change by X has sent shockwaves through the InfoFi sector, after the platform banned all reward-for-posting (“post-to-earn”) applications and revoked their API access, citing spam and AI-generated content abuse.The move effectively breaks the core business model of several InfoFi projects that relied on X’s API to track engagement, distribute rewards, and rank contributors — triggering sharp price declines across the sector.KAITO plunges as post-to-earn model breaksThe hardest hit was Kaito ($KAITO), a project that rewarded users for posting crypto content on X.With API access removed:Tweets can no longer be trackedEngagement cannot be verifiedRewards cannot be distributedAs a result, KAITO’s token price collapsed from $0.71 to $0.54, a 23% drop within minutes, as traders rushed to exit positions.The market reaction reflects a rapid repricing of InfoFi tokens whose utility was entirely dependent on X-based engagement incentives.InfoFi sector sees broad lossesThe fallout quickly spread beyond KAITO:$COOKIE (Cookie DAO) fell 18%The broader InfoFi sector dropped approximately 13% within hoursInvestors appear to be reassessing the long-term viability of social-platform-dependent token incentive models, particularly those relying on centralized APIs.Projects pivot as X clamps downFollowing the ban, affected projects moved swiftly to contain damage and signal strategic shifts:KaitoSuspended Yaps rewardsRemoved public leaderboardsAnnounced expansion plans beyond X, including:Kaito StudioYouTube and TikTok integrationsAI-driven content and finance use casesCookie DAOShut down SnapsCancelled all active reward campaignsPivoted focus to data analytics and enterprise tooling, branded as Cookie ProThese pivots suggest a broader transition away from pure post-to-earn mechanics toward data, analytics, and multi-platform distribution.Why X acted — and what it meansX’s decision reflects growing pressure on social platforms to curb:Spam campaignsAI-generated engagement farmingToken-driven manipulation of social signalsBy cutting off API access, X has reasserted centralized control over engagement monetization, dealing a major blow to decentralized InfoFi experiments built on top of its infrastructure.Bigger picture: InfoFi model under scrutinyThe selloff highlights a key structural risk in InfoFi:If rewards depend on a centralized platform’s API, the model is only as resilient as that platform’s policies.While some InfoFi projects may successfully evolve into analytics, media, or AI-native businesses, the X ban marks a turning point for reward-for-posting tokens, forcing the sector to rethink sustainability, decentralization, and platform risk.For now, markets are pricing in a harsher reality:No API access means no engagement rewards — and no guaranteed token demand.

null source: https://x.com/decryptmedia/status/2011876263179268291

Crypto Twitter 并没有死于算法，它死于这轮牛市最本质的特征：这是一场属于华尔街和专业机构的游戏，散户已经被留在了上一个周期。

金色财经推出《金色Web3.0日报》，为您提供最新、最快的MEME、DeFi、DAO、NFT和元宇宙行业新闻。

2026 年初的加密市场正在经历一场前所未有的文化逆袭。

1 月 13-14 日，纽约前市长 Eric Adams 因其发行的代币 NYC 在上线后价格暴跌而受到大量质疑，本文对此次事件进行了详细的链上分析。

在流量入口竞争日益激烈的背景下，BNB Chain 却悄然走出了另一条路，并将在2026年持续发力。

风险投资,加密货币,自述：做 Crypto VC 三年 亏掉数千万的血泪教训 金色财经,VC 的卑微与生存真相。

Binance,加密市场,2025 年度总结及 2026 年行业展望 金色财经,2025 年的关键词是 “数据迷雾” 与波动性。

当华尔街的精密机器开始全速运转，那个可以靠信息差轻易获利的狂欢期或许一去不复返。

DZ Bank has received MiCA approval from BaFin to launch meinKrypto, a crypto trading platform for retail customers of cooperative banks in Germany. The platform will let users buy, sell, and hold bitcoin, ether, litecoin, and cardano directly within the VR Banking App once each bank completes its MiCAR notification.

China’s former digital yuan architect, Yao Qian, is facing serious corruption charges after Chinese state media revealed that he allegedly accepted more than $8 million in crypto bribes while holding senior regulatory positions.