Crypto enters 2026 on a positive footing, but retail sentiment remains fragile 
and driven by immediate news catalysts.

ETH, XRP, and Meme Coins Shine as Retail Sentiment Reacts to Short-Term Catalysts

Banks are fighting stablecoin rewards to protect a secret $360 billion revenue 
machine. When Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad posted a thread on 
Jan. 8 warning that stablecoin rewards &#8220;remain under debate&#8221; as Congress marks 
up market structure legislation, he attached numbers that banking groups would 
rather keep quiet. US banks earn $176 billion […]
The post Banks are lobbying to kill crypto rewards to protect a hidden $1,400 
&#8220;tax&#8221; on every household appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Banks are lobbying to kill crypto rewards to protect a hidden $1,400 “tax” on every household

Robinhood explains building an Ethereum layer-2: ‘We wanted the security from Ethereum’

Chains with built-in privacy may attract finance, healthcare, and real-world 
asset projects that cannot operate on fully transparent ledgers.

Crypto in 2026: a16z Predicts Major Shifts in Privacy, Security, and Messaging

BlackRock is telling clients to stop looking at artificial intelligence as 
software and start treating it as energy. In its 2026 Global Outlook, the 
BlackRock Investment Institute argued that the AI buildout is pushing against 
physical limits and highlighted electricity as the constraint investors are 
underpricing. The report’s headline-grabber is its warning that AI-driven data 
[…]
The post BlackRock warns crypto&#8217;s love affair with AI is over as an energy war 
with Bitcoin miners begins appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Cryptocurrency price in BTC