FiCAS Selected Crypto Assets ETI

Bitcoin fell 10.15 percent, Ether 17.5 percent, and Solana 15.3 percent. An early uptick on fresh sentiment and the end of tax-loss selling faded as a fragile market structure emerged, driven by low-conviction, high-leverage derivatives rather than spot demand. The Fear and Greed Index briefly improved mid-month before sliding to 32, in fear territory. With risk appetite weak and a global tilt toward hard assets such as gold and silver, the Fed left rates unchanged. Into late January, Bitcoin and Ether extended declines on leverage unwinds, geopolitics, and the absence of a policy shift. GameFi tokens staged a brief rally against the broader downtrend.

Structural and policy signals were mixed. On Ethereum, Grayscale became the first U.S. ETF to distribute staking rewards, while network usage hit a record 2.02 million daily transactions; yet ETF inflows and sentiment across DATs remained muted. In privacy, Zcash was a focal point as core developers resigned to form a new company, and the Winklevoss twins donated 1.2 million dollars in ZEC to support development. Morgan Stanley filed for spot Bitcoin and Solana ETFs. In Washington, senators introduced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, including a proposal to prohibit interest on passive stablecoin balances, a position backed by banking lobbies; Coinbase’s CEO said large banks view crypto as an existential threat. Ripple secured preliminary EMI approval in Luxembourg following similar progress in the UK, and Bank of America’s CEO warned of a potential 6 trillion dollar deposit shift toward stablecoins.