In January, a severe winter storm across the United States led many Bitcoin mining firms to scale back power consumption, sharply reducing output. CryptoQuant data indicates that publicly traded miners' daily production, usually around 70–90 BTC before the storm, fell to roughly 30–40 BTC at the height of the disruption. As conditions improved, production partially recovered, suggesting the curtailments were temporary and largely voluntary.

According to Bob Elliott of Unlimited Funds, the average dollar invested in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust turned negative following Friday's close, as Bitcoin fell into the mid-$70,000 range. CoinShares data for the week to Jan. 25 show nearly $1.1 billion in Bitcoin fund outflows and $1.73 billion across crypto funds, the largest weekly withdrawal since mid-November.

As of Sunday, Truflation reported cooling price pressures, with its US CPI at 0.86% year over year and core PCE at 1.38%. Those readings contrast with government figures of 2.7% CPI in December and 2.8% core PCE in November, a backdrop that could affect expectations for Federal Reserve policy and risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, a publicly listed crypto treasury linked to Tom Lee, faces over $6 billion in unrealized losses on its Ether holdings. According to Dropstab, after adding 40,302 ETH last week to push its total above 4.24 million, the stash is worth roughly $9.6 billion, down from about $13.9 billion in October.

The US Federal Reserve kept the federal funds rate unchanged in a 3.5% to 3.75% range, with two officials dissenting in favor of an additional 25-basis-point cut. At the same time, the US dollar has fallen to a four-year low, prompting analysts to argue that currency weakness could act as de facto easing and influence Bitcoin and broader crypto markets.

AI-focused data center builds across several US states are facing rising community resistance over power use, infrastructure strain and environmental impact, similar to past opposition to Bitcoin mining facilities. According to Miner Mag, local concerns have already helped delay or block around $64 billion in data center projects, prompting some jurisdictions to pause new developments while they review zoning and grid requirements. Companies including Microsoft and OpenAI are responding with more community-oriented strategies and pledges to shoulder energy costs, as some Bitcoin miners also pivot toward AI and high-performance computing.

Circle and Aleo said Tuesday that USDCx, a privacy‑oriented representation of USDC, is live on Aleo via Circle's xReserve. The asset is fully backed by USDC held in xReserve and interoperable with USDC on networks such as Ethereum, reflecting privacy‑focused chains' efforts to access regulated, dollar‑pegged assets amid growing demand for onchain confidentiality tools.

On Monday, Tether reported that its Tether Gold (XAUt) token, with a market value above $2.2 billion, now makes up more than half of the gold-backed stablecoin sector. The milestone comes as Comex gold trades above $5,000 per troy ounce and the US Dollar Index extends its slide, amid accelerating central bank gold purchases and rising demand for safe-haven assets.

Axis co-founder Jimmy Xue says stablecoin issuance has shifted from rapid expansion to consolidation as stricter US and EU rules raise compliance costs and reserve standards. Industry data shows total supply has hovered near $310 billion since October, while higher US Treasury yields curb speculative minting and emphasize payments and short-duration liquidity.