According to commentary on X, gold's market capitalization jumped by about $2.2 trillion in a single trading session, briefly lifting its valuation far above major crypto assets. That one-day gain was nearly 20 times XRP's roughly $103 billion market cap and even exceeded Bitcoin's value near $1.77 trillion, underscoring how small percentage moves in huge markets translate into outsized dollar changes. Traders argued the headline figures can be misleading, while scenario analysis showed how dramatically XRP and Bitcoin prices would differ if they matched recent percentage moves in gold and silver.

Vitalik Buterin has reportedly moved 16,384 ETH from his personal holdings, valued at around $45 million, to support privacy-focused and open technology initiatives. The funds are earmarked for areas such as open silicon, secure hardware, private messaging, local-first operating systems, and tools combining zero-knowledge proofs with other privacy techniques, while the Ethereum Foundation enters a five-year period of mild austerity.

Bitcoin fell sharply this week in early US trading, sliding to slightly above $82,000 and triggering a wave of forced position closures. Data from Coinglass show about 270,000 accounts were liquidated across exchanges in the past day, with nearly $1.70 billion in contracts wiped out, mostly from traders positioned for further price gains. The selloff unfolded amid geopolitical tension, weaker tech earnings and renewed risk aversion across wider markets.

Bitcoin held above the mid-$80,000 area this week as buyers stepped in near key support and prevented a sharper breakdown. Analysts highlight that around 22% of the supply now sits below its purchase price and argue that a sustained recovery likely depends on stronger liquidity, tracked through on-chain metrics like the 90‑day realized profit/loss ratio. Exchange inflows remain muted and derivatives positioning points to the risk of a brief liquidity grab toward the low-$90,000s.

Flare said roughly 91.69 million XRP were bridged to its network, with more than 75% deployed onchain. Reports cite 90.55 million XRP in the core vault and 91.67 million FXRP at a 100% reserve, while the new XRP Yield Vault reached $10.54 million in TVL in 30 days.

In January, Santiment's social data shows that discussions about gold and silver frequently surpassed crypto-related chatter as retail traders chased whichever assets were moving the most. Interest in gold spiked in the second week of the month, while search trends highlighted shifting focus between Bitcoin and silver around January 21–22. Santiment also highlighted a sharp intraday swing in silver from above $117 to below $102 as a warning of hype-driven volatility, even as commentators drew parallels between metals and major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and XRP.

A severe US winter storm over the weekend prompted miners to voluntarily cut loads, briefly weakening Bitcoin network capacity. Hashrate slid to about 663 EH/s before recovering toward 854 EH/s, while crews addressed outages and demand spikes. Price hovered near $88,300, and BTCUSD was seen at 87,866 during the turbulence.

According to Santiment on January 25, 2026, wallets holding at least 1,000 BTC accumulated 104,340 BTC in recent weeks, pushing their combined stash to 7.17 million BTC, the highest since September 15, 2025. Mid-sized holders added about $3.21 billion between January 10 and 19, while $1 million-plus transfers reached a two-month high and small retail wallets sold roughly 132 BTC worth around $11.66 million.

World Liberty Financial, a crypto project linked to US President Donald Trump, shifted part of its treasury from wrapped Bitcoin to Ether in a swap tracked on-chain. The WLFI-associated wallet sold 93.77 WBTC for roughly $8 million and acquired about 2,868 ETH at an average price of $2,813. This move occurred while Ethereum prices were slightly lower and trading in relatively calm ranges.