According to Paolo Ardoino on X, USDT expanded by $50 billion in 2025, underscoring demand outside traditional banking. Tether.io's Q4 2025 report showed $192.8 billion in assets against $186.5 billion in liabilities, a $6.3 billion surplus, with reserves anchored by U.S. Treasuries and a network built for low-friction settlement.

Donald Trump formally chose Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve after a 14‑month selection battle that began in November 2024. On December 10, hours after the Fed lowered rates by 0.25%, Warsh told Trump he would support further cuts, while a January 11 DOJ probe disclosure by Jerome Powell reshaped the field.

CME Group increased initial margin requirements on Comex metals after a severe selloff, setting gold at 8% and silver at 15%, effective from Monday's close. Gold futures fell 11.4% and silver futures dropped 31.4% on Friday, while risk-tiered margin levels for both metals also moved higher alongside planned increases for platinum and palladium.

In 2025, TRM Labs reported that wallets it classifies as illicit received around $158 billion in crypto inflows, the highest level in five years, largely tied to Russia-linked sanctions designations and better attribution. The firm noted that the A7A5 token and the A7 wallet cluster together accounted for over $100 billion in incoming value connected to Russian actors, including Garantex and Grinex, while illicit activity still represented only 1.2% of total on-chain volume.

The trader known as the "Hyperunit whale" has closed their entire leveraged ether position on Hyperliquid, booking about $250 million in losses and leaving only $53 in the account. The reversal follows an October 2025 haul of roughly $200 million from shorting bitcoin and ether ahead of a tariff announcement, with identity links previously disputed.

On January 31, 2026, gold and silver flipped from a powerful advance into a sharp retreat. The decline is framed as a positioning and liquidity event, where crowded trades and margin dynamics outweigh unchanged macro narratives. Without a shift in core fundamentals, the focus turns to whether selling pressure eases, volatility cools, and silver stops leading gold lower.

On January 31, forced liquidations across crypto derivatives exceeded $2 billion within 24 hours, as prices broke below key supports. Bitcoin saw about $700 million in wiped positions, while Ethereum lost roughly $300 million after falling under $2,500 and moving toward $2,400. Market capitalization fell more than 7% intraday before stabilizing.

On January 31, 2026, Bitcoin and Ethereum extended their declines as a sharp wave of derivatives liquidations swept the crypto market, with total liquidations over 24 hours reaching about $1.59 billion and long positions making up the bulk. Bitcoin fell under $80,000 at one stage, briefly dropping below MicroStrategy's reported average cost basis near $76,037 before partially rebounding, while Ethereum slid under $2,500 amid similar leverage-driven pressures. The pullback is being framed as a leverage and market-structure event rather than a shift in underlying fundamentals.