PA Daily | UBS plans to offer cryptocurrency trading services to some clients; Binance considers restarting stock tokenization trading

Today’s Headlines Reminder:

1. UBS Group plans to offer cryptocurrency trading services to some clients

2. Binance considers relaunching stock tokenization trading, allowing investors to purchase partial shares

3. US lawmakers submit multiple amendments to the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act, including banning certain officials like the President from trading digital assets

4. Binance Wallet App and Web version now support direct trading of MEME coins using stablecoins

5. Moonbirds: BIRB tokens to launch on the Solana blockchain on January 28

6. Coinbase: Optimistic outlook for Q1 after crypto market adjustment at the end of 2025

Regulation & Macro

UBS Group plans to offer cryptocurrency trading services to some clients

According to Bloomberg, sources familiar with the matter reveal that UBS Group AG is planning to provide crypto investment services to certain private banking clients, currently selecting partners. Discussions have been ongoing for months, and UBS has not yet made a final decision on how to proceed.

A hacker flaunts a $23 million wallet, suspected of involvement in US government theft of $90 million

According to a post by crypto detective ZachXBT, a hacker using the pseudonym “John (Lick)” was found showing off a wallet holding $23 million, directly linked to over $90 million stolen from the US government in 2024, as well as assets belonging to multiple other unidentified victims between November and December 2025.

This exposure originated from a “wealth contest” argument between “John” and another hacker, Dritan Kapplani Jr., recorded in a group chat. ZachXBT analyzed public on-chain data, revealing connections between this address and several major theft cases.

France’s crypto tax reporting platform Waltio faces extortion and data breach, nearly 50,000 users may be affected

According to Le Parisien, France’s crypto tax reporting platform Waltio announced it was extorted by the hacker group “Shiny Hunters.” The group claims to have obtained personal data of about 50,000 clients (mostly in France) and is demanding ransom.

Waltio provides portfolio tracking and tax calculation services for crypto holders. The company reported the incident to police, describing it as an “attempted extortion and sabotage of automated data processing systems.” Reports indicate hackers had already obtained client emails and account balances as early as 2024.

Grayscale has submitted S-1 filings for BNB ETF

SEC withdraws lawsuit against Gemini Earn

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated in a court document that it will dismiss the lawsuit against Gemini and its now-defunct Earn product. The document states that since Gemini Earn investors have recovered 100% of their assets, the lawsuit no longer has legal grounds.

In 2023, the SEC sued Gemini and Genesis Global Capital, accusing both of selling unregistered securities via Gemini’s yield product Earn. The SEC claimed investors entrusted funds to Gemini, which then lent these funds to Genesis, which stopped withdrawals after the 2022 FTX collapse and broader crypto market downturn. The lawsuit was paused in April last year after Acting Chair Mark Uyeda took over the agency.

US lawmakers submit multiple amendments to the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act, including banning certain officials from trading digital assets

Ahead of next week’s Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on the Crypto Market Structure Act, Democratic lawmakers submitted several amendments.

One amendment aims to add the “Digital Asset Ethics Act” to the bill, prohibiting “regulated persons” such as the President, Vice President, and members of Congress from engaging in certain financial transactions involving digital assets. Bloomberg estimated that Trump profited about $1.4 billion from crypto investments, including holdings in DeFi and stablecoin project World Liberty Financial. The Trump family also owns a 20% stake in mining company American Bitcoin.

Other amendments include measures to prevent false trading on “digital asset self-service terminals” and to delay the implementation of future crypto legislation until at least four Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioners are appointed. Currently, the CFTC has only one commissioner, with a maximum of five, making this a point of contention among some legislators.

FBI arrests former Olympic skier suspected of using crypto to transfer drug proceeds

Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding has been accused by US authorities of using cryptocurrencies for drug transactions. He was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the US.

On Friday, US authorities arrested Canadian former snowboarder Ryan Wedding and detained a suspected drug kingpin involved in transferring and laundering criminal proceeds via crypto networks. Ryan Wedding was on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list for alleged cocaine trafficking and murder. The FBI states that he has links to the Sinaloa cartel and was sanctioned by the US Treasury’s OFAC in November.

UK’s FCA enters final consultation phase on crypto regulation, solicits feedback on consumer responsibility rules

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has entered the final phase of its crypto regulation consultation, seeking feedback by March 12 on how its consumer responsibility rules apply to crypto firms. The FCA plans to open licensing applications for crypto assets by September 2026.

Consumer responsibility is a regulation by the FCA setting high standards for how financial firms treat retail customers. It requires firms to act with integrity, avoid foreseeable harm, and help individuals achieve financial goals. Firms must provide clear information, fair pricing, and support throughout the customer journey, not just at the point of transaction.

ARK Invest submits two crypto ETFs linked to CoinDesk 20 index

Ark Invest Tracker announced that ARK has submitted two crypto ETF applications linked to the CoinDesk 20 index:

• ARK CoinDesk 20 Crypto ETF (including Bitcoin version)
• ARK CoinDesk 20 ex-Bitcoin Crypto ETF (excluding Bitcoin version)

Project Updates

Binance contracts to list SPACEUSDT and FIGHTUSDT perpetual contracts

According to official announcement, Binance contracts platform will list perpetual contracts at the following times:

• January 23, 2026, 19:45 (UTC+8): SPACEUSDT perpetual contract, leverage up to 20x;
• January 23, 2026, 20:15 (UTC+8): FIGHTUSDT perpetual contract, leverage up to 20x.

Binance Wallet App and Web now support direct trading of MEME coins with stablecoins

Official notice states that both Binance Wallet App and Web now support direct trading of MEME tokens using stablecoins. Users can switch payment currencies on any trading interface to buy MEME tokens directly with stablecoins. Supported stablecoins include USDT, USDC, U, and USD1.

173rd Ethereum Consensus Layer Developer Meeting (ACDC): Glamsterdam upgrade scope may not match schedule

According to Christine D. Kim’s summary of the 173rd Ethereum consensus layer core developer meeting (ACDC), developers have a stark realization: to launch the Glamsterdam upgrade before mid-year, they may need to significantly reduce its scope. Currently, they have not explicitly acknowledged a mismatch between the planned scope and proposed timeline, only that such issues might exist and should be addressed by the end of February.

The meeting discussed that if EIP 7732 cannot be implemented as an interoperable version by the end of February, it may be removed from Glamsterdam and postponed to a future hard fork. Other updates include: ConsenSys’s Teku client team reported node performance issues found during mainnet stress testing, which are being fixed and have slowed progress on Glamsterdam; EIP 7928 requires minor API changes for consensus layer clients; the deadline for Hegota upgrade’s Headliner EIP proposal is February 4; some client teams have completed preliminary updates to support EIP-7688.

Spacecoin opens SPACE token airdrop claim

According to official blog, Spacecoin has opened the SPACE token airdrop claim for users who participated in Season 1, Season 2, or hold CTC tokens and ecosystem NFTs (like CTC-0, CPC). Users need to connect their wallets via the official Penguinbase portal to claim. Tokens will be distributed to users’ Creditcoin network addresses.

Coinbase lists Doodles (DOOD) and Moonbirds (BIRB) on token listing roadmap

Coinbase announced that Doodles (DOOD) and Moonbirds (BIRB) are on its token listing roadmap. Listing depends on market-making support and technical infrastructure, with specific dates to be announced later.

Binance considers relaunching stock token trading, allowing investors to buy partial shares

Binance is considering relaunching stock token trading. Stock tokens are digital representations of shares, allowing investors to buy partial shares (held and settled on the blockchain) that reflect the underlying asset’s price in real time. Binance previously shut down similar products in 2021 due to regulatory pressure.

Additionally, traditional exchanges like OKX, Coinbase, NYSE, and NASDAQ are exploring stock token issuance, indicating renewed industry interest.

However, many legal and regulatory hurdles remain, as pending US crypto market structure legislation and existing securities laws could slow or restrict the rollout of stock token products.

Moonbirds: BIRB tokens to launch on Solana blockchain on January 28

A16z Crypto general partner Arianna Simpson announced her departure to start a new fund

Arianna Simpson, general partner at a16z Crypto, announced on X that she is leaving the firm to establish a new fund, expanding investment scope across various verticals. She expressed gratitude to Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z Crypto, for his mentorship, saying his investment framework will influence her career. Chris Dixon responded that Arianna was an early supporter of crypto, had experience founding a crypto fund, and worked at a16z Crypto for six years with multiple successful investments.

Crypto wallet Rainbow to launch CCA auction on Uniswap on February 2

Rainbow announced it will launch a CCA mechanism auction on Uniswap on February 2, open to all participants. 100% of proceeds will automatically become on-chain liquidity for RNBW. Further details to be announced.

Previously, Rainbow announced that RNBW tokens will undergo TGE on February 5, with airdrops accounting for 15%, and a total supply of 1 billion tokens.

Analysis & Opinions

Analysis: Despite strong demand for bullish options recently, asymmetric downside risks persist

According to Glassnode, during Bitcoin’s rally in mid-January, the 25D skew moved from deep in the put-biased zone toward neutral, while put/call volume ratio dropped from 1 to 0.4, indicating strong bullish activity. The key issue is not whether bullish options are being bought, but how short the actual duration of this demand is. Longer-term skew shows different patterns: the 1-month 25D skew only moved from -7% to -4%, still in a bearish asymmetric zone; the 3-month 25D skew changed less than 1.5% and remains firmly in the bearish zone. Despite recent bullish options demand, the persistent asymmetric downside risk indicates that the demand is real but concentrated in the short term. Trading volume exists, but risk is not being re-priced across all maturities.

Meanwhile, implied volatility of at-the-money options has been sold during price rallies, with gamma sellers taking profits. This volatility behavior is not typical of sustainable breakout trends. An ideal breakout would see spot prices approaching key levels, skew across maturities pointing higher, and volatility being bought. Last week’s price action did not meet these conditions.

GameStop has transferred all BTC holdings to Coinbase Prime, possibly for sale

CryptoQuant posted on X that GameStop’s on-chain wallet transferred all BTC holdings to Coinbase Prime today, likely for sale. Between May 14-23, 2025, they bought 4,710 BTC at an average price of about $107,900, totaling roughly $504 million. Selling at the current price of about $90,800 could realize a loss of approximately $76 million.

Standard Chartered: Buying Ethereum and Bitmine stocks before the weekend may be a good choice

Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, said Ethereum has fallen sharply in recent days like other cryptos, but positive momentum continues. Since the December Fusaka upgrade, Ethereum’s on-chain activity surged to record levels, alleviating previous capacity bottlenecks and boosting on-chain activity.

Additionally, major ETH holder Bitmine continues to buy ETH, and macroeconomic factors are positive: Greenland-related tariffs risk eased, Japan’s bond market rebounded from selling, and rising expectations that Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s fixed income chief, may become the next Fed chair, all favor risk assets. He suggests that going long on ETH and BMNR before the weekend offers a good risk-reward.

Coinbase: Market outlook remains optimistic in Q1 after 2025 end crypto market adjustment

Coinbase Institutional’s latest “Charting Crypto” report states that after the 2025 end adjustment, the crypto market has a more solid foundation; entering Q1, market positioning has improved, and the environment is more balanced.

The report notes that the Q4 decline helped clear excess leverage and speculative positions. The current environment shows a market in rebalancing rather than aggressive risk-taking. Investor participation remains active but more cautious, with more rational position sizing, reducing downside risk and better resilience to shocks. On-chain data shows orderly supply dynamics, reduced panic selling, and normalized holder behavior; derivatives leverage is more restrained. Despite macro uncertainties, market positions have absorbed many risks, leading to more measured price reactions.

Report: Over $35 trillion transferred via stablecoins last year, only 1% for real-world payments

A new report by McKinsey and Artemis Analytics shows that last year, stablecoins transferred over $35 trillion on blockchain, but only about 1% reflected real-world payments. Estimated activity of $380 billion involved actual payments like vendor payments, remittances, or payroll. This accounts for roughly 0.02% of global payments, while McKinsey estimates global payments exceed $20 trillion annually.

Vitalik: Institutions and crypto-punks are not absolute enemies; cooperation and independence must be balanced

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik wrote that the relationship between “institutions” and “crypto-punks” is complex and requires proper understanding. Institutions (including governments and corporations) are neither absolute friends nor enemies; Vitalik emphasizes openness to mutually beneficial cooperation but also active defense of self-interest. The core task for the Ethereum community is to build a financial, social, and identity layer that protects individual autonomy and freedom.

In strategic game theory, institutions’ optimal approach is to strengthen control within manageable limits while resisting external intrusion, often valuing data sovereignty and security more than ordinary users. Vitalik predicts that institutions (corporate and government) will increasingly reduce reliance on external trust and seek more operational guarantees.

In the stablecoin domain, this means: EU asset issuers want governance on their blockchains not overly concentrated in the US, and vice versa (similar for other regions). Governments will push for more KYC, but privacy tools will also improve as crypto-punks strive to enhance these tools’ performance. Institutions want control over their wallets and even over staking ETH.

Yi Lihua: Buying more ETH on dips, stablecoin globalization and on-chain finance are biggest beneficiaries of ETH

Liquid Capital founder JackYi (易理华) posted on X: “The biggest beneficiaries of stablecoin globalization and on-chain finance are ETH. These are also the biggest real-world application opportunities for crypto. In the short term, normal bottom oscillation is expected. What I’ve been doing daily is buying more ETH on dips and actively participating in ETH capital platforms to help expand capital and add ETH. Hard work and bullish stance will lead to big final results.”

Institutions

US-listed DDC Enterprise increases BTC holdings by 200, total now 1,583 BTC

US-listed DDC Enterprise announced on January 22 local time that it bought an additional 200 BTC. After the transaction, its total BTC holdings increased to 1,583, with a year-to-date return of 33.8%.

Nasdaq issues delisting notice to Bitcoin treasury company K Wave Media again

Nasdaq issued a delisting notice to K Wave Media, a K-pop media company adopting a Bitcoin treasury strategy. The company’s market cap failed to meet Nasdaq’s minimum market value requirement (MVLS). Nasdaq requires it to maintain a market cap of at least $50 million for 10 consecutive trading days before June 2026, or it will be delisted from Nasdaq Global Market.

Previously, K Wave Media received $1 billion in funding to support its Bitcoin treasury strategy. This year, after its stock price fell below $1 for 30 consecutive days, Nasdaq issued a delisting notice, requiring the stock to rise above $1 and stay there for 10 days before July 6, 2026, to avoid delisting.

Key Data

BlackRock deposits 15,112 ETH and 249.5 BTC into Coinbase Prime again

According to The Data Nerd, one hour ago, BlackRock deposited 15,112 ETH (about $44.38 million) and 249.5 BTC (about $22.25 million) into Coinbase Prime again.

Bitcoin spot ETF outflows totaled $104 million yesterday, continuing 5 days of net outflows

According to SoSoValue, yesterday (January 23, US Eastern Time), Bitcoin spot ETFs had a net outflow of $104 million.

The largest single-day outflow was from BlackRock’s IBIT ETF, with $102 million outflow. Its total net inflow since inception is $62.903 billion.

Second was Fidelity’s FBTC ETF, with $1.9473 million outflow, and total net inflow of $11.465 billion.

As of press time, Bitcoin spot ETF total assets under management (AUM) stood at $115.883 billion, with a market share of 6.48% relative to total Bitcoin market cap. Total net inflow since inception is $56.495 billion.

Ethereum spot ETF outflows yesterday totaled $41.7358 million, continuing 4 days of net outflows

According to SoSoValue, yesterday (January 23, US Eastern Time), Ethereum spot ETFs had a net outflow of $41.7378 million.

The largest single-day inflow was into Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH), with $9.1571 million. Its total net inflow since inception is $1.643 billion.

Second was Fidelity’s FETH ETF, with $4.3963 million inflow, and total net inflow of $2.591 billion.

The largest single-day outflow was from BlackRock’s ETHA ETF, with $44.4925 million outflow. Its total net inflow since inception is $12.506 billion.

As of press time, Ethereum spot ETF total assets under management (AUM) are $17.702 billion, with a market share of 4.99% relative to total ETH market cap. Total net inflow since inception is $12.302 billion.