On Saturday, Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko said on X that Solana must keep iterating and even envisaged network fees funding AI-assisted code updates. His comments contrasted with Vitalik Buterin's "walkaway test" vision for Ethereum, which emphasizes long-term self-sustainability without ongoing developer guidance.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on European imports via Truth Social, taking effect on February 1. Rates begin at 10% and could rise to 25% by June 2026, contingent on a Greenland purchase. The EU is preparing an emergency meeting to weigh responses, and countries named include Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland.

On January 18, 2026, BitGo outlined plans to raise about $201 million through a US initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "BTGO." The institutional crypto custodian will sell 11 million new Class A shares plus 821,595 shares from existing holders at an indicative price of $15 to $17, while keeping a dual-class voting structure that leaves CEO Michael Belshe with majority control.

On 18 January 2026, GameFi project Axie Infinity saw its AXS token more than double in a week and jump 43.58% in 24 hours to about $1.86, with daily trading volume near $971.2 million against a market cap of roughly $313.7 million. The rally coincides with heavy spot and futures activity and upcoming structural changes such as a reputation-based Axie Score system and the bonded AXS (bAXS) token, which are drawing renewed attention to GameFi tokens.

On January 18, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong denied reports that the White House might withdraw support for a U.S. crypto market structure bill, saying talks remain active. He flagged disputes over stablecoin yields and warned of regulatory capture by banks, while policymakers and industry voices weighed potential market impacts.

Ethereum is holding above the 21-period EMA on the three-week chart, which several technical analysts view as a sign of ongoing strength rather than a major top. They interpret the current sideways action as reaccumulation within a broader uptrend, with a higher-probability scenario of further upside as long as this key support does not break.

Ethereum is maintaining a constructive structure, with price holding above the 1D Bull Market Support Band and the key 0.618 Fibonacci level around $3,100 while facing resistance near the $3,400 area. Analysts note that this sustained support, alongside ETH’s position above the Daily 200MA versus Bitcoin, indicates buyers remain in control despite recent rejections at the 0.5 Fibonacci zone. As long as these technical levels hold, the broader bullish outlook for ETH and the potential for a stronger altcoin market response remain in place.

As the broader crypto market recovers, Immutable's IMX token climbed 9.50% to $0.293, with trading volume jumping 65% to $35.48 million. The price is testing a key $0.30 resistance level that aligns with a bullish cup-and-handle pattern, while derivatives data shows traders favoring leveraged long positions despite trend strength remaining relatively weak.