Recent price action shows Ethereum breaking from its usual correlation with the Russell 2000, even as U.S. small-cap stocks continue to climb. At the same time, the ETH/BTC pair has risen about 8% since October, pointing to stronger relative demand for Ethereum and hinting at a potential shift in altcoin market dynamics.

On 18 January 2026, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong rejected reports that the White House plans to drop support for the CLARITY Act. He said talks remain constructive and that officials asked Coinbase to help explore compromises with community banks, including on stablecoin yield-sharing provisions. The Senate Banking Committee delayed its markup, with negotiations expected to resume in the coming weeks.

Tokenized stocks have grown to a market size of $867 million in under a year, edging toward $1 billion as monthly transfer volume hits $2.3 billion and holders reach 159,000. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong remains optimistic about on-chain equities despite controversy over the Senate's CLARITY Act, while BNB Chain has recently overtaken Solana as the leading settlement layer for these assets.

Data from Ethereum Validator Queue indicate that the validator exit queue has dropped from a peak of 2.67 million ETH in September 2025 to zero, while the entry queue has climbed to 2.6 million ETH, with wait times extending to 45 days. Nearly 46.5% of Ether's supply is now locked in the proof-of-stake deposit contract, and analysts say these inflows and a staking yield near 2.8% are tightening ETH's supply-demand balance even though its $3,300 price remains below the August 2025 all-time high.

On January 17, 2026, Patrick Witt, Director of the White House Crypto Council, confirmed that the U.S. government is still working to build a strategic Bitcoin reserve funded only by judicially seized assets. The initiative, constrained by President Trump's executive order and complex inter-agency legal requirements, excludes open-market purchases while retained Bitcoins from Samourai Wallet developers and ongoing market shifts in Bitcoin are monitored for potential policy impact.

Analysts suggest XRP could climb toward the $7–$8.50 range in 2026 if it maintains support between $1.90 and $3.40 and breaks above its $3.40 all‑time high. Expectations are built around Ripple’s multibillion‑dollar global expansion, improving regulatory clarity, growing DeFi use cases, and rising institutional demand for XRP‑linked products.

Ahead of the Consensus event in Hong Kong, Auros chief commercial officer Jason Atkins argued that the main issue in crypto markets is insufficient liquidity rather than volatility. He said thin order books and weak market depth make it hard for large institutions to deploy capital and manage risk without moving prices. Atkins warned that this cycle of volatility, caution and illiquidity is keeping major Wall Street players from fully entering the sector despite rising institutional interest.

DOGE slipped nearly 15% over six sessions, then recovered about 9%, with $0.15 acting as firm resistance and $0.13 under scrutiny as support. According to WhaleAlerts, a wallet moved 500 million DOGE to Binance, adding focus on whale behavior. TradingView shows repeated failures at $0.15, including an attempt 10 days ago.