The U.S. Department of Justice has confirmed that Bitcoin seized in connection with Samourai Wallet has not been sold and will stay on the federal balance sheet as part of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The clarification, which aligns with recent on-chain data, addresses earlier reports that prosecutors had liquidated the forfeited coins in a manner that could conflict with Executive Order 14233.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs ended the week with $1.81 billion in net inflows, reversing more than $681 million of outflows from the previous week. Total net assets stood near $125.2 billion, and BTC closed around $94,800, up roughly 4.4% over the period. Flows were broad-based across issuers, while price action showed consolidation within a volatile range.

CME Group will launch cash-settled futures for Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK) and Stellar (XLM) on 9 February 2026, pending regulatory review, according to a CME Group statement. The suite includes standard and micro contracts—100,000/10,000 ADA, 5,000/250 LINK, and 250,000/12,500 XLM—expanding regulated tools for exposure and hedging in large-cap altcoins.

According to the Sui Foundation, on 14 January a rare consensus edge case triggered a safety halt on Sui's mainnet, pausing transactions for about six hours. Validators detected divergent checkpoint digests and stopped progress to avoid inconsistent finalization. The post-mortem outlines faster inconsistency detection, automated cleanup tooling, and expanded testing.

On 15 January, blockchain analytics firm Artemis reported that crypto-linked card payments have become the main source of on-chain stablecoin activity, surpassing peer-to-peer transfers. The study found that card-based stablecoin payments now run at over $15 billion per month versus about $11 billion for P2P transfers, with Visa handling more than 80% of tracked card volume.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has moved back up to 54, signalling neutral sentiment after spending much of late 2025 in fear. Prices across major digital assets have stabilised and Bitcoin is trading above its late‑2025 lows, but daily spot volumes remain around $400 billion, well under the $600 billion to $900 billion peaks seen in mid‑2025.

Bitcoin climbed above $95,000 for the first time since mid-November and was trading near $97,200, breaking out of a multi-week consolidation range. On-chain and market metrics show spot taker buy volume and accumulation rising, suggesting buyers are regaining control and that recent strength may be supported by broader participation.

Sui confirmed a mainnet stall on 14 January that disrupted transactions and access to dApps for nearly three hours. Explorer data highlighted repeated system-level entries and reduced throughput as validators failed to consistently finalize blocks. Earlier that day, TVL was about $1.05 billion, DEX volume near $371 million, and SUI traded around $1.90.

Bitcoin’s spot price is hovering near $91,000, while options markets are marking up short‑term turbulence. One‑week implied volatility is spiking around and below the current level even as three‑month IV cools, pointing to heavier demand for downside hedges. With resistance still near $95,000, traders appear braced for a sharp move.