CoinDesk 20 Index: 3,854.56 +0.94%
Bitcoin (BTC): $104,916.51 -0.1%
Ether (ETH): $3,350.95 +4.08%
S&P 500: 6,071.17 +0.53%
Gold: $2,804.71 +0.29%
Nikkei 225: 39,572.49 +0.15%

Bitcoin's rally toward another all-time high has stalled, with the price dipping under $104,000 during the European morning. President Trump's reiteration of the tariffs threat looks to have clipped BTC's wings. While some fear an extended sell-off before the next big bullish wave unfolds, action in the on-chain derivatives market suggests otherwise. Flows on Deribit and the CME remain bullish as momentum looks to be building for state-level BTC reserves in the U.S. That said, gold, a traditional haven, and tokens tied to gold are on the rise, and the latest uptick in Tokyo inflation supports the bullish case in the anti-risk yen. BTC traded around $104,750 at the time of writing, 0.25% lower in the last 24 hours.

Grayscale Investments filed an application with the SEC to convert its XRP Trust into an ETF listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The existing product operates as a Delaware statutory trust, managing over $16 million XRP. The proposed ETF would continue to hold XRP as its primary asset and track its performance on a price return basis, adjusted for operational fees, providing investors with a direct link to XRP's performance. Earlier in January, Ripple Labs president Monica Long said an XRP ETF could “soon be a reality” under the Trump administration, one that has promised to bring crypto innovation back to the U.S. and support locally based businesses.

VIRTUAL, the native token of the AI agent generator platform Virtuals Protocol, climbed during European trading hours after Upbit, South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, said it would list the coin. The price surged 28% to $2.61, almost testing the downtrend line that characterizes the sell-off from the Jan. 2 record high of around $5.25, data tracked by TradingView and CoinDesk show. The price jump followed Upbit's decision to list the VIRTUAL/KRW, VIRTUAL/USDT and VIRTUAL/BTC markets, exposing the token to altcoin savvy Korean traders. Early this month, Virtuals Protocol announced a program to buy back and destroy ecosystem agent tokens using the almost 13 million VIRTUAL tokens accumulated from post-bonding trading income.

The market capitalization of stablecoins just pierced $200 billion, reaching a record high in a sign the crypto market may be poised for further growth, according to CryptoQuant.

The stablecoin market has grown by $37 billion since early November, when President Donald Trump won the U.S. election.

"The next leg up for bitcoin and crypto prices could be around the corner as stablecoin’s liquidity impulse starts to expand again," CryptoQuant wrote in a report.

Tether's USDT remains the dominant stablecoin leader, with $139 billion in market cap, having grown 15% since November. Circle's USDC is next, with $52.5 billion having grown 48% over the same period.

USDT's liquidity change on a 30-day basis is now slightly positive after contracting 2% at the start of the year. Meanwhile, USDC's liquidity change on a 30-day basis is up 20%, the fastest pace in a year. Bitcoin, in comparison, has climbed over 50%, and the total crypto market is now $3.5 trillion from $2.2 trillion, according to TradingView metric, Total.

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