Weekly Update: 9th of January
What happened between the 1st and the 9th of January?
- The crypto market began 2026 range-bound; Bitcoin is recovering from lows but lacks a clear breakout as investors cautiously rebalance portfolios. Read more
- Morgan Stanley became the first major US bank to file spot crypto ETF applications, signalling a structural shift toward bank-distributed digital asset exposure. Read more
- Ethereum set a new record above 2.2 million daily transactions, with low fees and rising mainnet activity alongside scaling through layer 2 networks. Read more
- The Clarity Act is heading toward a key Senate vote, promising clearer rules, stronger investor protection and a catalyst for institutional crypto adoption. Read more
Crypto market starts the year range-bound
The crypto market has started the year trading sideways in a broad range. Bitcoin is recovering from recent lows but has yet to break convincingly out of its current band. Ethereum and a handful of higher-quality altcoins are showing relatively stronger performance, while smaller, speculative tokens continue to lag. A key driver is the macro backdrop: post-holiday reallocations and early-year portfolio repositioning for 2026 are boosting activity, but investors remain cautious amid uncertainty over growth, inflation and future rate paths.
Many professional investors appear to be maintaining core exposure while reducing risk at the edges. The market therefore feels calm, even apathetic at times, yet such consolidation phases often build the base for the next significant move once new macro catalysts or clearer regulatory signals emerge.
Morgan Stanley files crypto ETF applications
Morgan Stanley has become the first major US bank to file for spot crypto ETFs, including products tied to bitcoin and ethereum. Strategically, this is a logical evolution: rather than simply distributing third-party funds, the bank aims to capture trading revenues and deepen its advisory offering around digital assets. At the same time, the move marks a stark contrast with the sceptical stance large banks voiced just a few years ago.
Where senior executives once dismissed bitcoin’s long-term relevance, major Wall Street institutions are now treating crypto as a structural asset class. For institutional investors, the filings signal that access to regulated products will keep improving, while digital assets become more firmly embedded in mainstream portfolio construction and capital markets infrastructure.
Ethereum hits new transaction record
Ethereum recently set a new record for daily onchain activity on its mainnet, surpassing 2.2 million transactions in a single day while maintaining relatively low average fees. This suggests that, after a period in which activity shifted heavily toward layer 2 networks, users and applications are once again transacting more directly on the base layer. Ongoing scaling upgrades, more efficient rollups and optimised fee mechanics are helping to improve the user experience.
For institutional observers, the data reinforces the idea that Ethereum is not just a technology story but a heavily used settlement layer for DeFi, stablecoins and tokenized assets. Rising onchain activity strengthens the narrative of Ethereum as productive infrastructure with real economic output rather than merely a vehicle for speculative flows.
Clarity Act heads toward Senate vote
In the United States, the Clarity Act, a key bill defining the regulatory framework for digital assets, is moving toward a crucial Senate vote. The legislation aims to clarify how different types of crypto assets are classified, which agencies oversee them and what rules apply to trading venues and stablecoin issuers. For the industry, this represents a meaningful step toward legal certainty and broader institutional adoption.
Clear rules should create a safer environment for both investors and end users, while allowing innovation to develop within defined boundaries. Although debates continue around specific points, such as the treatment of certain yield products and stablecoin rewards, markets largely interpret the process as a sign that the era of “regulation by enforcement only” is nearing an end.
In other digital assets news
- Index provider MSCI decided that bitcoin treasury companies such as Strategy will remain in key equity benchmarks for now, easing concerns over forced selling.
- Blockchain intelligence data indicate that over 3.4 billion dollars worth of crypto was stolen in 2025, highlighting once again the importance of secure custody.
- A data breach at Ledger’s ecommerce payment partner exposed order information for hardware wallet customers, sparking renewed concerns about phishing and physical security risks.
- Michael Saylor’s Strategy continued to accumulate bitcoin, while BitMine added roughly 70,000 ether to its treasury, further cementing its position as a major ETH holder.
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