deppNews

📌 Meld, a stablecoin access network provider, has successfully raised $7 million in its latest funding round. The funding was led by Lightspeed Faction, with participation from F-Prime, Yolo Investments, and Scytale Digital, bringing the company's total raised capital to $15 million.

💡 What does Meld do?
Meld is building a global network that enables companies and individuals to easily access and convert stablecoins and other digital assets (including Bitcoin and Ethereum) across more than 180 countries, supporting over 150 fiat currencies. Its goal is similar to a "Visa for crypto" — providing seamless global payment infrastructure.

🌍 Why is this important?
Because currently, access to stablecoins and cross-network integration are highly fragmented — numerous providers in each country using different methods. Meld aims to unify all of this through a single network that can be used for remittances, global payroll, and other payment solutions.

📈 Future plans:
This new funding will be used to accelerate global expansion, strengthen the network, and enhance operational support and customer service.

🧠 Breaking news: Justin Slaughter, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Paradigm, warned that even if the U.S. crypto market structure bill (the U.S. crypto market structure bill) is eventually passed, its implementation process could take years before fully taking effect — possibly nearly two presidential terms.

📜 Details:

The bill is currently under review by the Senate Banking Committee and is still being negotiated in a bipartisan manner.

The issue isn't just getting the bill passed, but what happens after: technical rules must be developed by various regulatory agencies.

Slaughter said the bill requires 45 implementing rules to be written afterward — and such processes typically take a long time.

He cited the Dodd-Frank Act, which, after being passed in 2010, continued to have its rules finalized for 3–8 years afterward.

There is also the risk that the bill could "die and come back to life" multiple times before finally being passed by Congress.

🎯 Conclusion: Crypto regulation in the U.S. may become increasingly clear legally at the fingertips, but its practical realization in the form of rules that market participants can immediately use will take a long time — not something that will be completed in a matter of months.

📌 News Summary

South Korea plans to lift the 9-year-old ban on corporate crypto investments.

The decision comes from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and is part of their broader strategy to develop the virtual asset market.

📊 What's Changing

Public companies and professional investors can now participate in crypto investments (previously, the market was dominated by retail investors).

Investment limit: up to 5% of a company's annual net assets allocated to the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization (e.g., Bitcoin and Ethereum).

📆 Timeline

The rule is still in draft form and under discussion.

Final draft is expected by early 2026, with companies potentially able to trade by the end of 2026.

📈 Market Impact

This move is expected to increase market liquidity and attract significant institutional capital into South Korea's crypto market.

📌 Polygon Labs acquired two crypto startups — Coinme & Sequence — for over $250 million to strengthen its stablecoin-based payment strategy and compete with fintech companies like Stripe.

Key details:

💼 Coinme — a licensed US company that converts cash ↔ crypto and has a large network of crypto ATMs.

🧰 Sequence — a provider of wallet and cross-chain transaction infrastructure.

📊 The goal of this acquisition is to build a more comprehensive stablecoin payment platform, including fiat on/off ramps, wallets, and cross-chain tools on top of the Polygon blockchain.

🔎 Polygon aims to evolve into a regulated payment entity in the US, starting with a B2B focus, then expanding to consumers.

🔎 Summary of main news from Russia: The draft law that will open the crypto asset market to retail investors—including non-qualified (non-professional) investors—has been finalized. The draft is now ready and will be further discussed in parliament this spring.

🎯 Key points

This law will remove the special classification of crypto as exclusive financial products, making access more widespread for the general public.

Non-professional investors may participate in trading but with certain limitations (e.g., annual investment limits and risk comprehension tests).

The draft also permits cross-border transactions with crypto and the potential use of Russian-issued tokens abroad.

📌 Regulatory nuances

Investment limits for retail investors are likely around 300,000 rubles per year through each licensed intermediary.

Domestic crypto transactions are still not recognized as official payment instruments in Russia; these rules are aimed more at investment and trading rather than replacing the ruble.

Comprehensive regulation is expected to take effect throughout 2026–2027, with penalties enforced starting for unauthorized activities.

🧠 Bitcoin rebounded above $95,000 after the latest U.S. inflation data showed stable and slightly softer numbers, helping to restore market sentiment that had wavered. BTC rose about 5% that day, while total crypto market capitalization also increased by ~5%. The Fear & Greed Index remained in the "fear" zone, so stay cautious — the market is still not fully confident.

📊 Other major coins also climbed:
• Ethereum ~+8%,
• Dogecoin ~+10%,
indicating broader buying interest beyond just BTC.

📉 Liquidations were significant in the last 24 hours (~$159 million), particularly in short positions, which contributed to the price rally.

📈 Macroeconomic data & ETFs continue to influence trends: uneventful inflation data helped stabilize market sentiment, and spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded significant inflows, although Ethereum ETFs showed weaker fund inflows.

In short: the crypto market saw a slight surge amid inflation data offering renewed hope for risk assets, but investors remain cautious as sentiment indicators are not yet fully bullish.

$BTC

🚨 Drama Rug Pull Mega — Former NYC Mayor Gets Dragged In

The crypto token "NYC" linked socially to a former New York City mayor has become the center of attention, with allegations of liquidity manipulation and a price spike before the crash — a classic, hilarious, yet dangerous example from the crypto world.

📈 Bitcoin & XRP Rise Due to Regulatory Sentiment

The crypto market reacted positively to developments in U.S. regulation. Bitcoin and XRP prices rose during Tuesday morning trading.

According to the latest report, the draft bill released by the Senate Banking Committee is seen as potentially boosting confidence among large and institutional investors by providing legal certainty that has been lacking until now. Bitcoin rose approximately 1–2%, while Ethereum also strengthened, albeit more moderately.

Other key points:
Rising prices occurred even though BTC remains far below its peak from last year.

Analysts believe the new regulatory framework could trigger a medium-term rally, especially if approved in this week's markup.

$BTC
$XRP

🏦 Standard Chartered Increases Exposure to Ethereum
Major bank Standard Chartered expands institutional services to crypto, with strong focus on Ethereum — a signal that traditional institutions are taking the digital asset market increasingly seriously.

$ETH

🪙 US Introduces Major Crypto Regulation Bill
US Senators introduce a long-awaited bill to provide clear rules on when crypto assets are classified as securities or commodities, expanding CFTC authority to spot markets — a highly anticipated development for industry players. This could be a game-changer for regulation.

Zcash crashes 26% in a week just because the dev team left? Here's what actually happened 👀

👇 Short but sharp summary:

📉 ZEC price dropped ~26% in 7 days, falling from ~$432 to ~$378 after the entire core team at Electric Coin Company (ECC)—the team that has been building Zcash—suddenly resigned due to project governance conflicts.

💥 ZEC's market cap shrunk by over $2 billion in a week due to investor concerns about the project's future direction.

🤯 This wasn't just a normal market correction—the departure of the core team has shaken the narrative around privacy coins that were once hyped.

⚠️ Sharp question for engagement:
Governance crisis = accumulation opportunity? Or a major red flag for ZEC?

Share your thoughts below 👇

$ZEC

🔥 BREAKING: Wall Street is diving into crypto, not halfway — but full stack.

Morgan Stanley, one of the largest investment banks in the world, is now seriously building its own crypto ecosystem. This isn't just a bullish tweet — it's a real product strategy.

Why is this not ordinary news?
📌 Traditional banks, once highly skeptical, are now expanding crypto services to both retail & institutional levels.
📌 They are preparing to launch Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana trading directly on the E*Trade platform starting in 2026.
📌 An internal digital wallet for crypto assets will be introduced, symbolizing a real integration between TradFi ↔ DeFi.
📌 This brings crypto even closer to the mainstream global financial system.

✨ Once, banks said crypto was "high risk."
Now, banks see crypto as the future of financial services.

In short:
If institutions are building infrastructure like this, it's a strong signal that major capital can enter — and market narratives could shift faster than most people expect.

What do you think?
🟡 Is this a signal of a new bull phase?
🔴 Or just TradFi hype inviting retail in too late?

Comment below 👇🏻

$BTC

New meme coins & hype presales
Projects like APEMARS are currently popular topics, discussed as meme coins that could "explode" in 2026, complete with presales and active communities. This has become a hot topic in crypto groups.

🧠 The story:
Tim Electric Coin Company (ECC) — the core organization that has been developing the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) — has left their previous organizational structure after a governance dispute with Bootstrap, the nonprofit body overseeing them.

📌 What happened?

The entire ECC team, including leadership, resigned collectively, feeling that the internal rule changes implemented by the Bootstrap board made it impossible for them to work effectively and in alignment with the Zcash mission.

ECC CEO Josh Swihart stated that this is not about technology, but about governance that has become misaligned with the project's goals.

🚀 New plans:
This team plans to establish a new company to continue their mission: building "unstoppable private money" — the core design vision of Zcash.

🛠️ Current status of Zcash:

The Zcash protocol continues to run normally, as it is open-source and not owned by a single entity.

Zcash is not technically "dead," but this news has triggered price pressure and market uncertainty due to the change in the primary development team.

📊 Market & community reaction:
ZEC's price dropped initially due to this news, although some in the community view this structural shift as a potential step toward a more independent and flexible development model.

$ZEC

📉 What Happened in 2025

The majority of new tokens plummeted sharply.

Of approximately 118 new tokens in 2025, ~85% are now trading below their initial price, with a median drop exceeding 70%.

This contrasts sharply with previous market cycles (e.g., 2021), where many launches experienced significant price pumps early on.

🧠 Reasons for Failure

1. Weak altcoin market – Memecoins and hype have faded after the bubble, while Bitcoin remains more attractive, causing trader capital to concentrate in BTC without rotation into new tokens.

2. Poor distribution – Many tokens were distributed via large airdrops and CEX allocations, which instead created more short-term speculators rather than genuine users actively utilizing the product or service.

3. Low utility – Many launched tokens lack a meaningful role within their ecosystem, resulting in low organic demand and making prices vulnerable to drops during bear markets.

4. Regulatory uncertainty – Legal ambiguity (especially in the US regarding securities-like rights and tokens) has led teams to opt for "safer" token designs that are less functionally appealing in the long term.

🔮 Possible Trends Ahead

User-based distribution models, not mass airdrops – Rewards are given only to those who genuinely use the product (e.g., contributions, network activity, usage fees, etc.).

A renewed focus on tokens with real value and clear utility, not just hype or listings on major exchanges.

🧾 In Summary

2025 has become a reality check for the token world: the market no longer assigns high prices to tokens simply due to FOMO or major listings. Value is now increasingly determined by the token's real-world usage relevance—not just the initial trading moment.

$BTC

📅 Launch Date:
Solana Mobile has set January 21, 2026, as the official launch day for the SKR token at 02:00 UTC (around the night of January 20 in most time zones).

🎁 Major Airdrop for Users:
The SKR token will be distributed to the community via airdrop — approximately 20% of the total supply of 10 billion tokens (around 2 billion SKR) will be shared with early adopters, particularly owners of Seeker phones and developers who have contributed to the Solana Mobile ecosystem. The snapshot to determine eligibility has already been taken.

🔐 Core Token Functions:
SKR is not just "free crypto" — it will serve as a governance and incentive token within the Solana Mobile ecosystem. SKR holders can:

Delegate tokens to Guardians who help secure the network and verify devices.

Participate in platform governance decisions (e.g., app curation, ecosystem rules).

Access specific features and rewards within the platform.

📱 Ecosystem Context:
This announcement follows the success of "Seeker Season 1" — over 265 dApps, 9 million transactions, and $2.6 billion on-chain volume, demonstrating real-world usage on mobile devices.

✨ In Summary:
This is no longer just about airdrops — SKR is designed to give real voice to users and developers in shaping the future of Solana's mobile-first platform.

$SOL

🪙 Bitcoin Pressured by Geopolitical Risks and Macro Sentiment

Bitcoin (BTC) weakened again in today's trading session after a brief rebound earlier. The largest cryptocurrency faced selling pressure ahead of key U.S. economic data releases and rising geopolitical uncertainty, making market participants more cautious toward riskier assets like crypto. Investors appear to be reducing speculative positions due to concerns that strong U.S. economic data could delay expectations of low interest rates, thereby reducing appetite for risk assets.

Additionally, MSCI's decision not to exclude companies holding crypto in its index provided a slight positive sentiment, but not enough to significantly lift the market. BTC's price movements, along with its correlation to equities, indicate that crypto remains highly sensitive to macro sentiment and global policy developments.

$BTC

🧠 Bitcoin ETFs experienced outflows of $243 million in the US market after the aggressive Bitcoin price rally at the beginning of 2026 started to cool off (slow down). This occurred as large investors redeemed (withdrew funds) from several Bitcoin ETF products — particularly Fidelity (FBTC) and Grayscale (GBTC) — which outweighed the inflows from products like BlackRock’s IBIT.

📉 Bitcoin's price slightly dropped from its weekly high (around $94,000) to approximately $92,000 on the day of the outflows, indicating that market sentiment began to stabilize and is no longer as bullish as before.

📊 Market analysis:
Many analysts view these outflows as a short-term tactical rebalancing, not a signal that institutional confidence has disappeared.

Investors may be locking in profits or adjusting their positions after the early-year rally.

Meanwhile, other parts of the market, such as spot Ethereum and Solana ETFs, are still recording capital inflows.

📌 In conclusion: BTC and its ETF products have not lost their structural support — this appears more like a pause or capital rotation rather than a full-scale sell-off.

$BTC

MSCI, the company that creates global stock indices used by many funds and ETFs, has decided NOT to immediately remove companies that have a significant portion of their assets in cryptocurrency (such as Strategy Inc., formerly MicroStrategy). If they were removed from the index, many funds would automatically have to sell their shares — potentially causing further market instability.

📉 Why Is This a Big Issue?
MSCI had previously considered removing companies with more than 50% of their assets in crypto from the index, as they are seen as more similar to investment funds than regular operating companies.

If that had happened, stocks like Strategy (MSTR) could face massive sell-offs from index funds.

🚀 What Was the Decision?
MSCI has paused the removal plan for now, meaning stocks like Strategy and similar ones remain in the index — which immediately caused their share prices to rise by several percent.

However, MSCI will continue conducting broader consultations on how to categorize "non-operational" companies in the future — meaning this drama isn't over yet.

💭 Why Does This Matter for the Crypto Market?
This decision provides breathing room (leeway) for crypto-related stocks heavily bought by institutional investors through index funds — because if they were removed, pension funds, ETFs, and large index funds would be forced to sell. That could trigger a major sell-off. Now MSCI says, "Stay calm, let's think this through first."

$BTC

🛡️ Andreessen Horowitz: Privacy Will Be the Main "Competitive Moat" in Crypto by 2026

The crypto division of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) stated that privacy will be the most important feature in the competition among crypto projects throughout 2026.

Key Highlights: • Privacy is not just a technical feature, but projected to become the main differentiator in long-term blockchain network adoption.
• According to a16z, protocols that can combine strong privacy with regulatory compliance will attract more institutional and retail users.
• Focus on protocols such as zk-SNARKs, zk-Rollups, and cutting-edge encryption technologies is fueling optimism about broader innovation within the ecosystem.

💡 This a16z statement serves as a crucial strategic guide for investors and developers aiming to understand crypto technology trends in 2026.