BTC All-Time High
On January 20, the day before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, BTC set a new all-time high, surpassing the $109,000 mark.
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At the time of writing, the price of the cryptocurrency has stabilized around $105,000.
Solana Network Crazy Weekend
The weekend of January 18 and 19, preceding the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, became a real breakthrough for the cryptocurrency market, especially for the Solana ecosystem. The spotlight was on the meme coins TRUMP and MELANIA, launched during this period.
The trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEX) on the Solana network soared to a record $27 billion, significantly exceeding the figures for Ethereum ($5 billion). Before this, the daily trading volume on the Solana DEX barely exceeded $5 billion.
The team of the popular Phantom wallet reported unprecedented on-chain activity. According to their data, on January 19, network users made 10 million transactions for a total of $1.25 billion, which became a new stage in the development of the Solana ecosystem.
DOGE Rate Goes Up
The US Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) unexpectedly posted the Dogecoin meme cryptocurrency logo on its official website. At the moment, the one-page web resource contains only the name of the agency, a dollar symbol, and a slogan. This caused an immediate reaction in the market: the Dogecoin price jumped sharply to $0.4, but after a small correction, it rolled back to ~$0.38.
According to the decree on the creation of DOGE, the key task of the agency will be "modernizing federal technology and software to achieve maximum efficiency and productivity of the government apparatus."
It is important to note that DOGE is not a full-fledged government department and has a temporary status. According to the plan, all planned reforms based on an "entrepreneurial approach" should be completed by July 2026.
Ethereum Foundation Personnel Changes
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced major changes in the leadership of the non-profit Ethereum Foundation. The foundation promotes the crypto project and coordinates the work of developers and researchers.
Buterin outlined the main goals of the top management update:
- increasing technical competence;
- improving communication with ecosystem participants;
- attracting talent to speed up and improve work efficiency;
- Supporting app developers who focus on privacy, open source, and censorship resistance;
- expanding the use of decentralized technologies and the Ethereum blockchain, including payments and financial management.
Justin Sun Offers Strategy for ETH
Tron founder Justin Sun has outlined a list of reforms he would implement if he became the head of the Ethereum Foundation. According to him, these measures will allow the price of ETH to reach $10,000.
Key steps of the strategy:
- Freeze ETH sales for three years, optimize revenues and cover expenses through lending, staking and loans in stablecoins.
- Introduce large fees for L2 networks so that the Ethereum network earns at least $5 billion per year. The funds are used to buy back and burn ETH.
- Reduce EF staff, leaving only the best employees with increased salaries.
- Focus on rewards and burning mechanisms to maintain the deflationary model.
Sun also proposed to focus all resources on improving the scalability, security, and popularization of the Ethereum base network. His proposals have caused a mixed reaction among users.
Ledger Co-Founder Kidnapped
The Paris prosecutor's office reported the rescue of Ledger co-founder David Balland, who became a victim of a gang of extortionists. This is reported by local media. The businessman was kidnapped on the morning of January 21 from his home in the Cher department, France, and taken to another address, where he was held, demanding a large sum of cryptocurrency. His wife was also kidnapped, and the police found her a few hours later in a van. The woman was not physically injured, but is under the supervision of psychologists. Balland received a hand injury and was hospitalized.
The operation to rescue him was carried out with the participation of the GIGN anti-terrorist unit. On the evening of January 22, Balland was handed over to doctors for assistance. The attackers demanded the ransom through another Ledger co-founder, who paid part of the amount. However, during the operation, most of the funds were frozen and returned. The investigation is ongoing. The kidnappers face life imprisonment.
