BTC price drops to $85,000
On January 29, Bitcoin suddenly plunged from $88,000 to $85,000, a loss of about 3.5%. This correction coincided with a pullback in the price of gold after a new record—the precious metal reached $5,600 per ounce, but soon fell to $5,100. The decline also affected traditional markets: the S&P 500 index fell 1.36% in 24 hours, and the NASDAQ fell 1.8%.
The overall decline affected the entire crypto industry: all top assets by market capitalization fell into the red. Ethereum fell to $2,800, and Solana fell below $120. Total crypto market capitalization fell below $3 trillion for the first time since April 2025.
Tallinn update on the Tezos network
The Tezos blockchain platform team has activated the 20th protocol upgrade, dubbed Tallinn, developed by engineers from Nomadic Labs, Trilitech, and Functori. The upgrade has accelerated network performance: the interval between blocks has been reduced from 8 to 6 seconds, and each block is now confirmed by all validators (bakers). An address indexing mechanism has also been implemented. The reduction in time has allowed for first-level transaction finalization to be achieved in just 12 seconds. Hardware requirements remain the same, ensuring participation in network validation remains accessible.
Buterin allocated $43 million for Ethereum development
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is transitioning to a "prudent economy" regime, announced network co-founder Vitalik Buterin. As part of the initiative, he donated 16,384 ETH—approximately $43 million at the current price.
This move is aimed at achieving two strategic objectives: accelerating the implementation of Ethereum's ambitious roadmap and ensuring the financial sustainability of the organization itself. The EF will focus on maintaining the scalability and efficiency of the blockchain as a "world computer," while maintaining the principles of decentralization and reliability.
Additionally, Buterin will focus on developing an open, secure, and verifiable software and hardware stack to protect personal and public information. He is also exploring secure decentralized staking models, planning to use the proceeds to develop these areas in the future.
Solana validator count drops to 2021 levels
The number of daily active validators on the Solana blockchain has fallen to 800—the lowest level since 2021, according to data from The Block Research. By comparison, in 2023, their number exceeded 2,500, representing a decline of approximately 65%.
Along with the attrition of validators, the number of voting transactions has also decreased—from 300,000 to 170,000 per day. The reasons for this decline are rooted in the network's economics. For example, the Solana Foundation's delegation program provides temporary financial support and operates on the principle of stakematching—matching delegated stakes. When the subsidies run out, smaller participants struggle to cover operational costs.
To synchronize with the network, validators are required to freeze their assets. Without sufficient stake, a node generates no income, making it unprofitable to operate. However, the total number of user transactions on the Solana network remains stable at approximately 150 million per day.
Base denies token manipulation allegations
The Base L2 protocol team has no intention of participating in hidden deals or artificially inflating token prices, according to project founder Jesse Pollack. He emphasized that backroom deals and centralized capital distribution violate free market principles, infringe on other assets, and potentially violate the law. Pollack's comment comes amid discussions of the "casino model" in the meme token sector and price manipulation.
Buterin earned $70,000 on Polymarket
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced he made $70,000 on the prediction platform Polymarket. At a crypto community meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand, he explained that he started with $440,000 and bases his strategy on betting against collective irrationality—when fear or hype distorts the actual probability of an event. Examples include predictions about Donald Trump winning the Nobel Prize or the imminent collapse of the dollar.
Buterin also noted that Ethereum's infrastructure is ready for mass use: the gas limit has been increased to 60 million, zkEVM and more convenient wallets have been implemented. However, he said the industry has strayed from its original goals. Instead of creating decentralized services like "uber on the blockchain," the market has become filled with speculation and meme coins. He also expressed disappointment in the development of decentralized social networks—in Buterin's opinion, models that directly monetize content generate spam rather than valuable information.
