Cryptocurrency Market Scan | Mainstream Coins Show Divergent Fluctuations, Privacy Coins Face Technical Crisis (January 9 News Highlights)

Major Cryptocurrencies Experience Slight Fluctuations, Market Expectations Diverge

This week, the market shows a divided trend. Bitcoin remains stable with a 24-hour increase of 1.60%; Ethereum rises slightly by 0.41%, indicating that mainstream assets are relatively resilient; Solana performs outstandingly with a 2.00% increase, continuing its strong momentum. In contrast, risk assets see Dogecoin decline, PEPE drop significantly, while Zcash (ZEC) rebounds sharply, with a 24-hour gain turning positive to 7.63%.

In terms of trading volume rankings, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana remain the market focus, while second-tier mainstream coins like XRP, BNB, and Dogecoin perform lukewarm. BNB slightly increases by 0.65%, and overall market sentiment is neutral to slightly weak.

New Signals from U.S. Policy

The Trump administration has issued clear signals regarding cryptocurrency regulation. President Trump explicitly stated in an interview that he would not consider pardoning FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). This stance indicates that even at the administrative level, the attitude toward major fraud cases in the crypto industry remains firm. SBF was convicted in 2023 on charges of embezzling customer funds and financial fraud, becoming one of the most iconic criminal cases in crypto history.

Meanwhile, the Trump team announced that a decision has been made on the next Federal Reserve Chairperson, but the specific list has not yet been disclosed. This decision will directly influence future monetary policy directions and trigger chain reactions in crypto asset valuation expectations.

China Proposes Virtual Currency Legal Framework

The Shanghai Second Intermediate Court and related agencies jointly held a criminal trial seminar, providing guidance on cases involving virtual currency crimes for the first time. The most important point is that individual holding and trading of coins are generally not recognized as illegal business crimes, providing legal protection for retail investors.

However, the seminar also emphasized that crimes involving money laundering, illegal exchanges, and other activities related to virtual currencies will still be strictly cracked down on. This indicates that regulatory authorities aim to distinguish between individual transactions and illegal operations, establishing a more refined regulatory framework.

U.S. Government Actively Accumulates Bitcoin

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the government has begun to include law enforcement confiscated Bitcoin into its “strategic reserves,” no longer routinely auctioning them off. This is a significant signal— the U.S. government is viewing Bitcoin as a strategic asset rather than a risk asset. Bessent emphasized that the government will not purchase Bitcoin on the open market but will hold the confiscated assets long-term, indicating official recognition of Bitcoin’s long-term value.

Privacy Coin Ecosystem Faces Governance Crisis

Zcash (ZEC) development team Electric Coin Company (ECC) CEO Josh Swihart announced that the entire ECC team has resigned collectively due to governance issues within the board. Swihart pointed out that several board members, including Zaki Manian and Christina Garman, have deviated from Zcash’s original mission, leading to an inability for the team to perform their duties effectively.

The team is currently preparing to establish a new company to continue maintaining the Zcash protocol. Notably, the protocol layer of ZEC itself remains unaffected. This crisis mainly reflects governance difficulties within the privacy coin ecosystem—technological decentralization but organizational centralization, which can ultimately lead to power struggles.

Tech Companies Compete in Digital Asset Ecosystem

Morgan Stanley announced that it will launch a digital wallet later this year to support tokenized assets. This indicates that traditional financial institutions are accelerating their entry into the Web3 space, with demand for tokenized assets gradually moving from the fringe to the mainstream.

Meanwhile, AI data exchange platform Protege completed a $30 million Series A funding round, led by a16z, bringing total funding to $65 million. The platform offers services such as authorized data aggregation, cleaning, and anonymization, helping data providers earn revenue sharing, showcasing a new direction of combining AI and the crypto economy.

Traders Optimistic About Solana’s Mid-term Outlook

Renowned trader Eugene stated that he is re-entering positions in Solana, believing that SOL is the strongest among the three major mainstream coins. From a technical analysis perspective, Eugene predicts that SOL’s price could fluctuate up to $160; if the current rally continues and Bitcoin reaches the $100,000 mark, SOL could break through $200. Eugene emphasized that when the market has not yet formed a consensus for long positions, it is the best time to enter.

Regarding U.S. initial jobless claims, for the week ending January 3rd, the number of new claims was 208,000, slightly better than the expected 210,000, reflecting that the U.S. labor market remains resilient.