Yesterday's US Ethereum Spot ETF saw a net inflow of $168 million

ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood said on January 9 that the U.S. government may directly purchase Bitcoin in the future to build up the nation’s Bitcoin strategic reserve, instead of just relying on Bitcoin seized by law enforcement. Appearing on the *Bitcoin Brainstorm* podcast, Wood noted that while the Trump administration created a national Bitcoin reserve via executive order, the reserve has only included seized Bitcoin so far—no market purchases have been made. “The initial target was 1 million Bitcoin, so I think they’ll eventually start buying,” she said. Wood believes Trump will keep prioritizing crypto issues amid midterm election pressure, which bodes well for the Bitcoin strategic reserve. For one, Trump and his family have growing stakes in the crypto space; for another, the crypto community was a key factor in his presidential win. “He doesn’t want to be a lame duck—he wants one or two productive years in office, and he views crypto as a path forward,” Wood added.

January 9: Per alternative data, today’s Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped to 27 (down from 28 yesterday), signaling a market downturn. The index averaged 28 last week, marking several consecutive days of market “fear.” Note: The Crypto Fear & Greed Index ranges from 0 to 100, tracking six metrics: Volatility (25%), Market Trading Volume (25%), Social Media Sentiment (15%), Market Surveys (15%), Bitcoin’s Market Dominance (10%), and Google Trends Analysis (10%).

January 9 — Per foreign media reports citing internal documents, Elon Musk’s xAI is burning through cash rapidly, with losses escalating as the company has poured money into building data centers, recruiting talent, and developing software that will eventually power humanoid robots. The documents show xAI posted a net loss of $1.46 billion in Q3 2025, up from $1 billion in Q1 2025. In the first nine months of 2025, the company spent a total of $7.8 billion in cash. According to sources familiar with the matter, like other fast-growing AI startups, funds from xAI’s recent funding round are being deployed quickly. On an investor conference call, xAI’s senior leadership told investors the company’s core focus right now is accelerating the development of AI agents and other software products. These products will feed into the so-called “Macrohard”—Musk has explained the term refers to a purely AI software firm, with the name a pun on “Microsoft”—before ultimately providing technical

On January 9, per EmberCN monitoring data, the Kaito multi-signature contract address sent out 24 million KAITO tokens (valued at roughly $13.31 million total) to five addresses five days prior. Eight hours ago, one of those five addresses— which received 5 million KAITO tokens— moved all 5 million KAITO tokens (worth approximately $2.82 million) to Binance.

Bloomberg reported on January 9, citing Artemis Analytics data, that global stablecoin transaction volume is projected to surge 72% year-over-year by 2025, hitting a record $33 trillion. Stablecoin usage has expanded significantly amid a pro-crypto policy landscape. Circle-issued USDC leads with $18.3 trillion in transaction volume, while Tether’s USDT follows at $13.3 trillion—together accounting for the vast majority of stablecoin trading activity. The report notes that after the Trump administration signaled more crypto-friendly policies, stablecoin adoption in payments, transaction settlement, and cross-border capital flows has risen sharply, solidifying their role as core crypto market infrastructure. Analysts say the explosive growth underscores stablecoins’ increasing importance in the global financial system, drawing heightened attention to future regulatory and policy directions.

Jan. 9 — Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans Wednesday to launch a $200 billion mortgage-backed securities (MBS) purchase program aimed at lowering mortgage rates and easing the housing affordability crisis. Market observers view the move as Trump’s push for a “personal take” on quantitative easing (QE) — going beyond intervening in the Federal Reserve’s rate-cutting efforts. In a Truth Social post, Trump said he had “instructed relevant officials to purchase $200 billion in mortgage-backed bonds” — with goals to cut mortgage rates, lower monthly costs, and boost homebuyer purchasing power — while blaming the ongoing housing crisis on the Biden administration. U.S. Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte told the Financial Times the plan will be executed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and does not need congressional approval. Under current agreements, the two agencies still have a combined $200 billion in available mortgage investment capacity. Analysts not