Market Observation - January 21, 2026

I. Market Overview

BTC experienced a significant decline this week, with altcoins generally under pressure 📉. MicroStrategy purchased approximately $2.1 billion worth of BTC, indicating long-term institutional optimism for Bitcoin.

The US stock market, bond market, and foreign exchange market have experienced a "triple kill" trend, with overall high risk appetite, while store-of-value assets remain resilient.

Gold and silver prices hit record highs 🏅, influenced by tensions between Europe and the US, with European countries accelerating the sale of US Treasuries and increasing gold holdings.

II. Market Hotspots

Gold Assets

PAXG, XAUT, and other RWA assets continue to rise, reaching historic highs.

The Polish Central Bank approved the purchase of 150 tons of gold, demonstrating strong risk-hedging demand among central banks.

Privacy Coin Sector

FHE surged strongly, becoming a main focus of market attention.

Small coins like RIVER experienced a short squeeze with a sharp increase, with short interest rates reaching 470%, indicating tense market sentiment ⚠️.

Perpetual Contracts Sector

HYPE recently plummeted mainly due to the unlocking of $60 million worth of tokens, triggering selling pressure.

BSC Chain Meme Coins

Projects such as CryCry, Soon, and BN Alpha performed poorly, with Binance's native tokens crashing, leading to decreased market activity.

Public Chain and Regulatory Developments

ETH declined sharply.

The Clarity Bill classifies altcoins as securities:

- New tokens must be periodically disclosed
- Financing cap of $200 million
- Annual sell-off limit of 10%

The attractiveness of new project tokens is decreasing, DeFi protocols need to comply with banking and brokerage regulations, the trend of tokenizing RWA stocks is clear, and the altcoin model may gradually become marginalized.