24-Hour Market Trends and Important News | Genius Expands App Features, ETHGas Airdrop Completed (January 20)

The cryptocurrency market as of the latest data in January 2026 is at a major turning point. From mainstream coins to emerging projects, new news and data are being updated daily on the apps and platforms used by market participants. This time, we will provide an overview of the latest prices of CEX trading volume ranking coins, trends of notable projects, and important news shaking the entire industry.

Overall Market Price Movements: Current Status of Major Coins

During today’s trading hours, most of the top 10 coins recorded declines. BTC was down -1.75%, ETH -2.99%, SOL -3.56%, showing a softening mainly in the technology sector. Meanwhile, TRX remained positive at +0.48%, indicating a selective market trend among platform coins.

Looking at the top gainers, RESOLV led with +5.81%, suggesting that individual coin volatility still exists. In such market conditions, news and fundamentals of individual projects tend to have a greater influence on the market.

Altcoin Market Movements: Development of Growth Coins

According to data from major on-chain platforms, the activity of popular Meme coins on exchanges is also lively, revealing that market participants’ interests are diverse. The phase of a “selective market” continues, with funds flowing into emerging coins while flowing out of existing ones.

Important News: Protocol Updates and Regulatory Trends

Genius announces new point distribution system, 50% increase in airdrop volume

Genius officially announced that the end date for Season 1 event is set for April 12, and the GENIUS token issuance is scheduled for April 12, 2026. Notably, they decided to increase the airdrop volume by 50%, raising the value per point by the same margin. Under this measure, until April 12, 2026, 10 million GP points will be distributed weekly, while all referral-based GP points will be reduced and reclaimed. The new system changes the reward structure so that referrers receive 35% of the transaction fees paid by referred users, creating a more transparent reward model.

ETHGas GWEI airdrop enters qualification inquiry phase

According to the ETHGas Foundation, the snapshot for the GWEI airdrop has been completed, with the acquisition time set for 08:00 on January 19, 2026. The project announced that qualification inquiries for the GWEI airdrop will start at 21:00 on January 20, and community airdrops will be conducted at 21:00 on January 21. Qualification criteria are based on users’ gas consumption on the Ethereum mainnet and social participation history in the Gasless Future project.

NYSE to launch tokenized securities trading platform

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is advancing the development of a tokenized securities trading and on-chain settlement system. The plan includes 24/7 trading of US stocks and ETFs, odd-lot trading, instant settlement with stablecoins, and faster settlement completion. They plan to integrate NYSE’s existing matching engine with a blockchain settlement layer, with tokenized stocks having the same dividend and voting rights as traditional securities. The parent company ICE is collaborating with major financial institutions like BNY Mellon and Citibank to build tokenized deposit and settlement infrastructure. This will enable 24/7 cross-timezone management of funds and collateral.

Industry Trends: Evolution of Digital Currencies and International Settlements

Digital yuan enhances smart contract capabilities

As development of smart contracts for the digital yuan progresses, technical experts say that account-based smart contracts are essentially the same as those on public blockchains, but with a significant difference in whether they are Turing complete. The digital yuan’s account-based smart contracts are limited to a restricted Turing completeness, operating strictly within templates approved by the central bank. Meanwhile, developers are considering supporting fully Turing-complete languages like Ethereum’s Solidity, with designing audit and access mechanisms acceptable to the financial system being a core challenge.

BRICS countries promote CBDC interoperability, aiming to de-dollarize international payments

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is pushing for the development of a CBDC interoperability system among BRICS countries. This plan aims to improve international trade and tourism efficiency while also considering the relative decline of the US dollar’s dominance. RBI has requested that the proposal for establishing a CBDC interoperability system be included in the agenda of the 2026 BRICS summit hosted by India. If new member countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa, UAE, Iran, and Indonesia actively attempt CBDC linkage, it could bring significant changes to the international financial system.

South Korea Customs Service uncovers large-scale illegal currency exchange using virtual assets

The Seoul Customs Office announced that it has referred an illegal currency exchange case utilizing virtual asset accounts to prosecutors. The investigation revealed that over the past four years, involved parties conducted illegal exchanges through domestic and international virtual asset accounts, totaling approximately 148.9 billion won. The case is under suspicion of violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, illustrating how virtual assets can potentially bypass traditional financial regulations.

Project Updates: Major DEXs and Marketplaces

PancakeSwap approves supply cap adjustment

The PancakeSwap community approved a proposal to reduce the maximum supply of CAKE tokens. The revised maximum supply will be adjusted to 400 million. This measure aims to reduce long-term inflationary pressure and increase the relative scarcity of the token.

Magic Eden innovates revenue distribution mechanism

Magic Eden announced that starting February 1, 2026, 15% of revenue from NFT marketplace operations will be directly injected into the ME token ecosystem. Half of this amount will be used for buybacks of ME tokens, while the remaining 50% will be distributed in USDC to ME token stakers. This mechanism aims to strengthen the direct benefit to token holders from project growth.

STBL community reward program halted

The stablecoin protocol STBL announced the official suspension of its community reward program operated via the Kaito platform. This decision appears to be in response to changes in the X platform’s specifications. The STBL team is continuing discussions with Kaito, with further details to be announced later.

Investment and Fundraising

AKEDO completes $5 million seed round

AI-native content creation engine and launchpad developer AKEDO announced the completion of a $5 million seed round. Led by Karatage, participants include Sfermion, Collab+Currency, MARBLEX, Seed Club, The Open Platform, TON Ventures, Gagra Ventures, Kenetic Capital, and Metalabs Ventures. The completion of this round is expected to accelerate the development of AI project launch infrastructure.

Market Analysis: Sentiment Shift and Structural Changes in Liquidity

The traditional Bitcoin 4-year cycle is outdated; liquidity drives new market dynamics

According to Wintermute, the traditional Bitcoin 4-year cycle is losing its effectiveness in the current market environment. Market performance is increasingly influenced by liquidity flows and investor interest hotspots rather than time-based narratives. Wintermute’s OTC liquidity data shows that the propagation speed of crypto-native assets slowed in 2025. As ETFs and DATs evolve into “enclosed gardens,” large assets still see sustained demand, but a structural change is occurring where capital does not naturally circulate into broader markets. The shift of retail investor interest toward more traditional stock markets has also contributed, making 2025 a “highly concentrated market.” As a result, the average duration of altcoin bull runs shortened to 20 days, significantly compressed from 60 days in 2024.

On-chain security improves, but the biggest threat remains “human factors”

Mitchell Amador, CEO of Immunefi, stated in a recent interview that while losses in crypto assets continue to increase, on-chain security itself is improving. Despite record-breaking hacking damages in 2025, the main security vulnerabilities are not in on-chain code but in Web2 errors such as password mismanagement, private key leaks, device infections, and human mistakes. As code becomes harder to exploit, the primary attack targets in crypto security in 2026 are expected to shift to “people,” elevating human error as the most critical vulnerability for Web3 participants.

Technical indicators show market overheating and correction phases

According to the STH-NUPL indicator from Glassnode, short-term holders (new investors) are still experiencing unrealized losses. For this group to break even, Bitcoin’s price needs to recover to about $98,000. Meanwhile, analysis by CryptoQuant’s Axel shows that from January 13 to 15, Bitcoin’s extreme bullish sentiment index reached about 80%, coinciding with a local high of around $97,000. As of today, this indicator has plummeted to 44.9%, below the neutral threshold of 50%. During the early morning decline, forced liquidations exceeded $250 million per hour, and the spot oscillator indicator (+97.96%) confirms that liquidations were predominantly long positions. Such large forced liquidations are not active selling but forced closures, typical of a “leverage unwinding during a crash” pattern in overheated markets. The continued decline in forced liquidation volume suggests that deleveraging is nearing completion.

Binance CZ comments on fiat withdrawal fees

CZ responded to concerns about high fiat withdrawal fees on Binance, saying, “New products will deepen liquidity and reduce fees as user numbers grow.” He explained that current fees are mainly bank fees, and as platform users increase, negotiation power will improve, leading to lower fees.