GM. Bitcoin reclaimed $97,000 as a massive short squeeze triggered $680 million in liquidations, clearing the way for a potential run toward the $100,000 mark.

Meanwhile, Bitpanda is eyeing a $5.83 billion Frankfurt IPO, a new Senate bill proposes expanded crypto surveillance, and Ripple secured a key payments license in Luxembourg.

Here are the details on market breakouts, public listings, and regulatory power plays. 👇

Bitcoin Reclaims $97K As Short Sellers Face Liquidations

Aggressive Bitcoin bulls catapulted the primary cryptocurrency past $97,000 to ignite a furious deleveraging event across global derivative exchanges. This sudden price discovery ended weeks of stagnant trading and propelled the total digital asset capitalization toward $3.4 trillion.

The breakout occurred on 14 January 2026 within the digital asset markets as institutional demand returned following year-end rebalancing. Momentum accelerated during Wednesday’s session when US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their most substantial single-day net inflows in months.

Polymarket assign high probabilities to a $100,000 breakout because persistent ETF allocation is effectively absorbing limited exchange supply. Furthermore, a supportive macro environment and cooling inflation data provide a sufficient cushion for risk-on assets to thrive.

The violent move triggered over $680 million in short liquidations as bears were caught offside by the sudden upside volatility. Consequently, forced buy-backs fueled the rally further, clearing critical resistance levels that had previously capped gains since November.

Bitpanda Exchange Plans $5 Billion Frankfurt IPO

European crypto exchange Bitpanda is preparing for an initial public offering on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2026. The Vienna based firm reportedly hired Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to manage a listing valued at up to $5.83 billion. This move follows a record year for industry debuts as retail platforms seek higher liquidity within major European financial hubs.

Bitpanda currently serves over 7 million users and dominates more than half of the domestic Austrian trading market. Executives recently ruled out a London listing due to concerns over lower market depth compared to alternative venues in Germany or New York. This strategic offering aligns with a broader trend of major digital asset firms transitioning toward traditional public equity markets this year.

Senate Bill Expands Federal Crypto Financial Surveillance

A new Senate draft for the crypto market structure bill proposes a massive expansion of federal surveillance powers. Galaxy Research reports that these provisions allow the Treasury to freeze digital transactions quickly without requiring a prior court order. This legislative framework introduces the most significant increase in financial monitoring authorities seen since the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act.

The Banking Committee is scheduled to vote on these controversial measures this Thursday to address concerns regarding global illicit finance. While the draft protects self-custody and developers, it explicitly extends strict anti-money laundering obligations to various decentralized applications. Reconciling this version with existing House legislation remains a critical hurdle for the bill to achieve final bipartisan approval in 2026.

Ripple Secures Preliminary Payments License In Luxembourg

Fintech giant Ripple received preliminary approval for an electronic money license from Luxembourg regulators during Tuesday's business session. This authorization from the CSSF allows the firm to scale regulated stablecoin and digital asset payment services across the European Union. The company plans to use the country as a central base for passporting its financial products under harmonized regional rules.

The progress follows a separate successful licensing drive in the United Kingdom where local subsidiaries obtained crypto asset permissions. Ripple is now actively pursuing further certification under the new Markets in Crypto-Assets framework to ensure full compliance with regional laws. These combined approvals strengthen the firm's global regulatory portfolio which already includes active licenses in Singapore and Dubai.

Data of the day

The market capitalization of tokenized gold grew by 177% in 2025 to reach a total of $4.4 billion. Onchain gold products added close to $2.8 billion in net value as trading volumes began to rival traditional exchange traded funds. This expansion outpaced the growth of physical bullion and was supported by over 115,000 new digital wallets joining the network.

Much of this increase was caused by Tether Gold which accounted for 75% of total trading volume late last year. Investors are increasingly utilizing blockchain rails to access safe haven assets amid mounting global political tensions and central bank uncertainty. These gold-backed cryptos now represent a serious structural change in where incremental gold trading liquidity is forming within modern financial markets.

More breaking news

• Ethereum staking reached an all-time high of 36 million ETH, representing nearly 30% of supply as institutional interest and ETF activity surge.

• Bitwise launched a Chainlink ETF on the NYSE today, marking the second spot LINK fund to debut in the United States recently.

• Backpack Exchange introduced a private beta for its unified prediction market, allowing traders to use cross-margin features across various crypto financial products.

• Pakistan's Ministry of Finance signed an agreement with a World Liberty Financial to explore using the USD1 stablecoin for cross-border remittances and trade.

• Russia finalized a bill allowing non-qualified investors to trade cryptocurrency, though individual purchases will be capped at 300,000 rubles to manage risk.

• Mantra announced extensive staff cuts and operational restructuring following a massive 99% collapse in the value of its native token OM.

• Bitdeer has surpassed MARA as the largest Bitcoin miner by managed hashrate, reporting a total capacity of 71 exahashes per second in December.

• Kraken and Bitget are dominating the nascent tokenized stock market, with Bitget capturing a massive share of volume through its Ondo Finance partnership.

• The United Kingdom government abandoned plans for mandatory digital IDs for workers following public backlash over privacy concerns and potential data surveillance risks.

For the latest updates on digital asset markets, follow us on X @Datawalletcom.

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