According to Cointelegraph, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has implemented significant changes to its Crypto Token Regulatory Framework, transferring the responsibility for assessing crypto token suitability from the regulator to licensed companies within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). This update, effective from Monday, requires financial service providers dealing with crypto tokens to evaluate whether the tokens they handle meet the DFSA's suitability standards. Consequently, the DFSA will no longer maintain or publish a list of recognized crypto tokens. This regulatory shift follows a consultation process initiated in October 2025 and marks a change in the DFSA's approach since the introduction of its crypto token regime in 2022. The DFSA has been actively monitoring developments and engaging with stakeholders to ensure the framework aligns with global standards. Charlotte Robins, managing director of policy and legal at the DFSA, stated that the changes represent a move towards a more flexible and principles-based model, reflecting the DFSA's progressive stance on innovation and market feedback. The updated framework does not explicitly ban any specific category of digital assets by name. However, it reallocates the responsibility for assessing token suitability to licensed firms within the DIFC. Although there is no explicit ban, privacy-focused tokens such as Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) may face increased scrutiny under the new framework. Internal compliance teams might consider these tokens higher risk, prompting firms to apply stricter due diligence standards or avoid supporting them altogether. This change underscores a key jurisdictional distinction, as the DFSA regulates financial services within the DIFC, which operates under a common-law framework separate from Dubai's onshore regulatory regime. Other jurisdictions in Dubai and the UAE are governed by different crypto regulators with their own rulebooks. The DFSA's principles-based approach contrasts with the stance taken elsewhere in Dubai. As reported by Cointelegraph in February 2023, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) introduced an explicit ban on privacy coins under its Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023. VARA's rules prohibit the issuance of "anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies" and all related virtual asset activities within its jurisdiction, covering most of Dubai outside the DIFC. Across the wider UAE, crypto regulation remains fragmented. Abu Dhabi's regulator, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), adopts a conservative, risk-based approach without an outright ban, while federal regulators emphasize anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing compliance. Consequently, privacy-focused crypto assets are not uniformly illegal across the UAE, but their treatment varies significantly by jurisdiction.

Crypto analyst Willy Woo, writing on the X platform, is bullish on Bitcoin's performance in late January and February. His internal investor flow model shows the market steadily strengthening after bottoming out at the end of December, although prices typically need 2-3 weeks to reflect this change. Furthermore, derivatives liquidity in the futures market is returning after months of dormancy, similar to the situation in mid-2021, which led to the second top of the previous cycle. Currently, Bitcoin needs to challenge the $98,000 to $100,000 price range; a break above this level would require observing the resistance at the All-Time High (ATH). However, Willy Woo remains bearish on 2026 as a whole. From a broader perspective, liquidity flows relative to price momentum have been weakening since January 2025, and a significant influx of spot liquidity in the coming months to break the downtrend could change his view. The bear market is not yet confirmed, marked by increasing negative outflows from Bitcoin, a lagging indicator of a cycle top.

Buterin outlined a framework for making Ethereum’s base layer ossifiable, emphasizing quantum resistance and protocol independence. source: https://www.theblock.co/post/385074/vitalik-buterin-outlines-conditions-for-ossifiable-quantum-safe-ethereum?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

Crypto YouTube viewership has dropped to its lowest level in five years, returning to early 2021 levels. source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/crypto-youtube-viewership-falls/

In his latest market analysis video, Santiment analyst Brian Quinlivan stated that Ethereum's current social media sentiment is declining, similar to levels seen before the price surge in 2025. This subdued sentiment is reminiscent of Ethereum's performance before its major rally last year. Quinlivan suggests that current market sentiment may prevent further significant price drops. CoinMarketCap data shows that ETH's price fell to a yearly low of $1472 on April 9, 2025, before rebounding nearly 70% in four months, and then returning to its 2021 all-time high of $4878 on August 23. He noted that ETH's price typically surges "when people feel they're about to give up on Ethereum."

Goldman Sachs revised its Fed expectations, pointing to cuts in June and September instead of the expected March and June. Continue Reading: Goldman Sachs Revises FED Interest Rate Forecast for 2026 Following Data Release! Explains Why! source: https://en.bitcoinsistemi.com/goldman-sachs-revises-fed-interest-rate-forecast-for-2026-following-data-release-explains-why/

골드만삭스는 연준의 인하 전망을 수정하여, 당초 예상했던 3월과 6월 인하가 아닌 6월과 9월에 있을 것으로 전망했다. 계속 읽어보세요: 골드만삭스가 발표된 데이터를 바탕으로 2026년 연준 금리 전망치를 수정했습니다! 그 이유를 설명했습니다! source: https://kr.bitcoinsistemi.com/goldman-sachs-revised-its-2026-fed-interest-rate-forecast-following-the-data-they-explained-the-reasons/

Caixin.com updated its report on January 10th, titled "After Many Twists and Turns, She Lunkai, the Southeast Asian Gambling Scam Kingpin, Was Finally Extradited Back to China | Past and Future," which revealed that the sole partner of She Lunkai's blockchain project, "Asia Pacific New City," was the Singaporean blockchain company BCB Innovations Limited. Fincy, a payment software based on the BCB blockchain, was also being promoted within Asia Pacific New City, aiming to create a Southeast Asian version of WeChat. Fincy and BCB share the same parent company and similar shareholders, offering fiat currency and cryptocurrency exchange transactions, as well as online games. Industry insiders pointed out that by providing fiat currency and cryptocurrency exchange and online games, it's equivalent to introducing many unrelated participants, breaking down large sums of money into smaller amounts, and ultimately converging them into a gambling platform disguised as a gaming platform, significantly weakening the supervision of fund flows.

After briefly trading near the mid-$140s, SOL has pulled back slightly, but market participants say the next move will likely […] The post Solana Faces a Make-or-Break Moment as On-Chain Activity Slows appeared first on Coindoo. source: https://coindoo.com/solana-faces-a-make-or-break-moment-as-on-chain-activity-slows/

Despite Bitcoin's recent pullback to the weekend level of $90,700, several altcoins have maintained their gains. Privacy coins Monero and Zcash led the way. Monero hit an all-time high, currently trading at $576, up over 12% since 21:00 UTC on Sunday, while Zcash rose 3.8%. CoinMarketCap's "Altcoin Season" indicator is now at 30/100, moving out of the "Bitcoin Season" zone for the first time since November 18th. In derivatives, over $200 million in leveraged futures positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with bullish positions accounting for 50%. The implied volatility indices for BTC and ETH remain under pressure, indicating market expectations of reduced price volatility in the short term. Monero-linked futures open interest (OI) rose to 369,000 XMR, the highest level since February last year, while open interest in major tokens such as BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and DOGE declined by 1%-4% in the past 24 hours. On the Deribit platform, BTC and ETH put options continued to trade at higher prices than call options. Block trades show that BTC trading favors the "Ironhawk Arbitrage" strategy, while ETH trading is primarily driven by inter-month spread strategies. (CoinDesk)

Neiro is a memecoin inspired by a rescue dog and launched on both Solana and Ethereum. The Solana-based Neiro faced suspicions of a rug pull after its developer made $2.85 million, while the Ethereum version has seen rapid growth but also raised concerns about insider control.