Strategy remains an effective proxy for bitcoin exposure, particularly for investors with a long-term view, analyst Lance Vitanza said.
FCA opens applications for stablecoin sprint
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is inviting fintechs, banks and other stakeholders to apply for a “stablecoin sprint” to help shape policy and set standards for the future of payments.
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The two-day event in London in March will explore how stablecoins can be used for retail payments, cross-border payments, ecommerce and business to business transactions.
Fintechs, banks, payment service providers, tech companies, stablecoin issuers, law firms, and consumer and merchant groups are al invited to apply by 4 February.
In May, the watchdog will also hold a roundtable focused on trade payments in stablecoins.
With stablecoins gathering momentum around the globe, the FCA has consulted on issuing qualifying stablecoins as it gears up to publish its final crypto rules this year.
The regulator also recently launched a stablecoin-specific cohort of its regulatory sandbox to support issuers in testing UK-issued coins.
Bitcoin Drops Pace At $97K As Retail Stays Sidelined: Did The Rally End?
Key takeaways:
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Retail traders remain sidelined despite BTC’s rebound, as low funding rates and muted interest point to fragile investor sentiment.
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Institutional investors are buying the spot Bitcoin ETFs again and corporate buyers building BTC treasuries may help send BTC back to $100,000.
Bitcoin (BTC) price stabilized near $95,500 on Thursday following an 8%, three-day rally that wiped out $465 million in short BTC futures positions. However, according to web search and derivatives metrics, retail traders have remained on the sidelines. Bitcoin’s pullback from $97,900 may have further weakened investor sentiment.
The Bitcoin perpetual futures funding rate stood at 4% on Thursday, signaling limited demand for bullish positions. Under neutral conditions, the indicator typically ranges from 8% to 12% to compensate for the cost of capital. These derivatives are retail traders’ preferred instruments because their prices closely track the spot market, unlike monthly BTC contracts traded on CME.
Institutional Bitcoin buying offsets weak retail investor interest
The tech-heavy Nasdaq index traded just 1.6% below its all-time high on Thursday as traders gained confidence after chipmaker TSMC reported a 35% increase in quarterly earnings. Still, despite Bitcoin’s recent gains, the current $95,500 level remains 25% below the $126,219 all-time high. More importantly, overall interest in the cryptocurrency market has been declining.
Google Trends data shows global search interest for “crypto” at 27 on a 0 to 100 scale, not far from the 12-month low of 22. Retail traders tend to chase recent winners, particularly as the price of silver has climbed 28% in two weeks. Bitcoin has long been viewed as a direct competitor to precious metals, but crypto traders typically focus on shorter-term performance.
Part of Bitcoin traders’ skepticism can be attributed to socio-political risks and concerns around maintaining the US Federal Reserve’s independence.
The US Justice Department’s criminal inquiry into cost overruns tied to the Federal Reserve’s building renovation has raised concerns about whether the administration of President Donald Trump is pressuring the Fed to cut interest rates. Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends in April, leading traders to anticipate stronger economic stimulus measures in the second half of 2026.
Bitcoin has yet to prove itself as a reliable hedge during periods of economic turmoil, and as a result, even amid gains in stocks and precious metals, retail traders fear the cryptocurrency market could suffer the most during a downturn.
Related: Iran is cut off from the internet–Here’s how crypto could still work
Adding to the tensions, Trump has threatened to retaliate against Iran over its violent response to anti-government protests. Iran produces more than 3 million barrels of oil and controls a major global chokepoint for tanker flows. The heightened uncertainty follows a Jan. 3 US military operation that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The lack of interest from retail traders is not a death sentence, as the Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry has surpassed $120 billion in assets. Public companies continue to follow Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR US) playbook and have purchased more than $105 billion in Bitcoin. Institutional investor demand gained relevance through 2025 and could ultimately be the deciding factor behind a sustained bullish move toward $100,000.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.
Belgium’s KBC To Offer Bitcoin Trading To Retail Investors
Belgium’s second-largest bank, KBC Group, is set to become the first bank in Belgium to allow retail clients to buy and sell crypto.
Starting the week of February 16, private investors will be able to trade Bitcoin through Bolero, KBC’s online investment platform.
The offering will operate within a regulated framework under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), positioning KBC as the first Belgian bank to meet the requirements for providing crypto asset services.
KBC said it has submitted a full Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) notification to the relevant supervisory authority, clearing the way for the launch.
The bank framed the move as a response to growing demand from retail investors for regulated access to cryptocurrencies, while emphasizing the risks associated with the asset class.
“By offering the opportunity to purchase and sell crypto within a regulated framework, we are making innovation concrete and accessible,” said Erik Luts, chief innovation officer at KBC Group. “At the same time, we are demonstrating that KBC remains ready to assume its role as an innovator in a market where new players are rapidly evolving.”
KBC’s execution-only model
The launch will initially be limited to Bitcoin and Ether and will follow an execution-only model. Bolero customers will make their own investment decisions and will not receive personalized investment advice.
Before being allowed to trade crypto, clients must complete a knowledge and experience test designed to assess their understanding of the risks, including price volatility and the possibility of total loss, the bank said.
KBC and Bolero are adopting a so-called “closed-loop” model aimed at reducing fraud and money-laundering risks. Customers will only be able to buy and sell crypto within the Bolero platform, with no ability to transfer assets to or from external wallets or exchanges.
The bank will also provide custody services, meaning clients will not have to manage private keys themselves.
According to KBC, the move is partly driven by demographic trends. Studies cited by the bank indicate that around 45% of Belgians in their thirties already invest in cryptocurrencies.
Bolero’s customer base skews relatively young, with roughly 60% under the age of 40, and “Bitcoin” ranks among the most searched terms on the platform.
Bolero CEO Céline Pfister said the platform aims to introduce crypto “in an accessible way” while ensuring investors are well informed. At launch, educational materials will be made available through the Bolero Academy.
In a similar move, Germany’s second-largest lender DZ Bank secured authorization under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation earlier last year, enabling it to launch a retail crypto trading platform across the country’s cooperative banking network.
The BaFin-approved “meinKrypto” platform will allow Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken customers to trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies directly within their existing banking apps, subject to individual bank notifications.
Bitcoin slides below $96,000 as key crypto bill stalls in Congress
After a brief reprieve, crypto returned to selling off during U.S. market hours on Thursday.
Cerebras Poses an Alternative to Nvidia With $10B OpenAI Deal
Cerebras’ $10 billion deal with OpenAI positions the startup and its wafer-scale engine as a challenger to Nvidia in the AI chip market, while helping OpenAI try to accelerate the performance of its large AI models.
The multiyear deal, revealed on Jan. 14, requires Cerebras to deliver 750 megawatts of wafer-scale systems to OpenAI starting later this year. OpenAI will use the wafer-scale engine to deliver near-real-time responses for tasks such as coding, inference, image generation, and complex reasoning. The Cerebras version of an AI chip is larger and, the vendor says, faster than Nvidia GPUs.
The agreement gives Cerebras, which has struggled to expand its customer base since it was founded in 2015 beyond Abu Dhabi-based AI and tech holding company G42, a foothold in the AI chip market as one of several chipmakers trying to rival Nvidia. It also addresses a key challenge for enterprises finding that massive generative AI models are often too slow or costly for real-time use.
A Stage for Cerebras
The deal gives Cerebras an opportunity to prove the capabilities of its wafer-scale engine.
While some have previously seen the AI vendor as a somewhat experimental company focused on science applications, this partnership is the “ultimate stamp of legitimacy,” said Mike Leone, an analyst at Omdia, a division of Informa TechTarget.
“It transforms them overnight from a niche alternative into a serious contender that every other AI lab now has to pay attention to,” Leone said.
Potential Benefits for Enterprises and OpenAI
Competition from chipmakers, including longstanding semiconductor companies Broadcom and AMD, along with Cerebras, could benefit enterprises by potentially driving down AI service prices over time.
“Overall, an enterprise customer is going to have more choices when it comes to how they get their AI stuff that they want,” said David Nicholson, an analyst at Futurum Group.
The deal also tackles the paramount market issue: AI model speed.
“The industry is grappling with a difficult trade-off right now where smarter models are becoming much heavier and slower to run,” Leone said. “It appears this partnership is trying to solve that specific friction point. By focusing on inference speed, they seem to be trying to ensure that future AI agents can handle complex tasks without the lag that currently frustrates users.”
For OpenAI, which has seen competition from Google and others intensify amid questions about OpenAI’s long-term financial viability, the agreement with Cerebras, is a win, particularly after Google’s major agreement with Apple earlier this week to power Apple’s AI initiatives with the Google Gemini foundation model. This deal shows OpenAI is expanding its infrastructure for a future when AI does the work for users, not just converses with them, Leone said.
“There is a deeper story here about the shift from chatbots to actual agents,” he said. “When you’re just chatting, a few seconds of delay is fine. But when you have an AI agent trying to solve a complex problem that requires twenty steps of ‘thinking’ in the background — that requires a level of speed that standard hardware struggles to deliver efficiently.”
Chipping Away at Nvidia
If Cerebras proves its hardware accomplishes that, it could lead to erosion of market share for Nvidia.
“Cerebras, in my opinion, is the biggest single threat, from a hardware company perspective, to Nvidia,” Nicholson said. “This negatively affects Nvidia in the long term, if OpenAI proves out that a data center built on Cerberus technology is superior.”
Nicholson noted that some observers see Nvidia as being at a relative disadvantage because it lacks a wafer-scale product. Nvidia’s approach involves producing many separate chips from a wafer by cutting them out and assembling them, which can result in mechanical and electrical errors due to discarded, faulty chips. In contrast, Cerebras keeps the entire wafer intact as a single, large chip, connecting only the working cells. This approach may reduce system complexity and potential error points.
“At its surface, it’s so obvious that what Cerebras does is technically superior,” Nicholson added. “But Nvidia has been able to get away with its inferior technology because it has the full stack and it has the industry connections and momentum.”
However, Cerebras faces the challenge of delivering at a massive scale almost immediately, Nicholson said.
Also, integration is a challenge. Enterprises interested in Cerebras might find its technology too complicated to integrate with their systems and find they need more talent to them it work better. This could make it less appealing to non-hyperscalers.
“It’s a lot easier to go with the ready-made solution from Nvidia,” Nicholson said.
Meanwhile, Nvidia forged a $20 billion licensing agreement with Groq, another AI chip startup, last month. And Nvidia has been in talks with OpenAI to sell the generative AI vendor Nvidia chips, representing 10 gigawatts.
Cerebras says it has also entered into deals with IBM and Meta. OpenAI and Cerebras had a pre-existing relationship, with OpenAI at one point exploring an acquisition of the chipmaker, the Wall Street Journal reported. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is a personal investor in Cerebras.
Coinbase fears tokenization rival Securitize, says Citron Research
Tokenization platform Securitize is going public — as soon as the first half of 2026 — through a SPAC deal with Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT)
Interactive Brokers adds USDC funding, with Ripple and PayPal stablecoin support next week
Key Takeaways
- Interactive Brokers now allows eligible US clients to fund accounts with USDC for near-instant deposits, available 24/7 including weekends.
- RLUSD and PYUSD support is expected next week, with stablecoins automatically converted to USD upon receipt via Ethereum, Solana, or Base.
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Interactive Brokers, the global electronic brokerage firm, now allows eligible clients to fund their accounts using stablecoins, with near-instant processing available around the clock, including weekends and holidays.
The company announced Thursday that the new funding option enables deposits and trading across 170 global markets within minutes of initiating a transfer. The feature initially supports USD Coin (USDC), with Ripple’s RLUSD and PayPal’s PYUSD set to launch next week.
Clients can send USDC from personal crypto wallets to a secure wallet generated by Zerohash on Ethereum, Solana, or Base. Once received, the token “is automatically converted into US dollars and credited to the client’s brokerage account.”
Interactive Brokers does not charge fees for stablecoin deposits, though clients are responsible for blockchain network fees. The company’s partner, Zerohash, applies a 0.3% conversion fee per deposit with a minimum of $1.
The feature addresses challenges associated with traditional cross-border funding methods. Interactive Brokers’ stock rose nearly 4% on Thursday, trading near $74 at press time.
BitMine expects $400 million income on ether holdings, bet on MrBeast could '10x'
BitMine Chair Tom Lee told investors that the company could generate over $400 million income on its $13 billion worth of ether holdings, primarily via staking.
Keye launches AI co-pilot for private equity due diligence
Private equity due diligence company Keye has launched Odin, an AI co-pilot built specifically for investment teams.
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Odin enables deal teams to ask questions in plain English and receive deterministic, audit-ready analysis instantly, claims Keye, adding that users can now eliminate the trade-off between speed and rigor.
The co-pilot is powered by Keye’s proprietary technology, Deterministic Creativity. Rather than acting as a thin wrapper around a large language model, Odin combines natural-language understanding with code-based execution.
In practice, that means Odin uses AI to understand investor intent, but performs all analysis deterministically through auditable logic and formulas. This means – according to the startup -zero hallucinations, complete transparency, and repeatable outputs.
Keye has also codified “investor intuition” directly into the platform. The heuristics, pattern recognition, and risk-assessment logic used by experienced deal professionals are embedded in the software.
Rohan Parikh, CEO, Keye, says: “Odin gives investors the freedom to explore complex diligence questions naturally, while guaranteeing audit-grade outputs every time. It doesn’t summarize data or guess. It reasons like an investor and executes like an analyst.”