On Wednesday, after Tuesday’s pullback, U.S. stocks are moving lower across the board, with red ink splashed over every major index. Equities aren’t keeping pace with precious metals— gold and silver are still on a tear—while the crypto economy added 3.66% in the past day, climbing to $3.29 trillion. Red Ink for Stocks as Crypto […]
Bitcoin ETFs Rollercoaster, TradFi ETFs 2026 “Abnormally High” $46B
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have had a volatile start to 2026, with sharp swings in investor demand even as money pours into traditional ETFs at an unusually fast pace.
US-listed spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs pulled in $753 million on Tuesday in their second consecutive day of inflows after a four-day losing streak, according to Farside Investors data.
Bitcoin ETFs have raked in a total of $660 million in net inflows so far in 2026 as demand for the funds continued to fluctuate.
Traditional ETFs, on the other hand, attracted $46 billion in the first six days of 2026, in an “abnormally high to start the year,” according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
“ETFs have taken in $46b in first 6 days of year, which is abnormally high to start year, on pace for $158b for month, about 4x the norm,” wrote the analyst in a Monday X post.
The divergence shows that ETF investors are actively deploying capital, but prefer allocating to funds tied to traditional investments instead of crypto ETFs with a higher perceived risk profile.
Demand for Bitcoin ETFs has declined in the past six months, from $6 billion in monthly net inflows in July 2025 to $1.09 billion in outflows during December, according to SoSoValue.
Related: Powell investigation may introduce ‘risk premia’ for Bitcoin: Analysts
Looking at other crypto funds, spot Ether (ETH) pulled in $130 million on Tuesday, reaching $240 million in total inflows so far in 2026, according to Farside Investors.
Spot Solana (SOL) ETFs continued their uninterrupted winning streak, recording $67 million in net positive inflows since the start of the year.
Related: Standard Chartered said to plan crypto brokerage, trims ETH forecast
Bitcoin treasury firms step in to fill demand gap
While the lack of ETF demand is a concerning sign for Bitcoin’s price, blockchain data suggests that Bitcoin treasury firms are stepping in to fill this gap through steady monthly accumulation.
Corporate digital asset treasuries (DATs) added a net 260,000 Bitcoin to their balance sheets over the past six months, outpacing the estimated 82,000 coins mined over the same period.
This equates to monthly corporate investments of around 260,000 BTC, worth roughly $25 billion, according to crypto analytics platform Glassnode.
In contrast to public treasury companies, the industry’s leading traders by returns, tracked as “smart money,” were still betting on Bitcoin’s decline, with $122 million of net short positions, according to crypto intelligence platform Nansen.
However, the cohort was net short and betting on the decline of most top cryptocurrencies, with the exceptions of Ether, XRP (XRP), the memecoin launchpad Pump.fun’s (PUMP) token, and Zcash (ZEC).
Magazine: If the crypto bull run is ending… it’s time to buy a Ferrari — Crypto Kid
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Anthropic Introduces Claude Cowork
Anthropic launched Claude Cowork, a general purpose AI agent designed as a more user-friendly and accessible version of its Claude Code offering.
Currently in research preview, Cowork is built into the Claude Desktop app and enables users to designate a specific folder that Claude can access, with the ability to read and modify files.
Tasks are actioned using natural language prompts, with Cowork designed to complete the work in the background of a user’s desktop, with regular progress updates given.
Described by Anthropic as “Claude Code for the rest of your work,” Cowork is built on the same foundations as Claude Code, a model released in 2024 that proved popular with programmers.
The main difference is that Cowork is intended for less tech-savvy users.
The launch responds to a growing number of Claude Code users harnessing the agent for non-coding tasks, according to Anthropic.
“When we released Claude Code, we expected developers to use it for coding. They did — and then quickly began using it for almost everything else,” Anthropic said in a blog post on the launch. “This prompted us to build Cowork.”
Possible use cases, according to Anthropic, include assembling an expense report from a folder of receipt photos or producing a first draft of a report from “scattered notes.”
While the design is intended for ease of use, Anthropic warned of risks, especially for those who use Claude for conversations only.
In particular, the company detailed the risks of files being deleted by mistake or prompt injections — attempts by attackers to alter Claude’s plans.
To avoid such errors, Anthropic recommended that users make instructions as clear and unambiguous as possible.
“These risks aren’t new with Cowork,” the post reads, “but it might be the first time you’re using a more advanced tool that moves beyond a simple conversation.”
Cowork is currently only available to Max subscribers, although a waitlist is available for users on other plans.
Anthropic said it will continue to develop the agent following general release.
The Protocol: Vitalik Buterin flags stablecoin design flaws
Also: Zcash token falls after developer quits, Smart Cashtags and BTC quantum computing defense
What the GENIUS Act Was Meant to Stop—and the Stablecoin Loophole Banks See
Key takeaways
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The GENIUS Act was designed to keep stablecoins as payment tools rather than savings products. As a result, it bans issuers from paying interest or yield to stablecoin holders.
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Community banks argue that a loophole exists because exchanges and affiliated partners can still offer rewards on stablecoin balances, even if the issuer itself does not pay yield.
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Smaller banks are more concerned than large banks because they rely heavily on local deposits. Any outflow of deposits could directly reduce lending to small businesses and households.
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Banks also note that reward programs can be funded through platform revenues or affiliate structures, making the ban ineffective in practice if partner incentives continue.
In the US, the GENIUS Act of 2025 was intended to provide a federal framework for payment stablecoins. The law established strict standards for reserves and consumer protection. However, the banking sector soon warned Congress of a potential loophole in the stablecoin rules.
This article examines what the GENIUS Act was designed to achieve and the regulatory gap that bankers are concerned about. It explains why community banks are more affected than larger institutions, outlines counterarguments from the crypto industry and explores the options available to Congress.
What the Genius Act was trying to prevent
The GENIUS Act aimed to prevent stablecoins from functioning as savings products. Lawmakers wanted stablecoins to continue operating as payment instruments. For this reason, the law prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield to holders solely for holding the token.
Banks supported restrictions on yield-bearing stablecoins. They argued that if stablecoins could pay yield directly, they could become an alternative to insured savings accounts. This could encourage some depositors to move funds out of traditional bank accounts. Banks also warned that the impact would fall most heavily on smaller community banks, which rely on local deposits to fund lending.
Did you know? Some US states already regulate money transmitters that handle stablecoins. As a result, a single stablecoin platform can face both federal GENIUS Act requirements and dozens of separate state licensing and reporting obligations.
The “loophole” banks are talking about
Community banks say the issue is not what stablecoin issuers do directly. Instead, they argue that the loophole arises through issuers’ distribution partners, including exchanges and other crypto platforms.
In early January 2026, the American Bankers Association’s Community Bankers Council urged the Senate to tighten the GENIUS framework, warning that some stablecoin ecosystems were exploring a perceived “loophole.” According to the group, exchanges and other partners can enable rewards for stablecoin holders even when the issuer itself is not paying interest.
This structural feature of how stablecoins operate has highlighted the regulatory gap. The GENIUS Act restricts issuer-paid yield but does not necessarily prevent third-party platforms from incentivizing customers on deposited stablecoins.
Banks argue that because distribution partners can effectively work around the restriction, the act becomes less effective in practice.
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The issuer does not pay a yield.
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The platform holding the stablecoin balance pays rewards to the depositor.
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From the customer’s perspective, they are earning returns simply by holding stablecoins.
Did you know? Several US stablecoin issuers hold reserves primarily in short-term US Treasury bills. This makes them indirect participants in government debt markets rather than traditional banking systems.
Why community banks care more than large banks
Large banks can diversify funding sources and access wholesale funding markets more easily than smaller lenders. Community banks, on the other hand, are typically more dependent on stable retail deposits.
This is why community bankers frame the loophole debate as a local credit issue. If deposits move from community institutions into stablecoin balances, banks could have less capacity to lend to small businesses, farmers, students and homebuyers.
Banks have attempted to quantify this risk. The Banking Policy Institute (BPI) has argued that incentivizing a shift from deposits and money market funds to stablecoins could raise lending costs and reduce credit availability. The BPI has also warned that these incentives undermine the spirit of the ban on issuer-paid yield for stablecoins.
How rewards can be offered without the issuer paying interest
Banks argue that these programs can be funded through a mix of platform revenues, marketing subsidies, revenue-sharing arrangements or affiliate structures tied to stablecoin issuance and distribution.
While funding mechanics vary by platform and token, the controversy is less about any single program and more about the incentive outcome. Banks are concerned that stablecoins could offer bank customers an alternative venue for holding liquid funds.
Community banks are calling on Congress to close the loophole not only for issuers but also for affiliates, partners and intermediaries that deliver yield in practice.
Did you know? Stablecoin transaction volumes often spike during weekends and holidays, when banks are closed. This highlights how crypto payment rails operate continuously outside normal banking hours.
The crypto industry’s counterargument
Crypto advocacy groups and industry associations have pushed back strongly. The Blockchain Association and the Crypto Council for Innovation argue that Congress intentionally drew a clear line by banning issuer-paid interest while preserving room for platforms to offer lawful rewards and incentives.
Counterarguments from the crypto industry include:
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Payment stablecoins are not bank deposits: Stablecoins are primarily payment and settlement tools and should not be regulated as substitutes for deposits.
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Stablecoins do not fund loans like banks: Comparing stablecoins to deposit-funded lending is a category error. Industry groups argue that forcing stablecoins to mimic bank economics would suppress competition rather than protect consumers.
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Banning third-party rewards could stifle innovation: Treating every incentive program as a prohibited activity could reduce consumer choice and limit experimentation in payments.
What could be the likely policy options?
Based on the public arguments so far, policymakers have several possible paths:
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Affiliate and partner prohibition: Extend the GENIUS Act’s yield ban to issuer affiliates and distribution partners.
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Disclosure and consumer protection approach: Allow rewards but require clear disclosures. Crypto firms could be required to explain who pays the rewards, what risks are involved and what is not insured. Regulators could also impose stricter marketing rules to prevent rewards from being presented as bank-like interest.
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A narrow safe harbor: Permit certain activity-based incentives. For example, the law could allow rewards tied to usage while limiting balance-based incentives that resemble interest.
How Congress resolves this issue will shape whether stablecoins remain payments-first tools or potentially evolve into more bank-like stores of value.
Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence. The selection, commissioning and publication of Features and Magazine content are not influenced by advertisers, partners or commercial relationships.
Here’s Why The Bitcoin, Ethereum, And Dogecoin Prices Are Surging Today
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The broader crypto market is seeing an unexpected uptick, with the Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin prices among the top coins recording gains. This sharp increase in value follows the release of US economic data, which indicates positive trends in unemployment and consumer spending. Additionally, potential regulatory changes stemming from a proposed bill are also fueling market momentum and boosting investor confidence across the sector.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, And Dogecoin Prices Rally Amid Positive Economic Data
After consolidating for days following their last rebounds, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin are surging again amid a series of recent US data reports. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers earlier on Tuesday, January 13, covering December 2025.
The CPI report revealed that prices rose 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis last month, with the year-over-year all items index up 2.7% unadjustment. The shelter index increased 0.4% in December, making it the largest contributor to the overall rise. Meanwhile, food prices rose 0.7% both at home and away, and energy rose 0.3%. This increase in CPI data tends to affect cryptocurrency price movements, as moderate inflation often reduces fears of aggressive rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve (FED), encouraging investors to allocate funds to alternative stores of value like BTC and higher risk assets like ETH and DOGE.
In addition to the CPI data, the US jobs report, released on January 9, showed that 50,000 jobs were added in December 2025. Although this was below the revised 56,000 in November and lower than the initial forecast of 60,000, it was still a significant and positive result for investors. While changes in job reports do not directly affect cryptocurrency price action, they can influence investor sentiment by increasing the likelihood of an interest rate cut.
The crypto market has also been bullish ahead of the US Senate Banking Committee’s vote on the CLARITY Act on January 15, 2026. If passed, the bill is expected to provide clearer legal frameworks for digital assets in the US. Subsequently, the regulatory progress will reduce uncertainty and encourage more institutional participation in the crypto market.
Overall, the combination of the US CPI release, jobs report, and potential regulatory clarity is what’s driving the market. Traders are responding favorably to these developments, reflecting renewed optimism.
How Much BTC, ETH, And DOGE Rose Today
Fueled by positive economic data, Bitcoin’s price has increased by over 3% so far today, rising from around $91,000 to over $94,000 at the time of writing. CoinMarketCap data also shows that Ethereum has seen even stronger gains, surging more than 6% to trade above $3,300. Meanwhile, Dogecoin has risen by over 6%, reaching $0.148.
Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
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Human Rights Foundation Gives 1.3B Satoshis To 22 Projects
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has announced 1.3 billion satoshis in new grants from its Bitcoin Development Fund, backing 22 projects worldwide aimed at strengthening financial freedom and censorship resistance under authoritarian regimes.
The funding round, disclosed today exclusively to Bitcoin Magazine, will support open-source Bitcoin development, decentralized mining infrastructure, privacy-preserving financial tools, and grassroots education initiatives across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
HRF said the projects are designed to improve the Bitcoin protocol itself while expanding access to permissionless money for dissidents, journalists, nonprofits, and ordinary citizens facing political repression.
The full list of recipients is as follows for the fourth quarter of 2025.
Bitcoin Decentralization
Stratum V2 (Stratum Reference Implementation)
Much of Bitcoin mining still relies on outdated communications protocols that prevent individual miners from choosing the transactions they mine. This leaves block construction in the hands of mining pools, exposing the network to censorship risks. Stratum V2 solves this fault by enabling home miners to build their own block templates. HRF funding will support software developer bit-aloo’s full-time work improving Stratum V2 through performance testing, integration work, and code maintenance, helping individuals regain autonomy within existing pool structures.
Braidpool
Traditional Bitcoin mining pools rely on a centralized structure where the operator controls reward payouts and transaction selection, creating censorship risks. Braidpool addresses this structural centralization by introducing a peer-to-peer, open-source mining pool design where participants collaboratively construct blocks and coordinate rewards without relying on a central operator. With HRF support, software developer Mohd Zaid will advance a new, more democratic mining model that strengthens decentralization and transparency.
Bitcoin Education
Open Money, Closed Access: Building Financial Freedom (OMCA)
In conflict-affected and connectivity-constrained environments, communities are often cut off from formal banking services and safe ways to store or transfer value. OMCA addresses these challenges through Bitcoin-based tools designed for low-cost, private transactions and offline-first use. The program supports the development of local financial infrastructure and resilient communications technologies suited to high-risk contexts. HRF’s support enables individuals to save and transact more securely and discreetly during periods of instability.
Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line
As Bitcoin evolves, open-source developers need up-to-date resources that teach them how the system actually works. Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line teaches prospective developers how Bitcoin works through a hands-on curriculum and across multiple languages. HRF’s funding will allow the project to update its curriculum to match the latest changes to Bitcoin’s software, helping grow the global pool of contributors who keep Bitcoin accessible and resilient.
Voices Uncensored: A Bitcoin-Based Platform for Human Rights Defenders in Azerbaijan
In Azerbaijan, the state routinely targets activists and journalists with surveillance, bank freezes, and blocked donations. Voices Uncensored is a Bitcoin-based platform for human rights defenders led by former political prisoner Elchin Mammad. It pairs uncensorable donations and payments with Azerbaijani-language training and educational resources. HRF’s support will equip Azerbaijan’s human rights defenders with the financial independence, privacy, and resilience needed to continue their work under a repressive regime.
Bitcoin Famba
In Mozambique, citizens face chronic inflation, growing debt, and heavy restrictions on their financial autonomy. Bitcoin Famba, based in Maputo-Matola, provides accessible Bitcoin education and fosters local circular economies. HRF funding will help dissidents and everyday people access permissionless and censorship-resistant money to achieve financial independence in a repressive political and economic environment.
Bitcoin Indonesia & Bitcoin House Bali
Indonesians face growing financial surveillance, inflation, and censorship. Bitcoin Indonesia, Indonesia’s pioneering Bitcoin gathering, along with its Bitcoin education center, Bitcoin House Bali, offers training on using Bitcoin to protect incomes, preserve financial autonomy, and navigate restrictive banking systems. HRF’s funding will expand its workshops, meetups, and media outreach to make Bitcoin a practical tool for financial freedom across the country.
The Bitcoin Learning Center
Across Southeast Asia, millions of people face financial surveillance, exclusion from traditional banking systems, and currency instability. The Bitcoin Learning Center, a physical Bitcoin education hub in Chiang Mai, Thailand, brings students from Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Southern China to learn how to counter this financial repression through Bitcoin. HRF support will expand the center’s educational outreach to ensure more people living under authoritarian regimes gain access to open and decentralized financial tools.
Bitcoin Development
Devgitotox
Bitcoin’s reliability and security depend on a robust codebase. Devgitotox is a Tanzanian Bitcoin Core developer contributing to Bitcoin’s primary software implementation. Her work focuses on improving wallet upgrades, fixing issues with how transactions are created and shared, ensuring nodes connect reliably to the network, and building software testing tools. HRF’s support of Devgitotox helps strengthen the Bitcoin codebase while empowering more women to contribute to Bitcoin Core.
Stratospher
Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer network can be vulnerable to surveillance and disruption if weaknesses in transaction relay, validation logic, or cryptographic components are not addressed. Stratospher, a Bitcoin Core developer from South Asia, strengthens the protocol by improving how nodes (computers running the Bitcoin software) share and spread information, improving validation and cryptographic systems, and enhancing code quality through reviews and testing. With HRF funding, her contributions will help ensure that Bitcoin remains a robust tool for financial freedom.
Sovereign Engineering
Authoritarian regimes actively suppress financial freedom, leaving human rights defenders in need of open and censorship-resistant financial technologies. Sovereign Engineering is a long-term development program that supports freedom technologists building on Bitcoin, Nostr, and ecash. Already, the program has catalyzed projects like Blossom, which stores data on public servers in a decentralized manner, and npub.cash, a Nostr-native Lightning address for anyone. With this funding, the program will continue to innovate on freedom technologies that protect civil liberties under repression.
OpenSats Initiative, Inc.
Open and transparent funding is key to sustaining many of the freedom technologies human rights defenders rely on today. OpenSats is a public nonprofit organization that supports the projects and the individuals building freedom tech by distributing financial support across the ecosystem. With this grant, OpenSats can fortify its operations and continue channeling resources to the builders who keep freedom tech open, secure, and accessible for people living under tyranny.
Lightning Development
Africa Free Routing Lightning Developer Bootcamp
Bitcoin adoption is rising across Africa, but access to quality education and development training is often limited or unaffordable. Africa Free Routing’s Lightning Developer Bootcamps address these mismatches by providing structured programs that combine theory, hands-on workshops, and mentorship to software developers. These same developers can then contribute to the Lightning Network and build censorship-resistant financial tools. With HRF funding, the program will expand to ten bootcamps across Ethiopia, Uganda, Burkina Faso, and beyond to foster a continent-wide network of freedom tech contributors.
Programming Lightning
In many repressive environments, the Lightning Network ecosystem suffers from a shortage of skilled developers, leaving censorship-resistant payment tools underbuilt and unevenly maintained where they are needed most. Programming Lightning is an open-source course that will offer self-paced, multi-language learning with hands-on programming exercises. The curriculum will teach anyone to build on Lightning. This grant will help scale a global community of builders to sustain an open payment infrastructure that activists can use to sustain their work under repression.
Freedom Tech
Zapstore
Authoritarian regimes can censor freedom-tech apps on centralized app stores to control information and limit tools for communication and organizing. Zapstore is an app store built on Nostr, a protocol for decentralized communication. On Zapstore, apps can be independently uploaded and verified by users, without being blocked or removed by dictators. HRF’s support will ensure that dissidents, journalists, and civil society around the world have access to freedom tech without gatekeepers.
Validating Lightning Signer
Most computers running the Lightning Network software today store private keys on the node itself. This creates an online setup where a breach can allow attackers to drain a user’s bitcoin. Validating Lightning Signer (VLS) solves this by separating key management from the node and validating every transaction before signing, enabling true self-custody and resistance to breaches. With HRF support, VLS will lower the barrier for people to safely control and use their own money on the Lightning Network, even in places where financial and digital rights are under threat.
Vexl
Dissidents acquiring bitcoin often need to do so privately to protect their identity, donor networks, and personal safety. Yet centralized exchanges often collect vast troves of personal information and monitor user activity. To address this, Vexl, an open-source mobile app, allows peer-to-peer bitcoin trading without collecting personal data. With HRF’s support, Vexl can provide human rights defenders and civil society in authoritarian contexts a means to acquire Bitcoin without surveillance and absent gatekeepers.
Dhananjay Purohit
Dictators frequently restrict the finances of online platforms and independent media to silence dissent. To overcome this, open source developer Dhananjay Purohit built ngx_l402, a web server module that enables websites and applications to accept bitcoin payments directly for web or API access. With HRF’s grant, Purohit’s work can help embed bitcoin payments into the internet infrastructure layer, keeping the web open, uncensorable, and resistant to centralized financial control.
BTCPay Server
Under dictatorships, traditional nonprofit fundraising channels can be censored, surveilled, frozen, or cut off without warning. BTCPay Server uses the permissionless foundations of Bitcoin to work around this. Using this open-source and self-hosted software, NGOs and dissidents can freely accept Bitcoin and Lightning payments directly into their self-custodial wallets. HRF’s renewed support will ensure censorship-resistant crowdfunding in even the most repressive environments.
Bitika
In Kenya, obtaining bitcoin can be challenging. Bitika addresses this by allowing users to buy bitcoin directly into their Lightning wallets through M-Pesa (the country’s most widely used financial infrastructure). This makes self-custodial Bitcoin use simple and accessible. This grant will help Bitika improve Kenyans’ financial independence by expanding access to censorship-resistant money in an increasingly surveilled payments landscape.
Threads of Freedom: A Bitcoin Graphic Novel and Learning App
Young people, especially women and girls, who live under repressive regimes often lack access to financial education. Threads of Freedom, created by Afghan tech pioneer and founder of the Digital Citizen Fund, Roya Mahboob, provides a culturally-rooted graphic novel and learning app that explains how Bitcoin works and why it matters under tyranny. With HRF support, Threads of Freedom will expand access to education that helps people protect themselves and remain financially autonomous under repression.
Korean Volume Surges, Charts Sizzle: XRP Prepares for Its Next Power Move
Over the last hour, the price of XRP clocked in at $2.14 to $2.17 on Jan. 14, 2026, flashing signs of resilience in a market still grappling with volatility. With a market capitalization of $130 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $5.16 billion, XRP stayed lively within a tight intraday price range of $2.08 […]
human.tech Kicks Off HUMN Onchain SUMR Season 2
human.tech, a privacy-focused identity and “proof-of-personhood” project backed by Holonym Foundation, said it has begun a second season of its HUMN onchain SUMR community campaign—pivoting from basic “are you human?” verification toward user contributions, shared principles and an emerging governance structure.
The new phase centers on what the group calls the “Covenant of Humanistic Technologies,” which it describes as both a living charter for human-aligned technology and a curated body of community submissions—ranging from essays and research to art—that could later feed into a DAO-style governance model for grants and long-term direction.
The initiative lands at a moment when crypto applications, airdrops and onchain communities are increasingly grappling with automated accounts, Sybil attacks and deepfake-driven fraud—problems that have pushed developers to experiment with “proof-of-personhood” systems that can gate access to voting, incentives or scarce resources without forcing users into fully public, doxxed identities.
From “proof” to “participation”
Season 2 is framed as an attempt to turn identity infrastructure into a broader social layer. On its manifesto site, human.tech outlines a flow that begins with reading the Covenant and signing a declaration, then verifying “proof of humanity,” and finally submitting “artifacts”—with the site suggesting that “real humans” may be able to earn a token labeled $HUMN through contributions.
In the announcement shared by human.tech, the project said Season 1 drew 68,800 unique participants interacting with Human Passport and resulted in more than 38,000 “Human Passport scores” minted onchain across networks including Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Linea, zkSync and Scroll. The group is now asking participants not only to verify they are human, but also to contribute to what it wants to become a culture-and-governance layer built around privacy-preserving participation.
you can join the campaign: manifest.human.tech
The rails: Human Passport and zero-knowledge identity
The campaign builds on Human Passport, a Sybil-resistance and identity-verification toolkit that originated as Gitcoin Passport and was later brought under Holonym’s umbrella. In February 2025, Holonym said it had acquired Gitcoin Passport and launched human.tech as a broader suite spanning keys, wallets and identity tools, positioning Passport as a core product for distributing capital and access to “real humans” rather than bots.
Holonym has pitched the stack as relying heavily on applied cryptography—particularly zero-knowledge proofs—to let users demonstrate properties about themselves (such as uniqueness or eligibility) without revealing the underlying personal data. Its Human ID documentation describes a system designed to verify facts about identity without organizations storing sensitive information.
The “privacy-preserving” angle is central to the project’s pitch: rather than traditional KYC processes that collect and retain identity documents, human.tech argues that identity proofs can be generated and checked in ways that minimize surveillance and linkability.
Use cases: from airdrops to governance
Human Passport has been used as a gating mechanism in several crypto contexts where one-person-one-vote or fair access matters. In one case study, the project said Passport helped secure governance participation for Optimism’s Citizens’ House by requiring a threshold “Passport score” to reduce Sybil risk, aiming to align voting with unique humans rather than token-weighted influence.
Holonym has also marketed Passport as infrastructure for “safe and fair token distributions,” saying it has been used across a wide set of campaigns. In its 2025 announcement, Holonym said Human Passport had produced tens of millions of credentials and supported the distribution of more than $225 million in grants and airdrops across numerous campaigns—figures that, if accurate, would place it among the larger identity products in crypto by usage.
Season 2’s emphasis on “artifacts” and an emerging DAO structure suggests the organization is now trying to extend that identity layer into a community coordination model—one that can, in theory, determine who is eligible not only for access but also for influence and resource allocation.
Holonym is backed by Finality Capital and Paper Ventures
In 2024, Holonym raised $5.5 million seed round led by Finality Capital and Paper Ventures, alongside other crypto venture backers.
Since then, the foundation has expanded the human.tech brand to include multiple components—Human Passport, Human ID and related tooling—arguing that a privacy-preserving identity layer is a prerequisite for onchain systems to scale without being overwhelmed by automation and fraud.
Read Also:
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Crypto’s Big Regulatory Overhaul May Crawl Through Years Of Rulemaking: Exec
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A top policy official at crypto firm Paradigm warned this week that a broad overhaul of US crypto rules could take years of agency work to finish.
Justin Slaughter, Paradigm’s vice president for regulatory affairs, said the law itself would only begin a longer process of writing dozens of detailed rules that agencies must draft, publish for comment, and finalize.
Lawmakers Unveil Draft Bill
On January 13, 2026, US senators released a draft bill meant to clarify which tokens are securities or commodities and to set who regulates spot crypto trading.
The draft would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority over many spot markets and includes measures aimed at limiting how stablecoins are used to pay interest, among other provisions.
Rulemaking Could Stretch For Years
Slaughter pointed out that the bill would require about 45 separate, detailed rules to be written by regulators before its goals could be fully enforced.
That is a heavy technical lift. He compared the likely timeline to rules written after the Dodd-Frank law, which took roughly three to eight years to be finalized for many parts of the financial system.
Ok, so here are the main takeaways I have.
First, this bill is still missing a lot of things. There’s nothing at all on ethics (which is going to be a big hang-up for people) nor is there anything on a quorum requirement for the Commissions. The Dems won’t sign a bill that… https://t.co/2ckoCO6QlW
— Justin Slaughter (@JBSDC) January 14, 2026
That comparison matters because it shows how slow the work can be even when lawmakers act quickly. Agencies must draft proposals, take public comments, revise drafts, and then publish final rules. Each step can be delayed by legal challenges, staffing limits, or political shifts.
Industry Groups Prepare For Phased Change
Exchanges, banks, and stablecoin firms have already begun drafting compliance plans. Some industry players say they prefer the bill’s tilt toward the CFTC for spot oversight, believing it could ease certain market practices.
Others worry that long rulemaking windows will leave uncertainty for months, or even years, while firms try to follow shifting guidance.
What Could Slow Things Down
Among the likely bottlenecks: fights over who enforces which rules, debates on how decentralized finance fits under old statutes, and political turnover.
Slaughter warned that parts of the rulemaking might span two presidential terms before everything is settled. That would leave the sector operating under a mix of new guidance and legacy rules for a long time.
Lawyers And Regulators Step Into The Fray
Regulatory staff at the SEC and CFTC have already ramped up work on crypto issues. The SEC has signaled plans to update long-standing securities rules to better address tokenized instruments.
At the same time, the CFTC is preparing market-structure and custody guidance tied to its growing role. These agency moves will shape the final form of the technical rules required by whatever law, if any, becomes binding.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.