Meta exec denies having access to WhatsApp chats amid privacy lawsuit

SINGAPORE, Jan. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, leading Korean gaming company WEMADE, parent company of the global blockchain ecosystem WEMIX, announced that Chainlink Labs, one of the primary contributing developers of Chainlink, the industry-standard oracle platform, has officially joined the Global Alliance for Korean Won (KRW) Stablecoin (GAKS).

Launched in November 2025, GAKS is an alliance formed to expand real-world usage of KRW-backed stablecoins, including the assurance of global regulatory compliance with Korean financial standards. With Chainlink Labs providing strategic support, WEMADE will enhance its competitiveness in the global market and accelerate the establishment of a trusted KRW stablecoin ecosystem.

Chainlink is the leading oracle platform for the digital asset industry, powering the convergence of the traditional financial system with on-chain finance. Many of the world's largest financial institutions have adopted the Chainlink standard and infrastructure—including Swift, UBS, Euroclear, Mastercard, and Fidelity International—while also bringing key data from the U.S. Department of Commerce on-chain, demonstrating its industry leadership with governments and major financial institutions worldwide. Chainlink's work with these organizations and market infrastructures, as well as its role in powering the majority of DeFi, makes its expertise an extremely valuable addition to the KRW stablecoin alliance.

Through the GAKS alliance, Chainlink Labs will provide strategic support to enable the establishment of global standards and contribute to the development of institutional digital asset use cases across our set of enterprise alliance members. Chainlink will also play a pivotal role in ensuring that KRW stablecoins maintain data integrity and stability aligned with global financial market standards.

With the addition of Chainlink, GAKS has now assembled a comprehensive alliance spanning security, regulatory compliance, fintech, and data infrastructure, following previous partnerships with Chainalysis, a blockchain data analytics and compliance firm CertiK, a blockchain security audit firm SentBe, a global fintech and international remittance company, and now Chainlink, the industry-standard oracle platform.

WEMADE is accelerating real-world use cases for KRW stablecoins through alignment with global regulatory compliance and collaboration with industry-leading specialized firms, establishing technical standardization and a trusted ecosystem aligned with GAKS's vision.

WEMADE has released a recording of a Fireside Chat featuring GAKS alliance members on its official YouTube channel. Please visit the following link to watch the video where GAKS members share their vision and strategic direction for building a KRW stablecoin ecosystem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqoS6ddZC0Q/.

About WEMADE

WEMADE is the only company combining over two decades of AAA game development success with a fully operational, game-proven blockchain ecosystem—built entirely on its proprietary Layer-1 mainnet, WEMIX3.0. Known for global hits such as The Legend of Mir, MIR4, NIGHT CROWS and Legend of YMIR, WEMADE is leading the industry in seamlessly integrating gameplay, tokenomics, NFTs, stablecoin payments, and blockchain infrastructure. Through WEMIX PLAY, WEMADE delivers a unified digital economy where players, creators, and investors can own, trade, and benefit from digital assets—powering the next generation of interactive entertainment and driving the evolution of Web3 gaming. For more information, please visit https://wemade.com/.

About WEMIX:

WEMIX is a leading blockchain ecosystem for gaming and digital economies, powered by its highly scalable, EVM-compatible Layer-1 mainnet, WEMIX3.0. With a wide range of integrated services—including NFTs, DeFi, stablecoin payments, and tokenized in-game assets—WEMIX enables seamless integration between gameplay and real-world value. Designed to be transparent, sustainable, and developer-friendly, WEMIX serves as the foundation for the global Web3 gaming ecosystem. For more information, please visit https://wemix.com/.

About Chainlink Labs:

Chainlink Labs is one of the primary contributing developers of Chainlink, the industry-standard oracle platform bringing the capital markets onchain and powering the majority of decentralized finance. The Chainlink stack provides the essential data, interoperability, compliance, and privacy standards needed to power advanced blockchain use cases for institutional tokenized assets, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), payments, stablecoins, and more. Many of the world's largest financial services institutions have also adopted Chainlink's standards and infrastructure, including Swift, Euroclear, Mastercard, Fidelity International, UBS, S&P Dow Jones Indices, FTSE Russell, WisdomTree, ANZ, Aave, GMX, Lido, and many others.

Chainlink Labs is a world-class team of over 600 developers, researchers, and capital markets experts, and has ranked among Fortune's Best Workplaces in Technology, Fortune's Best Medium Workplace, and the Top 100 Global Most Loved Workplaces. Learn more at chain.link or chainlinklabs.com.

About Chainlink:

Chainlink is the industry-standard oracle platform bringing the capital markets onchain and powering the majority of decentralized finance (DeFi). The Chainlink stack provides the essential data, interoperability, compliance, and privacy standards needed to power advanced blockchain use cases for institutional tokenized assets, lending, payments, stablecoins, and more. Since inventing decentralized oracle networks, Chainlink has enabled tens of trillions in transaction value and now secures the vast majority of DeFi.

Many of the world's largest financial services institutions have also adopted Chainlink's standards and infrastructure, including Swift, Euroclear, Mastercard, Fidelity International, UBS, S&P Dow Jones Indices, FTSE Russell, WisdomTree, ANZ, and top protocols such as Aave, Lido, GMX, and many others. Chainlink leverages a novel fee model where offchain and onchain revenue from enterprise adoption is converted to LINK tokens and stored in a strategic Chainlink Reserve. Learn more at chain.link.

The global asset manager BlackRock, which oversees nearly $14 trillion, has filed for a new iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, aiming to combine Bitcoin exposure with steady returns.

BlackRock is once again expanding its Bitcoin strategy, this time with a product aimed at income-focused investors.

How the Bitcoin Premium Income ETF Works

According to the newly filed S-1 document, the ETF will hold Bitcoin directly, shares of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF IBIT, and cash. What makes this product different is its income strategy. 

Instead of relying only on Bitcoin’s price movement, the fund plans to sell covered call options, mainly on IBIT shares. This approach is designed to generate option premiums that could be paid out as monthly income.

This strategy targets investors who want Bitcoin exposure but are also looking for steady returns during periods of high volatility.

This will allow the fund to earn option premiums, which could deliver 8% to 12% in annual income, similar to income strategies used in equity markets. Eventually, these returns would come from option premiums, not from Bitcoin price increases.

Past IBIT Success Reflects Confidence

The filing builds on the massive success of iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which launched in January 2024 and has grown to nearly $70 billion in assets, making it the largest spot Bitcoin ETF in the market. 

While the new income ETF has no ticker symbol or fee announced yet, it will still need approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before launch.

ETF Outflows Show Cautious Institutional Mood

At the same time, ETF data shows a more cautious mood among institutions. Over the past week, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded 1.32 billion in net outflows. BlackRock’s IBIT led these withdrawals with about $537 million exiting the fund, while Fidelity saw around $656 million in outflows.

Analysts say these moves likely reflect risk management and short-term caution, not a loss of belief in Bitcoin’s future.

As of now, Bitcoin is trading around $88,565, seeing a 1% jump in the last 24 hours. 

Dogecoin started a recovery wave above the $0.120 zone against the US Dollar. DOGE is now facing hurdles near $0.1240 and might struggle to continue higher.

• DOGE price started a recovery wave from $0.1175 and climbed above $0.120.
• The price is trading below the $0.1250 level and the 100-hourly simple moving average.
• There is a bearish trend line forming with resistance at $0.1240 on the hourly chart of the DOGE/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The price could continue to move up if it stays above $0.1240.

Dogecoin Price Runs Into Resistance

Dogecoin price started a recovery wave from the $0.1175 zone, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. DOGE climbed above the $0.1180 and $0.120 resistance levels.

There was a decent upward move above the 50% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $0.1277 swing high to the $0.1175 low. However, the bears are active near the $0.1240 level. Besides, there is a bearish trend line forming with resistance at $0.1240 on the hourly chart of the DOGE/USD pair.

Dogecoin price is now trading below the $0.1230 level and the 100-hourly simple moving average. If there is a recovery wave, immediate resistance on the upside is near the $0.1240 level, the trend line, and the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $0.1277 swing high to the $0.1175 low.

The first major resistance for the bulls could be near the $0.1280 level. The next major resistance is near the $0.1320 level. A close above the $0.1320 resistance might send the price toward the $0.140 resistance. Any more gains might send the price toward the $0.1450 level. The next major stop for the bulls might be $0.150.

Another Decline In DOGE?

If DOGE’s price fails to climb above the $0.1240 level, it could continue to move down. Initial support on the downside is near the $0.120 level. The next major support is near the $0.1180 level.

The main support sits at $0.1150. If there is a downside break below the $0.1150 support, the price could decline further. In the stated case, the price might slide toward the $0.1080 level or even $0.1050 in the near term.

Technical Indicators

Hourly MACD – The MACD for DOGE/USD is now losing momentum in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for DOGE/USD is now above the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $0.1180 and $0.1150.

Major Resistance Levels – $0.1240 and $0.1280.

A new artificial intelligence (AI)–driven outlook for XRP is drawing attention after market analyst Sam Daodu shared projections generated by Claude AI, outlining how the cryptocurrency could perform through the rest of 2026. 

The forecast presents three distinct price paths for XRP, each shaped by how key factors such as exchange-traded fund (ETF) demand, regulatory clarity, and network activity evolve. Together, the scenarios provide a broad yet structured view of where the fifth-largest cryptocurrency could be headed.

Potential 215% Rally Ahead For XRP

According to Daodu, Claude AI uses a baseline XRP price of roughly $2.15 and builds its projections around whether market catalysts strengthen or weaken.

The model suggests that ETF inflows, exchange balance trends, and growth on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) will be the primary signals determining whether XRP breaks higher, trades sideways, or slips lower by the end of 2026.

In the most optimistic scenario, Claude AI predicts XRP would rise to between $4 and $6, representing a potential 215% increase from its current trading price of $1.90. This bullish outcome depends on ETF inflows accelerating beyond $5 billion while exchange balances continue to decline, indicating reduced sell-side pressure. 

Under this scenario, institutional accumulation would increase spot market demand, while clearer regulatory conditions would help improve overall market sentiment. 

Claude’s model suggests that once XRP decisively moves above the $3.20 resistance level, tightening liquidity across major trading platforms could magnify even modest buying activity. 

By late 2026, long-term holders limiting supply could further thin market depth, allowing prices to rise more quickly. However, this outcome would require unexpected positive catalysts and currently sits above what most AI models are forecasting.

Base Case Prediction

The base case presents a more measured outlook, with XRP trading between $2.00 and $3.00. In this scenario, ETF inflows remain steady but unspectacular, while adoption grows gradually rather than explosively. 

The model suggests XRP would likely maintain support above $2.00, helped by manageable escrow token releases and incremental improvements to the XRPL that support ongoing transaction growth. 

Price swings would likely remain contained, with accumulation happening quietly instead of through sharp rallies. By the end of 2026, XRP could settle near the midpoint of this range, reflecting balanced participation from both retail traders and institutional investors. 

Bearish Outlook Envisions $1.50 – $1.80

On the downside, Claude AI outlines a bearish scenario in which XRP drifts toward the $1.50 to $1.80 range. This outcome would likely unfold if ETF demand weakens and broader macroeconomic pressures intensify. 

A sustained drop below the $2.00 level could then lead to extended consolidation around the $1.60 support zone. While network activity on the XRPL might continue, momentum in price action would fade as market participants wait for clearer catalysts. 

Ultimately, Claude AI’s forecast points to relative stability around $2.15 in the near term for the cryptocurrency, at least through January, with larger price movements dependent on ETF market inflows exceeding the $5 billion mark. 

Daodu further pointed out that Claude’s outlook sits between ChatGPT’s more cautious stance and Grok’s comparatively optimistic projections, offering what he describes as a realistic middle ground rather than an extreme outcome.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com

Russia has declared crypto exchange WhiteBIT as "undesirable," effectively barring the platform from operating in the country over support for Ukraine's military.

The Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement that WhiteBIT provided financial and technical support to Ukraine-linked initiatives, including fundraising programs tied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Under Russia's law on "undesirable organizations," entities designated as such must cease operations in the country. Individuals or entities that cooperate with the entities risk fines and criminal charges carrying prison terms.

The prosecutor general claimed that WhiteBIT's management transferred roughly $11 million in 2022 toward Ukrainian defense-related causes, including funds earmarked for drone procurement. Moscow also accused the platform of enabling "gray" schemes to move funds out of Russia.

The $11 million figure cited by Russian authorities broadly aligns with figures published on WhiteBIT's own website, where the exchange has publicly disclosed its charitable contributions tied to Ukraine-related initiatives since the start of the war.

WhiteBIT, based in Lithuania, has openly acknowledged its support for Ukraine. The exchange has previously said it provided technical infrastructure for United24, a crypto-enabled fundraising platform launched at the initiative of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for humanitarian and defense purposes, according to the company's website.

Russia's move comes amid broader crypto-related sanctions and tensions in its ongoing conflict with Ukraine. In July 2025, Ukrainian authorities imposed a new package of sanctions targeting Russian financial and crypto schemes, blacklisting 60 legal entities and 73 Russian nationals linked to sanctions evasion and military financing, according to a report from The Kyiv Independent.

Meanwhile, WhiteBIT continues to expand internationally, including into the U.S. market. In December, the exchange announced its U.S. launch alongside a marketing campaign in New York's Times Square, marking a high-profile step in its global expansion. 

In 2025, WhiteBIT also expanded operations in Australia, Argentina, and Brazil, among other markets, according to a separate business update.

The Block has reached out to WhiteBIT for comment.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Bitcoin encounters mounting selling pressure as January 2026 ends, including a $2.24 billion drop in stablecoin market capitalization, a year-low Coinbase premium, and a sharp decline in mining hashrate due to a severe US ice storm.

The combined impact of these factors has prompted veteran trader Peter Brandt to warn that Bitcoin could fall below $70,000 if these market pressures persist.

Stablecoin Exodus Signals Capital Flight From Crypto

The crypto market is facing a major liquidity drop, as the market cap of the top 12 stablecoins has fallen by $2.24 billion in just 10 days, in line with Bitcoin’s 8% decline. According to market intelligence platform Santiment, this decrease goes beyond typical profit-taking.

The data indicate a critical challenge for Bitcoin bulls. Rather than rotating capital into stablecoins to wait for better entry points, investors are cashing out to fiat.

Stablecoins provide essential liquidity for crypto purchases. When their supply drops, the market’s ability to absorb selling pressure or support rebounds is reduced.

Historically, crypto recoveries have depended on the growth of the stablecoin market cap, signaling new capital entering the space. The recent decline suggests that short-term buying power is shrinking.

Furthermore, Santiment explained that this withdrawal could be due to money shifting into gold and silver as investors find them more attractive in the current environment. The consequence of this move is that altcoins will suffer heavy losses.

Coinbase Premium Plunges Into Negative Territory

Bitcoin’s decline is compounded by the Coinbase Premium Index, which has fallen to its lowest level in a year, showing heightened selling pressure from US investors.

The Coinbase Premium tracks the price gap between Bitcoin on Coinbase Pro and the global average, offering insight into US institutional and retail sentiment.

Data from Coinglass reveals the premium went deep into negative territory from January 12 to 26, 2026, with readings below -0.05% and dropping to nearly -0.15% after January 21. CryptoQuant data shows that the 7-day average Coinbase Premium Index has fallen to its lowest level since the beginning of the year.

The negative premium means Bitcoin is trading at a discount on Coinbase, reflecting stronger selling by US participants.

Ice Storm Triggers Mining Crisis and Hashrate Collapse

A severe US ice storm has delivered another blow to Bitcoin, causing hashrate to drop from 1.133 ZH/s to 690 EH/s over two days. The US makes up about a third of Bitcoin’s global mining capacity, with key operations in Texas run by companies such as MARA and Foundry Digital.

Analyst Darkfost from CryptoQuant reports that MARA’s hashrate fell by 4 times in 3 days compared to its monthly average. The extreme cold disrupted power grids, leading to load cuts and higher electricity costs. These conditions forced miners to shut down operations and avoid unsustainable costs.

If mining companies endure revenue shortfalls, miners might be forced to sell their holdings to cover ongoing expenses, adding to the pressure of sale while liquidity remains tight.

Technical Breakdown Points to Further Downside

Veteran trader Peter Brandt has flagged a bearish technical signal that matches the overall downward trend. Brandt notes that Bitcoin has broken down from a bear channel on the daily chart, moving below a rising channel established since late December 2025.

Brandt’s analysis suggests Bitcoin must recover above $93,000 to negate the bearish outlook. If it fails, the price could decline toward $81,833 or even $66,883.

This technical forecast adds weight to the bearish narrative seen in on-chain metrics and broader market structure. With liquidity draining, strong U.S. selling, and stressed miners, Bitcoin lacks the support to reclaim key resistance levels. The combination of technical and fundamental factors makes a near-term recovery difficult.