Cryptocurrency Market Minutes: JPMorgan Collateral Allowance and Regulatory Improvement Signals, Strong Institutional Capital Movement

As of January 2026, the cryptocurrency market is sending mixed signals of regulatory improvement and institutional capital inflows. Key points to note in this meeting minutes include JPMorgan Chase’s approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum collateral, regulatory movements in the US Senate, and large-scale institutional fund flows. Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $89.56K(-1.77% 24h), and Ethereum is at $2.97K(-3.58% 24h).

Expansion of Institutional Collateral Assets and Regulatory Signals

JPMorgan Chase’s decision to allow Bitcoin and Ethereum as collateral in the cryptocurrency space signifies a shift in traditional finance acceptance. This is not just a technological adoption but a signal that mainstream financial institutions are officially recognizing digital assets.

Meanwhile, Democratic senators in the US Senate are taking measures to condemn President Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Zhao Changpeng. Some Republican senators have also criticized this pardon, indicating bipartisan concerns surrounding cryptocurrency regulation.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that despite the US government shutdown, the completion rate of the market structure bill has reached 90%. This bill, expected to pass before the end of the year, aims to foster innovation in the DeFi sector and protect user rights related to stablecoins.

Market Minutes for Bitcoin and Ethereum: Price Volatility and Institutional Demand

Bitcoin Trends: According to CryptoQuant analysis, whale addresses holding 100~1,000 BTC( currently hold about 5.16 million Bitcoins, accounting for 26% of circulating supply. Since early 2025, whale addresses have net accumulated approximately 681,000 BTC, with an annual cumulative increase of 907,000 BTC, indicating ongoing institutional demand.

Bitcoin is currently moving between the $115,000 resistance and $100,000 support levels. A drop below $100,000 could lead to further adjustments down to around $75,000. To reach the all-time high of $126,080, sustained buying by whales is essential.

Ethereum Spot ETF Fund Flows: Ethereum spot ETFs recorded a net outflow of $128 million on January 23) Eastern Time(, marking the largest fund withdrawal recently. Fidelity’s FETH saw a net outflow of $77.04 million, and BlackRock’s ETHA saw $23.35 million outflow. The total net assets of ETH spot ETFs now stand at $26 billion, representing 5.63% of Ethereum’s total market cap.

Explosive Growth of Perp DEX Market

On-chain decentralized exchange perpetual contract trading volume surpassed $1 trillion in January 2026. This is an increase of over 35% from $739 billion in September, reflecting a surge in leverage trading demand. Trust Wallet has launched Perps covering over 100 markets with up to 100x leverage, allowing self-custody trading.

Major Mergers, Acquisitions, and Ecosystem Expansion

Aggressive M&A Strategies by Institutions: Solmate Infrastructure)SLMT( announced plans to build the Middle East’s first Solana validator node center and pursue aggressive M&A strategies. Following this news, Solmate’s stock surged about 50%, and Solana)SOL( is currently trading at $128.87.

Disputes between Fetch.ai and Ocean Protocol are also set to end. Fetch.ai CEO announced that Ocean Protocol will return 280 million FET tokens, after which Fetch.ai will withdraw all legal claims and cover legal costs. FET tokens are currently trading at $0.24.

OpenAI and Web3 Infrastructure: OpenAI acquired Sky, a natural language interface developer for macOS. This signifies a combination of AI and screen understanding technologies, with about 12 team members joining OpenAI.

Fireblocks)Fireblocks( acquired Dynamic to expand on-chain developer stacks, aiming to build a “custodial-to-consumer)custodial-to-consumer(” technology stack integrating security infrastructure, wallets, authentication, and user onboarding tools.

Aave Labs also acquired stable finance to simplify on-chain savings services for general users.

New Platforms and Ecosystem Integration Trends

Jupiter and ICO Platform: Jupiter plans to launch a new ICO platform in November 2026. The first token issuance is scheduled for mid-November, expected to offer more profit opportunities for JUP holders.

Orderly Network and Domestic Exchanges: Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit is planning to list Orderly)ORDER( trading pairs against the Korean Won. ORDER is currently trading at $0.08.

Clanker and Farcaster Integration: Clanker)Clanker(, a launchpad platform in the Base ecosystem, has officially joined Farcaster)Farcaster(. Clanker ecosystem uses protocol fees for token repurchases, and accumulated ecosystem token fees are burned. About 7% of $CLANKER will be permanently staked to improve liquidity.

Lit Protocol’s LITKEY Launch: Lit Protocol will launch the community token LITKEY on the Base chain via AerodromeFi on October 30. Liquidity and incentives will be pre-injected into the LITKEY/WETH pool.

Rapid Growth and Controversies in the Stablecoin Ecosystem

The first phase of the pre-deposit campaign for stable finance quickly reached the $825 million cap. However, the community raised concerns about insider trading. On-chain analysis shows that 10 wallets linked directly to stable finance owners deposited about $500 million before the official announcement, with only 274 addresses successfully participating.

BlackRock)'s tokenized fund BUIDL deposited about $500 million on the Polygon( network. Polygon CEO officially confirmed that this is BlackRock’s BUIDL distribution.

Spark transferred $100 million in stablecoins to Superstate’s USCC)Crypto Carry Fund$CLANKER , aiming to generate revenue through spot-futures trading. USCC’s current TVL is approximately $411 million, with an annualized return of about 8.35% over the past 30 days.

Summary of Key Funding and Institutional Trends

Recently, the crypto ecosystem has seen active flows of large institutional funds and venture capital:

• Depinsim: Completed an $8 million strategic investment round led by Outlier Ventures
• Pieverse: Completed $7 million funding co-led by Animoca Brands and UOB Ventures
• Quantum Solutions: Invested by Ark Invest(, CEO Cathie Wood holds 4,366 ETH
• Solmate: Completed a $300 million PIPE funding round, stock surged 50%

Security and Regulatory Issues

Ethereum’s 223rd execution layer developer)ACDE( meeting confirmed upgrades for Glamsterdam)Glamsterdam( and the Fusaka)Fusaka( mainnet schedule. Fusaka mainnet is scheduled for release on December 3, 2025, with all execution layer client teams confirming this timeline.

Meanwhile, Nevada Financial Institutions Division)DFI( issued a cease-and-desist order against crypto custody provider Fortress Trust. Fortress holds about $8 million in fiat and $4 million in crypto assets but faces severe liquidity issues, with less than $200,000 in cash and under $1 million in crypto.

Thailand’s Deputy Finance Minister Warapark Tanyong resigned amid allegations of involvement with a communication scam organization, and his wife is under investigation for crypto-related fraud involving $3 million.

Key Takeaways from the Meeting Minutes

The key takeaway from this crypto market meeting is that institutional capital is actively accepting Bitcoin and Ethereum collateral policies and engaging in ecosystem building. JPMorgan’s collateral approval, BlackRock’s large fund inflows, and various project mergers and acquisitions indicate that the crypto market is entering a mature stage. Regulatory environment is also improving, with a high likelihood of passing the market structure bill by year-end. However, insider trading allegations in the stablecoin ecosystem and security issues remain ongoing challenges requiring continuous monitoring.