Crypto news today: Ethereum attempts to recover, while Bitcoin continues to be supported by institutions and a revolutionary shift in the gold industry by a pioneer.

Key Highlights of the Day

• Ethereum surges 1.88% with signs of a strong recovery Current price is $3.35K
• Bitcoin remains dominant after support from major financial institutions Price rises to $96.68K (+1.91%)
• Flow faces an unexpected crisis but is gradually recovering with the price holding at $0.10 (+2.73%)
• Tether introduces a revolution by creating a sub-asset linked to gold
• Fear and Greed Index currently at 42, reflecting market caution

Ethereum at a Turning Point: Retail Confidence vs. Whale Selling Pressure

The Ethereum market is fighting a closely watched situation. After ETH rebounded from a level more than 10% below in early January, market analysts suggest that if the price can break above the resistance at $3,300 and decisively close above the 200-day moving average (200-EMA), the next target could quickly reach $3,900.

However, data from analysis institutions like CryptoQuant and Hyblock Capital show concerning divergence. Large investment firms (whales) have been net sellers totaling over $40 million during the week, while many retail investors continue to buy eagerly, pushing prices higher. This raises an important question: Will retail confidence be strong enough to absorb the selling pressure from whales and restore a steady bullish flow?

Bitcoin remains in the Passive Index Funds zone as Strategy recovers due to MSCI

Positive news for digital asset holders in Strategy stocks, as shares refused to decline and increased about 5% after MSCI announced it would stop considering removing Digital Asset Treasury Companies from the market index.

The most important aspect of this decision is that MSCI is preparing new screening criteria to differentiate between general business units holding digital assets and institutions primarily engaged in such investments. One criterion is holding digital assets worth more than 50% of the total account value.

The main reason this news is considered a significant negative for the market is that being in the MSCI index means remaining a target for Passive Index Funds, which attract massive capital inflows in the modern world. If the decision reverses, it could cause billions of dollars to flow out of the market immediately. Despite stock prices in regular trading sessions dropping, future reactions are expected to be clear, as more than 190 public companies hold Bitcoin as reserves.

Flow faces a crisis but tries to revive after fake tokens were sent into the Blockchain

A major incident occurred on December 27 when hackers exploited vulnerabilities in the Cadence runtime system to create multiple fake tokens within asset categories without needing to withdraw funds from other wallets. The estimated total damage is around $3.9 million.

The response was swift. The team, along with partner board (Board Trade), suspended the ETH network to read-only mode, only allowing write operations to cancel unauthorized token movements and destroy all fake coins. The Flow Foundation confirmed that 99% of the loaned funds in the governance wallets remain safe—only a small portion of fake coins was temporarily affected.

Although this event caused FLOW’s price to plummet by about 40%, it has been trying to recover and stabilize around $0.10 after a few attempts. The development team has identified the issues and is accelerating security upgrades and system improvements soon.

Tether leads a revolution with Scudo, making gold ownership easy for everyone

The stablecoin giant Tether announced the launch of Scudo—a new accounting unit valued at 1/1,000 of a troy ounce of gold. This is equivalent to a fractional unit of the XAUT contract (which 1 XAUT = 1 troy ounce of physical gold, totaling over 1,300 bars).

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino explained that Scudo is similar to Satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, designed to make gold not just a safe-haven asset stored in vaults but also spendable in the digital world. It reduces storage complexity and addresses issues related to dividing small units.

This move seems to support current trends, as precious metals are expected to increase significantly in value by 2025—gold soaring 65% and silver over 140%. Investors are fleeing inflation fears and the dominance of the US dollar. However, economist Peter Schiff warns that this could be a sign of the largest inflationary period in US history.

Summary: The market is shifting upward, but it’s uncertain how long selling pressure can be sustained

The current market condition reflects intense competition: institutional funds are unsure whether to continue entering deeply (and thus Bitcoin and Strategy are only partially supported) after MSCI’s support was withdrawn. Conversely, retail investors are still eager to buy and push prices down, especially in Ethereum. The interaction between these two forces will determine the market’s direction in the coming months.

The Fear and Greed Index is currently at 42, indicating that fear (Fear) still dominates the market, compounded by events such as the Flow crisis and warnings from the conflicting inflow-outflow of whale funds.