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🔔 Brazil's Upcoming Tax on Stablecoins: A Shift in the Crypto Landscape 💰 Brazil is set to introduce a 3.5% tax on stablecoin purchases and remittances, treating them as foreign currency exchanges under the existing Tax on Financial Transactions (IOF). This measure, proposed by the Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal), aims to classify stablecoins as digital assets subject to taxation, closing a loophole that allowed individuals and companies to avoid taxes on these operations. 🚫 However, individuals will be exempt from this tax if their monthly transactions do not exceed 10,000 Brazilian reais (approximately $1,910). In contrast, companies using stablecoins will not benefit from this exemption. This move aligns cryptocurrency transactions with traditional remittances, thereby increasing oversight on institutions handling stablecoins. 🔍 The proposal also includes stricter regulations for entities operating with crypto for payments or international remittances. According to Tiago Severo, a lawyer specializing in crypto, these entities

will need to raise governance, evidence trails, and controls to prevent money laundering to a level closer to the regulated exchange rate.

⚠️ Despite the government's intentions, the measure is expected to face significant opposition from the crypto industry. Analysts predict that it may drive customers away from local businesses towards decentralized finance alternatives. There is also uncertainty regarding the application of this tax to transactions conducted outside the centralized exchange sector, as Brazilians can manage stablecoins through decentralized finance options and self-hosted wallets.

🙂 China’s Alibaba AI Predicts the Price of XRP, Solana and Bitcoin By the End of 2026 ‼️ When prompted with carefully engineered sentences, China’s Alibaba AI (aka KIMI) model reveals detailed and ambitious price scenarios for XRP, Solana, and Bitcoin by the end of the year. 📌 Based on KIMI’s assessment, a prolonged crypto bull cycle alongside clearer and more constructive regulation in the United States could lift major digital assets to new all-time highs (ATHs) over the coming eleven months. Below, we break down KIMI’s projections for the three leading cryptocurrencies. 🔍 Currently trading around $1.45, KIMI estimates that under sustained bullish conditions, XRP could surge to as high as $10 by the end of 2026. That scenario would translate into gains of roughly 600%, or close to 7x increase from current prices. 🔔 From a technical perspective, XRP’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is hovering near 30, placing the asset on the boundary of oversold territory. This often signals that selling pressure is close to peaking, with buyers likely to step in at current levels to capitalize on discounted prices. 📣 At the same time, January’s support and resistance zones formed bullish flag patterns across late 2025 and early 2026, a technical structure that frequently precedes upside breakouts. ⬇️ Institutional inflows from newly approved U.S.-based XRP exchange-traded funds, along with Ripple’s growing network of partners and the possibility of the US CLARITY bill getting finalised this year, could act as the explosive catalysts needed to hit Alibaba’s target.

⁉️ Gemini to Exit UK, EU, Aus Market, Shifts Accounts to Withdrawal-Only From March 5 ❗️ Gemini has announced that it will cease operations in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia marking another high-profile exit as the country transitions to a stricter regulatory regime for digital asset firms. The exchange will also be winding down operations in the European Union and Australia. 📊 In a notice sent to customers, Gemini said UK operations will formally end on 6 April 2026, with all UK customer accounts placed into withdrawal-only mode from 5 March 2026. The exchange advised users to either transfer assets to an external wallet or offboard via a partner platform ahead of the deadline. 📈 Under the transition plan, Gemini said customers will no longer be able to trade or make new deposits after 5 March. Users who wish to liquidate crypto holdings into fiat must do so before that date, while all crypto and fiat withdrawals must be completed by 6 April. As part of the offboarding process, Gemini has partnered with eToro, offering customers the option to open an eToro account to assist with transferring assets. Gemini also urged users to cancel recurring orders and begin unstaking any staked assets ahead of the shutdown. ➡️ The company warned customers to remain vigilant against potential scams, stating that Gemini representatives will not contact users directly by phone or text during the transition. According to Reuters, Gemini has approved a plan to cut up to 200 jobs globally and narrow its operations to the U.S. and Singapore as part of a broader cost-cutting effort. The layoffs, which affect roughly a quarter of the company’s workforce, will impact staff across Europe, the U.S. and Singapore, the company said.

🚨 Is Pi Coin Set for Kraken Listing? U.S. Exchange Adds Pi Network to 2026 Roadmap 👉 Read more

⚡️ BitGo CEO Mike Belshe: Crypto Must Separate Custody From Trading to Prevent Future Failures 🛍 Mike Belshe is not trying to build the loudest company in crypto. He is trying to build the most trusted one. As CEO and co-founder of BitGo, Belshe has spent the last decade positioning the firm as the institutional backbone of digital assets; the custody provider, settlement engine, and compliance infrastructure that large financial players can actually underwrite. Now, with BitGo becoming the first crypto IPO of 2026, he believes the market is finally catching up to that vision. “We went public because the industry is maturing,” Belshe told CryptoNews in an interview. “Institutions want infrastructure they can diligence, underwrite, and trust over long time horizons.” ❗️ In an industry still defined by cycles of hype, collapse, and reinvention, BitGo’s public debut marks something different: a bet that crypto’s future belongs less to speculative trading and more to regulated financial plumbing. The timing of BitGo’s listing is striking. Crypto markets remain volatile, and the public markets have not always been kind to digital asset firms. Yet Belshe frames the decision as almost inevitable, not opportunistic but structural. “The strategic rationale is straightforward: more transparency, more access, and a stronger platform for long-term institutional adoption,” he says. ⚠️ For BitGo, becoming a public company is not simply a capital event. It is a governance statement. Disclosure and accountability, Belshe argues, are features when your business is safeguarding billions of dollars in client assets. “It raises the bar on disclosure and governance,” he says. “That’s a feature, not a bug, when your job is safeguarding client assets.” Unlike exchanges built around retail flow, BitGo has never positioned itself as a trading destination. Instead, it has focused on what institutions actually require to participate in crypto markets responsibly: custody, wallet technology, settlement workflows, prime brokerage services, stablecoin rails, and compliance architecture. ❓ “BitGo isn’t a retail exchange,” Belshe explains. “We’re the underlying infrastructure that institutions rely on.” That distinction is more than branding. It is also a response to the industry’s most painful lessons. “A core lesson from past failures is that vertically integrated models can create dangerous single points of failure,” he says. BitGo’s philosophy is rooted in separation. Custody should not sit inside the same entity as trading, market making, or clearing. That structural division, familiar in traditional finance, is precisely what Belshe believes crypto needs to survive its next phase. 🌐 “The long-term health of this market depends on separating roles,” he says. “That’s exactly where BitGo has focused for years.”

📌 Silver Is Trading Like a Shortage Story – Bitcoin Like a Macro Beta Trade 🔔 Silver and Bitcoin have spent much of the past decade being discussed in the same breath, often framed as parallel alternatives to fiat money and beneficiaries of macro stress. That story is currently being put to the test, as the two assets are drifting in wildly different directions in late January 2026, indicating how investors are now valuing them as a vastly different trade in a tightening financial environment. ❗️ Silver shot to a fresh all-time high on Thursday and briefly hit over $121 per ounce, only to be violently pulled back, falling over 15% on Friday to about $97. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has been on a downward trend on Friday, trading around $82,800, approximately 2.2% in 24 hours after touching an intraday low near $81,300. ⚠️ There have been losses over time periods, with Bitcoin falling by almost 7% in the last week, over 13% in the last two weeks, and about 22% in comparison to a year ago. The cryptocurrency now trades over 34% below its record in October of over $126,000, which happened amid an institutionally fueled run-up related to inflows of spot ETFs. ⚡️ However, the price of silver remains approximately 25% up in the last month, nearly 150% higher in the last six months, and more than 200% up in the last year, after having shot up in a massive surge that started in 2025.

🚨 7 Best Crypto Prediction Markets In 2026 – Top Platforms Reviewed 👉 Read more

🚀 Top Airdrop Updates from @CryptoSmartHubOfficial — What to Farm Right Now? Here are the latest airdrop and community programs worth your attention 👇 1️⃣ Mocaverse — MocaProof Mocaverse has launched MocaProof, a new on-chain verification system where activity = rewards. Proofs are based on actions like exchange trading volume or holding specific NFTs. The more proofs you complete, the higher your potential rewards. 🧩 How to join: • Visit the platform and sign up • Open the Proofs tab and complete available verifications • Set a wallet to receive rewards • Invite friends and track your pet’s level in the Dashboard ⚠️ Some proofs are advanced, but several are accessible to regular users. 2️⃣ D3 — Galxe Quests A new Galxe quest is live for D3. 🧩 Steps: • Visit Galxe • Connect your wallet or social account • Complete the task to earn points ⏰ Deadline: February 2, 2026 3️⃣ Verse8 — Ambassador / Creator Program Verse8 has launched its Creator Partner Program for X creators. 🧩 Selected partners receive: • Access to a credit faucet • Exclusive bonuses • Early access to new features 📝 Apply via the website by filling out the form. 4️⃣ Spaace — Ambassador Program Spaace is running an ambassador program with confirmed rewards. 🧩 Ambassadors get: • Upgraded referral link • Share of the K reward pool 👉 Follow the link, click Join the Ambassador Program, and submit your application. 💬 Which one are you joining? Check more airdrops and project breakdowns on @CryptoSmartHubOfficial Website | Chat | Twitter | YouTube

🪙 Tether's Strategic Shift: Investing in Physical Gold 📈 Gold prices have surged significantly in 2026, increasing by 92% over the past year and reaching $5,279 per ounce as of January 28. This rise coincides with Tether's plans to deepen its involvement in physical gold. 💼 Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announced that the company intends to allocate 10% to 15% of its investment portfolio to physical gold by the end of 2026. This marks a significant expansion of Tether's strategy towards hard assets. However, Ardoino clarified that this allocation pertains only to Tether's proprietary investment portfolio, which is funded by excess profits, and does not affect the reserves backing its stablecoin products like USDT or the gold-backed token XAUT.

For our own portfolio, it’s reasonable that we are going to have around 10% in bitcoin and 10% to 15% in gold

Ardoino told Reuters, emphasizing that this move is part of a broader diversification effort. 🏆 The gold exposure will be exclusively in physical bullion stored in secure Swiss vaults and fully owned by Tether. Purchases will be made gradually rather than through a single large transaction, with portfolio decisions reviewed quarterly. 📊 Tether already holds approximately 130 metric tons of gold, much of which supports its gold-linked products. The company added 27 metric tons in the fourth quarter of 2025 and has been acquiring about two tons per week despite rising prices. 🌍 Ardoino views gold as a hedge against global uncertainty due to ongoing geopolitical tensions and economic unease that have driven demand for tangible stores of value. He also compared gold and bitcoin, describing both as long-term holdings rather than short-term trades.

📉 Crypto Market Update: A Week of Losses with Some Notable Exceptions 💔 Over the past week, the crypto market experienced a significant downturn, losing approximately $220 billion and hovering around the $3 trillion mark. Bitcoin fell by 6.6%, and many altcoins suffered losses; however, a few managed to post gains. 🚫 Last Sunday, Bitcoin was trading just above $95,000 per coin but has since dropped to $88,798. Ethereum (ETH) saw a decline of 11.6%, while BNB and XRP each fell by over 7%. Solana (SOL) decreased by 11.1%, and the biggest loser of the week was Merlin Chain (MERL), which plummeted by 48.74%. Other notable declines included SPX6900 (SPX) down 31.13%, Flow (FLOW) falling 25.44%, and Decred (DCR) dropping 24.93%. 🌟 Despite the overall market slump, some cryptocurrencies defied the trend. River (RIVER) surged by 131.7%, and Canton (CC) rose by 36.1%. Other gainers included Oasis Network (ROSE) with a 25% increase, Kaia (KAIA) up 23.61%, and Myx Finance Token (MYX) which saw an 18% rise. Additionally, gold-backed tokens PAXG and XAUT each gained just over 9% against the U.S. dollar. ⚖️ This week served as a stark reminder of the crypto market's volatility, swinging from severe losses to unexpected gains. While most major cryptocurrencies struggled, a small group of outliers and tokenized gold demonstrated that opportunities still exist for investors willing to look beyond the chaos. The sustainability of this resilience will depend on the market's risk appetite and whether it has more turbulence ahead.