Ethereum Gas Fee Continues to Drop, Now at 0.352 Gwei

On January 18, the Algorand Foundation announced it will relocate its U.S. headquarters to Delaware and appoint a new board of directors to advance its U.S. operations and next-phase strategic expansion. The new board will focus on driving initiatives in global payments, asset tokenization, and other key areas. Board members include: - Bill Barhydt, Founder and CEO of Abra (Chairman) - Alex Holmes, Executive Vice Chairman of United Texas Bank Dallas and former CEO of MoneyGram - Michael Mosier, former Acting Director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s FinCEN - Rebecca Rettig, Chief Legal Officer of Jito Labs - Staci Warden, CEO of the Algorand Foundation

**Jan 18 – Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong pushed back against reports claiming the White House is angered by Coinbase’s unilateral actions and considering withdrawing support for the CLARITY Act. He said the claims are unsubstantiated, noting the White House has been proactive on the matter: it previously asked Coinbase to explore reaching an agreement with banks, and those efforts are currently in the works. More details will be announced soon.** **Meanwhile, crypto reporter Eleanor Terrett—who broke the original report—countered Armstrong, stating: “My reporting is thorough and accurate. The key takeaway is that the White House asked Coinbase to reach a yield agreement, and White House support now appears to hinge on the final outcome of that agreement.”**

On January 18, former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social announcing new tariffs targeting eight European and Nordic countries over the Greenland issue (a Danish territory). Starting February 1 this year, a 10% tariff will apply to all goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland entering the U.S. The tariff will rise to 25% by June 1 and remain in place until an agreement is reached for the "complete and thorough purchase of Greenland." In his post, Trump claimed these countries have visited Greenland for "unknown reasons," calling the situation a "dangerous threat" to global security, protection, and survival. He accused them of playing an "extremely dangerous game" with intolerable risk, framing the tariffs as a decisive measure to end the potential threat and protect global peace. Separately, the European Union will convene an emergency meeting of member-state ambassadors in Brussels on January 18 to discuss the Greenl

On January 18, EmberCN monitoring shows a long-dormant Bitcoin whale that accumulated 5,000 BTC 12 years ago offloaded another 500 BTC 9 hours earlier—valued at $47.77 million. The whale purchased the 5,000 BTC at an average of $332 in November 2013 and began selling after November 2024. To date, it has transferred 2,500 BTC (worth $261 million) to Binance at an average price of ~$104,632, netting a $260 million profit. The whale still holds 2,500 BTC, currently valued at $237 million.

Jan. 17 — Per Coinglass data, total crypto liquidations across the network over the past 24 hours hit $78.792 million, with $30.397 million in long liquidations and $48.394 million in short liquidations. Over the same 24-hour window, 68,643 traders were liquidated globally. The largest single liquidation totaled $1.3055 million, occurring on the Hyperliquid xyz:AMZN-USD pair.

Jan. 17 — Trader James Wynn, who once teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, took to social media to say: “Ethereum looks pretty strong. The cycle we’ve been waiting for might be unfolding now.” Many are still on the sidelines; others have already stepped away—returned to their day jobs, or moved back in with their moms. But this time, it might actually be here. As I noted earlier, Q1 will be a bull market. Watch for ETH, PEPE, DRB, and BYTE.