Ethereum Gas Fee Continues to Drop, Now at 0.352 Gwei

January 13 — U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is officially backing a newly formed Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) set to go public via a Kraken-affiliated sponsor. The blank-check firm, KrakAcquisition (backed by Kraken, Tribe Capital, and Natural Capital), filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, January 13, aiming to raise up to $250 million in its initial public offering (IPO). Per the SEC filing, the Cayman Islands-registered exempt company plans to issue 25 million shares at $10 each in July 2025 and target a Nasdaq Global Market listing under the ticker symbol “KRAQU.” While the SPAC focuses on crypto infrastructure companies, Kraken separately filed a confidential S-1 form in November 2024 seeking a potential IPO of its common stock.

On January 13, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins told Fox Business in an interview that he is confident a cryptocurrency market structure bill will reach U.S. President Donald Trump’s desk for signing this year. “This bill aligns with the President’s strategic goal of positioning the U.S. as a global cryptocurrency hub. Clear legislation and explicit rules will bring certainty to the market,” Atkins said, adding, “We fully support this bill and are very optimistic about its prospects of being presented to the President for signing this year. It will have a significant catalytic effect on the cryptocurrency market.”

On January 13th, 21Shares’ Bitcoin and Gold ETP—BOLD—will debut on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The product aims to deliver Bitcoin-like returns via a single exchange-traded instrument while lowering volatility. BOLD combines the world’s two most liquid alternative assets (Bitcoin and Gold) into a risk-weighted portfolio, marking the first UK-listed product to include both in one exchange-traded vehicle.

On Jan 13, per HyperInsight Monitoring, a whale address starting with 0x931 opened a long position ~10 minutes ago at ~3136.93 USDT. Holding 4,200 ETH, the position has a size of ~$13.17M and uses 25x leverage. Its current liquidation price is ~$3,025.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans on January 13 to fully integrate xAI’s Grok artificial intelligence system into the Pentagon’s network later this month, covering roughly 3 million military and civilian personnel. The tool will be deployed alongside Google’s Gemini on the GenAI.mil platform at the highest security level—Impact Level 5—providing dynamic intelligence support for military operations and planning through real-time data ingestion from X. Hegseth noted the move will deliver a “decisive advantage” and is a key part of his push to rapidly apply AI strategies to the defense system without ideological constraints. Critics, however, have raised concerns about system errors, algorithmic biases, and potential Musk influence over defense decision-making.

January 13 — Per HyperInsight monitoring, a whale wallet starting with 0x931 liquidated a 2,371 ETH ($~7.44 million) long position in the past 30 minutes, posting a loss of ~$114,400. The position was held for ~27 hours, with an average entry price of ~$3,135.76.