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US authorities are intensifying enforcement against crypto fraud, targeting global laundering networks and pig-butchering scams.
Investor sentiment is mixed, with Bitcoin ETFs seeing outflows while speculative derivatives activity drives isolated token rallies.
Ethereum and Hyperliquid are expanding crypto infrastructure into AI coordination and commodity-linked DeFi markets.
The cryptocurrency market today saw developments through enforcement action, regulatory positioning, speculative rallies, and infrastructure innovation. From a major US conviction in a crypto laundering case to Ethereum’s push into AI-native standards.
A US federal court has sentenced a Chinese national to 46 months in prison for laundering $36.9 million linked to a large-scale cryptocurrency investment scam.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Jingliang Su, a 45-year-old Chinese citizen, was part of an international network that defrauded 174 US victims.
Victims were led to believe their investments were generating profits, while funds were quietly siphoned off.
Authorities revealed that the stolen money was routed from US-controlled bank accounts to a single account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas, converted into Tether (USDT), and then transferred to wallets controlled in Cambodia.
Bitwise Asset Management registered a Bitwise Uniswap ETF entity in Delaware on January 27, 2026. While the registration itself does not constitute an SEC filing, it is widely viewed as a preparatory step toward one.
Such trust registrations have historically preceded formal applications for crypto-linked ETFs. If pursued, the product would provide regulated exposure to Uniswap’s governance token, UNI, expanding ETF access beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.
At the time of writing, UNI trades around $4.79, with a market capitalization of $3.04 billion and 24-hour trading volume near $135.7 million, down almost 20% on the day.
Zcash (ZEC) rose over 10% and reclaimed the $384 level, even as the broader market remained cautious.
Derivatives data shows Perpetual futures open interest surged to $71.26 million, with a positive funding rate of around 0.0061%, indicating aggressive long positioning.
In contrast, spot market data paints a different picture: over $31 million worth of ZEC has been sold on exchanges over the past 48 hours.
Liquidity heatmaps indicate a strong cluster below current prices, pointing to potential downside toward the $350 region if momentum fades.
Decentralized derivatives platform Hyperliquid recorded a major milestone as open interest on its HIP-3 permissionless perpetuals framework surged to $793 million, up 205% month-on-month.
HIP-3, launched in October 2025, allows permissionless creation of perpetual futures markets. Since launch, cumulative volume has reached $25 billion, with the surge largely driven by commodities trading.
Gold and silver perpetuals have attracted significant interest as precious metals rally amid dollar weakness and geopolitical risk.
Hyperliquid now commands roughly 70% of the decentralized perpetual futures market, with total open interest across the platform at $9.6 billion, surpassing all major competitors combined.
According to SoSoValue, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded $147.37 million in net outflows on January 27.
BlackRock’s IBIT led the decline with $102.81 million in outflows, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC at $44.56 million.
Total Bitcoin spot ETF assets stand at $114.99 billion, representing 6.44% of Bitcoin’s market capitalization.
The Ethereum development team is set to launch new ERC-8004 standard, enabling AI agents to create portable identities and reputations.
The proposal introduces three registries identity, reputation, and validation allowing AI agents to function across multiple platforms and blockchain networks without needing centralized access control.
Each agent receives an on-chain identity, which can be used to build reusable reputation data while requesting independent validation of their produced work.
The developers of ERC-8004 present their system as neutral infrastructure that helps Ethereum to function as a coordination layer for both financial operations and autonomous software systems.
Also Read: BlackRock’s Ethereum Bet in 2026: Why They Stay Bullish
1. What is a pig-butchering crypto scam?
It is a long-con fraud where scammers build trust over time before extracting large investments through fake crypto platforms.
2. Does Bitwise’s Uniswap ETF registration mean approval is coming?
No, it’s a preparatory step; SEC approval would still require a separate formal filing and review process.
3. Why is Zcash’s rally considered risky?
Because the price surge is driven mainly by leveraged derivatives, while spot investors are actively selling.
4. Why are Bitcoin ETFs seeing outflows?
ETF outflows often reflect short-term risk-off sentiment, profit-taking, or macro uncertainty rather than structural rejection.
5. What is the goal of Ethereum’s ERC-8004 standard?
To give AI agents portable identities, reputations, and validation tools so they can interact trustlessly across platforms and blockchains.
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