On January 1, 2026, a major shift quietly went live across Europe.


Bitcoin climbed above $77,000 after the Bank of Japan raised rates to 1.25%, while the yen weakened and markets assessed the impact on global risk assets.

Ether and XRP ETFs saw fresh outflows as Bitcoin ETFs attracted $159 million and BTC climbed above $77,000. Zcash ETF demand also surged.

Bitcoin Core 32 adds parallel validation reads and a mempool-based fee estimator. Draft release notes also flag mining compatibility changes, wallet updates and server limits.
THE EU HAS OFFICIALLY ENDED CRYPTO PRIVACY WITH DAC8 As of January 1, 2026, the DAC8 law is live across the European Union. This marks the definitive end of anonymous crypto holdings for every resident in the member states. What this means for you: Automatic Reporting: Every Show more