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The Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF is now available for trading on E*Trade, Morgan Stanley's online brokerage platform, Crypto Briefing reported. The listing provides Grayscale with access to a network of financial advisors who manage over $7.4 trillion in assets. This allows investors to gain spot Bitcoin exposure directly through their standard brokerage accounts.

Lee Eok-won, chairman of South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC), has proposed shifting the country's crypto exchanges to a formal licensing system as part of a broader policy to enhance the attractiveness of its capital markets, Financial News reported on Jan. 28. The chairman officially raised the proposal during a regular press briefing, suggesting the change from the current registration-based model be included in the Digital Asset Basic Act, widely known as the second phase of the crypto legislation. Under existing law, crypto exchanges must renew their business registration every three years. The proposed licensing system is intended to strengthen the status, role, and responsibilities of these trading platforms.

Two teenage males have been arrested in Seoul for allegedly stealing 28 million won (about $20,700) from a buyer under the pretext of an in-person cryptocurrency transaction, MBC News reported. The suspects are accused of meeting the victim in an apartment parking lot in the Cheongdam-dong neighborhood of Gangnam-gu at around 10:00 a.m. UTC on Jan. 27, taking the cash, and then fleeing the scene. The Seoul Gangnam Police Station is currently investigating the case.

Coinbase has begun pilot testing a service to help businesses issue their own stablecoins, Cointelegraph reported. The service, called Coinbase Custom Stablecoins, was first announced in December 2023 and is designed to help companies earn rewards and transfer funds freely across different blockchains. The first test involves USDF, a stablecoin under development by crypto infrastructure platform Flipcash, which will serve as the native stablecoin for the Flipcash app upon its launch. Coinbase explained that USDF has been activated on its exchange for backend testing but is not yet available for trading, deposits, or withdrawals.

The potential for a Bitcoin rally has grown after the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) temporarily fell below 96 for the first time since early 2022, BeInCrypto reported. The outlet noted that historically, BTC has often seen significant price increases when the DXY has traded below that level.

Bitwise has registered an entity for a Uniswap (UNI) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S. state of Delaware, Decrypt reported. The move is considered a preliminary step before a formal ETF application is filed with regulators. Delaware is a popular jurisdiction for financial and investment funds to incorporate due to its business-friendly environment, which includes tax advantages and flexible corporate structures.

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded $63.85 million in net outflows on Jan. 27, reversing to outflows after just one trading day, according to data from TraderT. The data shows that BlackRock's ETHA led the withdrawals with $59.29 million in outflows, followed by Grayscale's ETHE with $14.55 million in outflows. In contrast, Grayscale's Mini ETH fund saw inflows of $9.99 million.

The number of cryptocurrency traders in South Korea has increased by approximately 70% over the past three years, Asia Business Daily reported on Jan. 28. The report cited data submitted by South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service to Lee Heon-seung, a lawmaker with the People Power Party. According to the data, the number of trading participants on the country's five largest exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Streami, and Korbit—grew steadily from 5.82 million in 2023 to 8.91 million in 2024 and 9.91 million in 2025. The figure for last year marks a 70.3% increase from 2023. Meanwhile, combined trading volume on these exchanges surged from 1,122.22 trillion won ($801.6 billion) in 2023 to 2,411.32 trillion won ($1.8 trillion) in 2024, before entering a correction phase and settling at 2,139.89 trillion won ($1.6 trillion) last year.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a total net outflow of $146.05 million on Jan. 27, reversing course after a single day of net inflows, according to data compiled by TraderT. Among the funds, BlackRock's IBIT saw an outflow of $101.49 million, and Fidelity's FBTC experienced an outflow of $44.56 million.

The new Ethereum standard, ERC-8004, is expected to launch on the mainnet this week, Cointelegraph reported. Marco De Rossi, the AI lead at MetaMask, stated in a protocol developer Telegram channel that the development of ERC-8004 is complete and that a mainnet launch is likely for early Thursday. The official Ethereum X account also confirmed that the standard will be introduced soon. ERC-8004 is designed to allow autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agents to identify each other, transact, and build reputations on-chain without intermediaries.

South Korea's ruling Democratic Party has failed to reach an internal consensus on key provisions of its planned Digital Asset Basic Act, its digital asset task force announced on Jan. 28. According to a report from Edaily, sensitive issues, including the scope of the Bank of Korea's authority and restrictions on major shareholders of crypto exchanges, will be finalized after further coordination. Task force chairman Lee Jeong-moon stated that opinions are sharply divided on a proposal to grant issuance rights for won-denominated stablecoins only to consortiums where banks hold a stake of over 51%. He noted that a compromise plan sent to the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission has not yet been agreed upon. A separate proposal to cap any major shareholder's stake in an exchange at 15% was deferred, with Lee citing concerns over legislative strategy despite a general consensus on the measure's intent. The party plans to introduce its version of the bill before the Lunar New Year holiday next month following further internal and government discussions.

Whale Alert reported that 866,006,205 USDT has been transferred from OKX to an unknown wallet. The transaction is valued at about $865 million.

AINFT, a Web3 and artificial intelligence (AI) service platform built on the Tron blockchain, has released a white paper compliant with the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. According to AINFT, the release aims to establish a sustainable, decentralized AI ecosystem on the Tron blockchain under a standardized and transparent compliance framework. The move follows AINFT's earlier announcement of the full launch of its platform, which integrates multiple generative AI models, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, to provide a multi-model AI conversation system. The platform also offers an API interface for developers and supports one-click login and on-chain payments through integration with the TronLink wallet.

Whale Alert reported that 825,447,871 USDT has been transferred from an unknown wallet to OKX. The transaction is valued at about $825 million.

Derik Han, Head of Asia-Pacific (APAC) at Mysten Labs, stated that $120 billion is currently deposited in on-chain finance globally, which is now generating numerous real-world commercial use cases built on Layer 1 blockchain infrastructure. He made the remarks while introducing practical applications of on-chain finance at the ninth News1 Blockchain Leaders Club event in Seoul on Jan. 28, according to a report by News1. Han highlighted that Sui-based on-chain finance services alone hold $2 billion in assets. He emphasized that despite being a newer blockchain launched in 2023, Sui has processed a cumulative 12 billion transactions and is now known as the fastest existing Layer 1 blockchain due to consistent speed enhancements. Han added that Layer 1 blockchains are actively collaborating with various companies on on-chain finance initiatives and will work to solve issues such as fragmented liquidity.

A South Dakota state representative has reintroduced legislation that would permit the state to invest up to 10% of its public funds in Bitcoin, according to Cointelegraph. The bill, HB 1155, introduced by Representative Logan Manhart, seeks to amend state law to authorize the state's investment council to allocate the funds. The move follows a similar bill Manhart introduced in January of last year, which was ultimately rejected by the state legislature.

Beginning in February, homebuyers in regulated areas of South Korea, including Seoul, will be required to disclose proceeds from cryptocurrency sales on their capital procurement plans, Herald Business reported. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Korea Real Estate Board is in the final stages of updating its systems to reflect the change. Once the updates are complete, an amendment to the Transaction Reporting Act will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval. If passed, the new regulation will be implemented immediately without a grace period.

Bitmine (BMNR) has staked an additional 113,280 ETH, valued at $340.68 million, according to Onchain Lens. The company now holds a total of 2,265,984 ETH in staking, worth approximately $6.8 billion.

Selling pressure from the U.S. is dictating recent short-term trends for BTC, according to a report from Wintermute. The report noted that BTC has been trapped in a range between $85,000 and $94,000 for approximately 60 days. It pointed to large net outflows from spot BTC ETFs last week and a persistent discount in the Coinbase Premium as confirmation of selling by U.S. institutional investors. Wintermute suggested a high probability of increased volatility this week due to macroeconomic events, including the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. The key factors to watch are ETF fund flows and the direction of the U.S. dollar. A shift to net inflows for the ETFs or a weaker dollar could lead to an attempt to break past the mid-$90,000s, the report explained.

Decentralized satellite internet project Spacecoin (SPACE) announced that it recently held a technology seminar with the School of Electrical Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). The event, held at KAIST's main campus, focused on the vision and implementation plan for Spacecoin and its Space Network. Attendees included Spacecoin founder Tae Oh, an advisory group of former senior Samsung Electronics engineers, and members of research labs led by five KAIST professors, including Professor Kang Joon-hyuk.

A South Korean court has rejected a taxpayer’s request to overturn taxes imposed on cryptocurrency received through a trading competition organized by an exchange, Digital Asset reported. The plaintiff argued that the assets constituted prize money from a ranking-based competition with multiple participants, which under South Korea’s Income Tax Act allows 80% of such earnings to be deducted from comprehensive income tax. Tax authorities disagreed and imposed the levy. The court ruled that although the cryptocurrency qualified as prize money, the trading event did not meet the statutory definition of a ranking competition eligible for tax deductions under the law.

Artificial intelligence (AI) blockchain platform Talus Network announced it will host its 2026 New Year’s Gathering on Feb. 4 at DreamPlus in Gangnam, Seoul. The event's agenda includes the unveiling of Talus's 2026 roadmap, a panel discussion with industry experts, community networking opportunities, Korean traditional games such as Yunnori, and a lucky draw. CoinNess is a media partner for the event.

Spot gold has once again broken its all-time high, surpassing $5,200 per ounce.

South Korean prosecutors are denying any internal involvement in the loss of seized Bitcoin worth approximately 40 billion won ($29 million), Edaily reported. The Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office has launched an internal inspection into five of its investigators regarding the incident. The investigators, who were responsible for managing seized assets, reportedly lost 320 BTC after accessing a phishing site during a work handover last August. Prosecutors claim the theft was perpetrated by an external party and that there is currently no evidence of collusion from within the office.

CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season Index has dropped by four points from yesterday, now standing at 25. The index determines an "altcoin season" if 75% of the top 100 coins by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins and wrapped coins, outperform Bitcoin over the preceding 90 days. Conversely, if Bitcoin outperforms the majority of these altcoins, it is considered a "Bitcoin season." A score closer to 100 signifies conditions favorable to altcoins.