america

Piper Sandler has lowered the target price for Coinbase from $350 to $270, maintaining a "Neutral" rating. Previously, Bernstein also reduced the target price for Coinbase from $510 to $440.Meanwhile, Bank of America Securities has upgraded Coinbase's investment rating from "Neutral" to "Buy," keeping the target price unchanged at $340. The firm noted that although its stock price has fallen about 40% from last July's high, the pace of product development has accelerated beneath the surface of last year's fourth-quarter cryptocurrency adjustments, and the total addressable market has also expanded. They are optimistic about Coinbase's ambition to develop into a "full-service exchange" and its goal of cross-selling more products to existing users.U.S. stock market data shows that Coinbase's stock price is currently around $240, with a total market capitalization of approximately $64.5 billion.

According to Cointelegraph, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan warned during the earnings call that if issuers are allowed to pay interest, interest-bearing stablecoins could siphon off up to $6 trillion in deposits from the U.S. banking system.Moynihan cited research referenced by the U.S. Treasury, indicating that a significant amount of bank deposits could shift to stablecoins due to such products. He stated that the operational model of these products would be closer to money market mutual funds, with funds held in cash, central bank reserves, or short-term government bonds, rather than being used for lending.He believes that this migration of deposits will shrink the size of bank deposits, thereby weakening the capacity for credit supply, which will particularly severely impact small and medium-sized enterprises that rely more on bank loans than on capital markets, and could potentially raise overall borrowing costs.

The CEO of Bank of America, Moynihan, warned that if the U.S. Congress does not restrict interest-bearing stablecoins, up to $6 trillion in deposits could shift away from banks, which accounts for about 30% to 35% of total deposits in U.S. commercial banks.Moynihan stated that the structure of stablecoins is similar to that of money market mutual funds, which hold reserves in short-term instruments (such as U.S. Treasury bills) rather than being used for bank loans like traditional banks. In this model, funds drift outside the traditional banking system, leading to a shrinking deposit base that banks rely on to support loans to households and businesses. This is also one of the most controversial issues in the CLARITY Act (the Crypto Market Structure Act).The draft includes a provision that prohibits digital asset service providers from paying interest or yields to users solely for holding stablecoins. Notably, the bill distinguishes between activity-based rewards, allowing rewards to be linked to staking, providing liquidity, or offering collateral, while prohibiting rewards on idle balances in accounts.

According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin briefly reached $96,000, accumulating nearly a 10% increase since 2026. This upward trend is primarily driven by strong performance during North American trading hours. According to Velo data, Bitcoin's cumulative return during North American hours is approximately 8%. In contrast, the European session recorded only about a 3% moderate increase, while the Asian trading session has been a drag on overall performance.This trend is in stark contrast to the situation at the end of 2025. At that time, Bitcoin had cumulatively dropped as much as 20% during the North American trading session at the end of November, hitting a low of nearly $80,000. In the fourth quarter, there was often selling pressure on Bitcoin at the opening of the U.S. market, and the spot Bitcoin ETF faced outflows almost daily. Currently, the strongest returns occur shortly after the U.S. market opens, while this period has been the weakest for Bitcoin over the past six months.The U.S. trading session does not necessarily represent the trading activity of U.S. investors, as the price performance during these hours reflects fluctuations on domestic trading platforms and overseas exchanges like Binance. Therefore, the strong returns during U.S. market hours may coexist with a negative premium on Coinbase, indicating that demand may come from global participants rather than domestic U.S. buyers.

According to Jinshi, Bank of America shares fell by 1.3%, and Wells Fargo shares fell by 1.5%.

According to Jinshi News, Francesco Pesole, a foreign exchange strategist at ING, stated in a report that the dollar faces a significant risk of decline after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell mentioned that the Federal Reserve received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice due to cost overruns on headquarters renovations.He pointed out that this move has reignited concerns about the independence of the Federal Reserve and may trigger the "sell-America" trade once again. Pesole noted that any further attempts to intervene in the independence of the Federal Reserve would pose considerable downside risks to the dollar.

According to a report by Jinshi citing the Global Times, Trump met with oil industry executives in the East Room of the White House to discuss the future control of Venezuela's energy industry by the United States.During the meeting, he wore a mini "Trump" pin beneath the traditional miniature American flag badge on his suit lapel. When a reporter asked about the origin of the accessory, Trump replied, "Someone gave me this. Do you know what this is? It's called 'Happy Trump'." The image of Trump on the pin is exaggeratedly enlarged, with an open mouth and a distinctly cartoonish style, leading many netizens to immediately point out its resemblance to a "wobble-head doll" version of Trump. Trump did not disclose the identity of the giver."I am never happy, never satisfied," Trump said while pulling open his suit lapel to look at the pin, then looking up at the reporters with a playful smile, "I will never be satisfied until we make America great again. But I have to tell you, we are quite close. This is called 'Happy Trump'."

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng CZ retweeted a post stating: "While you are panic selling, American banks are continuously accumulating Bitcoin."The tweet mentioned that Wells Fargo has just purchased $383 million worth of Bitcoin, and American banks are making large purchases.

Bank of America has upgraded Coinbase's rating to "Buy," citing reasons such as accelerated product expansion, strategic adjustments, and a more attractive current valuation.BofA noted that Coinbase's stock price has pulled back about 40% from its July peak, but product momentum is improving in the second half of the year. BofA emphasized that Coinbase is accelerating its efforts in stocks, ETFs, and prediction markets; its Layer 2 network, Base, is seen as a key infrastructure-level growth engine; meanwhile, Coinbase Tokenize is expected to be an important catalyst for the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA). With the price-to-earnings ratio declining about 40% from mid-2024 levels, BofA reiterated its $340 price target for Coinbase, implying about 38% upside, and believes Coinbase has a long-term industry leadership position as it moves toward 2026.

The American law firm Burwick Law has announced a litigation update stating that the plaintiffs have submitted a revised complaint to the federal court, accusing multiple cryptocurrency entities of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).Defendants include: Baton Corp (operator of PumpFun), Solana Foundation, Solana Labs, and related executives. The complaint alleges that the defendants are involved in extortion activities.

According to Bloomberg, the digital bank Kontigo, focused on the Latin American market, announced on the X platform on Monday that due to a hacker attack, some customers' stablecoins worth approximately $340,905 were compromised, and the company plans to compensate over 1,000 customers.Kontigo stated in an earlier post: "We detected unauthorized access, and some users' funds were affected. User funds are protected, and any affected amounts will be compensated by Kontigo." Headquartered in San Francisco, Kontigo focuses on cryptocurrency and payment services in the Latin American region. Since its establishment in 2023, the company has grown rapidly and attracted numerous well-known partners. According to its website, Kontigo currently has over 1 million monthly active users, with a total payment volume exceeding $1 billion.The company recently raised $20 million in seed funding from investors including Y Combinator.

According to official news, the cryptocurrency mining company American Bitcoin, supported by the Trump family, has increased its total Bitcoin reserves to approximately 5,427 BTC, and achieved about 105% Bitcoin return on investment from September 3, 2025, when it was listed on Nasdaq, to January 2, 2026.

Bank of America, with an asset management scale of $1.7 trillion, officially allows its wealth advisors to recommend a 4% allocation in BTC to clients starting today.

According to The Block, Bitcoin mining company Bitfarms Ltd. has agreed to sell its remaining Latin American operations, marking its complete exit from the regional market as the company refocuses its strategic priorities on North America and energy and data center infrastructure related to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.The company announced in a press release on Friday that it has reached a final agreement with the Singapore-based crypto infrastructure fund Sympatheia Power Fund, managed by Hawksburn Capital, to sell its 70-megawatt Paso Pe mine in Paraguay for up to $30 million. Under the terms of the deal, Bitfarms will receive $9 million in cash at closing (including a $1 million non-refundable deposit already paid) and up to an additional $21 million over the next 10 months based on post-closing milestone conditions.Management stated that this sale effectively realizes the expected free cash flow from the mine over the next two to three years. Bitfarms CEO Ben Gagnon noted that the proceeds from the sale will be reallocated to North American high-performance computing and artificial intelligence energy infrastructure starting in 2026, marking the official completion of the company's multi-year plan to scale back its Latin American operations.This sale fully concentrates Bitfarms' energy asset portfolio in North America, including 341 megawatts of operational capacity, 430 megawatts of capacity under construction in the U.S., and a total of approximately 2.1 gigawatts of long-term project reserves in the region. Bitfarms is continuously transitioning from a geographically dispersed Bitcoin mining business to domestic energy assets in the U.S. that can support artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads. The company began signaling its transformation in mid-2025, emphasizing the higher return prospects brought by the growing demand for high-energy data centers, and subsequently announced plans to convert some of its mines into artificial intelligence infrastructure.

According to Globenewswire, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company Bitfarms announced that it has signed a definitive purchase agreement with the Sympatheia Power Fund (SPF), a cryptocurrency infrastructure fund managed by Singapore's Hawksburn Capital, to sell its Paso Pe mining facility for $30 million (expected to receive $9 million in cash in the first quarter of this year, with the remaining $21 million to be received within 10 months after closing).This transaction marks Bitfarms' official exit from the Latin American market.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, two American men have pleaded guilty to attacking multiple targets in the U.S. using ALPHV BlackCat ransomware.Ryan Goldberg (40) from Georgia and Kevin Martin (36) from Texas admitted to deploying ALPHV BlackCat ransomware between April and December 2023. Both are professionals in the cybersecurity industry, and they, along with another accomplice, paid 20% of the ransom as a cut to the ALPHV BlackCat administrator to gain access to the ransomware. After successfully extorting approximately $1.2 million in Bitcoin from one victim, the three split 80% of the ransom and laundered it through various means.The two defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on March 12, 2026, and could face up to 20 years in prison.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) plans to explore whether certain stablecoins qualify as "cash equivalents" by 2026 and study how to account for cryptocurrency transfers (including Wrapped Tokens). This move comes in the context of the Trump administration's push for cryptocurrency policies and the passage of the Genius Act.FASB Chairman Rich Jones stated that the agency has added these cryptocurrency projects to its agenda. Previously, in 2023, FASB required companies to adopt fair value accounting for cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin, but that rule excluded NFTs and certain stablecoins.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan warned on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that the market's focus on the Federal Reserve has become "obsessive." He emphasized that the U.S. economy is primarily driven by the private sector, not by the Fed's interest rate adjustments, stating, "The idea that our fate is tied to a 25 basis point adjustment by the Fed is, in my view, simply out of whack."Moynihan acknowledged the Fed's critical role in extreme situations like financial crises and pandemics, but stated that during normal times, "people really shouldn't feel its presence." He also warned that if the Fed loses its independence, the market will punish it.The background is Trump's ongoing calls for larger rate cuts and pressure on the Fed. Capital Economics predicts that due to core inflation remaining above the 2% target for an extended period, the Fed may only cut rates by 25 basis points in 2026, which would put Trump and his newly appointed Fed chair in almost immediate opposition.