Author: admin

• While US crypto ETPs are shrinking rapidly, their European counterparts in Switzerland and Germany are attracting institutional capital like moths to a flame.
• This could lead to a general market shift, not only because of the success of MiCAR, but also because of the completely unpredictable US government.

The EU clearly benefits from its legal certainty through clear regulation thanks to MiCAR. While the US continues to struggle with uncertainties surrounding staking, custody and product approvals, Europe offers a consistent framework for issuers and investors.

This legal certainty acts like a magnet for institutional investors, who increasingly prefer physically secured products. Switzerland in particular benefits from its reputation as a stable financial center with a high level of transparency and strict custody standards.

Germany, on the other hand, scores with the high liquidity on Xetra and the growing interest of German banks in crypto ETPs.

Innovative products provide new impetus

Another reason for the strong inflows into the EU lies in the product innovation of European providers. Companies like 21Shares and Valor were early bets on themes like staking ETPs, which integrate returns directly into net asset value.

These products offer institutional investors access to returns that are almost unattainable in the United States.

In particular, demand for Solana and multi-asset ETPs is increasing, while Ethereum products have come under pressure due to debates over staking regulation. The combination of innovation and clear – apparently accepted – regulation gives Europe a clear competitive advantage.

Capital is moving to Europe

The most recent weeks show a clear movement of capital: While US ETPs are recording outflows, European products are reporting double-digit millions of net inflows. This is not a reaction to short-term market conditions, but rather an expression of a strategic shift.

Investors are looking for markets with lower political risks, more stable conditions and broader product diversity. Europe currently meets these criteria better than any other major economic region.

DACH region as a new institutional hotspot

For the DACH region, this development means a strengthening of its role in the global crypto system:

• Switzerland is establishing itself as a leading location for physically secured products.
• Germany is the trading center with the highest turnover.
• Austria is a MiCAR hub with a growing number of providers.

The strong capital inflows show: Europe – and especially the DACH region – is increasingly becoming the preferred destination institutional investors, not just in the crypto segment.

• Billiton Diamond and Ctrl Alt tokenize over $280 million in diamonds on the XRP Ledger.
• A diamond platform with on-chain certificate data and a secondary market option is planned.

In the UAE, Billiton Diamond and Ctrl Alt have tokenized more than AED 1 billion (around $280 million) worth of diamonds on the XRP Ledger. The project relies on Ripple’s technology and aims to build a new trading and data system for the diamond market in Dubai.

According to the official press release, holdings from the polished inventory will be tokenized “end-to-end” by Billiton’s approved partners. The tokens were minted on the XRP Ledger, which was chosen due to “fast settlement, low fees and scalable architecture,” according to the press release. The tokenized assets are secured via Ripple’s “enterprise-grade” custody technology.

Reece Merrick, Managing Director Middle East & Africa bei Ripple, wrote via X:

“The potential of tokenization stands or falls on enterprise-grade trust and security. As Billiton Diamond and Ctrl Alt bring $280 million worth of diamond holdings to the XRPL, our custody technology provides the tight security necessary to manage these assets at scale.”

What is crucial, Merrick continued, “is that high-priced physical assets can be moved on-chain with absolute security – thereby setting a new precedent for commodity trading in the digital age.”

XRP Ledger brings diamonds on-chain

Remarkably, this is said to be just the beginning. The goal of the partnership is to build a tokenized diamond platform that anchors real-time inventory management and certification data on the XRP Ledger.

Users should be able to verify the origin, grading and ownership history of a stone before a transaction. In addition, the project aims to create the basis for future listings of tokenized diamonds on primary and emerging secondary markets.

The focus is also on better auditability and more efficient processes across the entire life cycle. Jamal Akhtar, Joint Owner of Billiton Diamond, stated:

“This partnership transforms polished diamonds from a traditionally illiquid asset class into a transparent, investable digital asset – supporting manufacturers, brands and investors alike. Tokenization brings unprecedented levels of transparency, unlocks the potential for new liquidity, shortens working capital cycles for manufacturers and retailers and opens the door for seamless global participation in Dubai’s growing luxury ecosystem.”

Future functions, including the planned platform, must first be released for regulatory purposes. The press release emphasizes that new operations are subject to approval from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) before launch.

Robert Farquhar, CEO MENA at Ctrl Alt, said:

“Billiton needed robust, institutional infrastructure to manage the complexity and scale of its polished diamond offering. Our proven tokenization expertise and technology provide a clear, secure and compliant path for diamond ownership to be represented on-chain – from asset origination to digital market participation.”

A key role in bringing about the partnership was the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC), the largest and fastest growing free trade zone in the United Arab Emirates. DMCC CEO Ahmed Bin Sulayem stated:

“This initiative underscores DMCC’s role as a bridge between commodities, capital and next-generation digital markets. Through the infrastructure and partnerships we have developed, we are creating a framework for industry leaders to apply digital innovation to the physical diamond trade – and advance the broader tokenization of high-value commodities in a secure, scalable and trustworthy manner.”

• Tether has introduced an open source Bitcoin mining operating system that centrally manages all relevant mining processes. It includes hardware control, device management, power optimization and location monitoring.
• The open source model is intended to reduce the dependence on proprietary applications and increase the transparency of mining. This means that elements of decentralization have now also arrived in the mining sector.

The mining OS has a modular structure and can be used by both home miners and industrial mining farms. The software records hashrate, temperature, energy consumption and load of the rig in real time and controls the connected devices.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino emphasizes that the platform was deliberately designed to function without central dependencies. Operators should retain full control over their infrastructure, whether they manage a single device or thousands of ASICs.

Standardized development environment

The mining OS comes with a mining SDKwhich offers developers a standardized development environment as a basis for their own tools and dashboards. The package includes APIs, UI components and integration modules designed to accelerate the development of new applications.

Tether relies on community development: The SDK is intended to grow together with external developers and, in the long term, become an open standard for mining software. The aim is to bundle innovations and reduce market fragmentation.

Impulses for small, energy self-sufficient miners

Industry observers see the open source strategy as particularly beneficial for smaller operators who previously had to rely on expensive, closed management solutions. Miners with their own energy supply – for example from solar, wind or hydropower – particularly benefit from this, as the system allows flexible adjustments.

The OS can be adapted to individual requirements using plugins and modular extensions, without license costs or vendor lock-in. With this step, Tether not only strengthens its role in the mining sector, but also sends a signal for more openness and competition in a market that is increasingly industrial.

• Galaxy sees an increased risk of a further Bitcoin price decline in the next few weeks/months following the sell-off and weak on-chain signals.
• According to Galaxy, target zones are $70,000 as well as the realized price at around $56,000 and the 200-week line at $58,000.

A new analysis from Galaxy Digital sees Bitcoin vulnerable to further losses after the weekend’s sharp sell-off. According to the renowned American financial services firm, BTC price could fall towards the 200-week moving average. This is currently close to $58,000.

Alex Thorn, Head of Firmwide Research bei Galaxy, justified the scenario with on-chain data, weak reactions on key brands, macroeconomic uncertainty and a lack of short-term catalysts.

Bitcoin is slipping into the bear market

Thorn refers to the crash of the last few days. Between Thursday, January 29th and Monday, February 2nd, Bitcoin fell by more than 16%; On Saturday alone the decline was 10%. The price slide triggered “one of the largest liquidation events in history”: over $2 billion in longs were liquidated via futures trading venues.

On Coinbase, BTC/USD fell as low as $75,644 on Saturday. This meant that the price temporarily slipped up to 10% below the average cost base of US spot ETFs of around $84,000. Thorn also gives another reason why the current price is critical: Strategy’s average cost basis (MSTR) is $76,037.

At the time of the report, Bitcoin was trading around 38% below its October 6, 2025 all-time high of $126,296. According to Thorn, this puts BTC at a level that investors last saw in early 2024, and the crash does not bode well historically:

“With the exception of 2017, Bitcoin has never experienced a 40% decline from its all-time high that was not extended to 50% or more within three months,” he writes. “A 50% decline from the all-time high would put Bitcoin in the area of ​​around $63,000 today.”

Looking at the on-chain data, Galaxy sees a structure that signals few “natural” demand zones in the short term. Thorn describes “a significant gap in on-chain ownership between $82,000 and $70,000.” According to Thorn, this increases the likelihood of Bitcoin falling lower to test demand in this area.

At the same time, according to Galaxy, 46% of the Bitcoin supply is now “underwater”, i.e. moved at prices that are above current levels. In addition, the January closing price confirmed four red monthly candles in a row – “for the first time since 2018”.

Galaxy is paying particular attention to US spot Bitcoin ETF holders. By the end of January, they had collected a cumulative net inflow of $54 billion. According to Galaxy, it peaked at $62.2 billion in early October 2025 and has declined 12.4% since then.

Striking: The past two weeks were the second and third worst weeks in ETF history – with combined outflows of $2.8 billion. Thorn still sees the fact that many ETF holders remained “incredibly resilient” despite a price decline of almost 40% from the high as a stabilizing factor for the medium-term market.

At the same time, Galaxy sees little bullish news on the horizon that could tip market sentiment again in the short term. Bitcoin has massively underperformed gold and silver since October 10, 2025, although macro and geopolitical uncertainty as well as concerns about national debt have directed capital into “commodities and commodity money”.

As a result, Thorn outlines a rather bearish outlook for the next few weeks. The Galaxy analyst sees good long-term entry opportunities below $60,000:

“The downward trend is much more firmly established – the upward momentum in January stopped below 100,000; then there was a clean break of 80,000 and a new, lower low at the weekend. When Bitcoin moves towards the 200-week average [ca. $58,000] oder Realized Price [ca. $56,000] “As in the past, these zones should represent strong entry areas for long-term investors.”

• The mood in the crypto market has deteriorated significantly in the last few weeks. There are significant capital outflows from digital investment products worldwide. Germany is proving to be one of the few markets with moderate inflows.
• The discrepancy between the massive sales in the USA and the comparatively robust demand in parts of Europe illustrates how differently institutional investors are currently reacting to the economic environment.

The United States accounts for the majority of global outflows. Investors there are withdrawing capital from Bitcoin and Ethereum products on a large scale. In individual weeks, outflows totaled more than a billion dollars, pushing the global balance sheet deep into the red.

Experts attribute the development to the US Federal Reserve’s tighter monetary policy, increased risk aversion and profit-taking following the strong inflows at the turn of the year. Many US investors have built up their positions at higher prices and are now sensitive to price declines and liquidity shortages.

Europe shows strength – selective purchases in Germany

In Europe the situation is more differentiated. While some markets are also recording outflows, Switzerland and Germany continues to have low but stable inflows. German investors repeatedly took advantage of the recent price declines for selective additional purchases, which ultimately led to net inflows.

In some weeks these were between four and 20 million US dollars – not spectacular sums, but a clear contrast to the massive sales in the USA. For example, while the US lost around $1.7 billion in a single week, Germany saw moderate inflows in the same week.

This suggests that German institutional investors act less short-term and focus more on medium to long-term allocations.

Investor confidence in general struck

Despite stable European demand, overall global investor confidence remains weak. The outflows from Bitcoin products, which are traditionally considered a barometer of sentiment, show this. There can therefore be no talk of a trend reversal.

But the stable inflows in Germany show that the market is not homogeneous. Rather, a picture emerges in which regional differences are becoming more important – and Germany presents itself as one of the few markets in which investors do not view setbacks as a defeat, but as an opportunity.