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• Garrett Jin sees Ethereum as a “top AI asset”. ERC-8004 is intended to make the identity and reputation of autonomous agents verifiable on-chain and thus accelerate machine-to-machine use cases.
• More agent activity could increase gas/blob fees and potentially burn more ETH via EIP-1559.

BitForex Co-Founder Garrett Jin Names Ethereum in an X-Post as of January 28, the best-positioned crypto asset for AI-driven applications. The trigger is ERC-8004: The standard is intended to make the identity and reputation of autonomous agents verifiable on-chain.

“iPhone moment” for Ethereum?

Jin calls the update an “iPhone moment.” He portrays ETH as an infrastructure beneficiary of the AI ​​wave – in contrast to many classic software companies, which he sees as losers. His point: For agents, in the end it’s less the model that counts – but rather a neutral, trustworthy level for processing and coordination.

“With ERC-8004 nearing mainnet, we believe this marks an ‘iPhone moment’ – a milestone for ETH as a primary beneficiary of the AI ​​wave at the application layer. While most publicly traded software companies are being displaced or at least pressured by AI, ETH stands out as a scarce, core asset for AI-enabled applications.”

Jin criticizes centralized AI as a black box: a lack of transparency and censorship risks are structurally present in closed platforms. Ethereum is intended to solve this problem as a settlement and coordination layer. Its narrative is two-sided: Ethereum provides settlement and coordination; AI creates new, more autonomous use cases that need exactly this level.

“The ETH + AI relationship is not additive. It is deeply symbiotic: Ethereum provides AI with trustworthy, decentralized, tamper-proof settlement and coordination. AI, in turn, provides Ethereum with smarter, more efficient and truly autonomous applications.”

Specifically, it’s about machine-to-machine processes: agents who carry out tasks, initiate payments and conclude contracts. Jin’s alternative to centralized models: Recognition, reputation and behavior should not remain in silos, but should be linked to a portable on-chain identity “via ERC-8004 and similar standards”.

ERC-8004 was first introduced in August 2025 and is scheduled to launch this week. The Ethereum Foundation wrote on Tuesday via X:

“ERC-8004 will soon be launched on mainnet. By enabling discovery and portable reputation, ERC-8004 allows AI agents to interact across organizations, ensuring credibility is carried everywhere. This opens up a global market where AI services can be interoperable without gatekeepers.”

ERC-8004 is going live on mainnet soon.

By enabling discovery and portable reputation, ERC-8004 allows AI agents to interact across organizations ensuring credibility travels everywhere.

This unlocks a global market where AI services can interoperate without gatekeepers. https://t.co/Yrl0rvnSxj

— Ethereum (@ethereum) January 27, 2026

For Jin, this is the base layer of an open agent economy: identity, reputation and validation are kept in separate on-chain registries. The goal is a reputation that is not tied to a single operator, but can be carried between applications.

This is how the ETH price could benefit

Economically, Ethereum could benefit massively. Gas and blob fees, which partially burn ETH via EIP-1559, create deflationary pressure that could ultimately boost the Ethereum price.

And according to Jin, the potential is huge. Autonomous agents have a high frequency, make countless microtransactions and additional calls (identity proofs, coordination, validations). As part of this, he refers to forecasts that AI agents could represent around 15-20% of DeFi volume by the end of 2025; He cites 30-40% quarterly gas growth as a scenario for 2026.

From this he deduces: If agents use the chain more often, fees increase – and with them potentially the burn rate and the ETH price.

At the same time, Jin sees AI as an accelerator for RWA activity: automated valuation, compliance checks, risk monitoring and dynamic pricing could make tokenized real-world assets more efficient and auditable – especially in institutional setups, such as fund structures. From his perspective, AI-driven activities could become the “second largest source of fees after stablecoins” in the long term.

Compared to Solana, Jin positions Ethereum clearly ahead. He sees deficits in Solana in three areas that are central to agent-to-agent interactions: trust, reputation and finality.

“There is no official or ecosystem-driven standardized trust framework comparable to ERC-8004. The network’s historical stability and decentralization continue to be viewed as weaknesses by institutions. The settlement is focused on high throughput rates rather than maximum security and final transaction settlement.”

• World Token made a 27% price jump yesterday. OpenAI boss Altman is said to be planning a social media project that verifies the human identity of its members and automatically locks out bots and AI accounts.
• The report triggered a strong reaction and brought the controversial World ID project back into the public debate.

It is said to be an unofficial project that is being developed by a small team of fewer than ten people. The goal is a social network that only allows people – verified by Apple Face IDWorld Orb or other reliable biometric methods.

AI-generated content should be allowed, but only people with verified identities are allowed to set up an account. The idea behind this is a social media project that is aimed at countering the flood of AI bots and fake identities that are dehumanizing entire networks.

The World Token price reacted promptly. Within a few hours, Worldcoin (WLD) rose by over 27 percent, sales exploded and increased by more than 760 percent. The market capitalization reached $1.42 billion.

Initiator Sam Altman is the founder of World, and OpenAI has the infrastructure to establish such a network globally. The combination of proof of personhood and AI moderation could become a new standard for digital identity.

At the same time, central questions remain unanswered. There is no official confirmation yet OpenAIand the regulatory risks are significant. Biometric data such as iris scans are considered particularly sensitive, and World has been under global scrutiny since its inception.

Several countries have already restricted or frozen Orb operations, including Spain, Portugal and Kenya. Critics warn of a global identity infrastructure that could be abused. Proponents, on the other hand, see this as a realistic approach to preserving the integrity of digital communication.

This results in an asymmetric scenario for the World Token: great advantages through potential integration into an OpenAI network, but equally great risks due to political and social resistance.

The coming weeks will show whether the new approach will develop into a viable, guaranteed humane social media model.

• A strong XRPL system and a global showcase of XRP applications will characterize the XRP Community Day taking place on February 11th and 12th.
• Ripple positions the event as a snapshot of a system that has matured through regulation and is becoming increasingly institutionally relevant.

CEO Brad Garlinghouse and President Monica Long set the tone: XRP is no longer just an asset, but a building block of modern financial infrastructure. One focus is on the growing role of XRP in regulated financial markets. Over 40 new crypto ETFs and ETPs launched in 2025 – including XRP – demonstrating institutional demand.

Panels will shed light on how custody solutions, structured products and market infrastructure around XRP are created and which trends will shape the next growth phase.

The event sends a clear signal to investors and market observers: XRP is establishing itself as a regulated investment instrument with global backing.

Ripple: Innovative through tokenization and multichain

The developer sessions show how broad the XRPL system is now. Projects showcase advances in tokenization, programmable functions, compliance features, privacy extensions, and the native lending protocol.

Particularly highlighted is the role of Wrapped XRP, which enables the use of XRP on chains such as Solana, thereby opening up liquidity, interoperability and new DeFi applications. The Innovation Spotlights give the community a stage to present real use cases.

2026: Priorities and the role of XRP in the financial system

Ripple is using the event to outline its strategic priorities for 2026: regulated financial products, cross-chain liquidity, stablecoin synergies and the expansion of XRPL as an infrastructure for institutional applications.

Former CTO David Schwartz – now a member of the supervisory board – also provides a look at the technological future of XRPL and the evolution of XRP use cases. It’s for the community XRP Community Day Not just a meeting, but a programmatic outlook on the next steps of a global financial system that is increasingly gaining importance in the real economy.

• 21Shares has published an XRP price prediction for 2026 with several scenarios.
• Key question for 2026: Will real usage and institutional demand come.

Crypto ETP provider 21Shares has released an XRP price prediction for 2026 in a new research note.

In the base scenario, 21Shares sees XRP at $2.45 by the end of the year (50% probability), in the bull scenario at $2.69 (30%) and in the bear scenario at $1.60 (-16%). 21Shares sees the values ​​as a possible annual high in 2026, depending on how quickly adaptation increases, how the macro environment turns and how liquidity and market structure develop.

Here our own XRP predictions for 2026:

Base case – $2.45 (50%)
Bull case – $2.69 (30%)
Bear case – $1.60 (-16%)

Here’s why: https://t.co/yzrZQyAb6z pic.twitter.com/Qikzf9aPso

— 21shares (@21shares) January 28, 2026

How 21Shares comes up with XRP price predictions

21Shares research strategist Matt Mena sees XRP at an “institutional tipping point.” Since the agreement in the SEC proceedings in August 2025, the valuation discount has largely disappeared due to legal uncertainty. In 2026, price determination will have to be measured more closely against reliable fundamental data.

“Price forecasting is one of finance’s most enduring obsessions – this becomes even more appealing in crypto because the market is known for its volatility and rapid changes in sentiment. Although certainty is impossible, meaningful forecasts rely on both data-driven models and qualitative assessments.”

21Shares cites regulatory clarity as the most important lever for 2026. Mena explains that the legal proceedings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission have weighed on the XRP price for years.

“As we enter 2026, XRP is at a critical inflection point: a clear transition from speculative volatility to a valuation based on institutional fundamentals. The August 2025 settlement in the long-running SEC litigation has removed the structural ballast that had capped XRP’s price for years – regardless of its actual utility.”

From 21Shares’ perspective, this will make the market investable again for parts of US institutions, as well as for regulated funds/ETF issuers as well as banks and payment service providers who were previously hesitant due to compliance risks.

At the same time, Mena says: With the legal uncertainty gone, XRP can no longer live on the hype surrounding the court proceedings in 2026. If there is no measurable adoption by banks and financial institutions, a “sell-the-news” risk arises.

Driver two: Spot ETFs in the USA could stabilize demand. These raised more than $1.3 billion in assets in their first month and recorded a “historic series” of ongoing inflows. 21Shares sees this as a signal for more permanent inflows that do not stop immediately with every correction.

Additionally, XRP exchange reserves are at a seven-year low of 1.7 billion XRP. In combination with ETF purchases and a strong community, according to Mena, this is a robust basis for a price increase:

“With stock exchange reserves at a seven-year low of 1.7 billion

Third, 21Shares outlines the XRP Ledger as a potential settlement layer in an increasingly tokenized financial world, from stablecoins to tokenized bank deposits to interoperable settlement layers. The report notes that XRP is designed for fast, low-cost cross-border payments and that the XRP Ledger is already being used by financial institutions and payment providers.

At the same time, DeFi adoption on the XRPL has increased: the total value locked has increased by a factor of almost 100 in two years and recently exceeded the threshold of 100 million US dollars. For the tokenization of real assets, 21Shares refers to the Multi-Purpose Tokens standard, which is intended to allow institutions to map RWAs such as bonds or stocks with metadata and compliance rules directly at the protocol level.

Despite the fundamentally bullish outlook, 21Shares identifies several points that could turn the outlook bearish: Declining ETF inflows could weaken the central, reflexive price mechanism. If there is no significant RWA volume, the settlement thesis collapses, especially as the competition for tokenization increases in 2026. And if RLUSD fails to achieve the institutional traction it hopes for, XRPL would be missing a building block that 21Shares classifies as a high-quality collateral for professional applications.

• The European Securities and Markets Authority ESMA in Paris has surprisingly referred two central technical standard catalogs for implementing the EU MiCA regulations back to the advisory committees. This means that the MiCAR implementation in 2026 has been canceled for the time being.
• It may be delayed for a year or more. The project that was supposed to make the EU the global vanguard of crypto regulation has now become a laughing stock – and the consequences are hitting the German market particularly hard.

BaFin relies on technically formulated standards in order to finally examine MiCAR license applications. Without these requirements, there are no binding rules for the prevention of market abuse and for the interpretation of STOR reports, IT security requirements, governance structures and outsourcing models.

Although the authority can extend transitional regimes, it cannot guarantee complete harmonization. Germany is therefore in a regulatory limbo in which the MiCAR applies, but the detailed implementing regulations are missing.

For banks, the delay means an immediate operational burden. Institutions such as DZ Bank, Deka Bank, Commerzbank and Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe had planned their MiCAR products for 2025 and 2026. These schedules were based on the assumption that the Parisians ESMA delivers the technical standards in a timely manner – actually a given after years of planning.

Apparently not for the EU authorities. Now risk analyzes need to be reassessed, compliance architectures adjusted and outsourcing contracts revised. Product launches are postponed, resources are tied up and costs rise.

German crypto service providers are also coming under pressure. Providers such as BSDEX, Coinbase Germany and Bitvavo DE now have to comply with transitional rules while waiting for the final regulations. This leads to high costs and makes planning new products more difficult. While international competitors work in clear regimes, EU providers have to live in uncertainty.

disaster after years of preparation

The delay is grotesque. MiCAR was prepared for years, celebrated politically and presented as a global role model. MiCAR aimed to create the world’s first comprehensive set of crypto regulations.

The regulation must be issued at the same time as the Market Abuse Regulationanti-money laundering regulation, national IT security laws, existing securities rules, stablecoin rules and the EU data protection law be compatible.

ESMA probably underestimated these requirements. The technical standards are not just detailed rules, but the actual core of practical implementation. Any lack of clarity would have an immediate impact on banks, stock exchanges and custodians, not to mention all the legal proceedings that would have additionally burdened the judiciary, which is already overburdened.

Added to this is the massive criticism from the industry. Banks, custodians, stock exchanges, FinTechs and international associations responded to the consultations. The feedback was unusually clear. Many requirements are technically difficult to implement, the costs are disproportionate, definitions are unclear and reporting requirements are contradictory.

The planned monitoring systems were also criticized as unrealistically complex. ESMA was faced with the choice of implementing an error-prone set of rules or setting up new standards. The authority chose the safer but slower route.

Political dynamics play another role. After the scandals surrounding FTX, Celsius and Terra, expectations are enormous. The EU Commission demands maximum legal certainty, robust market abuse monitoring and clear liability rules. In this climate, no one wants to risk a second Wirecard scandal. The result is an overly cautious regulatory culture that sacrifices timely processing to avoid errors.

To make matters worse, national supervisors have different traditions and risk cultures. BaFin, the Austrian FMA, the French AMF and the Italian CONSOB pursue sometimes opposing approaches to IT security, outsourcing, market abuse definitions and liquidity requirements. The Paris ESMA has to harmonize these differences, which further slows down the process.

Ultimately, the technical reality of the industry is more heterogeneous than the EU parliamentarians had expected. While some providers work with state-of-the-art MPC systems, HSM clusters and institutional custody stacks, others use simple hot wallet infrastructures or cloud wallets. A single standard that everyone could follow is difficult to define without overwhelming large parts of the industry.

EU prestige project failed for the time being

MiCAR should make the EU a global pioneer. Instead, those involved, but especially the crypto industry, are now faced with a chaos of rules that is slowing down banks, burdening crypto asset service providers, unsettling national supervisors and strengthening international competitors.

One wonders where all the experts who were involved got so much incompetence from.

• Hayes sees Japan as a possible trigger for new liquidity if yen weakness and JGB stress force central banks to intervene.
• Things will only become bullish for Bitcoin when the Fed’s balance sheet visibly grows, especially via rising foreign currency denominated assets.

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes sees the next Bitcoin impulse emerging in Japan, more precisely: in the yen and the JGB market. In his current one Essay “Whoomp” from January 28th, Hayes argues: A weak yen plus falling JGBs would make the situation so dire that monetary policy resistance would be difficult to avoid. Hayes’ thesis is simple: Without a new liquidity narrative, Bitcoin cannot get out of the current range between $84,000 and $94,000.

“Financial markets went ‘woomph’ as ​​the yen weakened and JGB prices collapsed. […] Many macro commentators smarter than me declared that Japan will be the match that sets the dirty fiat system on fire. […] Will a meltdown in the Yen and JGB markets trigger some form of money printing by the BoJ or Fed? The answer is yes.”

Hayes describes the trigger as Japanese authorities having lost “control of the long end of the yield curve”: the yen was falling against the dollar while at the same time JGB yields were rising. For Hayes, this is a breach of trust: The yen is falling while yields are rising – and both are increasing Japan’s inflation and refinancing stress. Additionally, he points to potentially growing losses at the Bank of Japan as it is the largest JGB holder.

From the US perspective, the risk is that stress in Japan can spill over into government bonds. Japanese investors are among the largest holders of U.S. government bonds; Overall, he puts Japan’s foreign asset portfolio at $2.4 trillion, “with a majority in Treasuries.” Rising JGB yields could attract capital back to Japan, making Treasuries a relevant selling pressure factor.

For Hayes, the core of the trade is a US intervention: New York Fed creates dollar reserves, exchanges them for yen and parks them in JGBs. “This would allow the yen to appreciate and JGB yields to fall as the Fed adds “currency and interest rate risk” to its balance sheet. Hayes names the item “Foreign Currency Denominated Assets” as a visible balance sheet signal, which would grow in the course of such purchases.

Legally, he anchors this with the Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF), operationally via the New York Fed. According to Hayes, the Treasury Department can intervene in the FX market but needs help from the Fed because it “cannot print money” itself.

Hayes sees a first indication in a report from last Friday: The NY Fed asked prices from several primary dealers. For him, this is a deliberate sign for the financial markets. Specifically, he mentions January 23, 2026: The BoJ left interest rates unchanged, “even though by all standards they should have increased to defend the currency and the bond market.”

What this means for Bitcoin

This is relevant for Bitcoin in that a balance sheet expansion at the US Federal Reserve ensures more liquidity in the financial markets. “Bitcoin and high-value shitcoins will mechanically float higher in fiat terms as the supply of paper money increases,” he writes. At the same time, he warns: A rapidly strengthening yen often represents “risk-off” because yen-financed trades are being wound down.

His conclusion is therefore: Only when the Fed item “Foreign Currency Denominated Assets” increases will it want to increase the risk and expand Bitcoin exposures. He mentions having already been stopped out of leveraged Bitcoin proxies such as Strategy (MSTR) and Metaplanet and will be reinstated upon confirmation. At the same time, he explains that his Maelstrom fund is continuing to increase Zcash (ZEC) and, if the Fed’s balance sheet expansion is confirmed, would also increase existing DeFi positions (ENA, ETHFI, PENDLE, LDO).

Crucial to Hayes’ scenario is the pace: a gradual appreciation of the yen could create stability, while a rapid move would lead to chaos. Whether Bitcoin gets the expected impulse depends on whether Japan goes “woomph” again and the Fed’s balance sheet visibly reacts.