Tide Turns: XRP Ready to Bridge SWIFT’s Gap with Fading Regulatory Risks

Posted on January 12, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Crypto Sensei” pieced together several developments that, when considered collectively, depict a far more permissive environment for XRP, tokenization, and bank-led crypto services than many investors may be aware.

Gottfried Leibbrandt, a former CEO of Swift, made the headline claim when he recently stated that once regulatory volatility and legal uncertainty subside, Swift could integrate “native currencies like XRP.” Without clear regulations, “the benefits do not outweigh the costs” for institutions that might otherwise use volatile cryptocurrency assets for settlement, according to Sensei, who emphasizes that the problem is not technology but rather bank risk appetite.

He saw this as structural pressure rather than a “crypto roadmap,” since ISO-native payment systems like RippleNet will be in a better position once legacy formats and paper checks are phased out.

He reiterates a point that is frequently overlooked in online discussions: payment systems, not tokens themselves, are subject to ISO compliance.
A recent clip of Fed Chair Jerome Powell declaring that US banks are “perfectly able to serve crypto customers” as long as operations are safe, sound, and compliant is heavily referenced in the video.

According to Sensei, the Fed, FDIC, and OCC replaced their earlier, more stringent joint crypto statements with principles-based guidance in 2025. Sensei contends that instead of developing intricate crypto rails internally, banks are more likely to “white-label” infrastructure from companies like Ripple, Circle, Fireblocks, or Coinbase.

He believed that a sizable portion of institutional traffic could be discreetly routed through XRP-enabled systems without ever being advertised by brands.

DeepSeek Founder Liang’s Quant Empire Soars 57% in 2025 Amid China’s Quant Revival

Posted on January 12, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng’s quantitative hedge fund, achieved returns of over 50% last year despite spending far less than competitors, boosting the company’s potential war chest. DeepSeek has already shaken up the global tech scene.

Zhejiang High-Flyer Asset Management, which manages over 70 billion yuan ($10 billion), reported an average return of 56.6 percent across its funds in 2025. PaiPaiWang noted this made it the second-best performer among Chinese quant funds managing over 10 billion yuan. Only Ningbo Lingjun Investment Management Partnership, which led the nation’s top quants with gains of more than 70%, outperformed it.

Li stated that, assuming a 1 percent management fee and a 20 percent performance fee, the fund’s explosive growth last year could have generated over $700 million.

That is orders of magnitude more than the reported budget of less than $6 million DeepSeek needed to develop its groundbreaking AI model while some competitors have questioned those cost claims.

PaiPaiWang reported that two products managed by Xu Jin, a co-founder of High-Flyer, increased by an average of 58.6%.

Simon Lu, the CEO, oversaw eight products with an average return of 56%. Lu also ranked last. With a Sharpe ratio of 2.8 percent as of December, it was one of the top quant funds based on risk-adjusted returns for stock strategies last year.

, High-Flyer’s main product line now consists of those funds after abandoning market-neutral strategies in 2024 to go “all-in” on long-only strategies, all aiming to outperform their underlying stock indexes. The gains exemplify China’s quant funds’ stellar year, with an average return of 30.5 percent last year.

Gold Vaults to $4,600, Silver Approaches $85 in Safe-Haven Frenzy

Posted on January 12, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Gold and silver reached all-time highs as the US Justice Department threatened the Federal Reserve with a criminal indictment, while protests in Iran bolstered the demand for a haven, reigniting concerns about its independence.

Silver approached $85, and the yellow metal surged toward $4,600 per ounce, following Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s statement that the possible indictment “should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure” to influence the bank’s interest-rate decisions.

The Trump administration’s repeated attacks on the Fed last year were a significant factor that weakened the dollar and bolstered gold.

In the meantime, deadly protests in Iran have made precious metals more appealing as a haven if the Islamic Republic is overthrown.

Just over a week after seizing Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, US President Donald Trump stated on Sunday that he was considering options regarding Iran while reiterating threats to seize Greenland and questioning the usefulness of the NATO alliance.

Precious metals are at the center of a strong upward re-rating due to a confluence of tailwinds that have increased demand.

Gold and silver have benefited from several factors, including declining US interest rates, increased geopolitical tensions, diminished confidence in the US dollar, and challenges to the Fed. Due to their belief in gold’s long-term appeal, more than a dozen money managers stated they have chosen not to remove too much money from the market.

“Geopolitics, the growth/rates debate, and now a new headline-driven reminder of an institutional risk premium are just a few of the many uncertainties markets are juggling.”

Ripple’s XRP Poised for SWIFT Breakthrough as Regulatory Headwinds Fade

Posted on January 11, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

He believed that a sizable portion of institutional traffic could be discreetly routed through XRP-enabled systems without ever being advertised by brands.

Silver Under Pressure: Traders Brace for Outsized Impact from Commodity Index Rebalance

Posted on January 11, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Silver declined as investors prepared for the annual rebalancing of commodity indexes, which will involve the sale of futures contracts worth billions of dollars over the next few days. Gold stabilized, reversing earlier losses. After falling nearly 4% in the previous session, the white metal dropped as much as 5.5%.

Passive tracking funds will sell precious metals futures starting Thursday to align with the new weightings mandated by the indexes

This routine process has become more significant for gold and silver following last year’s explosive rallies. Amid heightened volatility, silver- backed ETFs experienced their largest one- day withdrawal since October on Wednesday. Regarding Citigroup Inc., silver is more susceptible to index rebalancing than gold. It is estimated that $6. 8 billion worth of silver futures, approximately 12% of open interest on Comex, may be sold to meet requirements.

The trading to rebalance the index evenly spread between the fifth and ninth business days typically follows the Bloomberg Commodities Index roll period, which occurs from the sixth to the tenth business day of the year. A note from JPMorgan Chase and Co., dated December 12, states that both metals experienced a similar index selloff last year without significantly affecting the market. However, the bank notes that the amount of silver needed to be sold this year is greater.

Analysts remain generally optimistic after gold achieved its best annual performance since 1979. Last year’s record- breaking rally was supported by increased central bank purchases and inflows into bullion- backed exchange- traded funds.

Prices were also boosted by a weakening US dollar, making the metal more attractive to buyers in other currencies. “A powerful combination of safe haven and risk- off purchases, fueled in part by USD weakness and policy uncertainty, is driving the rally.

” The release of key US economic data on Friday, such as the December jobs report, is attracting traders’ attention. A softer reading could prompt bets on further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, which would benefit non- yielding precious metals.

Gold Bulls Refuse to Quit: Investors Stay Optimistic After Epic 65% 2025 Rally

Posted on January 11, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Precious metal investors anticipate that gold will achieve a repeat in 2026, following one of the most spectacular rallies in the history of the modern market

However, some leading money managers continue to wager on additional gains, claiming that the same factors that drove bullion to a record are still at work. In 2025, gold saw a 65% increase, its best performance in almost 50 years, as institutional and retail investors joined central banks.

Bullion even surged through an inflation-adjusted high that had held since 1980 in a year when nearly all of the factors that supported the precious metal collided, including declining interest rates and geopolitical unrest.

Additionally, investors cited declining trust in major developed-market currencies as a major factor supporting bullion, citing attacks on central bank independence and growing sovereign debt.

Growing public debt in developed nations fueled political unrest throughout the past year, from the US congressional standoff and France’s paralysis to the scrutiny of Japan’s record budget under new leadership.

According to Morgan Stanley’s Chief Investment Officer and Strategist, Mike Wilson, gold is “basically an anti-fiat currency play now more than anything else.” As the so-called debasement trade gained traction in the latter months of 2025 and investors like Ray Dalio and Ken Griffin cited gold’s increase as a warning sign, that viewpoint gained momentum. As a hedge against inflation, Wilson suggests putting 20% of one’s portfolio into real assets, such as gold, and switching from the conventional 60/40 stock and bond mix to a 60/20/20 split. “The debasement story has gone mainstream,” he said.

According to Massimiliano Castelli, head of UBS Asset Management’s global sovereign markets strategy, pension and insurance funds showed growing interest in gold through 2025, with some that had never held the asset before taking positions of about 5% of their strategic asset allocation. Strong returns and gold’s ability to protect against losses in other areas of their portfolio drew them in, he continued. “Obviously, we don’t see the same upside potential as last year, when gold was essentially the best asset class of all,” Castelli remarked. However, we remain optimistic about gold.

‘Big Short’ Investor Michael Burry Discloses Options Wager Against Oracle

Posted on January 10, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Michael Burry, who has gained notoriety recently for criticizing the artificial intelligence boom, is placing a wager against Oracle. Burry stated in a Substack post following Friday’s market close that he owns put options on Oracle shares.

Puts usually gain value when the underlying asset’s price declines. Burry, who disclosed negative wagers against Nvidia Corp., a manufacturer of AI chips. and Palantir in November, as well as directly shorted Oracle over the previous six months, he claimed.

Oracle is well-known for its database software, but it has recently made a strong push into cloud computing services, necessitating an expensive expansion of data center capacity, for which it is incurring large debt. “I disagree with its positioning and the investments it is making.

It did not have to do what it is doing, and I have no idea why. In response to a reader who questioned why he had chosen to wager against Nvidia rather than Oracle, Burry wrote, “Maybe ego.”

His statement that he would short OpenAI at a $500 billion valuation highlighted his general doubts about the speed and viability of the AI buildout.

NVIDIA, according to Burry, is the most focused way to convey a pessimistic outlook on the artificial intelligence market. He wrote, “Nvidia is also the most beloved and least doubted.” Therefore, shorting it is inexpensive, and its puts are less expensive than some of the other large shorts that are more dubious

Copper Ignites 2026: Fresh Surge After 42% Historic Leap Not Seen Since 2009

Posted on January 10, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Copper rose on the first trading day of 2026, after capping the biggest annual gain since 2009 on prospects for a tighter market.

The red metal resumed its advance on Friday after losing 1.1% in the previous session.

Copper on the London Metal Exchange rallied 42% in 2025, underpinned by mine disruptions and concerns around tariffs, which have led traders to ramp up shipments to the US, creating tightness elsewhere.
Copper notched a series of all-time highs during an end-of-year surge, making it the best performer of the six industrial metals on the LME. Beyond the tariff-driven flows, mines in Indonesia to Chile, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo suffered accidents in 2025, crimping output. The red metal was 0.8% higher at $12,522.50 a ton at 10:45 a.m. Singapore time, after hitting a record of $12,960 on Monday.

Nickel climbed 0.8% to $16,780.00, while aluminum was little changed at $2,995.00. Iron ore futures in Singapore rose 0.2% to $105.60 a ton. Chinese markets are closed for a public holiday. This year, supply chain issues have dominated the metals industry, with accidents occurring in copper mines across Chile, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Zinc mines have also been disrupted, and increased energy costs and supply constraints in China pose a threat to aluminum production. The threat of US import tariffs remains the primary motivator for copper. The Mercuria Energy Group, Ltd. predicted in November that the rest of the world would experience a severe metal shortage in 2026.

According to Natalie Scott-Gray, senior metals analyst at StoneX Financial Ltd., copper is expected “to be led by sentiment from investors over US copper-specific tariffs, with focus on regional levels of global stocks and material entering the US, rather than underlying global fundamentals” in the upcoming months.

The Great Silver Squeeze of 2026: China’s Restrictions Send Prices Soaring Amid Bubble Warnings

Posted on January 10, 2026January 10, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Increased central bank purchases, inflows into exchange-traded funds, and three consecutive rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have made precious metals hot in recent months.

The value of China’s only pure-play silver fund dropped by its daily maximum of 10%, ending a wild bull run that led the fund’s manager to issue rare warnings. The sudden decline in the UBS SDIC Silver Futures Fund LOF follows weeks of gains driven by increasing global interest in precious metals, which the manager called “unsustainable.” Spot silver is on track for its best annual performance since 1979 after reaching a record high of $72.70 per ounce on Wednesday.

UBS SDIC Fund Management Co. announced new restrictions after three consecutive days this week of exceeding the 10% upward limit. Starting in December, there will be a cap on new Class C share subscriptions, typically the best option for short-term investors, decreasing from 500 yuan to 26-100 yuan ($14.25), according to a statement on the fund manager’s website. Strong investor interest in precious metals has focused on silver, with a historic short squeeze in October fueling the notable global spot price rally.

Palladium, gold, and platinum have all surged, and other Chinese funds linked to these metals have also seen significant gains, as investors caution. This year, the silver fund has surged by nearly 220%, while Shanghai-traded silver futures have risen about 128%. The premium over the underlying asset jumped from 7% at the start of the month to nearly 62% by Wednesday. As the fund’s value declined and futures rose, this premium is expected to decrease on Thursday.

Commodities that do not pay interest benefit significantly from lower borrowing costs, with traders betting on additional rate reductions in 2026. Physical premiums have hit extreme levels due to relentless industrial demand from solar panels, EVs, AI data centers, and electronics, pushing against dwindling inventories. Elon Musk’s weekend remarks highlighting the growing investor frenzy around precious metals triggered Monday’s early momentum.

“This is not good,” Musk said on X in response to a tweet about Chinese export restrictions.

Many industrial processes rely on silver. The US’s blockade of oil tankers in Venezuela and Washington’s actions against the Islamic State in Nigeria over the past week have increased the appeal of these metals as safe havens. Silver inventories are at their lowest point ever, raising the risk of supply shortages that could impact several industries.

BlackRock’s Silent XRP Power Move: Wealth Tsunami Set to Trigger Historic Pump

Posted on January 10, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Maxwell Stein, the Director of Digital Assets at BlackRock, caused a stir in the crypto market.

“Trillions of dollars are poised to enter the blockchain ecosystem, but in the short term, we need to demonstrate the technology’s utility,” stated Maxwell Stein. Meanwhile, Adena Friedman, President and CEO of NASDAQ, elaborated on how banks have begun tokenizing bonds, fixed income assets, and stablecoins, particularly Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

Ripple’s annual Swell conference is one of the most anticipated events in the cryptocurrency community.

However, renowned analyst Digital Asset Investor recently noted that while the Swell conference may not directly impact prices, an announcement regarding an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) backed by BlackRock could have a significantly different effect.

This comment reignited discussions about the factors that truly influence XRP’s market fluctuations and whether Swell WAS a meaningful price catalyst.

The consensus among digital asset investors is clear: the Swell conference typically does not lead to immediate changes in XRP’s value. The conference mainly focuses on cross-border payment innovations, blockchain integration, and industry collaboration—topics that support long-term fundamentals but rarely trigger short-term price spikes.

Conversely, the analyst suggested that a formal XRP ETF, especially one backed by a major international investment firm like BlackRock, would dramatically transform the market landscape. Such an event would signify institutional support and regulatory recognition, potentially attracting significant capital inflows and influencing the token’s price.

Reactions on X varied among users. While some see potential, one user noted that the current market trend indicates weakness and consolidation, suggesting that broader declines may overshadow any positive developments. They also mentioned that retail traders might react emotionally in the short term.

The overarching conclusion is that traders differentiate between significant financial advancements and mere symbolic events.

Although Swell’s global reach and institutional partnerships are noteworthy, they rarely generate headlines that impact the market. In contrast, the possibility of a BlackRock XRP ETF would have much larger implications for investor accessibility, liquidity, and long-term valuation.

Market participants will likely continue to look for signs of progress in institutional integration as Ripple’s Swell 2025 conference in New York approaches. However, until an ETF or regulatory milestone is officially announced, expectations for substantial price movements remain low.