Weekly: Venezuela, Zcash, SBF, CARF and wallet attacks

The first full week of 2026 was a reminder: the market is driven not only by charts. With BTC holding high levels, the spotlight shifted to geopolitics, governance crises in certain projects, compliance, and user security. In the end, it was a week not about a pump, but about how quickly the context around crypto can change.

Market: BTC holds the line, but sentiment is more sober

In early January, Bitcoin stayed above 90,000 and at times during the week approached the area around 94,789. At the same time, emotions cooled: the market became more cautious, and expectations of a quick push to round-number levels look less straightforward. 

Institutional demand, judging by spot ETF behavior, is wave-like: after a period of outflows around year-end, there were also days with renewed inflows, but without the feeling of a stable, постоянного buyer.

Venezuela: when politics fuels crypto narratives

News about the crisis in Venezuela became a trigger for discussions that go beyond local politics. On the one hand, the market focused on the energy angle: potential changes in access to oil resources and a longer-term impact on energy costs, which matters for mining. On the other hand, a Bitcoin perspective emerged: in periods of political turbulence, attention to BTC grows as an alternative financial instrument for countries with unstable economies.

Zcash: a decline driven by a governance crisis

The loudest story in the alt sector was the sharp drop in ZEC amid a conflict over ecosystem governance. The key point: the market reacted not to a technical failure of the protocol, but to a loss of predictability: who makes decisions, how development is funded, and whether the team will split. 

Additionally, the information backdrop was amplified by the announcement of a new cashZ wallet based on the Zashi code by former developers: it highlighted that the ecosystem is entering a restructuring phase, and investors do not like uncertainty.

Politics and law: Trump refused to pardon SBF

Donald Trump publicly ruled out the possibility of pardoning Sam Bankman-Fried. For the market, this is a signal about the limits of political solutions in high-profile crypto cases: the FTX case remains toxic and is unlikely to become a platform for soft decisions, even if the political environment shifts.

Regulation: CARF is already in effect

From January 1, 2026, the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework began operating in 48 countries, and the first reporting is expected in 2027. This means greater tax transparency and stricter requirements for transaction record-keeping for services that operate internationally. 

In the U.S., disputes over crypto market structure rules continue in parallel, and in the public space there are estimates that the process may drag on. For the industry, this matters because the rules of the game determine how quickly major players can scale their presence.

Security: MetaMask phishing and the Truebit hack for 8,535 ETH

The week brought two alarming reminders at once. The first was a wave of phishing targeting MetaMask with fake security warnings and a demand to supposedly пройти 2FA. The second was the Truebit incident: the protocol lost 8,535 ETH (estimated at about $26.5 million), and the team confirmed the attack. 

The overall conclusion is obvious: in 2026, user risk often lies not in volatility, but in social engineering and weak spots in smart contracts.

Kursoff opinion

This week showed a mature market context: the price can be high, but trust is built on very different things. Geopolitics quickly becomes a catalyst for narratives, governance conflicts can crash even well-known projects, regulation systematically raises the transparency bar, and security remains the most underestimated risk. 

At the start of 2026, it looks like the winners will not be those chasing headlines, but those who maintain discipline, check risks, and do not cut corners on access hygiene for their assets.