Before we dive in, here’s today’s crypto market heatmap:

And here’s a look at crypto’s total and altcoin market cap YTD:

📊 Ripple + Chainlink: A ‘Stable’ Affair

Ripple wants to prove RLUSD is actually stable by hooking it to Chainlink’s grown-up data feeds. Because a stablecoin claiming to be stable without real data is like a “low-fat” cookie that’s 99% sugar. Now RLUSD can walk into DeFi without tripping over its own shoelaces. Ripple’s X.

🤦 Economist Calls U.S. Bitcoin Reserve “Stupid”

Trump’s rumored BTC reserve plan just got a big fat “nope” from Steve Hanke. He thinks pouring national savings into Bitcoin is about as useful for the economy as buying vintage arcade tokens. If he’s right, brace for epic meltdown tweets from the laser-eyes brigade. NewsBTC.

🏦 CFTC Chair Benham Out, Calls for “Serious” Crypto Oversight

Rostin Behnam exits the CFTC on Jan. 20 after four years of tough enforcement (like that $4.3B Binance penalty) and repeated pleas for better digital asset regulation. He leaves behind a big gap in the agency’s leadership, hoping his successor pursues “renewed focus” on bridging token classification confusion. Insiders eye a16z policy lead Brian Quintenz as the frontrunner, who might finally clarify the CFTC’s stance on crypto commodities—and rewrite the rulebook for 2025. Cointelegraph.

Yesterday’s Litepaper highlighted a range of altcoins gearing up for potential bullish continuation moves. Among those we reviewed (and the ones we didn’t), a couple of conditions within the Ichimoku Kinko Hyo system still needed to align before locking in confirmation of a return to bullish momentum.

For example, here’s Hedera’s chart from yesterday’s Litepaper:

Bulls were (and are) looking for a close that puts the Chikou Span above the candlestick bodies - that didn’t happen. Instead, the candlesticks are acting as a source of resistance for the Chikou Span - something common for a good chunk of the altcoin market.

And if you remember Dogecoin’s chart from yesterday, price was near the top of the Cloud, but a close above $0.425 was needed to confirm an Ideal Bullish Ichimoku Breakout.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, bulls were given a heavy dose of suck brought to you by the Cloud. Which, if you remember, is the source of everything bad in the world. Like crushed hopes and dreams of a bullish continuation.

As a reminder, here’s a screenshot from the January 2, 2025 Litepaper that shows some of the bad things inside the Cloud:

Howard, Phil, JC, and Michael are joined by special guest Packy McCormick of “Not Boring” to discuss the overlap of technology and meme culture. From Fart Coin to Nvidia's groundbreaking AI advancements, this episode sits at the intersection of innovation, humor, and strategy to explore the opportunities and chaos shaping 2025.