DOGE is trading above $0.146 after adding 18% to its value in seven days.
The leading memecoin could face a correction below $0.14.
DOGE trades above $0.14
Meme coins such as Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Pepe (PEPE) are leading the cryptocurrency market rally thanks to the geopolitical tension in Venezuela.
The United States conducted an operation in Venezuela over the weekend, capturing Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. They were brought to the U.S. and will appear in federal court at noon on Monday, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.
This tension allowed the crypto market to rally higher, with Dogecoin extending its gain for the fifth consecutive day while SHIB and PEPE take a pause. The outlook remains bullish, but DOGE could face a slight retrace below the $0.14 level in the near term.
Dogecoin could retrace below $0.14
The DOGE/USD 4-hour chart is bullish and efficient thanks to Dogecoin’s rally over the past seven days. The dog-themed meme coin extends its recovery over the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $0.14339 and could rally higher in the near term.
If the bulls continue to push higher, DOGE could aim for the 200-day EMA at $0.18202, aligning with the overhead supply zone between $0.18100 and $0.18500.
The technical indicators are bullish. The RSI of 73 shows that DOGE is heading into the overbought region. The MACD lines continue to rise alongside green histogram bars, signaling a surge in bullish momentum.
However, if the bullish trend subsides, DOGE could slip below $0.14339 and risk retesting the $0.1300 psychological level.
XRP has flipped BNB to become the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
The coin could rally towards the $2.3 resistance level in the near term.
XRP tops $2.1
XRP, the native coin of the Ripple ecosystem, is up 13% in the last seven days, outperforming Bitcoin and Ether in the process. The rally comes as institutional and retail demand push prices higher.
XRP spot ETFs listed in the United States (US) experienced inflows of $43 million last week. Data revealed that since their debut in November, the funds have maintained steady weekly inflows, suggesting growing institutional investor interest.
The five XRP ETF products recorded approximately $13.6 million in inflows on Friday, taking the cumulative net inflow to $1.18 billion and net assets to $1.37 billion.
In addition to that, retail interest in XRP is slowly returning following the coin’s poor performance in December. Data obtained from Coinglass shows that XRP’s futures Open Interest (OI) increased to approximately $3.8 billion on Monday, up from $3.6 billion the previous day. The OI averaged $3.3 billion on Thursday, signaling that retail demand is slowly returning.
XRP eyes a breakout above $2.3
The XRP/USD 4-hour chart is bullish and efficient as the coin has performed well over the past few days. At press time, XRP is trading at $2.12, above the 50-day EMA support level of $2.05.
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator upholds a positive outlook on the daily chart, with green histogram bars expanding above the mean line.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 75 and rising supports XRP’s bullish thesis. If the RSI continues to increase, XRP could enter the overbought region.
If the bullish trend continues, XRP could rally towards the next resistance levels represented by the 100-day EMA at $2.22 and the 200-day EMA at $2.34. However, failure to push higher could see XRP retest the $2.00 psychological level once again.
Starknet uses zero-knowledge rollups to batch transactions off chain and settle on Ethereum.
The project is also pursuing Bitcoin DeFi integration through its BTCFi initiative.
The STRK token price remained stable despite the disruption.
Starknet, an Ethereum layer-2 network built on zero-knowledge rollups, entered 2026 dealing with an unexpected mainnet disruption that temporarily interrupted network activity.
The incident surfaced at a moment when layer-2 infrastructure is increasingly critical to Ethereum’s scaling roadmap, with developers and users relying on these networks for faster execution and lower costs.
As decentralised applications expand across finance, gaming, and experimental Bitcoin-linked use cases, even short periods of downtime draw attention to operational resilience.
The latest disruption placed Starknet under that spotlight, testing its response processes while the broader ecosystem monitored network stability.
The Starknet team acknowledged the issue through an X post, confirming that the network was experiencing downtime and that engineers were actively investigating the cause.
The update stressed that work was underway to restore full functionality as quickly as possible, although no technical explanation was shared at the time.
When the message was published, the mainnet had already been unavailable for just over two hours, marking a notable interruption for developers and users relying on live applications.
Network interruption
The disruption did not come with immediate details on whether transaction sequencing, proof generation, or another component was affected.
Any failure along that pipeline can temporarily halt activity, even if user funds remain secure on the base layer.
During the outage window, on-chain data indicated stalled execution rather than loss of state, aligning with typical safety mechanisms used by ZK-rollup networks.
How Starknet works
Starknet operates as a ZK-rollup based layer-2, processing transactions away from Ethereum’s main chain and periodically settling them with validity proofs.
This design aims to deliver higher throughput and lower fees while inheriting Ethereum’s security guarantees.
The network has positioned itself as an infrastructure for complex smart contracts, decentralised finance protocols, and gaming applications that require fast settlement.
Its reliance on cryptographic proofs means performance gains are tied closely to the reliability of off-chain components.
Bitcoin DeFi focus
Beyond Ethereum-native use cases, Starknet has been promoting a Bitcoin DeFi, or BTCFi, arc.
The initiative frames the network as a bridge for Bitcoin-related financial applications seeking exposure to Ethereum’s programmability.
By enabling Bitcoin-linked assets or logic to interact with decentralised applications, Starknet has aimed to broaden its relevance beyond a single ecosystem.
The timing of the disruption, however, highlights how operational stability remains central as these cross-ecosystem ambitions develop.
Market response
Despite the mainnet downtime, the STRK token price held steady at $0.08898 at the time of writing, suggesting limited immediate market reaction.
Short-term resilience in the token contrasted with the technical interruption, indicating that traders may be viewing the issue as operational rather than structural.
As engineers continued work on restoring full functionality, attention remained focused on updates from the team and the duration of the disruption rather than price volatility.
Crypto ETFs are being studied as a regulated gateway for public access to digital assets.
Japan will cut crypto taxes to 20% and reclassify major tokens as financial products.
Institutional shifts in Japan could have wider implications for global markets.
Japan is laying the groundwork for crypto exchange-traded funds as part of a broader effort to bring digital assets into its regulated financial system.
The shift was outlined by Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama during her New Year address at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where she confirmed government backing for integrating blockchain-based assets into the country’s stock and commodity exchanges.
The comments place Japan alongside jurisdictions that are rethinking how digital assets fit within traditional markets, with 2026 framed as a pivotal year for implementation.
Katayama described 2026 as the first year of a new digital phase for Japan’s economy, pointing to developments overseas to underline the direction of travel.
She highlighted how crypto ETFs in the US have expanded access to digital assets by embedding them within familiar investment structures, rather than treating them as a separate asset class operating outside regulated exchanges.
ETFs enter policy debate
The minister’s remarks signalled a clear intention to use existing exchange infrastructure as the foundation for digital asset adoption.
By anchoring crypto trading to securities and commodity exchanges, policymakers appear focused on standardisation and oversight, rather than rapid deregulation.
Katayama also linked crypto ETFs in the US to their growing use as an inflation hedge for households, suggesting that Japan is assessing how similar products could function within domestic portfolios.
As Minister of State for Financial Services, she pledged full support for exchanges developing fintech-focused trading systems.
This backing indicates that crypto-linked products are no longer being treated as experimental but as instruments that could sit alongside equities, commodities, and derivatives.
Tax and legal reset for 2026
The ETF discussion coincides with sweeping regulatory changes already locked in for 2026.
Japan will cut its crypto tax rate from a maximum of 55% to a flat 20%, aligning digital assets with stocks and other conventional investments.
The government has also reclassified 105 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
These changes allow investors to carry forward crypto trading losses for up to three years, mirroring rules that apply to equities.
The clearer framework has prompted long-standing preparations by domestic firms.
Implications beyond domestic markets
Japan’s evolving stance is being watched closely outside the country.
As the largest foreign holder of US Treasury bonds, with holdings of about $1.2 trillion, Japan plays a significant role in global capital flows.
Any reallocation by Japanese institutions toward digital assets could influence market sentiment well beyond Asia.
At home, the Financial Services Agency has already approved the country’s first yen-pegged stablecoin, JPYC, and has discussed allowing banks to hold and trade crypto directly.
Katayama has characterised 2026 as a turning point for addressing Japan’s economic challenges through fiscal policy and targeted investment in growth sectors, with digital assets now firmly part of that strategy.
With lower taxes, clearer legal definitions, and ETF-style products edging closer, Japan is repositioning crypto from the fringes of finance toward the centre of its regulated markets.
Der Altcoin-Markt steht vor einer Rallye, wie die technische Analyse zeigt, wonach Altcoins über den im Oktober gebildeten kritischen Unterstützungen liegen.
