👋 Welcome to the CoinStats Scoop, your weekly newsletter with the most groundbreaking Web3 innovations and market-moving headlines in the crypto space.

Stay in the loop with all the key market moves, emerging trends, and exciting developments 📈 in the crypto space from the past week.

After closing 2025 in the red, Bitcoin’s price staged a 4% recovery during the first week of the new year, briefly topping $94,000, despite renewed geopolitical uncertainty following the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw over $1.1 billion of investments during the first two trading days, in a sign of renewed institutional BTC demand following the end of the tax loss selling period.

Strategy also added $116 million in Bitcoin to celebrate the new year, in a sign of confidence from the world’s largest corporate BTC holder and one of the most important demand drivers for BTC during the past years.

Last but not least, the second-largest US bank, Bank of America, opened the door for Bitcoin ETF exposure, paving the way for a new wave of institutional capital from traditional investors during the new year 🏦.

In this week’s CoinStats Scoop, you’ll find:

📊 Crypto Market Analysis And The Most Important News In Web3

🏦 Bank of America opens gateway to Bitcoin ETFs for 15,000 wealth advisors.
AInvest

💰 Strategy buys $116M Bitcoin in first 2026 acquisition, as USD reserve soars to $2.25 billion.

🌍 US capture of Venezuela President raises questions about the $60 billion Bitcoin reserve.

📈 Crypto funds close 2025 with $47 billion, as demand for Solana ETPs rises 1,000%.

🔮 Analysis And Key Events That Will Shape The Crypto Market Next Week

Bank of America Opens Gateway to Bitcoin ETFs for 15,000 Wealth Advisors 🏦

Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the United States, is opening the gateway to Bitcoin investments for its wealthiest clients, signaling another big structural tailwind for 2026.

Starting January 5, Bank of America will allow its wealth advisers to start recommending exposure to spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

This includes a green light for the bank’s network of over 15,000 wealth advisors through its platforms, including Merrill, Bank of America Private Bank, and Merrill Edge.

The Bank’s chief investment officer (CIO) approved 4 such funds for recommendation, including the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC), and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) 📊.

This marks the first time that the Bank of America’s wealthiest clients can directly access Bitcoin investments through their accounts, introducing a regulated Bitcoin investment vehicle to a new subset of investors that could bring more capital into BTC 🎯.

Back in December, Vanguard, the world’s second-largest asset manager, also enabled crypto ETF trading for its clients, signaling an underlying institutional appetite for regulated crypto trading products.

Strategy Buys $116M Bitcoin In First 2026 Acquisition, As USD Reserve Soars To $2.25 Billion 🚀

Strategy, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, started the new year with an over $100 million investment while continuing to strengthen its cash reserves, despite concerns over its multi-billion dollar paper loss in the previous quarter.

Strategy bought 1,283 Bitcoin for a total of $116 million, reaching 673,783 in total BTC holdings worth $62.6 billion, bought at an average cost basis of $75,026 per BTC.

Strategy acquired the BTC at the $90,000 price, signaling that the all-important psychological level may serve as a new accumulation zone for other Bitcoin treasury firms and institutions 📈.

However, Strategy also reported a $17.4 billion unrealized loss on its Bitcoin holdings during the fourth quarter of 2025, as Bitcoin’s price slid by 23%.

To soothe concerns, Strategy added another $62 million to its cash reserve to surpass $2.25 billion, which is a significant financial safety net to service the firm’s dividend payments and interest on outstanding debt 🛡️.

While relatively small compared to the firm’s average acquisitions, the $116 million investment is a signal of confidence for Bitcoin’s price, as Strategy and BlackRock’s ETF were the two biggest BTC buyers during 2025.

🚨 US Capture Of Venezuela President Raises Questions About $60 Billion Bitcoin Reserve

US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, reigniting questions about the country’s rumoured secret Bitcoin reserve stash, which Venezuela 🇻🇪 may have been accumulating for the past few years.

Speculation arose about Venezuela’s $60 billion Bitcoin reserve after investigative journalist Bradley Hope published an unsubstantiated theory claiming the government converted gold into cryptocurrency, resulting in a 600,000 BTC stash.

A Swiss lawyer allegedly controls access to the $60 billion secret Bitcoin stash, wrote Hope.

🗣️ “For years, the regime converted looted gold into Bitcoin… We found a key figure in the gold pipeline: a courier who allegedly earned $1M per trip moving gold to Turkey and Dubai. He was sanctioned in 2019. His father was indicted. He was never charged.”

Despite the investigation, no blockchain intelligence firms have discovered traces signaling a $60 billion Venezuelan Bitcoin reserve.

Still, the US capture ignited speculation that any potential Bitcoin holdings may be transferred to the existing US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, further reducing the supply of Bitcoin that won’t be sold on the open market 📉.

Crypto Funds Close 2025 With $47 Billion, As Demand For Solana ETPs Rises 1,000% 🚀

Cryptocurrency investment products closed another year with big figures, as the inflows hit a dormant institutional appetite for altcoin exposure through regulated venues 📊.

Cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) attracted $47.2 billion in inflows in 2025, nearly reaching the record $48.7 billion logged in 2024.

Investments into Bitcoin saw a 35% drop to about $27 billion, while altcoin-based ETPs saw growing demand. Ether ETPs received $12.7 billion in inflows, up 138% from 2024, while Solana ETPs received $3.6 billion, marking a 1,000% surge in demand from the $310 million in the previous year.

Investments in XRP ETPs also rose 500% to $3.7 billion during the past year 📈.

Adding to investor optimism, the new year also began with significant inflows into crypto funds, wrote James Butterfill, the head of research at CoinShares:

🗣️ “The year also began on a high note with inflows of US$671m last Friday, bringing the full week inflows to US$582m following outflows earlier in the week.”

Over in Europe’s largest economy, German investors are showing a growing appetite for crypto funds, having invested $2.5 billion during 2025, up from $43 million in outflows realized in 2024.

Market Overview: Bitcoin Briefly Tops $94K As ETF Analyst Predicts $70 Billion Inflows In 2026 📈

Cryptocurrency markets saw a resurgence for the first trading week of 2026, benefiting from the end of the tax loss selling season, while traders returned from holiday.

Despite the US strike on Venezuela sparking geopolitical concerns, Bitcoin’s price rallied by nearly 4% over the past week, according to CoinStats data ⚡.

Institutional demand also brought more capital, as the Bitcoin ETFs logged over $1.1 billion in investments during the first two trading days of the new year.

The inflows signal a promising year with accelerating investments into Bitcoin funds, wrote Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas:

🗣️ “The spot bitcoin ETFs are coming into 2026 like a lion, +$1.2 in flows in first two days of year w/ everyone eating. That’s a $150b/yr pace. Told ya’ll if they can take in $22b when it’s raining, imagine when the sun is shining.”

The popular ETF analyst predicted that spot Bitcoin ETFs would attract up to $20 billion if the price remains muted in 2026, with a potential to add $70 billion if Bitcoin crosses $130,000 to $140,000 this year.

In another big fundamental development, wealth management giant Morgan Stanley filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF and a spot Solana ETF, seeking to offer regulated cryptocurrency exposure to millions of clients 📊.

The proposed funds would introduce more regulated crypto investment products accessible to wider audiences, like traditional brokerage account holders, attracting new liquidity to propel crypto valuations.

Lastly, the market capitalization of memecoins rose by over 20% during the first week of the year, signaling significant investor demand for speculative digital assets, as investors await a clear move from the large caps.

Tweets & Memes

The accumulation zone below $90,000 signals a local bottom, according to the head of research at Bitwise 📉.

Ethereum ETFs are holding strong despite the market downtrend in Q4 2025 💹.

Harvard’s road to Bitcoin adoption has been a wild rollercoaster ride, but they arrived at the orange coin in the end 🪙.

It’s not a crypto bear market until developers continue building new products ⚡.

Bitcoin futures markets are still “dead” according to Will Clemente, but analyst Eric Balchunas said this is like “showing CD sales in the era of Spotify” 🎵.

Meanwhile, some snipers are benefiting from the fresh memecoin bonanza… 🎯.

Thank you for reading the weekly CoinStats Scoop Newsletter.

CoinStats will continue to guide you through the world of crypto and DeFi. We’ll see you next week for another edition of CoinStats Scoop! 😎