Roubini said that Bitcoin behaves like a leveraged bet, rising and falling alongside high-risk equities rather than hedging uncertainty.

Economist Nouriel Roubini, who is known for his anti-crypto rhetoric, predicted a looming “crypto apocalypse.” He explained that the future of money and payments will evolve gradually rather than undergo the revolutionary transformation promised by cryptocurrency advocates.

In a recent post, Roubini said Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ latest price plunge demonstrates the extreme volatility of what he calls a “pseudo-asset class,” and expressed hope that policymakers recognize the risks before further damage occurs.

He recalled that one year earlier, Donald Trump had returned to the US presidency after courting retail crypto investors and receiving significant backing from crypto industry figures. This led several evangelists to predict that Bitcoin would reach at least $200,000 by the end of 2025 and become “digital gold.”

Roubini: Bitcoin Isn’t a Hedge

According to Roubini, Trump followed through by dismantling most crypto regulations, signing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stable Coins (GENIUS) Act, pushing the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, profiting from domestic and foreign crypto deals, promoting a meme coin bearing his name, pardoning crypto criminals allegedly linked to terrorist organizations, and hosting private White House dinners for crypto insiders.

Roubini noted that crypto was also expected to benefit from macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, including rising public debt, fiat currency debasement, trade wars, and increased tensions involving the US, Iran, and China, factors that coincided with gold rising more than 60% in 2025.

Bitcoin, however, fell 6% that year and, as of the time of writing, was down 42% from its October peak and below its level at Trump’s election, while the TRUMP and MELANIA meme coins had dropped 95%. Roubini said Bitcoin repeatedly declined during periods when gold rallied, and argued that it behaves as a leveraged risk asset correlated with speculative stocks rather than a hedge.

He reiterated his long-standing view that crypto does not function as a currency, as it is neither a unit of account, a scalable payment system, nor a stable store of value, while citing El Salvador’s experience, where Bitcoin accounts for less than 5% of transactions. He further argued that crypto is not a true asset because it lacks income streams or real-world utility.

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On Stablecoins and Regulations

Roubini said the only widely adopted crypto application after 17 years is the stablecoin, which he described as a digital form of fiat money already replicated by traditional finance, and maintained that most blockchain-based systems are centralized, permissioned, and privately controlled. He asserted that fully decentralized finance will never scale because governments will not permit anonymous transactions, and that AML and KYC requirements undermine claims of lower costs.

While speaking about regulation, Roubini warned the GENIUS Act risks recreating the instability of 19th-century free banking, as stablecoins lack narrow bank regulation, lender-of-last-resort access, or deposit insurance, making them vulnerable to runs. He also criticized proposals allowing stablecoins to pay interest, and claimed that this could destabilize fractional reserve banking unless payments and credit creation are structurally separated.

Roubini’s comments come as Bitcoin continues its downward trajectory, falling a fresh 6% on Thursday and trading below $71,600 at the time of writing. The latest decline has added to broader market unease, and analysts are warning that continued weakness in BTC could have wider implications. Market experts have increasingly raised concerns that firms holding large BTC reserves may face massive balance-sheet stress and systemic risk if prices continue to slide.

Sovcombank, the ninth-largest Russian bank by assets, said it became the first financial institution in the country to offer bitcoin-backed loans to individuals and corporations who legally own digital assets.

The move follows a pilot program by state-owned Sberbank, which in late December issued the first such product to mining firm Intelion Data. While crypto-secured lending remains limited amid regulatory uncertainty, Russian banks have increasingly shown interest in borrowing against bitcoin as mining firms and crypto-holding businesses look to unlock liquidity while retaining their digital assets.

“Specifically, we offer bitcoin-secured lending, allowing our clients to raise financing for business development without having to sell their assets,” Marina Burdonova, Sovcombank’s compliance director, said in a statement. Only companies and individuals who legally own digital assets will have access to the bitcoin-backed lending products, she said.

Crypto mining in Russia became legal Nov. 1, 2024 after the government introduced a law allowing legal entities and entrepreneurs registered with the Ministry of Digital Development to engage in the activity. Unregistered miners could operate only if they do not exceed energy consumption limits.

A month later, the government imposed a six-year ban on crypto mining in 10 regions due to the industry’s high power consumption. In December 2025, it reopened the cryptocurrency market to the public with new rules laid out by the country’s central bank.

“Mining has ceased to be a niche ‘bitcoin mining’ activity. It has become an investment class with predictable returns, a payback period and manageable risks,” Burdonova said. “Sovcombank sees potential in partnerships with all crypto industry participants, from miners and data center operators to crypto exchanges and money changers.”

Binance’s price is approaching the $615 support zone as oversold conditions intensify, placing it at a critical technical inflection point.

Binance (BNB) price has entered a sharp corrective phase following its recent swing high, with bearish momentum accelerating across multiple timeframes. After failing to sustain upside continuation, price has rotated lower in an impulsive fashion, signaling a clear shift in short- to medium-term market structure.

As BNB continues to unwind recent gains, attention is now turning toward a key high-timeframe support region near $615, where technical confluence suggests this level may play a decisive role in determining the next directional move.

Binance price key technical points

• $615 marks a major confluence support zone, aligning with the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement and VWAP support
• High-timeframe resistance at $932 remains intact, reinforcing the broader corrective structure
• Oversold conditions increase the probability of a relief bounce, provided structural support holds

The current corrective move began after Binance Coin established a new high at a time-frame resistance near $932.

This level acted as a decisive rejection point, where bullish momentum stalled and sellers regained control.

The failure to reclaim acceptance above this resistance confirmed a structural low and initiated the current impulsive move to the downside.

Since that rejection, price action has remained consistently bearish, with lower highs and expanding downside candles reflecting aggressive selling pressure. This behavior suggests that the move lower is not merely a shallow pullback, but a broader corrective rotation within the prevailing market cycle.

$615 support zone comes into focus

As price continues to decline, the $615 region has emerged as the most important technical level in the near term.

This zone represents a high-confluence area where multiple technical factors align, including the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement of the broader move and VWAP-based support.

Additionally, this region sits above the previous range value area high, strengthening its relevance as a structural support level.

Historically, when price revisits such confluence zones after an impulsive move, the market often pauses to reassess value. If buyers step in to defend this area, it increases the likelihood that prices will stabilize and form a base for a corrective rebound.

Oversold conditions signal potential exhaustion

Momentum indicators are now beginning to reflect oversold conditions following the extensive selling seen over recent days and weeks. While bearish trends can persist longer than expected, oversold readings often signal that downside momentum may be nearing exhaustion, especially when price approaches major support.

Importantly, oversold conditions alone do not confirm a reversal. However, when combined with strong structural support, they increase the probability of at least a short-term relief bounce. Any such bounce would likely be corrective in nature unless accompanied by a clear reclaim of higher resistance levels.

What to expect in the coming price action

From a technical, price action, and market structure perspective, the $615 region represents a critical make-or-break level for Binance Coin. A successful defense of this support could allow BNB to establish a higher low and trigger a rotation back toward higher price targets. Conversely, failure to hold this zone would expose the market to deeper corrective levels and extend the bearish structure.

Until confirmation emerges, traders should closely monitor volume behavior and price reaction around support. A strong bullish response would signal improving demand, while continued weakness would reinforce downside risk. For now, all eyes remain on $615 as the market approaches a pivotal moment in Binance Coin’s corrective cycle.

Institutional trading and lending desk Secure Digital Markets (SDM) said it sent a $1 million payment to cryptocurrency exchange Kraken over the Lightning Network on Jan. 28.

SDM claimed in a Thursday statement shared with Cointelegraph that it is the largest publicly reported Lightning transaction to date and a proof‑of‑concept for seven‑figure transfers between regulated counterparties.

The payment cleared in 0.43 seconds and was routed via Voltage’s managed Lightning infrastructure, which provides node management, pre‑provisioned liquidity, and uptime guarantees aimed at exchanges and trading desks. 

The previously publicized “record” single payment milestone was about 1.24 Bitcoin (BTC), roughly $140,000 at the time, highlighting the rarity of six‑figure Lightning payments, let alone a clean, seven‑figure transfer in one shot.

Voltage CEO Graham Krizek called the transaction an “important moment for Lightning and for institutional Bitcoin payments,” saying that a $1 million Lightning transfer highlighted the “its ability to meet enterprise requirements.”

Related: Lightning Network could nab 5% of stablecoin flows by 2028: Voltage CEO

Lightning metrics remain small, but growing

The transfer comes against a backdrop of mixed Lightning metrics. Capacity on public Lightning channels fell from over 5,400 BTC in late 2023 to about 4,200 BTC by mid 2025, before rebounding to a new all-time high capacity of over 5,600 BTC by December. 

That’s still a small pool of capital relative to Bitcoin’s market value, and most documented usage has skewed toward smaller payments.

Bitfinex, for example, had long capped Lightning deposits at 0.04 BTC before recently lifting limits to 0.5 BTC per payment and 2 BTC per channel.

In a statement shared with Cointelegraph, Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether and chief technology officer at Bitfinex, called the Lightning Network a “powerful solution for all Bitcoin users” that began as a retail payments experiment

He said that Bitfinex had seen Lightning handle higher volumes with predictable settlement, lower costs and reduced onchain congestion, “all of which matter for institutional use cases.”

Fidelity and Blockstream see institutional potential

Fidelity Digital Assets, which published a 2025 report on Lightning using Voltage data, argued that the Lightning Network not only enhanced Bitcoin’s utility but also bolstered its investment case.

Related: Tether leads $8M funding for Lightning startup focused on stablecoins

Fidelity noted that average Lightning capacity had increased by 384% since 2020, adding that the network presented a “transformative opportunity for both new and existing financial institutions.”

Blockstream, a Bitcoin‑focused infrastructure company, pushed a similar narrative in its Q4 2025 quarterly update.

The company highlighted Core Lightning releases focused on latency reduction and Lightning Service Provider (LSP) support, and pitched its Greenlight platform as a way for apps, exchanges and services to offer trust‑minimized Lightning functionality with minimal infrastructure burden, with an explicit roadmap for enterprise‑focused Lightning deployments.

Big questions: Would Bitcoin survive a 10-year power outage?