Strategy Stays In

Find out our latest reports, listed below:

• Bybit x Block Scholes: “2026: It's Different This Time?”

• Tokenised Markets on Bitget UEX: Unlocking Real-World Assets On-Chain for 24/7 Global Access

• DeepBook - “The Backbone of Sui DeFi Liquidity”

• Premia x Block Scholes: Introducing Kyan

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Market Snapshot: Overnight Moves

Daily Updates:

• The risk-on rally in US equities was well intact yesterday as all three major US stock indexes closed higher. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both reached a record high (up 0.62% and 0.99% respectively), and the Nasdaq-100 advanced 0.94%. 
• That occurred alongside a continuation in the precious metals rally — gold rose more than a full percentage point, while silver outperformed and rose 6%. 

• Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, failed to see the same optimism. After five consecutive positive days, BTC was met with resistance at the $94-95K region and now trades below $92K. ETH’s rally also stalled after 6 days of gains. We covered in yesterday’s daily comment that we had seen tentative signs of a rebound in Spot BTC and ETH ETF inflows — that momentum has stalled slightly for BTC, as ETF products sold $243.2M of bitcoins yesterday. Spot ETH ETFs on the other hand had a third consecutive inflow day, purchasing $114.7M worth of Ether.  

• The underperformance of BTC and ETH relative to precious metals and US equities came amidst positive news from index provider MSCI who announced that it would not exclude crypto digital asset treasury companies, such as Strategy Inc., from its indices. 
• In a statement yesterday, MSCI said it “has determined at this time not to implement the proposal to exclude digital asset treasury companies ("DATCOs") from the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes ("MSCI Indexes") as part of the February 2026 Index Review”, adding that “It would maintain current index treatment for so-called digital asset treasury companies, including those where crypto holdings exceed 50% of total assets. That means Strategy — which holds over $60B in Bitcoin — will remain in the firm’s global benchmarks for now.”
• Instead, MSCI “intends to open a broader consultation on the treatment of non-operating companies generally”. 
• The announcement helped fuel a 5% rally in Strategy shares in after-market trading and according to Strategy’s website, its mNAV is currently 1.03. 
• This was one of the key events we highlighted during our livestream with Bybit to watch in January 2026.

• Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin cautioned yesterday that any further adjustments to the Fed’s benchmark federal funds rate will need to be "finely tuned" to incoming macro data. 
• Speaking at an event in North Carolina, Barkin said that rates are now "within the range of estimates of neutral" and as such, "Going forward, policy will require finely tuned judgments balancing progress on each side of our mandate."
• He did nonetheless provide a more optimistic outlook for 2026: he believes that "2025’s uncertainty is bound to diminish” and that “the fog should lift”. 
• Barkin also said in his speech, “Don’t forget that a lot of stimulus is set to come into the economy.” 
• According to Barkin, “High asset values have eased financial conditions. Fiscal stimulus from the recent tax bill is coming, most notably in coming tax refunds. Gasoline prices are down. Deregulatory initiatives are rolling out. And the impact of the rate cuts we’ve made in the last 16 months — 175 basis points — should flow into the economy as well.”

• More dovish Governor Stephen Miran weighed in on his views for monetary policy yesterday also. Speaking on Fox Business he said, "Policy is clearly restrictive and holding the economy back" and thus "well over 100 basis points of cuts are going to be justified this year."

• Barclays has taken an equity stake in Ubyx, a US stablecoin settlement start-up, marking the bank’s first direct investment in a stablecoin-related business, according to Reuters on Wednesday. The move fits Barclays’ push to explore “tokenised money” within the regulatory perimeter.
• Ubyx, founded in 2025, is building clearing and reconciliation rails that work across multiple stablecoin issuers. 

• Morgan Stanley filed S-1 registration statements yesterday with the SEC for spot Bitcoin and spot Solana ETFs, proposing a Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust.
• The Solana product notably includes a staking feature.

• Lighter, the onchain perps venue, has launched 24/5 equity perpetual futures, extending its derivatives stack from crypto into US equities and keeping those markets open around the clock on weekdays.
• The exchange said the products previously tracked standard US trading hours and plans to move toward 24/7 availability.

• Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott says the committee is preparing to vote next week on a crypto market structure package commonly referred to as the CLARITY Act, positioning it as a “light-touch” framework that would bring clearer rules of the road for digital assets.
• While final language is still being negotiated, the legislation is designed to clarify definitions and oversight for crypto markets, including how tokens are classified and which regulator has jurisdiction, alongside consumer/investor protections and illicit-finance safeguards. The committee is planned to meet on January 15, 2026. 

• Polymarket has revised its documentation to reveal that 15-minute crypto up/down markets now charge taker fees, which vary with market odds, peaking near 50% and declining toward zero as probabilities move toward either extreme. These taker fees are used to fund the newly introduced Maker Rebates Program for the same 15-minute crypto markets. Under this program, traders who add liquidity are rewarded with daily USDC rebates based on how much of their orders are filled, with fees redistributed in proportion to their liquidity contribution.

This Week’s Calendar:

Charts of the Day: