Gate Research Institute: XRD surges over 60% in 24 hours | Citi warns that Ethereum on-chain activity may be driven by scams

Cryptocurrency Market Overview

• BTC (+0.29% | Current price $89,781.7): After a rapid decline earlier, BTC formed a clear seasonal low around $87,256, followed by a quick rebound back above $89,000. Currently, the price is consolidating within the $89,300–$89,900 range. Overall, panic selling pressure has been largely released in the previous downward move, and the market has entered a phase of recovery and sideways digestion after the decline. The short-term trend has shifted from weak to neutral and stable. From a technical perspective, short-cycle moving averages are gradually flattening, with MA5 and MA10 beginning to approach the price, while MA30 remains slightly downward, exerting some resistance above, indicating that the current structure is still in a consolidation and bottom-building phase. The rebound from around $87,000 was accompanied by significant volume, showing strong support in that area. Recently, trading volume has contracted noticeably, and the market is entering a consolidation and buildup stage. The area above $90,000–$90,300 is a clear resistance zone. If a volume breakout and stabilization occur above this zone, the price could further rebound to test near $91,000. Conversely, if repeated attempts to break higher are blocked, the price may fall back to around $88,500 or even $87,800 to confirm support again. Overall, BTC remains in a consolidation and recovery phase after the decline, with a neutral and stable structure, but no clear direction has emerged yet. It is more suitable to wait for a breakout of the range or a pullback confirmation to seize the trend.
• ETH (+0.28% | Current price $2,961.38): After a continuous decline, ETH formed a seasonal low near $2,866.50, followed by a quick rebound back to around $3,000. However, after facing resistance above, it declined again. Currently, the price is consolidating within the $2,930–$2,980 range. The overall trend remains a technical correction after a decline, with weaker rebound strength and stability compared to BTC. From the moving average structure, MA5 and MA10 are gradually flattening and approaching the price, but MA30 remains downward, exerting short- to medium-term resistance, indicating that ETH has not yet escaped the weak sideways pattern. The $2,860–$2,900 area saw some volume increase, indicating support in that zone. Recently, trading volume has significantly decreased, and the market is in a digestion stage. The $3,000–$3,050 zone above is a short-term core resistance. If a volume breakout does not occur, the price is likely to oscillate within the $2,900–$3,000 range. If it can break and stabilize above $3,050, there is a chance for further rebound toward $3,120. Overall, ETH remains in a weak correction structure, mainly oscillating within a range in the short term.
• Altcoins: Most mainstream altcoins are maintaining small gains, with market sentiment mainly “neutral” or “buy.” The Fear and Greed Index today is at 24, still in the fear zone, indicating that market sentiment has not yet recovered.
• Macro: On January 22, the S&P 500 rose 0.55% to 6,913.35 points; the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.63% to 49,384.01 points; the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.91% to 23,436.02 points. As of 12:58 (UTC+8) on January 23, spot gold is priced at $4,956.85 per ounce, up 0.41% within 24 hours.

Hot Tokens to Watch

XRD Radix (+60.19%, Market Cap $8.81 million)

According to Gate data, the current price of XRD token is 0.003718 USDT, up 60.19% in 24 hours. Radix is a high-performance public blockchain project focused on DeFi infrastructure, dedicated to enhancing asset security and composability of smart contracts through its unique technical architecture, and providing developers with Scrypto smart contract language and a complete toolchain support.

From market and capital flow perspectives, the recent rally in XRD was driven by the following factors: firstly, market sentiment has shown signs of warming in some small- and mid-cap coins, with funds rotating into high-elasticity assets. Due to its small market cap, XRD has attracted short-term capital attention, leading to a rapid increase in trading volume. Secondly, after breaking through previous consolidation zones, technical follow-up and quantitative funds entered, further amplifying the rally. Overall, this rally mainly reflects a phase of capital-driven and technical resonance market behavior.

BXN Blackfort (+39.82%, Market Cap $29.02 million)

According to Gate data, BXN token is currently priced at 0.0018468 USDT, up 39.82% in 24 hours. Blackfort is a project centered around blockchain application ecosystems, aiming to promote the use of crypto assets in practical scenarios through its platform and tools, providing users with diverse on-chain services and infrastructure support.

From market performance and capital activity, the recent rise in BXN was driven by the following factors: recently, some funds have started rotating into small- and mid-cap tokens, and BXN has gained short-term attention amid volume increases, boosting trading activity. Meanwhile, after breaking through previous consolidation zones, it triggered follow-up capital inflows, further amplifying the gains. Overall, this phase of the rally is mainly driven by capital and sentiment, with high short-term volatility risk.

FUN Sport.Fun (+25.43%, Market Cap $14.79 million)

According to Gate data, FUN token is currently priced at 0.08149 USDT, up 25.43% in 24 hours. Sport.Fun is a blockchain project focused on sports and entertainment applications, aiming to combine blockchain technology with interactive entertainment, content consumption, and betting applications to build a digital entertainment ecosystem for users.

From the price structure and sector rotation perspective, the recent rise in FUN was influenced by the following factors: recent market risk appetite has recovered in some application sectors, with funds flowing back into small- and mid-cap tokens with thematic attributes. FUN benefited from sector rotation, gaining phased attention and increasing trading activity. Meanwhile, after a previous correction, it formed a seasonal bottom structure. The volume breakout attracted trend and short-term funds, further expanding the rally.

Alpha Insights

Law enforcement agency custody Bitcoin suspected of phishing attack, approximately $47 million assets missing

Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office recently discovered about 700 billion Korean won (approximately $4.77 million) worth of Bitcoin missing during routine confiscation of crypto assets. Preliminary investigations suggest that the assets may have been lost due to internal personnel clicking on phishing sites during operations, leading to leakage of private keys or signing permissions, which attackers then exploited to transfer all assets.

On-chain data shows that these Bitcoins have been transferred in batches to multiple new addresses, with further splitting and mixing activities to obscure the flow of funds. Authorities have initiated internal investigations and technical audits, attempting to trace the attack path on-chain. This incident highlights that even institutional-grade crypto custody systems still face significant risks in private key management and operational security.

Citigroup warns that surge in Ethereum on-chain activity may be due to “address poisoning” scams

Citigroup recently published a research report stating that the recent record-high transaction volume and active addresses on the Ethereum network are likely not driven by genuine user growth but by large-scale “address poisoning” scams. Analysts pointed out that many of the new transactions involve transfers below $1, which is highly consistent with typical address poisoning attacks, rather than natural on-chain activity expansion.

On-chain research shows that attackers are exploiting Ethereum’s relatively low transaction fees to send small amounts of USDT and USDC in bulk to numerous addresses at minimal cost, polluting victims’ transaction records. Some smart contracts even distribute small amounts of stablecoins to hundreds of thousands of addresses in one go, with the source traced back to specialized functions for large-scale address poisoning. Citigroup notes that such behavior artificially inflates network activity metrics in the short term but does not reflect genuine demand. Meanwhile, Bitcoin on-chain activity remains slightly declining, contrasting sharply with Ethereum, further supporting the view that the recent Ethereum data surge is more likely driven by malicious activity.

World Liberty Financial partners with Spacecoin to launch USD1 satellite DeFi project

The crypto project linked to the Trump family, World Liberty Financial, recently announced a partnership with satellite startup Spacecoin, exploring the possibility of integrating DeFi with internet connectivity via low-earth orbit satellites. Spacecoin stated that the collaboration involves token swaps between the projects, though specific terms have not been disclosed. The goal is to extend financial services to regions difficult for traditional banking and provide infrastructure support for payments and settlements in constrained environments.

Spacecoin is currently building a low-earth orbit satellite network, having successfully launched three satellites, positioning itself as an alternative to ground-based broadband, and developing a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN). Meanwhile, World Liberty Financial is expanding its USD1 stablecoin application scenarios and has entered the crypto lending and settlement sectors through its platform. The stablecoin’s current market cap is approximately $32.7 billion. Analysts believe this partnership marks an attempt to combine DeFi applications with satellite communication infrastructure, exploring on-chain financial cooperation in remote or traditional financial underserved areas.
References:

• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/GT_USDT
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/price
• Coindesk, https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/01/22/citi-sounds-the-alarm-on-address-poisoning-scams-flooding-the-ethereum-network
• The Block, https://www.theblock.co/post/383442/hilbert-group-bolsters-institutional-crypto-push-with-25-million-enigma-nordic-deal
• The Block, https://www.theblock.co/post/386806/world-liberty-financial-spacecoin

Disclaimer Investing in cryptocurrencies involves high risk. Users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of assets and products before making any investment decisions. Gate is not responsible for any losses or damages resulting from such investment decisions.