Morning Crypto Report: $17 XRP Dream Faces Bitcoin Crosswind, Shiba Inu 2.0? Vitalik Buterin Exits 6 Coins, SEC Chief Explains Venezuela’s $60 Billion BTC Situation

It is Tuesday, Jan. 13, and the crypto market seems pretty nervous because of the rising CPI volatility.

In the meantime, XRP’s breakout dreams just collided with a historic Bitcoin cross, Vitalik Buterin is rotating six low-cap bags into Ethereum like it is 2020 again, and the SEC finally speaks about the mysterious $60 billion Venezuela Bitcoin stash.

TL;DR

• XRP golden cross in doubt as BTC pairs reject, but $17 scenario is in play still.
• Vitalik Buterin sells six airdropped coins for 9.4 ETH.
• SEC Chairman Atkins speaks out on Venezuela’s $60 billion in BTC.

$17 XRP scenario gets Bitcoin twist

The golden cross everyone’s been waiting for on the XRP/BTC monthly chart by TradingView — where the 23-month moving average finally overtook the 50-month line for the first time since Q4, 2017 — was supposed to be that long-awaited signal for a full reversal. Eight years ago, this setup delivered an 875% move, catapulting XRP past Ethereum in market cap and briefly pushing it into 2nd place globally.

However, the situation has quickly deteriorated. Five days after this technical signal, XRP got close to a 20% drop against BTC, risking a fall from local highs around 0.000022 to 0.000018. That basically brings it back into the compression zone, which cancels out the breakout thesis — at least for now.

Back in 2017, XRP surged from 0.0000179 to 0.0001740 in 117 days. Using the same ratio today would raise XRP to between $14.96 and $17.40, assuming that BTC trades at between $86,000 and $100,000. Even lower reclaim levels, like 0.00003 and 0.00006, could price XRP between $2.50 and $6, depending on Bitcoin’s trajectory.

But now, BTC’s strength above $92,000 and XRP’s rejection below monthly resistances creates a real crosswind. The golden cross is not invalidated, but unless XRP gets back to $0.00002180-0.00002200 fast, the signal might get run over and rejected, as it did in 2021. The base at $0.00001798-0.00001843 has to hold for bullish sentiment to stay alive.

Could this be a repeat of the Shiba Inu story?

As revealed by Lookonchain, Vitalik.eth address, which belongs to Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, made another micro-rotation overnight, offloading six low-cap or airdropped tokens, including WOOLLY, IZZY, CHIB, DEGEN, OP and YEE — receiving just 9.4 ETH in total worth $29,400. The swaps were routed through LiFi Diamond, Bungee and PullSplit, with values ranging from $1.36 to $14,000 per asset.

This is similar to an earlier time in Ethereum’s history, when Buterin traded a large number of Shiba Inu tokens for ETH — before SHIB became a multibillion-dollar meme coin sensation. At the time, the historic offloading was seen as a sign of disinterest, but it actually sparked a community obsession.

It is not clear if names like IZZY, CHIB or WOOLLY will become SHIB 2.0. The sell flow pattern is always the same: convert low-liquidity speculative tokens into base-layer reserves — Ethereum. One idea is that Vitalik sees these swaps as just signal noise until tokens show real utility or stickiness.

SEC Chief Atkins speaks up about Venezuela’s $60 billion BTC

Paul Atkins, the head of the SEC, has confirmed to Fox Business that the rumored $60 billion Bitcoin holdings in Venezuela are more of a geopolitical issue than a regulatory one. During a hearing on the long-awaited CLARITY Act, he said that the SEC and CFTC should formally divide digital asset jurisdiction by the end of Q1.

Atkins made it clear that the focus on regulations should remain on having predictable frameworks for domestic markets, while the Venezuelan BTC is stuck in political limbo. Some people are saying that Venezuela might have tens of thousands of coins from past mining and oil reserve swaps under the Maduro regime.

The thing is, if the U.S. tries to take over or freeze these assets using foreign asset seizure laws or sanctions, the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act (DAAMLA) would stop any sale of the stash. This means that $60 billion worth of Bitcoin could become basically unavailable, cutting the total supply by up to that amount.

Senator John Boozman said that the debate on the CLARITY Act is moving to late January, but there is still a lot of bipartisan momentum. With Ethereum’s regulatory gray zone still unresolved, it is unclear what agency will govern what. Until this is clarified, it is hard to say what the legal landscape will look like in 2026.

What’s next for crypto?

The $17 XRP thesis is not dead, but Bitcoin’s refusal to yield dominance reminds altcoin traders that historical patterns do not repeat cleanly under new liquidity regimes. Buterin’s token exits may be noise, or early signal. And Venezuela’s dormant Bitcoin trove just became part of the global supply-demand calculus.

January’s CPI print looms. If inflation surprises, BTC could test $100,000 and bring alt pairs like XRP/BTC back into breakout mode. Until then, patience is the only valid position.

• Bitcoin (BTC): Holding $92,000, breakout above $94,000 needed to reopen $100,000 target.
• XRP: Now at $2.07, BTC pair must reclaim 0.00002180 to reactivate golden cross thesis.
• Regulation watch: Jan. 31 is now key for CLARITY Act hearings.