Crypto Morning Brief: CoinGecko Considers Sale at Approximately $500 Million Valuation, Privacy Protocol Zama Launches Token Sale

marsbitPubblicato 2026-01-14Pubblicato ultima volta 2026-01-14

Introduzione

CoinGecko is reportedly considering a sale at a valuation of around $500 million, with investment bank Moelis handling the process. In other major news, privacy protocol Zama launched a token sale with a floor valuation of $55 million, distributing 12% of its total 1.1 billion ZAMA tokens through a sealed-bid Dutch auction. Key market developments include the U.S. December CPI meeting expectations at 2.7% year-over-year, with analysts suggesting it won’t immediately alter the Federal Reserve’s current wait-and-see stance on rate cuts. U.S. Senate committees have rescheduled hearings on crypto market structure bills to late January. Other notable updates: PancakeSwap proposed reducing the max supply of CAKE from 450 million to 400 million tokens; ETHGas revealed its tokenomics with a 10 billion GWEI supply; Grayscale added several new assets to its consideration list; and YZi Labs made a multi-million dollar investment in Genius Trading, with Binance's Changpeng Zhao joining as an advisor. Additionally, Polygon Labs acquired companies Coinme and Sequence for over $250 million to advance its stablecoin strategy, and European crypto platform Bitpanda is planning a Frankfurt IPO in early 2026 targeting a €4-5 billion valuation.

Author: Deep Tide TechFlow

Yesterday's Market Dynamics

US December Unadjusted CPI Year-over-Year 2.7%, Expected 2.70%, Previous 2.70%

According to Jinshi data, the US December unadjusted Consumer Price Index (CPI) year-over-year was 2.7%, matching the expected 2.70% and the previous value of 2.70%.

The US December seasonally adjusted CPI month-over-month was 0.3%, meeting the expectation of 0.30%.

Fed Mouthpiece: December CPI Unlikely to Change Fed's Current Wait-and-See Stance

According to Jinshi data, "Fed Mouthpiece" Nick Timiraos stated that the December Consumer Price Index (CPI) is unlikely to change the Federal Reserve's current wait-and-see attitude, as officials likely want to see more evidence that inflation is stabilizing and gradually declining before cutting rates. The Fed has paused its benchmark rate cuts in the last three meetings, most recently in December, even though inflation had stopped falling last year. Officials paused the cuts due to concerns about the risk of a larger-than-expected slowdown in the labor market. To resume rate cuts, Fed officials may need to see new evidence that labor market conditions are deteriorating or that price pressures are easing. The latter might require at least a few more months of inflation data to become apparent.

US Senate Agriculture Committee Reschedules Crypto Bill Hearing to January 27th

According to CoinDesk, the US Senate Agriculture Committee announced it will release its crypto market structure bill on January 21, 2026, followed by a key hearing on January 27th at 3 PM. This hearing was originally scheduled for January 15th but was postponed. Committee Chairman John Boozman stated that the revised schedule ensures transparency and allows for a comprehensive review of the bill.

Meanwhile, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a review of its version of the bill this Thursday. Differences remain between the two committee versions on issues such as ethics provisions and bipartisan representation of regulators, which could affect the final prospects for bipartisan support.

Privacy Protocol Zama Launches Token Sale with a Floor Valuation of $55 Million

According to The Block, the encryption privacy protocol Zama will launch a fully on-chain token sale through CoinList and its own auction application, using a sealed-bid Dutch auction structure with a floor valuation of $55 million. This sale will allocate 12% of the total supply of 11 billion ZAMA tokens.

The sale is divided into three parts: a 2% community sale for NFT holders this week, an 8% main auction via CoinList from January 21st to 24th, and a 2% follow-on sale at the auction settlement price from January 27th to February 2nd.

New PancakeSwap Proposal Aims to Reduce CAKE Maximum Supply from 450 Million to 400 Million Tokens

According to the PancakeSwap governance forum, the PancakeSwap team has proposed a plan to reduce the maximum supply of CAKE tokens from 450 million to 400 million.

The PancakeSwap team stated that CAKE has been deflationary since September 2023, and this trend is expected to continue. The team has accumulated approximately 3.5 million CAKE as an ecosystem growth fund, which will be prioritized for protocol development needs, making it unlikely for the protocol to return to an inflationary state.

The proposal will enter the voting stage after community discussion. If passed, it will reduce the maximum supply cap by 50 million CAKE.

ETHGas Unveils Token Economic Model: Total Supply 10 Billion Tokens, 10% Allocated to Community

According to an official announcement, the Ethereum block space futures market ETHGas unveiled its token economic model. Its token GWEI has a total supply of 10 billion tokens, allocated as follows: Ecosystem 31%, Investors 27%, Team 22%, Community 10%, Foundation 8%, Advisors 2%. Additionally, the eligibility snapshot for the token airdrop will be taken on January 19th at 00:00 UTC.

Previous news reported that ETHGas announced the completion of a $12 million funding round led by Polychain Capital late last year.

Grayscale Adds MegaETH, Horizen, and Other Tokens to Asset Consideration List

According to The Block, Grayscale has updated its Asset Consideration List, expanding it to 27 tokens covering categories such as Artificial Intelligence, Decentralized Finance, Consumer, and Infrastructure.

This update, published on January 12th, adds assets including MegaETH, Horizen, ARIA Protocol, Playtron, Nous Research, Poseidon, and Geodnet.

Grayscale clarified that inclusion on the consideration list does not guarantee the launch of a corresponding investment product, as product creation involves internal review, custody arrangements, and regulatory considerations. The next routine update is expected around April 15th, 2026.

YZi Labs Makes "Multi-Million Dollar" Investment in Genius Trading, Changpeng Zhao to Serve as Advisor

According to The Block, YZi Labs has made a "multi-8-figure" (tens of millions of dollars) investment in Genius Trading, and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao will join the startup as an advisor.

Genius Trading is building a privacy-first on-chain trading platform offering spot, perpetual contracts, and copy trading, aiming to become a decentralized version of "Binance".

Polygon Labs Acquires Crypto Startups Coinme and Sequence for Over $250 Million

According to Fortune, Polygon Labs has completed the acquisition of crypto startups Coinme and Sequence for a total of over $250 million.

Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron and Polygon Foundation founder Sandeep Nailwal stated that these acquisitions aim to advance their stablecoin strategy. Seattle-based Coinme focuses on cash-to-crypto conversion services and holds several US money transmitter licenses; New York-based Sequence focuses on building blockchain infrastructure, including crypto wallets. Nailwal described this as a move for Polygon to compete with fintech giant Stripe.

Sources: CoinGecko Considers Sale at Approximately $500 Million Valuation

According to CoinDesk, sources, CoinGecko is considering a sale at a valuation of approximately $500 million. Informed sources revealed that the company has hired investment bank Moelis to manage the sale process, but some reports indicate the valuation is not yet final as the process only began late last year.

Notably, CoinGecko's competitor CoinMarketCap was acquired by Binance for approximately $400 million in April 2020. CoinGecko was founded by TM Lee and Bobby Ong in 2014.

Crypto Trading Platform Bitpanda Plans Frankfurt IPO in H1 2026, Valuation Could Reach €5 Billion

According to Bloomberg, cryptocurrency trading platform Bitpanda GmbH, backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, plans to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as early as the first half of 2026. Informed sources revealed that the Vienna-based company's valuation for this IPO could be between €4 billion (approximately $4.7 billion) and €5 billion.

Bitpanda has hired Goldman Sachs Group, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank to arrange the offering. Some sources indicated the company could go public as early as the first quarter.

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Domande pertinenti

QWhat is the reported valuation at which CoinGecko is considering a sale?

ACoinGecko is considering a sale at a valuation of approximately $500 million.

QWhat is the total supply of ZAMA tokens and what percentage is being allocated for its token sale?

AThe total supply of ZAMA tokens is 11 billion, and 12% of the total supply is being allocated for its token sale.

QWhat is the new proposed maximum supply for CAKE tokens according to the PancakeSwap proposal?

AThe new proposed maximum supply for CAKE tokens is 400 million, a reduction from the previous 450 million.

QWhich two companies did Polygon Labs acquire for a combined total of over $250 million?

APolygon Labs acquired the crypto startups Coinme and Sequence for a combined total of over $250 million.

QWhat was the reported annual CPI rate for the U.S. in December, and did it meet expectations?

AThe U.S. annual CPI rate for December was 2.7%, which met the expectation of 2.70%.

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