In 2025, stablecoin payments on fintech platform Revolut were estimated to have risen 156% year over year to roughly $10.5 billion, according to blockchain analysis. Researcher Alex Obchakevich said stablecoins nearly doubled their share of Revolut's total payments, with most activity on Ethereum and Tron and a significant portion of transactions between $100 and $500. Bloomberg figures also show global stablecoin transfers reached $33 trillion in 2025, with USDC leading by transaction volume while USDT kept the largest market cap.

Over the past 24 hours, the crypto market has climbed on rising expectations for further US rate cuts, with Bitcoin touching a two-month high of $96,600 and many altcoins notching notable gains. Pi Network's PI token is also higher in the same period but only by 1.5%, continuing its recent pattern of diverging from broader market moves. Some AI models see only a limited chance of a strong PI breakout unless a major project-specific catalyst emerges.

On 14 January 2026, Polygon Labs agreed to acquire U.S. crypto payments firm Coinme and wallet infrastructure provider Sequence in deals worth more than $250 million. The move is aimed at building a full-stack, regulated payments platform that links stablecoin settlements, licensed fiat rails, and embedded wallets for enterprises.

BitMine Immersion Technologies added 186,560 ETH to its staking position on the Beacon Chain, taking its total staked Ether holdings to 1,530,784 ETH valued at roughly $5.13 billion. The firm now has about 37% of its more than 4 million ETH staked, while its stock price rose 3.8% in after-hours trading to $32.35 as Ether itself climbed 7% on the day.

Chiliz’s CHZ token has climbed 31.2% in January after a 25% single-day jump on Friday, 19 December pushed price above the $0.035 resistance and later reclaimed the multi-month $0.05 barrier. With higher timeframe indicators showing strong capital inflows and Open Interest nearly tripling in the past three weeks, analysts see room for a move toward $0.067 and $0.10 despite a short-term bearish divergence on the 4-hour chart.

Story (IP) surged more than 22% in the past 24 hours, driven primarily by heavy spot trading on South Korean exchanges, even as on-chain adoption remains largely unchanged. With IP trading near $3.07 on nearly $314 million in daily volume, the rally highlights strong regional liquidity and speculative momentum, but raises questions about durability if real protocol usage fails to follow.

On 13 January 2026, Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott released an updated Digital Asset Market Clarity Act draft clarifying that usage-based stablecoin rewards do not trigger securities or deposit status. The text permits incentives for payments and network activity, but bars interest for simply holding. The Senate Agriculture Committee postponed broader markup until the final week of January.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao cautioned that buying meme coins inspired by his tweets is "almost guaranteed" to lose money. His message follows a Jan. 1 incident in which BROCCOLI, named after his dog, was allegedly used in a scheme involving stolen Binance market maker accounts and futures positions. Zhao said he enjoys memes but does not endorse coin launches tied to his posts.