On 28 January 2026, South Korean lawmakers were reported to be preparing the formal submission of the Digital Asset Framework Act before the Lunar New Year, aiming to create the country's first comprehensive cryptocurrency law. The bill would introduce a unified regulatory regime for digital assets and stablecoins, including a minimum capital requirement of 5 billion won for stablecoin issuers, and is being developed alongside ongoing debates over the powers of the Bank of Korea and major shareholder limits.

Institutional manager 21Shares issued a 2026 base-case price target of $2.45 for XRP, alongside a bull scenario of $2.69. It highlights exchange reserves at a seven-year low of 1.7 billion XRP and U.S. XRP spot ETFs amassing over $1.3 billion in assets under management in their first month as drivers of scarcity.

On January 28, 2026, Kraken announced DeFi Earn, offering DeFi-style rewards with up to 8% APY on cash and stablecoins. The service will initially be available in most U.S. states (excluding New York and Maine), Canada and the EEA, and uses Veda's vaults managed by Chaos Lab and Sentosa.

On Jan 28, 2026, OKX introduced a Europe-focused Mastercard payment card that lets eligible users spend USDC and USDT at merchants accepting Mastercard. According to OKX, the card is issued after standard KYC and operates via partner Monavate within existing regional infrastructure, enabling real-time conversion without manual fiat off-ramps.

Cardano has risen around 3% in the last 24 hours to about $0.36 as the wider crypto market value recovers and the S&P 500 reaches a fresh record. A recent $4 million flash loan exploit on Ethereum-based Makina Finance, discussed by Cardano community member Dori, has drawn attention to MEV front‑running risks on Ethereum and to Cardano's eUTXO design, with some traders now eyeing ADA's price setup and potential rebound. Technical signals point to a possible breakout pattern, while some market participants also look to newer tokens such as SUBBD for higher‑risk upside.

As of January 28 2026, Solana's active validator count has reportedly fallen below 800, down sharply from around 2,500 in early 2023. Over the same period, daily vote transactions, a proxy for validator participation, have declined by about 40%. The Solana Foundation's pruning policy and reduced subsidies have pushed out many smaller or underperforming validators, raising debate over decentralization versus network performance.

On January 28, 2026, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev published a Twitter statement urging tokenized stocks and clearer rules to avoid a repeat of the 2021 GameStop halt. He blamed clearinghouse risk controls tied to the then T+2 cycle, highlighted the shift to T+1, and said Robinhood raised $3 billion during the episode.

US lawmakers are set to return to Capitol Hill on Wednesday after weather delays. On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture Committee will mark up the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act, while one amendment proposes the law not take effect until at least four CFTC commissioners are Senate-confirmed. The Banking Committee's markup was postponed after Coinbase withdrew support.