The CFTC said on Dec. 31 that Chairman Michael S. Selig appointed Amir Zaidi as chief of staff, bringing back a veteran who helped advance bitcoin futures in 2017. Zaidi previously led the Division of Market Oversight from 2010 to 2019 and later joined TP ICAP. His return follows Selig’s Dec. 18 Senate confirmation.

Session executives Chris McCabe and Alex Linton told Cointelegraph that AI-integrated devices could circumvent app-level encryption on phones and computers, jeopardizing private messaging. They highlighted limited user awareness and cited OpenAI's disclosure last month of a third-party analytics breach, while noting intensifying regulatory pressure on encrypted tools.

Toncoin climbed nearly 10% over the past week as buyers returned after a mid-month dip, with RSI strengthening and MACD turning bullish. The move aligned with Telegram launching a self-custodial wallet for U.S. users, enabling in-app send, swap, and storage. DeFi TVL sat around $85 million and stablecoin supply near $960 million, signaling active usage but lagging liquidity.

Analyst Ali Martinez has outlined how XRP could slide toward $0.80, citing several on-chain indicators. He points to a sharp drop in daily active addresses to about 38,500 and recent whale selling of roughly 40 million tokens as signs of fading interest and weaker confidence. Martinez adds that losing the $1.77 support level could open the way to the next major demand zone near $0.80, with XRP trading around $1.86 at the time of his analysis.

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee, led by Chairman Tim Scott, plans to hold a markup on a digital asset market regulation bill in the second week of January 2026 after delays tied to DeFi concerns and a government shutdown. The proposal, Senate Bill 2669, would direct the SEC and CFTC to jointly define rules for classifying and overseeing digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, while Bitcoin trades around $87,753.05 with a market cap near $1.75 trillion.

On December 30, 2025, Santiment reported Bitcoin lagging major assets since November, with gold up 9%, the S&P 500 up 1%, and BTC down about 20%. Bitcoin traded near $88,000 as of Wednesday, while large holders stayed cautious and smaller wallets were more active in late 2025. CoinCodex forecasts $91,500 by January 30, 2026 amid extreme fear and mixed on-chain signals.

Chiliz [CHZ] posted sharp gains, with CoinMarketCap showing a 16.7% rise in 24 hours and 25.6% over the week, while Coinalyze reported Open Interest up 66% in 24 hours and expanding from $12 million to $33 million since 19 December. After structure shifts on 9 and 19 December, price now approaches the $0.05 barrier.

Crypto markets are subdued as 2025 rolls into 2026, with many assets holding local support. Bitcoin is capped by the 26 and 50 EMA on the daily chart, XRP sits on long-term weekly support near the 50- and 100-week averages, and Shiba Inu trades in a tight band around $0.000007.