On January 21, 2026, Senator John Boozman released a draft crypto market structure bill that is set for markup on January 27, 2026, while Republicans and Democrats remain split on core policy issues. The proposal centers regulation on crypto intermediaries and largely excludes DeFi, self-custody wallets, and non-custodial interfaces, and its progress may be pushed back as the Senate Banking Committee prioritizes President Trump's affordability initiative and related executive order on single-family home purchases.

On January 22, 2026, Polymarket traders assigned a 98% probability that the Federal Reserve will keep its benchmark rate unchanged at the January 27–28 meeting. A January 16–21 survey of 100 economists showed unanimous expectations for a 3.50%–3.75% target range, with 58% anticipating no change through the quarter.

The US Senate Banking Committee has pushed back consideration of a key digital asset market structure bill by several weeks to devote more time to housing affordability legislation. The committee now expects to revisit the crypto regulation package in late February or early March 2023, while disagreements over DeFi oversight and stablecoin yields continue to slow progress.

In a January 21 interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks said banks and crypto firms could consolidate into a single digital asset industry once a market structure bill is approved. He urged lawmakers, banks, and crypto companies to find common ground on the CLARITY Act, while the American Bankers Association reported spending over $2 million in 2025 that included efforts related to the bill.

On Wednesday, Nakamoto Inc. announced a rebrand from KindlyMD and adoption of the ticker NAKA, sending its shares down nearly 10%. At publication, the stock was over 7% lower at $0.39, according to CNBC market data. CEO David Bailey said the name clarifies a Bitcoin-only strategy, and the company reports holdings above $500 million in Bitcoin.

On January 20, Aave shifted stewardship of Lens Protocol's social applications to Mask Network, assigning the Web3 firm to lead consumer-facing product development while Lens remains open-source. Aave will now focus on its core DeFi business and act only as a technical advisor, with no change to Lens's ownership, smart contracts, or governance. Vitalik Buterin later praised Lens's evolution and voiced optimism about the future of decentralized social platforms built on shared data layers.

In 2025, Bitcoin's global search interest fell about 50% even as the asset reached an all‑time high of $126,080. Posts on X mentioning "Bitcoin" declined 32% year over year to 96 million, and sentiment weakened following an October 10 liquidation of over $19 billion. By mid‑January 2026, social metrics turned more bearish despite prices rising from $90,320 to $97,540.

On January 21, 2026, Galaxy Digital outlined a $100 million hedge fund targeting returns in both rising and falling markets. According to sources familiar with the plan, it aims to be operational in the first quarter and will allocate roughly 30% to crypto tokens and 70% to equities of financial services firms exposed to digital-asset trends.

On January 21, 2026, White House digital currency advisor Patrick Witt called on Congress to quickly pass a comprehensive crypto market structure bill while support from the current administration remains strong. He warned that delaying action until after a future market shock could result in reactionary, punitive rules that hinder innovation, even as industry concerns from firms like Coinbase have slowed the bill’s progress.