Tezos activated the Tallinn protocol upgrade on January 24, 2026 at 16:06:56 UTC, at mainnet block #11,640,289. The change reduces layer 1 block time from 8 seconds to 6 seconds and delivers finality in about 12 seconds after two blocks, representing the network's 20th forkless upgrade through on-chain governance.

On 21 January 2026, KONNI, a North Korean advanced persistent threat group, was reported to have used AI-generated PowerShell backdoors against blockchain and cryptocurrency developers in Japan, Australia, and India. The operation relied on Discord to distribute malicious ZIP archives containing a staged infection chain that established persistent access to victim systems. The campaign highlights the use of large language model-generated code in real-world attacks on crypto-focused development teams.

On 24 January 2026, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee shifted its calendar toward housing legislation tied to President Donald Trump's affordability initiative, postponing review of a broad crypto market structure bill until late February or March. The measure is designed to clarify oversight of digital assets between the SEC and CFTC, while inflation and housing costs now take priority in the committee's workload. The delay prolongs uncertainty for exchanges, trading firms and banks that are awaiting clearer federal rules for crypto markets.

On 19 January 2026, SWIFT detailed a January 2026 pilot with Societe Generale-FORGE, BNP Paribas Securities Services, and Intesa Sanpaolo that settled tokenised bonds using both fiat money and a euro-denominated stablecoin. The test executed delivery-versus-payment, coupon disbursements, and final redemption flows with SG-FORGE's MiCA-compliant EUR CoinVertible token, while preserving existing SWIFT messaging standards and banking roles.

The Senate Banking Committee delayed a planned markup of a U.S. crypto market structure bill after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said on January 14 the company no longer backed the text. The Senate Agriculture Committee postponed its own session and set a new markup date for 27 January 2026.

In late December 2025, DZ Bank secured MiCAR approval from BaFin to operate the meinKrypto retail platform. The service connects 670 cooperative banks through the VR Banking App, enabling trading in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Cardano.

On 15 Jan 2026, Pakistan signed an MoU with SC Financial Technologies, an affiliate of Trump-linked World Liberty Financial, to pilot the USD1 dollar-pegged stablecoin in cross-border transfers. The State Bank of Pakistan will explore integrating USD1 into the country's regulated digital payment systems, alongside a new virtual assets law and an upcoming CBDC pilot. The initiative aims to experiment with supervised use of private stablecoins within Pakistan's evolving digital finance framework.

On 12 January 2026, the Dubai Financial Services Authority enforced a ban on privacy tokens within the Dubai International Financial Centre, covering trading, promotion, funds, and derivatives. The regulator also narrowed stablecoin rules to fiat-backed tokens only, excluding algorithmic designs such as Ethena's USDe from the stablecoin category.

On 8 January 2026, Grayscale registered Delaware statutory trusts linked to prospective BNB and Hyperliquid HYPE exchange-traded fund products. These entities form an initial legal step before any formal ETF registration with the U.S. SEC, while BNB traded near $892 and HYPE around $26 on that date.