Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott said the CLARITY Act will come up for debate in the Senate, with a potential markup and committee vote as early as Thursday. The draft aims to clarify market structure and oversight, while unresolved issues include DeFi rules and stablecoin yields. Bitcoin briefly topped $93,000 before sliding to about $86,729 amid the uncertainty.

SHIB's bid to drop another zero quickly reversed, hinting at distribution and fragile demand. Ethereum is holding the $3,200 area despite overbought signals, while XRP's rebound shows hallmarks of a dead cat bounce. Momentum indicators and exchange inflow patterns point to potential traps for late buyers.

Crypto industry groups and executives have criticized community bankers' requested changes to the GENIUS Act that would bar stablecoin holders from earning yield via third parties. They argue the move would strengthen China's interest-bearing digital yuan as a competitor to the US dollar and undermine carefully negotiated bipartisan legislation. Pro-crypto lawyer John Deaton called the proposal a "national security trap," while other industry leaders said it would harm competition and stall progress in stablecoin regulation.

On January 8 2026, ECB Governing Council member Álvaro Santos Pereira said euro-area inflation has essentially aligned with the central bank's 2% target, indicating price stability. He noted interest rates have been left unchanged for several consecutive meetings and argued that further progress now depends on structural reforms by European governments and EU institutions to address weak growth.

On January 7, 2026, Fireblocks said it acquired Israel-based TRES Finance in a cash-and-equity transaction valued at about $130 million. The deal is its second in three months, following the October 2025 purchase of wallet startup Dynamic for around $90 million. In December, Fireblocks also partnered with Zepz to help scale stablecoin-powered remittances.

In early January 2026, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee came under pressure to decide whether the CLARITY Act crypto bill can move forward with bipartisan support. Lawmakers have been negotiating for months on market structure rules, and a bipartisan meeting was scheduled for January 6 to address regulatory issues before the Martin Luther King Jr Day recess. Senator Cynthia Lummis urged Democrats to join the markup, arguing that the bill would clarify jurisdiction, strengthen protections, and help keep crypto businesses in the United States.

The Digital Chamber plans to host more than 50 member companies in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to brief Senate offices on the Responsible Financial Innovation Act market structure bill. Senate Agriculture and Banking Committees are expected to move toward markup in mid-January, with Senator Tim Scott scheduling a Jan. 15 vote on market structure. Analysts and lawmakers have warned that the 2026 U.S. midterm elections and potential government shutdowns could influence the bill's timing and prospects.

On January 6, Cambodian authorities arrested businessman Chen Zhi and deported him to China, where he is accused of running a large‑scale crypto scam and money laundering network tied to a 127,000 BTC seizure worth around $15 billion. Chen, founder of Cambodia-based Prince Group, now faces potential prosecution under Chinese law, as investigators detail how funds allegedly flowed through shell companies, exchanges, and mining operations. Regulators and crypto firms have been working to trace and freeze assets, with reported U.S. losses from similar “pig-butchering” schemes reaching $3.6 billion in 2024.