Stablecoin

On Jan. 9, Tether announced a partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to bolster cybersecurity awareness, digital asset safety, and anti-trafficking initiatives across Africa and other emerging regions. The joint programs include youth-focused cybersecurity education in Senegal, funding for anti-trafficking organizations in several African countries, and fraud-prevention initiatives tied to universities in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The collaboration aims to build safer digital ecosystems as crypto adoption accelerates in developing markets and digital crime risks increase.

According to TRM Labs' forthcoming 2026 Crypto Crime Report, UK-registered exchanges Zedcex and Zedxion operated as a single platform that routed about USD 1 billion, mostly in USDT on TRON, through wallets linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The analysis shows that IRGC-associated activity dominated Zedcex's flows in 2023, 2024, and 2025, including more than USD 10 million in late 2024 reportedly transferred directly to an OFAC-designated Houthi financier without intermediaries. TRM argues this case illustrates how offshore crypto exchanges can become long-term sanctions-evasion infrastructure rather than one-off laundering channels.

BNY Mellon has launched tokenized bank deposits for institutional clients, using an in-house permissioned blockchain to represent onchain cash claims fully backed by the bank. The initiative aims to improve settlement speed, transparency, and liquidity as U.S. regulators in September 2025 outlined plans for around-the-clock capital markets. Positioned alongside similar moves by major banks exploring real-world asset tokenization, the product is initially focused on collateral and margin use cases as part of a broader shift toward always-on finance.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman is weighing whether to delay a January 15 markup of a broad crypto market structure bill as bipartisan negotiations with Cory Booker continue. The talks aim to strengthen cross-party backing for the legislation while parallel action in the Senate Banking Committee and pressure from the White House highlight growing urgency around digital asset regulation. At the same time, US community bankers are urging Congress to tighten the GENIUS Act to curb stablecoin-related rewards they say could pull deposits from local banks.

On 10 January 2026, Coinbase outlined how it spent 2025 rebuilding its trading stack across spot, futures, perpetuals, and options to function as a unified marketplace. Over the year, the exchange broadened U.S. and international derivatives, integrated the Deribit acquisition, and expanded spot listings to more than 350 assets while preparing to deepen USDC collateral use in 2026. The company is now positioning its platform as an institutional-grade venue that blends crypto-native products with structures familiar to traditional financial markets.

On January 10, 2026 at 5:28 AM UTC, Dragonfly's Haseeb Qureshi said on X that stablecoin-powered cards will be a defining crypto theme in 2026. Total stablecoin transactions rose 72% to $33 trillion, according to Artemis Analytics Inc., while Rain's $250 million raise and Visa-linked cards accepted in 150+ countries highlight growing adoption.

Investors For Transparency reportedly aired Fox News ads urging viewers to contact senators and remove DeFi provisions from the CLARITY Act. The Senate Banking Committee scheduled a markup for Thursday, Jan. 15 at 10:00am Eastern Time. In April, the US Treasury estimated $6.6 trillion in bank deposits could exit if stablecoins see broad adoption.

On 10 January 2026, stablecoin-powered cards were presented as a leading payments theme for the year. Backed by rapid 2025 growth at Rain and a valuation near $2 billion, the model routes card settlement over blockchains while keeping the consumer experience unchanged. Western Union is preparing a Solana-based settlement system in 2026, underscoring institutional momentum.

BNY announced a system to tokenize bank deposits, with Ripple Prime joining as one of the first institutional users. The tokens represent a direct claim on cash and are designed for instant, programmable transfers around the clock, with the initial focus on collateral and margin workflows.

By January 9 2026, Bitcoin and Ethereum's year-to-date gains had cooled to about 4%, while several altcoins delivered much stronger weekly returns. XRP and Solana climbed nearly 10% and 7%, and coins like Sui, Bittensor, and Shiba Inu gained between 14% and 17%, reflecting a shift into higher-risk assets before key U.S. economic reports. Analysts also highlighted record 2025 stablecoin volumes and Morgan Stanley's new Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana ETF filings as important structural developments.