On January 10, 2026, reports highlighted that a UK-based crypto entrepreneur connected to Paradox Metaverse was linked to what authorities described as the largest illegal drug operation in the country. According to The Guardian, MHRA officers raided a Northampton unit last October, seizing thousands of unlicensed Alluvi pens, raw chemicals, equipment, and £20,000 in cash.

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.

In early January 2026, crypto reporter Eleanor Terrett reported that a newly formed group called Investors For Transparency began running prime-time Fox News ads urging opposition to DeFi-related provisions in the CLARITY Act. The campaign portrays decentralized finance as a regulatory threat, drawing criticism from industry figures who question the group's anonymous backing and warn that applying traditional banking rules to DeFi could damage the $120 billion decentralized lending market.

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.

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) said on Friday it raised over $15 billion to invest in technologies it views as critical to America's future, naming crypto and AI as priorities. The firm outlined allocations to Growth ($6.75 billion), Apps and Infrastructure ($1.7 billion each), American Dynamism ($1.18 billion), Bio and Healthcare ($700 million), plus $3 billion for other strategies.

On January 9, Arkham Intelligence said it will discontinue support for the Linea blockchain on its intelligence platform effective January 11, following a periodic relevance review. The company also plans to remove Blast and Manta on the same date, while continuing to list Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, Optimism, and Polygon zkEVM.

In January 2026, more than 30 House Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, lined up behind Rep. Ritchie Torres' Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026, which would bar federal officials and staff from trading certain prediction market contracts. The move follows a Polymarket position that reportedly grew from $32,000 to over $400,000 on a contract about Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's ouster, raising fears of trades based on nonpublic information and exposing perceived gaps in existing insider trading rules.