In January 2026, U.S. crypto legislation stalled again as Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott’s market structure bill was pushed back to late February or March and faced resistance from Senate Judiciary leaders Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin over a developer exemption. The Senate Agriculture Committee, led by John Boozman, set a January 27 markup without Democratic backing, while CFTC Chair Michael Selig launched the "Future-Proof" initiative and SEC Chair Paul Atkins oversaw a 60% drop in crypto enforcement actions in 2025, alongside new SEC–CFTC coordination efforts. These moves highlight how regulatory agencies are assuming a larger role as Congress struggles to finalize a durable framework for U.S. digital asset markets.

Grayscale Investments has submitted a Form S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to register the Grayscale BNB ETF, an exchange-traded fund intended to mirror the price of BNB. The Delaware-incorporated trust would issue shares representing fractional interests in BNB and begin offering them only after the SEC declares the registration effective.

On January 22, 2026, CryptoQuant reported that Bitcoin holders have shifted into a net realized loss phase for the first time since October 2023. Since December 23, investors have booked roughly 69,000 BTC in losses, while annual realized profits have compressed to about 2.5 million BTC, down from around 4.4 million in October.

On January 22, BitGo Holdings began trading as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange using the ticker BTGO and marked the event by ringing the NYSE Opening Bell at 9:30 a.m. ET. The firm, headquartered in Sioux Falls, provides institutional digital asset infrastructure, including custody, trading, and wallet services to thousands of clients in more than 100 countries. BitGo plans to use its new public listing to enhance its platform and expand its role in the evolving digital asset ecosystem.

On January 22, 2026, 1inch said Rewardy Wallet added its Swap API, allowing swaps across Ethereum, BNB Chain, Base, Arbitrum and Optimism without holding native gas tokens. Fees can be paid in RWD via EIP-7702, aiming to streamline DeFi activity and cut failures linked to insufficient gas balances.

Nomura's subsidiary Laser Digital has introduced the Bitcoin Diversified Yield Fund SP, a natively tokenised Cayman-domiciled Bitcoin yield vehicle targeting institutional and eligible accredited investors. The strategy combines long-only BTC exposure with market-neutral arbitrage, lending and options to pursue more than 5% net outperformance over Bitcoin across rolling 12‑month periods, while prioritising capital preservation.

BitGo Holdings priced its upsized initial public offering at $18.00 per share, offering 11,821,595 Class A shares. The SEC declared its registration statement effective on January 21, 2026, and trading on the NYSE under ticker BTGO is expected to begin January 22 with the deal slated to close January 23, subject to customary conditions.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said in a January 21, 2026 post that he intends to fully migrate back to decentralized social media in 2026, arguing that healthier mass communication requires open competition rather than engagement algorithms. He highlighted his current use of the Firefly multi-client interface for X, Lens, Farcaster and Bluesky, while warning that many token-based social projects create bubbles around influencers instead of supporting quality content.

Suki Yang, now CEO of Icon Trading after roles at Electric Capital, Pantera Capital and CertiK, is focused on building a system-driven institutional crypto trading platform that goes beyond individual judgement. The firm emphasizes a unified architecture for risk, execution and research, aiming for explainable, repeatable returns as crypto markets mature and narrative-driven inefficiencies fade.