In early 2026, emerging market equities have risen about 7%, sharply outperforming the S&P 500’s 1% gain as investors reallocate away from US dollar assets and Treasuries. Major EM indexes logged a fifth straight week of advances, with Asia’s technology sector and Latin American shares, up 13% this year, leading the move. China’s central bank backed yuan strength, several EM currencies appreciated more than 3%, and a leading EM ETF drew over $6.5 billion in January amid renewed de-dollarization themes.

On January 23, 2026, the yen swung sharply as the dollar briefly exceeded 159.00 before sliding to 157.33 and later hovering near 158.00, leaving the pair down 0.3%. The Bank of Japan kept short‑term rates at 0.75%, while senior officials declined to comment on intervention talk or reported rate‑check calls with banks.

According to Pantera Capital, most cryptocurrencies apart from bitcoin have been in a deep bear market since December 2024, with the broader non‑BTC segment down 44% and a typical token losing about 79% of its value by the end of 2025. The firm notes that while bitcoin slipped only around 6% in 2025, many other tokens dropped close to 60% amid capitulation‑style selling and an October liquidation wave exceeding $20 billion. Pantera's 2026 outlook highlights structural issues in token value capture and suggests investment may shift toward bitcoin, stablecoin infrastructure, and equity‑linked crypto exposure rather than speculative token trading.

Bitwise said Q4 2025 may have marked the bottom of the crypto bear market despite declining prices, in a client update from Matt Hougan. He pointed to four signals: record Ethereum usage, higher profits at crypto companies, stablecoins exceeding $300 billion, and Uniswap regularly surpassing Coinbase in volume. Hougan likened the setup to early 2023 after FTX, when Bitcoin rose from around $16,000 to roughly $98,000 by early 2025.

OpenAI is pursuing about $50 billion from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, with CEO Sam Altman in the UAE for investment talks expected to conclude in Q1. The company also announced a partnership in which NVIDIA plans up to $100 billion and at least 10 gigawatts of compute, aiming to begin operations in the second half of 2026.

On Wednesday, Palo Alto-based BitGo completed its stock market debut, selling 11.8 million shares at $18 each and raising $212.8 million at a $2.08 billion valuation. The first cryptocurrency company to go public in 2026 is listing amid U.S. regulatory uncertainty, weak digital asset prices, and heightened geopolitical tensions that are weighing on broader IPO plans.

Intel’s stock climbed 84% in 2025 as CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s restructuring gained momentum, alongside a $5 billion investment from Nvidia and $2 billion from SoftBank. The company plans to report fourth-quarter results after markets close on Thursday, with data center revenue projected to rise more than 30% to $4.43 billion and PC sales seen up 2.5% to $8.21 billion.

At the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly debated French central bank chief François Villeroy de Galhau over whether Bitcoin or central banks better safeguard monetary independence. Armstrong argued that Bitcoin's decentralized design makes it more independent than state institutions, while later accusing U.S. banking lobbies of using stalled stablecoin legislation to stifle crypto competition. Hedge fund veteran Ray Dalio separately warned of a breakdown in the monetary system as investors increasingly look to Bitcoin and gold and seized Bitcoin is moved into U.S. strategic reserves.

Starting February 1, Shanghai will let registered consumer drones fly without prior approval in designated zones covering 46% of the city as part of its push to expand the low-altitude economy. The city logged 3.2 million drone flights with 220,000 registered drones by the end of 2025 and aims to build an 80 billion yuan industry by 2028, while Shenzhen targets a low-altitude sector worth over 130 billion yuan by 2026.