Charles Schwab plans to introduce spot Bitcoin trading in the first half of 2026, with CEO Rick Wurster signaling confidence in the asset's long-term outlook despite recent market weakness. The firm has seen rising client engagement with crypto, and Bitcoin was priced at $87,883.45 with a $1.76 trillion market cap and a 27.86% 90-day decline as of January 1, 2026. Schwab's potential expansion into digital assets would add another major traditional financial institution to the growing list of crypto market participants.

On January 1, Justin Sun withdrew about $38 million in USDC from Lighter LLP after an earlier $200 million deposit, according to MLM Monitor. His subsequent acquisition of roughly 13.25 million LIT tokens represents 1.33% of total supply and 5.32% of circulating supply, prompting close market scrutiny as LIT trades near $2.60 with a market cap around $649 million.

On January 1, Neo co-founders Da Hongfei and Erik Zhang publicly traded allegations of financial mismanagement and asset control. The dispute intensified governance and transparency concerns, with community calls for audits and a rapid resolution. Market observers warned of potential valuation instability if the conflict remains unresolved.

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee, led by Chairman Tim Scott, plans to hold a markup on a digital asset market regulation bill in the second week of January 2026 after delays tied to DeFi concerns and a government shutdown. The proposal, Senate Bill 2669, would direct the SEC and CFTC to jointly define rules for classifying and overseeing digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, while Bitcoin trades around $87,753.05 with a market cap near $1.75 trillion.

On December 27, the Flow network suffered a major exploit that allowed attackers to mint a large volume of tokens, triggering a rapid response from Binance to freeze associated funds on its platform. The incident coincided with a sharp drop of about 40% in FLOW's value and, as of December 31, 2025, the token trades at $0.09 after a 48.95% weekly decline. Market data show Flow's capitalization around $142.64 million and a 43.73% fall in 24-hour trading volume to $24.57 million, while community figures have called on validators to pause transactions until a remediation plan is clarified.

The Bank of China has stated it will start paying interest on e-CNY wallet balances from January 1, 2026, using the bank's current deposit listed rate. Balances in digital renminbi wallets will be treated under the same rules as regular demand deposits, a move expected to support wider use of the digital currency and broaden financial inclusion.

Bank of China stated it will begin paying interest on digital renminbi (e‑CNY) wallet balances from January 1, 2026, at rates aligned with current deposit policies. The move fits within the digital currency framework overseen by the People's Bank of China, and similar steps have been taken by other state‑owned banks.

On December 29, 2025, Delin Holdings' subsidiary Delin Securities Ltd. obtained conditional authorization from the Hong Kong SFC to provide virtual asset trading services. The firm plans to start operations once final approval is granted, and no specific token price or market impact has been identified so far.

The United States, under President Trump, is moving toward a pro‑crypto framework, with a Senate hearing on the Crypto Market Structure Act expected in January 2026 and California's Digital Asset Act slated for July. A potential Fed chair change on May 15 and the stablecoin GENIUS Act deadline on July 18 could shape compliance and liquidity. BTC is $88,413.97, per CoinMarketCap.