The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has scheduled a 15 January markup for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a bill intended to settle jurisdictional disputes between the SEC and CFTC and give the crypto sector clearer regulation. Lawmakers are still divided over DeFi oversight, token categorization and stablecoin rewards, while prediction markets price in a meaningful chance the proposal becomes law before May.

South Korea’s exports totaled $710 billion in 2025, surpassing $700 billion for the first time; the government said semiconductor shipments reached a record $173 billion. December’s unadjusted exports rose 13.4% and imports 4.6%, producing a $12.2 billion surplus, while in late November the Bank of Korea kept its policy rate at 2.5%.

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.

Bitcoin ended 2025 in negative territory after repeated failures to break above $90,000, pulling back to under $88,000 and trimming its market capitalization to $1.750 trillion. In contrast, Canton's CC has gained about 130% over the past month and added another 18% in the last 24 hours, trading above $0.17 while most large-cap altcoins declined.

Japan is expected to rank fifth by nominal GDP in 2026, trailing India, as weak productivity, a soft yen, and geopolitical strains weigh on growth. Recent data show a July–September contraction, while a separate forecast sees 0.9% expansion this year. A summer growth plan from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi targets 17 priority sectors alongside a large fiscal push.

CME raised margin requirements on gold, silver, platinum and palladium futures for the second time in one week as volatility spiked. According to the exchange, the changes take effect after markets close on Wednesday; CME also increased copper margins. Silver briefly topped $84 before sliding toward $70, and micro silver futures volume rose 127% in December.

According to Farside Investors data, US investors allocated close to $32 billion to US crypto ETFs in 2025, even as market momentum faded late in the year. Spot Bitcoin funds saw $21.4 billion of net inflows, below the $35 billion recorded in 2024, while BlackRock's IBIT took in about $24.7 billion and Ethereum ETFs, including ETHA and FETH, also accumulated substantial new capital.

From January 1, 2026, China's six largest state-owned banks will begin paying interest on real-name digital yuan wallets at standard deposit rates, under a framework set by the People's Bank of China. The policy, detailed by Deputy Governor Lu Lei, treats e-CNY balances in Type I to III wallets as deposit liabilities covered by insurance, while BOCOM excludes Type IV wallets, underscoring China's move to embed its CBDC within the traditional banking system.