The UK and 47 countries began mandatory crypto transaction reporting under OECD’s Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, requiring exchanges to capture full records and tax residency data for HMRC. Automatic information exchanges with participating tax authorities are slated to start in 2027, while 75 jurisdictions have committed to adopt the rules, with the US implementing in 2028.

Chainlink said in a company blog post that in 2025 it solidified its role as the standard infrastructure for onchain finance, as governments, banks and asset managers adopted its oracle and interoperability tech. Highlights include a Mastercard tie-up serving more than three billion cardholders, U.S. Commerce data feeds onchain, and CCIP's expansion to non‑EVM chains such as Solana.

Starting January 1, 2026, the People's Bank of China will require commercial banks to pay interest on eligible e-CNY wallet balances and record them as deposit liabilities. The framework brings the digital yuan onto bank balance sheets with deposit insurance and reserve requirements, while usage had reached 3.48 billion transactions and 16.7 trillion yuan by November 2025.

On January 1, 2026, the UK began enforcing the OECD’s Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, compelling crypto platforms to submit detailed user data directly to HMRC. Reports covering 2026 activity are due by May 31, 2027, and from 2027 HMRC will share data with other CARF jurisdictions. Non-compliance risks include penalties up to £300 per user, back taxes, and further investigations.

On 1 January 2026, China's digital yuan began accruing interest at sight deposit rates, marking a break with the non‑interest CBDC model. The People's Bank of China's plan applies to verified wallets for individuals and firms, with payouts on the 20th day of the last month of each quarter. Anonymous category 4 wallets are excluded, signaling a shift from M0‑like "digital cash" toward M1‑style demand deposits.

On December 31, 2025, a16z's crypto team published research outlining three forces it expects to shape 2026: stablecoins, real‑world asset tokenization and privacy infrastructure, citing an estimated $46 trillion in stablecoin transactions last year. The report highlights improved fiat ramps, onchain debt origination, perpetual futures, and privacy as strategic priorities across interoperable networks.

This guide distills seven common red flags in DeFi scams and offers practical checks users can run before committing funds. It highlights unrealistic "guaranteed 1,000% APY" promises, missing audits, opaque tokenomics, centralized governance, FOMO-driven marketing, anonymous teams, and fake or broken dApps. The focus is risk awareness, not investment advice.

Layer 2 networks built on Ethereum allow users to process transactions faster and at significantly lower cost while still relying on the main chain for security. By bridging assets from Layer 1 to networks such as Arbitrum, Optimism, or zkSync, users can trade, stake, and handle NFTs with reduced congestion and fees. This approach helps make DeFi platforms and NFT marketplaces more scalable and accessible for everyday crypto activity.