On January 12, the Financial Services Commission of South Korea ended a nine year prohibition, permitting listed companies and registered professional investment institutions to gain crypto exposure. The framework caps allocations at up to 5% of net assets into the top 20 tokens and affects about 3,500 entities, with exchanges required to apply staggered execution and size limits. Uncertainty around stablecoin classification may influence corporate participation.

The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council has directed Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com to stop offering sports event contracts to residents and to void existing agreements, with refunds due by January 31, 2026. Noncompliance could lead to fines of up to $25,000 per violation and potential felony charges under state law. The move underscores growing state-level scrutiny of crypto-linked derivatives and their overlap with federal regulation.

On January 11, a report said Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro used Tether (USDT) to help PdVSA settle oil trades under U.S. sanctions. Tether reiterated cooperation with U.S. authorities and freezes wallets on official request. USDT was near $0.99 with a $186.76 billion market cap and about $37.36 billion in 24-hour volume.

Nasdaq Inc. and CME Group Inc. plan to relaunch the Nasdaq CME Crypto Index (NCI™) on January 8, 2026, positioning it as a renewed benchmark for institutional participation in digital assets. The index, which includes major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, is expected to support market transparency and infrastructure as Bitcoin trades above $90,000 with a market cap of $1.81 trillion. Analysts suggest the move could encourage new institutional-grade crypto products and reinforce the sector's overall maturity.

Elon Musk stated on the X platform that the service will release as open source the code used to recommend both organic and advertising posts, with the first release set for seven days after his announcement and subsequent updates every four weeks. The move follows a sharp rise in bot-driven crypto posts, including a reported 7.75 million bot messages in one day and a 1,224% jump in such activity, and could alter how sensitive the algorithm is to crypto-related content.

Tennessee’s Sports Wagering Council has issued cease-and-desist directives to Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com, requiring them to shut down sports betting contracts in the state and refund users by January 31, 2026. The council argues these unlicensed sports event markets violate state gambling law and could trigger civil penalties or criminal exposure for non-compliance. The decision adds to mounting U.S. regulatory pressure on crypto-based prediction and betting platforms.

Binance Wallet announced an exclusive Booster and Token Generation Event for Unitas (UP), with subscriptions opening on January 12, 2026 at 18:00 (UTC+8). The event targets a $50,000 raise in BNB for 10 million UP under an over-subscription model, capping each user's deposit at 3 BNB with proportional allocation.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies has appointed Young Kim as its new Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, reporting to Chairman Thomas "Tom" Lee. The leadership change is tied to Bitmine's plan to expand its Ethereum holdings from the current 3.43% of ETH supply toward a 5% target, a move that could affect Ethereum liquidity and market structure. Recent market data shows Ethereum trading around $3,092.87 with a market capitalization near $373.29 billion.

The U.S. SEC has excluded cryptocurrencies from its 2026 priority-risk agenda, a change highlighted by Changpeng Zhao. Market observers say reduced regulatory focus could ease investor concerns and improve liquidity. Zhao tempered expectations, noting his "supercycle" call might be wrong.