Stablecoin

On January 18, 2026, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson publicly criticized Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse for supporting the U.S. CLARITY Act, highlighting deep divisions within the crypto industry over the bill. Garlinghouse had praised the legislation in a January 14 post, while Hoskinson and other executives, including Coinbase's Brian Armstrong, warned it would expand SEC power and restrict tokenized assets and stablecoin rewards.

XRP short sellers were hit by a 16,559% liquidation imbalance this morning, per CoinGlass. Binance will remove 22 spot pairs tied to BTC, ETH and FDUSD on Jan. 20 at 8:00 a.m. UTC. Over the weekend, attorney Fred Rispoli criticized Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong amid a report on potential CLARITY Act support withdrawal.

K33 launched a crypto-collateral lending product, letting eligible clients borrow USDC against Bitcoin and select digital assets. The firm, listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market, tied the service to its Bitcoin treasury strategy and will start with a limited onboarding phase. Clients can register interest, with terms decided case by case.

On 19 January 2026, SWIFT detailed a January 2026 pilot with Societe Generale-FORGE, BNP Paribas Securities Services, and Intesa Sanpaolo that settled tokenised bonds using both fiat money and a euro-denominated stablecoin. The test executed delivery-versus-payment, coupon disbursements, and final redemption flows with SG-FORGE's MiCA-compliant EUR CoinVertible token, while preserving existing SWIFT messaging standards and banking roles.

On 19 January 2026, debate over the CLARITY Act’s proposed ban on yield-bearing US dollar stablecoins intensified, as critics argued it could weaken the currency’s position in global markets. The bill would prevent US exchanges and service providers from offering interest or rewards on dollar-backed stablecoins, a measure banks support as protection for deposits and financial stability. Industry figures including Anthony Scaramucci and Brian Armstrong warn that removing yield from US digital dollars while rivals such as China's interest-bearing digital yuan expand could undermine the long-term competitiveness and adoption of US-linked digital assets.

On 19 January 2026, at 09:31, Washington's CLARITY Act stalled, a development some analysts frame as a constructive pause. Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe argues the draft risked locking in restrictive rules. Coinbase withdrew support, and CEO Brian Armstrong flagged tokenized equities, yield-bearing stablecoins, and DeFi user data access as unacceptable provisions.

According to an Artemis report, Visa accounts for more than 90% of the cryptocurrency card segment, which now handles $18 billion in annual transactions. Stablecoin-linked payments, including Visa's reported $3.5 billion volume by the end of 2025, are supporting this expansion, while analysts expect traditional card networks to remain dominant in the near term.

On January 15, Solana recorded $804 million in stablecoin inflows in 24 hours, later maintaining $532 million, outpacing Tron's $397 million and contrasting with Ethereum's net outflows. Stablecoin supply on Solana has reportedly climbed to a record $15 billion, a 200% year-on-year jump, while one analyst suggests SOL could reach $300 if it breaks out of its current range. Recent data also indicate six straight weeks of inflows into SOL-linked ETFs, with $8.94 million added on January 15 and total net assets rising to $1.19 billion, equal to 1.49% of Solana's market cap.

Anthony Scaramucci argued that the CLARITY Act's expanded ban on yield-bearing stablecoins makes the US dollar less competitive than China's interest-paying digital yuan. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and other industry executives also criticized the restriction, claiming it protects traditional banks and could undermine the role of US dollar stablecoins in global markets. Separately, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan cautioned that stablecoins may trigger up to $6 trillion in deposit outflows from the banking system.

According to Artemis, crypto-linked cards became the top driver of on-chain stablecoin activity in 2025, with monthly volumes rising from $100 million to over $1.5 billion. Total card payments reached $18 billion, close to $19 billion in P2P transfers, and Visa processed more than 90% of transactions.