On 12 January 2026, Solana's price hovered just under a key resistance zone around $145 after briefly touching the mid-$140s. Network data shows weekly new wallet creation has dropped from about 30.2 million at its November 2024 peak to roughly 7.3 million, raising doubts about the strength of the current move. Traders are watching whether a rebound in on-chain activity and speculation over a potential X integration can support a sustained breakout.

Apple led global smartphone shipments in 2025 with a 20% share and 10% year‑on‑year growth, ahead of Samsung at 19% and 5% growth. In Q4, Apple reached a record 25% share versus Samsung’s 17%, while worldwide shipments rose 2% for the year amid financing plans, marketing, and rising 5G demand.

Crypto.com has opened a new Airdrop Arena campaign featuring a US$250,000 SOL reward pool for participants who allocate CRO. The event runs from 1 January 2026, 10:00 UTC to 31 January 2026, 09:59 UTC, with points-based rewards and no trading requirement. CRO allocations are locked for 6 months, and SOL is distributed within 7 days after the campaign ends.

On Jan. 11, 2026, XRPL validator Vet posted that the XRP community is "keeping it quiet," prompting speculation. XRP surged to $2.41 on Jan. 6 before reversing and, at press time, traded near $2.04. Ripple said it secured FCA approval for an EMI license and Cryptoasset Registration to expand its payments platform in the U.K.

LISA, tied to the AgentaLISA project on Solana, fell 76% in 24 hours. A SafeProxy wallet linked to the team moved 10 million LISA (about $1.65 million) to a Binance Alpha wallet at 01:50 UTC; about 25–30 minutes later, three sales totaling around $170,000 hit the market, amid community speculation about 4x rewards.

Dubai's DFSA has updated its Crypto Token Regulatory Framework, enforcing a ban on privacy tokens and related tools across the DIFC from Jan. 12. Stablecoins must now be fiat-pegged and backed by high-quality, liquid reserves, while algorithmic designs like Ethena are excluded from the stablecoin category. Token approval decisions are shifted to licensed firms, which must assess and document the suitability and compliance of assets they list.

Venezuela now relies on Tether USDT for settlements and everyday transfers as sanctions restrict access to international banking. State oil producer Petróleos de Venezuela routed payments through intermediaries that convert proceeds into USDT, and households use stablecoins for remittances, wages, savings, and peer-to-peer transactions.

On Monday, Jan. 12, XRP was up 10.8% for early 2026, marking its strongest first-quarter start since 2023 and trading between $2.04 and $2.35. A separate Bitcoin wallet holding 26,916 BTC, valued at over $2.44 billion, fueled speculation around the 17th anniversary of Satoshi Nakamoto's first 10 BTC transaction to Hal Finney, while Cardano showed an unusual $0 in short liquidations over key intraday windows as longs booked hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.