In 2025, stablecoin issuers generated roughly $5 billion from deployments on Ethereum, according to X. Startups reported a 400% year-over-year rise in stablecoin card usage and payment volumes, while ERC20 stablecoin activity approached record highs, per CryptoQuant. U.S. lawmakers are also weighing changes to yield rules, with a markup set for the 15th of January.

Bitcoin’s New Year advance is stalling near the key $90,000 support area after multiple failed attempts to hold above that level since November 2025. Morgan Stanley has filed for both Solana and Bitcoin ETFs with staking features, while Shiba Inu briefly touched $0.00001 and XRP jumped about 32% in January, drawing a cautionary technical warning from John Bollinger. Bitcoin has also posted its first post‑halving red year as traders monitor tight ranges and potential Sunday volatility around $85,000 to $90,000.

Coinbase Global Inc. is warning US lawmakers it could withdraw support for a major digital asset bill if new rules severely restrict its ability to pay rewards on stablecoins held on its platform. The exchange wants any changes limited to stronger disclosure requirements, arguing broader bans or exclusive rights for licensed banks could threaten an estimated $1.3 billion in annual stablecoin-related revenue. The dispute over rewards, which follows the GENIUS Act's stablecoin framework passed in July, is now weighing on bipartisan support for the market structure legislation planned for early 2026.

In 2025, Russia’s Social Fund processed 37 million hotline calls, with a growing portion focused on cryptocurrency, pensions and social benefits in digital assets. Over the period from July 2024 to June 2025, Russia recorded $376.3 billion in crypto inflows, making it Europe’s largest market while Bitcoin traded around $90,751 with a dominant market share. Current rules still require pensions to be paid in rubles, but regulators are signaling openness to tightly controlled investment channels rather than direct payment use for crypto.

According to TRM Labs' 2026 Crypto Crime Report, illicit crypto inflows reached $158 billion in 2025, a 145% rise from $64.5 billion in 2024. The share of illicit activity fell to 1.5% of on-chain volume and 2.7% of VASP inflows, while Russia-linked A757 and A7 saw $72 billion and $39 billion respectively.

Over the past week, Bitcoin and Ethereum both slipped less than 2%, while several altcoins saw sharp moves in both directions. Polygon's POL token surged close to 50%, supported by steady on-chain activity, and Virtuals Protocol and JasmyCoin also booked double-digit gains. In contrast, Midnight and Zcash dropped more than 20% from recent highs, with several privacy-focused coins and major tokens like UNI and DOGE also ending the week in the red.

Most of the Magnificent 7 lagged the S&P 500 in 2025 for the first time since 2022, with gains concentrated in Alphabet and Nvidia. Early 2026 points to continued dispersion as investors reassess AI spending and profit prospects, with slower earnings growth expected for the group and a greater emphasis on select stock picking.

Updated on January 11, 2026, India's ITSAR draft outlines 83 smartphone security requirements, including potential source code reviews. Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Google, via MAIT, oppose provisions such as year-long log retention and periodic malware scans, citing trade-secret risks and operational burdens.