Stablecoin

On January 12, 2026, Ukrainian authorities ordered communication providers to block access to prediction market platform Polymarket, citing unlicensed gambling activities. The decision, issued under Resolution No. 695 by the National Commission for State Regulation of Communications and Informatization, has led to uneven access across the country while more than $410 million in Ukraine-related bets and $270 million in completed wagers are tied to the platform. Polymarket’s dependence on USDC and Polygon leaves it navigating recurring geo-blocks in multiple jurisdictions.

On January 12, 2026, World Liberty Financial launched World Liberty Markets, a digital asset lending platform on Ethereum linked to the Trump family. The service supports stablecoins, ETH, USD1 and WLFI to expand utility and liquidity, with plans for mobile apps and tokenized assets to broaden access.

On January 12, 2026, Gleb Kurovskiy analyzed why hundreds of stablecoins coexist despite sharing the same $1 on-chain goal. He argues they represent different trade-offs across peg stability, decentralization and scalability, with fiat-backed, crypto-collateralized and algorithmic designs each optimizing for different risks and use cases. As stablecoins grow toward systemic scale, their liquidity management, reserve composition and integration with traditional finance could reshape how digital dollars move and where financial fragility emerges.

South Korea's Financial Services Commission has set guidelines to let listed companies and professional investors trade cryptocurrencies, with corporate exposure capped at up to 5% of equity annually. Final guidance is due between January and February, with implementation tied to the Digital Asset Basic Act in Q1 2025 and market participation targeted by end‑2026.

On January 12, 2026, Bank of Italy economist Claudia Biancotti outlined how Ethereum's security could erode if ETH fell to zero, modeling validator exits, lower staked ETH, and weaker block production. The report also flags spillover risks for tokenized assets and stablecoins built on Ethereum, echoing November 2025 warnings from the European Central Bank about financial stability threats.

On January 12, 2026, Bakkt Holdings, Inc. said it entered an agreement to acquire Distributed Technologies Research Ltd. in an all‑equity deal. Bakkt will issue Class A stock equal to 31.5% of the "Bakkt Share Number," about 9.1 million shares based on the current figure, and plans a corporate name change to "Bakkt, Inc." on January 22.

World Liberty has launched World Liberty Markets, a peer-to-peer platform for crypto lending and borrowing that runs on USD1. USD1's market cap stands at $3.4 billion, and the venue supports WLFI, Ether, tokenized Bitcoin, USDT, and USDC. WLTC Holdings filed an OCC application five days ago to create a federal trust bank for stablecoins.

Standard Chartered is planning to establish a crypto prime brokerage within its wholly owned venture arm SC Ventures, according to people familiar with the matter. The initiative is still at an early discussion stage with no confirmed launch date, and would build on the bank's existing digital asset projects and institutional spot crypto trading services. The bank is also working with Bank Malaysia and AirAsia parent Capital A to explore a ringgit-pegged stablecoin under Malaysia's Digital Asset Innovation Hub framework.

On January 11, 2026, user Captain Bunny said his OKX accounts holding about $40,000 in stablecoins were frozen after he bought four KYC-verified accounts in 2023. On January 12, 2026, CEO Star Xu replied that access depends on the registered identity, citing terms barring acting on behalf of others. The user shared on-chain records and emails to support his claim.

On 12 January 2026, Miami-based World Liberty Financial, which lists Donald Trump as co-founder emeritus, launched its World Liberty Markets lending and borrowing venue to deepen usage of its USD1 stablecoin. The platform supports USD1 alongside WLFI, Ether, tokenized Bitcoin, USDT and USDC, and is built on Dolomite's DeFi infrastructure to let users lend assets or borrow against collateral. Company executives also outlined plans for tokenized real-world assets, a mobile app, a debit card and a potential US bank charter to broaden USD1's role in both crypto and traditional finance.