SharpLink (Nasdaq: SBET) said it has moved $170 million in ETH onto Linea, aligning with a $200 million crypto treasury program announced last fall. The structure involves Anchorage Digital, ether.fi and EigenCloud to combine qualified custody with onchain yield tools, signaling a push toward institutional-grade DeFi on Ethereum.

On January 8, the Financial Action Task Force recognized the T3 Financial Crime Unit as a model of public-private collaboration for policing illicit blockchain activity. Launched in September by TRON DAO, Tether and TRM Labs, the unit has supported freezes over $250 million, and the partners report more than $300 million across five continents.

On January 8, 2026, Polygon Labs introduced the Open Money Stack to support regulated stablecoin payments and connect wallets, fiat access, compliance and onchain settlement. The stack targets fragmentation with a single integration for cross-chain transfers and on/off-ramps. Polygon cited a three-year high $3.3 billion stablecoin supply and more than $2 trillion in transfers over six years.

On January 7, 2026, Tether and Rumble (NASDAQ: RUM) announced the launch of Rumble Wallet, a self-custodial crypto wallet integrated directly into the Rumble video platform. The wallet initially supports Tether USD (USDT), Tether Gold (XAUT) and Bitcoin, enabling tipping, peer-to-peer payments and instant creator payouts without traditional intermediaries.

On January 7, 2026, Archax said it partnered with Lloyds Banking Group and the Canton Network to execute the UK’s first Gilt purchase settled with tokenised sterling deposits. The flow used tokenised deposits issued on Canton and a tokenised UK Gilt from Archax, demonstrating interoperability with Lloyds’ traditional accounts.

On January 6, 2026, Tether announced Scudo, a unit of account for Tether Gold (XAUT) intended to streamline pricing, transfers, and everyday use. One Scudo equals one‑thousandth of a troy ounce to reduce awkward decimals and make gold‑denominated payments more intuitive. The company also introduced tooling for self‑custodial wallets supporting XAUT, other stablecoins, and Bitcoin.

On January 6, 2026, Solana highlighted 2025 results: applications generated $2.39 billion in revenue, while decentralized exchange volume reached $1.5 trillion. The year also saw $1.02 billion in net inflows to Solana-linked exchange-traded products, alongside growth across stablecoins, staking and trading activity.

Laser Digital reported that crypto markets began the new year on a stronger footing, with renewed capital deployment and fading December selling pressure lifting prices. Bitcoin rebounded from about $87,000 to near $93,000 and Ether advanced from roughly $2,970 to $3,200, while spot Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows on January 2. The firm said traders are now focused on upcoming US labor data, with Bitcoin's $95,000 resistance and the unemployment rate seen as key indicators for risk sentiment into early 2026.

As 2026 begins, US crypto policy is being reshaped by congressional oversight moves, state-level tax proposals and court decisions affecting industry participants. Lawmakers are pressing the SEC over its enforcement posture, California's planned billionaire tax has triggered fears of a high‑net‑worth exodus, and a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit targeting Mark Cuban over Voyager promotions. These developments, along with scrutiny of a Trump-linked crypto firm's auditor and the retirement of senior SEC official Cicely LaMothe, underscore the regulatory uncertainty facing digital asset businesses and investors.