Japan's Financial Services Agency launched a public consultation on January 27, 2026 to define which bonds can qualify as reserve assets for yen-denominated stablecoins, with submissions accepted until February 27, 2026. The draft framework includes strict credit rating and size thresholds for foreign bonds and is tied to the amended 2025 Payment Services Act governing stablecoin issuance and reserves. Market observers suggest tighter eligibility rules could increase demand for Japanese government bonds from stablecoin issuers over time.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency aims to enable spot cryptocurrency ETFs by 2028 through amendments to the Investment Trust Act, aligning crypto assets with eligible ETF holdings. Parallel tax reforms are expected to lower the current maximum individual crypto tax rate of about 55 percent to a flat 20 percent on specified investments, while major securities groups such as Nomura and SBI prepare related products and estimate potential ETF assets around one trillion yen.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority is developing a new cryptoasset regulatory framework following consultations in December 2025 and new legislation submitted to Parliament. The regime is set to commence on 25 October 2027, with an authorisation gateway expected from around September 2026 to oversee trading platforms, intermediaries, lending, staking, and custody activities. Firms conducting in-scope crypto business in or to the UK will move from AML-focused registration to full authorisation under the Financial Services and Markets Act once the rules take effect.

Tezos activated the Tallinn protocol upgrade on January 24, 2026 at 16:06:56 UTC, at mainnet block #11,640,289. The change reduces layer 1 block time from 8 seconds to 6 seconds and delivers finality in about 12 seconds after two blocks, representing the network's 20th forkless upgrade through on-chain governance.

On 21 January 2026, KONNI, a North Korean advanced persistent threat group, was reported to have used AI-generated PowerShell backdoors against blockchain and cryptocurrency developers in Japan, Australia, and India. The operation relied on Discord to distribute malicious ZIP archives containing a staged infection chain that established persistent access to victim systems. The campaign highlights the use of large language model-generated code in real-world attacks on crypto-focused development teams.

On 24 January 2026, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee shifted its calendar toward housing legislation tied to President Donald Trump's affordability initiative, postponing review of a broad crypto market structure bill until late February or March. The measure is designed to clarify oversight of digital assets between the SEC and CFTC, while inflation and housing costs now take priority in the committee's workload. The delay prolongs uncertainty for exchanges, trading firms and banks that are awaiting clearer federal rules for crypto markets.

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.

The Senate Banking Committee delayed a planned markup of a U.S. crypto market structure bill after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said on January 14 the company no longer backed the text. The Senate Agriculture Committee postponed its own session and set a new markup date for 27 January 2026.

In late December 2025, DZ Bank secured MiCAR approval from BaFin to operate the meinKrypto retail platform. The service connects 670 cooperative banks through the VR Banking App, enabling trading in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Cardano.