Updated January 7, 2026, DriveElectric projected UK electric car registrations to reach 580,000 in 2026, equal to 29% of new sales. The firm cited a baseline of 473,348 registrations and a 23.4% share in 2025, with December 2025 at 32.2%, and expects electric van registrations to grow 50% to around 45,000.

On January 7 2026, Blink Charging Co.’s stock closed at $0.8066, up 12.43%, and later traded at $0.8280 in pre-market trading. The move followed the company’s launch of USDC crypto payments at select Blink-owned DC fast-charging locations in Florida, with plans to expand the option to more sites by 2026. The company recently completed a $20 million equity offering and secured a £1.41 million EV charging project in West Yorkshire, supporting its broader growth plans.

Grayscale’s Ethereum Staking ETF (ETHE) will distribute $0.083178 per share to holders of record on January 5, 2026, with payment scheduled for January 6, 2026. The payout reflects staking rewards accumulated between October 6 and December 31, 2025, marking the first U.S.-listed spot Ethereum ETP to pass through realized staking income.

On December 17, 2025, Russian lawmaker Anatoly Aksakov reiterated that all domestic payments in Russia must be settled exclusively in rubles. He emphasized that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum can be used only as investment tools and not as legal tender, in line with legislation adopted in 2020. While the Bank of Russia continues to oppose crypto as a payment or financial instrument, limited experimental use of digital assets is allowed for cross-border trade.

Crypto.com has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre to research how distributed ledger technology can be applied to global commodities trading and settlement. The collaboration will assess tokenized commodities listings, custody models, and liquidity tools across sectors such as precious metals, diamonds, energy, and agriculture, while also adding education programs and running in parallel with Crypto.com's separate expansion into prediction-based market intelligence.

CME Group will introduce real-time and daily reference pricing indices for Hedera’s HBAR on December 29 via the CME CF Cryptocurrency Pricing Market Data feed. The rollout adds regional benchmarks and a live index updating about once per second; HBAR was at $0.1135 after a 5.32% 24-hour decline.

On December 15, 2025, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin outlined a framework that uses zero-knowledge proofs to make social media algorithms verifiable without exposing proprietary code or user data. He proposed on-chain timestamps for content and engagement, delayed publication of algorithm code, and the use of layered cryptography, including MPC, FHE, and TEE, for applications such as voting. Buterin's ideas emerge as zero-knowledge rollups secure billions of dollars in value and are increasingly adopted by major financial institutions and stablecoin transactions.

On December 13, 2025, Itaú Unibanco reiterated that investors should consider a 1%–3% Bitcoin allocation in their portfolios starting in 2026. The bank's research frames Bitcoin as a long-term diversifier and currency hedge, not a core holding, and highlights how 2025 foreign-exchange moves shaped returns for Brazilian investors. Itaú also points to access via its Íon platform and BITI11 ETF, while recent price data shows Bitcoin at $90,300 after a 2.5% 24-hour drop.

Coinbase and Standard Chartered are deepening their partnership to broaden regulated crypto services for institutional users, emphasizing trading, custody, lending, financing, and staking. The collaboration builds on Singapore banking rails that enable real-time SGD transfers, with Standard Chartered allowing clients to settle with custodians of their choice. No timeline or budget details were disclosed.