Coinbase will add copper and platinum futures trading on its app starting January 26. The contracts will be offered via Coinbase Derivatives and accessible to retail and institutions through approved FCM partners, alongside existing gold, silver, and oil markets. The expansion aligns with the company's push toward an "everything exchange" strategy.

On January 8, 2026, Coincheck Group said it will acquire about 97% of Canadian manager 3iQ via a stock exchange valuing the firm at roughly $111.8 million. Monex Group will swap its stake for 27.1 million new Coincheck shares at $4 each, with 810,435 additional shares enabling full ownership, and closing is expected in the second quarter of 2026.

On January 5, 2026, Coinbase cofounder and CEO Brian Armstrong defended his record of 88 stock sales and zero open-market purchases executed under a 10b5-1 plan. He said regulatory rules bar him from buying COIN on Coinbase as a Section 16 officer and argued it would be unreasonable to keep virtually all his wealth in a single stock after more than a decade at the company. Armstrong maintains that most of his net worth remains in Coinbase shares and says some sale proceeds are being used to help launch other businesses, as the exchange pushes toward an "everything exchange" strategy including traditional stock trading.

On January 7, 2026, Fireblocks said it acquired Israel-based TRES Finance in a cash-and-equity transaction valued at about $130 million. The deal is its second in three months, following the October 2025 purchase of wallet startup Dynamic for around $90 million. In December, Fireblocks also partnered with Zepz to help scale stablecoin-powered remittances.

Florida Representative John Snyder sponsored HB 1039, and Senator Joe Gruters filed SB 1040 and SB 1038 to set up a state-run strategic cryptocurrency reserve that requires an average market capitalization of $500 billion for eligible assets. The legislation includes a conditional effective date of July 1, 2026, and, for now, only Bitcoin meets the criteria, with Ethereum around $380 billion.

On January 6, 2026, Senator John Kennedy said the Senate Banking Committee will hold a markup vote on the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure bill, on Thursday, January 16, 2026. The legislation, led by Chairman Tim Scott, would define how the SEC and CFTC oversee digital asset markets, but disagreements over DeFi, yield-bearing stablecoins and ethics concerns around Trump-linked crypto ventures still stand in the way. If the Senate fails to advance the bill by the end of January and pass it by April, its prospects of becoming law in 2026 could diminish significantly.

Ethereum published a year-end X recap of 2025, citing more than $99 billion in DeFi TVL and roughly 68% market share, a lead exceeding 9x versus the next-largest L1. The post highlights Pectra and Fusaka upgrades, a July 2025 10-year milestone, and deep liquidity that has drawn institutional interest.

On December 18, a hacker drained $27.3 million from a compromised multisig crypto wallet and has since begun off-loading funds via Tornado Cash. On-chain data shows the attacker pulled 1,000 ETH worth $3.24 million from Aave while still holding a $9.75 million leveraged long, and has funneled a total of 6,300 ETH valued at $19.4 million through the mixer. Separate Tornado Cash activity tied to a pig-butchering investment scam and other 2025 exploits highlight industry-wide losses exceeding $117.8 million in December and $3.4 billion for the year.

On January 5–6, 2026, the People's Bank of China set out a work plan to steadily advance the digital yuan and upgrade infrastructure for cross-border RMB use. The central bank aims to promote e-CNY in trade and investment, broaden international payment system links, and deepen QR code payment cooperation with other countries. It will also maintain a moderately loose monetary stance in 2026, refine Bond Connect and Swap Connect, and tighten oversight of virtual cryptocurrencies and related illicit activities.