Russian lawmakers plan to approve a wide-ranging crypto regulation package by the end of June, with the rules scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2027. The framework would permit regulated trading of Bitcoin, Ethereum, selected altcoins and stablecoins, while capping annual retail purchases at about 300,000 rubles and imposing testing requirements and licensing rules for intermediaries.

By July 1, 2026, Russia’s State Duma aims to introduce a two-tier system for digital currency access that limits non-qualified investors to 300,000 rubles ($4,000) in annual purchases while allowing qualified investors unrestricted volumes. The framework will treat cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as tradable assets but keep them banned for domestic payments, tighten controls on intermediaries starting July 1, 2027, and exclude privacy coins, as major Russian exchanges prepare infrastructure for regulated trading.

On January 29, 2026, a newly created whale wallet accumulated almost $7M worth of Tether's XAUT tokens transferred out of Bybit's hot wallet. XAUT trading volumes climbed to a one-month high and open interest reached a record level, while the token traded at a slight premium to spot gold amid renewed demand for gold-backed assets.

Binance will remove 20 spot trading pairs on January 30, 2026 at 08:00 UTC, with spot trading bots for those pairs shutting down at the same time. The change affects pairs such as ARPA/BTC and AXS/ETH; tokens will remain tradable through other listings. Users are expected to close positions in the affected pairs before the cutoff.

On January 28, 2026, several U.S. Senators sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche questioning the Department of Justice's decision to dismantle its crypto enforcement unit after he reported significant digital asset holdings. The lawmakers argue his actions may violate federal conflict-of-interest rules, while also highlighting 2025 data showing illicit crypto volume of $158 billion and a sharp rise in activity tied to sanctioned entities.

On January 29 2026, Bitget outlined how users can trade Gold pairs such as XAUUSD on its TradFi platform using USDT as the funding currency while trades settle in USD. After completing Level 1 and Level 2 KYC and creating an MT5 account, traders can set leverage up to 500X, place buy or sell orders, and access built-in risk tools and TradingView charting. Bitget is also running a month-long Gold trading competition with a total prize pool of $108,888, split across multiple events including a volume leaderboard and daily credit challenges.

On January 29 2026, Coinbase made its Kalshi-powered prediction markets available to users in all 50 U.S. states through the Coinbase app. Traders can now use USD or USDC from their Coinbase accounts to buy yes/no contracts on real-world events such as sports, politics, and culture, with minimum trades starting at $1. The regulated product is offered via Coinbase Financial Markets, which operates nearly around the clock except for a brief weekly maintenance window.

The White House plans to host cryptocurrency, banking and lobbying representatives on February 2, 2026 to address disagreements over the stalled CLARITY Act market structure bill. Discussions are expected to center on how the legislation handles interest and rewards on dollar-pegged stablecoins, with a Coinbase representative among those set to attend.