On February 5, 2026, Ether fell to around $2,048, leaving BitMine Immersion Technologies with more than $7 billion in unrealized losses on roughly 4.28 million ETH. The company kept buying, including a recent lot of about 41,788 ETH, while Tom Lee defended the treasury approach in X posts on February 3.

In Q4 2025, Tether's USDT closed the quarter with a record $187.3 billion market capitalization while the broader crypto market and competing stablecoins declined. Over the same period, Tether reported rising on-chain activity, a sharp increase in total users, and a $192.9 billion reserve portfolio heavily allocated to U.S. Treasuries, Bitcoin, and gold.

Arizona officials have intensified alerts over cryptocurrency ATM fraud after losses reached more than $177 million in 2024. A 2025 state law mandates multilingual warnings, 24/7 live support, and daily caps of $2,000 for new users and $10,500 for existing users. Nationwide figures indicate rising losses and complaints, with older adults heavily affected.

On January 31 2026, the UK Financial Conduct Authority released Consultation Paper CP26/4 setting out how its handbook will apply to newly regulated cryptoasset activities, including Consumer Duty, safeguarding, and complaints handling. The proposals would bring issuers, trading platforms, lenders, custodians, and international firms serving UK clients under stricter governance and client asset rules, with most global firms expected to use a UK legal entity. The consultation runs until 12 March 2026, with final rules expected later in 2026 and the regime due to take effect in October 2027 after an authorization gateway planned for September 2026.

On January 30, 2026 (UTC), industry participants said India's Budget 2026 is expected to prioritize clearer crypto rules and lower tax friction. Expectations include reducing the 1% TDS under Section 194S and allowing VDA loss offsets, while the current 30% flat tax, no deduction of transaction costs, and gift tax above ₹50,000 remain in force.

On January 30, 2026, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood said gold appears stretched at late-cycle levels and could retreat if the U.S. dollar strengthens. She cited a gold-to-M2 ratio at historic extremes and U.S. 10-year yields around 4.2%. Robin Brooks argued central bank buying is overstated and recent gains look like retail-driven speculation.

Australian-based lawyer Bill Morgan said on January 18, 2026 that res judicata blocks the SEC from re-litigating whether XRP is a security and Ripple's 2013–2020 sales. He cited Judge Analisa Torres's July 2023 ruling that XRP itself is not an investment contract, adding that any future action would be limited to post-2020 sales and constrained by issue preclusion.

On January 14, 2026, Deribit introduced USDC-settled options for Avalanche (AVAX) and Tron (TRX). According to Deribit, the contracts are available to users in eligible jurisdictions, settle 100% in USDC, and come in call and put variants with sizes of 100 AVAX and 10,000 TRX per contract. AVAX and TRX deposits are not accepted for margin offsets, with USDC required for margin and settlement.

On January 14, 2026, Visa announced a partnership with BVNK to add stablecoin payout capabilities to the Visa Direct platform, enabling pre-funded transfers to digital wallets in selected global markets. The integration allows instant settlement beyond traditional banking hours for use cases such as payroll, remittances, and gig economy payments, while remaining subject to local compliance requirements.