In 2026, privacy-focused cryptocurrencies have outperformed the broader market, with 14 of 18 tracked tokens now holding market capitalizations above $100 million and notable weekly gains across the sector. Monero, Zcash, Dash, Decred, Litecoin, and Pirate Chain have led the advance, with Monero’s valuation near $12.9 billion and Pirate Chain's ARRR jumping about 168% over seven days. Regulatory shifts in the EU and Dubai, along with growing concerns over on-chain surveillance, have coincided with rising demand for privacy technologies like Ring Signatures, Stealth Addresses, zk-SNARKs, and MimbleWimble.

FTX set the next distribution record date for February 14, with payouts to holders of allowed claims expected to begin on March 31. The exchange filed an amended notice seeking to reduce the disputed claims reserve by $2.2 billion, from $4.6 billion to $2.4 billion, pending Bankruptcy Court approval. Kraken, Payoneer, and BitGo will manage distributions once claim and KYC requirements are satisfied.

On August 31, 2023, the SEC subpoenaed the Zcash Foundation; on January 14, 2026, the foundation said the review had concluded with no enforcement intended. The group also rolled out five new DNS seeders across the U.S. and Europe, while ZEC rose 12% to $437 over 24 hours and nearly doubled in three months.

In the 24 hours leading up to January 14, 2026, Bitcoin price movements above $96,000 coincided with about $375 million in BTC liquidations and more than $1 billion in short positions at risk, based on Coinglass data. Bitcoin ETFs also saw roughly $754 million in net inflows and MicroStrategy expanded its holdings, while analysts cited in a Mercado Bitcoin report projected the BTC price could potentially double before the end of 2026.

On January 14, 2026, Bitwise and VettaFi released their eighth annual survey of financial advisors. It reported that 99% of advisors who allocated to crypto in 2025 intend to maintain or increase exposure in 2026, with allocation sizes rising and access expanding across client accounts.

In its 2025 digital asset OTC market review, Wintermute reported that liquidity in the crypto market largely concentrated in Bitcoin, Ether and a few large-cap tokens, while most altcoins lost sustained investor interest. The report highlighted that a major deleveraging event on October 10 led to about $19 billion in liquidations and cut altcoin open interest by roughly 55%, even as OTC options activity and institutional positioning in major assets increased throughout the year.

In early January 2026, South Korea's Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA), representing major local platforms such as Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, Coinone, and Gopax, criticized the Financial Services Commission's plan to cap major shareholders' digital asset ownership at 15-20% on domestic exchanges. The group argues that the measure, tied to the forthcoming Digital Asset Basic Act, could weaken the local crypto market, drive users to overseas exchanges, and conflict with principles of market economy and investor protection.

On January 12, 2026, Bank of Italy economist Claudia Biancotti outlined how Ethereum's security could erode if ETH fell to zero, modeling validator exits, lower staked ETH, and weaker block production. The report also flags spillover risks for tokenized assets and stablecoins built on Ethereum, echoing November 2025 warnings from the European Central Bank about financial stability threats.

On January 11, 2026, reports indicated that X is testing a native timeline feature that lets users view stock and cryptocurrency prices directly within posts. The initial rollout will focus on price visibility and simple charts rather than full trading, tying into Elon Musk's plan to turn X into an "everything app" with integrated financial tools. CEO Linda Yaccarino has outlined complementary initiatives like X Money, a peer-to-peer payments and digital wallet service backed by Visa, which aims to expand X's role in payments and commerce.