The International Monetary Fund indicates that stablecoins are shifting from a crypto market tool to infrastructure for cross border payments. Its analysis highlights growing use outside major financial centers, tighter links to dollar based assets, and policy concerns around hidden dollarization. Fragmented oversight and bank initiatives in tokenization point toward a hybrid payment architecture.

The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council has directed Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com to stop offering sports event contracts to residents and to void existing agreements, with refunds due by January 31, 2026. Noncompliance could lead to fines of up to $25,000 per violation and potential felony charges under state law. The move underscores growing state-level scrutiny of crypto-linked derivatives and their overlap with federal regulation.

On January 9, 2026, WazirX confirmed Recovery Tokens were credited to eligible users as part of its court-approved restructuring following the 2024 hack. The pro rata RTs are non-tradable and may enable reclaiming roughly 75–80% of locked funds over time, subject to three-month recovery reviews and a $10 million buyback threshold.

A proposed trade pact between Kenya and China has been paused after the United States raised objections, affecting cabinet, parliamentary, and presidential approval steps. The deal would remove Chinese tariffs on Kenyan farm exports, while the expiry of AGOA on September 30, 2025 exposes over $600 million in U.S.-bound apparel exports to tariffs of up to 28% and threatens more than 66,000 jobs. Kenya now faces pressure over whether to prioritize its long-standing security ties with Washington or its largest creditor, Beijing.

On 11 January 2026 at 17:42, the International Monetary Fund highlighted that stablecoins are increasingly used for cross‑border payments. Its analysis says stablecoin flows are growing faster than Bitcoin and Ethereum activity, and heavy backing with short‑term US Treasuries is binding these tokens to traditional finance while policy responses remain uneven.

Lithuania-licensed payments app Brighty has arranged over 100 real estate purchases worth $500,000 to $2.5 million across the UK, France and Malta. Serving 100–150 wealthy clients who spend about $50,000 monthly, Brighty reports average euro stablecoin transactions rising from €15,785 in Q3 to €59,894 in Q4 as buyers shift to EURC over USDC.

This guide reviews six major crypto whale tracking platforms and explains how traders follow large wallet activity across multiple blockchains. It compares Nansen, Arkham Intelligence, DexCheck, Debank, Whale Alert, and Arbitrage Scanner by core features, supported networks, and starting subscription prices. The overview also outlines how market participants use these tools to study smart money flows, manage risk, and interpret on-chain signals.

Over the weekend, XRP spot ETFs amassed $1.47 billion in assets, representing 1.16% of the token's market capitalization, while a single Shiba Inu address accumulated 1,923,043,775,311 SHIB from Coinbase Prime. At the same time, Vitalik Buterin published a three-point framework targeting decentralized stablecoin design, focusing on alternative indices, resilient oracles and resolving yield competition. These moves highlight shifting liquidity in XRP and SHIB markets alongside renewed debate on how future stablecoins should be structured.