On January 11, 2026, India's Financial Intelligence Unit announced new KYC rules requiring crypto exchanges to collect customer selfies, geographic coordinates and bank verification via the penny drop method. The guidelines also ban mixing services and anonymous tokens, tighten reporting duties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and require regular KYC updates based on risk. Exchanges must register as reporting entities, obtain PAN and additional ID documents, and use liveness detection software to confirm users' physical presence.

LG AI Research's K-Exaone foundational model has secured seventh place on the Intelligence Index compiled by Artificial Analysis, making it the only Korean entry in a top 10 otherwise dominated by US and Chinese systems. The model, built on a 236 billion-parameter MoE architecture and optimized for A100-class GPUs, topped 10 of 13 benchmark tests in a government-led competition and is available as an open-weight model on Hugging Face with free API access through January 28.

On January 10 2026, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned platform X over reports that its Grok chatbot has been used to generate sexualized and exploitative images. Australia's eSafety Office has seen a recent rise in complaints linked to Grok, while Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs has temporarily blocked the chatbot over concerns about non-consensual sexual deepfakes. X has restricted Grok's image tools to paying subscribers, as regulators in both countries push for stronger safety guardrails around generative AI content.

On January 10, 2026, authorities in Louisiana reported recovering $200,000 taken through Bitcoin ATM scams that targeted elderly residents. Police and consumer advocates said the funds were retrieved under a new state law that imposes warning requirements, transaction limits and waiting periods on Bitcoin ATMs. Officials also highlighted a broader rise in such schemes, noting that reported Bitcoin ATM fraud reached $333 million in 2025.

On January 10, 2026, the House of Doge, the corporate arm of the Dogecoin Foundation, detailed an expansion roadmap built around new partnerships with Japan's abc Co., Ltd. and ReYuu Japan Inc. The collaboration focuses on regulated tokenization, payment integrations, and real-world asset initiatives tailored to the Japanese market, including gold-backed stablecoins under the country's green list program. While timelines and specific pilot merchants were not disclosed, the initiative aims to shift Dogecoin's emphasis from meme culture toward practical utility amid declining ETF inflows and reduced futures open interest.

WazirX has stated that it has finished issuing recovery tokens to all eligible users under its court-approved restructuring plan, completing the process within the previously promised 60-day window on a pro-rata basis. The exchange, which resumed trading on October 24, 2025 after a 2024 hack involving more than $234.9 million, said initial distributions covered about 85% of approved user claims at the scheme's reference pricing date. WazirX plans to use future profits and recovered assets, subject to a $10 million recovery threshold per period, to buy back these recovery tokens and further reimburse users.

On January 10, 2026, reports highlighted that a UK-based crypto entrepreneur connected to Paradox Metaverse was linked to what authorities described as the largest illegal drug operation in the country. According to The Guardian, MHRA officers raided a Northampton unit last October, seizing thousands of unlicensed Alluvi pens, raw chemicals, equipment, and £20,000 in cash.

On January 10 2026, crypto exchange BingX announced BingX TradFi, a new trading feature offering futures tied to more than 50 traditional underlying assets with leverage reportedly up to 500x. The move places BingX alongside Bitget and Binance in expanding beyond pure digital assets into multi-asset trading, including commodities, forex, metals, indices, and stock-linked contracts. These exchanges are using their existing crypto infrastructure to provide broader market access while operating under varying regulatory frameworks.

On January 1, 2026, the UK's HMRC brought in new rules requiring cryptocurrency platforms to gather and submit detailed user information to help recover an estimated £300 million in tax. The framework targets Capital Gains Tax on digital asset disposals, sets a £3,000 tax-free CGT allowance, and encourages investors to use self-assessment and voluntary disclosure for past gains.