On January 11, 2026, reports indicated the UAE began government-sponsored Bitcoin mining powered by its natural gas. CZ, founder of Binance, said on social media the country has been mining "for a while." In August 2025, Arkham Intelligence reported roughly 6,300-6,450 BTC worth $700 million were accumulated via state-backed operations through Citadel Mining.

A Bitcoin miner who earned rewards in 2010 has transferred 2,000 BTC, valued at nearly $200 million at prices close to $100,000 per coin, to Coinbase after 15 years of inactivity. On-chain data shows multiple whale selling waves since late 2024, including an 80,000 BTC move in July 2025 and several other dormant wallets reactivating. Analysts are debating whether these sales and cooling ETF inflows will disrupt Bitcoin’s historical four‑year cycle as institutional demand continues to expand.

On January 10, 2026, BlockSec's Phalcon flagged suspicious transactions against Arbitrum's Futureswap and estimated losses of around $395,000 after a suspected exploit that drained USDC via repeated changePosition calls. BlockSec said it tried to contact the team without success and noted the closed-source contract leaves the root cause under investigation.

On January 10, 2026, Vitalik Buterin warned about what he calls "corposlop", urging crypto builders to prioritize sovereignty, privacy and user agency. Responding to a tweet forecasting 2026–2030, he said he agreed with 60% of the predictions and outlined tools to resist anti-user designs, including local-first apps, user-controlled social platforms, open and private AI, and mission-driven DAOs.

On the night of January 9 2026 and early January 10 2026, Hilir Perak police carried out three coordinated raids in Teluk Intan and seized a total of 41 cryptocurrency mining machines. Officers are investigating the suspects for property damage and electricity theft linked to the rigs, while stressing that mining with stolen power is a criminal offense that can cause serious safety risks and infrastructure damage.

The Federal Communications Commission cleared SpaceX to add 7,500 second‑generation Starlink satellites, taking its authorized constellation to 15,000. The order requires 50% of the approved Gen2 units to be launched, placed in assigned orbits, and operating by December 1, 2028, with full deployment due by December 2031. The agency approved half of SpaceX’s nearly 30,000‑satellite request.

Tim Beiko, a long-standing contributor to Ethereum's core protocol at the Ethereum Foundation, has confirmed he is moving away from Layer 1 research and development to concentrate on what he calls frontier use cases. He will stay at the Foundation in an advisory position within the Protocol team, while researcher Ansgar Dietrichs extends his role chairing the All Core Developers Execution calls as the network prepares for two planned upgrades in 2026.

On January 9, Arkham Intelligence said it will discontinue support for the Linea blockchain on its intelligence platform effective January 11, following a periodic relevance review. The company also plans to remove Blast and Manta on the same date, while continuing to list Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, Optimism, and Polygon zkEVM.

Coinbase will add copper and platinum futures trading on its app starting January 26. The contracts will be offered via Coinbase Derivatives and accessible to retail and institutions through approved FCM partners, alongside existing gold, silver, and oil markets. The expansion aligns with the company's push toward an "everything exchange" strategy.