In 2025, Russia’s Social Fund processed 37 million hotline calls, with a growing portion focused on cryptocurrency, pensions and social benefits in digital assets. Over the period from July 2024 to June 2025, Russia recorded $376.3 billion in crypto inflows, making it Europe’s largest market while Bitcoin traded around $90,751 with a dominant market share. Current rules still require pensions to be paid in rubles, but regulators are signaling openness to tightly controlled investment channels rather than direct payment use for crypto.

Zama will conduct a Dutch auction token sale on January 12, positioning the event within the fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) privacy narrative. The timing overlaps with token unlocks for projects such as RAIN and APT and U.S. CPI updates, which could shape liquidity and short-term volatility across crypto markets.

Tether has worked with U.S. authorities to block wallets allegedly linked to Venezuelan oil trade sanctions evasion involving PdVSA. The company’s actions have intensified scrutiny of stablecoins, even as USDT holds its $1.00 peg with a market cap of $186.72 billion and 24-hour trading volume of $37.45 billion. These enforcement-aligned freezes are prompting debate over stablecoin compliance and future regulatory expectations.

On January 11, approximately $2.1M in TRADOOR was reportedly withdrawn from Bitget and moved to 10 newly created wallets. Neither Bitget nor the Tradoor team has confirmed the transfers, and immediate market reaction appeared limited. Concerns center on liquidity and possible downstream effects as official statements remain absent.

Zama has shifted the schedule of its ZAMA token Dutch auction to 21–24 January 2026, with token claiming to begin on 2 February 2026. The fully homomorphic encryption-focused project says the revised timing is meant to better accommodate participants, while market reaction has stayed largely neutral. Recent price performance has been volatile, and trading data remains limited ahead of the auction.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman is weighing whether to postpone the January 15 vote on a key cryptocurrency regulatory bill while bipartisan discussions with Senator Cory Booker continue. The potential rescheduling aims to strengthen cross‑party backing and could influence how oversight of assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum is structured. Market participants are adopting a cautious stance as they await the bill's details and clearer regulatory guidance.

On January 10, Pump.fun CEO Alon Cohen announced changes to the platform's Dynamic Fee V1 mechanism, shifting creator incentives toward a more trader-focused, market-driven structure. The update, introduced under Project Ascend with a new Creator Fee Sharing feature, coincided with PUMP gaining over 10% and a reported market cap of $814.84 million and 24-hour volume of $230.22 million as of January 10, 2026. The Coincu research team indicates the restructuring could support trading activity, although recent 60-day price performance still shows a 47.72% decline and regulatory responses remain pending.

On January 8, 2026, Nasdaq and CME Group announced the relaunch and rebranding of the Nasdaq Crypto Index as the Nasdaq CME Crypto Index to strengthen digital asset benchmarks for institutional investors. The index is designed to cover a broad portion of the crypto market, with a particular focus on Bitcoin and Ether, supporting products such as ETPs and derivatives and addressing the growing demand for transparent institutional-grade benchmarks.

Rain closed a $250 million Series C, announced January 9, led by ICONIQ, valuing the stablecoin payments firm at $1.95 billion. The company plans to expand infrastructure across five continents, integrate US ACH and European SEPA, and grow Visa-linked stablecoin cards serving 150+ countries. Additional backers include Sapphire Ventures, Dragonfly, and Bessemer, bringing total funding to over $338 million.