On Jan. 6, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directed agencies to issue licenses for pilot digital-asset exchanges by Jan. 15 under a sandbox aimed at tighter market testing. The first phase will select five firms and require about $400M in charter capital with at least 65% held by institutions, alongside strict IT and audit standards.

World Liberty Financial has applied for a US national trust bank charter so that World Liberty Trust can issue and custody its dollar-backed stablecoin USD1 under federal oversight. If the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approves the de novo application, USD1, which has reached about $3.4B in market value, would be managed within a bank-style regulatory framework while targeting institutional users.

Stripe and Crypto.com announced a partnership on January 6, 2026 to design settlement and payment solutions for businesses. The collaboration will integrate Crypto.com Pay with Stripe, enable debit and credit card crypto purchases, and convert merchant payments to local currency, including support for stablecoin-based features.

Digital asset infrastructure provider Fireblocks has acquired crypto accounting and tax compliance platform TRES for $130 million to enhance its institutional product suite. The deal is aimed at helping clients manage audit-ready, tax-compliant records as stablecoin settlements reach hundreds of billions of dollars each month and more enterprises move treasury flows on-chain. TRES will continue operating as a standalone product while its infrastructure is integrated into Fireblocks' stack.

On 8 January 2026 at 03:16, a16z crypto said privacy, rather than speed or fees, will be the main competitive axis for blockchains by 2026. Ali Yahya argued that limited privacy keeps onchain systems from replacing traditional finance and that privacy centric networks could capture most real world usage.

On 7 January 2026 at 23:15, Coindoo reported a shift from opposition to alignment as banks and crypto-native firms build tokenized money rails. Stablecoins and deposit tokens are being used for real-time settlement and liquidity, while the competitive focus is moving to interoperability and integration speed across payment networks.

On January 7, 2026, Tether and Rumble (NASDAQ: RUM) announced the launch of Rumble Wallet, a self-custodial crypto wallet integrated directly into the Rumble video platform. The wallet initially supports Tether USD (USDT), Tether Gold (XAUT) and Bitcoin, enabling tipping, peer-to-peer payments and instant creator payouts without traditional intermediaries.

On 7 January 2026, Digital Asset and Kinexys by JPMorgan outlined plans to deploy JPM Coin natively on the Canton Network, expanding beyond bank-controlled systems. The rollout will proceed in phases through 2026, beginning with issuance and redemption, and complements ongoing institutional tests on Base. The initiative targets near-instant, compliant settlement on public infrastructure.