On 17 January 2026, Cathie Wood reiterated in ARK Invest’s 2026 outlook that Bitcoin’s fixed issuance schedule gives it a structural scarcity edge over gold. She noted that gold supply historically expands as prices rise, while Bitcoin’s programmed halvings drive annual supply growth below 1% and toward about 0.4% later this decade, supporting her long-term price projection of roughly $1.2 million by 2030. Wood also highlighted Bitcoin’s low correlation with traditional assets and its asymmetric upside versus gold, arguing it has a distinct role in diversified portfolios.

On January 17 2026, California's financial regulator ordered Nexo to pay a $500,000 penalty for issuing more than 5,456 crypto-backed loans in the state without a license. The action requires the company to transfer California customer funds to a licensed U.S. affiliate within 150 days and has cast doubt on Nexo's plans to resume operations in the American market.

On January 10, 2026, an investor reportedly lost more than $282 million in Litecoin and Bitcoin after attackers accessed a hardware wallet through a social engineering scam around 23:00 UTC. The stolen coins were quickly moved across multiple blockchains, with a large share allegedly converted into Monero via instant exchanges, coinciding with a sharp XMR price surge over the following four days.

On January 17, 2026, the European Securities and Markets Authority registered the Pi Network white paper under entry number 549, filed by PiBit Ltd, marking a formal step for the project in the EU. The registration does not yet make Pi an approved crypto asset under MiCA, as the project must still satisfy EU requirements on areas such as anti-money laundering, data protection, and financial reporting. Meanwhile, Pi Coin trades around $0.2051, up 0.28% in 24 hours but remaining over 90% below its all‑time price as daily volume drops 33%.

Bitcoin (BTC) broke above a multi‑week pattern and retested about $95,000, putting a measured objective near $107,000 in play by February. Long‑dormant holder distribution has slowed and coins are moving off exchanges, tightening supply, while a potential 20‑/50‑day EMA bull cross and a negative correlation to gold add to the bullish case.

On 17 January 2026 at 14:20, a single self-custody wallet was drained of more than $282 million after the owner disclosed a hardware recovery phrase. According to blockchain investigator ZachXBT, no technical exploit was involved. Cybersecurity firm ZeroShadow said about $700,000 was flagged and frozen as the thief moved funds across chains and into Monero.

On 15 January, CME Group announced plans to introduce futures on Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK) and Stellar (XLM), with trading scheduled to start on 9 February subject to regulatory review. The contracts will come in standard and micro sizes and build on CME's record 2025 crypto derivatives volumes, positioning these altcoins more firmly within regulated institutional markets. The move has already prompted new ETF filings tied to these assets, highlighting growing demand for diversified digital asset exposure.

Shiba Inu completed another hourly death cross in 2026 as the 50-hour MA slipped under the 200-hour MA. The token climbed to $0.00001017 in the first days of 2026, then fell six of seven days from Jan. 6–12, touched $0.00000815, and was last up 0.82% at $0.00000853.