On January 17, Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik publicly criticized Coinbase Advanced's revised trading fee structure, pointing to a 1.2% Taker fee and 0.6% Maker fee. His remarks on X triggered debate over cost transparency for active traders, while Coinbase has not yet issued an official response. Bitcoin meanwhile trades around $95,504.92 with a market cap of $1.91 trillion and sharply lower 24-hour volume.

On January 17, BlockBeats News reported accelerating adoption of stablecoins in the $900 billion remittance market, highlighting cheaper and faster cross-border payments. With average remittance costs above 6%, stablecoins are positioned to challenge legacy operators and broaden access for low-income senders. Regulatory momentum, including the GENIUS Act, is cited as supporting mainstream use.

On January 17, 2026, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT has begun testing advertisements for a subset of users in the United States who do not want to pay for AI access. The company states that paid subscribers will not see ads, user conversations will not be shared with advertisers, and ads will not influence ChatGPT's responses, framing the experiment as a way to support growing operational costs while maintaining privacy protections.

Senator Tim Scott has postponed the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the Crypto Market Structure Act due to disagreements over stablecoin yields and DeFi restrictions. The delay coincided with a roughly 2% decline in Bitcoin and Ether prices, while Bitcoin later traded around $95,166.01 with a market cap of $1.90 trillion as of January 17, 2026.

China's State Taxation Administration has urged residents to self-assess and declare personal overseas income for 2022–2024, according to Xinhua News Agency. Authorities indicate they may recover unpaid taxes and late fees, and pursue legal action in cases of evasion. The notice does not address digital assets, leaving possible cryptocurrency impacts undetermined.

On January 17, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee opposed inserting parts of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act into a new cryptocurrency market structure bill, interrupting planned debate in the Senate. Senior lawmakers argued the proposal could weaken unlicensed money transmission rules, while DeFi proponents warned that removing protections for software developers may reduce industry support and stall broader crypto regulation.

Goldman Sachs is evaluating how the Clarity in Digital Assets Markets Act could affect tokenization and stablecoins. CEO David Solomon highlighted regulatory implications during the company's Q4 2025 earnings call. On May 29, 2025, French Hill introduced H.R. 3633, and NASAA raised concerns about state anti-fraud protections.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed legislation on January 17 to place digital financial assets under banking oversight and require licensed crypto exchanges. The measure defines stablecoins, asset-backed tokens, and electronic financial instruments, aiming to strengthen investor protections and fintech growth. Prior permissions within the AIFC are broadened by these nationwide rules.

Hong Kong Deputy Financial Secretary Huang Weilun said at a recent event the city will step up stablecoin oversight and expand gold storage capacity. Basel finalized bank crypto rules impose a 1250% risk weight on permissionless chain stablecoins from January 1, 2026. The plan includes reaching 2,000 tons of gold by 2026.