Solana's real‑world asset TVL reached $1.12 billion, up 18.84% in 30 days, alongside 134,656 holders and $1.73 billion in monthly transfers. On January 16, U.S. Solana spot ETFs saw $2.2 million in net outflows. SOL traded at $143.72, rising 0.81% on the day and 16.1% over 30 days.

DTCC’s Global Head Nadine Chakar said at a Thursday virtual forum the firm will prioritize interoperability across blockchains over closed ecosystems for tokenized securities. The company is working with Canton Network and plans support for an Ethereum-compatible “AppChain.” Separately, on January 7, 2026, the SEC approved DTCC’s expanded ACS Triparty Service under FICC following a September 2025 filing.

On January 16, 2026, a Bitmine wallet moved 20,000 ETH worth $65.4 million off Kraken. The firm also added 24,068 ETH this week and now holds 4.07 million ETH valued around $13.37 billion, equal to 3.36% of supply. At publication, ETH was $3,293, down 0.64% after rising over 6% in the past week.

Google filed an appeal challenging U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta's 2024 monopoly finding and moved to pause parts of a 2025 remedies order requiring data-sharing and annual rebidding of default-search deals. The company also requested a stay during the appellate process, which, according to the report, could take about a year from notice to decision.

On January 16, 2026, Ark Invest's Cathie Wood argued that Bitcoin is a superior scarce asset to gold due to its mathematically fixed supply. She cited gold's 166% rise alongside a 1.8% annualized supply increase, versus Bitcoin's 360% gain with 1.3% annualized supply growth, and noted BTC's correlations to gold (0.14) and bonds (0.06).

The China-led mBridge platform has processed about $55.5 billion in cross-border transactions from over 4,000 central bank payments, with volume increasing 2,500-fold since 2022. The digital yuan now accounts for 95% of activity on the project, while in the U.S. President Donald Trump has halted federal CBDC efforts and instead backed privately issued stablecoins under new national regulation.

On January 16, 2026, Belgium's KBC Bank said it will offer crypto trading to private investors via the Bolero platform, with rollout planned for mid-February under the EU's MiCAR framework. According to its press release, KBC filed a CASP notification and will begin with Bitcoin and Ethereum, operating a closed-loop model with strict KYC/KYT controls.

On January 15, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said South Korea will keep monitoring newly announced U.S. tariffs on advanced AI chips and assess effects on domestic manufacturers. The 25% duties target select Nvidia and AMD processors, and Seoul is also watching won stability alongside a US$350 billion investment pledge and related U.S. currency remarks.

In 2026, privacy-focused cryptocurrencies have outperformed the broader market, with 14 of 18 tracked tokens now holding market capitalizations above $100 million and notable weekly gains across the sector. Monero, Zcash, Dash, Decred, Litecoin, and Pirate Chain have led the advance, with Monero’s valuation near $12.9 billion and Pirate Chain's ARRR jumping about 168% over seven days. Regulatory shifts in the EU and Dubai, along with growing concerns over on-chain surveillance, have coincided with rising demand for privacy technologies like Ring Signatures, Stealth Addresses, zk-SNARKs, and MimbleWimble.