On 16 January 2026, Belgium's second-largest lender KBC Group was reported to be preparing a launch of cryptocurrency trading for customers in February 2026. The regulated service, integrated into the Bolero investment platform and aligned with the EU's MiCA framework, would make KBC the first Belgian bank to offer direct, compliant access to digital assets.

Bitcoin traded around $95,000 on Friday while broader crypto prices eased modestly, as investors focused on calmer macro conditions. Asian equities climbed toward record levels on renewed enthusiasm for AI-related chip stocks following strong results from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and a new US-Taiwan trade deal that supports tech supply chains. Wall Street gains in technology and financial shares, along with shifting expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts, helped underpin overall risk appetite across markets.

Keyrock, using data visualized with Dune, has released a “12 Charts to Watch in 2026” dashboard pairing live crypto market datasets with explicit forecasts for next year. The report highlights prediction markets, tokenized RWAs, x402 payments, onchain vaults, derivatives depth, buybacks, Solana MEV, Zcash privacy, Ethereum blobs, card spending, spot BTC ETFs, and stablecoin funding as key indicators of whether trading, issuance, payments, and funding are becoming more institutional. It also notes the total crypto market cap at $3.25 trillion at press time.

XRP is struggling below key resistance despite expanding on-chain activity, while its price structure has weakened near the 100 EMA. Bitcoin is trading in a zone typically associated with oversold conditions after a prolonged sell-off, and Shiba Inu is consolidating in a narrow band under the 100 EMA, suggesting indecision rather than a clear bearish breakdown.

Crypto lender Nexo Capital will pay a $500,000 fine to California's financial regulator over thousands of allegedly unlicensed consumer and commercial loans. The regulator claims Nexo failed to properly assess borrowers' repayment ability on at least 5,456 loans issued to state residents between July 2018 and November 2022.

Interactive Brokers announced on January 15 that it has integrated 24/7 USDC funding, allowing clients to top up brokerage accounts at any time. The firm, working with Zerohash, automatically converts incoming USDC on networks like Ethereum, Solana, and Base to U.S. dollars, and plans to add RLUSD from Ripple and PYUSD from PayPal as additional stablecoin options.

In 2025, on-chain data provider Chainalysis reported that Iran’s crypto ecosystem expanded to $7.78 billion as nationwide protests and a collapsing rial drove higher Bitcoin withdrawals. During the unrest that began around Dec. 28, Iranians increasingly moved funds from local exchanges to personal wallets, while activity linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accounted for about half of the market in the fourth quarter.

Alibaba’s KIMI AI model outlines potential price trajectories for XRP, Shiba Inu and Bitcoin under a renewed bull market supported by clearer U.S. regulation. The AI projects XRP could climb toward $8 by 2027, Shiba Inu might vastly exceed its prior all-time high, and Bitcoin could advance toward $250,000 and beyond. These projections assume continued institutional inflows, improved regulatory clarity and, for Bitcoin, the possibility of a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve enhancing long-term upside.