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, 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.

Artemis's January 15, 2026 report finds crypto cards processing >$1.5 billion per month, translating to an annualized $18 billion market. The sector grew from ~$100 million monthly in early 2023, with Visa accounting for over 90% of on-chain volume and data tracked through August 2025.

China is reassessing its stance on digital assets after high-profile investigations into alleged scam operator Chen Zhi and a former senior central bank official linked to crypto bribes. Authorities have highlighted large Bitcoin seizures and reiterated strict bans on digital asset transactions in mainland China, even as Hong Kong maintains a more permissive licensing regime for crypto businesses.

Silver traded at $90.05 as of writing after briefly exceeding $93 earlier in the week, with 8% gains over both the past seven and 30 days. Google Trends shows search interest doubling after the $90 breakout, while Vanda reported $921.8 million flowing into silver-linked ETFs and a 169-day inflow streak for the iShares Silver Trust.

On 17 January 2026, Goldman Sachs said on its latest earnings call it remains committed to tokenization even as the CLARITY Act’s progress has stalled. The Senate Banking Committee removed the bill from markup, while Coinbase withdrew support over concerns about tokenized equities and stablecoin incentives. Attention is turning to alternative market structure efforts in Congress.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin, has urged Senate Banking leaders to reject DeFi developer exemptions in the broader crypto market structure bill that includes the CLARITY Act and BRCA. Lawmakers warned the changes could weaken key criminal code tools used by the Department of Justice, while the bill also faces setbacks after Coinbase withdrew support over issues such as a ban on stablecoin rewards.