On 16 January 2026, total crypto market value slipped to about $3.23 trillion after a roughly 1.8% daily drop, according to Coindoo. Bitcoin held near $95,000 with dominance close to 59%, and Ethereum traded around $3,300. Altcoin momentum faded as volumes declined and sentiment gauges stayed neutral.

On January 16, 2026, Coinbase began rolling out stock trading to a limited set of users, expanding beyond crypto into U.S. equities and competing with Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Robinhood. CEO Brian Armstrong aims to build a multi-asset platform with tokenized equities. Last year, Robinhood shares rose 186% while Coinbase fell 12%.

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.

QXO, Inc. slid in premarket trading on January 16, 2026 after it priced a public offering of 31,645,570 shares at $23.80, about a 6.7% discount to the prior $25.52 close. The stock traded at $23.44, down $1.58 or 6.31% as of 8:18 AM EST. The deal is expected to close on January 20, 2026, with BofA Securities as sole underwriter and an option for up to 4,746,835 additional shares.

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reported that Iran's crypto ecosystem surpassed $7.78 billion in 2025, with activity clustering around major domestic and geopolitical events and an increasing share linked to the IRGC. The study also found that IRGC-associated wallets made up about half of the value received by Iranian addresses in Q4 2025, while bitcoin withdrawals to personal wallets surged during mass protests, suggesting a possible move toward perceived safety amid unrest.

Crypto markets entered a consolidation phase during the week of Jan. 9–16 as Bitcoin pulled back from recent highs and risk appetite became more selective. While large caps held steady, capital rotated into privacy assets and niche meme narratives, highlighting tactical positioning rather than broad-based selling.

On Wednesday in the Oval Office, US President Donald Trump said that the person responsible for leaking information on Venezuela "has been found and is in jail," following a series of well-timed Polymarket wagers on President Maduro's potential removal. Blockchain researchers have since noted that two of three wallets tied to profitable Venezuela bets have gone inactive, while a third wallet recently shifted focus to prediction markets concerning Iran's leadership. The situation has intensified US policy discussions over insider trading risks on political prediction platforms.

Clear Street analyst Owen Lau says prediction markets’ rapid growth in 2024–2025 has thrust the sector into a regulatory clash between federal and state authorities. The stakes include roughly $400 billion in annual trading and $4 billion in potential state tax revenue, with court cases delivering mixed outcomes and appeals continuing.