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On January 17, 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney advanced a Canadian auto production bill aimed at countering U.S. tariff pressure and retaining local manufacturing. The plan links a China trade arrangement to a quota of 49,000 EVs at a 6% tariff, includes a C$35,000 price-cap segment, and is set for a February rollout by Industry Minister Melanie Joly.

Global equity markets are trading at elevated valuations, with the MSCI World Index at 20 times forward earnings while Q4 results start to roll in. Investors are relying on strong profit growth from AI leaders, banks, consumer goods firms, and defense contractors to justify last year's rally and avoid renewed volatility. At the same time, shifting tariffs, oil supply threats, and surging defense spending are adding fresh uncertainty across regions.

Strategy chairman Michael Saylor argued on a podcast that corporate Bitcoin purchases are cash allocation choices, not moral missteps. Public disclosures indicate listed companies hold about 1.1 million BTC, with Strategy at 687,410 BTC. Bitcoin traded near $95,250 at the time of writing, within an intraday range of roughly $94,320 to $95,660.

On January 17th, Defiance ETFs said it will liquidate its Nasdaq-listed Ethereum ETF (ETHI) together with seven other leveraged products. ETHI’s last trading day is January 26, 2026, with delisting after market close, and cash redemptions at net asset value set for January 30, 2026.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs booked $1.42 billion in net inflows over the past week, the strongest since early October, with roughly $754 million Tuesday and about $844 million Wednesday, then a $395 million outflow Friday. Ether ETFs were similarly front-loaded, adding approximately $479 million for the week after about $290 million Tuesday, $215 million Wednesday, and roughly $180 million in net outflows Friday.

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.

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.

Anchorage Digital is pursuing a $200 million–$400 million capital raise while weighing an IPO next year. The federally chartered crypto bank is expanding stablecoin, custody and wealth services, and it cited 2025 as a year of scale amid rising institutional demand. The firm previously raised $350 million in late 2021, valuing it above $3 billion.

Journalist Eleanor Terrett reported on January 17, 2026, that the Trump administration is weighing whether to withdraw backing for the crypto market structure bill if Coinbase does not return to negotiations over stablecoin yield terms. Coinbase and CEO Brian Armstrong have criticized bank-driven changes they say restrict stablecoin rewards and tokenized equities, while critics like Citron Research allege the exchange is undermining the bill to fend off competition. The dispute has coincided with the Senate Banking Committee postponing its planned markup of the bill on January 15 without setting a new date.