On the night of 10 January, an attacker used social engineering to drain over $282 million in BTC and LTC from a single holder. The haul moved through THORChain, into ETH and XRP, with 1,468.66 ETH (~$4.9 million) mixed via Tornado Cash, while Monero activity briefly spiked.

In January 2026, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) ramped up its Bitcoin strategy with a fresh $1.25 billion BTC acquisition followed by additional large buys. Michael Saylor has now hinted at another major purchase, after the firm lifted its holdings to about 687,410 BTC and roughly 3% of the 21 million BTC supply while MSTR stock and institutional interest showed renewed strength.

As of January 2026, Ethereum's gas costs have fallen to $0.01, according to Etherscan. A 17 January 2026 throughput peak of 2.6 million transactions was handled smoothly after late-2025 upgrades and wider Layer-2 use. ETH traded at $3,319.87 (+0.62%), while SOL stood at $142.26 (-1.23%).

On January 18, 2026, Lookonchain reported that a long-standing Bitcoin holder sold 500 BTC worth $47.77 million, part of a 5,000 BTC stash held for over a decade. The seller has been trimming since December 2024 at six-figure prices, and on-chain metrics show older holders have cooled while institutions absorb supply.

In mid-January 2026, BlackRock bought nearly 6647 BTC through its IBIT ETF to satisfy surging investor demand, lifting its holdings to about 781,000 BTC, close to 4% of circulating supply. IBIT and ETHA also saw $648.4 million and $81.6 million in inflows, as the firm moved 9,619 BTC and 46,851 ETH into custody; ETH traded near $3,335.

In late December 2025, DZ BANK, Germany's second-largest financial institution, obtained MiCAR approval from BaFin and on 14 January this led to the launch of its "meinKrypto" platform. The bank has integrated Bitcoin and Ethereum trading into the existing VR Banking App for millions of retail savers, as crypto markets trade near a $3.2 trillion valuation with Bitcoin around $95,000 and Ethereum at $3,300.

On 8 January, the Financial Intelligence Unit of India said ID-only verification is insufficient, and from 12 January crypto users will face live selfie liveness tests, biometric checks, precise location capture, and penny-drop bank verification. ICOs are labeled high risk, transfers must carry sender and recipient data, and exchanges must keep records for at least five years, following ₹28 crore in fines last fiscal year.

On 7 January, Rep. John Snyder filed HB 1039 to establish a Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve Fund outside the state treasury, while Sen. Joe Gruters introduced SB 1040 and SB 1038 to enable trust custody. Eligibility requires a 24‑month average market cap of at least $500 billion; Bitcoin qualifies, while Ethereum at roughly $380 billion does not.

In the first week of 2026, WisdomTree used Rule 477 under the Securities Act of 1933 to withdraw its Form S-1 for the WisdomTree XRP Fund, originally filed on 2nd December 2024. The move removes the risk of a formal SEC stop order while XRP ETFs have seen strong demand, including $19.12 million of net inflows on 6th January and a cumulative total of $1.25 billion, even as XRP’s spot price slipped 4.9% to $2.25. Other institutions remain optimistic, with Standard Chartered previously outlining a price target of $8 for XRP by the end of 2026.