On 22 January 2026, White House crypto adviser David Sacks argued in Davos that banks and crypto firms could eventually operate within a single digital asset framework once US market structure legislation is passed. He highlighted the dispute over interest-bearing stablecoins as the central obstacle to the CLARITY Act, urging crypto companies to accept near-term compromises to secure regulatory clarity. Sacks also suggested that banks' current opposition to stablecoin yield may reverse if they begin issuing such assets themselves.

A speculative comparison of BTC, ETH, and XRP argues that XRP could deliver the highest percentage returns by 2029, while Bitcoin is characterized as the safer reserve allocation and Ethereum as a utility-driven play. The discussion comes alongside Trump's pledge to make the U.S. a crypto hub, as Bitcoin is down 15% since his inauguration and many altcoins fell 70%–90%.

On Wednesday, Palo Alto-based BitGo completed its stock market debut, selling 11.8 million shares at $18 each and raising $212.8 million at a $2.08 billion valuation. The first cryptocurrency company to go public in 2026 is listing amid U.S. regulatory uncertainty, weak digital asset prices, and heightened geopolitical tensions that are weighing on broader IPO plans.

On January 22, 2026, Binance will list Ripple's USD-backed stablecoin RLUSD for spot trading with zero transaction fees. Beginning January 23, 2026, RLUSD will also be enabled as a borrowable asset in both cross-margin and isolated-margin markets, expanding its use for traders. The stablecoin is priced at $1.00 with a market cap of $1.34 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $173.05 million, reflecting growing liquidity.

According to a Bloomberg report on Thursday, the US CLARITY Act crypto market structure bill could be delayed until late February or March as the Senate Banking Committee prioritizes housing legislation connected to President Trump's affordability agenda. The bill, which aims to clarify oversight between the SEC and CFTC and restrict high-yield stablecoin products, lost support from Coinbase and has become a point of contention among lawmakers and banking lobby groups. Crypto markets saw only modest moves, with total capitalization near $3.1 trillion and Bitcoin trading around $89,800 after briefly touching $90,000.

On January 21, 2026, Ray Dalio argued that the fiat monetary system, domestic politics, and global geopolitics are breaking down. In posts shared over the past 24 hours, he said central banks are reassessing fiat currencies and U.S. dollar debt as stores of wealth, while the U.S.–foreign debt relationship is fraying and China has continued reducing its Treasury exposure.

Bitwise said in a report shared Wednesday that Q4 2025 revealed weaker prices alongside strengthening on‑chain activity and revenues, a setup it associates with bear‑market lows. CIO Matt Hougan drew parallels to early 2023 and flagged record usage on Ethereum and layer‑2s, a stablecoin market cap above $300 billion, and DeFi volumes surpassing centralized peers, while outlooks for 2026 remain divided.

Thailand’s securities regulator is preparing rules for crypto ETFs and for trading crypto futures on TFEX, with formal ETF guidelines targeted early this year. The plan classifies digital assets as another asset class with a suggested allocation of up to 5% in diversified portfolios, and also advances market-making and a tokenization sandbox.