According to an Artemis report, Visa accounts for more than 90% of the cryptocurrency card segment, which now handles $18 billion in annual transactions. Stablecoin-linked payments, including Visa's reported $3.5 billion volume by the end of 2025, are supporting this expansion, while analysts expect traditional card networks to remain dominant in the near term.

X reported record creator payouts at the end of 2025 under its "Year of the Creator" plan, centered on written content and higher revenue sharing. The platform will grant a $1 million reward to the single highest-earning U.S. article published between January 16 and 28, requiring at least 1,000 words of original writing. Elon Musk positioned this as a strategic push to boost high-impact creator work, though observers note ongoing questions about the long-term sustainability of such incentives.

The U.S. Department of Justice has confirmed that 57.55 BTC forfeited by Samourai Wallet developers will stay on the U.S. government balance sheet under Executive Order 14233, instead of being auctioned. Valued at about $6.3 million, this Bitcoin is designated for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, highlighting a shift in federal digital asset management.

FTX will run its next creditor distributions on March 31, 2026, and creditors must complete KYC, submit a W-8 BEN and choose a distribution agent by February 14, 2026, according to an update from Sunil Kavuri on X. The plan is overseen by John J. Ray III, and some jurisdictions identified by Kavuri remain ineligible.

On January 17, Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik publicly criticized Coinbase Advanced's revised trading fee structure, pointing to a 1.2% Taker fee and 0.6% Maker fee. His remarks on X triggered debate over cost transparency for active traders, while Coinbase has not yet issued an official response. Bitcoin meanwhile trades around $95,504.92 with a market cap of $1.91 trillion and sharply lower 24-hour volume.

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.

On January 17, 2026, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT has begun testing advertisements for a subset of users in the United States who do not want to pay for AI access. The company states that paid subscribers will not see ads, user conversations will not be shared with advertisers, and ads will not influence ChatGPT's responses, framing the experiment as a way to support growing operational costs while maintaining privacy protections.

Senator Tim Scott has postponed the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the Crypto Market Structure Act due to disagreements over stablecoin yields and DeFi restrictions. The delay coincided with a roughly 2% decline in Bitcoin and Ether prices, while Bitcoin later traded around $95,166.01 with a market cap of $1.90 trillion as of January 17, 2026.

China's State Taxation Administration has urged residents to self-assess and declare personal overseas income for 2022–2024, according to Xinhua News Agency. Authorities indicate they may recover unpaid taxes and late fees, and pursue legal action in cases of evasion. The notice does not address digital assets, leaving possible cryptocurrency impacts undetermined.