Ripple received preliminary approval for an EMI license in Luxembourg after a recent UK authorization. SHIB formed a short-term bullish crossover with a potential 22% path to $0.00001054. XRP saw $45.8 million weekly inflows, up 428%, while Strategy bought 13,627 BTC for about $1.25 billion.

On January 18, 2026, Kevin Hassett said on Fox News' The Sunday Briefing that he is comfortable remaining in the White House, effectively taking himself out of consideration to lead the Federal Reserve. Trump had publicly told him last week he preferred he stay in the West Wing, while the shortlist now centers on Christopher Waller, Kevin Warsh, and Rick Rieder.

Anthony Scaramucci argued that the CLARITY Act's expanded ban on yield-bearing stablecoins makes the US dollar less competitive than China's interest-paying digital yuan. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and other industry executives also criticized the restriction, claiming it protects traditional banks and could undermine the role of US dollar stablecoins in global markets. Separately, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan cautioned that stablecoins may trigger up to $6 trillion in deposit outflows from the banking system.

According to Artemis, crypto-linked cards became the top driver of on-chain stablecoin activity in 2025, with monthly volumes rising from $100 million to over $1.5 billion. Total card payments reached $18 billion, close to $19 billion in P2P transfers, and Visa processed more than 90% of transactions.

Over the week, Bitcoin and Ethereum rose nearly 5% and 7%, while several altcoins diverged. DASH led with a 115% surge to about $80, as Story [IP] and Pump.fun [PUMP] gained roughly 20% and 17%. Polygon [POL] fell nearly 14% to around $0.142, and Midnight [NIGHT] slipped roughly 12%.

Market analyst Michaël van de Poppe views the CLARITY bill’s failure to advance in Congress as positive for crypto markets. Coinbase withdrew support on Wednesday, while CEO Brian Armstrong flagged tokenized stocks and yield-bearing stablecoin concerns and later denied reported White House tensions on Saturday. Negotiations to refine the bill are continuing.

On January 18, 2026, South Korea's National Assembly approved legislation to create a dedicated regulatory framework for tokenized securities, with implementation slated for January 2027. The law sets clear rules for issuing, trading, and safeguarding blockchain-based representations of traditional assets under existing financial oversight. Regulators plan to use the transition period to help banks, brokerages, and asset managers integrate distributed ledger settlement with established clearing infrastructure.

French President Emmanuel Macron intends to ask the European Union to trigger its anti-coercion instrument after US President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on products from eight European nations starting February 1. Trump has also warned that tariffs could rise to 25% in June unless a deal is reached for the purchase of Greenland, putting the recently finalized but not fully approved EU-US trade agreement in jeopardy. EU ambassadors and European political leaders are now weighing potential responses, including possible countermeasures against the United States.