On January 30, 2026, KRAKacquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company backed by crypto exchange Kraken, completed a $345M initial public offering and began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker KRAQU. The SPAC, also sponsored by Tribe Capital and Natural Capital, intends to pursue businesses building core infrastructure for the digital asset economy, with observers noting it could potentially offer Kraken an alternative path to going public.

On January 29, 2026, the Senate Agriculture Committee voted 12–11 along party lines to advance the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act to a full Senate vote. The bill would expand the Commodity Exchange Act and grant the CFTC absolute jurisdiction over spot digital asset transactions, with potential reconciliation with Banking's DAMCA noted as a possibility amid shutdown risks.

On January 26, 2026, Kraken launched DeFi Earn, an in‑app vault offering up to 8% APY on USDC through onchain lending. The service is available in 48 U.S. states, Canada, and the European Economic Area, with three vault options overseen by Chaos Labs and Sentora. A 25% fee applies to yield, and withdrawals may be delayed if liquidity is tight.

On January 21, 2026, Interactive Brokers said during its Tuesday earnings call that it intends to bring utility companies into temperature prediction markets over the course of 2026, expanding their use beyond pure speculation. The brokerage is also preparing support for electricity and natural gas contracts so institutional clients can hedge energy consumption, has recently enabled USDC-based stablecoin funding on Base, Ethereum, and Solana, and applied in December for a national trust bank charter with the OCC.

Anchorage Digital is seeking to raise $200M–$400M ahead of a possible IPO in 2027. The bank holding company behind the first federally chartered U.S. digital‑asset bank last secured a $350M Series D in December 2021 at a valuation above $3B, and a spokesperson offered no comment on current plans.

In a Jan 16, 2026 CNBC interview, Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz said he expects the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act to pass, acknowledging it is not perfect but workable. His comments followed Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong withdrawing support two days earlier. Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott said the bill reflects bipartisan negotiations.

Canton Network is presented as an institution-focused, RWA-centric blockchain that links independent networks called "cantons" and relies on a small, permissioned set of 13 Super Validators for consensus. Its native token, Canton Coin (CC), combines fee-burning with scheduled issuance halvings and complex emission rules that favor Super Validators and designated "featured" applications. With the second halving due in three days, CC's mint rate and distribution schedule are set to change, potentially creating a short-term supply-driven catalyst while leaving longer-term alignment questions unresolved.

On January 8, 2026, Morgan Stanley was reported to be preparing an expansion of its digital asset offerings, including spot BTC and Solana ETFs and a new proprietary wallet. The bank's wealth management head outlined plans to enable BTC, ETH, and SOL trading on its E*TRADE platform in the first half of 2026, alongside infrastructure for broader tokenized asset support.

On December 29, 2025, analyst Jack Inabinet reviewed ten major Polymarket contracts that reflect what prediction market users expect for 2026 across sports, politics, economics and climate. Bettors currently favor Spain to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Los Angeles Rams to capture Super Bowl LX, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day to lead global box-office revenue, while also pricing in Federal Reserve rate cuts and a relatively low 27% probability of a U.S. recession. Markets are also assigning measurable odds to a Netflix acquisition of Warner Bros. assets, changes in U.S. congressional control, record global temperatures, a Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Court of Justice, and a 16% chance of another impeachment of President Donald Trump by the end of 2026.