European regulators are tightening crypto tax reporting through the EU’s DAC8 framework, aligning with the OECD’s Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and focusing enforcement on identifiable intermediaries like exchanges and custodians. For now, decentralized finance (DeFi) largely sits outside these reporting rules because protocols often lack a clear reporting entity, but that exclusion is fragile as authorities explore AML-style accountability.

Gold has surged sharply, breaking above $5,000 and briefly topping $5,100 as investors rushed into a classic safe-haven asset amid rising geopolitical risk, policy uncertainty, and fiscal credibility concerns. The move follows a 64% gain in 2025 and is being reinforced by durable institutional demand, including ongoing central-bank buying and strong gold ETF inflows, alongside a weaker U.S. dollar.

Makina, a DeFi protocol, reported a $4.2 million exploit on 20 January 2026 tied to liquidity providers in its DUSD/USDC Curve pool, adding to rising DeFi attacks in early 2026 with over $34 million in losses already recorded.

Washington is preparing a January markup for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) of 2025, a major U.S. crypto regulation proposal designed to reduce the long-running SEC vs CFTC jurisdiction fight and create clearer rules for digital assets trading.

The CLARITY Act, which already passed the House alongside the GENIUS stablecoin bill, is now parked in the Senate Banking Committee. There, two separate Senate drafts (Banking and Agriculture) must be merged before any formal markup can even occur.

Over just 18 months, tokenized US Treasuries and money-market funds have grown from about $2 billion to roughly $9 billion across 60 products and 57,000 addresses, offering average seven-day yields near 3.8%. As part of a broader $19 billion real-world asset (RWA) stack on public blockchains, these tokenized T-bills now function as the de facto base collateral layer—similar to their role in the $5 trillion U.S. repo market.

A new SEC no-action letter is paving the way to kill the traditional three-day stock trade settlement window by enabling tokenized securities on existing Wall Street infrastructure. The Depository Trust Company (DTC), part of DTCC, has received informal SEC approval to launch DTCC Tokenization Services for assets it already holds in custody, targeting a rollout in the second half of 2026.

Upbit’s recent $36 million Solana hot wallet hack underscores the evolving role of hot wallet insurance in crypto exchange security. After detecting unauthorized withdrawals, Upbit’s CEO pledged that all losses would be covered from the company’s own holdings, mirroring its response to a $50 million Ethereum hack in 2019.

Strategy Inc. (formerly MicroStrategy) has built a massive $56 billion Bitcoin treasury, holding over 641,000 BTC — nearly 3% of Bitcoin’s total supply — but this aggressive Bitcoin accumulation strategy is now blocking its path into the S&P 500 index. Fueled by $21 billion in equity, preferred stock, and convertible debt issued in 2025, the company transformed from a traditional software and analytics firm into a de facto leveraged Bitcoin investment vehicle.

Stablecoins are rapidly emerging as a serious competitor to traditional payment networks like Visa. Over the past month, the 30-day average stablecoin transaction volume has quietly surpassed Visa’s, signaling growing adoption of crypto payments and on-chain dollars.

Pig-butchering scams, a form of long‑con crypto investment fraud, have exploded from a niche consumer issue into a major national security threat, according to Chainalysis and financial crime experts. In these schemes, scammers build trust over weeks or months—often via online romance or friendship—before steering victims into fake cryptocurrency investment platforms and draining their funds.

Your fastest crypto edge is not a new coin. It is a feedback loop. Log every move, reflect once a week, and make one small adjustment. Over ninety days your own data reveals patterns, reduces emotion, and sharpens judgment so results improve with less stress. Learn the five minute routine to start now.

Inflation quietly taxes your cash while banks pay near-zero. This guide shows a responsible DeFi approach to help offset that drag: start small on audited protocols, diversify, track weekly, and subtract fees to see real yield. Learn the 6-month “offset plan,” the three pillars (Education • Verification • Automation), and the risks to watch before you deposit.

Take back control of your money with DeFi. We break down the benefits, trade‑offs, and smart security practices to keep your crypto safe and your freedom intact.

The goal isnt to get rich fast. Its to stay wealthy long enough to matter. Learn how to build a crypto portfolio you can sleep on, grounded in risk, reality, and reward.

When the system says “trust us,” remember who built it. From bank bailouts to “restricted lists,” centralized finance protects the few while preaching safety to the many. DeFi isn’t rebellion—it’s reclamation. It’s how everyday people take back control of their money, their privacy, and their future.

The Bank of England (BoE) has clarified that its proposed caps on stablecoin holdings and transaction sizes are intended to be temporary safeguards, not permanent barriers to digital asset adoption. Speaking at DC Fintech Week, Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden emphasized the BoE’s aim to support a role for regulated stablecoins within a “multi‑money system” while preserving financial stability during the transition.

Kenya’s Parliament has approved the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Bill in a major push to legitimize cryptocurrencies, with the measure now awaiting President William Ruto’s assent. The law aims to create a licensing and supervisory framework for crypto exchanges and wallets, strengthen consumer protection, and align with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) standards.

Learn what liquidity means in crypto and traditional markets. This complete guide explains liquidity pools, how to check crypto liquidity, avoid rug pulls, and why liquidity matters for every investor. From Wall Street to Web3, master liquidity analysis with practical examples, tools, and red flags to watch. Perfect for beginners and intermediate traders looking to protect their investments and make smarter trading decisions.

As the AI market accelerates toward a projected $1T by 2031, the next wave centers on autonomous, agentic systems that browse, negotiate, transact, and collaborate. Many argue that Ethereum—not corporate clouds—offers the most neutral, verifiable substrate for this machine economy. With over $550B secured on-chain and millions of smart contracts, Ethereum’s public ledger serves as “trustware,” giving AI agents a censorship-resistant place to anchor identity, memory, and proof