Global Settlement Network announced a pilot to tokenize eight government-contracted water treatment sites in Jakarta, according to a Wednesday statement. The plan aims to raise up to $35 million for upgrades and to test rupiah‑stablecoin settlement rails, with a target to scale to $200 million in tokenized assets across Southeast Asia over the next 12 months.

The Senate Banking Committee pulled its planned markup and vote on a comprehensive crypto bill after support eroded midweek. Chair Tim Scott announced the postponement Wednesday night; Coinbase withdrew backing, citing treatment of stablecoin yield, tokenized equities and DeFi. A new hearing date has not been set.

On 15 January 2026, Visa began piloting stablecoin funding and payouts on Visa Direct through BVNK. The program lets select businesses send or receive transfers in stablecoins alongside fiat, with Visa Direct handling around $1.7 trillion annually and BVNK processing more than $30 billion in stablecoin transactions each year. The rollout is limited to approved markets.

DeFi Education Fund has raised concerns over eight CLARITY Act amendments submitted by several U.S. senators, arguing they would undermine DeFi technology, software developers, and self-custody. The group is urging lawmakers to reject proposals from Senators Reed, Kim, Cortez Masto, and Warren that would expand Treasury and FinCEN authority, as the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees prepare January 15, 2026 hearings on the bill.

On January 14, 2026, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said he cannot back the current draft of the Clarity Act after a 48-hour review. He called the Senate Banking text worse than the status quo, citing a de facto ban on tokenized equities, DeFi and privacy concerns, diminished CFTC authority, and restrictions on stablecoin rewards.

On 14 January 2026, an overview of central bank digital currencies, stablecoins, and tokenized bank deposits outlined how each format targets distinct users and use cases across the financial system. CBDCs aim at domestic monetary stability, stablecoins support global on-chain liquidity, and tokenized deposits help banks move existing balances onto blockchain infrastructure. Rather than one model replacing the others, they are expected to coexist as complementary rails in an increasingly digital monetary environment.

On January 14, 2026, Oobit announced native Phantom Wallet support for real-world crypto payments at Visa-enabled merchants, live in 80+ countries. The integration lets 15M Phantom users pay directly from self-custodied wallets without pre-funding or bridging, with Oobit's DePay layer converting crypto to local currency at the point of sale.

Updated on January 14, 2026 at 2:18 PM UTC, this roundup highlights hiring across Web3. According to Cryptopolitan, Bitcoin reached $95,500, while OP Labs, Uniswap, BitGo and others list roles with defined salary ranges, experience levels and remote or on-site options in engineering, go-to-market, and operations.