As U.S. lawmakers advance the CLARITY Act, a policy battle is intensifying over whether stablecoin rewards should be treated as illegal interest and how that definition impacts banks and crypto platforms. FDIC data from Dec. 15, 2025 shows national savings and checking rates far below a 3.89% Treasury reference yield, while programs such as Coinbase's 3.50% USDC rewards and Binance's Simple Earn promotions highlight competing cash-like returns. The drafting dispute is now focused on drawing a line between "hold-to-earn" yield and activity-based loyalty incentives, with banks warning that stablecoin rewards threaten both their deposits and customer relationships.

On 14 January 2026, Ran Neuner said during an appearance on Paul Barron Network that he prefers PENGU rather than XRP as his altcoin pick going into 2026, highlighting the potential of less crowded assets. He linked crypto performance to trends in commodities such as gold, silver, and copper, argued that Bitcoin's gains may be smaller than in previous cycles but still meaningful, and questioned the idea of a strict four-year halving cycle.

Standard Chartered has published a new Ethereum outlook, calling for ETH to reach $7,500 by end-2026 and $30,000 by 2029. The bank also expects Ethereum to outperform Bitcoin through 2026, with the $30,000 level implying about a 790% gain from $3,371 and a market cap near $3.6 trillion under minimal BTC growth.

Bitcoin climbed above the $95,000 resistance level and briefly traded near $97,000 on Wednesday, with more than $100 million in short positions wiped out in one hour. QCP Capital links the move to a broader risk-on backdrop supported by stable U.S. inflation, Trump's pro-market agenda, and record-breaking gains in gold and other metals, while ongoing political turmoil and dollar weakness still cloud the outlook for sustained upside.

On January 14 2026, Figure announced OPEN, an On-Chain Public Equity Network built on the Provenance blockchain for issuing real equity as tokenized shares. The platform is designed to let companies place stock directly on-chain and have those tokens trade on a decentralized venue, while investors can lend or borrow shares with fewer intermediaries. Figure, which raised $787.5 million in its September IPO, expects digital-asset treasury firms such as Strategy Inc. to use OPEN so investors can buy shares with cryptocurrencies like Solana.

Dash climbed 125% to $79.60 on Wednesday as capital shifted from Zcash into privacy-focused cryptocurrencies and traders sought alternatives after governance issues at Zcash. The rally coincided with the EU\u0027s DAC8 rules taking effect on Jan. 1, 2026, and followed Dash\u0027s partnership with Alchemy Pay, but the price now faces multiyear technical resistance that could precede a steep correction.

On 14 January 2026, analyst Benjamin Cowen argued that the current crypto upswing lacks the broad participation that defined the 2020–2021 bull market. He highlighted a multi‑year decline in the Advance Decline Index for the top 100 cryptocurrencies, defensive flows into Bitcoin, and liquidity dilution across a growing number of altcoins as key reasons market breadth has weakened.

In the 24 hours leading up to January 14, 2026, Bitcoin price movements above $96,000 coincided with about $375 million in BTC liquidations and more than $1 billion in short positions at risk, based on Coinglass data. Bitcoin ETFs also saw roughly $754 million in net inflows and MicroStrategy expanded its holdings, while analysts cited in a Mercado Bitcoin report projected the BTC price could potentially double before the end of 2026.