China ended 2025 with a $1.19 trillion trade surplus, which markets rounded to $1.2 trillion, after a strong December export performance and relatively weak imports. Official customs data showed December exports rising 6.6% year-on-year in U.S. dollar terms, with imports up 5.7%, while full-year exports grew 5.5% and imports were flat, widening the surplus by 20% from 2024. Trade with the United States contracted sharply over the year, as shipments fell and officials in Washington and global institutions voiced concern over the growing imbalance.

In early January 2026, South Korea's Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA), representing major local platforms such as Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, Coinone, and Gopax, criticized the Financial Services Commission's plan to cap major shareholders' digital asset ownership at 15-20% on domestic exchanges. The group argues that the measure, tied to the forthcoming Digital Asset Basic Act, could weaken the local crypto market, drive users to overseas exchanges, and conflict with principles of market economy and investor protection.

Gold and silver are surging in early 2026 as investors rotate aggressively into hard assets amid falling real yields, record central-bank buying, and persistent uncertainty around U.S. monetary policy and geopolitics. Gold has broken above $4,600 per ounce for the first time, while silver has accelerated past $83–$85, confirming that the current rally is a structural repricing, not a short-lived reaction to headlines.

On January 13 2026, Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on any country that continues to do business with Iran for all trade involving the United States. The move, declared final in a Truth Social post, comes as Iran faces widespread protests, a multiday internet and telecom shutdown, and ongoing legal scrutiny of Trump's earlier tariff measures in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Stablecoins are moving from a crypto side feature to a daily payment tool inside Revolut. Adoption accelerated in 2025, with monthly flows rising from hundreds of millions to a billion-dollar level and activity tilting to frequent, smaller transfers. Broader network support and one-to-one USD conversions reduced friction for routine use.

On January 12, 2026, SEC chair Paul Atkins said on Fox Business that it is a big week for crypto as Congress advances market-structure legislation. He posted on X the same day in support of clarifying the SEC–CFTC split and ending the regulatory gray zone. The Senate scheduled January 15 for a markup of the CLARITY Act.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has introduced a bipartisan standalone bill with Senator Ron Wyden to shield non-custodial blockchain developers from being treated as money transmitters under federal rules, as the Senate prepares to release and mark up its broader Digital Asset Market Clarity Act this week. The measure, which revives the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, coincides with leaked draft provisions that would curb interest payments on passive stablecoin balances and with upcoming Senate Banking Committee and Agriculture Committee markups that could significantly shape future U.S. crypto and DeFi regulation.

On January 13, the U.S. Senate released a 278-page bipartisan crypto market structure bill after extensive negotiations in Washington. The draft sets activity-based limits on stablecoin rewards that could advantage banks and constrain non-bank firms, and allows a 48-hour window for amendments.