Political action committees aligned with the US crypto sector have raised hundreds of millions of dollars ahead of the coming midterm elections, with Fairshake alone reporting more than $190 million on hand after collecting $133 million in 2025. Major firms including a16z, Coinbase and Ripple have made large contributions as the industry seeks to shape legislation such as the CLARITY Act and a market structure bill while facing criticism from campaign finance reform and consumer advocacy groups.

Solana’s daily active addresses climbed 115% by Jan. 28, with counts regularly above 5 million amid a burst of token launches. Ethereum’s daily activity rose 25% in January as fees dropped below $0.01 following network upgrades. A winter storm pressured seven U.S. Bitcoin miners, while a PayPal report found four in 10 merchants now take crypto.

Prior to Jan. 21, EU leaders weighed responses to US brinkmanship over Greenland, including a so‑called "trade bazooka" and selling US debt. Analysts such as George Saravelos and Yesha Yadav warned the feasibility is limited and buyers scarce. Stablecoin issuers’ growing Treasury holdings under the GENIUS Act could mitigate demand yet introduce liquidity risks.

At Davos on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said he would not use force to take Greenland and paused tariff plans amid rising tensions. According to the report, Bitcoin rose from about $87,000 to $90,000 that evening, following weeks of declines linked to trade threats and Greenland-related uncertainty.

On Jan. 16, Pennsylvania-based lender Newrez said it will start counting certain cryptocurrency holdings toward mortgage applications beginning in February, adding to moves prompted by a 2025 directive from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. While some US lenders are now willing to consider Bitcoin and other regulated crypto assets as collateral, borrowers may face discounts on asset values and lingering regulatory and political uncertainty around how these loans are structured.

A US Senate crypto market structure bill, initially targeted for passage by September 2025 and later pushed to the end of the year, has hit a stalemate after key markup sessions were canceled in early 2026. Lawmakers remain divided from major crypto firms, with Coinbase pulling support over concerns including DeFi limits, tokenized equities, stablecoin interest and the balance of power between the SEC and CFTC, while experts warn that any eventual rulemaking could take years to complete.

Ethereum’s recent protocol upgrades have driven daily average transaction fees down to around $0.15 and pushed active addresses to over 791,000, surpassing prominent layer 2 networks. Over the past year, active addresses rose 71% and daily transactions hit record highs, while developers advanced long-term plans such as Pectra and Fusaka to scale blob capacity and move the network toward a more durable, "100-year" architecture.

Crypto and tech billionaires in California are threatening to relocate after a union proposed a 5% asset tax on residents worth over $1 billion, plus a one-time $1 billion levy on those above $20 billion. Critics warn of lost tax revenue and capital flight, while multiple studies on wealth taxes and millionaire migration suggest the ultra-rich rarely move, raising doubts over how many will actually leave if the measure reaches the November 2026 ballot.