The U.S. Department of Justice has confirmed that 57.55 BTC forfeited by Samourai Wallet developers will stay on the U.S. government balance sheet under Executive Order 14233, instead of being auctioned. Valued at about $6.3 million, this Bitcoin is designated for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, highlighting a shift in federal digital asset management.

FTX will run its next creditor distributions on March 31, 2026, and creditors must complete KYC, submit a W-8 BEN and choose a distribution agent by February 14, 2026, according to an update from Sunil Kavuri on X. The plan is overseen by John J. Ray III, and some jurisdictions identified by Kavuri remain ineligible.

On January 17, Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik publicly criticized Coinbase Advanced's revised trading fee structure, pointing to a 1.2% Taker fee and 0.6% Maker fee. His remarks on X triggered debate over cost transparency for active traders, while Coinbase has not yet issued an official response. Bitcoin meanwhile trades around $95,504.92 with a market cap of $1.91 trillion and sharply lower 24-hour volume.

On January 17, BlockBeats News reported accelerating adoption of stablecoins in the $900 billion remittance market, highlighting cheaper and faster cross-border payments. With average remittance costs above 6%, stablecoins are positioned to challenge legacy operators and broaden access for low-income senders. Regulatory momentum, including the GENIUS Act, is cited as supporting mainstream use.

On January 17, 2026, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT has begun testing advertisements for a subset of users in the United States who do not want to pay for AI access. The company states that paid subscribers will not see ads, user conversations will not be shared with advertisers, and ads will not influence ChatGPT's responses, framing the experiment as a way to support growing operational costs while maintaining privacy protections.

Senator Tim Scott has postponed the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the Crypto Market Structure Act due to disagreements over stablecoin yields and DeFi restrictions. The delay coincided with a roughly 2% decline in Bitcoin and Ether prices, while Bitcoin later traded around $95,166.01 with a market cap of $1.90 trillion as of January 17, 2026.

China's State Taxation Administration has urged residents to self-assess and declare personal overseas income for 2022–2024, according to Xinhua News Agency. Authorities indicate they may recover unpaid taxes and late fees, and pursue legal action in cases of evasion. The notice does not address digital assets, leaving possible cryptocurrency impacts undetermined.

On January 17, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee opposed inserting parts of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act into a new cryptocurrency market structure bill, interrupting planned debate in the Senate. Senior lawmakers argued the proposal could weaken unlicensed money transmission rules, while DeFi proponents warned that removing protections for software developers may reduce industry support and stall broader crypto regulation.

Goldman Sachs is evaluating how the Clarity in Digital Assets Markets Act could affect tokenization and stablecoins. CEO David Solomon highlighted regulatory implications during the company's Q4 2025 earnings call. On May 29, 2025, French Hill introduced H.R. 3633, and NASAA raised concerns about state anti-fraud protections.