According to Cointelegraph, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has implemented significant changes to its Crypto Token Regulatory Framework, transferring the responsibility for assessing crypto token suitability from the regulator to licensed companies within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). This update, effective from Monday, requires financial service providers dealing with crypto tokens to evaluate whether the tokens they handle meet the DFSA's suitability standards. Consequently, the DFSA will no longer maintain or publish a list of recognized crypto tokens. This regulatory shift follows a consultation process initiated in October 2025 and marks a change in the DFSA's approach since the introduction of its crypto token regime in 2022. The DFSA has been actively monitoring developments and engaging with stakeholders to ensure the framework aligns with global standards. Charlotte Robins, managing director of policy and legal at the DFSA, stated that the changes represent a move towards a more flexible and principles-based model, reflecting the DFSA's progressive stance on innovation and market feedback. The updated framework does not explicitly ban any specific category of digital assets by name. However, it reallocates the responsibility for assessing token suitability to licensed firms within the DIFC. Although there is no explicit ban, privacy-focused tokens such as Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) may face increased scrutiny under the new framework. Internal compliance teams might consider these tokens higher risk, prompting firms to apply stricter due diligence standards or avoid supporting them altogether. This change underscores a key jurisdictional distinction, as the DFSA regulates financial services within the DIFC, which operates under a common-law framework separate from Dubai's onshore regulatory regime. Other jurisdictions in Dubai and the UAE are governed by different crypto regulators with their own rulebooks. The DFSA's principles-based approach contrasts with the stance taken elsewhere in Dubai. As reported by Cointelegraph in February 2023, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) introduced an explicit ban on privacy coins under its Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023. VARA's rules prohibit the issuance of "anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies" and all related virtual asset activities within its jurisdiction, covering most of Dubai outside the DIFC. Across the wider UAE, crypto regulation remains fragmented. Abu Dhabi's regulator, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), adopts a conservative, risk-based approach without an outright ban, while federal regulators emphasize anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing compliance. Consequently, privacy-focused crypto assets are not uniformly illegal across the UAE, but their treatment varies significantly by jurisdiction.

In his latest market analysis video, Santiment analyst Brian Quinlivan stated that Ethereum's current social media sentiment is declining, similar to levels seen before the price surge in 2025. This subdued sentiment is reminiscent of Ethereum's performance before its major rally last year. Quinlivan suggests that current market sentiment may prevent further significant price drops. CoinMarketCap data shows that ETH's price fell to a yearly low of $1472 on April 9, 2025, before rebounding nearly 70% in four months, and then returning to its 2021 all-time high of $4878 on August 23. He noted that ETH's price typically surges "when people feel they're about to give up on Ethereum."

Caixin.com updated its report on January 10th, titled "After Many Twists and Turns, She Lunkai, the Southeast Asian Gambling Scam Kingpin, Was Finally Extradited Back to China | Past and Future," which revealed that the sole partner of She Lunkai's blockchain project, "Asia Pacific New City," was the Singaporean blockchain company BCB Innovations Limited. Fincy, a payment software based on the BCB blockchain, was also being promoted within Asia Pacific New City, aiming to create a Southeast Asian version of WeChat. Fincy and BCB share the same parent company and similar shareholders, offering fiat currency and cryptocurrency exchange transactions, as well as online games. Industry insiders pointed out that by providing fiat currency and cryptocurrency exchange and online games, it's equivalent to introducing many unrelated participants, breaking down large sums of money into smaller amounts, and ultimately converging them into a gambling platform disguised as a gaming platform, significantly weakening the supervision of fund flows.

Despite Bitcoin's recent pullback to the weekend level of $90,700, several altcoins have maintained their gains. Privacy coins Monero and Zcash led the way. Monero hit an all-time high, currently trading at $576, up over 12% since 21:00 UTC on Sunday, while Zcash rose 3.8%. CoinMarketCap's "Altcoin Season" indicator is now at 30/100, moving out of the "Bitcoin Season" zone for the first time since November 18th. In derivatives, over $200 million in leveraged futures positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with bullish positions accounting for 50%. The implied volatility indices for BTC and ETH remain under pressure, indicating market expectations of reduced price volatility in the short term. Monero-linked futures open interest (OI) rose to 369,000 XMR, the highest level since February last year, while open interest in major tokens such as BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and DOGE declined by 1%-4% in the past 24 hours. On the Deribit platform, BTC and ETH put options continued to trade at higher prices than call options. Block trades show that BTC trading favors the "Ironhawk Arbitrage" strategy, while ETH trading is primarily driven by inter-month spread strategies. (CoinDesk)

PayPal has officially announced support for Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), and will soon become a payment option within Google's new UCP-powered checkout features. This partnership aims to enable merchants to offer their products and support purchases in Google Search's AI Mode and the Gemini app. Notably, last September, PayPal announced an upgrade to its P2P payment experience, integrating cryptocurrency into its new in-app P2P payment process and launching personalized link transfer services.

For the past eight years, South Korea’s attitude toward crypto assets has been in a state of delicate division.

Standard Chartered's SC Ventures plans a crypto prime brokerage, offering custody, financing, and market access, bypassing Basel III requirements. source: https://coincu.com/news/standard-chartered-crypto-brokerage-launch/

Apple beat Samsung in the global smartphone race last year, shipping more phones than anyone else and taking a 20% share of all global smartphone shipments, according to Counterpoint Research. That gave it the top spot, pushing Samsung to second place with 19% share, though it wasn’t even close in terms of growth because while […] source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/apple-20-of-global-smartphone-shipments/

The crypto market is up today, albeit barely. BTC is up 0. 7% to $91,271, and ETH is up 1. 2% to $3,128. “Heightened risk aversion supports BTC’s relative downside resilience in the short term. ” source: https://cryptonews.com/news/why-is-crypto-up-today-january-12-2026/

QCP Capital officially stated that during the early Asian trading session, Bitcoin, gold, and silver all rose in tandem as the US dollar plummeted. This volatility coincided with comments from Powell, who stated that the Justice Department's subpoenas against the Federal Reserve and the threat of potential criminal charges on Friday were seen as retaliation for the Fed's refusal to cooperate with President Trump's preferred interest rate policy path, rather than issues related to Powell's June congressional testimony. While the initial volatility may have suggested the market was again attempting to position Bitcoin as a hedge against fiat currency system or institutional risk, subsequent momentum was clearly weak. Bitcoin failed to maintain a close above $92,000 and retreated sharply after the European open, repeating a pattern that occurred multiple times in the fourth quarter of last year. This failure to capitalize on the so-called bullish narrative highlights the structural resistance Bitcoin has faced since October 10th, and market optimism regarding a breakout in the first quarter is fading. Looking ahead, near-term volatility risks will remain high. The market will remain sensitive to the US CPI data on Tuesday (January 13), and the US Supreme Court's tariff ruling on Wednesday (January 14) could further impact cross-asset allocation and risk sentiment.

This comes amid Ripple's recent progress at the start of 2026, with XRP community revealing expectations for what's ahead. source: https://u.today/keeping-it-quiet-xrp-ledger-validator-tweet-sparks-speculation-amid-2026-progress

This podcast discussion revolves around the recent market discussion sparked by "Xiaomi × public chain wallet pre-installation," and delves into the true value, common misconceptions, and long-term positioning of blockchain phones.

Intent computing, intent economics, Jinse Finance: How intent-based systems are emerging on the internet.

Is EIL truly "minimizing trust," or has it shifted trust from explicit relays to a more covert engineering and economic layer?

Viewership across YouTube and social media has sunk to bear-market lows, reflecting retail exhaustion, scam fatigue and a market increasingly driven by institutions.

Tether froze around $182 million in USDT across five Tron wallets on 11 January 2026, locking the funds while keeping them visible on-chain. The move appears linked to US authorities and follows Tether’s policy to halt wallets tied to sanctioned or illegal activity.

One of the defining narratives of 2026 is "privacy." As institutional players gain dominance in the cryptocurrency space, privacy has become a key technological feature connecting blockchain with real-world commerce.

A violent home invasion in southern France shows how cryptocurrency wealth is spilling into the real world — and turning investors into physical targets.

Crypto YouTube viewership has dropped to its lowest level since January 2021 after a sharp three-month decline. The fall reflects wider retail fatigue, with scams, poor returns, and a shift toward traditional assets reducing engagement across social platforms.

The trade fair series of events will make a grand return on May 9, 2026, at the renowned Shangri-La Hotel, Edsa, Manila, Philippines.