Rain, a US-based stablecoin payments infrastructure provider and a principal member of the Visa network, has raised $250 million in a Series C funding round, valuing the company at $1.95 billion.

According to ChainCatcher, the A-share market experienced a significant surge on January 12, setting a new record for single-day trading volume. As of the time of reporting, the trading volume exceeded the previous record of 3.47 trillion yuan set on October 8, 2024. Wind statistics indicate that the A-share market's trading volume has surpassed 3 trillion yuan on six occasions: October 8, 2024, August 25, 27, and 28, and September 18, 2025, as well as January 9, 2026. Since mid-December 2025, the A-share market has been on a continuous upward trend, with the Shanghai Composite Index achieving 16 consecutive days of gains. By the close of trading on January 12, a 17-day streak seemed almost certain. The driving forces behind the January 12 surge were the widespread emergence of AI application themes and the ongoing interest in commercial aerospace concept stocks.

null source: https://x.com/wublockchain/status/2010618107266572641

null source: https://x.com/cointelegraph/status/2010617924537536520

According to BlockBeats, on January 12, crypto researcher Stacy Muur shared insights indicating that privacy-focused cryptocurrencies are gaining mainstream attention. Market data suggests that by 2026, privacy coins will outperform Bitcoin and Ethereum, demonstrating stronger resilience during market fluctuations. Additionally, the actual usage of these coins on the blockchain is increasing, with their transaction share rising from approximately 9.7% to 11.4%.Currently, Monero and Zcash dominate privacy transaction traffic, and the total market capitalization of the privacy sector has surpassed $24 billion. Meanwhile, several infrastructure teams are restructuring privacy capabilities as a default layer in blockchain design rather than an optional feature, highlighting privacy's growing importance in foundational architecture.This trend appears to be a long-term strategy rather than a short-term shift. Amidst intensified global regulation and on-chain monitoring, the demand for on-chain anonymity and transaction privacy is increasing. Privacy coins and related tools are expected to become a significant narrative in the crypto market by 2026.

South Korea has launched guidelines, allowing listed companies and professional investors to invest up to 5% of their equity capital crypto. source: https://cryptonews.com/news/south-korea-to-lift-corporate-crypto-ban-sets-5-investment-cap-for-listed-firms/

Instead of focusing on day-to-day price moves, Neuner looks at how the market behaves after stress. source: https://coindoo.com/crypto-market-shows-early-signs-of-recovery-but-a-major-test-lies-ahead/

The cryptocurrency market has experienced a massive wave of project failures over the past four years. According to data from CoinGecko, more than 13. 4 million crypto projects have died between 2021 and 2025, underscoring how unforgiving recent market cycles have been source: https://www.ethnews.com/over-13-million-crypto-projects-have-failed-since-2021/

According to the official announcement, Binance will list United Stables (U) on January 13, 2026 at 16:00 (UTC+8), and open U/USDT and U/USDC spot trading pairs. In addition, a zero-fee promotion will be launched for U/USDT and U/USDC spot and margin trading pairs. U deposits are now open; the listing fee for U is 0 BNB; U withdrawals are expected to open on January 14, 2026 at 16:00 (UTC+8). Note: The withdrawal opening time is an estimate; the actual opening time will be displayed on the withdrawal page.

null source: https://x.com/cointelegraph/status/2010615406495412347

China’s tech industries added only 0. 8 percentage points to growth from 2023 to 2025, while property and old sectors fell by 6 points. source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/chinas-tech-led-economic-growth-hits-limits/

With Powell facing criminal charges, who would want to remain in office? Presumably only those prepared to follow Trump's orders.

The era of idealism in Silicon Valley has come to an end, and capital has begun to openly gamble on the fate of the nation.

CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju has launched a blistering critique of X, accusing the platform of suppressing legitimate crypto content while allowing bots to spam useless content online.

Pump.fun has updated its creator fee system, allowing fees to be shared across multiple wallets and adding tools to transfer coin ownership and revoke update authority. The changes aim to make revenue distribution more transparent and encourage trading activity rather than just token creation.

U.S. federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, covering matters including renovations to the Fed's office building. This marks a renewed escalation of the conflict between President Trump and Powell after months of stagnation.

The state government's cash cow, outdated businesses abandoned by capital, and fierce debates in court.

In 2026, the market will no longer reward simple "destruction" narratives, but will reward agreements that can use cash flow to build real moats and ultimately achieve net deflation.

A US crypto market structure bill once positioned as the industry’s long-awaited breakthrough is now facing an unexpected and potentially fatal obstacle — not technological complexity, but ethics.

X is preparing to launch Smart Cashtags next month, letting users tap ticker symbols to see live prices, charts and related posts for stocks and cryptocurrencies. The feature may later support in-app trading, as concept images show buy and sell buttons, though X has not confirmed how or when this would work.