Daily Crypto Briefing – January 16, 2026

Traditional finance continues its steady march into crypto infrastructure, while regulatory uncertainty creates headwinds for comprehensive market structure legislation.

Top Stories

Interactive Brokers Enables USDC Account Funding

Interactive Brokers now accepts USDC deposits that automatically convert to US dollars for account funding. The electronic brokerage giant's move represents another major step in traditional finance's crypto integration, with plans to add Ripple's RLUSD and PayPal's PYUSD next week.

State Street Launches Tokenization Platform

State Street unveiled new crypto tokenization tools to help clients build tokenized money market funds, ETFs, and stablecoins. The custody giant's platform signals institutional finance's shift from pilot programs to full-scale tokenization deployment.

Ethereum Sees Surge in New Users

Data shows more people are using Ethereum for the first time, with network activity nearly doubling to 8 million addresses. The growth is driven by DeFi, stablecoin transfers, NFTs, and new applications as daily transactions hit an all-time high of 2.8 million.

Housing Sector Gets SEC Approval for Crypto Rewards

Texas homebuilder Megatel Homes received an SEC "no-action" letter to launch a crypto rewards program for renters. The program allows tenants to receive rewards for paying rent using the company's MegPrime token.

Bitcoin Trading Patterns Shift Away from Four-Year Cycle

Policy forces are increasingly reshaping Bitcoin trading as fiscal and regulatory signals drive market behavior more than traditional cyclical patterns. The shift reflects Bitcoin's growing integration into mainstream financial markets.

Regulation

• Crypto Market Structure Bill Faces Delays: Senate lawmakers say the comprehensive crypto bill is "closer than ever" despite Coinbase's withdrawal of support causing markup postponements
• Industry Opposition Grows: Tim Draper sides with Brian Armstrong, arguing the Senate compromise could be worse than no legislation at all
• Democrats Criticize SEC: House Democrats accuse the SEC of "pay-to-play" dynamics after the agency paused cases against major crypto firms
• US-Taiwan Trade Deal: Agreement caps tariffs at 15% and unlocks $500B in semiconductor investments for US operations
• South Korea Advances Tokenization: Lawmakers approve framework for tokenized securities with market projections of $250 billion by 2030

Markets

• Bitcoin Consolidates Near $95K: BTC slipped below $96,000 as Senate delays and risk-off sentiment weighed on crypto markets
• Memecoin Selloff: Pepe declined 9% as top memecoins including Dogecoin and Shiba Inu shed recent gains
• BNB Chain Token Burn: Completed 34th quarterly burn of 1.37 million BNB, reducing total supply to 136.36 million tokens
• Decred Surges 40%: DCR price jumped following approval of a treasury spending cap proposal
• XRP Faces Resistance: XRP falls 4% despite strong ETF inflows with $2.13 acting as key resistance

Technology

• X Bans InfoFi Projects: Platform revokes API access for reward-based crypto apps citing concerns over "AI slop" and reply spam
• London Stock Exchange Blockchain Platform: LSEG launches Digital Settlement House enabling 24/7 settlement of tokenized commercial bank deposits
• Nvidia GPU Production Changes: Company reportedly ends RTX 5070 Ti and 5060 Ti 16GB production as GPU prices surge amid supply constraints
• MetaMask TRON Integration: Wallet adds native TRON support for mobile and browser versions

DeFi

• Citrea Launches Bitcoin-Native Stablecoin: ctUSD backed 1:1 by T-bills and fiat, issued by MoonPay and powered by M0 for the Bitcoin ecosystem
• Galaxy Tokenizes CLO on Avalanche: $75 million tokenized CLO launched to finance Arch Lending's crypto-backed lending facility
• Ondo Finance TVL Doubles: Total value locked reaches over $2 billion driven by tokenized U.S. Treasuries fund growth

Quick Hits

• Iran's crypto economy hit $7.8 billion in 2025 as protests fueled Bitcoin adoption
• Two solo Bitcoin miners each earned nearly $300,000 in rare mining wins this week
• California fines Nexo $500K for unlicensed crypto-backe