January’s unlock calendar is heavily concentrated, with four major projects accounting for more than one-third of all tokens set to enter circulation. More than $5.5 billion in cryptocurrencies are scheduled to unlock in January, with ONDO, BGB, HYPE and TRUMP tokens accounting for some of the biggest releases. According to Tokenomist’s token unlocks data tracker, January will see over $5.5 billion in token unlocks. About $2.5 billion will be released through a cliff unlock, which means the tokens are unlocked all at once. Another $3 billion will enter circulation through linear releases, distributing tokens gradually over time, creating less abrupt supply increases. Crypto vesting is the process of locking token allocations and releasing them over time to prevent early or sudden increases in circulating supplies. These schedules often include an initial lockup followed by periodic unlocks, aligning long-term incentives while managing market impact. Read more
With Congress in recess until the new year, sources familiar with the progress of a digital asset market structure bill are expecting consideration in early 2026. Members of the US Senate Banking Committee are expected to move forward with consideration of a digital asset market structure bill in the second week of January after months of delays. According to reports and people familiar with the matter, the Banking Committee could hold a markup for the Responsible Financial Innovation Act during the second week of January. The event would mark progress on advancing legislation that has been slowed by Democratic lawmakers’ concerns over decentralized finance, and the longest US government shutdown in history. Cody Carbone, CEO of digital asset advocacy organization The Digital Chamber, told Cointelegraph that “the second week of January will have at least one markup on pending market structure legislation in the Senate.” The US Senate Agriculture Committee is also considering its version of the market structur...
White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks said the CLARITY Act will reach the Senate next month for debate and amendment before a full vote. The long-awaited Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, is moving closer to law, with a Senate markup expected in January, says White House artificial intelligence and crypto czar David Sacks. Sacks posted to X on Thursday that Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott and Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman had confirmed that the bipartisan crypto bill will be shaped up by the Senate next month. The CLARITY Act would define crypto securities and commodities and clarify the roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and other financial regulators. Read more
Ethereum could see another rise in transaction speed in January, with developers considering raising the gas limit to 80 million after the next blob parameter-only hard fork. Transaction throughput on the Ethereum network is set to be boosted again next month, with developers aiming to increase Ethereum’s gas limit from 60 million to 80 million in January. Christine Kim, vice president of the research team at Galaxy Digital, shared a summary of the All Core Developers meeting on Monday, in which Nethermind representatives said developers should be ready to move forward with a gas limit increase after the next BPO hard fork on Jan. 7. Ethereum Foundation developer operations engineer Barnabas Busa, however, noted that two client-level optimizations are needed before another increase in the block gas limit — namely, partial blob responses on the execution layer and the max blobs flag on the consensus layer. Read more
Bitcoin’s downturn has barely anything to do with “anything crypto specific,” but it’s unlikely to surge early next year, says 21Shares co-founder Ophelia Snyder. Current market conditions will make it difficult for Bitcoin to replicate its early 2025 price gains going into 2026, says 21Shares co-founder Ophelia Snyder. “It’s unlikely that the factors driving the current volatility will fully resolve in the short term,” Snyder told Cointelegraph. “A repeat performance next January will depend heavily on broader market sentiment.” Read more