Author: Oguz Ozdemir

Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama stood at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Jan. 5 and declared 2026 a “digital year,” framing traditional exchanges as the primary gateway for investors to access cryptoassets and ETF-like products.As Elliptic noted, she pointed to US spot Bitcoin ETFs as a model, explicitly stating what Japan’s Financial Services Agency had been building toward: crypto was being pulled into the same institutional channels as equities and funds.The timing matters because the policy architecture behind that statement, consisting of tax cuts, stablecoin licensing, and a wholesale reclassification of 105 cryptoassets as financial products, creates a clear regulatory…

You can’t use a crypto wallet without cryptographic keys. In blockchain, public key cryptography runs the show. You have public and private keys. They work together, but they’re nothing alike. And understanding how public/private key encryption works is absolutely essential. Mess up your private key, and you lose access forever. Let’s break down public keys vs. private keys in blockchain, how they’re built, and why they’re the backbone of every crypto transaction. What Is a Private Key and How Does It Work? Your private key (or secret key) is the master password to your crypto. It’s a long, random string…

Crypto companies serving EU residents began collecting tax data on Jan. 1, 2026, under the European Union’s DAC8 rules. That start date has fed viral claims on X that the bloc has “ended crypto privacy.”The European Commission’s guidance for DAC8 set Jan. 1, 2026, as the operational start date for data collection. However, many commentators are overreaching in their conclusions, and the implied timeline is compressed.What DAC8’s Jan. 1 start date actually means in practiceProviders collect data through 2026, while the first full-year reports are due in 2027. The Commission describes a nine-month window, from the end of the first…

What’s the latest related to Ripple and its ecosystem? Ripple has taken center stage over the last few days, and it’s only due to the price resurgence of its native cryptocurrency. In the following lines, we will outline the most recent and important developments surrounding its ecosystem. Global Expansion and Future Plans Earlier this week, numerous popular X users revealed that Ripple has strengthened its presence in Japan by inking strategic collaborations with local banks like Mizuho Bank, SMBC Nikko, and Securitize Japan. “We aren’t just talking about payments anymore, we’re talking tokenized securities and real-world assets on the…

The US Supreme Court returns from a four-week break on Jan. 9 with a potentially consequential economic ruling: whether the President Donald Trump administration lawfully imposed sweeping tariffs under emergency powers, or whether those duties on hundreds of billions in imports violated Congressional limits.Prediction markets give the government only a 23% to 30% chance of winning. Treasury officials have floated tens of billions in potential refunds and several hundred billion in lost revenue over a decade if the tariffs fall.Meanwhile, Bitcoin options traders are pricing seven-day implied volatility near multi-month lows, with the 25-delta skew tilted toward calls. Futures funding…

Jessie A Ellis Jan 07, 2026 07:50 Aave trades at $173.14 after a 4-year SEC probe ends with no enforcement action, sparking fresh institutional interest through Bitwise’s ETF filing. Aave’s price action tells a story of institutional validation that crypto markets have been waiting years to hear. The DeFi lending protocol closed at $173.14, marking a 0.72% gain while Bitcoin slipped 0.45%, as news broke that the Securities and Exchange Commission concluded its four-year investigation with no enforcement action—a rare regulatory victory that’s already attracting fresh institutional capital. Regulatory Clouds Lift as Institutional…

Enjoyed this article? Share it with your friends! Jupiter JUP $0.2028 , a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform built on Solana, has launched JupUSD, a stablecoin tied to the US dollar. The project was developed in partnership with Ethena Labs and is issued directly on the Solana SOL $137.49 blockchain.According to a post on X by Jupiter, about 90% of JupUSD’s reserves will be held in USDtb. USDtb is a licensed stablecoin backed by shares of BlackRock’s tokenized money-market fund, BUIDL. Did you know? Want to get smarter & wealthier with crypto? Subscribe – We publish new crypto explainer videos every…

In brief One of the UK’s largest banks has invested in newly founded stablecoin settlement start-up Ubyx. The firm aims to build infrastructure that would allow different stablecoins to achieve “cash equivalent” status within the existing financial system. Consultants in the UK crypto industry praised the ‘pragmatic’ investment as it backs payments infrastructure rather than a single token. Barclays, one of the UK’s ‘Big Four’ largest banks, has bought a stake in U.S. stablecoin settlement start-up Ubyx.Ryan Hayward, Head of Digital Assets and Strategic Investments at Barclays, said that interoperability “is essential to unlock the full potential of digital assets.”…

Several catalysts have emerged that point to a sustained upward momentum for the Dogecoin price. This comes amid DOGE’s 26% gain to begin the year, with the meme coin now looking to break above the $0.15 resistance.  Factors That Could Contribute To A Sustained Dogecoin Price Rally One factor pointing to a sustained Dogecoin price rally is the recent inflows into DOGE ETFs. SoSoValue data show that Bitwise and Grayscale’s funds have recorded net inflows on two of the three trading days this year. Notably, the Dogecoin ETFs recorded inflows of $2.30 million and $1.60 million on January 2 and…

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.GM!Today’s top news: Crypto majors fall for first time in 2026; BTC at $92k Morgan Stanley files for BTC, ETH and SOL ETFs US Senate schedules key vote for crypto market structure bill for next week Hyperliquid releases progress map, leads to speculation of next airdrop Nike announced it has sold off RTFKT; Clone X jump 250% 💰 Morgan Stanley Files for Bitcoin, ETH and Solana ETFsWall Street isn’t just dipping…