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The three major U.S. stock indices closed higher. The S&P 500 rose 0.24%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.25%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.60%.

The U.S. Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has unveiled a roadmap to tokenize all 1.4 million securities it holds, CoinDesk reported. The project, which began following the DTCC's 2023 acquisition of blockchain technology startup Securrency, aims to optimize collateral, enable real-time settlement, and secure 24-hour liquidity. For security reasons, the initiative will adopt a burn-and-mint mechanism under its own controlled layer instead of using cross-chain bridges.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong anticipates that an amended version of a crypto market structure bill will be introduced within the coming weeks, Cointelegraph reported. In an interview with CNBC, Armstrong stated that the current bill has critical flaws if it proceeds to a vote as is, adding that he sees an opportunity to draft a new version. Armstrong also mentioned in the same interview that he is prepared to re-engage in discussions regarding the legislation.

Mysten Labs, the developer of Sui (SUI), has launched a pilot internship program called LAUNCH Career, the company announced on its official X account. The program is designed for junior developers starting their careers within the Sui ecosystem.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in an interview with CNBC that he is ready to return to discussions on the crypto market structure bill (CLARITY). Coinbase had previously withdrawn its support for the proposed legislation, citing several concerns. These included what it described as a de facto ban on tokenized stocks, provisions that could block DeFi and allow unrestricted access to financial information, a structure that would weaken the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by making it subordinate to the SEC, and the potential to block reward functions for stablecoins.

Coinbase announced on Jan. 15 the listing of the FUN1/USD spot trading pair. Trading is scheduled to commence once liquidity conditions are met.

Global electronic brokerage Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is set to become the first major traditional finance firm to utilize stablecoins by offering 24-hour account deposits via USDC, The Block reported. The service, which will operate 24/7, is built on infrastructure from stablecoin startup Zerohash. Interactive Brokers also plans to add support for Ripple's RLUSD and PayPal's PYUSD as early as next week.

Polygon (POL) Labs has recently laid off 30% of its total workforce, BeInCrypto reported. The move is said to be linked to the company's acquisitions of Coinme and Sequence, which were part of a strategic focus on its Open Money Stack, a modular framework for cross-border stablecoin payments. This follows a previous 20% staff reduction in 2024 that was also not formally announced. News of the latest departures has spread without an official statement from the company.

Goldman Sachs is accelerating its integration of asset tokenization and prediction markets, identifying them as key future growth areas, CoinDesk reported. CEO David Solomon stated that the bank is in direct contact with leaders of major prediction market platforms to explore potential collaborations. He also noted that Goldman Sachs has communicated its views on the proposed crypto market structure bill (CLARITY) to policymakers in Washington. The investment bank is currently building out related infrastructure, anticipating that institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies will begin in earnest this year, provided that clear regulations are established.

Members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee are optimistic that a crypto market structure bill known as the CLARITY Act will ultimately pass, despite delays caused by opposition from Coinbase, The Block reported. Senators including Cynthia Lummis stated that discussions to reach a bipartisan agreement are ongoing. Coinbase previously withdrew its support for the legislation, citing several concerns. These include what it described as a de facto ban on tokenized securities, the potential to block DeFi while allowing unlimited access to financial information, a framework that would weaken the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by subordinating it to the SEC, and the possibility of banning stablecoin reward features. As a result, a Senate markup session for the bill, which was scheduled for Jan. 15, has been postponed.

The White House has stated that U.S. President Donald Trump will decide on the next chair of the Federal Reserve within the next few weeks, according to Walter Bloomberg. The statement added that there are several individuals whom the president considers suitable for the position.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has fallen below $96,000. BTC is trading at $95,992.6 on the Binance USDT market.

A group of U.S. Democratic House members has accused the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of halting major cryptocurrency-related investigations due to political collusion, CoinDesk reported. In a letter to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, Representatives Maxine Waters, Sean Casten, and Brad Sherman stated that the agency has dismissed or closed at least 12 cases since the beginning of last year. The lawmakers noted that these included actions against Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, which they argued the SEC had a high probability of winning. They pointed out that the timing of the discontinued investigations coincides with a period when the cryptocurrency industry was actively making donations to the Trump administration.

Approximately 200 million addresses currently hold stablecoins, a figure that has doubled over the past four years, crypto newsletter Milk Road reported, citing data from Token Terminal.

Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) has partnered with the English Premier League's Manchester City to release premium merchandise, the project announced on its official X account. The merchandise will be available for purchase by adults aged 18 and over, with full details scheduled for release on Jan. 17.

Esports company NIP Group announced it mined $14 million worth of BTC between September and November of last year, its first three months of formal mining operations. The company stated its current mining capacity is 9.66 EH/s, a level that ranks it among the top 20 publicly listed mining firms in the U.S., according to Decrypt.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $97,000. BTC is trading at $97,034.91 on the Binance USDT market.

Citrea, a Bitcoin zero-knowledge rollup project, has launched its dollar-pegged stablecoin, ctUSD, CoinDesk reported. The stablecoin is backed 1:1 by short-term U.S. Treasury bills and cash. Issued by MoonPay, ctUSD is designed to serve as the liquidity standard for the Citrea ecosystem.

Coinbase has announced the listing of LIT perpetual futures.

AI-based Web3 information platform Kaito announced it is shutting down its rewards-based service, Yaps, and its incentive leaderboard to launch a new marketing platform called Kaito Studio. The company described the move as a structural reorganization prompted by recent changes to X's API policy. Kaito stated that it is transitioning to a tier-based structure more akin to a traditional marketing platform. Under the new model, the company will select and collaborate with creators who meet specific criteria, with performance measured against a clearly defined scope of work.

U.S.-based bank State Street plans to launch tokenized financial products, Bloomberg reported. The bank stated it intends to develop cash-like products such as tokenized deposits and stablecoins, alongside money market funds (MMFs) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

X is revamping its API policy to prohibit so-called InfoFi (Information + Finance) applications, according to its Head of Product, Nikita Bier. He stated that these apps, which reward users for engagement, are no longer permitted and that their API access has been revoked. The move has impacted the InfoFi ecosystem, with the price of Kaito (KAITO) plummeting more than 14% following the announcement. In a related development, CookieDAO (COOKIE) announced it is terminating its 'Snaps' service, a feature that measured and rewarded the influence of key opinion leaders (KOLs).

XRP could rally to $2.8 by the end of this month as its technical indicators show bullish signals, according to an analysis by Cointelegraph. The XRP/USD daily chart broke out of a falling wedge pattern on Jan. 1. The analysis suggests that if the token maintains support at the $2 level, it could see further gains to $2.4 and then $2.7. Additionally, a bull flag pattern has formed on the eight-hour chart, indicating a potential rise to $2.8 following a breakout above $2.15.

Bitmine has received 24,000 ETH, valued at $80.57 million, from FalconX, according to Lookonchain.

U.S. investment bank Benchmark views the postponement of a key markup session for the crypto market structure bill as a constructive opportunity to improve the final legislation, CoinDesk reports. Benchmark explained that the committee could use the time to narrow fundamental disagreements, such as those over stablecoin revenue, and develop clearer regulations for tokenized securities. The Senate Banking Committee had previously postponed the markup, which was scheduled for Jan. 15.