Business

January, 2026

• 28 January

  Bitcoin Rises to $89K as Asia Opens Uneven, Gold Surges to New High

  

  Asian markets opened unevenly on January 28, 2026, as investors balanced risk assets like cryptocurrency with safe-haven commodities amid ongoing global uncertainty. Bitcoin (BTC) traded around $88,000–$89,000, showing resilience after recent pullbacks, while gold extended its rally to fresh all-time highs above $5,100 per ounce. Bitcoin Update BTC has fluctuated in the $87K–$89K range over the past day, reflecting cautious …
• 28 January

  Senior Thai Power Officials Caught Running Unauthorized Crypto Mines

  

  Thailand is reeling from a high-profile corruption case involving senior Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) officials accused of facilitating illegal Bitcoin mining by abusing their positions to enable massive electricity theft. The scandal, exposed in late January 2026, has ignited public outrage over misuse of state resources and governance failures in the energy sector. What Happened? The Department of Special Investigation …
• 28 January

  Thailand Shock: Senior Electricity Bureau Officials Involved in Crypto Mining Scandal

  

  Thailand is facing a significant corruption scandal as senior officials from the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) have been linked to illegal cryptocurrency mining operations that siphoned off electricity worth several billion baht. The case, uncovered by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), has triggered public outrage and demands for accountability in the energy and crypto sectors. **What Happened?** Investigations revealed …
• 28 January

  Coinbase Tests Flipcash’s USDF with Its Own Custom Stablecoins

  

  Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has initiated backend testing of USDF, a custom stablecoin developed by crypto infrastructure firm Flipcash, as it advances its Custom Stablecoins program. Announced in December 2025, this initiative allows businesses to create branded, dollar-backed stablecoins fully collateralized 1:1 by flexible assets like USDC, with Coinbase handling issuance, custody, compliance, and security. **What is Flipcash’s USDF?** …
• 27 January

  Australian Court Fines BPS Financial Over Crypto Qoin Wallet Promotion

  

  Australia’s Federal Court has imposed A$14 million (approximately US$9.3 million) in pecuniary penalties on BPS Financial Pty Ltd for breaches related to the promotion and operation of its Qoin Wallet crypto product, as announced by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on January 27, 2026. The penalties comprise A$12 million for misleading and deceptive conduct—specifically, false or misleading representations …
• 27 January

  Base Won’t “Pump” Tokens: Jesse Pollak Calls Market Manipulation Illegal

  

  Jesse Pollak, creator and lead of Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer-2 network Base, issued a firm statement on January 27, 2026, rejecting any form of token price manipulation by the Base core team. In a direct response to community calls urging the team to “support charts behind the scenes” or deploy capital to boost specific ecosystem tokens, Pollak labeled such practices as …
• 27 January

  Bitwise Unveils Non-Custodial Onchain Yield Vaults on Morpho With 6% APY Target

  

  Crypto asset manager Bitwise has deepened its foray into decentralized finance (DeFi) by launching non-custodial vault curation on the Morpho protocol, announced January 26, 2026. The initial strategy targets an annual percentage yield (APY) of up to 6% on stablecoins, primarily USDC, through overcollateralized lending pools with active risk management. Unlike custodial products, these vaults keep user assets fully onchain …
• 27 January

  Ethereum Hits Speed Bump After Fusaka Upgrade as Data-Heavy Blocks Surge

  

  Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade, activated on December 3, 2025, aimed to dramatically boost scalability by introducing Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS) and significantly increasing blob capacity—up to 8x initially, with subsequent Blob-Parameter-Only (BPO) forks pushing max blobs per block to 21 by early January 2026. These changes expanded data throughput for Layer-2 (L2) rollups like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base, lowering fees …
• 27 January

  BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Could Be a Cash Machine — How Will Institutions Respond?

  

  BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), launched in January 2024, has emerged as one of the fastest-growing exchange-traded products in history and a significant revenue driver for the world’s largest asset manager. With assets under management (AUM) reaching approximately **$68.3 billion** as of January 26, 2026 (holding over 778,000 BTC), IBIT dominates the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF …
• 27 January

  Australia Flags Crypto Regulation Gaps as Major 2026 Risk – What Happens Next?

  

  The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has identified regulatory gaps in digital assets and fintech as a major priority risk for 2026, warning that rapid innovation in cryptocurrency, payments, and AI sectors continues to expose consumers to unlicensed advice, misleading conduct, and unclear regulatory boundaries. In its newly released “Key Issues Outlook 2026” (published January 27, 2026), ASIC highlighted …