India Tightens KYC Requirements for Cryptocurrency Users

January 12 — Two critical events will impact the crypto market on January 15: - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will vote on the **CLARITY Act**, which targets false/deceptive trading, fake trading volume, and mandates proof-of-reserve disclosures. The bill aims to address longstanding gaps in cryptocurrency regulation. - BitMine will host its Shareholder Day, where shareholders will vote on a proposal to raise the company’s authorized share count from 5 billion to 500 billion. A successful vote will unlock additional capital for BitMine to purchase ETH, potentially boosting ETH price expectations.

January 12 — Per monitoring from HyperInsight (https://t.me/HyperInsight), the wallet tagged "20 Million Band Hunter" (0x880a) has boosted its short positions on a basket of meme coins—BNB, HYPE, DOGE, XPL, and PUMP—over the past hour. Its current unrealized profit sits at $7.43 million. The address focuses on high-frequency multi-crypto arbitrage trading, with an average holding period of roughly 20 hours. It has posted weekly profits of $5.118 million, monthly profits of $7.493 million, and cumulative total profits of $98.7276 million to date.

January 12: BNB Chain Growth Lead Nina Rong announced she has sent a direct message (DM) to Nikita Bier—X Platform Product Lead and Solana Ecosystem Advisor—expressing BSC’s willingness to support the Smart Tags project. Additionally, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) responded this morning to the possibility of a Smart Tags collaboration, stating: “Just an ‘X’ shareholder, let’s see.” Earlier, Nikita Bier noted that X is the top platform for financial news and is currently developing Smart Asset Tags. These tags let users specify a particular asset (or smart contract) when posting price-related tweets on X; clicking the tags in the timeline reveals the asset’s real-time price and all associated information.

January 12 — Bitcoin has topped $92,000, according to HTX market data, now trading at $92,224 with a 24-hour gain of 1.45%.

On January 12, well-known trader and chart analyst Peter Brandt—who correctly predicted Bitcoin’s 2018 crash—tweeted that BCH could end up being the epitome of “exciting.” He’s looking to accumulate some BCH. Notably, this isn’t Brandt’s first time highlighting BCH. On Jan 5, he tweeted: “BCH is leading the charge.”

On January 12, U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase stepped up pressure on U.S. lawmakers to reject a provision in the key CLARITY Act crypto bill that would ban certain decentralized finance (DeFi) elements. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Coinbase may reconsider its support for the bill if it restricts stablecoin issuers from offering incentives on platforms like crypto exchanges. The banking industry group worries that stablecoin incentives and yield products could siphon trillions of dollars from the traditional banking system. The GENIUS Act—passed in July 2025—bars stablecoin issuers from providing interest or yield to holders but does not explicitly prohibit third-party platforms (such as crypto exchanges) from offering incentives. The banking sector is now seeking to close this loophole via the CLARITY Act. Stablecoins have become a major revenue driver for Coinbase, contributing nearly $247 million in Q4 2024. The U.S. Senate Banking