Focus on the fixed number problem: The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee's Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill announced on January 21, highlighting bipartisan conflicts over regulatory authority leadership

From January 19 to 25, 2026, the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry will face three major developments: policy regulations, large-scale token economic events, and exchange reforms. In particular, the announcement of the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act by the US Senate Agriculture Committee carries two unresolved issues: quorum requirements and ethical regulations. Bipartisan consensus will be a critical test.

Policy and Regulatory Trends: Bill Announcement and Quorum Issue Complicate

The US Senate Agriculture Committee will introduce the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act on January 21, with a revised public hearing scheduled for the 27th. This bill has the potential to significantly alter the regulatory framework of the crypto asset market, but two major issues complicate the legislative process.

First, there is the ethical regulation issue. How to handle the connections between President Trump, his family, and multiple cryptocurrency companies is a focal point of debate. Second, a more structural challenge is the quorum requirement. The bill includes provisions calling for bipartisan leadership of regulatory agencies such as the SEC and CFTC. However, currently, the members of these agencies are composed solely of Republicans, making it difficult to meet the quorum requirement. Until this quorum issue is resolved, gaining bipartisan support for the bill will be challenging.

The Senate Banking Committee also plans to hold an independent revision hearing, but its draft lacks clear provisions on ethical regulations and quorum requirements. Both bills face the challenge of bipartisan consensus.

Large-Scale Token Unlocks: Market Pressure and Liquidity Surge

Between January 19 and 25, several major projects are scheduled to unlock large amounts of tokens, raising concerns about market supply pressure.

January 20: LayerZero (ZRO) will unlock approximately 25.71 million tokens (6.36% of circulating supply, worth about $44.5 million) at 19:00 Beijing time. The current market price is $1.98, with a circulating supply of about 220 million tokens.

January 21: Plume (PLUME) will unlock approximately 1.37 billion tokens (39.75% of circulating supply, worth about $22.3 million) at 8:00 Beijing time. The high ratio poses a risk of increased selling pressure, warranting close attention. The current price is $0.02, with a circulating supply of 2 billion tokens.

January 22: River will unlock about 1.5 million tokens (4.32% of circulating supply, worth about $36 million) at 8:00 Beijing time, and MBG (MultiBank Group) will unlock approximately 24.73 million tokens (12.13% of circulating supply, worth about $9.7 million) at 20:00.

Additionally, on January 23, SOON (about 21.88 million tokens, 5.63%), Animecoin (about 835 million tokens, 13.84%), on January 24, SoSoValue (about 13.33 million tokens, 5.00%), and on January 25, Humanity (about 105 million tokens, 4.57%), Plasma (about 88.89 million tokens, 4.33%) are scheduled to unlock, collectively injecting significant liquidity into the market.

Major Exchange Policy Adjustments: Binance Reform and Coinbase Maintenance

Binance is undergoing significant reforms. The company will automatically cancel all spot and leverage orders placed before January 1, 2024, at 15:00 (UTC+8) on January 21. This measure aims to prevent unexpected matches of dormant orders under extreme market conditions, which could differ from users’ actual trading intentions.

At 17:00 on the same day, Binance will delist USDT perpetual trading pairs for BID, DMC, ZRC, and TANSSI. Positions will be automatically closed before delisting.

Furthermore, from 16:00 (UTC+8) on January 22, Binance will suspend token deposits and withdrawals on specific networks: Arbitrum (via Ethereum), 1inch (via BNB Smart Chain), Kite (via Avalanche-C Chain), 0G (via Ethereum), and Turbo (via Solana Network).

Meanwhile, Coinbase International plans to conduct approximately three hours of system maintenance starting around 1:00 on January 25 (UTC+8), during which all trading and transfer functions will be unavailable.

Project Highlights: Aster’s AI Trading Competition and Solana Mobile’s Large Airdrop

Aster will host the second season of the “Humans vs. AI” trading competition from January 22 to 29. This contest features complex AI agents selected from top research institutions competing against 100 human traders, with total prizes up to $150,000. The winner will receive $30,000, the winning team will share a base prize of $50,000, and if humans win, the total increases to $100,000. The final candidates will be announced on January 20.

Solana Mobile will conduct a large airdrop of the native token SKR to Seeker mobile users and ecosystem developers at 10:00 (UTC+8) on January 21. The initial distribution will total 1 billion SKR (20% of total supply). Seeker’s first-quarter achievements include 265 dApps, 9 million transactions, and $2.6 billion in trading volume. Early Solana Saga users are not eligible for this airdrop.

Token Economics and Market Deployment: New Projects’ Funding and Distribution

MANTRA will implement a token code change (OM→MANTRA) and a 1:4 token split on January 19. The target block is 11,888,888. OM holders on the MANTRA chain do not need to take special action. This change aims to strengthen its position as a layer 1 blockchain focused on RWA (Real World Assets).

Immunefi will officially launch its platform token IMU (currently priced at $0.01) on January 22. The platform protects on-chain security through crypto bug bounty programs and aims to lead the Web3 ecosystem toward a valuation of $1 trillion.

ETHGas will launch a new governance token $GWEI (currently $0.03), with a snapshot scheduled for 00:00 (UTC, 08:00 Beijing time) on January 19. The airdrop rules will be based on past gas expenditures and community verification.

Space (leverage prediction market) has raised over $20 million in a public sale, with allocation details to be announced on January 20. Participants can change their wallet addresses for receiving allocations within four days.

ZAMA’s token auction has been postponed from January 21 to 24, with a claim deadline of February 2. The initial FDV starting price is reported at $55 million.

Meteora’s MET airdrop claims will end on January 23, with 39% of the total supply already distributed as part of the TGE program. Unclaimed tokens will be added to the circulating community reserve for future rewards.

Other Important News and Industry Trends

Interactive Brokers has launched a 24/7 USDC deposit service. Using Circle’s USDC, users can send USDC via Ethereum, Solana, or Base networks to a secure wallet provided by Zerohash, where it will be automatically converted to USD and credited to securities accounts. Each deposit incurs a conversion fee of 0.30% (minimum $1). The company plans to add more stablecoin options such as Ripple’s RLUSD and PayPal’s PYUSD as early as next week.

FTX-related news: Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research who cooperated with investigations, will serve a two-year sentence early on January 21 and will be transferred from federal prison to community supervision.

Binance Wallet will hold the SENT Pre-TGE Prime Sale Round 4 from 12:00 to 14:00 (UTC) on January 19, listing SENT tokens for participants holding Binance Alpha Points.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) announced a $200 million investment in Beast Industries, founded by MrBeast, with the transaction scheduled to complete on January 19. Backed by Kathy Wood and Founders Fund, Bitmine will focus on Ethereum as a core asset to drive DeFi strategies.

This week, the US market (closed all day on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 19) will be the focus, with a highly active period involving complex policy regulations, large token economic events, and exchange infrastructure reforms. Particular attention should be paid to how the quorum issue influences bill approval.