1. White House Spokesperson: President Trump will not pardon FTX founder SBF.
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence, is seeking a pardon from US President Trump. Despite SBF's recent efforts to appeal to right-wing audiences, including giving an unauthorized interview to conservative commentator Tucker Carlson (which led to his solitary confinement), and his father's recent praise of Trump's policies, a White House spokesperson reiterated that Trump made it clear in January that he has no plans to pardon Bankman-Fried, Robert Menendez, and Nicolás Maduro, among others. Several lobbyists point out that while Trump is friendly towards the crypto industry and has already pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, unlike Ulbricht, SBF lacks widespread support from the crypto community, making a pardon highly unlikely.
2. US senators launch investigation into Binance regarding the flow of $1.7 billion in funds related to Iran.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal has launched an investigation into Binance, demanding an explanation of alleged $1.7 billion in funds flowing from the platform's accounts to entities linked to Iran, including the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Blumenthal sent a letter to Binance co-CEO Richard Teng, requesting records of transactions with the relevant Hong Kong entities, as well as information on the suspension or dismissal of compliance personnel. Binance denies the allegations, stating that the reports are untrue, that the platform has no Iranian users, and that it is conducting an internal review, the results of which will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice.
3. Circle announces its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 results.
Circle announced its Q4 and full-year 2025 results. In Q4, USDC's year-end circulating supply was $75.3 billion, a 72% year-over-year increase; on-chain transaction volume was $11.9 trillion; total revenue and reserve income were $770 million; net income from continuing operations was $133 million; and adjusted EBITDA was $167 million. For the full year, total revenue and reserve income were $2.747 billion, a 64% year-over-year increase; net loss from continuing operations was $70.1 million, primarily due to $424 million in equity incentive expenses related to the IPO; and adjusted EBITDA was $582.2 million.
4. Paul Chan: Hong Kong has implemented a licensing system for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers, and the first batch of licenses was issued in March.
In his Budget 2026 address, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po stated that the government will submit a draft digital asset policy ordinance this year, establishing a licensing regime for service providers such as digital asset trading and custody. Hong Kong already has a licensing regime for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers, with the first batch of licenses to be issued in March. The government and financial regulators will continue to encourage licensed issuers to explore more application scenarios while ensuring compliance and manageable risk. Chan indicated that the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will also further promote liquidity in the Hong Kong digital asset market, providing more products and services for professional investors, and will establish an accelerator to accelerate market innovation, while fully protecting investors.
5. Supreme People's Court: Will conduct in-depth research on judicial responses to new types of financial cases such as virtual currencies.
At a press conference today, the Supreme People's Court stated that in the new year, it will conduct in-depth research on judicial responses to emerging financial cases involving private equity funds and virtual currencies, in order to improve the financial judicial protection system. In addition, the Supreme People's Court will formulate judicial interpretations on civil compensation for insider trading and market manipulation in the securities market, expedite the issuance of supporting judicial interpretations for the new Company Law, and continue to promote the establishment of bankruptcy courts and the improvement of bankruptcy trial mechanisms.
