Suspected Sonic Labs-Related Address Transfers 11.78 Million S Tokens to Binance, Valued at Approximately $5.55 Million

Leading credit rating firm Moody’s said in its 2026 outlook that stablecoins will emerge as a core component of the market’s infrastructure. Industry estimates project stablecoin settlement volume for on-chain transactions (not just interbank deals) will jump roughly 87% in 2025 from 2024, hitting $90 trillion. Fiat-backed stablecoins and tokenized deposits are evolving into “digital cash,” serving uses like liquidity management, collateral transfers, and settlement across an increasingly tokenized financial system.

On January 7th, Ali Yahya, General Partner at a16z Crypto, noted that privacy will be both the crypto industry’s biggest barrier this year and a key feature pushing global finance toward blockchain—yet nearly all blockchains currently lack this capability. Three key trends will shape the next phase of the crypto space’s development: decentralized messaging, “service as privacy” infrastructure, and the shift from “code is law” to “code as regulation.”

AppWorks announced on January 7 that it has closed its fourth fundraising round for its Asia-focused startup fund, securing $165 million. The new capital will be deployed to invest in startup founders across Asia focused on artificial intelligence (AI), Web3, and the broader digital economy.

On January 7, Bitget market data shows U.S. crypto-related stocks were broadly lower in pre-market trading, with one counter-trend exception. The pullback came after MSCI announced it would not remove DAT Corporation from its index at this time. **Pre-Market Performance Highlights:** - Strategy: +4.26% (counter-trend gain) - Coinbase (COIN): -0.15% - Circle (CRCL): -0.92% - MARA Holdings (MARA): -0.29% - Riot Platforms (RIOT): -0.53% - BitMine Immersion (BMNR): -0.15% - SharpLink Gaming (SBET): -0.58% This version aligns with U.S. financial news conventions: concise, uses common terms ("crypto-related stocks" instead of "crypto concept stocks"), clear bullet points with +/- notation, and natural phrasing for announcements ("announced" vs. "decided," "at this time" vs. "for now").

January 7 — LookOnChain monitoring data shows that news trader 0xb319 announced the launch of Binance Life spot trading on Binance, immediately entered positions, quickly closed them, and pocketed $46,000. Total profits from the trader’s news-driven rapid trades have exceeded $1.4 million.

January 7th — Per Onchain Lens monitoring, BlackRock has deposited 567 Bitcoin to Coinbase, with the tokens valued at $52.2 million.