Weekly Preview | U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee to Release Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill; Aster Launches Second Season of Human vs. AI Trading Competition

marsbitPublished on 2026-01-18Last updated on 2026-01-18

Abstract

This week's crypto and financial market preview highlights key events from January 19 to 25, 2026. Major U.S. markets will be closed on January 19 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee is set to unveil its cryptocurrency market structure bill on January 21, with a key hearing scheduled for January 27. Significant token unlocks include LayerZero (ZRO) releasing 25.71 million tokens ($44.5M) on January 20, Plume (PLUME) unlocking 1.37 billion tokens ($22.3M) on January 21, and River (RIVER) unlocking 1.5 million tokens ($36M) on January 22. Binance will automatically remove select spot and leverage orders placed before January 1, 2024, on January 21, and will delist several perpetual contracts and stop supporting deposits/withdrawals for specific tokens on certain networks on January 22. Solana Mobile will airdrop 2 billion SKR tokens to Seeker phone users on January 21. Other notable events: Aster's second-season human vs. AI trading competition begins on January 22, Immunefi launches its IMU token on January 22, and Meteora's MET airdrop claim ends on January 23. Coinbase International Exchange will undergo a 3-hour maintenance on January 25. Interactive Brokers has enabled 24/7 USDC deposits, with plans to add RLUSD and PYUSD soon.

Upcoming Highlights:

  • LayerZero (ZRO) will unlock approximately 25.71 million tokens at 7:00 PM Beijing Time on January 20, representing 6.36% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $44.5 million;
  • Plume (PLUME) will unlock approximately 1.37 billion tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing Time on January 21, representing 39.75% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $22.3 million;
  • The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee plans to release its cryptocurrency market structure bill on January 21;
  • Binance announced it will automatically cancel all open spot and leverage orders placed before January 1, 2024, on January 21;
  • Solana Mobile announced it will airdrop its native token SKR to Seeker phone users and ecosystem developers on January 21;
  • Aster will launch the second season of its Human vs. AI Trading Competition on January 22, with the participant list to be announced on January 20;
  • River (RIVER) will unlock approximately 1.5 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing Time on January 22, representing 4.32% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $36 million.

January 19

Exchanges:

U.S. stock markets will be closed all day on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 19) and will resume trading on January 20, 2026.

Binance Wallet to launch SENT Pre-TGE Prime Sale on January 19

Binance Wallet plans to launch the fourth Pre-TGE Prime Sale event, featuring SENT, on January 19. The event will run from 12:00 to 14:00 (UTC) on January 19, 2026. Eligible users require Binance Alpha points to participate.

Project Updates:

MANTRA: Token ticker change and 1:4 token split scheduled for January 19

MANTRA, a Layer 1 blockchain focused on RWA assets, announced on platform X that the MANTRA token upgrade schedule is set. On January 19, 2026, the OM token will be changed to the MANTRA token ticker, accompanied by a 1:4 token split. The target block is 11,888,888. Split ratio: 1 OM → 4 MANTRA. OM holders on the MANTRA chain do not need to take any action.

Bitmine to invest $200 million in MrBeast's Beast Industries, transaction expected to close on January 19

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) announced a $200 million investment in Beast Industries, with the transaction expected to close on January 19. Bitmine, backed by institutions like Cathie Wood, Founders Fund, and Pantera, is committed to making ETH a core asset and advancing its decentralized finance strategy. Beast Industries, founded by MrBeast, stated through its CEO that this collaboration will help build the world's most influential entertainment brand and explore the integration of DeFi and financial services. Bitmine will hold its annual general meeting in Las Vegas on January 15, 2026.

ETHGas launches governance token $GWEI, snapshot scheduled for January 19

Infrastructure protocol ETHGas announced the launch of its new governance token, $GWEI, for managing its programmable block space protocol, aiming to usher Ethereum into an era of "real-time execution, predictable costs, and large-scale gas-free" transactions. $GWEI holders can participate in governance, delegate votes, propose protocol changes, and make emergency decisions. The snapshot is scheduled for 00:00 UTC on January 19, 2026 (08:00 Beijing Time). Airdrop rules will be based on historical Gas expenditure and community verification.

January 20

Project Updates:

Space public sale raises over $20 million, allocation process to be announced on January 20

The leveraged prediction market Space raised over $20 million in its public sale. The allocation process will be announced on January 20. Responding to community requests, participants can now choose to change the wallet for receiving allocations and refunds within the next 4 days. Refunds will be processed on January 21.

Token Unlocks:

LayerZero (ZRO) will unlock approximately 25.71 million tokens at 7:00 PM Beijing Time on January 20, representing 6.36% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $44.5 million;

January 21

Policy & Regulation:

U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee plans to release its cryptocurrency market structure bill on January 21

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee plans to release its cryptocurrency market structure bill on January 21 and hold a key hearing on the bill text on January 27. The hearing originally scheduled for January 15 (postponed on Monday) will now begin at 3 PM. A markup hearing is a critical step in the legislative process, allowing lawmakers to debate amendments, vote on whether to include them in the base text, and then vote on whether to send the entire bill to the full Senate for consideration. The Senate Banking Committee will hold its own markup hearing on its version of the bill this Thursday. The draft of the Banking Committee's version was released around midnight on Monday, though amendments are expected to be proposed before the hearing.

Since the initial discussion draft was released, the Agriculture Committee has not published a draft bill text. Outstanding issues include ethics provisions (concerning President Trump and his family's ties to several crypto businesses) and quorum rules (requiring bipartisan leadership at regulatory agencies like the SEC and CFTC). Currently, both agencies have only Republican commissioners. Informed sources indicate that the Banking Committee's bill text also lacks provisions on ethics or quorum rules, meaning the current version may not garner bipartisan support.

Exchanges:

Binance to delist BID, DMC, ZRC, and TANSSI USDⓈ-M Perpetual Contracts on January 21

Binance will delist the BIDUSDT, DMCUSDT, ZRCUSDT, and TANSSIUSDT perpetual contract trading pairs at 17:00 on January 21. Open positions will be automatically closed and settled before delisting.

Binance: Open spot and leverage orders placed before January 1, 2024, will be automatically canceled on January 21

According to an official Binance announcement, as market prices, liquidity, and volatility levels continue to change, some long-standing unfilled historical orders risk being unexpectedly matched during extreme market conditions, potentially resulting in executions that do not fully align with users' current trading intentions. While continuously listening to community feedback and user suggestions, Binance has also noted these concerns. To help users reduce the risk of such unintended executions and enhance the stability and operational efficiency of the overall trading environment, Binance will implement unified management of relevant open orders.

Based on the above considerations and adopting community suggestions, Binance plans to process some long-standing unfilled spot and leverage orders at 15:00 (UTC+8) on January 21, 2026. All spot and leverage orders created before 08:00 (UTC+8) on January 1, 2024, that remain unfilled at the time of processing will be automatically canceled.

Project Updates:

ZAMA token auction postponed to January 21-24

Zama co-founder Rand Hindi stated on platform X that the ZAMA token auction date has changed. The adjusted auction period is from January 21 to 24, with the token claim date set for February 2.

It is reported that Zama will conduct the token sale through CoinList and its own auction APP, with a minimum FDV of $55 million.

Solana Mobile to airdrop 2 billion SKR tokens to Seeker users on January 21

Solana Mobile announced it will airdrop its native token SKR to Seeker phone users and ecosystem developers at 10:00 (UTC+8) on January 21, 2026. The first airdrop will constitute 20% of the total supply (2 billion tokens). The first season of Seeker activities involved 265 dApps, 9 million transactions, and $2.6 billion in trading volume. Note: Early Solana Saga phone users are not eligible for this airdrop.

Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison to be released early on January 21

Former Alameda co-CEO Caroline Ellison, for cooperating in the FTX investigation, will be released early from her two-year sentence on January 21, 2026, having already been transferred from federal prison to community supervision. She previously pleaded guilty and assisted in the prosecution of SBF, was ordered to forfeit $11 billion, and agreed this month to a 10-year ban on serving as an executive of a public company or crypto exchange.

Token Unlocks:

Plume (PLUME) will unlock approximately 1.37 billion tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing Time on January 21, representing 39.75% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $22.3 million;

January 22

Exchanges:

Binance to cease support for deposit and withdrawal services for specific tokens on certain networks on January 22

Binance will cease support for deposit and withdrawal services for the following specific tokens on designated networks at 16:00 (UTC+8) on January 22, 2026. After 16:00 (UTC+8) on January 22, 2026, deposits of the following tokens via these networks will not be credited to accounts and may result in asset loss.

  • Arbitrum (ARB) via Ethereum Network;
  • 1Inch (1INCH) via BNB Smart Chain;
  • Kite (KITE) via AVAX-C Chain;
  • 0G (0G) via Ethereum Network;
  • Turbo (TURBO) via Solana Network.

Project Updates:

Aster to launch second season of Human vs. AI Trading Competition on January 22, participant list to be announced January 20

Aster announced the launch of the second season of its "Human vs. AI" trading competition. The new season's competition will be based on the Aster Chain testnet. The AI faction will consist of complex agents from top-tier labs, competing alongside human traders to form a total of 100 participants, each allocated $10,000 in capital.

The total prize pool is up to $150,000, with the first-place winner receiving $30,000. The winning team can share a base prize pool of $50,000, which doubles to $100,000 if the human team ultimately wins. The application deadline for this competition is January 18, the selected list will be announced on January 20, and the competition will run from January 22 to 29.

Immunefi to launch platform token IMU on January 22

The crypto bug bounty platform Immunefi announced that its native platform token IMU will officially launch on January 22, 2026. Immunefi is dedicated to protecting on-chain security through bug bounties and other means, driving the Web3 ecosystem towards trillion-dollar value.

Token Unlocks:

River (RIVER) will unlock approximately 1.5 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing Time on January 22, representing 4.32% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $36 million;

MBG By Multibank Group (MBG) will unlock approximately 24.73 million tokens at 8:00 PM Beijing Time on January 22, representing 12.13% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $9.7 million;

January 23

Project Updates:

Meteora: MET airdrop claims to end on January 23

Meteora reminded users on platform X that MET airdrop claims will end on January 23. As part of the TGE plan, 39% of the total MET token supply was distributed in a one-time airdrop. The claim channel is scheduled to close two weeks later. Unclaimed tokens will be added to the community reserve for future rewards.

Token Unlocks:

SOON (SOON) will unlock approximately 21.88 million tokens at 4:30 PM Beijing Time on January 23, representing 5.63% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $7.4 million;

Animecoin (ANIME) will unlock approximately 835 million tokens at 9:00 PM Beijing Time on January 23, representing 13.84% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $6.3 million;

January 24

Token Unlocks:

SoSoValue (SOSO) will unlock approximately 13.33 million tokens at 5:00 PM Beijing Time on January 24, representing 5.00% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $7.4 million;

January 25

Exchanges:

Coinbase International Exchange to undergo system maintenance on January 25, expected downtime 3 hours

Coinbase International Exchange will undergo system maintenance around 01:00 (UTC+8) on January 25, 2026, during which service will be temporarily suspended. The maintenance is expected to last 3 hours. During this period, all trading and transfer functions on Coinbase International Exchange will be unavailable.

Token Unlocks:

Humanity (H) will unlock approximately 105 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing Time on January 25, representing 4.57% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $19.3 million;

Plasma (XPL) will unlock approximately 88.89 million tokens at 8:00 PM Beijing Time on January 25, representing 4.33% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $12.4 million;

Specific Time TBA

Project Updates:

Interactive Brokers enables 24/7 account funding with USDC, plans to add RLUSD and PYUSD options next week

Interactive Brokers announced that traders can now use Circle's USDC to fund their accounts 24/7, enabling round-the-clock trading. This functionality is powered by Zerohash, a B2B crypto and stablecoin infrastructure provider in which Interactive Brokers has invested. Users can send USDC from their personal crypto wallets to a secure wallet generated by Zerohash on the Ethereum, Solana, or Base networks. The tokens are then automatically converted to USD and deposited into their brokerage accounts. A conversion fee of 0.30% (minimum $1) will be charged per deposit. Interactive Brokers plans to add more stablecoin options as early as next week, including Ripple's RLUSD and PayPal's PYUSD.

Related Questions

QWhat is the significance of the cryptocurrency market structure bill to be released by the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee on January 21st?

AThe bill is a key piece of legislation that will be the subject of a critical hearing on January 27th. It is a crucial step in the legislative process, allowing for debate on amendments and a vote to advance the bill to the full Senate for consideration.

QWhich major exchange is automatically canceling old spot and leverage orders on January 21st, and why?

ABinance is automatically canceling all spot and leverage orders placed before January 1, 2024, that remain unfilled. This is to reduce the risk of unexpected order matches during extreme market conditions, which may not align with users' current trading intentions.

QWhat major token unlock is happening on January 20th, and what is its estimated value?

ALayerZero (ZRO) will unlock approximately 25.71 million tokens on January 20th at 7:00 PM Beijing Time. This represents 6.36% of its circulating supply, with an estimated value of $44.5 million.

QWhat event is Aster launching on January 22nd, and what is the prize pool for the winners?

AAster is launching the second season of its 'Human vs. AI' trading competition on January 22nd. The total prize pool is up to $150,000, with a first-place prize of $30,000. The winning team splits a base prize pool of $50,000, which doubles to $100,000 if the human team wins.

QWhich former high-profile executive from the FTX case is scheduled for early release on January 21st?

ACaroline Ellison, the former co-CEO of Alameda Research, is scheduled for early release from her two-year sentence on January 21st. She cooperated with the investigation into the FTX case and has been transferred to community supervision.

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