PA Daily News | Tether freezes 182 million USDT; Dubai bans privacy coins and tightens regulations on stablecoins

Today's top news highlights:

South Korea lifts nine-year ban on corporate cryptocurrencies, allowing listed companies to invest in cryptocurrencies.

Binance Alpha listed CharacterX (CAI), with an airdrop threshold of 252 credits.

Binance will list United Stables (U).

India tightens cryptocurrency regulations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

Vitalik: Ethereum itself must pass the test of being "easily withdrawn from".

CoinShares: Digital asset investment products saw a net outflow of $454 million last week.

The value of M&A transactions in the crypto industry is expected to reach a record high of $37 billion in 2025.

Tether has frozen $182 million in USDT in five wallet addresses on Tron.

Regulatory news

South Korea lifts nine-year ban on corporate cryptocurrencies, allowing listed companies to invest in cryptocurrencies.

According to Beincrypto, South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) has finalized guidelines allowing listed companies and professional investors to trade cryptocurrencies. The new rules end a nine-year ban and allow eligible corporations to invest up to 5% of their net assets annually in the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization on South Korea's five major exchanges.

Dubai bans privacy coins and tightens regulations on stablecoins

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has banned the trading, promotion, and derivatives activities of privacy coins at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) since January 12, citing their inability to meet anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance requirements. The new regulations also redefine stablecoins, recognizing only "fiat-backed crypto tokens" backed by fiat currency and high-quality assets; algorithmic stablecoins such as Ethena are not considered stablecoins. Furthermore, the DFSA has transferred the responsibility for token suitability assessments to licensed institutions, shifting its regulatory focus to compliance enforcement.

India tightens cryptocurrency regulations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

According to CoinDesk, India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has announced stricter identity verification measures for cryptocurrency exchanges to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The new regulations require exchanges to verify users' authenticity and vital signs by requiring them to take dynamic blinking selfies, and to accurately record users' geographic coordinates, date, time, and IP address. In addition to providing a Permanent Account (PAN), exchanges must collect additional documents such as passports, driver's licenses, Aadhaar cards or voter identification cards, as well as mobile phone numbers and email addresses. This information will be verified using one-time passwords (OTPs).

User bank account ownership is verified through the "small-amount inflow verification" method, while high-risk customers, those associated with tax havens, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) jurisdictions, potential exposure individuals, or non-profit organizations are subject to enhanced due diligence every six months. Exchanges are prohibited from supporting ICOs or using tools such as coin mixers to conceal transaction traces and make cryptocurrencies untraceable. All platforms must register with the Financial Intelligence Unit, report suspicious transactions, and retain user data for five years. The guidance states that initial coin offerings (ICOs) and initial coin offerings (ICOs) lack a sound economic basis and pose "higher and more sophisticated" risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Project Updates

Binance Alpha will list CharacterX (CAI) at 16:00 today, with an airdrop threshold of 252 points.

According to the official announcement, Binance Alpha will list CharacterX (CAI), and Alpha trading will officially begin on January 12, 2026 at 16:00 (UTC+8). Users with at least 252 Binance Alpha Points can receive an airdrop of 40 CAI tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. If the reward pool is not fully distributed, the points threshold will automatically decrease by 5 points every 5 minutes. Please note that claiming the airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha Points. Users must confirm their claim on the Alpha event page within 24 hours, otherwise they will be considered to have forfeited their claim.

OKX founder responds to a request to unblock an account: Account buying and selling violates platform agreement, and we will not concede under public pressure.

In response to a post by user @captain0bunny titled "40,000 USDT of my life-saving money is under risk control, urging OKX to unblock it," OKX founder Star stated: "If OKX disregards account registration information and transfers control of an account to another person based solely on personal statements or emotional expressions on social media, that would be a serious dereliction of duty regarding user asset security and platform responsibility. To protect the asset security of platform users and to fulfill its legal obligations regarding anti-money laundering and anti-fraud, OKX requires all users to use the platform with their real names. Account buying and selling clearly violates the OKX platform service agreement. Regarding your specific situation, the platform can only unblock your account if the following conditions are met..." Further processing will only proceed if all the following conditions are met: 1. The person whose identity information is registered to the account explicitly does not claim ownership of the account or its assets; 2. The account is not subject to judicial freezing, law enforcement investigation, or any compliance risks; 3. You can provide reasonable, verifiable, and regulatory-compliant proof of the source of funds. It needs to be clarified that: stirring up emotions and creating public pressure on social media cannot change any compliance assessment results, nor will it help resolve the issue. All of OKX's actions can withstand public scrutiny and are legal, compliant, and transparent. We are not afraid of any threats and will not make any illegal concessions under any form of cyberbullying or public coercion.

Binance: The minimum participation requirement for the Unitas (UP) Booster program is 61 Alpha Points.

According to Binance's announcement, the first Unitas (UP) Booster event will launch on January 12th at 18:00 (UTC+8) , with an initial airdrop of 8 million UP tokens. Users must hold at least 61 Alpha points to participate, and participation will deduct 5 points.

Binance will delist several spot trading pairs, including ACT/FDUSD, on January 13.

Binance will delist the following spot trading pairs on January 13, 2026 at 16:00 (Beijing time): ACT/FDUSD, AEVO/FDUSD, AR/FDUSD, DOGS/FDUSD, HEMI/FDUSD, HFT/BTC, IO/FDUSD, MEME/FDUSD, NFP/FDUSD, PENDLE/FDUSD, PHA/BTC, RARE/BTC, RAY/FDUSD, RED/FDUSD, SAND/FDUSD, SHELL/BTC, SXP/BTC, TURTLE/FDUSD, ZBT/FDUSD, and ZK/FDUSD.

Binance will add spot trading pairs INK/USD1, PEPE/USD1, and USDC/MXN.

According to the official announcement, Binance will launch the LINK/USD1, PEPE/USD1 and USDC/MXN spot trading pairs on January 13, 2026 at 16:00 (UTC+8), providing users with more spot trading options.

In addition, Binance will launch its trading bot service for the following trading pairs at 16:00 (UTC+8) on January 13, 2026 (Binance Spot will add INK/USD1, PEPE/USD1, and USDC/MXN spot trading pairs): LINK/USD1, PEPE/USD1, and USDC/MXN.

Binance will list United Stables (U) and launch a zero-fee U promotion.

According to the official announcement, Binance will list United Stables (U) on January 13, 2026 at 16:00 (UTC+8) and open spot trading pairs for U/USDT and U/USDC. In addition, a zero-fee promotion will be launched simultaneously for U/USDT and U/USDC spot and margin trading pairs.

U recharge channel is now open; U listing fee is 0 BNB; U withdrawal is expected to open on January 14, 2026 at 16:00 (UTC+8).

Vitalik: Ethereum itself must pass the test of being "easily withdrawn from".

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated in an article on the X platform that Ethereum itself must pass the test of being "easily disconnectable." Ethereum is positioned as an ideal habitat for various trustless or minimally trust applications, whether in finance, governance, or other industries. It must support applications that are more like "tools," rather than "services" that become completely unusable once the provider stops maintaining them. Even if some applications do rely on certain functionalities of a provider, Ethereum should minimize this dependence and protect users to the greatest extent possible in the event of dependency failure. However, if the underlying protocol itself also relies on continuous updates from a "provider" (even if that "provider" is a collaborative process involving all core developers) to remain usable, then building the aforementioned ideal applications becomes impossible. The Ethereum blockchain itself must possess the characteristics we expect its applications to have. Therefore, Ethereum itself must pass the test of being "easily disconnectable."

This means Ethereum needs to reach a stage where we can "solidify it when needed." We don't need to stop modifying the protocol, but we must ensure that Ethereum's value proposition no longer heavily relies on any functionality not yet incorporated into the protocol. This specifically includes: full quantum resistance, a scalable architecture for high performance, a state architecture that can last for decades, a generalized account model, a reliable gas pricing mechanism resistant to denial-of-service attacks, a long-term empirical proof-of-stake economic model, and a block-building model that resists centralized pressure and censorship. Ideally, we should work hard over the next few years to reach a stage where almost all future innovations can be implemented through client-side optimizations and reflected in the protocol through parameter changes. Each year, we should accomplish at least one of these goals, ideally several. Doing things right the first time (rather than taking temporary, compromise solutions) based on a deep understanding of what's right will maximize Ethereum's technical and social robustness in the long run.

Analysis & Opinions

Caixin: Southeast Asian gambling fraud mastermind She Lunkai's blockchain project is linked to Fincy, a BCB-based payment application.

Caixin.com updated its report on January 10th, titled "The Sinful Life of She Lunkai, the Southeast Asian Gambling Scam King Who Was Finally Extradited Back to China After Many Twists and Turns | Past and Future," which revealed that the sole partner of She Lunkai's blockchain project, "Asia Pacific New City," was the Singaporean blockchain company BCB Innovations Limited. Fincy, a payment software based on the BCB blockchain, was also being promoted within Asia Pacific New City, aiming to create a Southeast Asian version of WeChat. Fincy and BCB share the same parent company and similar shareholders, offering fiat currency and cryptocurrency exchange transactions, as well as online games. Industry insiders pointed out that by providing fiat currency and cryptocurrency exchange and online games, it's equivalent to introducing many unrelated participants, breaking down large sums of money into smaller amounts, and ultimately converging them into a gambling platform disguised as a gaming platform, significantly weakening the supervision of fund flows.

Views of cryptocurrency-related content on YouTube have fallen to their lowest level since January 2021.

Viewership of cryptocurrency-related content on YouTube has plummeted over the past three months, reaching its lowest level since January 2021. On Sunday, Benjamin Cowen, founder of ITC Crypto, shared 30-day average view data for multiple cryptocurrency YouTube channels, highlighting this decline. Regarding the similar drop in engagement across cryptocurrency channels on the X platform, he stated, "So, this isn't just a problem with the X platform and its algorithm adjustments."

Important data

CoinShares: Digital asset investment products saw a net outflow of $454 million last week.

Digital asset investment products recorded a net outflow of $454 million last week, with a cumulative outflow of $1.3 billion over the past four days, almost offsetting the $1.5 billion net inflow at the beginning of the year. This was mainly due to weakened expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut in March. The US market saw a net outflow of $569 million, while Germany, Canada, and Switzerland recorded inflows of $58.9 million, $24.5 million, and $21 million, respectively. Bitcoin and Ethereum saw outflows of $405 million and $116 million, respectively; while Solana, XRP, and Sui saw inflows of $32.8 million, $45.8 million, and $7.6 million, respectively.

The value of M&A transactions in the crypto industry is expected to reach a record high of $37 billion in 2025.

According to data from Architect Partners, publicly disclosed M&A deals in the crypto industry surged to $37 billion in 2025, more than seven times the previous year's figure, far exceeding analysts' expectations of approximately $30 billion and setting a new industry record. Deal volume increased by 74% year-over-year to 356 deals, with 39 deals exceeding $100 million and 17 exceeding $500 million.

Bitcoin spot ETFs saw net outflows of $681 million last week, with the FBTC Bitcoin ETF experiencing the largest net outflow at $481 million.

The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest net inflow last week was BlackRock ETF IBIT, with a weekly net inflow of $25.8604 million. IBIT's historical total net inflow has reached $62.41 billion. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest net outflow last week was Fidelity ETF FBTC, with a weekly net outflow of $481 million. FBTC's historical total net inflow has reached $11.72 billion. This was followed by Grayscale ETF GBTC, with a weekly net outflow of $172 million. GBTC's historical total net outflow has reached $25.41 billion.

Strategy's counterparty opened a new long position in kPEPE, and its total position size has once again exceeded $300 million.

Hyperbot data shows that the "Strategy counterparty" continued to increase its long positions this morning, and its total position size has once again exceeded $300 million. In addition, it just opened a new long position in kPEPE, bringing its current position to 336 million ZEC (approximately $2 million). This whale also holds long positions in BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and ZEC, with a total profit/loss of approximately $5.62 million in the past day and approximately $14.1 million in the past month.

This address opened its position last December and currently has a total account balance of approximately $35.8 million. After opening the account, it continuously increased its short positions in major cryptocurrencies such as BTC and ETH, and was once the largest BTC short seller on the blockchain, comparable to the counterparty of Strategy, a publicly traded company that has consistently bought BTC. Last week, it changed its bearish to bullish stance.

Tether has frozen $182 million in USDT in five wallet addresses on Tron.

According to Whale Alert data, on January 11, Tether froze over $182 million worth of USDT in five wallet addresses on the Tron blockchain. These freezes all occurred on the same day, involving wallets with balances ranging from approximately $12 million to $50 million. This coordinated action is one of the largest single-day wallet restrictions recently disclosed on the Tron blockchain. The January 11 wallet blacklisting incident is consistent with a voluntary wallet freezing policy officially launched by Tether in December 2023, which aims to comply with the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control's Specially Designated Nationals List.