Weekly Preview | U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Releases Its Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill; Aster Launches Season 2 of Human-Machine Trading Competition

News Preview:

• LayerZero (ZRO) will unlock approximately 25.71 million tokens on January 20, Beijing time, accounting for 6.36% of circulating supply, valued at about $44.5 million;
• Plume (PLUME) will unlock approximately 1.37 billion tokens on January 21, Beijing time, accounting for 39.75% of circulating supply, valued at about $22.3 million;
• The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee plans to release its cryptocurrency market structure bill on January 21;
• Binance announces that it will automatically cancel spot and leverage orders placed before January 1, 2024, on January 21;
• Solana Mobile announces airdrop of its native token SKR to Seeker phone users and ecosystem developers on January 21;
• Aster will launch Season 2 of the Human-Machine Trading Competition on January 22, with the list of contestants announced on January 20;
• River (RIVER) will unlock approximately 1.5 million tokens on January 22, Beijing time, accounting for 4.32% of circulating supply, valued at about $36 million.

January 19

Exchanges:

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

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

Binance Wallet plans to launch the fourth Pre-TGE Prime Sale for SENT on January 19, from 12:00 to 14:00 UTC, with eligible users needing Binance Alpha points to participate.

Project Updates:

MANTRA: Token code change and 1:4 token split on January 19

Layer1 blockchain MANTRA, focused on RWA assets, announced on X that its token upgrade schedule is set. On January 19, 2026, OM tokens will change to MANTRA tokens, and a 1:4 token split will occur. The target block is 11,888,888, with a split ratio of 1 OM to 4 MANTRA. OM holders on the MANTRA chain do not need to take any action.

Bitmine plans to invest $200 million in Beast Industries under MrBeast, with completion expected on January 19

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) announced an investment of $200 million into Beast Industries, with the transaction expected to close on January 19. Supported by Cathie Wood, Founders Fund, Pantera, and others, Bitmine aims to use ETH as a core asset and promote DeFi strategies. Beast Industries was founded by MrBeast, and its CEO states this partnership will help build the world’s most influential entertainment brand and explore integration of DeFi and financial services. The annual shareholder meeting will be held in Las Vegas on January 15, 2026.

ETHGas launches governance token $GWEI, snapshot on January 19

The infrastructure protocol ETHGas announced the launch of a new governance token, $GWEI, for managing the 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 emergency decisions. The snapshot is scheduled for January 19, 2026, at 00:00 UTC (8:00 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, distribution process to be announced on January 20

Leverage prediction market Space’s public sale has raised over $20 million. The distribution process will be announced on January 20. At community request, participants can change their receiving and refund wallets within the next four days. Refunds will be processed on January 21.

Token Unlocks:

LayerZero (ZRO) will unlock approximately 25.71 million tokens on January 20, Beijing time, accounting for 6.36% of circulating supply, valued at about $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, with a key hearing scheduled for January 27. The hearing originally scheduled for January 15 (postponed to Monday) will now start at 3 PM. The bill revision hearing is a critical step in legislative progress, allowing senators to debate amendments, vote on their inclusion in the core text, and then decide whether to submit the entire bill to the Senate floor. The Senate Banking Committee will hold its own bill revision hearing this Thursday. The draft bill from the Banking Committee is expected to be released around midnight Monday, though amendments may be proposed before the hearing.

Since the initial draft was released, the Agriculture Committee has not published the bill text. Pending issues include ethical standards clauses (related to President Trump, his family, and multiple crypto companies) and quorum rules (requiring SEC and CFTC to be jointly led by bipartisan members). Currently, both agencies have only Republican members. Insiders say the Senate Banking Committee’s bill also lacks clauses on ethics or quorum, so the current version may not garner bipartisan support.

Exchanges:

Binance will delist BID, DMC, ZRC, and TANSSI perpetual contracts on January 21

Binance will delist BIDUSDT, DMCUSDT, ZRCUSDT, and TANSSIUSDT perpetual contracts at 17:00 on January 21, with automatic close and settlement prior to delisting.

Binance: Automatic cancellation of spot and leverage orders placed before January 1, 2024, on January 21

According to Binance official announcement, due to ongoing market price, liquidity, and volatility changes, some long-standing unfilled orders may be accidentally matched under extreme conditions, leading to trades inconsistent with user intentions. Binance has been listening to community feedback and user suggestions, and has noticed this issue. To help reduce such unexpected trades and improve overall trading stability and efficiency, Binance will manage related orders uniformly.

Based on these considerations and community suggestions, Binance plans to process some long-standing unfilled spot and leverage orders on January 21, 2026, at 15:00 (UTC+8). All spot and leverage orders created before 08:00 on January 1, 2024, and still 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 announced on X that the ZAMA token auction date has changed. The new auction will run from January 21 to 24, with token claim date set for February 2.

Zama will launch token sales via CoinList and its own auction app, with a FDV base price of $55 million.

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

Solana Mobile announced that on January 21, 2026, at 10:00 (UTC+8), it will airdrop its native token SKR to Seeker phone users and ecosystem developers, with the initial airdrop comprising 20% of the total supply (2 billion tokens). The first season of Seeker activity includes 265 dApps, 9 million transactions, and $2.6 billion in volume. Note that early Solana Saga phone users are not included in this airdrop.

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

Former Alameda co-CEO Caroline Ellison, cooperating with the FTX investigation, will be released early from her two-year sentence on January 21, 2026. She has been transferred from federal prison to community supervision. She previously pleaded guilty and assisted in prosecuting SBF, with a fine of $11 billion, and agreed not to serve as an executive of a publicly traded company or crypto exchange for 10 years.

Token Unlocks:

Plume (PLUME) will unlock approximately 1.37 billion tokens on January 21, Beijing time, accounting for 39.75% of circulating supply, valued at about $22.3 million;

January 22

Exchanges:

Binance will suspend support for deposits and withdrawals of certain network-specific tokens on January 22

Binance will stop supporting deposits and withdrawals of the following network-specific tokens at 16:00 on January 22, 2026 (UTC+8). After this time, deposits via these networks will not be credited to accounts, potentially leading to asset loss.

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

Project Updates:

Aster launches Season 2 of Human-Machine Trading Competition on January 22, with contestant list announced on January 20

Aster announced the launch of “Humans vs AI” Season 2 trading competition. The new season will be based on Aster Chain testnet, with AI teams composed of complex agents from top labs, competing alongside human traders. A total of 100 participants will be allocated $10,000 each.

The prize pool for this event can reach up to $150,000, with the first-place prize of $30,000. The winning team can share a basic prize pool of $50,000, which doubles to $100,000 if humans win. The application deadline is January 18, with the list of selected participants announced on January 20. The competition will run from January 22 to 29.

Immunefi launches platform token IMU on January 22

The crypto bug bounty platform Immunefi announced that its native token IMU will be officially launched on January 22, 2026. Immunefi aims to enhance on-chain security through bug bounties and other measures, promoting the Web3 ecosystem toward trillion-dollar valuation.

Token Unlocks:

River (RIVER) will unlock approximately 1.5 million tokens on January 22, Beijing time, accounting for 4.32% of circulating supply, valued at about $36 million;

MBG by Multibank Group will unlock approximately 24.73 million tokens on January 22, Beijing time, accounting for 12.13% of circulating supply, valued at about $9.7 million;

( January 23

Project Updates:

Meteora: MET claim deadline January 23

Meteora posted on X that MET claim deadline is January 23. As part of the TGE plan, 39% of the total supply of MET tokens has been distributed in one go, and the airdrop claim window will 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 on January 23, Beijing time, representing 5.63% of circulating supply, valued at about $7.4 million;

Animecoin (ANIME) will unlock approximately 835 million tokens on January 23, Beijing time, representing 13.84% of circulating supply, valued at about $6.3 million;

) January 24

Token Unlocks:

SoSoValue (SOSO) will unlock approximately 13.33 million tokens on January 24, Beijing time, representing 5.00% of circulating supply, valued at about $7.4 million;

January 25

Exchanges:

Coinbase International to perform system maintenance on January 25, expected to last 3 hours

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

Token Unlocks:

Humanity (H) will unlock approximately 105 million tokens on January 25, Beijing time, representing 4.57% of circulating supply, valued at about $19.3 million;

Plasma (XPL) will unlock approximately 88.89 million tokens on January 25, Beijing time, representing 4.33% of circulating supply, valued at about $12.4 million;

Specific timing to be determined

Project Updates:

Interactive Brokers supports 24/7 USDC account deposits, plans to add RLUSD and PYUSD next week

Interactive Brokers announced that traders can now use Circle’s USDC for 24/7 deposits into their accounts, enabling round-the-clock trading. This feature is supported by Zerohash, a B2B crypto and stablecoin infrastructure provider invested in by IB. Users can send USDC from their personal crypto wallets to secure wallets generated by Zerohash on Ethereum, Solana, or Base networks, after which the tokens are automatically converted to USD and credited to their brokerage accounts. Each deposit incurs a 0.30% conversion fee (minimum $1). IB plans to add more stablecoin options early next week, including Ripple’s RLUSD and PayPal’s PYUSD.