On February 1, 2026, fresh data on India's crypto tax regime for FY 2024–25 showed ₹511.83 crore collected as TDS, with a significant divergence between tax deducted and actual liability. Nearly half of investors ended the year with net losses, yet many still owed or paid tax on gains that could not be offset. Ahead of the Union Budget 2026, industry participants are urging reforms to the 30% tax, loss set-off rules, and the 1% TDS on virtual digital asset trades.

On February 1, 2026, Ark Invest projected that tokenized real-world assets may surpass $11 trillion in value by 2030, up from an estimated $19–22 billion today. The firm expects growth to be driven by institutional adoption, clearer regulation and tokenization of assets such as sovereign debt, bank deposits and public equities.

The SEC said it will operate with minimal staff beginning January 31, 2026 due to a U.S. government shutdown. Its contingency plan pauses tokenized securities registration and crypto product exemptions, slowing reviews across key divisions. Markets expect short-term disruption, while Ethereum trades at $2,439.50 after recent declines.

On February 1, 2026, Arkham Intelligence said the trader known as the Hyperunit whale emptied its ETH treasury into Hyperliquid, with estimated losses near $250 million. The account had earlier made roughly $200 million by shorting Bitcoin and Ether ahead of Donald Trump’s 100% tariff announcement in October. CoinMarketCap showed ETH at $2,418.31, down 10.31% over 24 hours.

On January 31, 2026, the U.S. government entered a partial shutdown after Senate funding votes failed amid DHS reform disputes. A Senate spending bill awaits House review until February 2. Bitcoin traded at $78,552.41, down 6.55% over 24 hours and 11.89% over the past week, with dominance at 58.96% and a market cap of 1.57 trillion.

According to Paolo Ardoino on X, USDT expanded by $50 billion in 2025, underscoring demand outside traditional banking. Tether.io's Q4 2025 report showed $192.8 billion in assets against $186.5 billion in liabilities, a $6.3 billion surplus, with reserves anchored by U.S. Treasuries and a network built for low-friction settlement.

Donald Trump formally chose Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve after a 14‑month selection battle that began in November 2024. On December 10, hours after the Fed lowered rates by 0.25%, Warsh told Trump he would support further cuts, while a January 11 DOJ probe disclosure by Jerome Powell reshaped the field.

CME Group increased initial margin requirements on Comex metals after a severe selloff, setting gold at 8% and silver at 15%, effective from Monday's close. Gold futures fell 11.4% and silver futures dropped 31.4% on Friday, while risk-tiered margin levels for both metals also moved higher alongside planned increases for platinum and palladium.