Major Cryptocurrency News in January: Former Alameda CEO released from federal prison, multiple projects launch tokens

January 2026 was an extremely important month for the cryptocurrency market. Notably, the significant news of Caroline Ellison, former co-CEO of Alameda, being released from federal prison garnered widespread attention. During the month, trading platforms including Binance announced the launch of new project tokens one after another, and Solana Mobile’s airdrop distribution also ramped up, leading to active market movements.

Former Alameda CEO’s Release from Federal Prison and Legal Settlement

The biggest news was Caroline Ellison’s release from federal custody on January 21. Ellison, who was a central figure in the FTX collapse, had been transferred from a prison in Connecticut to community confinement in October 2025, but she was officially released this month.

In the same month, the U.S. SEC announced a notice regarding a settlement agreement in a lawsuit, revealing that multiple parties had reached an agreement with authorities. Former CTO of FTX Trading, Zixiao Wang, and former co-head of engineering at FTX, Nishad Singh, are also part of the settlement. Meanwhile, former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried remains incarcerated on fraud charges, with ongoing legal proceedings. Bankman-Fried’s imprisonment in federal prison serves as a warning to the industry and has heightened calls for increased market regulation.

Binance Wallet: Launch of Sentient Project Token Sale

On January 19, Binance Wallet officially launched the Pre-TGE Prime Sale for Sentient (SENT). The sale was held from 12:00 to 14:00 UTC on January 19, and eligible users could participate using Binance Alpha points.

Currently, the market price of Sentient (SENT) is $0.02, with a recent 24-hour change of -0.89% and a 24-hour trading volume of $3.94 million. Its circulating market cap stands at $160.75 million, establishing its position in the market.

ETHGas Governance Token: GWEI Token Model Announced and Snapshot Conducted

The infrastructure protocol ETHGas announced an economic model for its new governance token, $GWEI. The total supply is set at 1 billion tokens, with a snapshot taken at 00:00 UTC on January 19.

Holders of $GWEI will gain voting rights for protocol governance, delegation, proposal participation, and emergency decisions. Airdrop eligibility is determined based on past gas expenditure and community verification. Currently, GWEI ($GWEI) is trading at $0.03, with a 24-hour increase of +5.17% and a circulating market cap of $47.11 million. The circulating supply is 1.75 billion tokens, with a total supply of 10 billion.

MANTRA’s Large-Scale Token Split: Transition from OM to MANTRA

The Layer 1 blockchain MANTRA, focused on real-world assets (RWA), implemented an important upgrade on January 19. This included migrating from OM tokens to MANTRA tokens and a 1:4 token split. The target block height is set at 11,888,888, meaning each OM token will be split into four MANTRA tokens. OM holders on-chain do not need to take any additional action.

Currently, the price of MANTRA (OM) is $0.06, with a 24-hour change of -0.68% and a market cap of $70.70 million.

Binance Alpha: Listing of Acurast Project

On January 20, Binance Alpha listed Acurast (ACU). Qualified users can receive airdrops using Binance Alpha points.

The current price of Acurast (ACU) is $0.11, with a 24-hour change of -0.80% and a trading volume of $625.6K over the past 24 hours. Its circulating market cap is $25.65 million.

Solana Mobile SKR Airdrop: Distribution of 2 Billion Tokens Begins

On January 21, Solana Mobile launched a large-scale SKR airdrop distribution. A total of approximately 2 billion SKR tokens will be distributed. Of these, about 1.82 billion go to 100,908 users, and about 141 million are allocated to 188 developers.

Distribution starts at 02:00 UTC on January 21. Users can check their allocation levels in advance. On-chain transaction fees are required to claim tokens, so users should prepare some SOL. After claiming, SKR can be staked to earn rewards. Solana Mobile also launched Season 2, continuing its ecosystem incentive program.

The current price of SKR (Seeker) is $0.02, with a 24-hour change of -5.89% and a market cap of $120.01 million. Circulating supply is 5.7 billion tokens.

Regulatory Developments: U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Reviews Crypto Market Structure Bill

On January 21, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee released the official text of the Crypto Market Structure Bill and announced a markup hearing. Chairman John Bozeman stated that the bill would bring “clarity and certainty” to the crypto market, protect consumers, and support U.S. innovation.

Simultaneously, the Senate Banking Committee plans to hold a separate markup hearing on its own version of the bill. Currently, key issues in the Agriculture Committee version include ethics provisions and the composition of regulatory agency members. These regulatory developments are seen as paving the way for increased industry transparency and structuring.

Other Major Projects: ZAMA, Immunefi, Meteora, and More

ZAMA Token Auction Schedule Change

ZAMA co-founder Landi Hendi announced a schedule change for the ZAMA token auction. The auction period has been adjusted to January 21–24, with token claims set for February 2.

Currently, ZAMA (ZAMA) is trading at $0.02, with a 24-hour change of +13.08%, showing strong upward momentum. Its market cap is $50.56 million.

Immunefi Native Token Launch

The crypto vulnerability bounty platform Immunefi announced the official launch of its native token IMU on January 22. The current price of IMU (Immunefi) is $0.00, with a 24-hour change of -7.02% and a circulating market cap of $3.19 million.

Meteora Airdrop Claim Deadline

Meteora announced that the MET airdrop claim deadline is January 23. Unclaimed tokens after this date will be added to the community reserve for future reward distributions.

The current price of MET (Meteora) is $0.22, with a 24-hour change of -1.65% and a market cap of $105.34 million. Circulating supply is 477,737,758 tokens.

Binance Perpetual Contracts Discontinued: Four U-Base Contracts End

On January 21 at 17:00 UTC, Binance discontinued and settled four U-base perpetual contracts: BIDUSD, DMCUSDT, ZRCUSDT, and TANSUSDT. Related projects like Creator Bid (BID), Delorean (DMC), and Zircuit (ZRC) are affected.

Currently, BID trades at $0.01, DMC at $0.00, and ZRC at $0.00, reflecting market liquidity adjustments.

U.S. Economic Data Releases: Market Impact

On January 22, the U.S. released key economic indicators including weekly initial jobless claims and the core PCE price index, covering data up to January 17. These figures influence Federal Reserve monetary policy decisions and can impact overall sentiment in the crypto markets.

January, marked by Caroline Ellison’s historic release from federal custody, multiple major project token launches, and Solana Mobile’s large-scale airdrop, proved to be a pivotal month for the crypto industry. Regulatory developments are progressing, signaling that the market is moving toward a more structured and transparent future.