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According to the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, Wang Yang, pointed out that the digital yuan has been tentatively involved in settlements in Hong Kong's digital asset market. In addition to traditional settlement methods, the primary issuance of Hong Kong dollar and renminbi bonds is also among the first in the world to apply digital yuan and digital Hong Kong dollars in the settlement process for digital bonds.Furthermore, Hong Kong will be the best market for accommodating onshore assets RWA. With regulatory adjustments and market development, there will be greater opportunities for renminbi assets to be issued as digital assets in the Hong Kong market, with digital yuan naturally being the preferred settlement currency. From a developmental perspective, stablecoins will become an important usage habit for offshore market users. In the internationalization of the renminbi, offshore renminbi stablecoins are one of the future options, while digital yuan deposits and digital yuan liquid assets provide the necessary reserve assets for offshore renminbi stablecoins.

The first batch of digital RMB smart contract salary distribution in Sichuan Province has successfully landed in Chengdu High-tech Zone, distributing over 1 million yuan in wages to 104 construction workers. This technology achieves "instant salary payment, cannot be intercepted, and is fully traceable," providing an innovative solution to the issue of wage arrears for migrant workers.The local company Yizhi Technology has developed the "Anxin Zhu" platform to provide technical support for this, effectively solving the wage distribution problem through the combination of "business flow + capital flow." Chengdu High-tech Zone has established a smart supervision system covering 176 engineering projects and 164,600 workers, with a total wage distribution exceeding 2.817 billion yuan and a payment rate of 98.62%. Sichuan Province will continue to promote the "Artificial Intelligence +" initiative, expanding the application of digital RMB in scenarios such as wage payments for migrant workers.

According to Decrypt, Denmark's largest bank, Danske Bank, is offering Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs to investors, ending an eight-year ban on cryptocurrencies. Danske Bank's stance has shifted, stating it is in response to the growing demand from customers.Previously, the bank had explicitly stated that it would not provide any type of cryptocurrency services. While it acknowledges that the cryptocurrency market has matured in recent years, it still emphasizes that it does not recommend cryptocurrencies as an asset class.

According to Antpool data, based on the current Bitcoin mining difficulty and an electricity price of $0.08 per kWh, mining machines including Antminer S19 XP+ Hyd, Bitmain M60S, and Avalon A1466I have reached the shutdown coin price. The Antminer S21 series (S21, S21+, S21 Hyd.) is close to the shutdown coin price, ranging from approximately $69,000 to $74,000.In addition, high-performance mining machines such as Antminer U3S23H and Antminer S23 Hyd have a shutdown coin price above $44,000.

The robotic head project OpenMind is about to launch on the App Store, marking the first cross-ontology robotic application store based on the open-source operating system OM1. Developers can centrally publish applications and skills here, and robot owners can easily deploy new features for their robots.The first application went live last week, with the initial batch focusing on education, healthcare, elderly companionship, and home security. Current partners include UBTECH, Zhiyuan Robotics, Fourier, Yundongchu, Zhujidongli, Yuejiang, Booster, Magic Atom, and others.Additionally, the OpenMind foundation Fabric Foundation will conduct a token sale on the Kaito platform on January 26, with priority allocation for the Fabric community and specific partner communities. This round was oversubscribed within five hours of opening.

According to CoinDesk, VerifiedX is a Layer-1 blockchain and Bitcoin sidechain. The project released Butterfly on Wednesday, a payment application designed to be as easy to use as utilities like Venmo or Cash App, while also simplifying the complexities of many popular crypto wallets and payment methods, without incurring the relatively high fees of certain exchanges.

The official WeChat account of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China announced that it has successfully launched a pilot program for the cross-border digital payment platform using digital renminbi. Among them, the ICBC Singapore branch is actively implementing the innovative pilot project for overseas recharge of digital renminbi personal wallets as part of the 2025 China-Singapore Bilateral Cooperation Joint Committee (JCBC). The ICBC Vientiane branch and the ICBC Shandong branch successfully processed the first cross-border remittance under international trade using digital renminbi between China and Laos.

The Digital Renminbi Operation Management Center has launched the "Carbon Inclusive" mini-program service within the Digital Renminbi App, and it has been first rolled out in the Shanghai area. After users activate this service, carbon credits generated from green and low-carbon behaviors such as riding the subway, taking public transport, and cycling shared bikes will be automatically accumulated in the "Carbon Inclusive" account and can be exchanged for digital renminbi.The mini-program initially integrates platforms such as Metro Metropolitan (Shanghai Metro), Hello Chuxing, and T3 Chuxing. After users link their accounts from the aforementioned platforms within the Digital Renminbi App, the system will automatically record low-carbon behaviors and accumulate points. Users need to activate the digital renminbi wallet and upgrade to a real-name wallet before redemption.

The 2026 People's Bank of China work conference was held on January 5-6, summarizing the work of 2025. It pointed out that in 2025, efforts would be made to actively promote the reform and improvement of global financial governance, further enhance financial management and service levels, and advance the precise governance of "funding chains" related to fraud and gambling.The conference emphasized strengthening the regulation of virtual currency transactions, enhancing cash supply security, and optimizing the management system of the digital renminbi. Key tasks for 2026 include: improving the infrastructure for the cross-border use of the renminbi, strengthening the regulation of virtual currencies, continuing to combat related illegal activities, deepening technological management and innovative applications, and steadily developing the digital renminbi.

The six major state-owned banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and Postal Savings Bank of China, have successively announced that starting from 2026, they will pay interest on the balance of digital RMB real-name wallets opened by customers at the aforementioned banks according to the listed interest rate for demand deposits, with the interest calculation rules consistent with those for demand deposits. However, Bank of Communications stated that if the digital RMB wallet opened by the customer is a type four personal wallet, the balance in the wallet will not accrue interest.

According to the Shanghai Securities Journal, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Postal Savings Bank of China, and Bank of Communications have successively announced that starting from January 1, 2026, the balance of the real-name digital RMB wallets opened at these banks will earn interest at the same rate as the bank's demand deposit rate, with interest calculation rules consistent with those of demand deposits.

The smart machine infrastructure company OpenMind has announced the establishment of the Fabric Foundation, with OpenMind as its partner. The foundation will operate as an independent non-profit organization dedicated to building governance, economic, and coordination infrastructure that enables humans and intelligent machines to collaborate safely and efficiently. The foundation's work includes: supporting key research, building public goods infrastructure, convening global stakeholders, expanding global access and participation, enhancing public understanding, and ensuring long-term management.OpenMind was founded by Stanford University professor Jan Liphardt and is committed to building a universal operating system for intelligent machines and a decentralized collaboration network, with its core products including the OM1 operating system and the FABRIC collaboration protocol.

Digital RMB will undergo an important scheme upgrade. Starting from January 1, 2026, the balance of digital RMB wallets will officially be included in the interest-bearing mechanism. Without changing the "dual-layer operation structure," the digital RMB issued by bank-operated institutions will be adjusted from off-balance-sheet assets to on-balance-sheet management, and the reserve system will change from the original 100% reserve requirement to a partial reserve; non-bank payment institutions will still need to implement a 100% digital RMB margin system.Reports indicate that banking institutions can pay interest on customers' real-name digital RMB wallet balances and must comply with self-discipline agreements on deposit interest rate pricing. At the same time, they can independently carry out asset-liability management around the digital RMB wallet balances. The relevant balances will be legally included in the deposit insurance protection scope, enjoying the same security protection as deposits. For non-bank payment institutions, the margin property of digital RMB is no different from the existing customer reserve funds.

According to Jinshi Data, Lu Lei, the deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, stated that the future digital renminbi will be a modern digital payment and circulation method issued and circulated within the financial system, supported by technology provided by the central bank and regulated accordingly. It will have the characteristics of commercial bank liabilities, be account-based, and compatible with distributed ledger technology. It will possess functions such as a measure of currency value, value storage, and cross-border payment.Looking ahead, the business and technical model choices for the digital renminbi will adhere to the fundamental starting point of meeting the needs of the real economy. It will adopt a principle of inclusiveness and prudent selection regarding the development direction of account-based and value-based digital currencies, promoting the digital renminbi to meet the needs of different scenarios and various operating entities.

According to the China Financial Times, Lu Lei, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, stated that the People's Bank of China will issue the "Action Plan for Further Strengthening the Management Service System of Digital Renminbi and Related Financial Infrastructure Construction." The new generation of digital renminbi measurement framework, management system, operational mechanism, and ecological system will officially start implementation on January 1, 2026.

The People's Bank of China recently issued the "Rules for the Cross-Border Payment System of Renminbi" (Yin Fa [2025] No. 248), which will take effect on February 1, 2026, replacing the 2018 version of the rules. The notice explicitly lists the "Digital Currency Research Institute" as one of the recipients of the notice, alongside the National Development Bank, various commercial banks, the Central Clearing House, and other institutions.The new regulations clarify the operational structure and business processing procedures of the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), stipulating that CIPS should support a mixed settlement model, including real-time gross settlement and timed net settlement, and be able to support "Renminbi payments, Renminbi and foreign currency simultaneous delivery (PvP), delivery versus payment (DvP) settlement, central counterparty clearing, and other cross-border Renminbi transaction settlement services."

According to market news, the People's Bank of China and eight other departments issued the "Opinions on Financial Support for Accelerating the Construction of the New Land-Sea Corridor in the West."The "Opinions" propose to explore international cooperation in digital finance. Support provinces (regions, municipalities) along the route to participate in the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge project, promoting the use of central bank digital currencies for cross-border payments with Thailand, Hong Kong, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and others. Support the exploration of advancing the pilot program for cross-border payments of digital renminbi between the mainland and Singapore. Support provinces (regions, municipalities) along the route with conditions to build cross-border e-commerce digital service platforms, connecting with cross-border e-commerce and trade digital platform companies in countries like Singapore to enhance cross-border e-commerce service capabilities.

According to Jinshi Data, the People's Bank of China and eight other departments issued the "Opinions on Financial Support for Accelerating the Construction of the New Land-Sea Corridor in the West." The "Opinions" propose to explore international cooperation in digital finance.Support provinces (regions, municipalities) along the route to participate in the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge project, promoting the use of central bank digital currencies for cross-border payments with Thailand, Hong Kong, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and others. Support the exploration of a pilot program for cross-border payments using digital renminbi between the mainland and Singapore. Support provinces (regions, municipalities) along the route with conditions to build cross-border e-commerce digital service platforms, connecting with cross-border e-commerce and trade digital platform companies in countries like Singapore to enhance cross-border e-commerce service capabilities.

The Guangzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China has released recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for the national economic and social development of Guangzhou. It mentions accelerating the construction of a strong financial city. Build a modern financial service system that is compatible with the core engine functions of the Greater Bay Area and has a higher level of internationalization.Increase the intensity of reforms in the financial sector, build a complete chain of technology financial service systems, promote effective connections between green finance and transformation finance, improve the "toolbox" of financial support policies for small and micro enterprises, establish a provincial model for pension finance, and expand the application scenarios of digital renminbi. (Jinshi)

OpenMind and Circle announced a strategic partnership to jointly launch the world's first payment infrastructure aimed at autonomous intelligent agents and real-world embodied AI. By integrating the USDC stablecoin and OpenMind's x402 protocol module, this collaboration enables robots and AI agents to make direct payments for energy, services, and data in the physical world.Circle officially released a demonstration video on the X platform this week: robots can self-recharge without changing batteries and complete the entire payment process using USDC.The OpenMind team stated that this feature will be piloted in Silicon Valley, and in the future, it will provide a universal, convenient, and general on-chain payment solution for the widespread deployment of embodied intelligence, helping intelligent agents achieve long endurance and automated operation, gradually integrating into human daily life.