GM. Binance's Changpeng Zhao revealed at Davos he is advising 12 nations on tokenizing state assets to unlock massive national wealth.

Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin is moving to decentralized social media, Circle’s CEO forecasted stablecoin growth, and Saga Protocol suffered an exploit.

Here are the details as we wrap up Davos week. 👇

CZ Advises Governments On Tokenization At Davos Summit

Pardoned visionary Changpeng Zhao revealed he is currently advising 12 sovereign governments on the strategic tokenization of state-owned assets. The former Binance chief aims to unlock massive financial gains for these nations through advanced blockchain infrastructure.

The high-stakes announcement transpired on 22 January 2026 at the prestigious World Economic Forum summit held in Davos. Zhao addressed a panel of global elites as the crypto industry pivots from raw speculation toward institutional-grade utility.

Leadership engaged with diverse officials from Pakistan to Kyrgyzstan because tokenization allows countries to realize immediate capital dividends. These funds effectively bankroll critical industrial development by transforming stagnant physical commodities into hyper-liquid digital tokens onchain.

Zhao leverages his new YZi Labs venture to facilitate fractional ownership of real estate and national infrastructure for global investors. By implementing these sovereign pilots, governments circumvent traditional banking frictions while maintaining tight control over their domestic monetary sovereignty.

Vitalik Buterin Commits To Decentralized Social Platforms

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin announced his transition to decentralized social media for the 2026 season. His decision comes as the industry leaders Farcaster and Lens Protocol both changed ownership this week. Buterin argued that mass communication tools should prioritize long term user interests over speculative financial instruments or short term engagement.

Both protocols shifted leadership to infrastructure firms to focus on consumer grade execution and product utility. Farcaster was acquired by Neynar while Mask Network took over the stewardship of Lens Protocol on Tuesday. The original development teams plan to step away from daily operations to focus on building new wallet applications.

Circle CEO Forecasts High Annual Stablecoin Growth

Jeremy Allaire stated this Thursday in Davos that stablecoin adoption is accelerating across the global banking system. He described a 40% compound annual growth rate as a reasonable baseline for the industry moving forward. The Circle CEO claimed his firm has discussed deploying USDC with virtually every major bank for payments and settlement.

Regulators are currently debating how to structure incentives around these digital assets without draining traditional bank deposits. While the GENIUS Act prevents direct interest payments, third party platforms may still offer rewards to their users. Allaire noted that these assets are designed primarily as cash payment instruments rather than purely speculative investment vehicles.

Saga Protocol Pauses Network Following Major Exploit

The Saga Layer 1 project paused its SagaEVM chain on Wednesday after a security breach drained $7 million. An attacker executed unauthorized withdrawals of USDC and quickly converted the stolen funds into ether via cross chain bridges. Developers halted the network at block height 6593800 to prevent further losses while they finalize their technical investigation.

Project leaders confirmed that the broader SSC mainnet and core consensus layers remain unaffected by this incident. They are currently coordinating with exchanges and bridge operators to blacklist the address associated with the specific wallet address. This breach follows a wider trend of rising digital asset thefts which surpassed $3.41 billion during the 2025 calendar year.

Data of the day

Google search interest for the Polymarket platform reached a record score of 100 during the month of January. This surge in public attention even exceeded the peak levels recorded during the high stakes 2024 election cycle. Users are increasingly treating Polymarket as the primary infrastructure for real time information and global geopolitical forecasting.

The platform processed a record $800 million in trading volume last Sunday as speculation surrounding Greenland acquisition odds peaked. Meanwhile, generic searches for prediction markets declined by 60% as the brand established itself as the category leader. Competitors like Kalshi also saw elevated interest levels despite a slight monthly decline from their previous baseline.

More breaking news

• President Donald Trump filed a $5 billion lawsuit against JPMorgan, alleging the bank meritlessly debanked him and his companies for political reasons.

• The ruble-linked A7A5 stablecoin processed over $100 billion in transactions before Western sanctions significantly reduced its liquidity and access to major exchanges.

• Onchain lending protocol USD AI approved a $500 million loan for Sharon AI, allowing the Australian startup to expand by using tokenized GPUs as collateral.

• Thailand’s SEC unveiled a three-year plan to introduce crypto ETFs and tokenization frameworks, aiming to transform the nation into a sophisticated institutional venue.

• Chainlink acquired transaction ordering tool Atlas to accelerate its value recapture system, helping DeFi protocols reclaim millions in otherwise lost liquidation revenue.

• Valeo and Natix partnered to build an open-source DePIN AI camera model designed to teach autonomous vehicles and robots how to predict real-world motion.

• Justin Sun invested $8 million in DeFi project River as analysts warned that extreme leverage and funding rates were driving the token's volatility.

For the latest updates on digital asset markets, follow us on X @Datawalletcom.

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