Thank you to everyone who subscribes and reposts. It has been one year since this newsletter was published.
The new season of Fallout on Amazon Prime is here and we hope to see it in Vault 12 this season. Since we’re all super fans, here’s the following to celebrate: Promo Code: FALLOUT26.
As we move deeper into 2026, ‘Preparing for the future, opening up the cryptocurrency market’ will be the motto. But first, let’s take a look at what happened in the long month of January.
***Key Highlights: This Week Fireside chat with SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins and CFTC Chairman Michael S. Seligwas held in Washington, D.C., and both pledged to advance guidance and rulemaking for the industry in parallel with passage of a market structure bill into law. This is very important news because it ensures that SEC/CFTC guidance and rulemaking can be accomplished without the delay of slings, arrows, and political maneuvering. ***
Regulatory clarity requirements: Congress and regulators are working to reduce ambiguity around token classification. Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill Look for specific definitions of utility/network tokens and security tokens. Clearer definitions reduce legal risks for issuers and exchanges.
SEC and CFTC roles: Future rules will likely reflect coordinated thinking from the SEC/CFTC. SEC focuses on traditional securities functions CFTC for Commodity/Utility Tokens — although statutory law may ultimately determine the boundaries.
Inheritance and custody implications: Classification affects how tokens are handled in estate planning, storage, and compliance. This is because security tokens carry more stringent regulatory baggage that impacts transferability and fiduciary obligations.
US cryptocurrency market structure bill movement
The final week of January saw decisive momentum (and friction) around landmarks. Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill It aims to define how digital assets are regulated in the United States.
Progress and contents:
US Senate The Agriculture Committee promoted the ‘Digital Product Intermediaries Act’.– Legislation providing for: Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Provides clear powers for digital goods markets, defines digital goods intermediaries, and strengthens consumer protection and registration frameworks.
The updated text of the bill consolidates multiple definitions of digital assets and strengthens: Joint Rulemaking Responsibilities of the SEC and CFTC Key market rules (e.g. exchanges, intermediaries, delisting processes)
Despite this progress, the bill faces challenges. partisan division And a broader hurdle: The Senate Agriculture Committee passed the bill largely along party lines without bipartisan support, and negotiations continue with the CLARITY bill passed by the Senate Banking Committee and the House to reconcile the conflicting visions.
SEC and CFTC Joint Fireside Chat — Regulatory Harmonization
Notable regulatory events this month include: Joint public session with SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins and CFTC Chairman Michael S. SeligHeld in Washington DC, it focuses on harmonizing supervision of cryptocurrency markets.
Highlights of the conversation:
Interagency coordination is a priority. Both chairs emphasized working together to eliminate confusing and overlapping jurisdictional silos for market participants.
Alignment with broader U.S. policy goals: They thought harmony was very important. Making America the Crypto Capital of the WorldConsistent with the administration’s strategic vision.
Collaborative future rulemaking: The fireside chat and previous remarks suggested the agencies would pursue and potentially formalize coordinated rulemaking. memorandum of understanding Simplifies cryptocurrency oversight pending further legislation.
Messages from both regulators also indicate a shift in regulation towards clarity and growth-oriented frameworks rather than purely enforcement-focused models.
January 2026 Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill Draft We are moving towards formal terms such as: “Network Token”It is essentially a type of utility token. It is defined as a digital asset. It primarily supports the operation, security, or utility of decentralized networks.Without specifying a monetary claim against the issuer. Tokens that meet these criteria are explicitly Not treated as securities Under federal securities laws.
Previous CFTC working group proposal (Not yet final rule) describes a utility token as: Delivers non-collateral utility out of the box.Access to services, discounts, special access, governance/voting or other built-in benefits directly tied to the functionality of the token – not future monetary returns.
Key takeaways:
Utility (or network) tokens are: Access and features — Not a return on investment. If the primary purpose of the token is: Grant permission or network participation It is consistent with the definition of utility/network tokens under the new regulatory language, without promising any profits from the token itself.
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UK Inheritance Tax Guidelines:
Legal status of digital assets within the estate:
under Property (Digital Assets, etc.) Act 2025 In the UK, digital assets are now officially recognized as: personal property — Reinforces that crypto tokens and related rights can be included in wills and probate proceedings in the same way as physical property.
Industry concerns about inheritance risk:
The commentary and report highlighted: Millions of dollars in cryptocurrency assets are at risk of being lost. Poor estate planning, lost keys, and trustees unfamiliar with digital asset mechanisms are evidence that practical estate planning is still catching up with legal recognition.
Let us know if you have a favorite exchange that should use Vault12 to power inheritance for their customers (less than $1 per day). Don’t forget to send a message to your cryptocurrency platform provider recommending Vault12.
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The Vault12 engineering team has created the following new open source releases: Electronic Web Authentication-Macis a native WebAuthn/Passkey implementation for Electron apps on macOS that ports Apple’s platform authenticators (Touch ID and iCloud Keychain) and passes cross-device secret key flow directly within Electron-based desktop applications. Learn more.
Check out the 2025 summary here: https://2025.vault12.com/
The Vault12 engineering team has released a new plugin for Capacitor, a cross-platform development environment that gives app developers the ability to create quantum-safe data stores using Shamir’s secret shares. This plugin is tried and tested and has been used within Vault12 Guard for many years. Learn more.
Vault12 Guard now supports the new Credential Exchange Protocol (CXP) just released on Apple iPhone.. Now populate Vault with your Apple passwords on iOS 26 and macOS 26 or passwords from another password manager. If you lose your device or get locked out of your account, you can import your secrets directly into Vault and restore them back to your password manager. Back up your password now.
New optimizations and bug fixes deliver faster, smoother performance.
All product updates | release notes | Vault12 Guard iOS | Vault12 Guard Android
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