Australia Regulates, Axie Reinvents, Big Token Unlocks

Welcome to our Crypto news in 10, a daily podcast bringing you the latest news about crypto in under 10 minutes.

It’s Sunday, January 18. Here’s your quick tour through five crypto stories that matter today.

Australia just laid out one of the clearest road maps yet for licensing digital-asset platforms — big implications for custody and tokenization.

Two giant token unlocks hit the market today, led by Ondo Finance, with traders bracing for volatility.

In GameFi, Axie Infinity rolled out a new, non tradable bAXS reward token and tightened emissions — and the market noticed.

Meanwhile, prices are calm into the weekend, with Bitcoin consolidating around ninety five thousand after a mid week pop.

And looking ahead, BitGo is set to kick off the 2026 crypto IPO calendar as early as next week.

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Let’s start in Australia, where a proposed Digital Assets Bill is getting serious attention from exchanges and token platforms. The framework would bring crypto platforms into the existing financial regime — most venues handling Bitcoin, Ether, and similar non financial product tokens would need an Australian Financial Services Licence, and they would have to hold customer assets in trust.

If a platform offers even one financial product, it may need a full Australian market licence — think stock exchange obligations. There is transitional relief for stablecoin issuers into mid 2028, but the direction is clear: stronger conduct rules, stricter segregation of client assets, and accountability under the Corporations Act.

Policymakers and industry are still debating the details, but the message is simple — get licensed or get left out. That is a big signal from a G twenty market about how token platforms will be supervised.

Story two — unlocks day. Ondo Finance, a real world asset tokenization player, has a major cliff unlock today: about one point nine four billion ONDO — around nineteen percent of total supply, and roughly fifty seven percent of the current circulating supply, depending on the data source.

Traders have been flagging this all week as a potential volatility catalyst because the unlock meaningfully expands the liquid float. Trackers and exchange notices have pegged the notional value in the hundreds of millions of dollars… context that has kept derivatives funding cautious into the weekend.

Also unlocking today: fifty million TRUMP tokens — another sizable event on watch lists. If you are positioned around either asset, keep an eye on depth and slippage in the hours around the release.

Third — Axie Infinity shook up GameFi tokenomics, and the A X S token jumped in response. The team halted S L P emissions in Origins earlier this month to curb bot farming and inflation, and introduced bAXS — a non tradable, account bound reward token backed one to one by A X S for use inside the ecosystem.

The goal is to reduce immediate sell pressure while still rewarding gameplay. Today’s price action suggests the move landed — A X S was among the day’s biggest gainers, and sector peers like the R O N token and the S A N D token also caught a bid as traders rotated into gaming names.

If you have been waiting for a fundamental lever in GameFi beyond hype, this is one: rewards that cannot be instantly dumped… forcing longer engagement and potentially healthier sinks and sources. It is early — execution matters — but markets are voting with their feet today.

A quick tangent for the traders among you: some derivative venues even listed fresh perpetuals tied to gaming tokens this weekend, extending the ways to hedge or express a view around these tokenomic shifts. That is part of a broader theme we have seen for months — on chain perpetuals getting deeper and more granular — but today the spotlight is squarely on the Axie changes and the follow through in price.

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Story four — market check. After a choppy stretch, Bitcoin is fairly calm into Sunday, consolidating near the ninety five thousand level and keeping the total crypto market value around three point two two trillion.

Earlier in the week we saw an eight week high as Bitcoin flirted with ninety seven thousand before easing back — a better macro tone and renewed institutional interest helped the move. The takeaway today: spot flows are steady, implied volatility is subdued versus last quarter’s spike, and the market is digesting token specific catalysts like unlocks and protocol news rather than a single macro headline.

If you are setting levels for the week, watch how Bitcoin behaves on retests of the mid ninety range… and whether Ether can keep the three thousand plus handle as liquidity thins into the U S holiday weekend.

Fifth — looking ahead to the first crypto IPO of 2026. BitGo — the long running digital asset custody and wallet provider — is aiming to price its offering as soon as the coming week. The filing points to about one hundred ninety million dollars raised at around a two billion dollar valuation, with proceeds earmarked to grow trading, staking, and institutional services.

BitGo posted solid profitability in 2024 and momentum through 2025 — rare air in crypto infrastructure. If the deal goes smoothly, it sets the tone for other pipeline names waiting to see how public markets value cash flowing crypto businesses after the ETF approvals and the late 2025 drawdown. It is not just a ticker story — it is a referendum on demand for regulated, fee generating picks and shovels exposure.

Quick refresh before we wrap…

Australia’s proposed rules would make exchanges play by mainstream financial market standards — licences, client asset trusts, and clearer lines around what requires a full market licence.

Big supply events are hitting the tape today — Ondo and TRUMP — so expect pockets of volatility. GameFi got a real tokenomics test as Axie moved rewards to non tradable bAXS and clamped S L P emissions… markets rewarded the pivot.

Prices overall are steady, with Bitcoin hovering near ninety five thousand after mid week strength. And BitGo is queued up to open the 2026 crypto IPO window — an important signal for how public markets are pricing crypto infrastructure this year. We will keep you posted as each of these plays out.

Thanks for listening and see you tommorow!