U.S. Market Close 01/28/2026

DOW 30  +0.02%  +12.19  49,015.60

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NASDAQ 100  +0.32%  +83.05  26,022.79

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Largest U.S. crypto exchange announces support for Trump Accounts

The largest crypto exchange in the United States has found a new way to show up in Washington’s evolving financial agenda.

Not through lobbying, lawsuits or health drinks, but this time through employee benefits.

Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong revealed on Jan. 28 that Coinbase will match government contributions to Trump Accounts for eligible children of its employees, aligning the company with a fast-growing initiative backed by Donald Trump.

Coinbase joins Trump-backed accounts program

In a post on X, Armstrong said Coinbase is “proud to join” Trump’s initiative by matching the $1,000 seed deposit provided by the U.S. Treasury for eligible children of Coinbase employees.

Read more at The Street

CFPB receives funding for continued operations: by Alan S. Kaplinsky, John L. Culhane, Jr. & Richard J. Andreano, Jr.

The CFPB has received the funding it requested from the Federal Reserve, according to a January 15 letter submitted by the Justice Department to the court in the lawsuit filed against the CFPB by the National Treasury Employees Union.

On January 9, CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought notified Judge Amy Berman Jackson that, in response to her December 30, 2025 opinion in National Treasury Employees Union v. CFPB (DDC), he had requested $145 Million from the Federal Reserve Board to operate the CFPB from January through March of this year.

When he requested the funds, Vought made it clear that he made the request despite his disagreement with Judge Jackson’s opinion. We don’t know how the CFPB will deploy the funds it has received.  

Earlier this year, Jackson issued an injunction prohibiting the Administration from firing more than 1,400 employees and taking certain other actions at the CFPB. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dissolved the injunction but withheld its mandate in the case.

Read more at Ballard Spahr L.L.P.

White House Summons Coinbase, Banks to Hash Out Crypto Bill

Lobbying groups and executives representing the banking and crypto industries are planning to meet at the White House on Monday as tempers flare over a contentious piece of digital-asset legislation.

The proposed meeting comes after Coinbase Global Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong publicly withdrew his support for a key draft of a long-awaited bill that would reshape crypto market structure.

A compromise that would revive the proposal still hasn’t been hammered out despite nearly two weeks of subsequent negotiations, according to a person familiar with the discussions who asked not to be named sharing private conversations.

Next week’s meeting could be delayed if no agreement is reached by then, according to people familiar with the plans who were not authorized to speak on the record.

Read more at BLOOMBERG

U.S. fintech could gain as Trump pushes affordability agenda, Citi says

U.S. fintech stocks could gain an edge as Washington leans into a more populist, affordability-driven agenda ahead of ​the November 2026 midterm elections, analysts at Citigroup said in a ‌note.

President Donald Trump's latest policy push is prompting investors to reassess parts of the financial ‌sector, with his emphasis on affordability potentially opening the door for fintech challengers instead of traditional lenders, the brokerage said.

Companies tied to consumer-friendly credit and small-business services, including buy-now, pay-later providers Affirm and Klarna, and fintech firms SoFi ⁠and Block, are among ‌the best positioned to benefit, the bank said. Citi also flagged restaurant technology platform Toast and e-commerce firm Shopify as ‍potential winners.

Traditional lenders rallied after Trump's return to the White House in 2025 on expectations of a lighter regulatory touch, but his emphasis on affordability could shift the spotlight ​toward fintech challengers, the note said.

Read more at YAHOO FINANCE

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Have IRS Fresh Start program qualifications changed in 2026? Here's what to know.

We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms.

As taxpayers gear up to file their 2025 returns, questions about Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax relief options are likely to start surging. After all, there are a lot of economic hardships looming right now, which could make it tough for cash-strapped taxpayers to find the money for their tax bills. And, with recent tax legislation reshaping the federal landscape and annual inflation adjustments modifying key thresholds, those who are already carrying unpaid tax debt may be wondering whether the IRS Fresh Start program has changed in meaningful ways for 2026. 

The confusion around Fresh Start is understandable. Since its introduction, the program has been frequently misunderstood as a single application rather than a collection of IRS policies designed to make tax debt resolution more accessible. Adding to the complexity, this year brings several tax changes that could influence how the IRS evaluates relief applications. These changes, which impact the standard deductions available for married couples filing jointly, single filers and qualifying taxpayers age 65 and older, can play a role in how the IRS calculates your ability to pay back taxes. 

Read more at CBS NEWS

Embedded lending is reshaping consumer finance—here’s how credit unions can lead the charge

The way consumers borrow is changing, and it’s happening faster than most of us realize. Financing is no longer a separate step in the buying process. It’s becoming embedded, invisible, and instantaneous. This shift isn’t just a technological evolution; it’s a strategic opportunity for credit unions to redefine their role in the financial lives of their members.

Embedded lending refers to the integration of financing directly into the consumer’s shopping experience. Whether it’s purchasing a car, remodeling a kitchen, or making a large retail investment, consumers increasingly expect to access financing options at the point of sale—without friction, paperwork, or delay. The experience should be seamless, available 24/7, and tailored to the moment of need.

This transformation is being driven by what we’ve referred to as the “Amazon effect” these last few years. Consumers now expect financial services to anticipate their needs, not just respond to them. They want decisions in seconds, not days. They want to shop and finance in one fluid motion, and they want it all to happen on their terms—whether that’s at 2 a.m. on a Friday or during a lunch break at work.

Read more at CUInsight

Questions and answers about the new deduction for qualified overtime compensation: IRS

FS-2026-01, January 2026

This Fact Sheet provides answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the new deduction for qualified overtime compensation, such as who may be eligible to claim the deduction, including federal employees, and where to find supplemental information on eligibility and other rules.

These FAQs are being issued to provide general information to taxpayers and tax professionals as expeditiously as possible. Accordingly, these FAQs may not address any particular taxpayer’s specific facts and circumstances, and they may be updated or modified upon further review. Because these FAQs have not been published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin, they will not be relied on or used by the IRS to resolve a case. Similarly, if an FAQ turns out to be an inaccurate statement of the law as applied to a particular taxpayer’s case, the law will control the taxpayer’s tax liability. Nonetheless, a taxpayer who reasonably and in good faith relies on these FAQs will not be subject to a penalty that provides a reasonable cause standard for relief, including a negligence penalty or other accuracy-related penalty, to the extent that reliance results in an underpayment of tax. Any later updates or modifications to these FAQs will be dated to enable taxpayers to confirm the date on which any changes to the FAQs were made. Additionally, prior versions of these FAQs will be maintained on IRS.gov to ensure that taxpayers, who may have relied on a prior version, can locate that version if they later need to do so.

Read more at IRS.GOV

Keeping Up with the Most Dangerous Fraud Trends of 2026

As technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, so do the scams criminals use to prey on unwitting victims. The new 2026 Fraud Management Trends report from Javelin Strategy & Research focuses on three schemes to watch for in the coming year and beyond. The schemes involve money mules, agentic bots, and phantom hackers.

Suzanne Sando, Javelin’s Lead Analyst in Fraud Management and a co-author of the report, hopes the study will prompt financial institutions to get in front of these scams before they get worse. But she is not optimistic. “We’re not going to see a dip in fraud and scam losses next year,” she said, “because I don’t think that we’re doing enough at all.”

The Changing Face of the Money Mule

There are multiple kinds of money mules. Some are 100% in on the scheme, while others may be turning a blind eye but suspect that what they are doing is not right. Some are scam victims who have been persuaded to complete a peer-to-peer transfer without getting paid for it. They don’t actually know that what they’re doing is a crime.

Read more at Payments Journal

When Can Payments Trust AI?

Banks are no strangers to artificial intelligence. For years, machine learning and deep learning models have quietly powered fraud detection, transaction monitoring, and risk analysis. But the industry is now approaching a more consequential shift: agentic AI—systems that don’t just analyze data, but can act on it. With that shift comes a fundamental question about how much authority banks are prepared to give to machines.

Trust sits at the center of the debate. Is AI ready to be trusted with decisions that carry financial and regulatory consequences? That question was featured prominently in a recent conversation between Deepak Gupta, Chief Product Engineering and Delivery Officer at Volante, and Christopher Miller, Lead Analyst of Emerging Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research. And if the answer today is “not yet,” what needs to change for banks to get there?

Read more at Payments Journal

The FTC’s 20-Year-Consent-Order Policy Is Burdensome and Unfair

When a business under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission settles a consumer protection dispute, it signs a consent order that is entered administratively by the FTC or judicially by a federal court. Administrative orders expire after 20 years, but federal court orders bind companies in perpetuity.

The FTC hasn’t revisited its stance consent order duration since announcing it in 1995. More than 30 years later, it’s time to do so.

Decades-long orders needlessly burden legitimate business operations and hinder innovation.

Other federal agencies issue consent orders that have a far shorter lifespan. According to our review of public statements:

86% of Consumer Protection Financial Bureau orders issued from May 2023 to May 2025 will terminate after five years, with some containing carveouts for certain provisions. Five percent of CFPB orders from that period will terminate after seven or 10 years.

Read more at BLOOMBERG LAW

Nonbank Consumer, Auto, And Mortgage Lending Sector View 2026: Resilience Amid Pressures

Key Takeaways

• S&P Global Ratings has a stable sector view on U.S. nonbank consumer, auto, and mortgage lenders for 2026.
• Nonbank consumer lenders could face challenges this year from the expected softer labor market. Still, we forecast demand to remain resilient and consumer lenders’ profitability and delinquencies to somewhat improve.
• Rising household strain could push up delinquencies and net charge‑offs for nonbank auto lenders, particularly those more exposed to subprime borrowers.
• While affordability constraints will still weigh on nonbank residential mortgage originators this year, we expect easing rates to start boosting origination volumes and that refinancing activity will play a larger role in 2026.

S&P Global Ratings expects its ratings on most U.S. nonbank consumer, auto, and mortgage lenders to remain stable in 2026, despite a still challenging operating environment marked by softer labor conditions, elevated loss trends, and affordability pressures. Approximately 89% of our ratings have a stable outlook, while 11% have positive ones, supported by company‑specific drivers and favorable dynamics in certain segments.

Read more at S&P Global

How Merchants Can Tap Into Support from the World’s Largest Payments Ecosystem

With increasing fraud and heightened customer expectations, merchants need a payment solution they can trust. Giving them the tools to accept digital payments can help them compete in today’s complex payment ecosystem.

This is the market Visa has addressed with the recent reimagining of its well-established Authorize.net platform, one of the most trusted payment gateways for businesses. Authorize.net—already with nearly half a million users and processing $200 billion in annual payment volume—has received a substantial upgrade, giving payment technology partners a powerful tool they can use to become a trusted partner for their merchants.

See the Benefits 

Authorize.net’s upgraded platform has launched in the U.S., with more countries to follow, and it brings a bevy of benefits to businesses with simple payment needs. These include an enhanced user interface and improved dashboards for day-to-day operations. It will also support both in-person card readers and tap-to-phone technology.

Read more at Payments Journal

Contact Chuck.Sockol@mcrc.biz to discuss your recovery needs

Questions and answers about Executive Order 14247: Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account: IRS

These updated questions and answers were released to the public in FS-2026-02 PDF, Jan. 27, 2026.

These FAQs are being issued to provide general information to taxpayers and tax professionals as expeditiously as possible. Accordingly, these FAQs may not address any particular taxpayer’s specific facts and circumstances, and they may be updated or modified upon further review. Because these FAQs have not been published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin, they will not be relied on or used by the IRS to resolve a case. Similarly, if an FAQ turns out to be an inaccurate statement of the law as applied to a particular taxpayer’s case, the law will control the taxpayer’s tax liability. Nonetheless, a taxpayer who reasonably and in good faith relies on these FAQs will not be subject to a penalty that provides a reasonable cause standard for relief, including a negligence penalty or other accuracy-related penalty, to the extent that reliance results in an underpayment of tax. Any later updates or modifications to these FAQs will be dated to enable taxpayers to confirm the date on which any changes to the FAQs were made. Additionally, prior versions of these FAQs will be maintained on IRS.gov to ensure that taxpayers, who may have relied on a prior version, can locate that version if they later need to do so.

Read more at IRS.GOV

IRS watchdog says some taxpayers could see ‘greater challenges’ during 2026 filing season

Key Points

• As tax season opens, the IRS’ internal watchdog warns that certain taxpayers could have problems in 2026.
• Processing could be smooth for taxpayers who file an electronic, error-free return with direct deposit for refunds.
• However, filers with issues may experience “greater challenges” amid IRS staffing cuts, the national taxpayer advocate said Wednesday.

As tax season opens and the IRS prepares for millions of returns, the agency’s internal watchdog warns that certain taxpayers could have problems in 2026.

While the 2025 filing season was generally a “smooth experience,” the current year could present “greater challenges” for some filers, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins said Wednesday in her annual report to Congress.

Read more at CNBC

We advise financial technology companies at the

start-up, product development, and product evolution stages. PS

The FTC’s 20-Year-Consent-Order Policy Is Burdensome and Unfair

When a business under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission settles a consumer protection dispute, it signs a consent order that is entered administratively by the FTC or judicially by a federal court. Administrative orders expire after 20 years, but federal court orders bind companies in perpetuity.

The FTC hasn’t revisited its stance consent order duration since announcing it in 1995. More than 30 years later, it’s time to do so.

Decades-long orders needlessly burden legitimate business operations and hinder innovation.

Other federal agencies issue consent orders that have a far shorter lifespan. According to our review of public statements:

86% of Consumer Protection Financial Bureau orders issued from May 2023 to May 2025 will terminate after five years, with some containing carveouts for certain provisions. Five percent of CFPB orders from that period will terminate after seven or 10 years.

Read more at BLOOMBERG LAW

The major trends shaping the future of Know Your Customer compliance

The rise of Straight-Through Processing

One of the biggest trends in KYC is the rising popularity of Straight-Through Processing (STP) via the use of Agentic AI. STP is the end-to-end automation of workflows to remove all manual breakpoints. In onboarding, this lowers the instances where a human is required for verification.

While there have been several automation improvements to onboarding, they have lacked the ability to perform more complex decision making. However, Agentic AI is a game-changer.

Unlike other solutions, these agents can understand information in their environment, whether it is client input, regulatory databases or APIs. They are also capable of interpreting information, planning next steps and making context-based decisions. Additionally, they can perform actions, such as triggering workflows, calling APIs or querying additional data sources, and operate independently through defined rules, constraints and safety boundaries without human direction.

Read more at FINTECH GLOBAL

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House Financial Services subcommittee weighs in on fintech innovation: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

On January 14, the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence held a hearing examining the current financial technology landscape and how these products fit within the U.S. financial system and regulatory framework. Subcommittee Chair Bryan Steil (R-WI) emphasized that fintech products should have clear legal pathways for operations as well as strong consumer protections. Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-AR) stated that regulators should foster partnerships, unlock innovation, and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, while Rep. Troy Downing (R-MO) highlighted the need for clarity from regulators — calling for clear frameworks rather than enforcement by action.

Read more at JD Supra, LLC

Fintech sector to continue recovery in 2026, Israeli venture firm says

JERUSALEM, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The global financial technology sector will continue to mature in 2026 after recovering sharply in 2025 from a three-year downturn, Israeli technology investment group Viola Ventures said in a report on Tuesday.

In its 2026 State of FinTech report, Viola said the sector was entering a new chapter with stronger founders and more durable business models.

Israeli fintech companies raised about $1.4 billion in 2025, broadly steady compared with 2023 and 2024. In total, Israeli tech startups raised nearly $16 billion last year.

But the value of merger and acquisition deals in Israeli fintech rose in 2025 to $5.8 billion from $1.2 billion in 2024, led by Xero's $3 billion purchase of Melio and Munich Re's $2.6 billion acquisition of Next Insurance.

"The recovery underway is not a return to the excesses of the prior cycle, but the beginning of a more disciplined, more efficient, and more durable ecosystem entering its next growth phase," said Viola, one of Israel's biggest venture firms.

Read more at REUTERS

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Tax refunds are expected to be huge this year.

Tax refunds are expected to be huge this year, so many Americans may want to know the fastest way to get their hands on theirs is by free, electronic direct deposit.

Every year, tax refunds mark the biggest payday of the year for millions of Americans. Typically, 75% of Americans receive refunds each year. The average refund in 2025 was $2,939, IRS data showed. This year, refunds could be as much as 30% more due to new provisions from President Donald Trump's mega tax and spending bill, according to James Knightley,chief international economist at Dutch bank ING.

Nine out of 10 taxpayers already receive their refunds through direct deposit, but the IRS wants to push that number higher because it's the fastest and safest way to receive government payments. The IRS started phasing out paper checks for individual taxpayers last Sept. 30.

Read more at USA TODAY

Addressing the US Affordability Crisis – Signal Versus Reality

The Trump administration has announced a range of measures aimed at addressing affordability in the run up to this year’s midterm elections including housing, healthcare and consumer finances. In our view, these initiatives are unlikely to materially alter the near-term inflation outlook

• President Trump has announced affordability-focused initiatives spanning housing, trade, healthcare, energy, and consumer finance.
• The majority of proposals appear to function primarily as policy signaling and could face significant legislative hurdles.
• Most of the proposed policies would be unlikely to materially weigh on inflation in the near term. By contrast, some initiatives, especially in housing or $2k “tariff dividends,” could pose upside risks to inflation by boosting demand.

The Trump administration has announced a range of measures aimed at addressing affordability in the run up to this year’s midterm elections. The administration has proposed initiatives related to housing, trade, healthcare, utilities, and consumer finances.

The Trump administration has announced a range of measures aimed at addressing affordability in the run up to this year’s midterm elections. The administration has proposed initiatives related to housing, trade, healthcare, utilities, and consumer finances.

Read more at Nomura Holdings, Inc.

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