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The cryptocurrency market is entering a high-stakes phase, defined by institutional growth and major regulatory developments.
Recent news highlights a historic joint harmonization effort between the SEC and CFTC, aimed at making the United States a global crypto hub. This wave of regulatory clarity is generating strong activity on CoinMarketCap, where several projects are dominating the trending charts.
These five hottest coins, including some of the best cryptocurrencies under $1, represent the forefront of 2026 innovation, offering investors a glimpse into the next generation of interoperability and decentralized intelligence.
US crypto regulations intensify as SEC, CFTC plan joint talks
Efforts to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world” are reaching fever pitch, with a historic joint event planned for January 27.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig will lead a rare public discussion on regulatory harmonization, signaling a strategic shift toward a unified framework for digital assets.
THE @CFTC And @SECGov let’s work together to achieve @POTUS President Trump’s vision to make the United States the crypto capital of the world.
Join @SECPaulSAtkins and I for a special event at CFTC headquarters, where we will share our plan for American financial leadership in the crypto age.
– Mike Selig (@ChairmanSelig) January 23, 2026
Chairman Selig confirmed that these efforts are intended to ensure that American innovation thrives under a clear, unfragmented oversight model.
This dynamic at the executive level, however, contrasts with a complex legislative landscape in Congress. The CLARITY Act remains the industry’s main hope for a permanent market structure, but progress has recently stalled.
After releasing a draft that drew industry criticism, the Senate Banking Committee unexpectedly postponed its markup session and shifted its immediate focus to other legislative priorities.
In response, the Senate Agriculture Committee released its own partisan plan and scheduled an increase on the same day as the SEC-CFTC negotiations.
Meanwhile, White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt is actively lobbying Senate Democrats to close the gap. He notes that the current bill is 80 percent identical to the version that previously gained broad support from prominent Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi.
Although some analysts don’t expect the bill to move forward until March, the growing sense of regulatory clarity is already driving massive market engagement.
5 Best Cryptocurrencies to Watch in 2026
On CoinMarketCap, the trend charts are dominated by certain cryptocurrencies as investors focus on the next generation of interoperable and decentralized intelligence.
YouTube channel Cryptonews offers an overview of these trending assets, showing how they are not only topping the charts but also fundamentally reshaping the future of decentralized finance in the 2026 bull market.
Roll
RollX (ROLL) is a core native decentralized trading platform designed to deliver centralized exchange-level performance while preserving the fundamentals of decentralized finance.
The project operates as a decentralized exchange (DEX) and aims to become the on-chain equivalent of high-performance global trading platforms.
RollX is evolving from an Oracle-based permissionless perpetual system to a hyperliquid-style central limit order book, positioning it for the next phase of on-chain finance.
While several perpetual DEXs have struggled over the past few cycles, RollX has shown notable strength, gaining around 29% over the past week and posting positive performance year-to-date.
The project also recently obtained a listing on CoinMarketCap, increasing its visibility. Marketed as a “perpetual layer for on-chain finance,” RollX supports trading with up to 1,000x leverage and currently ranks among the trending projects in the crypto market.
HiElsa (ELSA)
HeyElsa (ELSA) is an AI-powered agentic layer for decentralized finance, designed to simplify complex blockchain workflows and transform them into self-sustaining revenue streams.
Positioned as a personal crypto co-pilot, the platform allows users to discover, stake, lend, borrow, trade and link tokens seamlessly across multiple blockchain ecosystems. The project stands out for its unique approach to integrating artificial intelligence with DeFi automation.
Over the past 24 hours, ELSA has surged by around 45%, with trading volume jumping over 1,400%, signaling growing market attention. HeyElsa already supports over 900,000 wallets, has processed over 18.7 million AI prompts, and facilitated over $439 million in trading volume.
With features like automated wallet creation and effortless transactions, HeyElsa is emerging as one of the most compelling DeFi cryptocurrencies currently gaining traction.
Sensitive (SENT)
Sentient (SENT) is developing the first open, community-based AGI platform, an open-source intelligent network designed to compete with and complement closed systems like those of OpenAI.
The project aims to create a collaborative ecosystem for artificial general intelligence, with a focus on transparency and community involvement in AI development.
Although the concept presents an ambitious vision for open source AGI, it is currently attracting cautious attention from the broader market.
Owlto Finance (OWL)
Owlto Finance (OWL) is an AI-powered interoperability protocol designed to enable fast, low-cost, and secure cross-chain transfers and executions. The platform aims to increase liquidity and drive adoption of native tokens, stablecoins and real-world asset ecosystems.
Over the past week, OWL has seen a significant increase in trading volume, increasing by 96%, although its price has fallen by 7.57%.
Positioned as a decentralized exchange platform, Owlto Finance combines AI-powered features with cross-chain capabilities, making it a notable project in the evolving DeFi landscape.
Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER)
Bitcoin Hyper allows developers to run high-performance applications on the Bitcoin network. It functions as a Layer 2 chain that uses SVM for fast execution while relying on the strong security of Bitcoin. This setup allows decentralized applications (dApps) to run quickly while remaining connected to the $1 trillion Bitcoin network.
Decentralized social media platforms fit perfectly into this ecosystem. By building on Bitcoin, they benefit from strong protection against censorship and a foundation of financial sovereignty. User social activity is secured by the same principles that make Bitcoin a globally trusted and unhackable asset.
Since Bitcoin cannot store large amounts of data such as posts or videos on the main chain, it acts as a settlement layer while decentralized storage systems such as IPFS or Arweave manage the content. However, these storage solutions do not provide a built-in way to verify social identities or overall account balances.
No need to worry about me.
Just here to make Bitcoin faster. 🚀⚡️ pic.twitter.com/gbFxWFHsGw
– Bitcoin Hyper (@BTC_Hyper2) January 23, 2026
Bitcoin Hyper solves this problem. Using Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs, it connects social activity to the Bitcoin blockchain, making digital identities secure, verifiable, and portable between applications in the ecosystem without changing Bitcoin’s core code.
The ecosystem uses a dual coin model. BTC acts as the primary currency, while $HYPER covers gas fees and powers transactions. $HYPER also secures the network through staking and serves as a governance token.
Early investors purchase $HYPER to participate in the growth of the project. The presale raised nearly $31 million, of which $HYPER is currently available at $0.013625 for new investors. For those interested in acquiring $HYPER, here is a guide on how to buy Bitcoin Hyper.
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