Blockchain & Web3 Weekly Bytes Edition #94

💳 Morgan Stanley Wallet, Senate Crypto Vote, Money as Code

Jan 10, 2026

Hello Blockchain Enthusiast,

Welcome back to the first edition of the new year. This week picks up right where the year left off. Morgan Stanley confirmed plans for a proprietary crypto wallet. Senate committees scheduled January votes on market structure. Major banks expanded tokenized cash for payments and collateral. At the same time, Bitcoin ownership data showed who accumulated quietly during 2025.

TLDR – This Week at a Glance:

Morgan Stanley confirms plans for a proprietary digital wallet alongside recent crypto ETF filings
U.S. Senate committees set January hearings to vote on a broad crypto market structure bill
Major banks expand tokenized deposit and settlement services for payments and collateral
Tech Spotlight: Money as Code explained through live financial use cases
Chart of the Week: $40B in Bitcoin accumulated by the 21 largest holders during 2025
Affiliate Spotlight: Trezor hardware wallets for long-term self-custody

🧠 Weekly Trivia

In decentralized storage networks like IPFS, what does a content identifier (CID) actually represent?

A) The physical location of a file
B) A hash of the file’s contents
C) The wallet address that uploaded the file
D) The node that first stored the file

*Answer revealed at the end 👇

📰 This Week’s Blockchain and Web3 Highlights

Morgan Stanley signals wallet rollout as ETF filings advance: Morgan Stanley confirmed plans to introduce a proprietary digital wallet later this year, following recent filings tied to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana exchange-traded products.

Senate committees schedule January vote on crypto market structure: Two U.S. Senate committees set January 15 hearings to mark up a long-debated bill on crypto market structure.

BNY Mellon activates tokenized deposits for payments and collateral: BNY Mellon launched a tokenized deposit service for a small group of institutional clients, enabling on-chain payments and collateral movement.

Barclays backs Ubyx to build stablecoin settlement rails: The firm raised roughly $748 million, lifting cash holdings to $2.19 billion. Analysts note the move improves liquidity and operating flexibility amid market uncertainty.

ARK’s Cathie Wood raises national Bitcoin reserve discussion: Cathie Wood suggested Bitcoin accumulation could enter U.S. policy discussions, framing crypto ownership as a topic with growing political relevance ahead of upcoming elections.

Fireblocks adds crypto accounting layer with TRES acquisition: Fireblocks acquired crypto accounting firm TRES, bringing audit-ready financial reporting directly into its custody and transaction stack as institutions seek tighter operational visibility.

JPMorgan expands JPM Coin usage onto Canton Network: JPMorgan announced plans to deploy JPM Coin on the Canton Network, extending its internal digital settlement asset beyond earlier environments as tokenized financial networks gain traction.

🔦 Tech Spotlight: What Is Money as Code?

Money as code refers to the value that flows according to rules written directly into software. Those rules define when funds move, who can receive them, and the conditions that must be met before settlement.

This already shows up inside financial systems. Tokenized deposits move between institutions with settlement logic attached. Stablecoins follow issuance and redemption rules that execute automatically. Collateral can release only after obligations are met, without manual checks or batch processing.

The difference from traditional money is not the form. It is the behavior.

When money runs on code, transfers settle faster, reconciliation steps shrink, and errors caused by manual handoffs drop sharply. Banks, payment firms, and market infrastructure providers are already using this approach to handle cash, collateral, and internal settlement flows.

Takeaway: Money as code turns payment instructions into executable logic. Once deployed, it runs the same way every time.

📊 Chart of the Week: $40 Billion in Bitcoin Accumulated

During 2025, the 21 largest Bitcoin holders added roughly 476,000 BTC, valued at about $40 billion at year-end prices.

Total holdings across this group now stand near 2.75 million BTC, representing just over 13 percent of total supply. The list spans public companies, governments, custodians, miners, and long-standing entities.

This chart highlights where ownership continued to consolidate while attention moved elsewhere. It also shows how a relatively small set of holders can absorb meaningful supply without disrupting the network.

Top_21_btc_holders_2025_weekly_chart Large.jpeg

Source: River

😂 A Little Blockchain Humor Break 🤣

Source: Crypto.com

Edition #94 put several pieces on the board. Morgan Stanley outlined its wallet plans. Senate committees set dates rather than offer talking points. Banks extended tokenized cash into payments and collateral. Ownership data showed where Bitcoin supply continued to concentrate.

✅ Trivia Answer: B) A hash of the file’s contents

In decentralized storage networks, a content identifier is derived from the data itself. If the content changes, the identifier changes, allowing anyone to verify integrity without relying on a server or location.

Thanks for reading, and see you next week.

Thank you,
Blockchain and Web3 Insights

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