U.S. inflation data, BNB Smart Chain upgrade: What’s coming up in crypto this week

Key Events to Watch This Week

This week’s most anticipated economic release arrives on Tuesday, as the U.S. unveils its latest consumer inflation figures. Analysts expect prices to have risen by 2.7% in December, mirroring the growth seen in November.

On the same day, the BNB Smart Chain will implement its Fermi hard fork, an upgrade designed to boost network speed and responsiveness by reducing block times by 40%.

Upcoming Highlights

All times are Eastern Time (ET)

• Crypto
  • Jan. 13, 1:00 p.m.: Hedera (HBAR) will upgrade its mainnet to version 0.68.
  • Jan. 13, 9:30 p.m.: The Fermi hard fork goes live on BNB Smart Chain, slashing block times from 750 ms to 450 ms.
  • Jan. 14, 2:00 a.m.: Mantle (MNT) will upgrade its mainnet (v1.4.2), bringing full compatibility with Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade.
  • Jan. 15 (expected): Ravencoin (RVN) will undergo its second block reward halving at block 4,200,000, reducing rewards from 2,500 RVN to 1,250 RVN per block.
  • Jan. 15: The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will review the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
• Macro
  • Jan. 13, 8:30 a.m.: U.S. December Consumer Price Index. Headline YoY estimate: 2.7%, MoM: 0.3%. Core YoY estimate: 2.7%, MoM: 0.3%.
  • Jan. 14, 8:30 a.m.: U.S. November Producer Price Index. Headline YoY estimate: 2.7%, MoM: 0.3%. Core YoY estimate: 2.7%, MoM: 0.2%.
  • Jan. 15, 8:30 a.m.: U.S. Jobless Claims. Initial claims for the week ending Jan. 10 (previous: 208K); continuing claims for the week ending Jan. 3 (previous: 1.914M).
• Earnings (FactSet Estimates)
  • No major earnings reports scheduled.

Token-Related Developments

• Governance Proposals & Voting
  • Rari DAO is deciding on a proposal to move 24 ETH from its treasury to a multisig wallet managed by a foundation for conservative staking, aiming to earn yield while keeping ETH exposure. Voting closes Jan. 11.
  • Extra Finance DAO is voting on the allocation of lending emissions for Epochs 131–134, with veEXTRA holders distributing rewards across eligible Base chain pools. Voting ends Jan. 12.
  • Treehouse DAO is considering enabling mesh bridging for its assets via Chainlink CCIP, allowing direct transfers between supported chains without routing through Ethereum. Voting ends Jan. 12.
  • Usual DAO is voting on the purchase of Fira, a fixed-rate lending platform developed by Usual Labs, for $1.72 million. Voting ends Jan. 13.
  • Moons Governance is deciding whether to create a DAO-managed MOON bridge between Arbitrum One and Nova. Voting ends Jan. 13.
  • Aave DAO is voting on a governance change requiring proposers to confirm readiness before a third party can initiate a vote. Voting ends Jan. 12.
  • CoW DAO is voting to extend its Grants Program for 2026, allocating 500,000 xDAI and remaining COW tokens. Voting ends Jan. 15.
• Token Unlocks
  • Jan. 11: Aptos (APT) will release 0.7% of its circulating supply, valued at $20.47 million.
  • Jan. 13: Cheelee (CHEEL) unlocks 2.78% of its supply, worth $11.71 million.
  • Jan. 15: Connex (CONX) unlocks 1.59% of its supply, valued at $21.16 million.
  • Jan. 15: Starknet (STRK) unlocks 4.83% of its supply, worth $10.6 million.
  • Jan. 16: Arbitrum (ARB) unlocks 1.86% of its supply, valued at $19.29 million.
  • Jan. 17: DeBridge (DBR) unlocks 14.81% of its supply, worth $11.1 million.
  • Jan. 18: Official Trump (TRUMP) unlocks 11.95% of its supply, valued at $268.5 million.
  • Jan. 18: Ondo (ONDO) unlocks 57.23% of its supply, worth $785.96 million.
• Token Launches
  • Jan. 13: Fogo will hold its token generation event.
  • Jan. 13: The claiming window for Recall’s token airdrop closes.
  • Jan. 15: KUBChain will conduct its first KUB token burn.
  • Jan. 15: The migration period for Mantra’s OM token to the MANTRA Chain concludes.

Major Conferences

• Jan. 14–15: Web 3.0 Expo Dubai Edition (UAE)
• Jan. 16–17: Bitcoin Medellin 2026 (Colombia)
• Jan. 17: BitcoinDay Naples 2026 (Florida, USA)