Good morning. The crypto industry eagerly awaited Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Now, it’s reeling after the president and first lady launched a pair of meme coins.

Dubbed $TRUMP and $MELANIA, the tokens have no economic purpose—their value is largely based on the popularity of internet memes. The market cap of the president’s coin has soared to $8.4 billion since Friday night’s launch, while the first lady’s token is worth about $800 million, according to CoinMarketCap.

By selling coins known for their speculative nature and extreme volatility, the president has undermined the credibility that the industry has worked hard to build in recent years, some crypto executives and investors say.

They also point to the brazen conflict of interest: Trump benefits directly from the sale of the tokens while setting the policy that affects how markets are valued and regulated.

Trump meets with GOP congressional leaders after flood of executive orders.

President Trump huddled Tuesday with GOP leaders to hash out a plan for implementing his legislative agenda. The moves followed a blitz of executive actions a day earlier that wiped out most convictions of those charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, reshaped U.S. immigration and energy policies and laid the groundwork for upending global trade and taxation.

With a narrow majority in Congress, Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) have little room for error, as they try to push through the president’s sweeping plans for the tax code and the border. The lawmakers and Trump have yet to agree on whether they want to pack all the president’s priorities into one bill or break them up.

• A List of Trump’s Key Executive Orders—So Far

SEC’s ‘CryptoMom’ tasked with overhauling regulator’s digital-assets approach.

Mark Uyeda, the acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, named Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce as the head of a new cryptocurrency task force, the first step in an expected about-turn by the Wall Street regulator on crypto.

Peirce, who has been dubbed CryptoMom by cryptocurrency advocates because of her friendly stance toward the industry, will oversee an effort to “draw clear regulatory lines” and walk back the approach of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

• Harvard University settled legal claims alleging the Ivy League school didn’t do enough to protect Jewish students against a wave of antisemitism on campus.

Putin and Xi stick together in video call after Trump’s inauguration.

One day after President Trump pledged at his inauguration to be a “peacemaker and unifier,” the U.S.’s two most powerful adversaries agreed to work more closely on overhauling a world order they see as orbiting around the West.

In a video call on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping promised to work hand-in-hand, in what could prove to be the first indication of a new phase in their deepening confrontation with Washington.

Trump pushes for early renegotiation of U.S. trade deal with Mexico, Canada.

President Trump is using the threat of imposing stiff tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico as soon as next week to pressure the two nations to start renegotiating a continental trade deal, according to people familiar with the matter.

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, which was crafted during Trump’s first term in office as a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement, is up for statutory review in 2026—but Trump hopes to renegotiate it sooner, the people said.

• Trump Tariff Uncertainty Drives Currency Roller Coaster
• Trudeau Promises ‘Robust’ Response After Trump’s Tariff Pledge

• Two nights of armed attacks on Palestinian villages in the West Bank by Israeli settlers have left homes and cars destroyed and dozens injured.
   
• The global elite, gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, say they are buckled up and ready for President Trump’s second term.
   
• The mood among German businesses darkened this month as the country braces for new administrations in both Washington and Berlin.

• Thousands of flights were canceled Tuesday and airports in Houston suspended operations as a winter storm hit Texas, Louisiana and other states along the Gulf Coast where snow is rarely seen.
   
• Apple's smartphone sales in China fell sharply in the final quarter of 2024, hurt by the popularity of local rivals like Huawei and others expanding into the premium market, according to a closely followed research firm.
   
• Netflix is raising prices across its existing U.S. plans, aiming to capitalize on surging demand after the streaming service posted record subscriber gains in the fourth quarter.
   
• For most of his college career, Will Howard was a little-known Kansas State quarterback with a knack for getting benched. Then he got an offer to transfer to Ohio State—and everything changed.

Follow us on X at @WSJRisk. Follow Risk & Compliance editor David Smagalla @DSmagalla_DJ and reporters Mengqi Sun @_MengqiSun and Richard Vanderford @VanderfordRich.

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