BlackRock’s PFF ETF Has $380 Million Worth of Exposure to MSTR's Preferred Equities
BlackRock’s iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (PFF) now holds roughly $380 million of MicroStrategy’s (MSTR) preferred equity products, making the crypto‑linked securities a material portion of the fund. The largest of these holdings is Stretch (STRC) with a $210 million allocation, representing a 1.47% weighting, followed by Strife, Stride and a modest stake in MSTR common stock. The preferred equities pay an 11% annual dividend that resets monthly, offering a high‑yield, short‑duration income stream. PFF’s exposure highlights growing institutional interest in alternative fixed‑income assets tied to digital‑asset firms.
Portugal Joins Growing List of Countries Cracking Down on Polymarket
Portugal’s gambling regulator ordered blockchain prediction market Polymarket to cease operations within 48 hours after the platform recorded over €103 million in bets on the Jan 18 presidential election. The country’s 2015 online gambling law bans political betting, allowing only sports, casino...
Trouble Mounts for Bitcoin and Stocks as Global Benchmark for Borrowing Costs Surges
The U.S. 10‑year Treasury yield rose to 4.27%, its highest level since early September, pushing borrowing costs higher worldwide. As the benchmark for risk‑free rates, the spike raises the floor for corporate loans, mortgages and other credit products, tightening financial...
'White Whale' Memecoin Slides 60% After Top Holder Dumps $1.3 Million
White Whale, a Solana‑based memecoin, plunged up to 60% on Monday after its largest private holder dumped roughly $1.3 million worth of tokens. The sell‑off thinned liquidity to just above $900,000 and briefly erased a large portion of the token’s market...
Bitcoin Whale Wakes up After 12 Years to Move $84 Million Fortune
A Bitcoin wallet that has been idle since 2013 transferred 909 BTC—now worth over $84 million—to a new address, marking a 13,000 % unrealized gain. The move, tracked by Whale Alert and Lookonchain, follows a wave of dormant‑address activity after Bitcoin breached $100,000...
Ethereum Posts Record Onchain Activity as Research Points to Possible Spam-Driven Growth: Asia Morning Briefing
Ethereum recorded an all‑time high of nearly 2.9 million daily transactions, yet Ether’s price stayed flat around $3,180, suggesting the activity may not stem from genuine user demand. On‑chain researcher Andrey Sergeenkov attributes the surge to a large‑scale address‑poisoning campaign that...
NFTs Are Not Dead: Wealthy Crypto Collectors Are Still Driving the Market, Says Animoca Brands' Yat Siu
Animoca Brands co‑founder Yat Siu says NFTs are far from dead, noting that a niche of wealthy collectors now sustains the market. Monthly NFT sales have contracted from over $1 billion at the 2021‑22 peak to roughly $300 million, driven by high‑net‑worth...
A Crypto Trader Turned $285 Into $627,000 in One Day, but some Say the Game Was Rigged
A trader bought $285 of the memecoin ZREAL and sold enough to net $627,000 in a single day, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain. The platform traced the activity to a single wallet that acquired 66.3 million ZREAL tokens, sold roughly...
Bitcoin Price Consolidation Nears 60-Day Window That's Historically Triggered Rallies
Bitcoin has traded between roughly $80,000 and $98,000 for 59 days, edging toward the 60‑day consolidation window that has historically preceded strong rallies. Past cycles—April 2025, Dec 2023‑Feb 2024, Aug‑Oct 2023, and the post‑FTX bottom—each resolved after about two months with price breakouts. Digital...
Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and XRP Extend ETF Inflow Streak Before Reversal
Digital asset ETFs recorded $2.17 billion in net inflows last week, the strongest flow since October 2025. Bitcoin led with $1.55 billion, followed by Ether’s $496 million and Solana’s $45.5 million, while XRP added $69.5 million. The United States accounted for $2.05 billion of these inflows, but...
Bitcoin Hashrate Drops 15% From October High as Miner Capitulation Drags Into Almost 60 Days
Bitcoin’s network hashrate has slipped about 15% since its October peak, falling from roughly 1.1 ZH/s to 977 EH/s as miners shut down equipment amid shrinking profits. The upcoming difficulty adjustment on Jan 22 will cut mining difficulty by 4%, marking the seventh...
Bitcoin Price Briefly Plunges to $0 on Lesser-Known Paradex Exchange
Paradex, a Starknet‑based decentralized exchange, rolled back its blockchain after a database migration error caused Bitcoin’s price to briefly hit zero on the platform, triggering mass liquidations. All open orders except take‑profit/stop‑loss positions were cancelled, and the exchange was offline...
Chinese Crime Ring Arrested in South Korea Laundered over $100 Million Worth of Crypto
South Korean customs arrested three Chinese nationals accused of laundering $107 million in cryptocurrency. The ring moved funds through an unidentified exchange, using WeChat and Alipay deposits, and disguised transactions as cosmetic‑surgery or overseas‑study fees. The scheme operated from September 2021 to...
Bitcoin Slips Below Key Support as Tariff Talk Rattles Crypto: Crypto Markets Today
Bitcoin slipped below the $94,500 technical support line, trading around $93,000 after reports that the EU is preparing €93 billion in retaliatory tariffs against the United States. The dip erased roughly 2.5% of Bitcoin’s value and triggered $815 million in crypto‑wide liquidations,...
India's Central Bank Proposes a Plan to Create Digital-Currency Link Among BRICS Nations
The Reserve Bank of India is urging the government to place a proposal for linking the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) of BRICS nations on the agenda of the 2026 BRICS summit it will host. The plan aims to create...
Polymarket Trader Nets $233,000 From XRP Markets in a Daring Weekend Move, Outsmarting Bots
A pseudonymous trader on Polymarket generated a $233,000 profit by exploiting thin weekend liquidity and outmaneuvering automated market‑making bots. The trader accumulated 77,000 “UP” shares at an average cost of 48 cents, then coordinated a $1 million Binance XRP purchase that...
Ethereum Transactions Hit Record as Staking Exit Queue Drops to Zero
Ethereum processed a record 2,885,524 transactions on Friday, the highest daily total in its history. The surge follows a rebound in on‑chain activity that began in mid‑December, while average fees have stayed near recent lows. Simultaneously, the validator exit queue...
Animoca’s Yat Siu Says Crypto’s Trump Moment Is Over
Yat Siu, co‑founder of Animoca Brands, says the era when crypto relied on Donald Trump’s political support has ended. He argues the market is now driven by infrastructure, regulation and institutional capital, with Bitcoin positioned as a digital reserve asset....
Large Bitcoin Holders Buy the Most Coins Since the FTX Collapse of 2022
Bitcoin’s mid‑ to large‑holder cohort, known as Fish‑to‑Shark, accumulated roughly 110,000 BTC in the past month—the strongest inflow since the 2022 FTX collapse. This brings the cohort’s total holdings to about 6.6 million BTC, up from 6.4 million two months earlier. Retail...
Here's Why Coinbase and Other Companies Soured on Major Crypto Bill
A sweeping U.S. crypto bill introduced comprehensive rules on decentralized finance, expands SEC jurisdiction, and imposes strict stablecoin yield limits. Coinbase, along with several other firms, publicly opposed the legislation, citing concerns that the language is overly broad and could...
Coinbase Refutes Rumors of White House's Threat to Pull Support for Crypto Bill
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong denied rumors that the White House would withdraw its backing for the crypto market‑structure bill, calling the administration "super constructive." He said the White House asked Coinbase to devise a deal with banks, focusing on community...
Lack of Liquidity Is a Growing Concern in Crypto, Says Auros' Jason Atkins
Jason Atkins, Auros’ chief commercial officer, warned that crypto’s biggest obstacle to institutional adoption is insufficient market liquidity, not volatility. He traced the thinness to the October 10, 2025 crash, which forced traders and leverage out faster than they could return. As...
Crypto Trading Platform with CZ as Advisor Sees Sudden $2 Billion Volume Surge on 'Airdrop' Hype
Genius Terminal, a crypto trading platform backed by YZi Labs and advised by Binance co‑founder CZ, has experienced a massive surge in activity ahead of a rumored token airdrop. Weekly trading volume exploded from roughly $85 million to more than $2 billion,...
Popular Burger Joint Steak ’N Shake Buys $10 Million Bitcoin
Steak ’n Shake announced it has added roughly $10 million worth of bitcoin—about 105 BTC—to its corporate treasury, expanding a crypto strategy that began eight months ago when the chain started accepting Bitcoin via the Lightning Network. The company says Bitcoin payments...
Elon Musk Once Backed a $10 Billion OpenAI ICO, Internal Notes Show
Internal call notes from January 2018 reveal Elon Musk briefly supported a $10 billion initial coin offering (ICO) to fund OpenAI’s research. Within weeks, the founders concluded the token sale would not raise sufficient capital, and Musk withdrew his backing. He...
Hacker Steals $282 Million Crypto in Hardware Wallet Social-Engineering Attack
A hacker executed a sophisticated social‑engineering attack on a hardware wallet, stealing roughly $282 million worth of Bitcoin and Litecoin. The stolen assets—1,459 BTC and 2.05 million LTC—were quickly swapped for the privacy coin Monero and partially bridged to Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin via...
Tom Lee's BitMine Pushes Ethereum Into $8 Billion Staking Backlog
Ethereum’s validator entry queue has swelled to over 2.55 million ETH, worth roughly $8.3 billion, creating a 44‑day wait—the longest since July 2023. The surge is driven by BitMine Immersion, which has already staked more than 1.25 million ETH from its $13 billion treasury. With...
HR Services Provider Gusto Taps Zerohash to Speed up Global Payouts with Stablecoins
Gusto, the payroll and HR platform serving over 400,000 small businesses, has launched a beta program with crypto infrastructure provider Zerohash to enable stablecoin payouts for international contractors. The new option lets eligible workers receive U.S. dollar‑denominated stablecoins with settlement...
PNC Bank CEO Says Stablecoins Must Choose: Be a Payment Tool or a Money Market Fund
PNC Bank CEO Bill Demchak told investors that stablecoins must be classified either as payment tools or as money‑market‑fund‑like investment products. He warned that offering interest blurs that line and would subject tokens to the same strict oversight applied to...
Crypto Card Spending Hits $18 Billion Annualized as Stablecoin Use Shifts to Everyday Payments
Crypto credit and debit cards have surged from roughly $100 million in early 2023 to over $1.5 billion monthly by late 2025, creating an $18 billion annualized spend that nearly matches peer‑to‑peer stablecoin transfers. The market grew at a 106 % compound annual growth...
Riot Platforms Surges 11% as Lease Deal with AMD Marks Major AI Infrastructure Pivot
Riot Platforms surged 11% after buying a 200‑acre Texas parcel for $96 million, funded by selling about 1,080 bitcoin, and signing a 10‑year, 25 MW data‑center lease with AMD. The AMD agreement is expected to generate $311 million in revenue, with options that...
Early 2026 Tailwinds for Bitcoin Miners as Hashrate Falls, Profitability Improves: JPMorgan
JPMorgan reports that U.S.-listed bitcoin miners added $13 billion in market value during the first two weeks of 2026, bringing the sector’s total capitalization to roughly $62 billion. A modest rise in Bitcoin price combined with a 2 % drop in network hashrate...
CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Gains 3.1%, Leading Index Higher
The CoinDesk 20 Index rose 0.3% to 2,985.7 points on Thursday, driven by strong gains in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Aave (AAVE). BCH led the pack with a 3.1% increase, while AAVE added 1.4%, pushing ten of the twenty assets higher....
DDC Enterprise Buys 200 Bitcoin in First 2026 Treasury Move
DDC Enterprise announced the purchase of 200 Bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 1,383 BTC and pushing the company to the 44th‑largest public Bitcoin holder. The acquisition was made at an average cost of $88,998 per coin, resulting in a...
Nexo Becomes Audi Revolut F1 Team Sponsor in 4-Year Deal
Crypto lender Nexo has inked a four‑year, tens‑million‑dollar sponsorship with the Audi Revolut Formula 1 team, securing category exclusivity for digital assets. The deal embeds Nexo’s branding on the car livery, driver helmets and pit‑crew apparel, and follows a three‑year partnership...
Southern Utah Man Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for Crypto-Linked Wire Fraud Scheme
Brian Garry Sewell, a 54‑year‑old from Washington County, Utah, was sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud. Prosecutors said he defrauded at least 17 investors of roughly $2.9 million between 2017 and 2024 and ran...
Two Prime Selected to Manage $250 Million in Bitcoin for Digital Wealth Partners
Digital Wealth Partners has appointed Two Prime to manage roughly $250 million in bitcoin for its institutional clients, expanding an existing relationship. Two Prime offers a suite of bitcoin‑focused services, including one of the world’s largest bitcoin‑secured lending operations. The mandate...
More People Are Using Ethereum for the First Time, Data Shows
Ethereum on‑chain activity has surged in the last month, driven primarily by a wave of first‑time wallet creations rather than increased trading by existing users. Glassnode’s month‑over‑month retention data shows the “new” cohort spiking as ether steadied near $3,300 and...
Iranians Grab Their Bitcoin as Protests Rage and Rial Tanks
Iranian protesters are rapidly moving Bitcoin from local exchanges into personal wallets as street demonstrations intensify and the rial collapses. Chainalysis data shows a sharp rise in withdrawals between Dec. 28 and Jan. 8, coinciding with an internet blackout. The rial has...
Interactive Brokers Accepts USDC Deposits; Ripple's RLUSD Coming Soon
Interactive Brokers announced that eligible clients can now fund their brokerage accounts with the stablecoin USDC, enabling 24/7 deposits that are converted to U.S. dollars within minutes. The service is powered by ZeroHash, which handles the conversion for a 0.30%...
XRP Falls 4% on Crypto Market Weakness Even as ETF Inflows Stay Strong
XRP slipped about 4% to $2.07 as traders sold into resistance near $2.13, despite strong institutional backing. Spot XRP ETFs have amassed roughly $1.26 billion in net inflows with no outflow days, while exchange‑held supply dropped below 2 billion tokens. Ripple secured...
Dogecoin Drops 4% as Traders Sell Rallies and Support Gives Way
Dogecoin fell 3.5% to $0.139, breaking the $0.1420 support level amid volume that spiked to 108% above its 24‑hour average. The decline was driven by active selling rather than low‑liquidity drift, with rallies near $0.1402 quickly extinguished. Technical patterns showed...
Bitcoin Slips to Nearly $95,000 as Senate Delay and Risk-Off Moves Weigh on Crypto
Bitcoin slipped to just under $95,000 after the Senate Banking Committee postponed markup of a key crypto‑market‑structure bill, ending a brief rally that had pushed the price near $97,000. Trading volume fell 13 percent and more than $320 million was liquidated,...
DTCC Aiming to Make All 1.4 Million Securities in Its Custody Digitally Eligible
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation announced plans to make all 1.4 million DTC‑eligible securities digitally eligible through its tokenization platform. The initiative, built on the Securrency acquisition, will let participants convert assets to and from tokenized forms in as little...
Goldman Is 'Spending a Lot of Time' On Crypto, Prediction Markets Efforts, CEO Solomon Says
Goldman Sachs is intensifying its research into crypto‑adjacent technologies, especially tokenization, stablecoins, and CFTC‑regulated prediction markets. CEO David Solomon said a large internal team is evaluating how these tools could augment the firm’s trading and advisory services. He disclosed recent...
House Democrats Slam SEC for Dropping Crypto Cases with Trump Ties
Three senior House Democrats wrote to SEC Chair Paul Atkins demanding the agency resume crypto enforcement after it dismissed more than a dozen cases, including actions against Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and Tron founder Justin Sun. The lawmakers allege the dismissals...
Citrea Unveils U.S. Treasury-Backed Stablecoin for Its Bitcoin Ecosystem
Citrea, a Bitcoin layer‑2 platform, launched ctUSD, a U.S. dollar‑pegged stablecoin backed 1:1 by short‑term Treasury bills and issued by Moonpay. The token leverages zero‑knowledge proofs to settle transactions directly on Bitcoin, eliminating the need for bridged dollar assets that...
Coinbase Fears Tokenization Rival Securitize, Says Citron Research
Coinbase has withdrawn support for a crypto market‑structure bill, prompting Citron Research to back tokenization platform Securitize and its SPAC vehicle Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT). Citron argues that clearer regulations would benefit Securitize, which has issued over $4 billion in tokenized...
Crypto for Advisors: Blockchain’s Impact on Government
The CLARITY Act aims to resolve the SEC‑CFTC jurisdictional split by classifying digital assets and assigning regulatory oversight, paving the way for broader blockchain adoption in government. Proponents argue that blockchain can deliver real‑time, auditable visibility into campaign finance, public...
Galaxy Digital Stock Rises 4% After Texas Grid Operator Approves Data Center Expansion
Galaxy Digital's shares rose 4% after ERCOT approved an 830 MW power addition to its Helios data‑center in West Texas, more than doubling the site’s capacity to 1.6 GW. The expansion underpins the firm’s AI and high‑performance computing strategy, with construction already...