Cointelegraph

Crypto protocol CrossCurve said its cross-chain bridge has been attacked, with reports that $3 million has stolen across multiple networks.

CrossCurve posted to X late on Sunday that its bridge was “under attack, involving the exploitation of a vulnerability in one of the smart contracts used.”

“Please pause all interactions with CrossCurve while the investigation is ongoing,” it added.

The blockchain security-focused X account Defimon Alerts said CrossCurve was exploited for around $3 million “on several networks.”

It added that one of CrossCurve’s smart contracts allowed anyone to spoof a message to bypass validation and unlock tokens.

“Anyone could call expressExecute on ReceiverAxelar contract with a spoofed cross-chain message, bypassing gateway validation and triggering unlock on PortalV2,” Defimon Alerts said.

Source: Defimon Alerts

Curve Finance, which has partnered with CrossCurve, posted on X that users who allocated to CrossCurve pools “may wish to review their positions and consider removing those votes.”

“We continue to encourage all participants to remain vigilant and make risk-aware decisions when interacting with third-party projects,” it added.

Magazine: Meet the onchain crypto detectives fighting crime better than the cops

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

New data is providing a clearer picture of how January’s US winter storm affected Bitcoin mining operations, showing that daily production among publicly traded miners dropped sharply during the disruption.

The storm swept across large parts of the continental United States, prompting miners to curtail operations amid grid stress, snow, ice and extreme cold, and highlighting how closely mining activity is now tied to energy market conditions.

Daily production among publicly traded miners tracked by CryptoQuant typically averaged between 70 and 90 Bitcoin (BTC) in the weeks leading up to the storm, before falling to roughly 30 to 40 BTC per day at the height of the disruption, according to data shared by CryptoQuant head of research Julio Moreno.

Source: Julio Moreno

Production later showed partial signs of recovery from its lows as weather conditions improved, suggesting the pullback reflected temporary and largely voluntary curtailments.

Previous Cointelegraph reporting examined how the storm coincided with a decline in US Bitcoin hashrate and a rally in mining stocks. The latest production data adds further detail on the extent of the operational disruption.

The miners tracked by CryptoQuant include Core Scientific (CORZ), Bitfarms (BITF), CleanSpark (CLSK), MARA Holdings (MARA), Iris Energy (IREN) and Canaan (CAN), which also operates a self-mining business.

Among them, miners with major US operations include Core Scientific, CleanSpark, Marathon, Riot Platforms, TeraWulf and Cipher Mining.

A more challenging environment for miners

The winter storm disruption comes as Bitcoin miners are already navigating a difficult operating environment, illustrating how external shocks can compound existing pressures on the sector.

While miners have long been recognized for their ability to help stabilize power grids through load balancing and demand response, broader economic and market conditions have weighed heavily on profitability. Declining Bitcoin prices and network hashrate, combined with steadily rising operating costs throughout 2025, have tightened margins across the industry.

Last year, industry publication The Miner Mag described the situation as the “harshest margin environment of all time,” citing elevated energy costs, capital constraints and post-halving revenue compression.

Cointelegraph previously reported that these pressures are expected to intensify heading into 2026, as miners grapple with thinner margins, consolidation and a growing shift toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing as alternative revenue streams.

Bitcoin’s sharp decline over the weekend has likely pushed the aggregate investor position in the largest spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) into negative territory, underscoring the severity of the recent downturn.

According to Bob Elliott, chief investment officer at asset manager Unlimited Funds, the average dollar invested in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is now underwater following Friday’s close. The shift coincided with a steep drop in Bitcoin’s (BTC) price, which slid into the mid-$70,000 range.

Source: Bob Elliott

Elliott shared a chart tracking aggregate, dollar-weighted investor returns, showing cumulative gains slipping slightly into negative territory as of late January.

The data suggest that while early IBIT investors may still be in profit, heavier inflows at higher price levels have pulled overall dollar-weighted returns below zero. In effect, cumulative gains since the fund’s launch have now been erased on a dollar-weighted basis.

By comparison, IBIT’s dollar-weighted returns peaked at roughly $35 billion in October, when Bitcoin was trading at record highs.

IBIT is one of BlackRock’s most successful ETF launches, becoming the fastest fund to reach $70 billion in assets under management. In October, reports showed that IBIT generated about $25 million more in fees than the asset manager’s second-most profitable ETF.

Independent data on Yahoo Finance shows that IBIT’s net asset value has declined in recent weeks, aligning with the broader Bitcoin sell-off. The decline helps explain why aggregate, dollar-weighted investor returns have shifted into negative territory.

Related: Crypto’s 2026 investment playbook: Bitcoin, stablecoin infrastructure, tokenized assets

Bitcoin ETF outflows accelerate

The deterioration in dollar-weighted returns for Bitcoin ETFs is unfolding alongside a broader pullback from crypto investment products, as investors reduce exposure amid declining prices.

In the week to Jan. 25, digital asset investment products recorded nearly $1.1 billion in outflows from Bitcoin funds alone, while total crypto fund outflows reached $1.73 billion — the largest weekly withdrawal since mid-November, according to CoinShares. The outflows were heavily concentrated in the United States.

“Dwindling expectations for interest rate cuts, negative price momentum and disappointment that digital assets have not participated in the debasement trade yet have likely fuelled these outflows,” CoinShares said.

Weekly fund outflows, as reported on Jan. 26. Source: CoinShares

The “debasement trade” refers to positioning in assets expected to preserve value amid inflation and currency dilution. Bitcoin was widely seen as a candidate for that role because of its fixed supply and monetary design.

However, it has yet to attract those flows to the same extent as gold. Despite a recent pullback, gold has remained in a sustained uptrend for more than a year and recently reached record highs above $5,400 per troy ounce.

Related: $1.82B pulled from spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs amid metals rally

Alternative inflation data is pointing to a sharp cooling in US prices, reinforcing the case for interest rate cuts and carrying broader implications for risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

After the Federal Reserve paused rate cuts last week and signaled no clear path to near-term cuts, real-time inflation data suggest policymakers may be out of sync with rapidly improving price conditions.

Truflation, an alternative inflation tracker that aggregates millions of daily price points from tens of independent data providers, showed broad-based cooling across its US inflation indexes.

As of Sunday, Truflation’s US Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 0.86% year over year, down from 1.24% the previous day.

The platform’s reading of core personal consumption expenditures (PCE), the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, came in at 1.38%, well below the central bank’s 2% target.

Source: Truflation

“All our indexes are calculated daily as a year-over-year percentage rate, using millions of data points from tens of data providers,” Truflation said Sunday.

The figures stand in sharp contrast to official government data, which showed annual CPI at 2.7% in December and core PCE at 2.8% in November.

As Cointelegraph recently reported, the Fed’s interest rate trajectory has significant implications for the US dollar, global liquidity conditions and financial markets. Rate cuts are widely viewed as a headwind for the dollar, a dynamic that has historically supported risk assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto market.

Related: Crypto’s 2026 investment playbook: Bitcoin, stablecoin infrastructure, tokenized assets

US dollar hangs in the balance

Recent market signals suggest the US dollar may be approaching a turning point, with technical and structural factors increasingly shaping its trajectory beyond Fed policy alone.

The US Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar’s performance against a basket of six major currencies, recently posted a weekly close below a long-term support level that had held for more than a decade, according to data from Barchart. The move could signal further downside risk if the breakdown is sustained.

Source: Barchart

Macro investors have long argued that a weaker dollar is not only tolerable but desirable under current conditions. Raoul Pal, founder of Real Vision, has previously noted that “everyone needs and wants a weaker dollar to service their dollar debts,” particularly in a global system heavily reliant on dollar-denominated liabilities.

Pal has also argued that a softer dollar aligns with the Trump administration’s broader growth objectives, including those tied to fiscal and industrial policy, as it tends to ease financial conditions and support global liquidity.

Related: Gold is acting like the hedge Bitcoin promised to be

Bitcoin (BTC) gained sub-$50,000 ahead of Sunday’s weekly close as bulls failed to recover from ten-month lows.

Key points:

BTC price targets stay bearish as Bitcoin bulls lick their wounds at ten-month lows.

CME futures gaps may provide some temporary relief into the new week.

Bitcoin is still following the path from earlier bear markets by losing realized price support, says research.

BTC price: “So far, history is repeating”

Data from TradingView showed BTC price action staying below $80,000 after BTC/USD fell more than 6% the day prior.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

After losing significant bull market support levels, including the true market mean at $80,700, Bitcoin left many traders bearish on the period ahead.

“$74,400 and $49,180 are the two major downside liquidity targets for this bear market,” X account Cmt_trader forecast.

BTC/USDT perpetual contract one-month chart. Source: Cmt_trader/X

Trader CryptoBullet drew particular attention to the loss of the 21-week exponential moving average (EMA) — an event that preceded previous bear markets.

$BTC has lost the 21-Month EMA 🥶

It’s so over you can’t even imagine pic.twitter.com/UFJnoFZmkv

— CryptoBullet (@CryptoBullet1) February 1, 2026

Following up on last week’s bull market EMA crossover, trader and analyst Rekt Capital agreed that history was on the side of “additional downside continuation.”

“So far, history is repeating, with downside occurring after the Bull Market EMA crossover,” he told X followers.

“Bitcoin has dropped -17% from $90,000 to $78,000 since the crossover took place.”

BTC/USD one-week chart with 21-week, 50-week EMA. Source: Rekt Capital/X

The crossover involves the 21-week and 50-week EMAs, and last triggered in April 2022.

Hopes of a short-term rebound, meanwhile, hung on newly opened “gaps” in CME Group’s Bitcoin futures market.

Often acting as low-time frame price “magnets,” the nearest gap was now waiting near $84,000.

Trader Killa thus predicted that $84,000 would be filled “over the next few weeks.”

$BTC

Closed 50% of the short position. Remaining 50% left open toward the final target.

Expecting us to fill the CME gap at 84K over the next few weeks. Ideally you want to see BTC reclaim the range low. If no reclaims = no safe trigger.

Thanks for playing 💸💸 https://t.co/lmj9mKa52j pic.twitter.com/wrKVJUTBht

— Killa (@KillaXBT) January 31, 2026

Bitcoin risks new “extended bearish phase”

Zooming out, the latest onchain research remained firmly risk-off on longer time frames.

For onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant, spot price trading below the realized price of investors holding BTC between 12 and 18 months was the writing on the wall.

Realized price refers to the aggregate cost basis at which their BTC last moved.

“Historically, when price breaks and sustains below this cost basis, market behavior transitions from normal corrections into structural bearish regimes, not short-term pullbacks,” contributor Crazzyblockk warned in a “Quicktake” blog post.

Realized price itself, the research noted, was stable — something “reinforcing its role as overhead resistance.” 

“When spot price remains below a flat or rising realized cost, rallies tend to fail as supply seeks breakeven exits,” Crazzyblockk added. 

“From a cycle perspective, the combination of price below realized cost, negative unrealized profitability, and slowing balance growth has historically aligned with extended bearish phases.”

BTC/USD chart with one-year hodler realized price (screenshot). Source: CryptoQuant

A UAE-backed investment vehicle quietly agreed to buy nearly half of World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency startup linked to President Donald Trump, just days before he returned to the White House, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Aryam Investment 1, an Abu Dhabi entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, signed a deal in January 2025 to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million, the Journal said, citing documents and people familiar with the matter.

Half of that amount was paid upfront, sending $187 million to Trump family-controlled entities, with additional tens of millions flowing to entities tied to co-founders, including relatives of US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, per the report.

The agreement was reportedly signed by Eric Trump. The Journal reported that the deal had not been publicly disclosed, despite World Liberty later revealing that the Trump family’s stake had fallen sharply.

Related: Sam Bankman-Fried turns up Trump support following Ellison’s release

Tahnoon’s ambitions grow after Trump election

Tahnoon, the brother of the United Arab Emirates president and the country’s national security adviser, has been central to Abu Dhabi’s push to become a global leader in artificial intelligence. Under the Biden administration, his efforts to secure advanced US-made AI chips were limited amid concerns that sensitive technology could reach China, particularly through companies such as G42.

Following Trump’s election, those efforts gained momentum. Tahnoon met multiple times with Trump and senior US officials, and within months the administration committed to granting the UAE access to hundreds of thousands of advanced AI chips annually.

Anatomy of the deal. Source: WSJ

The Journal reported that executives from G42 helped manage Aryam Investment 1 and took board seats at World Liberty as part of the deal, making Aryam the startup’s largest outside shareholder. Weeks before the US-UAE chip framework was announced, another Tahnoon-led firm, MGX, used World Liberty’s stablecoin to complete a $2 billion investment into Binance.

World Liberty and the White House have reportedly denied any wrongdoing. Spokespeople told the Journal that President Trump was not involved in the deal and that it did not provide any influence over US policy.

Related: Trump picks crypto-friendly Kevin Warsh as new Fed chair

World Liberty faces US probe calls

Last year, Democratic senators called on US authorities to investigate alleged links between World Liberty Financial’s token sales and sanctioned foreign actors. In a Nov. letter to the Justice Department and Treasury, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jack Reed cited claims that WLFI governance tokens were bought by blockchain addresses tied to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, as well as Russian- and Iranian-linked entities.

The controversy is heightened by WLFI’s ownership structure, which gives Trump family-linked entities control over the majority of token revenue. Lawmakers argue this creates a direct conflict of interest, as most proceeds from token sales flow to the president’s family.

Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026

Step Finance, a decentralized finance portfolio tracker on Solana, has disclosed a security breach that led to the compromise of several treasury wallets, triggering a sharp sell-off in its native token.

“Earlier today several of our treasury wallets were compromised by a sophisticated actor during APAC hours. This was an attack facilitated through a well known attack vector,” the platform wrote in a post on X, adding that they have taken “remediation” steps.

Onchain data reviewed by blockchain security firm CertiK shows that roughly 261,854 Solana (SOL) (worth around $27.2 million) was unstaked and transferred from Step Finance-controlled wallets.

Step Finance has not yet confirmed the total scale of the losses. The team also did not disclose how the attacker gained access, nor whether the incident stemmed from a smart contract flaw, compromised keys, or an internal access issue. It also remains unclear whether any user funds were affected, beyond protocol-owned assets.

The compromised transaction. Source: Certik

Related: SwapNet exploit drains up to $13.3M from Matcha Meta users

STEP token crashes over 90% after treasury breach

Market reaction was swift. The project’s governance token, STEP, has dropped by more than 90%, according to data from CoinGecko. At the time of writing, the token is trading at $0.001578, down by 93.3% over the past day.

Founded in 2021, Step Finance bills itself as a “front page of Solana,” offering users a unified dashboard to track yield farms, LP tokens and DeFi positions across most Solana-based protocols. Beyond its core product, the company operates SolanaFloor, a Solana-focused media outlet, and organizes the annual Solana Crossroads conference.

In late 2024, it acquired Moose Capital, now rebranded as Remora Markets, with plans to introduce tokenized equity trading on Solana. STEP plays a central role in the protocol’s governance and incentive structure.

Related: CertiK links $63M in Tornado Cash deposits to $282M wallet compromise

Most crypto projects never recover after a major hack

Nearly 80% of crypto projects that suffer a major hack fail to fully recover, not because of the initial financial loss, but due to poor crisis response and a collapse in trust, according to Web3 security executives.

Immunefi CEO Mitchell Amador said most teams are unprepared for security incidents, leading to hesitation, slow decision-making and weak communication in the critical hours after a breach. This paralysis often allows losses to deepen and user confidence to erode further.

Even when technical issues are resolved, reputational damage is often permanent. Kerberus CEO Alex Katz notes that major exploits typically trigger user exits, liquidity drain and long-term credibility loss.

Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has ramped up his social media praise for US president Donald Trump while taking aim at former president Joe Biden, just days after Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, was released from federal custody.

Since Bankman-Fried’s February 2025 interview with the New York Sun and March appearance with political commentator Tucker Carlson, many see Bankman-Fried as angling for a pardon from Trump.

“@realdonaldtrump is right on crypto,” Bankman-Fried said in an X post on Friday, just days after Ellison walked free after serving 440 days in prison for her role in the 2022 collapse of FTX.

Bankman-Fried calls Trump’s arrest of Maduro “smart” and “gutsy”

Bankman-Fried also praised Trump on issues beyond crypto, including the recent arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, calling the move “smart, gutsy, and pro-democracy.”

At the same time, Bankman-Fried took aim at the previous administration, which he once backed with millions in political donations.

Source: Sam Bankman-Fried

“All the world leaders I met were fed up with Biden,” he said, adding that he “bungled crypto.”

Bankman-Fried argued that he “didn't have to” as there was “plenty in the party had reasonable thoughts.” “But he chose [Gary] Gensler for SEC chair,” Bankman-Fried said.

Gensler adopted a “regulation before enforcement” approach to crypto and stepped down on in January 2025, ahead of Trump’s inauguration.

Prediction platform odds for a Bankman-Fried pardon sit at 17%

Gensler’s successor, Paul Atkins, who was sworn in by Trump in April 2025, is widely viewed in the crypto industry as far more crypto-friendly.

Following the collapse of FTX in November 2022, US authorities extradited Bankman-Fried from the Bahamas to face charges, including money laundering and fraud. A jury convicted the former CEO on seven felony counts in November 2023, and a judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison in March 2024.

In November 2025, Bankman-Fried appealed his conviction and sentence and is awaiting results in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Traders on crypto predictions platform Polymarket currently assign just a 17% chance that Trump will pardon Bankman-Fried before 2027.

Magazine: 6 weirdest devices people have used to mine Bitcoin and crypto

Top Stories of The Week

US Senate Agriculture Committee advances crypto market structure bill

US lawmakers began a key markup session Thursday morning on a long-awaited crypto market structure bill, marking a pivotal step in Congress effort to establish clearer rules for digital asset markets.

The bill has been months in the making and follows sustained pressure from the crypto industry and some lawmakers to move beyond enforcement-led regulation.

The Senate is laser-focused on getting market structure legislation right, and we thank all the lawmakers and stakeholders from across the crypto community who have put in the time and effort to get us to this point, said Mason Lynaugh, community director of the digital asset advocacy organization Stand With Crypto.

This bill would provide CFTC spot market authority for digital commodities, clear rules for intermediaries, and robust consumer protections, including listing standards, disclosure requirements, and safeguards for customer property, said Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Hun Kim, referring to the market structure bill.

US senators quiz deputy AG over DOJ crypto unit shutdown

Six US senators have challenged Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for shutting down the Department of Justices (DOJ) cryptocurrency enforcement team in April last year while holding substantial amounts of cryptocurrency at the time.

Blanche disbanded the DOJs National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team in April 2025, several months after Donald Trump was inaugurated as US president following a pro-crypto campaign.

The task force was created in 2022 under the Joe Biden administration and led major investigations, including the probe into Binance and its founder Changpeng CZ Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating US anti-money-laundering laws.

Blanche argued at the time that the DOJ is not a digital assets regulator and the Biden administration used the DOJ to pursue a reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution.

UK bans Coinbase ads that trivialized crypto risks: Report

The UKs advertising watchdog has reportedly banned a series of Coinbase advertisements, claiming they presented the crypto exchange as a solution to cost-of-living concerns while making light of the risks of investing in crypto.

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ads which included a satirical musical-style video and three posters were irresponsible and trivialized the risks of cryptocurrency, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.

We considered that using humour to reference serious financial concerns, alongside a cue to change, risked presenting complex, high-risk financial products as an easy or obvious response to those concerns, the ASA said.

Coinbase released the video advertisement in July, but Clearcast, which approves ads for TV, rejected it, saying it showed crypto as a potential solution to economic challenges, without sufficient evidence for this claim, The Telegraph reported in August. 

Cere Network co-founder and board face $100M lawsuit over token sales

The co-founder and board of crypto infrastructure platform Cere Network are facing a $100 million lawsuit that alleges a pump-and-dump scheme tied to the projects 2021 token launch.

In a lawsuit filed in a San Francisco federal court on Tuesday, Lujunjin Vivian Liu, who said she worked for and invested in the company, claimed Cere co-founder Fred Jin, his brother, his wife, and the companys board stole $41 million from investors.

According to the lawsuit, Jin promised ahead of a public token launch for the platform in November 2021 that he and early Cere investors could not sell their tokens and that they would be unlocked months later.

While certain employees and investors had their Cere Tokens locked under the vesting schedule, Jin and his accomplices secretly sold over $41 million in Cere Tokens on various crypto exchanges and transferred these funds into their personal wallets immediately after the tokens went live, the complaint alleged.

Trump picks crypto-friendly Kevin Warsh as new Fed chair

US President Donald Trump said Friday he will nominate former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the US central bank, setting the stage for a high-stakes Senate confirmation battle.

The decision, announced by Trump on his social media platform, Truth Social, confirmed Thursday reports that Trump would move ahead with the 55yearold exFed official and former Morgan Stanley banker as his preferred candidate.

The president said that he had known Warsh for a long time and had no doubt that he would go down as one of the GREAT Fed chairmen, maybe the best.

Prediction markets and Wall Street commentators had increasingly tipped Warsh as Trumps likely choice, with odds rising sharply ahead of Fridays announcement. 

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $82,869 Ether (ETH) at $2,630 and XRP at $1.68. The total market cap is at $2.79 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Hyperliquid (HYPE) at 30.04%, Canton (CC) at 25.97% and Stable (STABLE) at 15.71%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are River (RIVER) at 39.90%, Story (IP) at 32.15%, and Dash (DASH) at 28.41%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis.

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Top Prediction of The Week

Bitcoin’s ‘miner exodus’ could push BTC price below $60K

As of January, the estimated average in electricity costs to mine a single Bitcoin is $59,450, while the net production expenditure is about $74,300, according to data from crypto-focused hedge fund Capriole Investments.

Many miners can keep operating even if the price declines below the average cost. The market has room to fall toward the $74,300$59,450 zone before they feel real pain, according to Charles Edwards, the founder of Capriole Investments.

This has expanded the potential range for near-term downside, he said, further citing an ongoing Bitcoin miner exodus behind the bearish outlook.

Top FUD of The Week

US Treasury sanctions Iran-linked crypto exchanges for first time

The United States Treasury has sanctioned two cryptocurrency exchanges linked to Irans financial system, marking the first time Washington has directly targeted digital asset platforms as part of its Iran sanctions program.

In a statement on Friday, the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control said the sanctions are part of a wider move against Iranian officials and networks accused of violently suppressing people at home while using alternative financial channels to get around international sanctions.

Among those sanctioned was Eskandar Momeni, Irans minister of the interior, who oversees the countrys Law Enforcement Forces. Treasury will continue to target Iranian networks and corrupt elites that enrich themselves at the expense of the Iranian people, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

Crypto billionaires deploy $40M to fight California wealth tax and union power

Two high-profile crypto figures are preparing to pour tens of millions of dollars into California politics, aiming to reshape the state legislature by backing moderate, business-friendly candidates and countering the influence of labor unions.

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The effort, operating under the banner of Grow California, is backed by Chris Larsen, a longtime Democratic donor and co-founder of Ripple, and Tim Draper, a venture capitalist known for his support of Bitcoin, according to The New York Times.

The government unions do a great job, Larsen reportedly told the outlet. But thats going to clash with a lot of the things that are going to make California successful if theres no counterforce, he added.

Banks fear stablecoin bank run, regulators see limited impact

Banks warn that stablecoins, especially those paying yield, could pull deposits out of the banking system, but policy and finance experts say theres little evidence of that so far.

Major US bank Standard Chartered recently estimated in a research note that increasing stablecoin adoption could drain bank deposits. The report estimates that US bank deposits will decrease by one-third of stablecoin market cap, which stood at $308.15 billion at time of writing, according to DeFiLlama data.

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The debate has intensified as US lawmakers weigh whether to prohibit interest on stablecoin holdings under a proposed version of the crypto market structure bill, or CLARITY Act, which has been delayed by protests from inside the crypto industry despite banking sector support.

Banks argue that allowing yield-bearing stablecoins could accelerate deposit flight, while critics say the risk remains largely theoretical.

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Bitcoin’s fall of around 7% to $77,000 on Saturday might have marked the low of this cycle, according to Bitcoin analyst PlanC.

It comes as other crypto analysts have been calling for further downside for Bitcoin (BTC) in the coming months.

“Decent chance this will be the deepest pullback opportunity this Bitcoin bull run,” PlanC said in an X post on Saturday.

PlanC compares Bitcoin’s fall to previous bear market cycles

Bitcoin fell 7% to around $77,000 on Saturday and has since slightly moved up to $78,690 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin is down 11.44% over the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap

The asset’s price is now down around 38% from its all-time high of $126,100, which it reached on Oct. 5. PlanC said the downtrend Bitcoin has experienced reminds him of past crashes like the 2018 bear market capitulation when Bitcoin fell to $3,000, the March 2020 crash when the asset fell to around $5,100, and the FTX and Luna collapses, which saw BTC dip to around $15,500 and $17,500 respectively.

“There is a decent chance we are going through another major capitulation low as we speak,” PlanC said. “It seems like the ultimate low will be between $75,000 and $80,000,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin advocate and financial accountant Rajat Soni said in an X post on Saturday that the drop down to $77,000 came during one of crypto’s more volatile parts of the week and warned traders against overreacting.

“Never trust a weekend pump OR dump,” Soni said. “Bitcoin will make a comeback when you least expect it,” he added.

Bitcoin $60K price level may still be in play

However, some have been speculating that the downfall may go further.

Veteran trader Peter Brandt recently predicted that Bitcoin could fall as low as $60,000 by the third quarter of 2026. 

Crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen said Bitcoin’s market cycle low will likely come in early October, but “anticipates plenty of rallies will occur between now and then.”

Meanwhile, Jurrien Timmer, Fidelity’s director of global macroeconomic research, said 2026 could be a “year off” for Bitcoin, with prices potentially falling to as low as $65,000.

Magazine: Web3 games shuttered, Axie Infinity founder warns more will ‘die’: Web3 Gamer

More crypto gaming studios are likely to face the chopping board in 2026, according to Axie Infinity co-creator and Ronin Network co-founder, Jeff JiHoz Zirlin.

I will continue to say this, youre going to see a lot of teams die, Zirlin said during a recent interview with gaming influencer Yellow Panther. 

Zirlin argued that many studios have fallen into a dangerous mindset, telling themselves that crypto gaming downturns or recoveries arent really affecting us.

Im not throwing shade on games on other chains too, that will also happen on games on Ronin, right, he said.

Funding runways are growing short across the Web3 gaming sector. A recent Blockchain Gaming Alliance (BGA) survey found that 32.6% of gaming developers cited cash shortages as their biggest challenge to staying in the industry.

Jeff “JiHoz” Zirlin spoke to Yellow Panther on Wednesday. Source: Yellow Panther

Yield Guild Games co-founder Gabby Dizon tells Magazine that “generally it’s really hard to ship a successful game and games shut down all the time.

Crypto games that shut down in 2025 including Ethereum game Ember Sword, Solana shooter game Nyan Heroes, extraction shooter game Deadrop, and pirate-themed RPG, Pirate Nation.

The comments follow Zirlins recent claim that Axie Infinity plans to take bigger swings in 2026 in a bid to revive the excitement of crypto gamings 2021 peak.

In 26 well take much larger risks, Zirlin said in an X post, reflecting on 2025 during which he admitted the project had been too conservative.

NBA legend Scottie Pippen to launch new Fortnite game, with nod to Bitcoin

NBA legend Scottie Pippen is preparing to launch a new basketball-themed game, Dont Drop The Ball, which will feature subtle Bitcoin references throughout the game.

The experience includes a cultural layer tied to Bitcoin and digital innovation, a spokesperson tells Magazine.

Throughout the city, players will find graffiti and easter eggs referencing Satoshi Nakamoto, as well as a custom statue paying homage to Bitcoins creator. 

Pippen has an unusual connection with Satoshi, and claims to have met him in his dreams over the years.

In August 2025 Pippen told Magazine he had been warned by Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor to stop talking about it.

My guy, Michael Saylor, asked me not to speak on my conversations with Satoshi, Pippen said. No more talk about Satoshi, he added.

Players start the game by dropping from the sky into the arena. Source: The BALL Foundation

Pippen tells Magazine that Satoshis appearance in his new game is meant to honor builders who change the game. Thats what Satoshi did. This is just paying respect, Pippen says.

The concept is simple but intense: its a fast-paced multiplayer game, based on Fortnite, where each match lasts just 10 minutes. 

The ball starts on the halfway line, and once picked up, a city-wide chase kicks off. The objective isnt scoring points or knocking out opponents, its about holding onto the ball for as long as possible within the 10-minute game.

The Game 5 ball from the Chicago Bulls 1991 NBA Finals win plays a key role in the game. Its widely regarded by collectors as the holy grail of sports memorabilia. 

The objective of Don’t Drop The Ball is exactly what the title says. Source: The BALL Foundation

The digital version is modeled on the original ball still kept by Pippen, which was used during the moment the Bulls secured their first championship.

The moment that marked the beginning of one of the greatest dynasties in sports history, the spokesperson says.

Dont Drop The Ball is currently live in community beta with invite-only access.

PGA Tour is heading to SKALE on Base

The PGA Tour, one of the worlds largest golf tournaments, is heading to SKALE, a layer- 3 network on Base, giving gamers a chance to compete like a golfing pro from their mobile phones.

With PGA Rise, they are taking the golf experience, and reimagining it, you as a player, can go in there, own your clubs, house, you can create your own course, you can own all of your own assets, and battle against other players, SKALE Labs head of community Falcore said during a recent livestream.

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SKALE Labs CEO and co-founder Jack OHolleran added that, With the PGA Tours popularity, we view this as an opportunity to onboard the next 10 million users into Web3 gaming.

OHolleran also argued that Web3 gaming needs more brands and IP to join the space. 

It isnt the first major sporting league to join Web3, with Mythical Games having brought NFL and FIFA into the space too in recent years. 

The Sandbox, meanwhile, has experimented with bringing ITV reality shows such as Love Island, Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! and The Voice onto the blockchain as game formats.

Read also

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Falcore said one of Web3 gamings core problems has been taking an original idea and just adding crypto to it. That was always the biggest issue we saw, he said.

PGA Rise is free-to-play and can be enjoyed with or without engaging with crypto. Players have the option to use crypto or fiat to purchase clubs, apparel, and other items in the marketplace.

Other News 

MapleStory Universe posted a strong performance in Q4 2025, reaching 1.94 million registered accounts and total transactions reaching 46 million.

Polygon Labs is set to acquire gaming infrastructure provider Sequence, as part of a pair of acquisitions with a combined value exceeding $250 million.

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Bitcoin (BTC) fell over 7% during weekend trading as a fresh price collapse liquidated $800 million.

Key points:

Bitcoin drops to near its 2025 low as mass liquidations accelerate.

BTC price action fails to hold $80,000 and its key true market mean level.

Strategy’s 700,000 BTC corporate treasury falls into the red versus its aggregate cost basis.

BTC price collapses below $76,000

Data from TradingView showed BTC price losses taking BTC/USD below $80,000 for the first time since April 2025.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Already licking their wounds from a brutal week, Bitcoin traders faced stronger downside as low-liquidity weekend conditions exacerbated volatility.

At the time of writing, BTC/USD traded below $78,000, with the April 2025 bottom near $74,500 now in focus.

“Local Low at $80.5k was annihilated,” Keith Alan, cofounder of trading resource Material Indicators, reacted on X. 

Analyst On-Chain College noted that Bitcoin had now lost its true market mean — the aggregate cost basis for the current active BTC supply.

“Bitcoin is now BELOW the True Market Mean ($80.7K) for the first time since October 2023, when the price was at $29K,” he noted. 

“Put simply, this is not good for Bitcoin's short to medium term price action.”

BTC/USD one-week chart with true market mean of active supply. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Alan supplied various downside levels to note, including the top of Bitcoin’s last bull market from November 2021 at $69,000.

BTC/USD one-day chart. Source: Keith Alan/X

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on $76,000 as a popular target as Bitcoin failed to catch a bid despite stocks and precious metals beating all-time highs.

Strategy Bitcoin holdings dip negative

Another cost basis level, meanwhile, loomed large for both crypto market participants and beyond.

Strategy, the firm with the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury, faced going into the red on its BTC holdings at $76,037.

The company currently holds in excess of 700,000 BTC, with its stock price at $143, having tumbled nearly 70% from its local highs of $455 in July last year.

Strategy (MSTR) stock price (screenshot). Source: Bitcoin Treasuries

BitMine Immersion Technologies, a publicly traded cryptocurrency treasury company linked to investor Tom Lee, is carrying significant unrealized losses on its Ether holdings following the latest wave of market liquidations, underscoring the risks facing crypto balance-sheet strategies during sharp downturns.

After acquiring an additional 40,302 Ether (ETH) last week and increasing its total holdings to more than 4.24 million ETH, BitMine’s unrealized losses have grown to over $6 billion, according to data from Dropstab, a platform that tracks digital asset prices and portfolio valuations.

Based on current market prices, BitMine’s Ether holdings are valued at roughly $9.6 billion, down from a peak of about $13.9 billion in October, reflecting the impact of the broader crypto sell-off.

Source: Dropstab

The paper losses mounted as Ether’s price slid toward $2,300 on Saturday, a move that The Kobeissi Letter attributed to fragile liquidity conditions.

“In a market where liquidity has been choppy at best, sustained levels of extreme leverage are resulting in "air pockets" in price,” the market commentator said, adding that “herd-like” positioning amplified the sell-off.

A difficult reset for crypto markets

Despite earlier optimism for the end of 2025, Tom Lee has warned that conditions have shifted, with 2026 likely starting on a “painful” note before any potential rebound later in the year.

In a recent interview, Lee said the crypto market is still feeling the effects of deleveraging, even as longer-term fundamentals remain intact. He pointed to the Oct. 10 market crash, which wiped out roughly $19 billion in value, as a key turning point that reset risk appetite across digital assets.

Source: Tom Lee

A recent assessment by market maker Wintermute echoed that view, arguing that a sustained recovery in 2026 will require structural improvements. These include renewed momentum in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether, broader exchange-traded fund participation, expanded digital asset treasury mandates and a return of retail inflows.

Wintermute said these factors are needed to restore a wider wealth effect across the market. Retail participation, however, remains limited as investors continue to gravitate toward faster-growing themes such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

CoreWeave’s transformation from a crypto-mining operator to a large-scale AI infrastructure provider highlights a broader shift in how computing resources are reused across technology cycles.

In its latest newsletter, The Miner Mag outlined how Ethereum’s move away from proof-of-work reduced demand for GPU-based mining, pushing companies like CoreWeave to redeploy hardware toward AI training and other high-performance computing workloads as demand for compute began to rise.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, CoreWeave began moving away from crypto mining as early as 2019, shifting first into cloud and high-performance computing before fully repositioning itself as a GPU infrastructure provider for AI workloads.

That pivot has since gained momentum. Chipmaker Nvidia recently agreed to a $2 billion equity investment in CoreWeave, a move Miner Mag said reinforced the company’s position as one of the largest independent GPU infrastructure operators outside the major cloud providers.

CoreWeave’s growth has also translated into significant liquidity for company executives, who have generated roughly $1.6 billion in proceeds from stock sales since the company’s initial public offering in March last year, Miner Mag said. 

CoreWeave (CRWV) stock. Source: Google Finance

From crypto mining to AI data centers

The shift toward AI workloads has proven profitable for several crypto miners, including HIVE Digital, TeraWulf, Hut 8 and MARA Holdings.

Like CoreWeave, these companies have repurposed energy infrastructure and computing capacity originally built for mining into data centers that support AI and high-performance computing.

However, AI data centers are beginning to face some of the same challenges that Bitcoin (BTC) miners encountered in their early years. As Cointelegraph recently reported, local opposition tied to power consumption, grid strain and land use is emerging in several regions hosting large AI facilities.

Even so, the market remains in flux. Data cited by Bloomberg, based on research from DC Byte, shows thousands of new entrants entering the data center business. By 2032, Big Tech companies could see their share of global computing capacity fall below 18%, suggesting a more fragmented and competitive market.

If that trend holds, AI data centers, much like crypto mining before them, may increasingly operate outside the direct control of large technology companies.

AI data centers may become less concentrated among Big Tech companies as new operators enter the market. Source: Bloomberg

Related: What role is left for decentralized GPU networks in AI?

Venture capital and institutional money are flowing back into digital asset companies at the start of 2026, with industry data showing $1.4 billion committed across venture rounds and public market listings.

The largest transactions included Visa-linked stablecoin issuer Rain, which reached a $1.9 billion valuation after raising $250 million, and crypto custodian BitGo’s $200 million-plus IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in January.

While crypto markets remain under pressure following October’s broad-based liquidation that wiped out billions in leveraged positions across centralized and decentralized markets, institutional engagement in the sector continues to build.

This edition of VC Roundup covers traditional venture raises, blockchain-focused funds and a notable onchain credit transaction that points to broader shifts in how capital is moving through the industry.

Related: VC Roundup: Big money, few deals as crypto venture funding dries up

TRON DAO leads Bitway’s $4.4 million seed round

Onchain financial infrastructure provider Bitway raised more than $4.4 million in a seed funding round led by TRON DAO, with participation from HTX Ventures. The round builds on an earlier investment from YZi Labs through its EASYResidency initiative, alongside several strategic investors and angel backers.

Bitway said the funds will support its efforts to expand onchain financial services, an area that continues to attract interest despite a broader slowdown in deal activity.

Source: Bitway

Everything closes $6.9 million funding round

Digital exchange platform Everything has raised $6.9 million in seed funding led by Humanity Investments, with participation from Animoca Brands, Hex Trust and Jamie Rogozinski, the founder of WallStreetBets.

The company is building a unified trading platform that combines perpetual futures, spot markets and prediction markets under a single account structure. The company plans a phased rollout, starting with a Telegram-based interface, to simplify retail access to derivatives trading while limiting bot-driven activity through human-verification tools.

Galaxy completes $75 million onchain credit deal on Avalanche

Galaxy has completed a $75 million onchain credit deal using the Avalanche blockchain, including a $50 million anchor allocation from an institutional investor. The deal packages private loans into digital securities that are issued and managed onchain, rather than through traditional back-office systems.

While not a venture funding round, the transaction is notable because Galaxy operates an active venture business and invests heavily in crypto startups. The deal points to growing institutional comfort with running core financial activity onchain, a shift that could influence where venture capital flows next.

Source: Avalanche

Veera raises $4 million as onchain finance targets everyday users

Onchain financial services platform Veera has raised $4 million in a seed funding round backed by CMCC Titan Fund and Sigma Capital. The raise brings the company’s total funding to $10 million, following a $6 million pre-seed round completed in 2024.

Veera is building a mobile-first platform that aggregates onchain financial services such as saving, investing asset swaps and spending into a single interface. The funding will support product development and expansion as Veera works to simplify access to decentralized financial tools for non-technical users.

Source: Veera

Prometheum boosts funding tied to onchain securities push

Prometheum, a US-regulated digital asset market infrastructure provider, said it has raised an additional $23 million since the start of 2025 from high-net-worth investors and institutions. The company operates an SEC-registered, FINRA-member broker-dealer that offers custody, clearing and settlement services for digital assets, including tokenized securities.

The capital will support the rollout of clearing services for US broker-dealers and the development of onchain securities products, as Prometheum works to integrate digital assets into traditional brokerage infrastructure.

Solayer launches $35 million ecosystem fund

Solayer, a Solana-aligned infrastructure developer, has launched a $35 million ecosystem fund to back early- and growth-stage teams building applications on its infiniSVM network. The fund will target onchain products with clear revenue models, including projects in decentralized finance, payments, consumer applications and AI-driven systems.

The fund builds on Solayer Accel, the company’s accelerator program, and is designed to attract developers building applications that run at scale on Solana.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell to a record low versus gold (XAU) in January, making it a better buying opportunity than what preceded the 2015–2017 bull market, analysts say.

Key takeaways:

BTC vs gold hit a record low, a level that has lined up with past major bottoms.

Some analysts warn that a rotation to BTC from gold is not guaranteed.

Gold-to-Bitcoin rotation could start in February

On Saturday, Bitcoin’s value compared to gold fell to its lowest level ever after adjusting for the global money supply, data from Bitwise Europe showed.

The indicator shows when Bitcoin is unusually strong or weak versus gold. It has now moved near an extreme zone (the -2 level in the chart below) that in the past appeared around BTC market bottoms.

BTC/XAU ratio Z-score. Source: Bitwise

The last time this band fell to similar levels was in 2015, indicating extreme BTC undervaluation to gold. That preceded 11,800% BTC price gains to $20,000 from around $165 within just two years. Analyst Michaël van de Poppe said in a Saturday X post:

“Today represents a better opportunity to be buying Bitcoin than 2017.”

His comment echoed analysts who expect some capital to rotate from gold into Bitcoin this year.

That includes Bitwise European head of research, André Dragosch, and Swyftx lead analyst Pav Hundal. The latter said such rotations could start occurring in February or March.

Capital rotation “might not happen quickly”

The bullish views emerged as gold prices have doubled over the past year, while Bitcoin has fallen by 18% over the same period.

XAU/USD vs. BTC/USD. Source: TradingView

But not everyone agreed that a rotation from precious metals to Bitcoin is imminent, including analyst Benjamin Cowen.

He said Bitcoin’s downtrend may last longer than many holders expect, arguing BTC is “likely going to keep bleeding against the stock market” and that hopes for a “massive rotation” out of gold and silver could be misplaced in the short term.

Citi said that silver could extend its gains in the next few months due to demand from China and a weaker US dollar. Likewise, RBC Capital Markets predicted gold’s price to reach $7,000 by 2026’s end.

Cowen said that even if precious metals stay strong, the move into Bitcoin is “probably not going to happen” quickly.

Bitcoin long-term holders absorb January sell-off

Despite Bitcoin’s sharp pullback in January, on-chain data shows long-term holders are quietly rebuilding positions.

The supply held by Bitcoin’s Long-Term Holders (LTH), entities that hold BTC for over 155 days, began recovering during the January selloff.

Bitcoin LTH binary spending indicator. Source: CheckOnChain.COM

Also, the LTH Spent Binary, a metric that shows whether long-term Bitcoin holders are selling or staying put, continued to decline during this period.

In past cycles, recovering LTH supply and declining LTH Spent Binary preceded the formation of durable BTC bottoms, according to analyst Anil.

A recent example came after the April 2025 lows: long-term holder supply began to recover first, and BTC followed with a sharp rebound about a month later, rallying roughly 60% from the lows.

These trends suggest that the more patient holders are taking advantage of BTC’s price drop in January, often the kind of reset that helps Bitcoin build a stronger base for gains in the future.

Activity on major altcoin networks, namely Solana and Ethereum, saw major milestones in January. Daily active addresses on Solana consistently topped 5 million in the second half of the month.

Ethereum overtook major layer 2s in December in terms of daily active addresses after major upgrades to the network. In January, the network marked a 25% increase in daily active addresses amid efforts from developers to “future proof” Ethereum.

Seven Bitcoin (BTC) miners in the US are in a critical storm zone and may need to temporarily scale back their mining activities as a winter storm rocked power grids and left thousands without electricity.

Geopolitical concerns, namely US President Donald Trump’s supposed aspirations to acquire Greenland, have global investors wary. Bitcoin’s price fell nearly 10% from a monthly high of $97,000.

Here’s January by the numbers:

Active Solana addresses increase nearly 115% amid token launch frenzy

The Solana network saw a monthly spike of 115% in active daily addresses as of Jan. 28. The total number of such addresses regularly topped 5 million, according to data from Nansen.

Data collected Jan. 28.

The surge is the result of a renewed spree in memecoin minting following the launch of Anthropic’s Claude Cowork, an AI agent that can control a user’s desktop. This allowed developers using Solana-based token launchpad Bags to turn token launches into overdrive.

Fees on the platform spiked to $4.5 million on Jan. 16. For context, from September to December last year, daily fees rarely passed five digits and, sometimes, were as low as several hundred dollars.

Over the same period, the number of tokens that “graduated,” or launched, from Bags overtook the other popular Solana token launch platform Pump.fun.

Active Ethereum addresses increase 25%

Activity on the Ethereum network has also seen a significant uptick. At the end of December, it overtook prominent L2s Base and Arbitrum in terms of daily active addresses. In January, the same metric increased 25%.

Data collected Jan. 28.

The increase in activity follows some important upgrades to the network, which have increased blob sizes and therefore lowered fees. On Jan. 29, average fees on Ethereum were less than $0.01.

These upgrades were part of an effort to finalize work on Ethereum. On Jan. 12, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said that Ethereum should ultimately pass a “walkaway test.” He said the true test of Ethereum would be for it to keep functioning and fulfilling the needs of users without the presence of developers actively changing and monitoring the network.

Seven US Bitcoin miners face curtailment during winter storm

Seven Bitcoin mining operations in the United States may curtail operations as winter storms put stress on the American power grid in the Southeast and South Central regions.

According to data from Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, mining locations operated by Riot, Core Scientific, CleanSpark and Bitdeer “are structurally set up to act as flexible loads via utility demand response programs.” 

“We do not yet have confirmation of real time curtailments for this storm, but the model has already proven its value when conditions tighten.”

The storm, which has also affected the Midwest and Northeast, has seen cancelled flights, dangerous travel conditions and power outages and has killed at least 20 people as of Jan. 27.

Southern states, which are generally unaccustomed to snow and lack the critical infrastructure to contend with wintry conditions, were hit hardest. As of Jan. 28, some 400,000 people were without power in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

Many Bitcoin miners have set up in locations where they can stabilize grid prices, buying power cheaply when there is little to no demand and temporarily switching off during stress periods.

Four in 10 merchants in US accept crypto: PayPal report

Crypto is getting more popular for payments, according to major payments processor PayPal. Four in 10 merchants in the US now accept crypto, the company said in a January report. PayPal’s survey found that crypto offers faster transaction speeds and more privacy and attracts crypto-savvy customers.

PayPal vice president and general manager May Zabaneh said, “What we’re seeing both in this data and in conversations with our customers is that crypto payments are moving beyond experimentation and into everyday commerce.”

Some 84% of the same merchants believe that crypto payments will become mainstream in the next five years.

Bitcoin’s price static amid Greenland fiasco

Bitcoin’s price saw a brief climb toward $100,000 in the middle of this month before falling back down to $87,000. The more than 10% decrease came amid discussions over what could happen to Greenland, itself an autonomous territory of Denmark.

Data collected Jan. 28.

Trump claimed that the US needs to control Greenland for security purposes and to counteract Chinese and Russian ambitions in the Arctic. This is despite the fact Denmark and the US are part of NATO, an organization created to counteract the very same ambitions.

While tempers have cooled, the fact that Bitcoin, along with global markets generally, was affected by the saber-rattling, shows that BTC is a risk-on asset.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at investing and trading platform IG, said, “Cryptocurrencies offered no haven from the wave of selling that washed over global markets in response to Trump’s threat.”

Trump’s mercurial foreign policy, including punitive, unilateral tariffs and ramping up aggressive rhetoric with former allies, put a damper on Bitcoin’s price, according to some analysts.

Magazine: 6 weirdest devices people have used to mine Bitcoin and crypto

The United States Treasury has sanctioned two cryptocurrency exchanges linked to Iran’s financial system, marking the first time Washington has directly targeted digital asset platforms as part of its Iran sanctions program.

In a statement on Friday, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the sanctions are part of a wider move against Iranian officials and networks accused of violently suppressing people at home while using alternative financial channels to get around international sanctions.

Among those sanctioned was Eskandar Momeni Kalagari, Iran’s minister of the interior, who oversees the country’s Law Enforcement Forces. “Treasury will continue to target Iranian networks and corrupt elites that enrich themselves at the expense of the Iranian people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

OFAC also designated Babak Morteza Zanjani, a well-known Iranian businessman previously convicted of embezzling billions of dollars in oil revenue from Iran’s national oil company. According to the Treasury, Zanjani was released from prison and later used by the Iranian state to help move and launder funds, providing financial support to projects tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Related: Trump says shutdown deal near, but markets remain on edge

US sanctions UK crypto exchanges over Iran links

The sanctions break new ground by extending to two UK-registered crypto exchanges, Zedcex Exchange Ltd. and Zedxion Exchange Ltd., which US officials say are linked to Zanjani and have processed large volumes of transactions connected to IRGC-linked entities. OFAC said Zedcex alone has handled more than $94 billion in transactions since its registration in 2022.

“This marks OFAC’s first designation of a digital asset exchange for operating in the financial sector of the Iranian economy,” the Treasury said.

Bessent accused Tehran of diverting oil revenues toward weapons programs and militant proxies instead of supporting its population. He said the United States would continue to target networks that exploit digital assets to bypass restrictions and finance illicit activity.

Beyond the crypto-related designations, OFAC also sanctioned senior IRGC commanders and security officials across multiple provinces, citing evidence of live-fire attacks on protesters, forced burials without funerals and widespread intimidation aimed at crushing dissent.

Related: Iran is cut off from the internet: Here’s how crypto could still work

Iran’s central bank used $500 million in USDt to support rial

Last week, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said Iran’s central bank accumulated more than $500 million worth of Tether’s USDt (USDT) during a period of severe economic stress, likely using the stablecoin to support the collapsing rial or settle international trade.

The accumulation began as the currency lost roughly half its value in eight months, with Elliptic suggesting the bank used USDT on local exchange Nobitex to buy rials, mirroring traditional central bank market operations through crypto.

Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026

Two high-profile crypto figures are preparing to pour tens of millions of dollars into California politics, aiming to reshape the state Legislature by backing moderate, business-friendly candidates and countering the influence of labor unions.

The effort, operating under the banner of Grow California, is backed by Chris Larsen, a longtime Democratic donor and co-founder of Ripple, and Tim Draper, a venture capitalist known for his support of Bitcoin (BTC), according to The New York Times.

“The government unions do a great job,” Larsen reportedly told the outlet. “But that’s going to clash with a lot of the things that are going to make California successful if there’s no counterforce,” he added.

The move comes as Silicon Valley donors grow increasingly alarmed by a proposed California wealth tax, backed by a healthcare union, that would levy taxes on the assets of the state’s richest residents if approved by voters. While Larsen and Draper say Grow California was seeded before the proposal emerged, the tax has become a clear rallying point for the initiative.

Related: If history repeats itself, will the US Congress become more pro-crypto in 2026?

Larsen, Draper seed Grow California with $10 million

According to campaign finance filings set to be submitted, Larsen and Draper each contributed $5 million to launch the group last September, per the report. Grow California now claims to have secured roughly $40 million in commitments across independent-expenditure committees and affiliated nonprofit entities. Larsen has said he expects to contribute as much as $30 million of his own money over multiple election cycles.

California Democrats currently hold more than two-thirds of the seats in both legislative chambers, with labor unions often acting as key gatekeepers in competitive races. Grow California plans to focus its resources on a limited number of state legislative contests. The group has said it will stay out of the 2026 gubernatorial race and avoid costly ballot proposition campaigns.

Larsen, whose net worth is estimated at nearly $15 billion, has described California’s political system as overly dominated by unions and special interests. He reportedly pointed to lessons learned from Fairshake, a crypto-backed super PAC that spent heavily in recent federal elections, as proof that sustained political spending can shift outcomes.

Related: Ray Dalio says 2026 US midterm elections may reverse Trump policies

Crypto-backed PACs amass war chests ahead of 2026 US midterms

Crypto-funded PACs are ramping up for the 2026 US midterm elections, as debates over digital asset regulation heat up in Congress. Industry-backed groups say they plan to expand their political influence by backing candidates they view as supportive of crypto and opposing those seen as hostile to the sector.

On Wednesday, Fairshake disclosed it is holding $193 million in cash, boosted by major contributions from Ripple Labs, Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase. The group said its cash reserves have grown sharply since mid-2025 and revealed intentions to remain active after spending more than $130 million on media buys during the 2024 federal elections.

Magazine: A ‘tsunami’ of wealth is headed for crypto: Nansen’s Alex Svanevik

Investors pulled around $1.82 billion from US-based spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) over the past five trading days, as market sentiment continued to weaken after the precious metals rally.

Between Monday and Friday, US-based spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs lost $1.49 billion, while spot Ether (ETH) ETFs saw $327.10 million in net outflows, according to Farside. The outflows come as the spot price of both cryptocurrencies continued to decline, despite recent signs of a recovery. Over the past seven days, Bitcoin and Ether have fallen 6.55% and 8.99% respectively, trading at $83,400 and $2,685, according to CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin is down 5.13% over the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin rose 7% over the two days leading to Jan. 15 amid speculation about the US CLARITY Act, but the rally was short-lived.

During that period, Bitcoin ETF saw their highest inflow day for 2026 came on Jan. 14, with $840.6 million, just before The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which measures overall crypto market sentiment, surged to its highest score of the year with a “Greed” score of 61.

Bitcoin negativity is “very short-sighted,” says ETF analyst

Crypto market participants often track spot crypto ETF flows to gauge retail investor sentiment and get clues on the asset’s near-term price direction.

ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called the negativity around Bitcoin’s recent price action versus gold and silver “very short-sighted.”

“Bitcoin spanked everything so bad in '23 and '24,” Balchunas said in an X post on Saturday, emphasizing that people have seemed to have forgotten about that.

“Those other assets still haven't caught up even after having their greatest year ever and BTC being in a coma,” Balchunas said. Balchunas said that the “institutionalization narrative” got priced in for Bitcoin quickly and “ahead of it actually happening.”

“So it had to take a breather so the actual narrative could catch up to the price,” Balchunas said.

Gold and silver reached all-time highs of $5,608 and $121, respectively, this week. However, on Friday alone, gold fell 8% to $4,887 and silver dropped around 27% to $84.

Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan said in an X post on Jan. 15 that “Bitcoin's price will go parabolic if ETF demand persists long-term.”

Magazine: 6 weirdest devices people have used to mine Bitcoin and crypto