Cryptopolitan

Crypto just added $90 billion in a day as everything turned green, even with the US grabbing Maduro from his capital city.

Bitcoin is back near 92K, and Polymarket gamblers are betting bullish.

OPEC+ still plans to pause supply hikes, with Saudi and Russia calling the shots at Sunday’s meeting.

Trump says US oil giants will rebuild Venezuela, but OPEC’s watching that angle closely.

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok is facing the risk of being permanently banned in France, Malaysia, and India after creating sexualized images of children in response to public prompts on X.

On Saturday, Malaysian authorities announced that they are investigating Grok for producing offensive and illegal content using AI. The country’s Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) confirmed it received complaints that Grok was generating manipulated images of women and minors in sexually explicit forms.

The agency made it clear that distributing such content is a criminal offense in Malaysia. According to their statement, they will also go after the users of X who requested or posted the content and plan to summon X representatives for questioning.

The MCMC said, “While X is not presently a licensed service provider, it has the duty to prevent dissemination of harmful content on its platform.”

India, France, and EU raise legal threats over Grok’s images

Just one day earlier, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a formal warning to X, demanding a complete review of Grok and its ability to generate nudity, sexualized material, or anything that’s unlawful.

Bloomberg claims it saw a copy of the notice, dated January 2, which gave X 72 hours to submit a full report on actions taken. The letter warned of potential criminal charges and additional penalties under the country’s IT laws.

India’s Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told CNBC-TV 18, “The Parliamentary Committee has recommended a strong law for regulating social media. We are considering it.”

Meanwhile, France’s government didn’t hold back either. Officials said on Friday that Grok had generated “clearly illegal” sexual material on X without people’s consent. They said the chatbot’s behavior was likely in violation of the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which demands large platforms take strong action to limit illegal content.

According to France, Grok’s actions show a complete failure in enforcement of platform rules.

Some of the pictures were taken down after backlash, but officials said the damage was already done. Even Grok’s own policy bans sexualization, making the violation even worse.

In response to the controversy, a post by Grok on X claimed it had “identified lapses in safeguards” and said fixes were “being urgently applied.” But that hasn’t slowed down the demands from governments for accountability.

Musk rages as EU slams X with €120 million penalty

Meanwhile, just last month, the European Union fined X €120 million (about $140 million) for breaking the Digital Services Act. The fine was for deceptive blue checkmark designs, opaque advertising systems, and refusal to give researchers data access. But Elon still blew up on the platform.

In one reply to the EU’s official post, Elon simply wrote: “Bullsh*t!” Then the next day, he posted, “The EU should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries, so that governments can better represent their people.”

Andrew Puzder, the U.S. ambassador to the EU, backed Elon on X, saying, “Today’s excessive €120M fine is the result of EU regulatory overreach targeting American innovation.”

He added that President Trump’s administration opposes censorship and will fight unfair international rules. “We expect the EU to engage in fair, open, & reciprocal trade — & nothing less,” Puzder posted.

As the backlash over Grok builds, so do the threats of regulation and lawsuits. But instead of cooling things down, Elon and his team replied to an email request from Bloomberg with just two words: “Legacy Media Lies.”

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That is why the slightest movement in the market can be enough. BTC pulls back for a few days. ETH stalls near a key level. Meme coins begin to dry up and the charts are growing weary. When it occurs, traders are rotated. They turn their backs on pure narrative plays and to projects that could be interesting in pure utility.

Rotation is recurring with some analysts thinking that it is going to take place into Q1 2026. And they say that the focus is shifting quickly towards one particular DeFi altcoin that at any rate, is under $0.1 but no longer early on paper. That one is Mutuum Finance (MUTM).

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is developing a non custodial borrowing and lending writing protocol. Put simply, simple cases would be where users provide assets to earn yield, and borrowers provide overcollateralized debts. It is a protocol that is meant to handle rates and risk policies to ensure that liquidity remains intact.

This is relevant to stormy markets. Lending is not a trend. It is a need. The traders borrow to remain in circulation. Others lend to earn yield. In cases where sentiment is shaky, such utility can hold demand steady as compared to meme cycles.

Mutuum Finance has also a definite milestone that grounds the story. As announced by its official sources, V1 is in preparation phase for Sepolia testnet and then this version should be prepared to mainnet, though it is defined as soon. The V1 consists of the Liquidity Pool, mtToken, Debt Token and a Liquidator Bot and the initial assets to be listed as collateral, lent and to be lent are ETH and USDT.

Participation Signals and What the Numbers Suggest

When a smaller project begins trending, social posts are not the first to consider. It is participation. Who is actually positioning. Mutuum Finance has reported having raised $19.6M and approximately 18,700 holders. What is significant about those figures is that they represent a wide base.

It implies that interest is not being generated by a small group of people. It also portends that there are numerous holders who are not only ready to sit through the build, but it is a better indicator than a one week spike.

Selling a story is not the deal in this section. It is about reading the room. The increase in the number of holders, accompanied by a constant funding, is what tends to appear in front of the broader market before a project should be spotted. In the case of crypto investing, that typically is the initial indicator of the larger attention shift.

The trend of the price has been consistent. Phase 1 started at $0.01. Now it is $0.04. It is a 300% increase in stages. Mutuum Finance also cites a planned launch price of $0.06 as the reason why Phase 1 purchasers are set for 500% appreciation post launch at the specific mark. That is a comparison of prices, not an assurance.

During the next stage of crypto, the vital piece of information is a straightforward one. There is a set allocation on each stage. With an increase in demand, the stages are filled quicker and the entry price is increased. That is the reason why intermediate stages tend to seem as a narrower window.

Security and Infrastructure

Lending habits die and meme on security. That is why the security layer of MUTM falls under the change of attention. Mutuum Finance refers to a CertiK scan score of 90/100. It further indicates that Halbon security performed an independent audit of its V1 lending and borrowing protocol. It has mentioned an amount of fifty thousand dollars bug bounty as well. Such watches are not able to eliminate uncertainty, but they may increase confidence among risk-averse users.

On infrastructure, Mutuum Finance specifies plans of oracle that proposes Chainlink style feeds, fallback options, and potential aggregated sources. This is significant as oracles are associated with liquidations and maintain collateral regulations when today crypto prices are rapidly growing.

An overcollateralized stablecoin plan and calldata compression cost reduction are also described by Mutuum Finance. Those are not nice extras. They are indications that the protocol is designed to scale.

For some investors, these kinds of concrete infrastructure plans build trust because they show the team is thinking beyond launch and focusing on long-term usability. Early investor sentiment indicates that this is one reason new participants keep joining, since scaling features can support broader adoption over time. 

In a bullish scenario, projections show that this strengthens the case for a 15x path from the current $0.04 level, which would imply roughly $0.60, as usage and visibility expand through 2026.

The Urgency Window Ahead of Q1 2026

Later construction sites are traditionally changeable. Allocation tightens. There are more of the tokens in determined hands. And the other stage price moves higher. Other commentators in the market opine that this is also where the interest of the whales may be observed, as bigger buyers would like to see the evidence upon which to base their early uncertainty on. The official figures presented so far have not been verified to be exact numbers of whales, so it should be presumed that it is a pattern and not a proven statement.

Now the 15x idea. A 15x move from $0.04 implies about $0.60. Others describe that in the event where V1 delivery is on schedule and it is used upon its introduction, it will be a bullish event. Nothing is certain, but it clarifies why MUTM is being followed as a potential best cheap crypto to invest in currently, with it entering Q1 2026.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

Less than a year after launching in Argentina, crypto exchange Coinbase has paused its local fiat operations, suspending peso-based services while continuing to support cryptocurrency trading.

Before implementing this move, it had alerted its users of this intention in a statement published on December 31, 2025. Notably, the firm adopted this decision the same year it received approval to begin its operations in the country.

This sudden decision prompted reporters to contact the firm’s representatives for comment. The spokespersons claimed that they had embraced this move after conducting a review of their performance in the local markets.

They added that, “This is a thoughtful pause that allows us to rethink and improve our strategy so we can come back with a stronger and more sustainable product.”

Coinbase decides to halt its operation in Argentina 

In Argentina, Coinbase focused on key aspects of its regional plans in 2024, developing strategies to enter the market effectively. In January 2025, the company officially announced the launch of its local operations.

Following the current situation, several individuals raised concerns about Coinbase’s sudden decision, with the main question raised in the ecosystem being, “What does this current pause mean?”

In an attempt to answer this question, Coinbase released a statement intended for its users in Argentina. The statement noted that users in the country will no longer be able to access the exchange to purchase or sell the stablecoin USDC using Argentine pesos, the local currency, beginning January 31, 2026. However, it did not disclose the reason behind this decision.

Another thing that the exchange unveiled was that cryptocurrency transactions, such as sending and receiving, will still be accessible to users. To silence the controversy raised in the ecosystem, Coinbase informed the press that it still values Argentina as a crucial market for new ideas. Following this claim, the firm made it clear its intentions to revive its operations in the nation in the future with an enhanced user experience.

The Coinbase team asserted that they seek to achieve their firm’s goal of improving economic freedom by linking the world through blockchain technology. With this goal in mind, Latin America remains a key area of focus.

As discussions continued among individuals, several analysts weighed in on the situation. They pointed out that although Coinbase adopted this move, the decision comes at a time when Argentina has solidified its position as a hub for cryptocurrencies. To support this claim, reports indicate that both local and global firms have recently shown a heightened interest in the Argentine market. 

For instance, Ripio launched the local peso-pegged stablecoin. Nexo, on the other hand, acquired the Buenbit exchange as part of its long-standing aim to expand.

An unexpected power outage in Argentina raises concerns among individuals 

Apart from Coinbase, reports revealed that Bitfarms, a popular Bitcoin mining firm, also halted its Bitcoin mining operations in Argentina, based in Rio Cuarto. The company alleged that the reason behind this decision was an unexpected power outage from its local energy supplier.

This information was published in Bitfarms’ earnings report for the first quarter. In this report, the firm noted that the power supply interruption began on May 12. It resulted from Generación Mediterránea S.A. (GMSA), the company responsible for providing this electricity supply to Bitfarms in Argentina.

The outage occurred shortly after GMSA notified Bitfarms regarding matters related to a financial reorganization process with creditors. At this particular moment, sources highlighted that the team initially vowed to continue offering power supply to the mining company.

Meanwhile, Bitfarms argued that this interruption has caused growing uncertainties concerning when or if power will be restored. Due to these uncertainties, the firm began exploring various alternatives to support operations at the facility. 

It is worth noting that Bitfarms’ operations in Argentina generated approximately $6.9 million in revenue during the first quarter of 2025. This figure contributed approximately 10% of the firm’s total revenue, which amounted to $66.8 million during this period.

In their report, Bitfarms stated that this outage incident left them with no other choice but to halt their cryptocurrency mining operations based in Argentina. After making this claim, the company warned that this situation could significantly impact their operations if not resolved.

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Wall Street’s hot streak might be cooling off. After three years of double-digit gains, financial experts say 2026 could be a lot different.

The big stock indexes just finished their third straight year of impressive returns, but things are getting complicated. Many companies look overpriced, and the economy’s future isn’t as clear anymore. There are still good reasons to be upbeat, but some market watchers aren’t sure stocks can keep rising this fast.

Experts warn the winning streak may be hard to match

“We probably have an OK market, but certainly not what we’ve seen in the last couple years,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.

The S&P 500 climbed 16% last year. A strong economy, fresh interest-rate cuts, and all the buzz around artificial intelligence pushed the benchmark to 39 new records in 2025. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 13% while the Nasdaq composite jumped 20%.

Big banks still think the party continues. Bank of America expects the S&P 500 to reach 7,100 by the end of this year—a 3.7% gain from where 2025 closed. JPMorgan Chase says 7,500. Goldman Sachs predicts 7,600.

That kind of across-the-board confidence makes some investors nervous. The S&P 500 has surged roughly 80% from the start of 2023 through New Year’s Eve. That’s a crazy pace that’s tough to keep up under almost any circumstances.

“It behooves investors to at least offer a little skepticism when there is such a broad consensus that everything will go well,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.

This rally is getting old by Wall Street standards. If the S&P 500 rises in 2026 for a fourth year in a row, it would be the longest such streak since 2007, when the benchmark completed a five-year run. Looking back through the index’s history, there have only been five streaks of four or more consecutive years of gains, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The December jobs report is coming soon, which will give investors their next real look at how the economy’s doing. Big banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup, will also start reporting earnings in the next few weeks.

Last year’s rally went way beyond stocks. Gold and silver had their best year since 1979. Bonds saw their best showing since 2020. Individual investors jumped back into speculation, creating a new class of meme stocks and driving options trading volumes to records again.

Lower interest rates should help the market this year. The Federal Reserve penciled in one quarter-point cut for 2026, and some expect President Trump’s pick for the next Fed chair after Jerome Powell’s term expires in May will lean more dovish. Tax cuts are also poised to boost corporate coffers.

Warning signs flash as prices climb too high

But there are warning signs that prices have run up too far, too fast. Bitcoin finished last year below $88,000 after sliding more than 30% from its record above $126,000 set in early October. Many of the meme stocks that saw huge swings higher have come down just as quickly.

Some analysts are concerned that the huge gains in artificial-intelligence stocks—which have fueled much of the market’s gains over the past three years—have limited room to run further. A lot of people believe AI will be transformative, but they worry the promised returns on multibillion-dollar investments between the major AI players will be difficult to realize. That could weigh on future gains.

Valuations are looking rich. Companies in the S&P 500 are trading at 22 times their expected earnings over the next 12 months, above their 10-year average of 19 times. Around half of the valuation metrics for the S&P 500 tracked by Bank of America are higher than levels seen in March 2000, near when the dot-com bubble burst.

Still, many expect the economy to hold up and provide fresh fuel for stocks. The U.S. economy stayed resilient last year despite Trump’s tariffs, persistent inflation, and immigration shocks. Americans kept spending, and businesses kept investing mammoth amounts in data centers and other critical parts of AI infrastructure.

Corporate earnings growth is expected to stay robust. Analysts polled by FactSet expect companies in the S&P 500 to report a 15% jump in profits this year, which would mark the highest annual rate of growth since 2021.

“The base case is one in which there is sufficient momentum in the economy,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Capital Management.

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The Indian police have released a statement noting that two senior Indian citizens have been duped of more than Rs. 3.2 crore ($355,654) by scammers. According to the statement, the pair lost the funds after the criminals convinced them to invest in a fake crypto and stock trading platform.

The Indian police mentioned that the criminals targeted the residents because of their age, noting that they had little or no knowledge about how crypto worked. The victims were just looking for ways to double their income and make profits, according to the police statement. The first victim filed a complaint alleging that he lost more than Rs. 2.58 crore ($310,000) to the criminals, while the second victim told the police that he lost Rs 63.15 lakh ($76,000) to criminals using the same format.

Senior Indian citizens lose funds to fake crypto investment platforms

According to the complaint filed by the first victim, he was approached by the administrator of a Telegram group after he found himself in a group that he identified as AP Helping Hand India. The administrator introduced himself as Aman Kumar, and he trades stock for a living. The victim claimed that the scammer told him he had several ways to help him make money, but promised to help him make high returns from cryptocurrency arbitrage.

The victim claimed that after he agreed to invest, he paid an initial Rs. 8,500 or $100 registration fee in September 2025. After the payment, he was asked to download Base, a crypto wallet, through a link that was provided to him by the scammers. In addition, he was asked to share his personal and banking details before he began to invest using the application. The Indian police said that after he invested, the scammers took control of his account.

In the statement released by the Indian police, they said the scammers claimed it was the only way they could help him maximize returns on his investments. Police mentioned that the account was operated by one of the fraudsters who claimed he was Ajit Doval, the profit distribution manager of the platform. After a while, the scammers showed the victim a fake dashboard which had an account balance of Rs. 4.55 crore or $5.48 million.

Scammers are now targeting elderly victims

The police mentioned that showing the big balance was a play the scammers run to force the victims into making bigger deposits. Between September 4 and December 27, the victim transferred more than Rs. 2.58 crore or $310,000 to the criminals for investments, taxes, and transaction charges. The problem started after he tried to make multiple withdrawals, and they all failed, even after he paid additional taxes to be able to withdraw the funds.

The victim claimed he confronted the fraudsters after encountering issues with withdrawals, but they asked him to pay an additional Rs. 80 lakh or $96,000 to process the withdrawal. It was then that the victim realized he had been scammed and reported to the Rachakonda cybercrime police. The Indian police claimed they have filed a report under the relevant sections of the BNS along with Sections 66C and 66D of the IT Act.

In the second case, the 69-year-old retired Bank manager lost more than Rs. 63.15 lakh or $76,000 after he was contacted by someone on WhatsApp claiming to be a stockbroker in the United States. Police said the victim was lured into registering on a fake portal and initially invested Rs. 13.56 lakh or $16,300. Subsequently, the victim was asked to pay additional amounts, which drove the entire figure towards Rs. 63.15 or $76,000. After exhausting his entire savings, he realized it was a scam and approached the police.

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The markets tend to reward two things: timing and evidence. Most people miss one of them. They will purchase either too soon when no one starts to build anything or too late, when the move becomes overcrowded. When there is actual advancement on a project and yet priced like a new face, then that is the sweet spot.

Some analysts think that Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is already entering that window at the moment. It remains below $0.045, but it is developing a working DeFi lending product. When that rollout takes off, market observers are saying that it may not be long before the difference between as quiet as a builder and as popular as watched.

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is developing a protocol of non custodial lending and borrowing. The core idea is simple. Individuals are providers of assets to generate yield. Overcollateralized loans are handed over to borrowers. The protocol regulates rates and safety guidelines in order to keep liquidity stable.

Mutuum Finance is developing two complementary markets. The former one is pool based lending, commonly referred to as P2C. Depositors are depositing to common pools. Those pools supply liquidity to the borrowers. The rates are pegged to utilization which entails the extent to which the pool is borrowed. At times when there is plenty of liquidity, the rates would remain smaller. As liquidity becomes constrained, the rates increase to demand deposits and spur repayment.

For example, if a pool is only 20% utilized, the supply APY could stay relatively low, such as 2% to 4%, since borrowing demand is light. If utilization rises toward 80% to 90%, borrowing demand becomes intense and supply APY can move higher, such as 8% to 12%, to attract more deposits and balance liquidity. 

In a simple USDT case, a depositor who supplies $1,000 at 3% APY would earn about $30 over a year, but if utilization pushes the supply APY to 10%, the same deposit could earn about $100 over a year, assuming rates stay near those levels.

The second path is P2P. Direct consent of the terms can be agreed by the user. Under some circumstances, Mutuum Finance also stipulates variable rates and selling rates in stable rates borrowing. In most cases, stable-rate mortgages happen to be higher in the beginning as they provide predictability in repayment. The balancing can also be restored to steady rates when the situation in the market changes drastically.

Presale Signals and Supply

There has already been high participation. The Mutuum Finance shows that the project has raised $19.6M, 18,700 holders, and an approximate of 822M tokens sold. That is a significant portion of the Presale distribution already circulating in the market, which is capable of influencing the trading of the token when it reaches the visibility.

Pricing is also shifted in an organized manner. In Phase 1 which started in early 2025, the Presale started at $0.01. It is now $0.04 in Phase 7. That is a 300% rise across phases. Mutuum Finance cites a formal launch at price 0.06, which would put Phase 1 purchasers within 500% of appreciation at the launch marker. 

One of the driving forces of demand is the stage system. Each of the stages is allocated a price and a fixed allocation. The stage will be sold more quickly when the demand is greater, and the price will increase to the following level. This is why MUTM is frequently encountered in case of the search for the most promising cheap crypto to buy today. 

The 500% Path Analysts Discuss

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is also straining towards a definite point of V1 Protocol delivery. Officially, it will be prepared first on Sepolia testnet and then finalized on mainnet, timings being characterized as predicted to come soon. V1 consists of Liquidity Pool, mtToken, Debt Token and a Liquidator Bot, and the first assets to be lent, borrowed, and pledged are ETH and USDT.

This is another reason analysts monitor this build because of security. Mutuum Finance states that it has a CertiK token scan score of 90/100 and has already undergone an independent audit of its V1 lending and borrowing protocol by Halborn. It has cited a $50k bug bounty as well.

A 500% appreciation from $0.04 implies about $0.24. Some analysts argue that this is a realistic bullish scenario should two occurrences to this happen; V1 progress remains on schedule and post-launch demand grows with increased visibility and actual use.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

After a military operation ousted President Nicolás Maduro, the White House pivoted from drug enforcement to energy interests in Venezuela, with President Trump saying U.S. oil firms would move in to tap the country’s vast reserves.

“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” he said.

Trump’s remarks made clear the real prize: getting U.S. energy firms into a nation sitting on massive oil deposits that have been off-limits for years.

Chevron stands alone as companies weigh risks

Still, convincing companies to rush back into Venezuela won’t be simple. Right now, Chevron stands alone as the single major American oil player operating there and holds the position of the biggest foreign investor in the country. Other executives will need to carefully measure whether conditions on the ground are stable enough to justify the risk in a nation where the oil business has crumbled after more than 20 years of poor management and crooked dealings.

Another hurdle stands in the way of Trump’s push to flood global markets with Venezuela’s thick crude: nobody really wants more oil right now. American oil sits under $60 per barrel, a price point that makes most U.S. producers think twice about new investments. Worldwide supplies keep climbing this year.

“One thing that works against it is the price of oil,” said Ali Moshiri, the former head of Chevron’s operations in Latin America and Africa. “In the environment we’re in, if you’re going to invest, do you put it in the Permian [Basin in the U.S.] or do you put it in Venezuela? That’s going to be a tough choice.”

The government hasn’t spelled out exactly how it plans to bring more American oil companies into Venezuela to ramp up production. People who study the industry say the process might let companies compete for oil and gas territories and wonder if European firms might also get a chance to bid their way into the country.

Chevron put out a statement Saturday saying its main concerns are keeping employees safe and protecting its property in the country. The company and the businesses it partners with have roughly 3,000 workers there.

Venezuela pumps around 900,000 barrels daily this year, with Chevron responsible for about one-third of that total. The crude Venezuela pulls from the ground is heavier and thicker than most oil traded worldwide, but refineries from the American Gulf Coast to China and India can squeeze better profits from it compared to other types, which makes fuel producers eager to get their hands on it.

The U.S. shale revolution created record-breaking oil output, but the light crude American drillers bring up doesn’t perform as well as the heavy stuff from Venezuela, Canada, and Mexico. Venezuela’s government puts its proven oil reserves above 300 billion barrels, which would give it the world’s largest supply if the numbers hold up.

Other large oil corporations potentially interested in going back to Venezuela will almost definitely wait and watch before making moves because the country has a history of seizing oil properties, which happened in the 1970s and again in the 2000s, according to analysts.

ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil left Venezuela in 2007 after President Hugo Chávez, at the time, took over their operations. Conoco went to court later seeking more than $20 billion from the Venezuelan government; Exxon asked for $12 billion. Both companies ended up getting small portions of what they lost after long legal fights.

Conoco and Exxon didn’t respond right away when asked for their thoughts.

Rebuilding requires massive effort

Orlando Ochoa, a Caracas-based economist and a visiting fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, painted a picture of the enormous challenge ahead in restarting the broken energy sector, which has lost tens of thousands of skilled workers who left the country during Maduro’s rule.

He explained this includes writing a comprehensive economic recovery plan to pull in the money Venezuela desperately requires from international lenders to fix infrastructure and rusty oil equipment. Domestic laws must change to let private energy companies work without government interference, he said. The government also needs to reorganize about $160 billion in debt and settle ongoing legal disputes with foreign companies to persuade them to return.

“What the U.S. needs to do is to implement a form of a Marshall Plan,” said Ochoa, pointing to the economic program that rebuilt Europe after World War II. “This is about much more than coming into the oil and gas sector just to extract crude from the ground.”

One American oil executive who spent years working in Venezuela said the U.S. government might have finished the simple part by pushing Maduro out. But questions remain about whether a temporary government could provide the safety and stability foreign oil companies need before flooding back into Venezuela, the executive noted.

On Saturday, while questions kept coming about how Venezuela’s government would operate and what role America would play, Trump repeatedly returned to talking about the country’s oil.

The reasoning behind the military move showed how the president has consistently seen oil as both war treasure and a tough instrument for showing American strength. Trump has spent years saying the U.S. should have claimed other nations’ oil during military operations in Syria, Libya, and Iraq, either to cover military expenses or to counter rivals’ power.

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United Kingdom prosecutors have moved to seize all assets belonging to Craig Costello, including his houses, cash, and digital assets. Costello is the final member of four Teesside pals who were convicted of running a global drugs ring. Prosecutors mentioned that his bank account and crypto stash grew with dirty cash.

Prosecutors mentioned that he funneled money into several investments in the UK, noting his affinity for digital assets. Initially, the prosecutors had filed a proceeds of crime application over his five-bedroom home, which led to them selling it. In addition, his quad bikes and a number of luxury vehicles have also been confiscated and liquidated under the ruling.

United Kingdom prosecutors want to seize Costello’s assets

The prosecutors mentioned in court that Costello worked alongside his business partners John Watson, Steven Beazley, and Dave Wright, managing the Teesside arm of a global drugs ring between 2015 and 2016. The quartet worked under Stockton drugs baron Jon Moorby, who operated the network alongside Merseyside gangster Lance Kennedy. The pair directed the movement of drugs from Spain and Belgium into the UK.

Prosecutors mentioned that Kennedy organized and controlled an estimated £17 million of cocaine imports into the United Kingdom. The operation led to the inflow of class A drugs across several Channels in chartered helicopters from 2015 to 2016. Couriers also moved the cocaine up to Merseyside from Kent and across the North East. The four-man gang, including Costello, was convicted of conspiracy to supply class A drugs in 2021 after Cleveland police put them under surveillance to gather evidence.

Costello was not present in court during the jury’s verdict, with UK prosecutors mentioning that he had fled the country for the Middle East. He was later taken to court while driving in Amsterdam and brought back to the United Kingdom in 2022 to begin his nine-year sentence. Meanwhile, financial investigators claim that Costello made about £1.6 million in illegal profits. Prosecutors have also identified several payments into his bank account.

Investigators continue to track Costello’s account

The investigators claim that the payments into his account were consistent with drug trafficking profits. They mentioned that they have also traced £4,012.21 worth of Ethereum Classic in Costello’s name, which they claim originated from his drug sales. While prosecutors are zeroing in on the digital assets, it remains to be seen if Costello has some other hidden stash kept somewhere to be retrieved at a later date.

The exact amount to be seized from Costello has yet to be settled due to the proceeds from the sale of his house not being finalized between him and his former partner, Victoria Costello, who initiated divorce proceedings after he was sent to prison. Paperwork from the proceeds of crime application showed that the equity in the house is £107,722. The outstanding mortgage owed to the Royal Bank of Scotland and a debt to the government agency had been settled.

The separated couple attended the Durham Crown Court last month, where prosecutor Steve McNally mentioned that Mrs Costello is claiming to have paid cash as part of the deposit on the home when it was originally bought. The CPS has paused the former couple’s divorce proceedings until the finances are settled.

According to reports, the convicted drug trafficker has been found to have more than £137,577 in cash and assets available to be confiscated by the authorities. A Judge is expected to sign the confiscation order early this year. Costello’s former drug pals also had their proceeds of crime applications finalized some time ago. John Watson, Dave Wright, and Steven Beazley paid back less than £300,000 from a £4 million profit.

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At the time when the market appears to be divided, investors begin searching simultaneously, in both directions. They have a small number of big caps to hold on, yet they also go in search of a smaller Altcoin which can still have an unexpectedly better side to the upside. This explains why next big crypto talk usually spikes at tokens less than 0.1. When a project is actually underway and there is an usher-in route, the shift of attention may be high-speed.

Certain observers consider that Mutuum Finance (MUTM) would be appropriate for such an arrangement at present. It is also not completely deployed on mainnet, but is no longer a secret concept either. It is in that in-between place where 20x conversations are likely to begin.

Presale That Pushes Momentum

In phase 7, Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is priced at $0.04. The presale has been held in the format of a system of stages, and the stage includes a predetermined price and a predetermined number of tokens. Having a higher demand, a given stage will be filled quicker, and the price will be advanced.

The project shows it raised $19.6M and had approximately 18,700 holders and sold approximately 822M tokens, up to now.  The pricing trend is also narrated. The initial price of Mutuum Finance was $0.01 in Phase 1, and now to $ 0.04 in presale Phase 7. That is a 300% rise across phases. An official launch price is also mentioned in Mutuum Finance and is $0.06.

What is Mutuum Finance (MUTM) Developing

Mutuum Finance is developing a non custodial protocol of lending and borrowing. The point of focus is dual lending markets. Users are able to lend in a shared pool format and also to avail direct lending terms between users. That is important since it is compatible with various forms of demand as the protocol expands.

One more primary entity is mtTokens. When assets get provided by users, that position is represented by mtTokens. These tokens are set for earnings over time. To customers of the DeFi, this is the way which lending would be easy to monitor as well as being easy to navigate.

Also included is the trend story of security. Mutuum Finance uses a CertiK token scan of 90/100 and that an independent audit of its V1 lending and borrowing protocol was performed by Halborn. It has also mentioned a bug bounty of $50k, which is an indicator of added testing before broader implementation.

V1 Timing and Phase Speed 

Per official statements by Mutuum Finance, V1 is being tested in Sepolia testnet and then designed to work on mainnet, and it is stated that it will be launched soon. V1 encompasses such integral elements as the Liquidity Pool, mtToken, Debt Token, and a Liquidator Bot, with initial assets of lending, borrowing as well as collateral being ETH and USDT.

Your Phase 6 quick selling and whale allocations were also asked about. This is the clean version of putting it without number inventions. The presale proceeded out of Phase 6 with a price of $0.035 to Phase 7 with a price of $0.04 and subsequent phases tend to move rapidly due to increase in attention as delivery approaches. 

According to some market commentators, bigger buyers are likely to show up in such late stages as they want to see more than they worry. Nonetheless, precise numbers of whale transactions have not been framed in the official statistics that have been made available to date. In a bullish scenario, projections show that a 5x increase from Phase 7’s $0.04 level would place MUTM around $0.20, while a 7x move would imply about $0.28.

That is why the present moment is important. Provided that V1 growth continues to be linear and stage distributions continue to become tighter, the transition to the presale token to a widely-followed Altcoin might become fast as Q1 2026 gets closer.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

Less than a day after staking over $30,000 on Venezuela President Maduro’s exit on a new Polymarket account, a trader reportedly earned $400,000 as US authorities moved against the South American leader.

His winnings have already drawn the attention of the online community and even Congress. Some lawmakers have shared their frustrations about insider trading.

According to sources, Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) plans to introduce a bill that would restrict insider trading. The bill would prohibit federal lawmakers, political appointees, and executive branch staff from trading in prediction markets if they possess, or could reasonably be expected to obtain, material non-public information related to those contracts. 

The Polymarket trader started placing bets on New Year’s Eve. 

The Polymarket trader began wagering on Maduro’s removal on December 31, 2025, placing multiple bets that the leader would be ousted by the end of January, starting with a $1,238.34 bet on New Year’s Eve. 

Earlier, speaking about the trader’s activity, left-wing political researcher Tyson Brody had even questioned whether this was some war-related insider trading. Later, sports and business commentator Joe Pompliano reshared Brody’s post, pointing out that the account reportedly earned $400,000 betting on Maduro’s removal. He even noted that prediction markets are now encouraging insider trading.

Soon after, several X users jokingly speculated that the insider might be Barron Trump, the president’s son, while others focused on the $400,000 cash-out and additional big winners.

Saturday’s focus on Polymarket comes on the back of mounting calls by US officials to rein in the platform and other prediction markets. Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, had previously warned that sports-related prediction markets are growing too quickly, posing legal, economic, and ethical challenges while threatening state control and the integrity of sports. The former governor argued that prediction markets are operating unlawfully in the US, evading the safeguards designed for state-controlled sports betting.

According to Jake Sherman, founder of Punchbowl News, Representative Torres intends to introduce legislation titled the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026. The restriction targets prediction market trades linked to public policy, government actions, or political results when conducted on platforms engaged in interstate commerce. Ideally, it would limit US officials or those with access to confidential information from wagering on prediction markets.

Representative Torres also criticized the Trump administration for Maduro’s removal

Representative Torres had also condemned the Trump administration’s role in Maduro’s removal. He noted, “The US Constitution vests the power to declare war in Congress. No single individual has the authority to commit the nation to a war of regime change without congressional authorization. Power cannot replace principle. Nor can the ends justify the means.”

He further stressed that the rule of law should outweigh raw military power, warning that history shows regime-change wars frequently create more chaos than stability. 

Representative Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), however, praised the Trump administration’s actions, saying, “This bold and decisive action by the Trump Administration is a major victory for American security and justice.” He referred to the Venezuelan president as an illegitimate leader who has enabled violent gangs and drug cartels.

On the other hand, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani shared his criticism, “Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law. This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad; it directly impacts New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home.”

Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) also criticized the Trump administration for “kidnapping” Maduro without Congress’s approval or regard for the potential fallout from their illegal actions.

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Analysts and economists covering politics, oil, crypto, and risk say the Trump-Venezuela situation is not expected to hit the global economy or financial markets in any serious way when the trading floor opens Sunday night.

Yes the Venezuela invasion indeed is a very big deal, because Washington hasn’t carried out this kind of direct action in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama that removed military leader Manuel Noriega under similar claims.

And Cryptopolitan reported earlier that Trump told reporters at a press conference after the fact that the United States would run Venezuela with a group, adding Secretary of State Marco Rubio would work on the details.

Around the same time, Trump warned that the U.S. could step in to support protesters in Iran if security forces opened fire, as unrest there left several dead and created the most serious internal challenge for Iranian authorities in years.

Oil markets and investors hold steady in the face of massive geopolitical uncertainty

Attention in markets has of course stayed on energy, not stocks or crypto. The OPEC+, which includes Venezuela and Russia among others, is gonna meet in a few hours to discuss output levels.

Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group in Richmond, Virginia, said the reaction across markets is limited. “The overall market reaction will be muted. We might get some market moving news tomorrow during the OPEC meeting,” Jamie said.

He added that shares of large oil companies and drillers could attract interest if talk grows around rebuilding the oil industry in Venezuela.

Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy and MENA research at RBC Capital Markets in New York, said the scale of any rebuild would be large.

“This an enormous undertaking, given the decades-long decline of the oil sector, also the U.S. regime change and nation-building track record is not one of unambiguous success,” Helima said.

Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management in Brookfield, Wisconsin, said the situation was expected.

Brian added that from an investor’s POV, large oil reserves could become available over time. He also said the move sends a signal to leadership in Iran and possibly Russia about Trump’s willingness to act.

“Markets sometimes swing into risk-off mode on expectations of conflict, but once the conflict starts, they rotate quickly to risk-on,” Brian said, adding that oil could be the only market to react, especially with forecasts already pointing to a supply glut.

Venezuela is also dealing with a long-standing oil decline and legal disputes

Economists say geopolitical pressure is already part of daily trading. Marchel Alexandrovich, an economist at Saltmarsh Economics in London, said current events add to existing strain.

“From the unresolved trade tensions around U.S. tariffs, to Ukraine, Iran, Taiwan and, now, Venezuela, it is clear that the markets are having to cope with significantly more headline risk,” Marchel said.

Tina Fordham, founder and geopolitical strategist at Fordham Global Foresight in London, said optimism often appears early. “I feel that there’s a lot of optimism about a post-Maduro, post-Chavez Venezuela. I think reality is likely to be messier,” Tina said.

She added that the Monday market open could fuel risk appetite tied to possible change in Iran. “We’ve periodically seen these protests. This time, it’s gaining momentum,” Tina said, pointing out that both Iran and Venezuela are energy producers and consumer markets that have remained closed to global investors.

The country holds some of the world’s largest estimated oil reserves, yet output has collapsed over decades due to mismanagement and lost foreign investment after oil nationalization in the 2000s, including assets tied to Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips.

Chevron remains the only U.S. major operating in Venezuela. ConocoPhillips has sought billions of dollars tied to three seized projects from nearly twenty years ago, while Exxon pursued lengthy arbitration after exiting.

In recent weeks, oil tankers chartered by Chevron were among the few leaving Venezuela, after Trump’s December blockade announcement that Cryptopolitan reported.

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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shared on X today that he believes zk-EVMs are going to become the main way Ethereum validates blocks between 2027 and 2030.

“The trilemma has been solved – not on paper, but with live running code, of which one half (data availability sampling) is on mainnet today, and the other half (ZK-EVMs) is production-quality on performance today – safety is what remains,” said Vitalik.

Vitalik compared Ethereum’s situation to peer-to-peer networks that came long before it, like “BitTorrent (2000): huge total bandwidth, highly decentralized, no consensus.”

Ethereum starts large gas limit increases in 2026 through BALs and ePBS

Vitalik then pointed to Bitcoin in 2009, saying:-

“Bitcoin (2009): highly decentralized, consensus, but low bandwidth because it’s not “distributed” in the sense of work being split up, it’s replicated. Now, Ethereum with PeerDAS (2025) and ZK-EVMs (expect small portions of the network using it in 2026), we get: decentralized, consensus and high bandwidth. But now it’s time to talk about what this combination means for Ethereum.”

Vitalik said these upgrades are already running code, not theory. Data availability sampling is active on mainnet today. zk-EVMs already hit production performance levels. Safety checks are the final step, and Vitalik traced that work back ten years, starting with his first data availability research commit and later zk-EVM experiments that began around 2020.

The rollout plan is staged. In 2026, Ethereum expects large gas limit increases that do not depend on zk-EVMs, driven by BALs and ePBS. That same year should also bring the first chances to run a zk-EVM node on parts of the network, according to Vitalik.

From 2027 through 2030, Ethereum plans even larger gas limit jumps as zk-EVMs become the main block validation method. “ZKEVM becomes the primary way to validate blocks on the network,” Vitalik wrote.

Another piece is distributed block building. Vitalik said the long-term goal is a setup where a full block is never built in one place. He said this is not urgent, but worth building toward. In Vitalik’s words:-

“Even before that point, we want the meaningful authority in block building to be as distributed as possible. This can be done either in-protocol (eg. maybe we figure out how to expand FOCIL to make it a primary channel for txs), or out-of-protocol with distributed builder marketplaces. This reduces risk of centralized interference with real-time transaction inclusion.”

Vitalik said that it also improves geographic fairness. The Ethereum Foundation has it stated on its website that higher gas limits on Ethereum are made safe by zk-EVMs increase capacity, cut congestion, and stabilize fees.

The Foundation said:- “Bringing zkEVMs to L1 is a multi-faceted effort. Our work is organized into three core workstreams, with parallel progress on client implementations.”

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Asian stocks got slammed this week as investors finally cooled off from the AI frenzy and scrambled to figure out what the hell central banks are planning.

The rally that started the year didn’t last long, so traders who chased tech gains across Asia are now watching the floor fall out from under them.

According to Bloomberg, last year’s market darling, the MSCI Asia Index, beat every major global benchmark by nearly five full points. That win streak just met a brick wall. Asia’s heavy reliance on the global AI supply chain means anything that hits Wall Street’s chip names hits Asia right after. And right now, nobody knows if the AI trade is just taking a break, or running out of gas for good.

China ramps up local chip funding as Korea and Taiwan face heat in the Tech Wars

AI stocks pushed Asia’s tech index to a record high last Friday. Now, investors are backing off. Everyone wanted a piece of the action last year. This year, they’re nervous.

The problem is most of that rally sat on the backs of just a few firms, especially in Taiwan and South Korea.

Some are still hopeful that Asia gives them better exposure to AI because of lower prices. But others are warning that too much depends on too few players.

Ken Wong, who runs Asian equity portfolios at Eastspring in Hong Kong, said, “We’re calling more of an AI fatigue as opposed to a bubble.” He said if companies cut back spending or if profits start slipping, it’s game over for some of these stocks.

While all that’s happening, China is going the other way by working on a massive $70 billion package to support the country’s chipmakers.

Two big names (MetaX Integrated Circuits Shanghai and Moore Threads Technology) just had blockbuster public listings. That kicked off a rush. Now, everyone wants in. Baidu’s AI chip division and GigaDevice Semiconductor are both planning new offerings.

Why is money pouring in? Because it’s cheap. Tech stocks listed in Hong Kong are trading at 19 times forward earnings. The Nasdaq 100 is sitting at 25. That’s enough of a gap to grab attention.

Rate confusion spreads while investors rotate into weaker markets

The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates twice this year. That puts pressure on central banks from India to Thailand to follow suit. The idea is to help economies grow faster. But not everyone’s on board.

The Bank of Japan is under fire to raise rates again. The yen is too weak, and inflation’s too hot. New Zealand’s central bank says it’s done cutting for now. Australia is getting ready to hike again. This back-and-forth is leaving traders stuck in guessing mode.

Dilin Wu at Pepperstone said India’s low-rate strategy could help its stock market. He also said Thailand, Malaysia, and even China could benefit if their central banks go easier. But companies loaded with debt? They’re in trouble.

The crowd chasing AI stocks last year is now digging through the trash pile for anything with upside. India’s Nifty 50 only rose 10.5% in 2025. That was its worst showing against the MSCI Asia Pacific Index since 1998. Now it’s cheap. Lower taxes and possible rate cuts might flip the story.

Indonesia is getting some attention too. Its government is still trying to boost spending, and that could help. Southeast Asia fell behind last year. Traders think it might finally catch up.

Xin-Yao Ng, who manages money at Aberdeen, said, “India and ASEAN are interesting for being very non-AI.” He’s watching for companies with good cash flow, low drama, and fat dividends.

Then there’s South Korea, which absolutely crushed last year when its stocks outstandingly rallied 76% year-to-date, thanks to AI euphoria and hype around market reforms. Just this Friday, Cryptopolitan reported that Korea’s Kospi index added another 2.3%, blasting past 4,300. President Lee Jae Myung wants it to hit 5,000.

Samsung is flying. It hit another all-time high after co-CEO said customers were saying, “Samsung is back.” That buzz got louder when data showed semiconductor exports from Korea jumped 43% in December. Between Samsung and SK Hynix, Asia’s still got power players in the global AI race.

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President Donald Trump said Saturday that the removal of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro will unlock the country’s $17.3 trillion oil reserve and place it under U.S. control, according to a press conference held hours after U.S. forces captured Maduro during an early-morning operation in Caracas.

“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure and start making money for the country,” Trump told reporters. “They were pumping almost nothing by comparison to what they could have been.”

The operation that led to Maduro’s capture took place early Saturday and included U.S. armed forces and law enforcement striking multiple locations in Caracas. Trump said the U.S. will temporarily run Venezuela, though he did not say who would manage the country or how long that control would last.

Trump lays out oil takeover plan after Caracas operation

Right now, Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves in the world, estimated at about 300 billion barrels, which means it’s above Saudi Arabia, the literal largest oil producer of the OPEC itself.

At his press conference, Trump said the U.S. built the oil industry decades ago and accused the prior government of theft.

“We built Venezuela’s oil industry with American talent, drive, skill, and the socialist regime stole it from us,” he said. “This constituted one of the largest thefts of American property in the history of our country.”

Trump confirmed that the U.S. oil embargo on Venezuela is active. “The embargo is in full effect,” he said, repeating the accusation again directly:- “They stole our oil. They took it over like it was nothing.”

When asked how U.S. control of oil supply could affect ties with China, Russia, and Iran, Trump said oil sales will continue globally. “We’ll be selling large amounts of oil to other countries,” he said. “We’re in the oil business. We’re going to sell it to them.”

For decades, Venezuela relied on oil exports as its main economic engine. Analysts say China is currently its largest oil buyer, though shipment data remains unclear due to limited transparency. Beijing reacted quickly to Maduro’s removal. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the U.S. action violated international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty and threatened regional security, adding that China firmly opposed the move.

Aging infrastructure, sanctions, and Venezuela’s gold reserves take center stage

Only one U.S. company currently operates inside Venezuela. Chevron holds a limited license issued by the Trump administration. A Chevron spokesperson said Saturday that the company is focused on employee safety and asset protection and is operating in compliance with all laws and regulations.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said restoring oil production to 1990s levels would cost more than $8 billion, citing estimates from PDVSA, the state oil company. Many oil pipelines are more than 50 years old, and most reserves are extra-heavy crude, which is very expensive to extract and process.

The EIA said on Saturday that:-

“The extraction of extra-heavy crude oil requires a higher level of technical expertise, which international oil companies possess but their involvement has been limited by international sanctions. Furthermore, budgetary constraints at Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA and a lack of qualified technical personnel and foreign direct investment have all hampered Venezuela’s oil and natural gas development.”

Despite those constraints, PDVSA remains the largest revenue source for the Maduro government.

Oil markets have not yet reacted. Crude trading resumes Sunday evening. Meanwhile, Venezuela holds 161 metric TONS of gold reserves, which is around 5.18 million troy ounces, worth ~$22 billion at current prices of $4,300/oz.

This makes Venezuela the Latin American country with the largest gold holdings. Every $100 that gold rises, these holdings gain +$518 million of value. It’s clear that controlling Venezuela will generate hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue for the US. So will the US take control of these gold reserves? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

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U.S. stock funds closed 2025 with an average gain of 14.6%, the third straight year above the 10% line.The numbers came from LSEG and covered returns through December 24.

The fourth quarter alone added 2.5%, even as doubts around artificial intelligence kept showing up in market chatter. Many investors stayed skeptical about what AI could really deliver. Most still stayed invested.

The run keeps cooling but refuses to break. Returns hit 21% in 2023, eased to 17.4% in 2024, then slowed again this year. The direction stayed the same. Up. The pace changed. Slower.

The Mutual-Fund Yardsticks data shows three strong years back to back. Each year pulled in less than the one before it. None of them slipped below double digits.

AI-led rallies narrowed after tariffs shook markets

“The biggest surprise in 2025 was how dominant the AI stocks were,” said Ellen Hazen, market strategist at F.L. Putnam Investment Management in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. “Everyone thought the AI trade was over, that the Mag 7 were done, and the market broadening that everyone was eagerly looking forward to was going to happen.”

That idea did not survive April.President Donald Trump, the sitting president in 2025, announced broad tariffs during what he called Liberation Day.

After that point, leadership tightened again. “The market dramatically narrowed again,” Hazen said. “And since that day the Mag 7 has trounced the rest of the market again.”

The gains stayed tied to a small group of names linked to artificial intelligence. The expected spread into other sectors did not arrive. Hazen said the outlook for 2026 remains open.

“There are more yellow flags appearing than disappearing for the AI trade, but they do not yet reach the level that makes me bearish on the markets or bearish on AI,” she said. She added that earnings growth outside technology could still widen returns if it shows up.

Global funds, bonds, and flows reshaped investor behavior

International stock funds outperformed U.S. peers in 2025. These funds posted a 29.8% gain, far above last year’s 4.8% rise. Early tariff turmoil helped drive that result. While U.S. markets pushed to records, investors sent fresh money elsewhere.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates three times during the year. Bond funds held steady through the moves. Funds focused on investment-grade debt rose 7.3% for the year. The fourth quarter added 1.1% to that total. These funds became a preferred place for new cash.

Fund flows showed a clear split. Investors pulled $391.6 billion from U.S. stock mutual funds and ETFs in 2025, based on Investment Company Institute estimates. Most of that came in July, when tariff fears peaked. Those worries faded later in the year, but the money did not rush back.

At the same time, $102.1 billion flowed into international stock funds. Bond funds attracted $669.4 billion in net inflows as investors leaned toward stability.

Large-cap managers dominated the latest Winners’ Circle rankings of actively managed U.S. stock funds. These managers focused on artificial-intelligence names and other technology holdings.

The top spot went to Permanent Portfolio Aggressive Growth Portfolio (PAGRX), a $376.2 million fund that returned 36.9% over the past 12 months, according to Morningstar Direct. Second place went to PrimeCap Odyssey Growth Fund (POGRX) with a 33% gain.

Four funds from the Alger group landed in the top ten, including Alger Capital Appreciation Portfolio (ALVOX) at 32.9%.

Across the full survey, 1,185 funds with at least $50 million in assets posted an average total return of 11.5% for the year, keeping the long run of positive stock results intact.

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Chinese tech giant Xiaomi plans to deliver 550,000 electric vehicles in 2026, lifting its target after selling 410,000 units in 2025. The figure points to a 34% increase as the company pushes deeper into China’s crowded EV market and lines up overseas expansion.

Billionaire founder Lei Jun announced the goal during a livestream on Saturday, setting expectations for the next phase of the car business.

The EV unit turned profitable in November, around 18 months after the first electric sedan hit the road. That timeline landed faster than Tesla, which took years to reach the same point. The profit news did little to calm markets.

The stock ranked among the worst-performing Chinese tech names last year as concerns grew around overcapacity, soft demand, and tighter conditions across the EV sector, according to Bloomberg.

Xiaomi faces regulation pressure after SU7 crashes

Two serious accidents involving the Xiaomi SU7 triggered calls for tougher oversight.The incidents pushed regulators to act.China released draft rules and new standards covering advanced driver assistance systems, door handle design, and battery safety.

These changes landed as scrutiny rose around software control and physical build choices in new electric models.

Despite that pressure, attention around the vehicles kept spreading beyond China. Karl-Thomas Neumann, former Volkswagen China chief executive, said the SU7 Ultra performance version was a “crying loud warning sign” for Western carmakers.

Tech reviewer Marques Brownlee also weighed in, calling the sedan’s software integration “awesome.” The comments circulated as the company prepared its next steps outside the domestic market.

Xiaomi expands models as EV growth slows worldwide

Xiaomi also plans to widen its lineup by up to four new launches and refreshes, featuring a five-seat model and a seven-seat extended-range SUV.

Xiaomi’s extended-range vehicles reportedly carry a small gasoline engine that recharges the battery once power runs low, without full reliance on charging stations.

Moreover, in May, Lei announced the Xring O1, a 3-nanometer processor designed for devices such as the Tablet 7 Ultra, promised to target performance levels seen in products from Apple and Qualcomm.

At the same time, Xiaomi has warned of the impact of a shortfall in memory chips on its core smartphone business, forecasting a potential supply crunch this year that would raise the price of its mobile devices.

Meanwhile, the global EV market is cooling, with sales expecting to grow by 13% to 24 million vehicles in 2026, down from a 22% rally last year. The slowdown comes as Chinese demand eases, Europe grows at a slower pace, and the United States contracts. Policy changes are playing a role.

President Donald Trump, back in the White House, ended federal EV tax incentives. The European Union also softened its planned 2035 ban on petrol cars, while China’s growth rate continues to decelerate after years of rapid expansion.

In the United States, EV sales are forecast to drop 29% to 1.1 million units after reaching 1.5 million in 2025.Europe is expected to post 4.9 million sales, up 14% from the prior year.

China remains the largest market, with volumes projected at 15.5 million vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, compared with 13.3 million in 2025. Even at that level, growth trails the surge from 2020 through 2025, when sales jumped from about 1.1 million to over 13 million.

Chinese brands continue to dominate pricing pressure. BYD led the charge with lower-cost models across China and Europe and overtook Tesla in 2025 as the world’s biggest electric-car maker after expanding across overseas markets.

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The Fed enters 2026 under pressure from politics, courts, markets, and its own calendar. The largest central bank on the planet is dealing with leadership uncertainty, public attacks from Donald Trump, and a rate strategy narrowed by steady growth and sticky inflation.

Policymakers are trying to plan for the year ahead after delivering three straight interest rate cuts while facing louder dissent inside the committee and rising attention on how data is gathered and used.

Those three cuts now hang over every 2026 decision.Expectations for solid growth and ongoing price pressures make additional reductions harder to justify.What looks clear is that the turbulence from the prior year did not fade.

Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide, said the attention will not ease. “There’ll be a big spotlight. There’ll be lots of intrigue,” Kathy said. She added that uncertainty keeps the Fed “in the hot seat too.”

Trump escalates pressure as legal and leadership deadlines collide

The past year pushed the Fed into fights it rarely faces. As Donald Trump began his second term in the White House, he repeatedly threatened to fire Chair Jerome Powell over the pace of rate cuts.

Midyear scrutiny then turned to cost overruns tied to a renovation project at the Fed’s Washington headquarters. Between those episodes, Trump sought to remove Governor Lisa Cook over mortgage fraud allegations that have not been proven and were never filed as formal charges.

All of this unfolded while the administration searched for Powell’s successor.His chair term expires in May, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ran interviews that included as many as 11 candidates.The clock tightens in January.A Supreme Court hearing on Jan. 21 is scheduled to decide whether Trump has authority to remove Lisa.

One week later, the Federal Open Market Committee meets to vote on interest rates. Trump is expected to name his chair pick during the month. Jerome has not said whether he will stay on the Board of Governors, where his term runs until January 2028.

There also have been multiple dissents at recent rate votes, and new regional presidents set to come on board at the FOMC have a hawkish bent, meaning they’re likely to resist additional cuts. “It’s still a tough spot for the Fed,” Kathy said.

Data, labor, and AI complicate rate planning for 2026

Despite the noise, Wall Street expects policymakers to keep working toward a neutral rate near 3 percent. The federal funds rate sits about half a percentage point above where most committee members see it in the long run.

Kathy said Jerome helped guide three consecutive quarter-point cuts and was not blocking action. Future decisions depend on incoming numbers. She expects two cuts, one around midyear and another near year-end.

The committee’s dot plot points to one cut. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, and analysts at Citigroup see labor weakness that could support three. Jerome and his colleagues have said decisions will follow data rather than political pressure.

Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, sees less room. He expects only one reduction. “The winds are really changing for the U.S. economy,” Torsten said in a CNBC interview. He noted that tariffs, inflation, and uncertainty weighed on 2025, while fiscal stimulus and a steadier labor market now support growth. “The tailwinds are beginning to accumulate and making it more difficult for the Fed to cut rates,” he said.

Another variable is artificial intelligence.Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, said its impact on productivity and hiring matters for policy communication.“The Fed this year has got a real challenge in terms of communicating their strategy,” Joseph said, pointing to heavy investment in advanced technology.

After a slow start to 2026, the economy grew strongly in the middle quarters and is tracking near 3 percent growth late in the year, based on Atlanta Fed estimates.

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Spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based in the US recently recorded total trading volume that has surpassed $2 trillion. This record has been achieved almost two years after the introduction of these crypto ETFs in January 2024.

To back this claim, data from a reliable source noted that the $2 trillion achievement was reached on January 2. In comparison, analysts found that the cumulative trading volume reached an all-time high of approximately $1 trillion, recorded on May 6, 2025. This milestone was achieved about 16 months after the launch of the ETFs.

Notably, the surge from $1 trillion to $2 trillion took approximately eight months. This duration is half the time consumed to attain the first trillion. Hence, the situation demonstrates a heightened interest from institutions seeking regulated investments in cryptocurrency-related assets.

Crypto ETFs demonstrate outstanding net inflows

The current cumulative volume encompasses a broader range of assets. To further clarify this point for better understanding, they mentioned that firms introduced spot ETFs that can effectively track Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Hedera, and Chainlink shortly after new generic listing standards received the green light from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 17, 2025. 

Following this approval, reports highlighted that the agency decided to reduce approval times from 240 days to 75 days. Meanwhile, among the listed new offerings, XRP-based products secured ranking among the most outperformed, generating about $1.2 billion in net inflows since they began operating on November 13.  

On the other hand, a review from a reliable source declared that Bitcoin ETFs experienced approximately $21.8 billion in net inflows while other ETFs encountered about $9.8 billion in net inflows.

In the case of BlackRock’s IBIT, it was confirmed that the spot bitcoin ETF owns approximately 70% of the market share by volume with more than $66 billion in assets under management (AUM).  This finding was noted after its volume share hit a high level of 80% in mid-2025. 

James Seyffart, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, weighed in on the situation. He acknowledged that the authorities have approved several crypto ETF filings. However, Seyffart affirmed that there are at least 126 more of these filings pending approval. Nonetheless, he warned that some may halt their operations if they fail to draw in sufficient steady investments.

As the situation becomes more intense, data from SoSoValue claimed that Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs showed significant outcomes at the beginning of the new year on January 2. It is worth noting that this date represented the first trading day of 2026.

BlackRock’s IBIT secures the top ranking in net inflows 

The net inflows of Spot Bitcoin ETFs totaled approximately $471.1 million, with all twelve funds experiencing a surge in positive investments. BlackRock’s IBIT ranks first with $287.4 million. The second on the list was Fidelity’s FBTC, with approximately $88.1 million, followed by Bitwise’s BITB, with about $41.5 million.

As of now, the Bitcoin ETF assets amount to approximately $117.0 billion, accounting for 6.53% of Bitcoin’s market capitalization. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is trading at around $90,602.99, reflecting a 0.73% increase in the past 24 hours, according to reports from CoinMarketCap.

In the meantime, Spot Ethereum ETFs generated approximately $174.4 million, with Grayscale’s ETHE leading the way at $53.7 million, followed by Grayscale’s Ethereum Mini Trust at $50.0 million, and BlackRock’s ETHA at $47.2 million. 

Analysts stated that Ethereum’s total assets reached an all-time high of $19.1 billion, equivalent to 5.06% of the cryptocurrency’s market capitalization. Currently, ETH is trading at $3,133.44, representing a 0.16% increase over the past 24 hours.

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