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Russia’s biggest crypto mining company is under renewed scrutiny after authorities detained BitRiver founder and CEO Igor Runets on multiple tax evasion charges, deepening the legal and financial pressure on a firm already constrained by sanctions and operational setbacks.

Related Reading: With Bitcoin Below $80K, ARK Reframes The Narrative Around Gold

The case, which is being handled by a Moscow court, has drawn attention to the risks facing large-scale crypto miners operating at the intersection of energy, regulation, and geopolitics.

According to reports from Russian outlets RBK and Kommersant, Runets was detained late last week and formally charged with three counts of alleged tax evasion.

Court filings indicate that the Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow ordered him placed under house arrest, a measure that restricts his movement while investigators proceed. His legal team has a limited window to appeal the ruling before it becomes fully enforceable.

Court Case Adds Pressure On Bitriver

Founded in 2017, BitRiver grew rapidly into Russia’s leading Bitcoin mining operator by building large data centers across Siberia.

The company used the region’s cold climate and relatively low electricity costs to support its mining operations and to provide infrastructure services to corporate clients. At its peak, BitRiver operated thousands of mining rigs across multiple sites and accounted for a significant share of Russia’s legal crypto-mining capacity.

Runets’ detention comes amid mounting challenges for BitRiver. The company was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in mid-2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, limiting its access to Western partners and financial systems.

In 2023, Japanese financial group SBI exited its mining arrangement with BitRiver following its withdrawal from Russia, dealing a blow to the firm’s international business.

Financial Strain And Legal Disputes

Reports suggest that BitRiver began cutting costs and scaling back parts of its operations toward the end of 2024, leading to salary payment delays affecting employees.

The pressure continued into early 2025, when regional electricity provider Infrastructure of Siberia filed two lawsuits, alleging that it had paid BitRiver for equipment that was never delivered.

Despite these issues, Russia’s industrial mining sector continued to generate significant revenue in 2024, with BitRiver remaining the market leader. Bloomberg estimated Runets’ net worth at around $230 million in late 2024, largely tied to his role in the crypto mining industry.

Wider Implications for The Crypto Sector

The case against Runets highlights the growing legal and regulatory risks facing crypto executives, both in Russia and abroad. While authorities investigate the alleged tax violations, BitRiver must also manage ongoing litigation, strained partnerships, and scrutiny linked to sanctions.

Related Reading: With Bitcoin Below $80K, ARK Reframes The Narrative Around Gold

As the market awaits the verdict, the case’s outcome could shape how Russian crypto mining firms approach compliance, financing, and governance in an increasingly restrictive environment.

Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview

A viral post on the social media platform X recently claimed that Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, just sold 10,000 BTC. An attached screenshot purported to show on-chain data supporting the claim, and the rumor quickly garnered attention on the social media platform. 

The ramifications of such a sale are huge because Nakamoto’s stash is untouched going back to the earliest days of Bitcoin mining. However, a closer look into blockchain records tells a very different story.

Investigating The Rumor Of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin Sale

According to a post on X by a crypto account with the username Discover, Satoshi Nakamoto recently moved 10,000 BTC from its long-dormant wallet. The report suggests that over $760 million worth of Bitcoin had been sold by its creator, a move that could cause further harm to its price action, which is already fragile and trading with prevailing bearish momentum.

The image shared with the rumor appears to be taken from Arkham Intelligence, a popular on-chain analytics platform. The screenshot, which is shown below, highlights the outflow of 10,000 BTC into account ‘bc1qcj,’ with the last transfer being 12 years ago.

However, the records in this screenshot do not align with the real ledger of Bitcoin transactions. Closer inspection of on-chain transactions on Arkham Intelligence shows there is no evidence of a single transfer of 10,000 BTC attributed to at least one known address linked to Nakamoto. 

The real data shows no outflow from Nakamoto’s wallets for over 12 years. Instead, small fractions of Bitcoin, almost negligible in the context of Satoshi’s holdings, have been flowing in. These tiny movements are likely dust or micro-transactions occurring as part of normal blockchain activity, with the last being an inflow of 0.0000329 six days ago.

Why The Rumor?

The identity and actions of Satoshi Nakamoto have always been a source of speculation among crypto investors. Nakamoto is the largest holder of Bitcoin, believed to have mined somewhere around 1 million Bitcoin in the early years of the network, but he has been quiet since April 2011. 

Therefore, any suggestion that those coins have suddenly started moving is enough to grab headlines and cause reactions. That context likely contributed to why this post attracted enough views quickly, even though the data was inaccurate. Data from Arkham Intelligence shows Nakamoto’s BTC wallets currently hold 1.096 million BTC, which are worth $84.3 billion.

Notably, Bitcoin’s price itself has been trending through significant volatility. Over the past few days, Bitcoin has dipped to levels near this cycle’s lows, trading around the mid-$70,000 range, close to the lowest levels since April 2025. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $76,872, having recently reached an intraday low of $74,591, according to data from CoinGecko.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) drop below $77,000 over the weekend did more than extend a sell-off, it stripped away lingering assumptions about stability in a market still driven by sentiment, leverage, and macro forces.

After briefly holding above $80,000, the world’s largest cryptocurrency slid as low as the mid-$74,000 range, marking its weakest level in around ten months and deepening a correction that has been unfolding since mid-January.

The move came amid broad risk-off conditions across global markets. Precious metals posted some of their sharpest declines in decades, equities opened lower across Asia, and the U.S. dollar strengthened following renewed focus on Federal Reserve policy and leadership.

$80,000 Bitcoin (BTC) Break Projects Fragile Support

The loss of the $80,000 level marked a psychological turning point.

CNBC host Jim Cramer, a longtime Bitcoin holder, described the breakdown as evidence of fragile support and narrative-driven price defense. He questioned why large holders and vocal advocates failed to step in around what he called a “line in the sand” between $80,000 and $82,000.

Bitcoin’s weekend volatility also revived doubts about its short-term reliability as a store of value. Prices swung sharply during thin trading hours, underscoring how quickly sentiment can shift when leveraged positions unwind.

Exchange margin hikes, particularly in futures markets, accelerated forced liquidations, creating a cascade that pushed prices lower across crypto assets.

Macro Pressure and Technical Weakness

Macroeconomic factors played a central role. Renewed concerns over a potential U.S. government shutdown, combined with the Federal Reserve’s pause on rate cuts and the nomination of Kevin Warsh as Fed chair, backed expectations of tighter financial conditions.

Technically, Bitcoin remains under pressure. Indicators on daily and four-hour charts continue to favor bearish momentum, even as some oscillators suggest oversold conditions that could allow for short-lived rebounds.

The $76,000 area has emerged as near-term support, with a sustained break opening the door to deeper losses toward $74,000 or lower. On the upside, $80,000 remains the key resistance level that would need to be reclaimed to shift the short-term trend.

Bitcoin Still Sets the Market’s Direction

Despite years of talk about diversification within crypto, recent price action shows little has changed. Altcoins largely tracked Bitcoin’s decline, including tokens tied to revenue-generating protocols.

Data across multiple crypto indices show broad losses in line with BTC’s year-to-date drop, highlighting the market’s continued dependence on Bitcoin’s direction. Bitcoin’s slide below $77,000 serves as a reminder that the crypto market remains tightly linked to macro conditions, liquidity, and Bitcoin itself.

Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview

White House officials met on Monday with leaders from the crypto industry and major banking trade groups in an effort to ease a key regulatory dispute that has slowed progress on the long‑anticipated crypto market structure legislation, known as the CLARITY Act. 

The meeting focused on one of the most contentious issues holding up the bill: whether stablecoin issuers and related third parties should be allowed to offer yield or rewards on stablecoin holdings.

Stablecoin Rewards Debate

The discussion comes against the backdrop of intense lobbying from the banking sector. Banks have been pushing lawmakers to insert language into the CLARITY Act that would prohibit not only issuers, but also third parties, from providing rewards tied to stablecoins. 

The cryptocurrency industry, however, argues that such restrictions would tilt the playing field in favor of traditional financial institutions, which they say are increasingly concerned about competition from digital asset firms.

Additional details about the meeting were shared by Eleanor Terrett of Crypto In America, who cited sources familiar with the discussion. According to Terrett, the session lasted two hours and was described as constructive, with a balanced exchange around both the risks and potential benefits of stablecoin yield.

The meeting brought together a broad range of stakeholders. Representatives from major banking organizations, including the American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, Financial Services Forum, Consumer Bankers Association, and the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Attendees also included Fidelity, PayPal, Paradigm, SoFi, Coinbase, Paxos, Crypto.com, Kraken, Ripple, and Tether, as well as advocacy groups like the Blockchain Association, Digital Chamber, and Crypto Council. Additional participants included Stripe, Galaxy Digital, Multicoin, Circle, and Cantor. 

Crypto And Banking Leaders Signal Progress 

Following the meeting, Cody Carbone, who heads the Digital Chamber and leads its crypto policy efforts, described the talks as a meaningful step forward. 

Carbone said the meeting represented “exactly the kind of progress needed to find a resolution to one of the biggest issues blocking next steps in market structure legislative progress.” 

The White House’s Crypto Council Executive Director, Patrick Witt, echoed that sentiment, thanking participants from both the crypto and banking industries for engaging in what he described as a fact‑based and solutions‑oriented conversation. 

Witt noted that policymakers and industry leaders have made progress in recent months on several policy challenges once thought to be unsolvable, and expressed confidence that the stablecoin rewards issue could also be resolved through continued dialogue.

The banking groups involved in the meeting also released a joint statement reinforcing their position. They stressed that any final legislation should continue to support local lending to families and small businesses, safeguard the stability of the financial system, and promote sustainable economic growth. 

Despite the apparent progress, the legislative path forward remains uncertain. It is still unclear whether the Senate Banking Committee will follow the lead of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which cleared a significant procedural hurdle last Thursday by approving its portion of the CLARITY Act during a scheduled markup.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

The debate regarding XRP and Bitcoin across the space has intensified after recent findings that disclose that the altcoin could rival BTC and its impact on the crypto and financial sector. Bitcoin may be the leading digital asset, but with the findings and analysts choosing XRP over BTC, the token might be set to surpass the flagship asset.

A Call For A Bitcoin To XRP Swap

A bold and controversial claim is making the headlines across the crypto community concerning XRP and Bitcoin, the largest digital asset. This new debate between the two leading assets stemmed from Crypto Dyl News after unveiling a compelling document about XRP rivaling BTC on the X platform.

The document contains emails from Jeffrey Epstein, one of the early founders of Bitcoin, confirming that the altcoin is a threat to BTC and its market reach. Due to the content of this document, the pundit has declared that this may be the “last chance” for investors to sell all of their Bitcoin while it’s worth anything and rotate into XRP. 

Even though these demands are far from unanimous and frequently provoke intense discussion, they typically emerge during periods of market transition, when uncertainty is high, and narratives fight for supremacy. Meanwhile, this bold has rekindled discussion about relative value, cycle timing, and potential future capital flows, regardless of whether it turns out to be prescient.

According to the pundit, Epstein’s emails confirmed that Jeffery Epstein felt threatened by the competition level from Ripple XRP and Stellar XLM. Ripple and Stellar, based on the document, are bad for the ecosystem they are building, and did their company (Bitcoin) damage to have investors who are backing two horses in the same race.

In the email, Epstein acknowledges that he is aware that Stellar and Ripple are fundamentally superior to BTC. “Bitcoin will never truly recover from this,” Crypto Dyl News stated. 

The company also went on to throw shade at Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the biggest BTC holder in the crypto space. Epstein literally called Saylor “a zombie on drugs with no personality.” This makes Stellar and Ripple look absolutely amazing compared to Bitcoin. Thus, Crypto Dyl News expresses pleasure in investing in the altcoin and believes BTC is not good.

Furthermore, Crypto Dyl News stressed that all of the Bitcoin maxis are spreading false information about the asset in the crypto community, as they were uneducated and followed speculations. The pundit has reiterated his warnings to investors, highlighted that BTC is not what XRP is, and this is their last chance to position themselves for the future shift.

More Gains Than BTC

On Sunday, XRP and Bitcoin saw a brief bounce, but the altcoin recorded higher gains than BTC. In a period of 24 hours, the altcoin’s price moved up by over 3.49%, while BTC witnessed a mere +33% rise.

Crypto Dyl News stated that players are starting to wake up and realize BTC was a fraud all along. As a result, the XRP is becoming the leader in providing the most real-world utility value.

According to a crypto analyst, the XRP price is currently trading at a critical support level that could determine its next move if it fails to hold it. The analyst has forecasted that XRP could extend its decline to new lows after its recent crash below $1.60. This prediction comes amid a widespread market downturn, with XRP and other major cryptocurrencies showing signs of weakness as prices continue to decline.

XRP Price Faces Another Crash If Key Support Breaks

Crypto market expert Scott Melker, also known as ‘The Wolf Of All Streets’ on X, has shared a bearish outlook for XRP’s price. The analyst stated that XRP is currently trading at a critical inflection point after an extended selloff that erased a large portion of its previous gains. He said this point was the last meaningful support on XRP’s weekly chart before a much deeper drop becomes likely. 

Melker called XRP’s current chart setup “crazy,” noting that the cryptocurrency is hovering right above a major air pocket around the $1.60 support area. According to him, a failure to hold this level could lead to an aggressive move lower as demand thins out below current prices.

The chart shows XRP losing momentum after rolling over from its post-breakout highs earlier in 2025, with the price slipping back below levels that had previously acted as dynamic support. Volume has also cooled compared to the explosive rally phase, suggesting that buyers are becoming more cautious as uncertainty grows and prices plummet. 

For traders, Melker noted that the support level offers one of the cleanest risk-to-reward setups currently available for XRP. If support holds, he believes that a bounce could develop quickly. However, if XRP breaks below $1.60, the downside could open up fast, making it easy for traders to cut losses and step aside. In essence, unless bulls can defend this key support level convincingly, the XRP price crash may not be over yet. 

Analyst Predicts XRP Price Top And Bottom

Pseudonymous crypto analyst ‘BRUH’ has also shared a bold prediction for XRP on X. According to his technical analysis, XRP could reach a price bottom between $1 and $1.20, signaling a prolonged period of subdued price action. With the cryptocurrency currently trading above $1.50, a drop to these levels would represent a decline of approximately 20%-35%. 

The analyst further noted that XRP is unlikely to experience a significant rally until 2028, the year of the next Bitcoin halving. When that upward momentum arrives, BRUH predicts that XRP could reach a price top between $8 and $10, offering substantial potential gains for long-term holders. Given recent price declines, this projected price top suggests investors may need to be patient and take a long-term approach to capitalize on XRP. 

XRP’s price action in recent days has been characterized by sustained downside pressure. At the time of writing, XRP is dangerously close to losing $1.5, after falling from higher levels in early January and failing to hold $1.6 as support. 

This poor price action coincides with discussions inside the XRP community. One of those discussions is a comment from crypto expert Jake Claver, who outlined why understanding what is happening beneath the surface could offer a meaningful advantage in XRP.

Most Are Still Missing The Bigger Picture

In a recent statement, Jake Claver noted that much of the traditional financial world is still unaware of the structural shift that’s quietly taking place among banks and financial institutions. According to him, Ripple’s technology should not be viewed as just another blockchain project. Instead, Ripple’s technology is an infrastructure that is being positioned to unlock trillions of dollars in assets that are currently frozen or operationally constrained. 

His view is that this disconnect between perception and reality is exactly where early advantage tends to form, especially before price fully reflects long-term utility. Claver went further by pointing directly to the adoption of XRP and XRPL by major banks and financial institutions. Systems are already being implemented around the XRP Ledger, which will eventually support the movement of real-world value at scale. 

The change will be massive when those assets begin flowing through these rails. This goes back to the prevailing sentiment among XRP enthusiasts that real-world adoption will send the cryptocurrency’s price trading above double and triple digits. As noted by Claver, everything will change permanently when these assets start flowing, and those who understand this now have an advantage for better gains.

XRP’s Bear Phase Is Nearing Its End

XRP is currently trading at $1.58, having recently reached an intraday low of $1.54. The outlook is now looking bearish. However, in a recent post on X, Bird, a DropCoin developer and prominent XRP community figure, noted that the XRP bear market is approaching its final stages. According to him, the next pump is close and will finally send the XRP price up and right.

Bird pointed to a cluster of macro and sentiment indicators that he believes offer an advantage to those paying attention early. He highlighted the Russell 2000 pushing into all-time-high territory, Bitcoin dominance showing signs of topping out, and precious metals like gold and silver losing upside momentum. 

XRP Price Chart. Source: @Bird_XRPL on X

On the sentiment side, he also referenced optimism from Ripple leadership (Chris Larsen and David Schwartz) on social media. These subtle shifts are lining up beneath the surface to create conditions where XRP could stabilize around $1.60 before attempting a larger recovery move. If that rotation materializes as expected, then a broader rally could eventually carry XRP back above the $3 level once momentum fully flips.

With Bitcoin losing the $80,000 price mark, the broader cryptocurrency market has shifted heavily into a bearish phase, raising speculation about the beginning of a bear market. While BTC’s price was showing weak signals, selling pressure heightened, which seems to have led to the sudden pullback during the weekend.

No New Money, More Bitcoin Sellers

Bitcoin’s recent pullback has sent a shockwave across the crypto space, with other major assets following the downward trend. Currently, the flagship asset is coming under serious pressure with investors’ sentiment beginning to shift, several metrics turning bearish, and the market structure weakening.

Following the pullback, Ki Young Ju, a popular market expert and founder of the CryptoQuant platform, has shed light on the current BTC’s downside move and the market dynamics. In the analysis, the founder found that persistent selling continues to outweigh demand, with little sign of fresh capital stepping in to stabilize the market.

While new purchasers are mostly on the sidelines, on-chain and market flow statistics indicate that current holders are driving the decline. Thus, the price is now fragile since each wave of selling encounters narrow bid support rather than significant accumulation.

Ki Young Ju has drawn attention to the Bitcoin Realized Cap, which appears to have flatlined, suggesting that no new capital is flowing into BTC. It is worth noting that when the market cap falls in that environment, it is not a bull market. 

Currently, the founder highlighted that early holders are sitting on big realized gains, which is attributed to the Bitcoin Spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and MicroStrategy (MSTR) buying. While they have been taking profits since the beginning of last year, strong inflows kept BTC near the $100,000 level. However, those inflows have now dried up.

Within the period, MSTR was one of the major drivers of this rally. Nonetheless, the market won’t have a -70% collapse like in previous cycles unless Saylor drastically reduces his holdings. In the meantime, the bottom is still unclear because selling pressure is still present, but this bear market is probably going to create a broad sideways consolidation.

Reduced Selling Volume Meets Sharp Decline

As Bitcoin’s price wanes, selling continues to seem to be shrinking, with each day smaller than the last. In a post on X, CW, a market expert and data analyst, revealed that BTC net selling volume on January 31 was half of that on the 30th. However, the decline was even bigger than the previous day.

The decline was larger, but the cumulative selling volume was much smaller when compared to the drop. In addition, on-chain data shows that large holders or whales are heavily buying BTC. Interestingly, while these deep-pocket players are buying, retail investors are choosing to dump their holdings.

Until a bullish rally begins, whales will encourage selling and liquidate high-leverage retail future investors. For now, Bitcoin’s short-term price trajectory remains constrained by the current volatile market conditions.

Shadows of the past impact today. The surfacing of emails linking Jeffrey Epstein to early crypto academia and Bitcoin development circles has done more than just reignite old gossip.

It’s weaponized the ‘civil war’ between Bitcoin maximalists and the Ripple ($XRP) army. For years, the debate centered on centralization versus decentralization. Now? It has shifted to a far more dangerous battleground for legacy assets: reputational toxicity.

The leaked correspondence, which highlights connections between the disgraced financier and the MIT Media Lab, a hub that funded early Bitcoin core development, is being used by Ripple proponents to challenge Bitcoin’s claim to moral superiority.

Bitcoin advocates, naturally, are firing back at $XRP’s opaque early distribution. Why does this mudslinging matter? Because it creates a ‘compliance landmine’ for institutional investors. BlackRock and Fidelity deal in risk management; they don’t want assets with skeletons in the closet.

The data suggests that as the ‘old guard’ fights over who has the cleaner history, smart money is quietly exiting the crossfire to find infrastructure built for the regulatory clarity of the modern era.

This flight to quality is steering capital toward Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER). Unlike legacy tokens entangled in the ‘dark ages’ of crypto’s libertarian wild west, Bitcoin Hyper is engineered as a clean-slate solution. By combining Bitcoin’s settlement security with a compliance-ready Layer 2 architecture, it offers the fresh start that institutions and weary retail investors are desperate for.

Engineered for Transparency: The SVM Advantage

While Bitcoin and Ripple trade blows over historical associations, Bitcoin Hyper is fixing the technical debt that plagues both chains. Let’s be honest: Bitcoin is too slow for DeFi, and Ripple’s centralization remains a dealbreaker for purists.

Bitcoin Hyper bridges this gap by integrating the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) directly as a Bitcoin Layer 2.

Source: Bitcoin Hyper 

Central to this ecosystem is the Canonical Bridge, a trustless gateway that allows users to migrate value into a high-speed environment without the ‘handshake deals’ or counterparty risks exposed in recent leaks.

Technical Superiority by the Numbers

• Sub-Second Finality: Move at the speed of light, not the speed of an aging ledger.

• Minimal Fees: Transaction costs as low as $0.01.

• Standardized Security: By utilizing a single trusted sequencer with periodic L1 state anchoring, Bitcoin Hyper ensures every transaction is verifiable on the Bitcoin mainnet.

This approach aligns perfectly with the ‘2026 transparency standards’ regulators are currently drafting. The Canonical Bridge ensures that liquidity is unified and verifiable, positioning Bitcoin Hyper as a safe harbor for developers who want to build on Bitcoin without inheriting the legal or social baggage of its early years.

For a further breakdown of the proejct check out our ‘What is Bitcoin Hyper?‘ guide.

Whale Wallets Signal Shift to New Infrastructure

The market’s appetite for a ‘fresh start’ protocol shows up clearly in the on-chain data. While legacy large caps struggle with sentiment headwinds, Bitcoin Hyper has raised over $31.1M in its ongoing presale. That capital inflow suggests investors are pricing in the value of a high-performance Layer 2 free from the regulatory crossfire hitting the major incumbents.

Source: Bitcoin Hyper / X

Smart money is moving. Etherscan data reveals that two high-net-worth wallets accumulated $879.9K during the presale, with the largest single buy hitting $500K. This accumulation pattern typically precedes a wider retail rotation, as whales position themselves before the token lists on major exchanges.

With Bitcoin Hyper‘s presale price at $0.013675, early entrants are securing positions at a valuation that reflects the project’s infrastructure potential rather than speculative hype. Plus, the protocol offers high APY for immediate staking, with a modest 7-day vesting period for presale stakers, a structure designed to incentivize long-term alignment over mercenary capital.

The only question now – ‘How to Buy Bitcoin Hyper?’

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrencies are volatile; investors should perform their own due diligence and be aware of the risks involved in presale assets.

Billionaire crypto founder Justin Sun has come under fire following accusations of insider trading. The TRON founder is said to have devised means to manipulate TRX’s price during the 2017 bull run. 

TRON Founder Justin Sun Accused Of Insider Trading

In an X post, finance expert Tenten alleged that Justin Sun used the identities of multiple of his employees based in Beijing to operate accounts on the Binance exchange, which he used to manipulate TRX’s market cap. Tenten further stated that the crypto founder carried out aggressive and large-scale sales at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018. 

She also alleged that this insider trading and “predatory practices” involving the TRX token on Binance were how Justin Sun amassed his wealth. Meanwhile, Tenten claimed that she had been in a relationship with the TRON founder in the early stages of his network’s development, which is how she got this information.   

Tenten was commenting on a report that highlighted the SEC’s allegations against Justin Sun of fraud and wash trading. She stated that she has evidence showing that the TRON founder indeed used employees’ identities to artificially inflate the TRX price on Binance. She added that she is willing to fully cooperate with an SEC investigation and to submit all relevant WeChat records. 

The finance expert stated that the crypto founder’s employees were the ones who provided her with these chats, which prove that he was involved in market manipulation. She requested that the U.S. authorities contact her so that she can forward this information. It is worth noting that the SEC has halted the case against the TRON founder, though it has not yet been dismissed. 

Interestingly, her allegations follow the letter that House Democrats sent to the SEC about a “Pay-to-Play” in how it has handled Justin Sun’s case since the crypto founder invested in the Trump-linked World Liberty Financial (WLFI). 

“Ignore The FUD”

Justin Sun has yet to openly address these allegations. However, following Tenten’s statements, he urged the TRON community to ignore the FUD and keep building and holding. In another X post, he highlighted how TRX is holding up well despite the crypto market crash. Meanwhile, Tenten has made further allegations, including that the crypto founder tried to defame her. 

In an X post, she claimed that, in response to her initial allegations, Justin Sun has disseminated a large amount of false, malicious, and defamatory content targeting her. According to her, the TRON founder did this through Chinese crypto KOLs, with whom he has a long-term relationship. 

She also accused these KOLs of being involved in market manipulation, stating that they usually work with crypto projects to make calls about their tokens. Then the team dumps the tokens after retail investors buy into it.

At the time of writing, the TRX price is trading at around $0.2821, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

A sharp hit to risk markets left crypto with heavy losses over the weekend. Reports say roughly $250 billion was wiped from combined market value as investors pulled back. Some of the selling hit Bitcoin hard. Others said it spread to tech stocks at the same time.

Bitcoin Faces A Confidence Test

Bitcoin has been searching for a base. As of today, it slipped below $80,000 and is down about 40% from the 2025 high above $126,000.

Traders and on-chain trackers show weaker buying pressure. Retail interest has cooled. Large outflows from spot ETFs have been recorded, and momentum has been lost across several indicators.

Support near $73,000–$75,000 is now the zone many are watching, while some market participants expect more stops to be run before calm returns.

Markets Are Moving Together

Analysts note that Software-as-a-Service stocks and Bitcoin fell in tandem. That matters because both depend a lot on hopes about future growth; they tend to be hurt first when money gets tight.

Gold was rising at the same time, and some traders argued that the move into bullion drew marginal cash away from riskier bets. When fewer dollars are freely moving between banks, hedge funds trim leverage fast and the riskiest positions suffer most.

https://t.co/M5mLAi3XLA

— Raoul Pal (@RaoulGMI) February 1, 2026

Macro Liquidity, Not A Crypto-Only Issue

According to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor. the squeeze came from a narrower pool of US dollar liquidity rather than a problem unique to crypto.

The mechanics he points to are technical: Treasury General Account rebuilds, higher funding costs, and a smaller buffer in the Reverse Repo Facility that used to soak up extra cash.

“The rally in gold sucked all marginal liquidity out of the system that would have flowed into BTC and SaaS,” Pal said. “There was not enough liquidity to support all these assets, so the riskiest got hit,” he added.

Those shifts can quietly remove liquidity even when no single headline screams crisis. Government funding hiccups were also blamed for adding friction to the system. When liquidity is chased away, assets tied to future cash flows get hit hard.

Different Voices On The Fed Nomination

Reports say the nomination of Kevin Warsh to run the Federal Reserve has added to the nervous mood. Some market pros worry he won’t cut rates as quickly as hoped.

Some analysts said that sentiment swung on the idea that rate relief might be delayed. But Raoul Pal pushed back, arguing that US President Donald Trump’s team will steer policy toward easier rates and that Warsh will follow that playbook.

Views differ. That uncertainty has left many traders unwilling to put fresh money into stretched trades.

A Cautious But Not Despairing Close

At the time of writing, price action looks fragile and rallies have been short-lived. Yet some analysts expect the liquidity drain to ease and for capital to trickle back once funding conditions normalize.

The coming weeks will show whether buyers return around the low-$70k area or if selling finds a deeper level. Reports note that risk appetite often returns before headlines change, but only when dollars are flowing again.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said he plans to sell a Blackhawk helicopter and multiple Lamborghinis and “mothball” his jet, framing the decision as a personal reset and a critique of how crypto’s culture changed after the 2021 boom.

Speaking in a Jan. 31 video recorded from Fukuoka, Hoskinson opened with a market-watcher’s morning ritual and a broader question about what’s still under an industry participant’s control when prices turn against them. “I sat down,” he said, “and I said, ‘Gosh, you know, how did we get here?’” He described the mood as one of reflection after seeing “the markets and the red lights” on his phone.

Why The Cardano Founder Is Selling His Wealth

He tied that reflection to a multi-stop community tour across Japan, saying his team had recently presented in Hokkaido and Osaka before arriving in Fukuoka, and urged viewers to watch the latest Japanese community livestream. The trip, he suggested, pulled him back to the early days when Cardano was “just an idea,” and the scene felt more insurgent than institutional.

Hoskinson leaned into that contrast, calling crypto “the punk rock of finance” and arguing that a kind of mainstream acceptance drained energy from the sector. In his telling, 2021 marked a turning point: “We all got rich and we all got accepted. And you know, we all just basically became part of the system.” Once inside, he said, the system “take[s] the life out of it,” “strip[s] you of all the things that make you special,” and repackages work into something more consumerized.

Hoskinson then turned the critique inward, describing his own lifestyle as part of the problem. “I look at myself and I say, you know, I’ve gotten a little fat and happy, literally fat, and also an opulent lifestyle,” he said, arguing that repeating the same approach — “be part of that club, hedge a little bit” — isn’t compatible with doing “great things.”

“So, you know what I’m going to do is get back to that punk rock group,” he said. “Downsize a little bit. So, I’m going to sell my Blackhawk, mothball the jet, sell my Lamborghinis, just go all in. Why not?” He positioned the move as a return to an earlier, leaner period: “I started from nothing. Many of you older fans, you remember when I was sitting in my apartment and I had the stuffed giraffes back on the dresser and those were the days I love more than any other.”

A key part of Hoskinson’s “back to first principles” framing was day-to-day building. He said he has been coding every day and credited modern AI tooling for accelerating creativity, mentioning “a little bit of help from our friend Claude” and “a little bit of help from our friend Codex.”

Punkrocker and Crypto https://t.co/Yov4rLVlZk

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) January 31, 2026

He also pointed to a heavier technical workload, saying he wrote “over 400 pages of technical documents for Midnight over Christmas,” including an “executable specification oracle with a TLA spec” and a protocol specification. The thread running through the examples was urgency and immersion, doing the work “in the pits,” surrounded by builders, rather than managing crypto as a portfolio or status marker.

At press time, Cardano traded at $0.2853.

Bitcoin slid again, and big-name bulls are talking. According to ARK Invest’s team, the pullback after a rapid run is part of a wider picture that mixes gold, money supply measures, and investor flow. Markets are messy now. That does not mean long-term stories are dead.

Cathie Wood’s Long View

Based on reports, Cathie Wood has kept a public, steady bet on crypto for years, buying assets and shares in firms tied to digital tokens when prices were far lower. Her company took early positions in exchange operators and fintech companies that provide crypto access.

Reports note ARK’s valuation work and scenarios that place Bitcoin far above current prices by 2030 under certain adoption assumptions. Those forecasts are not promises. They are models with many moving parts.

Also important to note is that the correlation between the bitcoin and gold prices has been 0.14 since early 2020, and that the gold price led the last two significant bull moves in the bitcoin price in the last two major cycles. https://t.co/kxZEHhbBVJ

— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) January 31, 2026

Gold And The Debasement Trade

Reports say ARK’s research director compared gold’s market value to the US M2 money supply and found readings at a level not seen since the 1930s and around the same era as 1980.

That kind of extreme has historically preceded a big reversal in gold’s price. Some traders remember a 60% drop after the 1980 peak. Those are facts that deserve a second look. They do not translate directly into a prediction for Bitcoin, though.

Bitcoin and gold do not always move together. Based on reports, the historic correlation has been low — about 0.14 since early 2020. That number means daily price moves rarely sync up.

Yet, in past major rallies, gold’s gains were followed by a strong leg for Bitcoin. This time, the sequence stalled. Precious metals spiked and then pulled back sharply, but capital did not flow into crypto the way some expected. That raises questions about who is moving money and why.

Market Moves And What To Watch Next

Bitcoin fell to $78,150 at the time this report was made. The top crypto asset hit a level many traders watch closely after a flash crash last October. It is now more than 35% under the peak it reached on Oct. 6, 2025, and volatility is high.

Different Roles, Different Clocks: ARK’s View On Bitcoin And Gold

Overall, ARK’s stance remains consistent. Reports show the firm still views Bitcoin as a long-term asset tied to adoption and network growth, even during sharp drawdowns.

Gold, in contrast, is being watched for signs of exhaustion after an extreme run tied to money supply fears. In ARK’s view, the two assets play different roles, move on different clocks, and should not be judged by short-term price action alone.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin’s sudden break below $80,000 in the past 24 hours has led to one of the most violent liquidation events in crypto history. Traders digest the fallout from this crash, but there is much attention on large institutional holders, particularly Michael Saylor’s Strategy, whose massive Bitcoin position is now trading uncomfortably close to its average acquisition cost.

Why This Bitcoin Crash Turned Brutal So Quickly

The entire crypto industry is currently witnessing one of its most brutal crashes in history, led by Bitcoin and Ethereum. Notably, about $2.51 billion in leveraged positions were wiped out in a single session, placing this event among the 10 largest liquidation cascades the crypto market has ever recorded. For context, the Covid-era crash liquidated about $1.2 billion and the FTX collapse led to around $1.6 billion in liquidations.

Crypto Liquidation History. Source: @AshCrypto On X

According to Arkham Intelligence, large entities aggressively moved Bitcoin onto exchanges in the hours surrounding the crash. Kraken alone dumped about 17,030 BTC into the market, Binance followed with about 12,147 BTC, and Coinbase added another 9,093 BTC. Wintermute, a major market maker, dumped 3,491 BTC, while wallets labeled as Trump Insider and Bybit dumped 2,543 BTC and 2,471 BTC, respectively. 

Together, these transfers contributed to a streak of liquidations as positions that saw Bitcoin lose the $80,000 price level without much resistance.

Bitcoin’s Notable Outflows. Source: Arkham Intelligence

Strategy’s Bitcoin Chest And Where It Stands Now

As one of the largest corporate holders of Bitcoin, Strategy has felt the impact of the recent crash more directly than most, leaving its Bitcoin position hovering just above loss territory. 

The company currently holds 712,647 BTC, valued at $55.72 billion based on current price levels. Those holdings were accumulated at an average price of $76,037 per Bitcoin, putting Strategy only about 1.8% above breakeven following the sell-off.

The margin for error has narrowed massively, but the holdings are still technically in profit for now. To put this in context, Strategy’s stash was worth about $81 billion when Bitcoin peaked around $126,000, despite the company holding about 70,000 fewer BTC at the time.

It has now been 2,000 days since Strategy formally adopted the Bitcoin Standard. That decision has progressively connected the company’s financial performance to Bitcoin’s price action.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $78,500. A further decline of 3% from current levels would be enough to push Strategy’s Bitcoin position into the red on paper and change the narrative from unrealized gains to unrealized losses. In that scenario, the company may soon find itself defending its Bitcoin strategy in a bearish environment.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

In an interesting turn of events over the weekend, Bitcoin saw an abrupt liquidity cascade, with its price tumbling to as low as $76,000. Barely recovered from their weekday losses, BTC investors must be feeling hard done by, as rare weekend volatility sent them further down.

One of these investors would be Michael Saylor, whose firm, Strategy, was briefly underwater following Bitcoin’s latest price decline. The company’s Bitcoin holdings average cost basis of around $76,000 was tested as record-level liquidations rocked the crypto market.

Strategy’s BTC Holdings On The Verge Of Unrealized Losses 

Over the past few months, the price of Bitcoin has struggled to stay above critical levels, including the 360-day moving average and the short-term holders (STH) realized price. Interestingly, the premier cryptocurrency added another cost basis level to this growing list during its latest price decline.

Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, briefly went into the red after BTC price crashed below its holdings’ cost basis at around $76,000. The company, which currently holds more than 712,000 BTC, has had its struggles in recent months, with its stock price (now at $143) tumbling from local highs of $455.

While the Bitcoin price is now about 2.5% above this Strategy’s average cost basis, there is still a real threat to the premier cryptocurrency. In a case where BTC falls and holds below this level, the Bitcoin treasury company would be sitting on a massive unrealized loss, which could lead to further downturn in market confidence.

Over the past years, there have been no indications that Strategy would offload its Bitcoin holdings should they fall into unrealized losses. Interestingly, Strategy’s chairman and founder, Michael Saylor, posted on the X platform in relation to the downturn, saying the firm is “built for the long run.”

However, there might be a much bigger dynamic at play, especially as sustained trading below their average cost basis could invite scrutiny to the company’s Bitcoin accumulation strategy.

Bitcoin Price Bottom Might Take Months To Form

Julio Moreno, CryptoQuant’s head of research, warned investors to stop searching for bottoms after a new leg down. According to the on-chain expert, the latest Bitcoin decline to below $76,000 is not a bull market correction, as the bear phase started as far back as last November.

Moreno wrote in a post on X:

The indicators that help find bottoms in a bull market are of no use currently.

As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $78,070, reflecting an over 6% decline in the past 24 hours. According to data from CoinGecko data, the premier cryptocurrency is down by about 12% on the weekly timeframe.

A US-linked crypto startup received a major foreign cash injection this week, stirring questions in Washington about money, access, and transparency.

Reports say a UAE-backed investor paid roughly $500 million for nearly half of the company, a deal that was not widely known when it closed.

UAE Money Enters A Trump-Linked Crypto Firm

According to multiple reports, Aryam Investment 1 agreed to buy a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million. Part of that sum — about $187 million — was paid up front to entities connected to US President Donald Trump and other founders.

Executives tied to a major Abu Dhabi tech group were named to the company’s board after the purchase, giving the new backer direct influence over governance.

The transfer was signed in January 2025, just days before a major political transition in the US, and it drew immediate attention because of who the company is linked to.

Trump & Crypto: High-Level UAE Ties

Reports note the investment can be traced to figures close to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a powerful Abu Dhabi official whose interests include technology and national security.

That connection has sharpened scrutiny. Lawmakers and watchdogs say such stakes raise hard questions about foreign influence when an entity tied to a sitting US President is involved.

Some of the transactions and token purchases connected to the project were disclosed later than critics would prefer, which has fed calls for clearer filings and faster public notice.

Political Questions And Oversight

The deal also ties into earlier moves by UAE-linked funds to buy the project’s tokens and promote a stablecoin tied to the company’s ecosystem.

Reports say those earlier investments helped build momentum for the platform, and that a separate, large investment linked to the stablecoin involved Binance and other partners.

Critics argue a big foreign stake in a crypto firm with presidential ties creates both optics and policy concerns, especially as Congress debates tighter rules for stablecoins and foreign investments.

Some members of Congress have asked regulators to examine whether rules on disclosure or foreign influence were sidestepped.

Mixed Reactions

Investors responded with mixed signals. Some welcomed increased funding and new board expertise. Others worried that questions about ownership and governance could undercut confidence in the token and related products.

Important details about the buyer’s full ownership structure remain unclear in public filings. Reports say that transparency gaps are central to why oversight officials are asking for more documents and briefings.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin and the general cryptocurrency market have continued their struggles, as prices took a nosedive this weekend. On Friday, January 31, it seemed like the crypto market was gearing for another slow-action weekend as prices somewhat steadied after Thursday’s bloodbath.

However, the market has completely gone against the trend this weekend, with Bitcoin and the other large-cap digital assets falling by almost double digits on Saturday. Here is a look at the factors behind this steep decline and the immediate outlook for crypto prices.

Why Bitcoin And Crypto Prices Dropped This Weekend

Following Bitcoin’s initial descent to $81,000, different reasons, ranging from geopolitical tensions to the FOMC’s decision to keep the interest rates unchanged, swirled around. However, the continuous decline of prices, even during the typically sluggish weekend, suggests that other factors are at play.

In a new post on the social media platform X, prominent financial markets commentator The Kobeissi Letter weighed in on the possible reasons behind the market-wide downturn in recent days. According to the report, a look at the crypto flow data would shed more light on this market conundrum.

According to The Kobeissi Letter, the recent price decline witnessed by the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is completely a liquidity situation. As shown in the highlighted chart, Bitcoin has witnessed three well-defined liquidation waves, summing up to over $1.3 billion over the past day.

The financial markets commentator also mentioned that the crypto market liquidity has been choppy at best lately. However, sustained levels of extreme leverage in the Bitcoin market have caused the formation of “air pockets” in price.

The Kobeissi Letter added:

Couple this with herd-like sentiment, constantly shifting from extreme bullishness to extreme bearishness, and the swings become even more aggressive.

Unsurprisingly, the market-wide price correction saw the market hit with one of the largest liquidation events in crypto history. Market data shows that about $2.5 billion worth of levered longs have been liquidated in the digital asset market over the past 24 hours, the 10th-largest crypto liquidation event ever.

More notably, over $1 billion worth of levered long positions were forcibly closed within 5 minutes, as the Bitcoin price fell to around $76,000 on Saturday.

Total Crypto Market Cap Down By 7%

As of this writing, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization stands at around $2.725 trillion, reflecting a nearly 7% dip in the past 24 hours.

The Bitcoin market has seen a horrific tale over the week, with the price recording a downturn of more than 12%. As the flagship cryptocurrency tests its $77,000 price support, data from recent on-chain analysis has been put out, which suggests that investors might have more concerns in the near-term.

Network Activity Collapses To 2020 Lows Despite Relatively Higher Prices

In a recent QuickTake post on the CryptoQuant platform, market analyst CryptoOnchain hypothesizes that the Bitcoin price currently stands very little chance of recuperating. On the contrary, the analyst implies that the flagship cryptocurrency could endure a sustained downturn, especially considering other on-chain conditions. 

The market quant’s post revolves around the Bitcoin Active Addresses metric, which reveals how much network activity is ongoing within the Bitcoin market by measuring the amount of unique wallet addresses that are either sending or receiving BTC, over a period of time (in this case, over the past seven days).

According to CryptoOnchain, the active addresses count recently fell to 720,000, marking the lowest levels seen since April 2020. For context, the active addresses were as high as 1.126 million as of November 2024. Hence, the 36% contraction from the November 2024 peak to current readings reflects a significant reduction in on-chain activity.

From the chart shared by the analyst, it is apparent that network participation among retailers significantly declined in the latter half of 2025 and reached 2020 lows early in 2026. Notably, the current downtrend in network activity comes with a growing divergence. CryptoOnchain points out that the Bitcoin price still retains levels significantly higher than those seen in April 2020. But the network usage is still at that low level, reflecting a schism between network activity and price action. 

The analyst concludes that this is a sign of insufficient support (i.e organic demand) from network users. In this case, losing the $83,000 support may have been a fatal blow for the Bitcoin price. The analyst explains that this worsened the risk of further downward movement, as Bitcoin’s growth was already without underlying network support. 

For any recovery attempts to hold, and not end in “bull traps”, there has to be a reversal in the relative inactivity within the Bitcoin network currently unfolding. Better still, CryptoOnchain prescribes the “renewed influx of users on-chain” for a sustainable upside move to gain feasibility.

BTC Price Overview 

As of this writing, Bitcoin is worth about $78,743, with CoinMarketCap data reflecting a 6.39% loss over the past 24 hours. 

OKX CEO Star Xu has publicly accused Binance of being central to the October 10 crypto market crash that wiped out tens of billions of dollars, causing damage that many described exceeded the fallout from the FTX collapse in 2022.

Star Xu: Binance USDe Marketing Responsible For October 10 Crash

In a detailed statement on X, Star Xu said the October 10 sell-off was not a complex or mysterious market event, but the direct result of “irresponsible marketing campaigns,” which now appears to have fundamentally altered crypto market microstructure. On this particular day, Bitcoin experienced a 16.5% flash crash, falling from $121,000 to $101,000. According to Xu, the trigger for such a negative event was Binance’s temporary user-acquisition campaign offering up to 12% APY on USDe, while allowing the asset to be used as collateral on the same footing as USDT and USDC, with insufficient limits. Xu explained that USDe is not a conventional stablecoin but rather a “tokenized hedge fund product,” issued by Ethena, where user capital is deployed into index arbitrage and algorithmic trading strategies before being tokenized. He argued that this design embeds hedge-fund-level risk into an asset that was presented to users as functionally equivalent to low-risk stablecoins.

Notably, users were encouraged to convert USDT and USDC into USDe for yield. But market risk escalated when traders started using this USDe as collateral to borrow more USDT to convert it again into USDe, and repeat the cycle. This leverage loop resulted in outrageous APYs of 24%, 36%, and even over 70%, which many users perceived as low risk simply because they were offered on a major exchange such as Binance. However, a surge in market volatility would cause the USDe to depeg rapidly, triggering massive waves of liquidations. Xu said weak risk management around assets like WETH and BNSOL amplified the shock, resulting in some tokens briefly trading near zero. While insisting he was not assigning blame, Xu emphasized the need for industry leaders such as Binance to prioritize transparency, stronger risk controls, and responsible innovation, warning that short-term yield games undermine long-term trust.

CZ Fires Back

Notably, Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has pushed back on Xu’s narrative. Speaking in a Binance Square AMA on January 31, 2026, CZ said the October 10 sell-off was due to tariff-related macroeconomic news, not to Binance system failures or deliberate actions.

CZ argued that given Bitcoin’s sheer market scale and liquidity, it would be extremely difficult for any single entity to influence prices simply by “dumping.” Binance’s internal post-incident review did reveal technical irregularities that occurred on the day, including temporary transfer or UI display issues and deviations in certain indices, but CZ denied that these played a causal role in the crash.

Managing Partner at Dragonfly, Haseeb, also countered Star Xu’s accusations, stating that the timing of the USDe depegging, which occurred after Bitcoin already bottomed, as well as the isolation of this event on the Binance exchange, offered a strong opposition to such claims.

Coinbase’s legal battle over alleged insider trading hit a new milestone this week when a Delaware judge refused to toss a shareholder suit, keeping alive claims that top executives and directors sold stock while sitting on inside information.

Reports say the ruling does not resolve guilt or innocence. It simply lets the case continue in court.

Court Lets Case Move Forward

According to filings and press reports, the suit — brought by a shareholder in 2023 — accuses CEO Brian Armstrong and board member Marc Andreessen, among others, of selling large blocks of Coinbase stock around the company’s 2021 direct listing.

The complaint alleges those sales totaled close to $3 billion and that the insiders avoided more than $1 billion in losses by acting before negative information reached the market.

The judge’s decision to deny a motion to dismiss rests less on the precise dollar numbers and more on questions about process.

Reports note that a special litigation committee within Coinbase had already looked into the claims and cleared the directors. But the court flagged concerns over whether that committee was truly independent.

Big Names, Big Stakes

Many headlines have highlighted Andreessen’s name because of his profile and past business links. That attention isn’t just about personalities.

Reports say the chief issue for the court was whether the committee’s ties—direct or indirect—might have skewed its review, making the committee’s blessing less persuasive as a legal shield.

Coinbase has pushed back. The company and some defendants argue the sales were legitimate, part of normal liquidity and market mechanics tied to the direct listing, not secret profit-taking based on hidden problems.

Those defenses were noted in the filings the judge considered. Still, the lawsuit will now proceed through discovery and other pretrial steps.

Questions About Committee Independence

Legal observers say this case highlights a recurring issue in corporate suits: when an internal review finds no wrongdoing, courts will still test how, and by whom, that review was done.

If the review looks biased, the court may allow a suit to survive early challenges so the facts can be tested under oath.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView