U.S. tech index futures are under pressure ahead of the market open, driven by concerns over President Donald Trump's rebuffed efforts to take over the Danish territory of Greenland and the threat of mutual tariffs between the world's largest economy and a group of European nations. The Invesco QQQ Trust Series, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the tech heavy Nasdaq 100 index, is down 2% in pre market trading following the long weekend to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. Trump indicated he ...

Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson mocked Ripple Labs (CRYPTO: XRP) CEO Brad Garlinghouse on Sunday for not challenging the current draft of the cryptocurrency market structure bill.Hoskinson Furious With GarlinghouseIn a live stream from his official X account, Hoskinson slammed Garlinghouse for not firmly opposing the latest version, which many in the industry see as favoring banks and financial incumbents at the expense of decentralized finance.Garlinghouse praised the Senate Banking Committ ...

Anthony Scaramucci, CEO of investment firm SkyBridge Capital, highlighted on Monday inefficiencies in the existing financial system and its “resistance” to blockchain-based technologies such as tokenization.Scaramucci Says Tokenization Facing ResistanceIn an X post, Scaramucci shared a clip from last month’s Solana Breakpoint Conference, where he spotlighted the $4 trillion annual global cost of transaction verification, including credit card and wire fees.“Big ideas always meet resistance—until they don't, ...

Group 1: Legislative Developments - The Senate Banking Committee canceled a meeting intended to draft a bill for cryptocurrency and digital asset regulations, marking a setback for long-awaited legislation [1][2] - Senator Cynthia Lummis expressed disappointment over the cancellation, indicating it was a significant blow to cryptocurrency advocacy [2] - Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong criticized the current draft of the legislation, stating it would be detrimental to the 52 million Americans who use cryptocurrency [4][5] Group 2: Industry Concerns - There is a conflict between cryptocurrency advocates and traditional banking institutions, particularly regarding stablecoins, which banks fear could undermine their business [6] - The GENIUS Act, signed into law last year, established regulations for stablecoins, allowing holders to earn rewards, which some in the banking industry want to repeal [6][8] - Senator Bernie Moreno highlighted the need for consensus between traditional banking and the innovation community to avoid stagnation [9] Group 3: Political Implications - The crypto lobby played a significant role in the election of Senator Moreno, who defeated a long-standing opponent, indicating the growing influence of cryptocurrency in politics [10] - The delay in legislation could result in the U.S. falling behind in the global cryptocurrency market, which could have negative implications for the economy and national security [15] - Representative William Timmons emphasized that establishing a solid regulatory framework for cryptocurrency could bring tens of billions of dollars back to the U.S. [17] Group 4: Future Outlook - The cancellation of the committee meeting resets the timeline for cryptocurrency legislation, with Senator Lummis noting she has additional time to improve the bill [12] - Concerns were raised that without timely action, the U.S. could lose its position as a leader in the cryptocurrency market [15][23] - The New York Stock Exchange announced plans to launch a platform for trading tokenized securities, indicating a shift towards integrating cryptocurrency into traditional finance [22]

When Bitcoin (BTC) last week surpassed the $97,000 price mark on Jan. 14, the crypto community hoped it would soon hit the much-awaited $100,000 mark. After all, U.S. spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to BTC had logged their largest daily inflows in three months on Jan. 14. As per the on-chain analytics platform SoSoValue, the figure hit $843.62 million on the day. Related: Why massive capital inflows could propel Bitcoin beyond $100,000 Earlier, spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. witnessed a net inf ...

The island nation of Bermuda is hoping to bring its entire economy on-chain with the support of American crypto exchange Coinbase and USDC stablecoin issuer Circle. Announced at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting on Monday, Bermuda will lean on the crypto firms for digital asset infrastructure support for its government, local banks, insurers, and consumers. The goal, according to a press statement, is to create the “world’s first fully on-chain national economy.” “Bermuda has always believed that res ...

An anonymous cryptocurrency trader has turned a $285 purchase into $627,000 in a single day, onchain data shows. However, the activity has raised insider trading suspicions among analysts considering the timing and patterns usually seen in these plays. Lookonchain originally reported the activity on X on Jan. 19, flagging four wallets as belonging to the same “insider” of the recently launched pump.fun memecoin ZReaL. According to the analyses, this “insider” spent $285 to buy 66.3 million of ZREAL, then ...

Group 1 - The Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System (LASERS) has disclosed its investment in Bitcoin (BTC) through a stake in Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR), previously known as MicroStrategy [1] - Strategy Inc. has recently strengthened its position in Bitcoin after MSCI decided not to exclude digital asset treasury (DAT) companies from its indices, which protects Strategy from potential delisting [2] - Between January 5 and January 11, Strategy made a significant Bitcoin acquisition, purchasing 13,627 BTC for $1.25 billion, marking its largest acquisition since July 2025 [3] Group 2 - As of December 31, 2025, LASERS held 17,900 shares of Strategy, representing only 0.02% of its total portfolio, with a current value of approximately $3.1 million at MSTR's price of $173.71 per share [5] - Strategy currently holds a total of 687,410 BTC, which constitutes about 3% of the total Bitcoin supply [4][3]

Key Points Ripple still controls over a third of the 100 billion XRP tokens it minted at launch, though some are in escrow. Ripple has ambitious plans to combine blockchain with traditional finance, but XRP may not benefit if it succeeds. XRP's market cap would put it among the top 100 U.S. firms, which seems hard to sustain. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › Ripple's XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) was one of last year's biggest crypto stories of last year. On July 18, 2024, it was worth just under $0.60. ...

South Korean authorities have busted a crypto crime ring that moved about 150 billion won ($102 million) through WeChat Pay, Alipay, and overseas exchanges. The group converted digital assets into cash while disguising transactions as cosmetic surgery payments and student fees. Authorities have charged three suspects in connection with the scheme. Inside the South Korea Crypto Remittance Ring Investigators from the Korea Customs Service said the crypto crime ring ran quietly for about four years befor ...