Author: Kryptonews

Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets:Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas.Bitcoin’s latest slide exposed a familiar pattern in crypto markets: probability gauges drifted lower while derivatives traders scrambled for protection. As options open interest in $75,000 puts surged and hundreds of millions in long bets were liquidated, prediction markets registered only a slow erosion of upside conviction.Throughout January, Polymarket contracts tied to higher bitcoin price targets softened gradually through…

Bloomberg recently reported that the exchange is adding bank accounts to its platform. This is a move toward becoming a crypto neobank. Bybit aims to make it easier for users to hold, transfer, and convert fiat currencies directly into digital assets. The new service, called MyBank, is set to go live in February, pending regulatory approval. Users will be able to send and receive 18 fiat currencies using International Bank Account Numbers, or IBANs. This will be in partnership with local banks like Georgia-licensed Pave Bank. Deposits made into these accounts can be instantly converted into cryptocurrency. This simplify the…

Despite the rocky start crypto policymaking got off to this year, at the moment it does look like U.S. policymakers are making progress on the legislative and regulatory fronts. The White House is kicking off new discussions on stablecoin yield with representatives of the banking and crypto industries.You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions.The narrativeThe Senate Agriculture Committee voted to advance market structure legislation, the White House is directly involved in resolving yield issues and the SEC and CFTC are back to trying…

Strategy founder Michael Saylor has hinted his firm added to its Bitcoin holdings after the cryptocurrency slid more than 13% over the weekend, briefly pushing the company’s large BTC position into the red. “More Orange,” the Strategy executive chairman posted to X on Sunday,  alongside a chart showing his firm’s $55 billion worth of Bitcoin purchases since August 2020. Saylor often posts the chart as a signal that his company has bought or plans to buy Bitcoin. Source: Michael SaylorIt would mark Strategy’s fifth Bitcoin (BTC) purchase this year, with its largest coming on Jan. 20, when it bought 22,305 Bitcoin.…

Senator Elizabeth Warren is calling for congressional hearings after new reporting revealed that the United Arab Emirates’ top intelligence official secretly took a nearly 50% stake in a Trump-era crypto company.According to a Wall Street Journal investigation, an entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan—the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser and a key power broker known as the “Spy Sheikh”—quietly purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million just days before Donald Trump’s inauguration last year.The deal, signed by Eric Trump, reportedly funneled $187 million directly to Trump family entities, and at least $31…

The top crypto presale of 2026 isn’t coming. It’s ending. BlockDAG has raised $450 million, attracted 312,000+ holders, and distributed billions of tokens at progressively increasing prices. Now, in its final hours, the presale offers one last allocation: 700 million BDAG at $0.0005. After this? Open market trading begins, and the era of fixed presale pricing closes forever. This isn’t just another project claiming to be “revolutionary”, it’s the largest crypto presale since the 2017-2018 ICO boom, backed by proven 15,000 TPS technology, 3.5 million active users, and a clear $0.05 launch target. That’s 100x from current entry to confirmed…

10 For a century, the human face was the ultimate anchor of truth. If you saw someone’s eyes, heard the specific cadence of their breath, and watched the slight, imperfect twitch of their lip, you knew you were dealing with a biological peer. Presence was a given. In 2026, that anchor has come loose. The rise of the “Embodied AI Avatar” has turned digital interaction into a hall of mirrors. These aren’t the clunky, cartoonish avatars of early metaverse experiments. They are high-fidelity, photorealistic clones — extensions of ourselves that can host meetings, negotiate contracts, and socialize while we sleep.…

Crypto bridge CrossCurve has told users to pause interacting with its protocol while it conducts an investigation into a smart contract breach.Crypto protocol CrossCurve said its cross-chain bridge has been attacked, with reports that $3 million has stolen across multiple networks.CrossCurve posted to X late on Sunday that its bridge was “under attack, involving the exploitation of a vulnerability in one of the smart contracts used.”“Please pause all interactions with CrossCurve while the investigation is ongoing,” it added.The blockchain security-focused X account Defimon Alerts said CrossCurve was exploited for around $3 million “on several networks.”It added that one of CrossCurve’s…

Key NotesThe US DOJ seized over $400 million in assets linked to Helix crypto mixer used for laundering darknet funds.Larry Dean Harmon was sentenced to three years in prison for running Helix, which processed 354,468 BTC.The case fuels debate on crypto mixers and privacy tools, with figures like Vitalik Buterin weighing in. Helix crypto mixer has become the center of a major U.S. enforcement action. This comes after the Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed the final forfeiture of more than $400 million in assets tied to the now-defunct darknet service. The move brings a years-long money laundering case to a…

The latest batch of documents released by the Department of Justice as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act includes references to two leading art collectors, Steve Tisch and Jean Pigozzi. The DOJ’s library of documents have been added to over the past several days, with the latest update occurring on Saturday, January 31. The documents, primarily in the form of emails sent around 2013, appear to show convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein connecting Tisch, a film producer and co-owner of the New York Giants, with multiple women. The news was first reported on by the Athletic. Related Articles In…