Author: John Smith

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reportedly moved about $1 billion in cryptocurrency through two UK-registered exchanges over the past two years, according to a report by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. Summary Investigators at TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence firm, found that the IRGC used Tether (USDT) on the TRON blockchain to route funds. Exchanges called Zedcex and Zedxion collectively processed a large majority of the transactions. The flow of funds helped the IRGC sidestep traditional banking restrictions, directing money to affiliated groups and other sanctioned entities. According to The Washington Post, the heavily sanctioned military force moved roughly…

According to CryptoSlam data, NFT sales volume has plunged by 27.65% to $62.58 million, down from last week’s $88.29 million. Summary NFT volume fell nearly 28% as buyer and seller counts dropped more than 75% week over week. Ethereum held top chain spot while Bitcoin NFT sales crashed over 65% in the past week. CryptoPunks led collections even as overall NFT activity hit multi-week lows. Market participation has crashed, with NFT buyers plummeting by 82.75% to 60,985 and sellers collapsing by 77.69% to 56,228. NFT transactions fell by 23.64% to 690,550. This bearish performance is happening as Bitcoin (BTC) price…

Rain, a provider of enterprise-grade stablecoin payments infrastructure, has raised $250 million in a Series C funding round. Summary Rain raised $250 million in a Series C round led by ICONIQ, valuing the stablecoin payments company at $1.95 billion and bringing total funding to over $338 million. Rain’s platform enables businesses to launch compliant stablecoin cards, wallets, and payouts, currently processing over $3 billion annually for 200+ partners, including Western Union and Nuvei. The funding will support expansion into key markets across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. ICONIQ led the effort. Other investors such as Sapphire Ventures,…

A bipartisan‑tinged group of House Democrats introduced legislation Friday that would stop federal officials from placing bets on prediction markets — a response to high‑profile wagers that critics say look a lot like insider trading. Summary House members unveiled the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026, aiming to bar federal officials and staff from participating in prediction markets. The bill targets officials who could act on material nonpublic information, prompted by high-profile bets on platforms like Polymarket that critics argue may exploit insider knowledge. Critics of the bill argue that prediction markets can efficiently surface information. The…

XRP price suffered a big reversal and dropped for four consecutive days as the recent crypto market rally lost momentum. Summary XRP price has retreated in the past few days, erasing some of the recent gains. The supply of stablecoins in XRP Ledger has crossed the $400 million milestone. Technical analysis suggests that the token has more gains ahead. Ripple (XRP) dropped to $2.09 at last check on Friday, Jan. 9. That’s down by nearly 15% from its highest point this year. See below. Source: CoinGecko Still, technicals and its stablecoin growth mean that the token may be on the…

Pump.fun, the Solana-based memecoin launchpad, is shaking up its creator-fee system after realizing last year’s Dynamic Fees V1 incentivized coin creation over the trading activity that fuels the platform. Summary Pump.fun is updating its creator-fee structure after Dynamic Fees V1 incentivized low-risk coin creation over active trading, which is vital for platform health. The platform’s creator fee sharing allows teams to split fees across up to 10 wallets, transfer coin ownership, revoke update authority, and assign fee percentages post-launch. Future updates will adopt a market-based approach, letting traders determine whether a token narrative justifies creator fees, rebalancing incentives heading into…

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called for leniency in the sentencing of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, arguing that prosecutors are targeting software creation rather than demonstrable financial harm. Summary Buterin urged a lighter sentence for Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm. Privacy tools like Tornado Cash serve lawful purposes and that publishing open-source code should be protected under the First Amendment, cautioning against criminalizing authorship, he says. Storm’s legal defense, backed by Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation, raised over $6.3 million. Storm, who was convicted in August on a money-transmitting conspiracy charge, faces a potential sentence of up to five…

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only. Cloud mining matures in 2026 as WPA Hash gains recognition for transparent, stable Bitcoin computing power. Summary WPA Hash gains recognition as a leading Bitcoin cloud mining platform ahead of 2026 industry shifts. WPA Hash strengthens Bitcoin cloud mining stability through long-term computing power planning. With optimized PoW deployment, WPA Hash adapts to Bitcoin difficulty and mining competition cycles. As Bitcoin enters a more mature stage of development, cloud mining is gradually evolving from an early “experimental product” into…

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only. XRP holders gain new passive income options as Fleet Mining introduces a computing power-based model for XRP investors. Summary Fleet Mining enables XRP holders to earn daily passive income through easy cloud mining contracts. XRP can now generate steady returns with Fleet Mining’s simple deposit, contract, and daily payout system. New users get $15–$100 rewards and start mining XRP daily with Fleet Mining’s automated platform. For a long time, holders of XRP have been limited by a common fact:…

Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to the author and do not represent the views and opinions of crypto.news’ editorial. For most of crypto’s short history, growth followed a simple formula: reward behavior, and it will repeat. Liquidity mining, referral loops, token launches, airdrops. If adoption slowed, teams increased the incentives. When that stopped working, they layered on marketing campaigns, splashy announcements, and logo-filled partnership decks. That era is over. Summary Crypto growth stalled because trust collapsed: incentives, airdrops, and marketing no longer convert in a market saturated with scams, fake metrics, and empty signals. Founder credibility…