The Lincoln, Nebraska Police Department is teaming up with AARP to tackle a growing problem that hits older adults especially hard: cryptocurrency scams.

Lincoln may not be a major tech hub or a sprawling metropolis, but that hasn’t spared it from modern financial fraud. With a population of just over 291,000, residents reportedly lost more than $11 million to scammers, according to Police Chief Michon Morrow. A significant portion of that damage, authorities say, comes from schemes that target older adults who may be unfamiliar with how digital currency works—but trust the official-looking machines used to buy it.

To address the issue, the Lincoln City Council approved a new ordinance, Lincoln Municipal Code Chapter 9.70, on November 17. Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird signed it into law a week later. The goal isn’t to ban cryptocurrency ATMs, but to make sure people—especially seniors—understand the risks before they use one.

Under the ordinance, any business that operates or provides access to a cryptocurrency ATM must display clear, written warnings about the potential for fraud. Business owners have until December 24 to post the warning stickers, which are being provided by the Lincoln Police Department. The city estimates there are about 100 of these machines scattered across Lincoln.

Police Chief Morrow says the focus is prevention through education, not punishment...

“The Lincoln Police Department understands how devastating it is to become a victim of financial fraud,” Morrow said. “We encourage everyone to have conversations with loved ones about scams so we can all work together to be part of the solution. Our goal is to prevent more people from losing their hard-earned money.”

AARP Nebraska is playing a hands-on role in that effort. In mid-December, 20 AARP volunteers will fan out across the city to deliver information packets and warning stickers to every cryptocurrency ATM location. Those packets are designed to explain, in plain language, how crypto scams work and why these machines are often used by criminals.

“AARP Nebraska remains dedicated to partnering with communities statewide to protect older Nebraskans from these scams,” said Todd Stubbendieck, State Director for AARP Nebraska. “Our volunteer Fraud Fighters are raising awareness about how scammers exploit cryptocurrency kiosks because once money is sent through a digital wallet, it is nearly impossible to trace or recover.”

Alongside the new ordinance, the Lincoln Police Department has launched a dedicated webpage with up-to-date information on financial and cryptocurrency scams, tailored for people who may be encountering these technologies for the first time.

The department is also backing up education with enforcement. In January, LPD plans to add a fifth investigator to its Technical Investigations Unit, a team created specifically to focus on cryptocurrency-related fraud.

For seniors—and their families—the message is straightforward: if a stranger is rushing you to use a crypto ATM, something is wrong. And now, thanks to a mix of local lawmaking and community education, Lincoln is making sure that warning is harder to miss.

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- Miles Monroe
Washington DC Newsroom
GlobalCryptoPress.com

NASA has already put an expiration date on the International Space Station, with plans to decommission the ISS in 2031. After that, the agency intends to rely on private companies to keep humans living and working in orbit—a shift that’s turning low-Earth orbit into a surprisingly competitive business.

One of the companies hoping to step into that role is Vast, a Long Beach-based startup with roughly 1,000 employees. Vast has largely been bankrolled by Jed McCaleb, the billionaire co-founder of cryptocurrency projects Ripple and Stellar. Now, the company is aiming even higher: building what it hopes will become the world’s first commercial space station.

According to Forbes, which cited a person familiar with the matter, Vast is in talks to raise a $300 million funding round that would value the company at around $2 billion. The round is expected to be led by Balerion Space Ventures, though the source cautioned that negotiations are still ongoing and terms could change.

McCaleb has already made it clear he’s willing to go deep into his own pockets to make this work, previously saying he could invest up to $1 billion of his personal fortune. In October, Vast also disclosed that In-Q-Tel—the venture capital arm backed by the CIA—had made an undisclosed investment and taken on the role of board observer.

Neither Vast nor Balerion Space Ventures commented on the potential funding round.

On the hardware side, Vast plans to launch its first prototype station, Haven-1, in 2026. The company says it will begin sending components of a larger follow-on station, Haven-2, into orbit by 2028. The goal: a private replacement for the ISS once NASA pulls the plug.

Vast isn’t alone in chasing that opportunity. McCaleb joins a growing list of billionaires betting that space stations are the next big infrastructure play. Axiom Space, founded by billionaire Kam Ghaffarian, is also racing to build a commercial station, though Forbes reported last year that the company was facing challenges getting its plans off the ground. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin—better known for its rivalry with Elon Musk’s SpaceX—has also been quietly working on its own space-station ambitions.

If NASA’s plan holds, whoever wins this race won’t just be building a station. They’ll be building the future address for humans in orbit.


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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News

Binance founder and former Chief Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has received a presidential pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump, closing the book on one of the most closely watched cases in digital-asset enforcement.

Zhao was sentenced in April 2024 to four months in prison after pleading guilty to a single count tied to U.S. anti-money-laundering compliance. He completed that sentence in September 2024. As part of the broader resolution with U.S. authorities, Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion and implement enhanced controls after investigators said the exchange enabled some users to evade sanctions.

In announcing the pardon, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt framed Zhao’s prosecution—initiated under the previous administration—as emblematic of a wider “war on cryptocurrency,” arguing there were “no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims,” and that an earlier push for a multi-year sentence had harmed U.S. credibility. “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over,” she said.

What Makes This Case Unusual...

Supporters note Zhao is, by their accounting, the first known first-time offender to receive a custodial sentence for this particular non-fraud charge. The sentencing judge found no evidence Zhao knowingly facilitated illicit transactions and said it was reasonable for him to believe illicit funds were not present on the platform. The pardon doesn’t rewrite that record, but it does erase remaining federal consequences for Zhao personally.

Policy Context: A Clearer Pro-Crypto Pivot...

The move aligns with the Trump administration’s more accommodating posture toward digital assets. Since taking office in January, the President has:

Pledged to make the U.S. the world’s “crypto capital.”

Floated the concept of a national cryptocurrency reserve.

Backed efforts to make it easier for Americans to allocate retirement savings to digital assets.

Released his own token ahead of inauguration, placing crypto squarely in the political mainstream—supporters call it pragmatic adoption; critics see it as performative.

The Road Ahead...

Zhao stepped down as Binance CEO in November 2023, calling the decision “not easy to let go emotionally” but “the right thing to do.” Binance—registered in the Cayman Islands—remains the largest venue globally for trading crypto and other digital assets by volume. The company has reportedly pursued clemency for nearly a year, while fielding ongoing regulatory obligations under its settlement.

Separate reports have described conversations between representatives of the Trump family—whose World Liberty Financial is active in crypto—and Binance. Those talks, as characterized publicly, centered on the sector’s direction and policy environment rather than any announced transaction.

Why Markets Care...

Regulatory temperature check: A presidential pardon doesn’t alter the compliance requirements facing exchanges, but it does signal a friendlier top-down stance—potentially easing perceived headline risk for U.S. institutions on the sidelines.

Talent gravity: With the cloud over CZ lifted, founders and executives may view the U.S. as incrementally less adversarial, provided firms invest in controls and cooperate early.

Policy runway: Initiatives like a crypto reserve or retirement-account access still require legislative and agency follow-through. Today’s signal is political; the operational changes will come down to rulemaking and inter-agency coordination.

The Other Side of the Ledger...

Critics of the pardon will argue that compliance lapses at major platforms have real national-security implications and that accountability at the top deters future abuse. Expect renewed debate on whether executive clemency undermines deterrence—or simply corrects an outlier outcome for a non-fraud case.

Bottom Line...

Zhao’s pardon is a symbolic endcap to a multi-year saga and a strong indicator of where the current administration wants crypto policy to go: normalization instead of stigmatization, with an emphasis on building within the rules rather than litigating against the industry. The regulatory playbook hasn’t vanished; the posture has.

-------------------------
Author: Jules Laurent
Euro Newsroom | Breaking Crypto News 

Thanks to government incentives boosting wind and solar investments, Brazil is now generating more energy than they can use. But energy storage hasn't quite caught up, so if the energy generated isn't being used, it's just wasted, with some plants wasting up to 70% of their juice. Enter crypto miners: flexible energy consumers who can scale operations up or down faster than you can say "blockchain," helping balance supply without stressing the grid.

Crypto mining companies are making a beeline for Brazil's surplus renewable energy — with several firms negotiating deals with local electricity providers to tap into wind and solar power that otherwise goes to waste.

Renova Energia is already investing $200 million in a massive mining project powered by wind farms in Bahia. Meanwhile, companies like Enegix have proposed building mobile data centers plugged directly into power plants — turning previously wasted energy into profit. 

Of course, it's not all sunshine and rainbows; concerns about water use during droughts and regulatory gaps linger. Still, Brazil's clean energy boom is turning crypto mining from an energy hog into a potential diamond in the rough.

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Author: Adam Lee 
Asia News Desk / Breaking Crypto News

Walmart’s fintech affiliate OnePay is planning a crypto upgrade. According to AInvest the company will add Bitcoin and Ethereum trading to its mobile app later this year as part of its ambition to build a U.S.‑style “super app”

The expansion will let users hold, buy and sell digital coins and convert them to cash for shopping at Walmart or paying card balances.

OnePay launched in 2021 as a joint venture between Walmart and Ribbit Capital and already offers high‑yield savings, credit and debit cards, BNPL loans and wireless phone plans

OnePay isn’t going it alone...

The company will partner with Zerohash, a crypto‑infrastructure startup, to handle custody and trading. This avoids the headache of building a trading stack from scratch. The app currently ranks No. 5 among free finance apps on Apple’s App Store and already has a built‑in advantage: Walmart’s network of roughly 150 million U.S. shoppers per week

Adding crypto support should help close the competitive gap with rivals like PayPal and Cash App, most of which already offer some form of crypto services. The move reflects a broader trend — even Morgan Stanley’s E‑Trade is preparing to offer direct crypto exposure to clients.

Zerohash recently raised $104 million to scale its platform as more banks and fintech firms chase the crypto crowd.

The 'Super App' Concept is Also Elon Musk's Goal for X...

It's now a race between Musk and Walmart, this move puts Walmart ahead in the race when it comes to payments, and X leaps ahead when it comes to the app being used for people to communicate.

It seems much easier for Musk to add payment features than it will be for Walmart to get customers to even think of their app as a social platform.

Both are trying to make a US version of China's WeChat, which is a messenger app that Chinese citizens now use for a huge portion of financial transactions. 

My take..

Partnering with Zerohash is a smart move for OnePay — better to rent the plumbing than to reinvent it. 

The bigger question is whether grandma will really trade Bitcoin while picking up groceries, probably not, but frankly, grandma won't be here forever and younger generations are a lot more comfortable blurring the lines between paper money in a wallet and digital currencies in a virtual wallet.

Still, with 150 million shoppers in its orbit, Walmart can introduce crypto to middle America in a way that crypto‑native apps can only dream of. If successful, OnePay’s move could make crypto spending as mundane as buying milk — which is both exciting and oddly depressing for those who remember Bitcoin’s rebellious roots.

On a final note, when attempting to sign up to OnePay to take a look,  I was rejected despite putting in completely accurate information - it's safe to say I'm pretty unimpressed by any app that tells me I am not really me. 

-------------------
Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News

While Trump’s tariff hikes have caused a “disturbance in the crypto force,” the recent surge shows people are no longer viewing Bitcoin as a speculative asset, but as a true store of value.

As crypto’s value gradually gains global recognition, a question arises: How can ordinary investors participate in the blockchain ecosystem and generate sustainable returns?

A more rational approach is mining. However, traditional mining often faces challenges such as high costs and high technical barriers.

XiuShan Mining’s Cloud Mining Platform

XiuShan Mining keeps things simple through accessibility. Thanks to its remote mining, users do not need to purchase mining machines or manage complex operations and maintenance.

By selecting a computing power package on the platform, users can participate in Bitcoin mining in real time at global mines and receive daily returns based on their computing power share. This significantly lowers the barrier to entry and makes mining profits more transparent and efficient.

In this model, investors transform the risk of a one-time purchase into a sustainable, low-friction way to acquire Bitcoin—truly achieving “easy mining, stable returns.”

XiuShan Mining Cloud Mining Solution

No Equipment Purchase Required: Users do not need to purchase mining machines.

Remote Operation and Maintenance: A professional team manages hardware and computing power scheduling.

Flexible Contracts: Users simply select a computing power package to participate in mining profits in real time.

Transparent Costs: Revenues are transferred into accounts daily.

Users select computing power packages on the XiuShan Mining platform (equivalent to purchasing “productivity”). This system distributes computing power to mining machines worldwide. The miners’ job is to perform mathematical calculations (block verification) and generate Bitcoin rewards.

How to Join XiuShan Mining

Register an account – New users receive a $15 bonus, and daily check-ins earn an additional $0.60.

Select hash rate contract – Supports over ten major cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and USDT.

Automatically start cloud mining – After purchasing a contract, users can view real-time earnings on their mobile phone.

Daily profit settlement – Stable returns, creating a sustainable, long-term profit model.

XiuShan Mining offers a variety of contracts to meet diverse investment needs. Regardless of the investment amount, the platform informs users of their daily earnings upfront.

After buying a contract, earnings are deposited into the account the very next day.

XiuShan Mining also features a peer-to-peer marketplace where computing power can be bought and sold among cryptocurrency miners.

Today, XiuShan Mining serves more than 1.2 million daily users and also provides a mobile mining app, making participation more remote and accessible.

Conclusion

Remote crypto mining will be the key to making passive income using crypto assets in 2025. Platforms like XiuShan Mining are becoming a top choice for investors due to their superior security, high returns, and excellent user experience.

To learn more about how to start mining, visit the official website at:
https://xiushanmining.com

Or Contact: info@xiushanmining.com

--------------
Information Provided Via Press Release
Crypto Press Release Distribution Network

Most messaging apps today depend on the internet, big companies, and central servers to send your messages - none of the above applies to Bitchat, the new app co-created by Jack Dorsey (former Twitter CEO and co-founder) and Bitcoin developer and long-time privacy advocate Calle.

Bitchat features both messaging, and the ability to send/receive Bitcoin payments. 

The main motivator to create Bitchat was privacy, which is minimal in most popular messengers today,  as your data is being handled by someone else. Bitchat functions so independent from company servers, it doesn't even need an internet connection.   Bitchat doesn’t need the internet to work, and it even lets you send Bitcoin directly.

What Makes Bitchat Different?

1. Privacy First

Bitchat doesn’t ask for your email, phone number, or personal info. That makes it harder for companies, governments, or hackers to snoop on you. It’s built around Bitcoin’s core values: decentralization, censorship resistance, and peer-to-peer freedom.

2. Works Without Internet

Stuck at a festival with no signal? In a rural area? Or even in a power outage? Bitchat still works. That’s because it connects devices directly through something called a mesh network. Your messages hop from one phone to another until they reach the person you’re chatting with.

In fact, during major outages—like the one in April 2025 that knocked out power across parts of Spain, France, and Portugal—Bitchat could have kept people connected.

3. Send Bitcoin Anywhere

Besides chatting, you can also send Bitcoin through the app. No banks, no payment processors—just Bitcoin’s own network. Your phone can even create and sign transactions offline, which then travel through nearby devices until they reach the network.

For merchants, this could be a game-changer. Payments don’t need middlemen, and in the future, integration with the Lightning Network could make transactions even faster and cheaper.

4. Extended Range with Mesh Networks

Normally, Bluetooth works only a short distance. But Bitchat uses Bluetooth mesh networking—your message can jump from phone to phone, extending the range up to 300 meters (or farther if more people are connected). Think of it like a digital relay race.

5. Built on Cypherpunk Ideals

Bitchat isn’t just a tech experiment—it’s a nod to the cypherpunk movement, which values privacy, independence, and control over your own communications.

How It Works...

Local Mesh: Phones connect directly using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Messages hop across devices until they arrive.

Optional Global Mode: If you want to reach beyond local connections, Bitchat can use Nostr—a decentralized protocol that runs through relays on the internet.

Encryption: Messages are secured with the Noise protocol, so only the sender and recipient can read them.

Efficiency: Data is compressed to save bandwidth, and the app adjusts its power use to save battery.

The app is still new, and while its private messaging system is strong, it hasn’t been fully audited by outside security experts yet.

Criticisms and Concerns...

Bitchat has gotten plenty of attention for its bold approach, but it hasn’t been without criticism.

When the beta launched earlier this month, Dorsey promoted it as a secure and private messaging tool. Soon after, security researcher Alex Radocea published a blog post pointing out a serious flaw: it’s currently easy to impersonate other people inside Bitchat.

“In cryptography, details matter,” Radocea wrote. “A protocol that has the right vibes can have fundamental substance flaws that compromise everything it claims to protect.”

Dorsey later admitted the app had not yet gone through an external security review, meaning there may still be unknown vulnerabilities.

Another concern is the app’s distribution. On iOS, Bitchat is available through the App Store. For Android, users must download it from GitHub since it hasn’t officially launched on Google Play. Unfortunately, multiple lookalike apps have already appeared on the Play Store—some with thousands of downloads—raising the risk that people may install a fake version instead of the real one.

The only legit ways to download it is the Apple App Store for iOS users, or their official GitHub for Android users. 

Should You Download It?

There's some legitimate reasons to have something capable of offline messaging for emergencies, places outside of cell reception, or places where cell towers can be overloaded like large events.  But i'd hold off on trusting it with your Bitcoin, the concerns we covered here are legitimate, and any environment where it's easy for one user to pose as another is not the place for financial transactions.  

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Author: Mark Pippen
London Newsroom
GlobalCryptoPress | Breaking Crypto News

In a surge of activity that may mark a pivotal moment for Bitcoin and the broader crypto market, a diverse set of publicly traded companies and financial institutions are now aggressively building digital asset reserves—led by Bitcoin, but increasingly extending into newer, execution-focused blockchains.

Those jumping in are finding the attention a company gains when announcing a large crypto investment is almost instantly boosting interest in their stock, with many seeing gains of 20% or more immediately following the announcement. 

From biotech firms to Wall Street giants, the message is clear: digital assets are no longer fringe experiments, but strategic assets with growing roles in treasury management, investment diversification, and future-facing innovation.

Medical Meets Bitcoin: Prenetics Buys $20 Million in BTC..

In a headline that once would’ve sounded like satire, a life sciences company has made one of the largest crypto purchases in its industry to date. Prenetics Global Limited, a genomics and diagnostics leader based in Hong Kong, acquired 187.42 Bitcoin—roughly $20 million—at an average price of $106,712 per BTC.

While unrelated to its core operations in DNA testing and personalized medicine, the company sees Bitcoin as a long-term complement to its mission. CEO Danny Yeung believes “genomics, personalized medicine, and digital assets will intersect,” envisioning a future where blockchain and healthcare co-evolve to redefine how we view longevity, privacy, and generational wealth.

Lion Group Bets Big on DeFi with $600M Credit Line

Meanwhile, Lion Group Holding, a Nasdaq-listed firm, has secured a massive $600 million credit facility to accumulate Solana (SOL), Sui (SUI), and a relatively new but rapidly emerging token: Hyperliquid (HYPE). Through this initiative, dubbed “HYPE Treasury,” the company aims to position these assets—especially HYPE—as foundational pillars for an on-chain derivatives and treasury strategy.

“HYPE, with decentralized sequencing, fits into our vision of scalable DeFi systems,” said CEO Wilson Wang. The firm is even considering dual listings on the Tokyo and Singapore stock exchanges, signaling ambitions to globalize what could be the first HYPE-based treasury structure in Asia.

This move further reflects the growing trend of companies not just investing in crypto, but aligning their business models with decentralized finance itself.

Semler Shifts Focus: Aiming for 105,000 BTC and a New Director of Bitcoin Strategy

Joining the institutional frenzy, Semler Scientific, a medical diagnostics firm, is prioritizing Bitcoin accumulation over its core operations. The company has revealed plans to purchase up to 105,000 BTC—roughly 0.5% of Bitcoin’s fixed 21 million coin supply.

To guide this strategic shift, Semler hired renowned Bitcoin researcher Joe Burnett as its Director of Bitcoin Strategy. Burnett’s background includes roles at Unchained and Blockware Solutions, indicating a deliberate pivot toward deep crypto expertise.

Semler’s bold play adds fuel to a new narrative: that public companies may soon see Bitcoin not just as a hedge—but as a primary reserve asset.

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Nears $70 Billion AUM...

And then there’s BlackRock—the world’s largest asset manager—whose Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), has amassed nearly $70 billion in assets under management. This accounts for over 3.25% of the total BTC supply and more than half of the market share among all U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs.

The sheer size and speed of IBIT’s growth underscore what analysts have hinted at for months: institutional adoption is accelerating, and it’s no longer speculative. According to Brickken analyst Emmanuel Cardozo, “institutional players are here for the long run.”

What This Means: Short-Term and Long-Term Outlook...

In the short term, these moves could spark increased price stability and renewed upside momentum for Bitcoin and select altcoins. Institutional buying reduces circulating supply and raises confidence in BTC as a safe-haven asset—especially in volatile macroeconomic conditions.

At the same time, the entry of companies outside traditional finance—such as medical and biotech firms—suggests Bitcoin is transcending its role as just "digital gold" to become a strategic reserve for a variety of industries.

In the long term, this convergence of crypto with sectors like genomics, diagnostics, and asset management may birth entirely new hybrid financial models. We could see decentralized protocols serving as backbone infrastructure for corporate treasury management, health data systems, or even personalized asset portfolios for individuals.

As companies like Semler, Prenetics, and Lion Group pivot their balance sheets and strategic direction toward blockchain, and with giants like BlackRock normalizing BTC on Wall Street, the message to competitors is simple: adapt or risk irrelevance in the age of decentralized capital.

In Conclusion...

The era of speculative crypto hype may be ending, but what’s taking its place is far more profound: a reshaping of corporate finance where digital assets are no longer optional. Whether Bitcoin becomes the new gold standard of the corporate world or just one of several strategic assets remains to be seen—but the race is undeniably on.

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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News

Bitcoin just broke past $109,500, setting a new all-time high and officially leapfrogging Amazon in market cap. That puts BTC in the heavyweight category—now the fifth most valuable asset on the planet. Next up on its leaderboard hit list: Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, and the big one—gold.

So, what’s fueling this meteoric rise? It’s not just hype. We're seeing a powerful mix of institutional money, rising retail investor confidence, and a macro environment that’s turning in Bitcoin’s favor. Risk-on assets are back in play, and Bitcoin’s looking like the king of that hill.

Importantly, this isn’t some knee-jerk spike off a news headline. The price movement is broad-based and organic—a sign that momentum could be sustainable rather than just a flash in the pan.

What’s Next?

Bitcoin’s now flirting with the $110K mark, a zone packed with liquidity. That means we could hover around this zone for awhile. But not everyone's expecting a cooldown.

Market analyst Willy Woo, for one, thinks we’re just getting started. On X this morning, he posted: “Once BTC properly breaks the all-time highs, the move to $118k will be very fast.” 

In Conclusion

Bitcoin is no longer knocking on the door—it’s already inside the house with the big players. And with its capped supply, frictionless digital transferability, and apolitical foundation, it’s positioned unlike anything else on Wall Street. As trust in institutions gets shakier and the world grows more digital and decentralized, Bitcoin’s rise feels less like a trend—and more like a tectonic shift.

-----------
Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News

The recent surge in gold prices isn't just a reaction to market jitters—it's a signal flare. Investors are flocking to safe havens, but there’s another asset riding this wave with a different kind of momentum: Bitcoin. Often dubbed “digital gold,” BTC is increasingly seen as both a refuge and a revolutionary financial instrument.

As gold crosses the $3,300 per ounce mark, and even hit a record $3,500 briefly in April, Bitcoin has been quietly staging a comeback of its own. It’s not just shadowing gold—it’s carving its own path, powered by a new generation of investors who see beyond tradition and into the future.

The Uncertain World Fuels the Rush

We’re living through another wave of economic turbulence. With global trade tensions escalating—especially after President Trump’s aggressive new tariffs on over 60 countries, including a staggering 245% on Chinese imports—the world feels like it's on edge. In return, China upped its own tariffs to 125%, triggering fears of an all-out trade war.

Naturally, investors turn to safety. Gold is the old guard: tangible, familiar, and stable. Bitcoin, meanwhile, is for those who believe the digital age requires digital solutions. Both assets are benefitting, but the why behind each is telling.

Gold ETFs saw $8 billion in net inflows just three weeks ago—a record. Meanwhile, Bitcoin surged 10% following Trump’s tariff announcement (dubbed “Liberation Day” by crypto fans), jumping from $85K to $97K before settling around $94K. That's still 13% below its all-time high, but the confidence is building.

A New Kind of Safe Haven

What’s striking is how Bitcoin and gold are starting to move in tandem. From April 7–21, gold rose 15%, and Bitcoin was right behind it at 12%. Analysts at Kobeissi called this a “flight to decentralized, inflation-protected assets”—a sign investors aren’t just seeking safety, they’re seeking sovereignty.

The Pearson correlation shows that Bitcoin and gold are aligning more, while distancing from major stock indices like the Nasdaq and S&P 500. That’s a strong indicator that Bitcoin is evolving into a legitimate store of value—not just a speculative bet.

Gold Is Old Money. Bitcoin Is Asymmetric Opportunity.

Gold’s market cap sits around $22 trillion. It's massive, mature, and stable, with demand from jewelry to industrial use. But that maturity comes with a ceiling—growth is slow, and supply can still increase with new mining operations.

Bitcoin? Entirely capped at 21 million coins. That built-in scarcity is rocket fuel for price potential. Its current market cap—around $1.8 trillion—is tiny by comparison, which means massive upside if adoption scales.

Big names are bullish. MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor sees BTC hitting $140K this cycle. ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood goes further—forecasting a $2.4 trillion valuation long-term if institutional adoption takes off and governments start treating BTC as a strategic reserve.

In Conclusion

Gold is doing what gold does best—providing stability in unstable times. But Bitcoin is doing something more: it's reframing the very definition of value in a digitized world. One is rooted in the past; the other is aligned with the future.

As global uncertainty continues to stir the pot, both assets are attracting attention—but for very different reasons. Gold offers reassurance. Bitcoin offers revolution. And if current trends hold, we may be witnessing not just a rally, but a rebalancing of how the world defines and defends wealth.

-------------------

Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News

Jack Mallers is the fonder of Strike, (which to me has always seemed like the all-crypto version of Cash App) and now heads a 2nd venture as he has just been named CEO of a new company called Twenty One, and he’s not wasting any time setting the tone. His mission? Overtake Michael Saylor and Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) as the biggest corporate holder of bitcoin.

In a Bloomberg Technology interview, Mallers laid it out plain: Twenty One isn’t trying to be a fintech, a bank, or a crypto hedge fund. It’s a Bitcoin-first, Bitcoin-only company. Everything it does—from the products it builds to how it returns value to investors—is centered on one goal: stacking sats and scaling hard.

“We want to be the best vehicle for investors to gain exposure to bitcoin in the public markets,” Mallers said - making it clear they want to be seen as an official competitor to Michael Saylor and Strategy. 

The idea for Twenty One came after years of deep involvement in Bitcoin infrastructure—Mallers has worked alongside Tether and played a major role in Bitcoin adoption efforts in El Salvador. Now he’s aiming to do what no one else has done: build a public company from scratch that’s Bitcoin-native from day one. No pivoting from old-school industries. No legacy baggage.

On the other side of the ring is Michael Saylor, who’s basically become the poster child for corporate Bitcoin accumulation. With over 530,000 BTC in Strategy’s vaults, Saylor’s been rewriting the playbook for capital markets—raising billions via bitcoin-backed bonds and preferred stock to fuel the company’s ever-growing stack.

Mallers isn’t denying Saylor’s influence—in fact, he says Saylor was part of the inspiration. But where Saylor is evolving a decades-old company into a Bitcoin vehicle, Mallers is building the future from scratch. It’s new-school vs. old-school, and the battleground is Bitcoin.

Realistically, Twenty One's goal of catching up to Strategy is a long shot, at least when it comes to total Bitcoin held.  The company will launch with 43,000 BTC in hand which is a massive amount in any other circumstance, except comparing it with Strategy's 530,000 BTC.

Where they can make a name for themselves is becoming the company currently accumulating the most Bitcoin, while Saylor is unlikely to be dethroned as the one who currently holds the most Bitcoin.

Is This a Good Thing? 

It's easy to get caught up in the immediate effects of companies fighting over who can accumulate the most Bitcoin, as the immediate result is driving up the price. When it comes to supply and demand, whales with huge appetites obviously add a lot of momentum to the 'demand' end. 

But it's also putting the power to crash the entire market in the hands of a very small group of people. Of course, Saylor and really any investor with a basic understanding of the market would never dump 530K BTC onto the market at once, that obliterates their own profits as the market would have crashed long before even half of the coins were sold.

However, even a smaller portion like 10% for example - in the case of Strategy, that's still over $3 billion in BTC flooding the market, which would probably sent Bitcoin's price down by $10,000 to $15,000.  Then when you consider this may trigger another large holder to panic - it's not just about how many tokens one major holder sells, it's the total amount they sell + scare others in to selling when a sizeable red candle appears.

Then there's the obvious argument against companies trying to get as much Bitcoin as possible - remember, decentralization? It's easy to forget in a story about 2 companies who want it all.


------- 
Author: Adam Lee
Asia News Desk 
Breaking Crypto News

By now you've probably heard of the staggering blow to crypto exchange Bybit, as they confirmed a massive $1.4 billion exploit, making it the largest crypto hack on record

We're now learning some additional details - according to Bybit CEO Ben Zhou, the attacker compromised one of the exchange’s Ethereum cold wallets, siphoning off huge quantities of ETH and stETH by manipulating a single transaction.

Bybit’s CEO says the hacker got hold of the private keys to a specific ETH cold wallet and transferred the funds to an unknown address. Top blockchain analytics groups like ZachXBT and Arkham Intelligence have verified these massive outflows, with Arkham noting that the stolen funds are now being split and sold through multiple addresses.

Is User Money Safe?

Zhou insists that other Bybit wallets weren’t impacted. The platform is still processing withdrawals—99% of user requests have reportedly gone through without a hitch. Bybit is maintaining they have enough liquidity to honor customer withdrawals in full.

Setting a New Record...

This new $1.4 billion hack officially takes the top spot for the largest theft in crypto history. It surpasses both the Ronin Network’s $625 million loss and the $611 million Poly Network exploit, both of which rocked the market in 2022.

Catching the Hacker...

The biggest hack is now offering the biggest reward, up to $140,000,000 (10% of total hacked funds) for anyone who can track down who is responsible.

This is bad news for the hacker, because unless we're looking at a government sponsored action (such as North Korea) you can be sure the hacker bragged about his accomplishment at least within a small circle of fellow hackers - if so, with a reward this size someone is bound to turn on them.

Blockchain researcher ZachXBT was among the first to flag the suspicious outflows. He reports the stolen ETH has been split across 39 different addresses—likely an attempt to hide the funds and evade tracking.

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Author: Adam Lee 
Asia News Desk / Breaking Crypto News

The race to integrate Bitcoin into state treasuries is heating up. So far, 20 U.S. states have introduced bills aiming to accumulate BTC as a financial asset—but Utah is pulling ahead with real legislative momentum.

A new bill, HB 230, just cleared a major hurdle. The “Digital Innovation and Blockchain Amendments” bill, which could allow the state treasurer to allocate public funds into Bitcoin, has now been formally introduced to the Utah Senate’s Revenue and Taxation Committee.

Back in January, the bill passed Utah’s House of Representatives with an 8-1 vote, and on February 7, it advanced to the Senate for its first reading. If enacted, up to 5% of Utah’s state funds could be invested in “qualified digital assets”—a category that, under the bill’s criteria, currently includes only one cryptocurrency: Bitcoin.

Utah's HB 230 isn’t just about buying Bitcoin...

It also lays the groundwork for regulatory oversight, custody protocols, and even permits the treasurer to engage in staking and lending of crypto assets under certain conditions. Additionally, the bill introduces new rules around stablecoin investments, reflecting the broader push to formalize crypto within government finance. The proposal is spearheaded by Utah Rep. Jordan Teuscher.

If it keeps gaining traction, the bill could take effect on May 7, 2025. And according to Dennis Porter, CEO of Satoshi Action Fund, Utah is positioned to be the first U.S. state with an official Bitcoin treasury, thanks to its tight 45-day legislative session.

This state-level push follows Donald Trump has floating the idea of a Federal Bitcoin Reserve - his 'crypto task force' is already exploring ways to make it happen. In an interview with Bloomberg President Trump says he believes that if the U.S. doesn’t move fast, rival nations will.

As Utah moves forward, all eyes are on whether this bill will set a precedent for other states looking to put Bitcoin on their balance sheets.

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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News

In a move that would've seemed wild just a few years ago, over a dozen states are seriously considering holding Bitcoin reserves as part of their fiscal strategy.

It began when Trump, not yet elected and on the campaign trail, mentioned the idea as part of his plan to make the US the 'crypto capital of the world'.  Since taking office, one of the executive orders he signed on the first day created the committee to propose new regulations, and to look into the creation of a national cryptocurrency stockpile.

Looking to capitalize on the creation of a Federal Bitcoin Reserve, 15 states have either passed or introduced state-wide Bitcoin reserve bills, including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. Pennsylvania was the first to propose it, in a bill in November of last year. 

What Exactly is a Bitcoin reserve?

A Bitcoin reserve is basically a stash of Bitcoin owned and managed by a government, much like how many countries hold gold, silver, gems, or oil reserves.

The reasoning behind it - the most basic fundamental of investing; diversifying your investments. Like gold, Bitcoin has shown itself to be a hedge against inflation. When the dollar loses value, people look for alternative ways to store their wealth, ideally somewhere it isn't losing value.  In every major economic downturn, you'll see the charts for gold on the rise, and more recently, Bitcoin.  Earning the nickname 'digital gold' for this reason. 

How Exactly Would the State or Federal Government Acquire Bitcoin?

So far, proposals have included selling a portion of existing reserves, and using that to purchase Bitcoin. Other proposals involve changes to the State's annual budgets where they would reallocate funds, for example, lawmakers in Oklahoma, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania have proposed that up to 10% of public funds on a temporary basis until a set goal is reached. 

Other states believe their residents who are crypto fans would be willing to donate some of theirs, just to show their support for the concept. 

Lastly, Texas has floated the idea of allowing residents to pay taxes and fees in Bitcoin, and these  payments would go directly into a state reserve, where it couldn't be touched for 5 years. 

How Would this Effect the Market Overall?  

All analysis seems to conclude that this would trigger a significant spike, with a combo of factors working together in a way that could only send the price up.  There is a record number of wallets owned by investors who buy Bitcoin and hold it, leaving it untouched no matter what the market is doing. Then there's the growing number of companies with Bitcoin on their balance sheet.

This means governments, companies, and individuals would be holding Bitcoin for the long haul, with no intent to sell anytime soon. Now factor in that there is only 20 million Bitcoins in circulation, and an estimated 6 million of those sit in wallets where the owner lost the key to access them (many from the early days when Bitcoin was worth a few cents, people didn't carefully backup the key to wallets holding thousands of Bitcoin)

Now imagine with this: Those who hold Bitcoin aren't looking to sell,  limited supply of Bitcoin available, dozens of countries follow the US's lead and begin creating Bitcoin reserves of their own. If those holding Bitcoin aren't willing to sell, there's only one option left - change their mind by offering more. Some are citing this as the path to a $1M Bitcoin price, and while I think that number may be unrealistically high, I do agree it's the path to set new record highs. 

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News

Craig Wright, the controversial figure who claims to be Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, is cracking following the defeat of his landmark case as been handed a suspended prison sentence by a UK court.

Wright’s one-year sentence for contempt of court won’t see him behind bars unless he breaches court orders in the next two years. While the average person would make sure to comply, Wright's recent behavior has us wondering if he's capable of controlling himself long enough to stay free man. 

Over-Emotional, Irrational, and Digging his Hole Deeper...

Wright has seemingly become driven by emotion rather than calculated legal strategy, his recent  irrationality and impulsiveness seem to be a clear indication that the mounting legal defeats are taking their toll. 

First, immediately after the court dismissed his lawsuit, he filed another - a move seen as Wright blatantly disregarding the court’s previous orders.

But that was just the beginning as Wright then did something anyone in their right mind knows is always a bad idea, and will never help someone make their case - he skipped attending the hearing addressing his first violation. 

At first it seemed like Wright may have immediately realized his mistake and agreed to attending the rescheduled hearing. But hopes Wright was returning to reality soon faded as he joined the hearing via video link, demanding an insane £240,000 to attend, to cover his "costs and lost earnings". 

These actions painted a picture of someone incapable of maintaining composure in the face of legal setbacks.

The Claim That Won’t Die...

These most recent troubles were ignited when Wright attempted to sue a group of Bitcoin developers for £900 billion (around $1 TRILLION in USD), the most recent, but far from the first lawsuit Wright has attempted.

For years, Wright has insisted he is the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary. This self-proclaimed identity has been central to his legal battles and public persona, yet it has consistently crumbled under scrutiny. 

The High Court in London dismissed his lawsuit, calling it baseless. In the wake of this ruling, an advocacy group made up of individuals and companies who want to protect Bitcoin's open source status, called the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) called for Wright to be held in contempt of court.  The grounds for this claim come from his ruling from the court explicitly barring him from filing new lawsuits that were based on his claim to be Nakamoto.

The UK Legal System Has Had ENOUGH...

Judge Mellor ripped into Wright, calling his tactics "malicious and manipulative". 

The court highlighted years of distress caused by Wright’s relentless legal threats against developers and bloggers, noting that his claims were founded on lies and forgeries. The judgment emphasized Wright’s attempts to mislead both the legal system and the public.

Wright’s unhinged behavior has earned him a one-year suspended sentence for contempt of court, along with orders to pay £145,000 (about $180,000 USD) within 2 weeks.

While he narrowly avoided prison thus far, he must follow court orders exactly as instructed for the next 2 years if he wants to stay out.

A Tarnished Legacy...

The crazy part is, Wright truly did contribute to the creation of Bitcoin.  He was among the small group of original developers who volunteered their time and skills to help whoever the real Satoshi is - Wright does deserve credit for helping to launch the first cryptocurrency.

Wright could have been a respected figure in the crypto and tech world with the true story of his role in Bitcoin's creation. Ironically, people who launch the most vicious attacks at Wright for being a fraud would probably be among his biggest fans.

This seems to be an example of a poor choice made years ago, perhaps made impulsively - mix this with a prideful person who struggles to admit when they're wrong, and you get this ridiculous never-ending spectacle.

Wright had to be aware of several obvious methods the real Satoshi could use to prove his identity, Wright knew he couldn't perform any of them, and that people would demand this of anyone making this claim. The most important being the ability to open the wallet belonging to Satoshi.

Surely the real Satoshi would carefully back up the private key needed to access his wallet, of which over $90 Billion USD worth of Bitcoin sits untouched for 14 years.

But during a case he filed in Norway, where Wright attempted to sue someone from the crypto community on Twitter for calling him a scammer, Wright claimed he could no longer access the Satoshi wallets since he 'stomped out' the hard drives they were saved on.  The man he was suing was a public school teacher with 8000 followers, Wright lost. 

Where Do We Go From Here?

It seems Wright has taken things so far, he's reached the point where having him face real, life changing consequences is the only response left.  Wright has proven his willingness to create a never ending cycle of baseless lawsuits that waste both government and private citizens funds addressing - failing to win a judgement in his favor has proven not to be a deterrent. 

Since Wright begun his crusade, only his worst traits have evolved.  What started with him at least portraying an image of someone making calculated legal moves, has been replaced with someone unable to control themselves long enough to consider the results of their increasingly impulsive actions.

I guess what I'm trying to say is - my money is on Craig going to jail! He needs to obey every demand of the court for 2 full years, and I just don't see his personality changing enough to pull it off. 

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Author: Mark Pippen
London Newsroom
GlobalCryptoPress | Breaking Crypto News

As Russia invaded Ukraine in February of last year, an organization called Ukraine DAO instantly surfaced as a charity ready to help those wanting to donate to Ukraine using crypto, promising 100% of donations would go to the cause.

UkraineDAO started off doing what they promised to do…

The organization’s first move was the auction of an NFT of the Ukrainian flag. Many in the crypto community shared this on social media, along with some high profile exposure from people like Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and Nadia Tolokonnikova of Russian Anti-Putin band Pussy Riot.

The NFT raised a total of $6.8 million worth of ETH at the time - and on-chain records show this being transferred to non-profit Ukrainian Military Support organization ‘Come Back Alive’ which helps supply equipment and training for Ukrainian soldiers.

Their verifiable donations include:

- 1550.5 ETH to Come Back Alive.

- 387.63 ETH to Ukraine Government.

- 190.49 ETH to OutRight Action International

- 4.43 ETH to Psychology for Human Rights

This totals approximately 2130 ETH verifiably donated. But the wallet data shows a total of 2468 ETH received.

So there’s a remaining 338 ETH with a current value approximately $640,300. Some of this sits unspent, some is accounted for, and some is accounted for but the way it was used is where conflict begins to arise.

Things got real nasty, real fast...

The first issue came to light when Nadia Tolokonnikova of Russian Anti-Putin band Pussy Riot, who initially endorsed the project, quit after learning that the promise of “100% of funds” going to help those effected by the war untrue and project leader Alona Shevchenko had been taking a $5,000/month salary.

Alona responded showing how previously Nadia had given interviews where she was asked about when she ‘started the charity, Nadia told the interviewer the she "along with a number of friends’ felt they had to do something when they learned the invasion had begun.  Alona seems to think Nadia was positioning herself in interviews to be seen as the main person behind it.

[This portion of the article has been updated] There are 5 leaders who all need to sign off anytime a transaction is made from the official wallet (multi-sig). We initially reported that Nadia was not one of those five people, therefore it appeared she was not among the original founders.

That was incorrect -  she no longer is one of the five required signatures, which is why we did not see her there when we looked. But at the beginning, she was.

John Caldwell was another one of the five, he currently runs another charitable DAO he co-founded with Nadia called Unicorn DAO. John provided evidence of earlier transactions showing Nadia's signature on them, and explained that once UkraineDAO distributed the majority of the funds, both he and Nadia moved on, explaining "on that list of transactions, on #44 Pussyriot.eth was removed, then 45 I removed myself" trusting that the remaining funds would continue to be distributed appropriately.

It's the management of those remaining funds that have some people concerned...

You can still see the promise made on their official Twitter account that “100% proceeds go to support Ukrainians suffering for the war” - no room for confusion there .

While Alona is from Ukraine, she has been living in the UK for years before the war even started. When taking a look at her LinkedIn employment history, we see that she’s been employed in London-based companies since 2017 - clearly she does not qualify as one of the “Ukrainians suffering for the war” yet she took $5000 per month from the donated funds for things like rent and personal expenses.

Ukraine DAO also repeatedly stated they were “supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine” making them “the first DAO to have been endorsed at the state level”. That claim would later be called ‘weird’ when after catching the attention of Ukrainian news outlet Kiev Post, who asked the Ukrainian government about these claims, they were told “The Ministry of Digital Transformation has not endorsed Ukraine DAO” .

However, I should mention that the Ukrainian government was not saying ‘we have no idea who you’re talking about’ - because there is some kind of relationship between the two organizations.

A profile on Alona Shevchenko which highlights her co-founding Ukraine DAO appears on an official Ukrainian government website. But when asked, Oleksandr Bornyakov, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of the program downplayed its importance only as 1 of nearly 300 pages for volunteers for a program to educate the public on crypto.

Ukrainian News Outlets Claimed "around $700k" - We've Located Approximately $400K Of It...

At today's ETH value it's somewhere closer to $640,300 ‘unaccounted’ for funds, some of which more accurately should be called ‘unexplained’ funds. Because we know where some of that is, we just don’t know why it’s there.

There’s what was sent to individuals - Alona’s $5000 monthly payments to herself is somewhere around $70,000 total now. There was another $34,013 sent to another co-founder of the charity, Matthew Bundy; we can’t imagine why unless donors are now paying his rent too.

Then we don’t know who this was intended for, but another transaction for approximately $155,000 was sent to a wallet controlled by Sam Bankman-Fried’s former exchange FTX shortly before everyone lost access to their funds, as far as we can tell it was still there when that happened.

Lastly, $156,461 still sits in the official wallet of the charity.

The situation is much better thann $700,000 missing, but there's still a total around $200,000 gone from the charity's wallet but not listed as being spent anywhere - which is still too much to go unanswered for.

So, Now What?

Thankfully this isn’t a situation where donations are still flowing into the charity, so even if the worst outcome is true and a large amount of funds were misused, that number isn’t growing, at least from Ukraine DAO.

However, the same group appears to be on to the next cause - launching Iran DAO whose Twitter profile states their goal of “providing resources for Iran’s women-led revolution.”

It began with a Tweet from UkraineDAO stating they are “working to set up IranianDAO.”

In Closing…

It’s important to note that we could only label some Ukrainian funds ‘unaccounted’ for - which is very different than labeling them ‘stolen’. However, I’d like every dollar from their previous charity to be accounted for before even considering supporting a new one.

Or should the funds that ended up in Alona’s hands for personal expenses be considered ‘stolen’? This is a grey area legally. If 100% of the funds were to go to ‘Ukrainians suffering from the war’, she is Ukrainian, and while she only experiences the war via online news and TV from her home in England, perhaps she found the images emotionally distressful, technically making her a ‘Ukrainian suffering from the war’.

Unfortunately I’m struggling to come up with a scenario that ends with these payments to herself turning out to be completely ethical. 

I’m confident that no one donated thinking any of their money was going to a Ukrainian, who hasn't lived in Ukraine for years, is one of the people trusted with access to the donated funds, finding a way to put some in her own pocket - technically legal or not. 

While the Ukrainian government’s resources are focused elsewhere, there is a group of citizens along with journalists from the Kiev Post who continue to demand full accounting of every donated dollar, as well as question the legality of some of the DAO’s controversial decisions.

They vow that when the war is over they will be pressuring the government to review any potential exploitation by those using their crisis for personal profit. 

The story may be far from over, but this is where things stand now.

UkraineDAO was contacted (via Twitter DM)  and invited to share any additional information on the topics mentioned here. If they choose to, we will include it with our reporting.

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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News