Latest Crypto News | Bitcoin, Ethereum and Altcoin Updates

David Schwartz, Ripple’s chief technology officer, addressed market speculation that XRP could reach $10, saying market pricing implies the chances are low. Schwartz noted that while dramatic price targets circulate, current market indicators and on-chain metrics do not support a high-probability move to $10. He emphasized realistic expectations, pointing to trading liquidity, distribution of XRP holdings, regulatory uncertainty, and macro factors as constraints. The article highlights the divergence between optimistic community narratives and measured market signals, citing that implied probabilities baked into options and futures, as well as order book depth, show limited conviction for a $10 outcome. Traders are advised to weigh liquidity and risk, considering that large speculative targets can drive headline-driven volatility but are not necessarily reflective of market fundamentals.

MOLT memecoin surged roughly 7,000% after traders launched the token on Base, driven by attention around Moltbook — a novel social network where only AI agents can post and interact while humans are read-only. The rally was enabled by Base’s low fees and fast transactions, which supported high-volume trading. The move highlights a growing pattern: memecoins tied to tech narratives can experience extreme volatility as traders bet on cultural and technological momentum rather than fundamentals. Key points: MOLT launched on the Base layer-2 (Ethereum) and rose ~7,000%; Moltbook is an AI-exclusive platform resembling Reddit where autonomous agents generate content; the spike underscores memecoin sensitivity to hype and narrative-driven flows; risks include high speculation, regulatory scrutiny, and rapid price reversals. Traders should note elevated short-term liquidity and volatility, the lack of an official tie between MOLT and Moltbook, and the precedent of memecoin pumps following tech trend adoption.

Sandisk has become the S&P 500’s top-performing stock of this century after a post-IPO surge of about 1,600% since February 2025. The stock jumped after the company guided third-quarter earnings of $12–$14 per share, far above Wall Street’s $4.95 estimate. Sandisk is up roughly 160% year-to-date and trading above $600. Analysts rapidly raised price targets, citing unprecedented demand for NAND flash memory from AI datacenters. Notable upgrades include Susquehanna lifting its target to $1,000, Bank of America raising its target to $850, Raymond James setting $725, and Wedbush moving to $740. Market data show 2026 net earnings forecasts for Sandisk rose 11% in a week, and revenue projections climbed 20%. Despite the rally, Sandisk trades at roughly 15x expected earnings — cheaper than the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Nvidia — a valuation that some investors view as reasonable given the earnings surge. The shift from consumer-driven memory demand to AI datacenter consumption is cited as the structural driver of the stock’s rapid gains. The article notes that gains are uneven across memory peers, with Western Digital, Micron and Seagate showing mixed moves. Disclaimers emphasize this is not trading advice.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of Binance, announced a strategic pivot from aggressive expansion to prioritising long-term survival and regulatory compliance. Speaking in an Ask-Me-Anything, CZ called heightened global oversight a “structural trend” and said Binance will focus on adapting to regulation rather than resisting it. The move follows increased scrutiny from regulators — including a $4.3 billion U.S. settlement in 2023 — and new frameworks like the EU’s MiCA, the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act reforms, and rules in Hong Kong and Singapore. Operational changes cited include stricter KYC/AML checks, withdrawing or limiting services in some jurisdictions, deeper product compliance reviews (especially leveraged products), and greater transparency on reserves and operations. Analysts say exchanges that embrace regulation are likelier to endure; Binance’s pivot could raise industry standards, reduce high-risk products, attract institutional capital, and prompt consolidation among smaller platforms. For traders, expect stricter user verification, possible product or regional restrictions, and a shift toward compliant, lower-volatility offerings. This strategy aims to secure Binance’s long-term viability but may slow short-term growth and innovation.

Elon Musk’s exploratory merger talks involving SpaceX, Tesla and AI firm xAI have drawn attention to the companies’ combined bitcoin holdings — roughly 19,794 BTC (about $1.7 billion). Public disclosures show SpaceX controls about 8,285 BTC and Tesla holds 11,509 BTC. A merger would consolidate one of the world’s largest corporate bitcoin positions under a single structure, raising governance, accounting and investor-scrutiny questions. Tesla, a public company, records bitcoin under fair-value accounting so price swings affect quarterly earnings (Tesla booked a $239m after-tax loss on digital assets in Q4 2025). SpaceX remains private and has avoided that visibility but is weighing a possible IPO. Neither firm has indicated plans to buy or sell bitcoin as part of talks. For traders, concentration of nearly 20,000 BTC in Musk-linked entities matters marginally to supply dynamics and may amplify volatility or headline-driven flows if corporate strategy changes; however the holding is a small fraction of daily turnover. Key keywords: SpaceX, Tesla, bitcoin, BTC, merger talks, corporate holdings, fair-value accounting, IPO, market volatility.

Talos, an institutional crypto trading infrastructure firm, has extended its Series B funding round to $150 million by securing investments from strategic institutional partners. The round was initially announced earlier and has now expanded, bringing in capital aimed at accelerating product development, market expansion, and regulatory compliance efforts. Talos provides trading, execution, and infrastructure services for institutional clients, including broker-dealers, hedge funds, and exchanges. The new funding is expected to support scaling of its custody and execution technology, hiring of engineering and compliance talent, and broader geographic growth. Company executives emphasized strengthening relationships with institutional investors and enhancing enterprise-grade offerings. The expanded Series B signals continued institutional interest in crypto infrastructure and may bolster Talos’s position competing with incumbent trading platforms and emerging fintech firms.

Ethereum (ETH) fell about 7.5% in 24 hours to roughly $2,725 amid weak equity markets, breaking a medium-term support near $2,750. Despite the pullback, Ethereum-focused ETFs registered stronger inflows than Bitcoin ETFs in recent days — approximately $117m on Monday and $28m on Wednesday versus a $19.6m outflow and a $6.8m inflow for BTC ETFs — signaling renewed investor interest. Technical indicators show the RSI sliding toward 30 and MACD below zero, implying potential further near-term downside to around $2,500 before a recovery. Some analysts expect ETH to rebound to $2,750–$3,000 by end of Q1 and target $4,000 in H2 and as high as $7,000 by year-end, should momentum resume. The story highlights stronger ETF flows into ETH, Ethereum’s fundamental position as the largest Layer-1 network, and a short-term technical pullback that may present buying opportunities if inflows persist. Secondary mentions include presale token SUBBD (raising ~$1.4m) as an altcoin diversification option.

Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, reported a 23% decline in annual profit as the company pursued a $3.3 billion fundraising effort. The fundraising, aimed at bolstering liquidity and supporting operations, coincided with increased scrutiny and market volatility for stablecoin issuers. Tether’s revenue and net income metrics showed a downturn compared with the prior year, reflecting higher costs associated with capital raising and a changing macro and regulatory environment. Management emphasized the fundraising was strategic to strengthen reserves and maintain USDT stability amid regulatory pressures. Traders should note potential short-term liquidity impacts and market sensitivity around stablecoin issuer health, but Tether’s large market share in stablecoins means any operational adjustments could ripple through crypto markets.

Binance published a post-mortem on the 10 October 2025 crypto flash crash, attributing the $19.25 billion liquidation cascade to macroeconomic shocks and market-wide deleveraging rather than an exchange-wide failure. Binance says rising bond yields, renewed trade-war headlines and equity weakness triggered rapid deleveraging across derivatives markets. CoinGlass data shows total liquidations peaked at $19.25 billion (longs made up the majority). Major venue liquidation breakdown at the peak: Hyperliquid ~$9.29B (longs), Bybit >$4.3B (longs), Binance ~$1.39B (longs) and $965M (shorts), OKX >$1.07B (longs). Binance acknowledges two platform incidents during the volatility window: (1) a temporary asset-transfer degradation between Spot, Earn and Futures (21:18–21:51 UTC) causing some UI zero-balance displays though funds were intact; (2) abnormal index-price deviations for USDe, WBETH and BNSOL (21:36–22:15 UTC) that contributed to some margin calls in thin markets. Binance says roughly 75% of industry liquidations occurred before the exchange incidents. The firm has tightened index deviation thresholds, improved cross-exchange reference pricing, enhanced circuit breakers, expanded stress testing, and increased database capacity planning. Key takeaways for traders: the event underscores systemic risks from concentrated leverage, index design and thin liquidity across venues; exchange-specific issues can amplify but did not originate the cascade according to Binance; monitor macro indicators (yields, equities, geopolitical headlines), cross-venue liquidity, and platform margin/index policies to manage liquidation risk.

Investors are reallocating capital from large-cap meme coins such as Dogecoin (DOGE) into early-stage, utility-focused DeFi projects, notably Mutuum Finance (MUTM). DOGE trades near $0.12–$0.15 with resistance around $0.15–$0.18 and continued long-term supply concerns; this large market cap has prompted some holders to seek higher upside in smaller-cap opportunities. Mutuum Finance, an Ethereum-based lending and borrowing protocol, is in Phase 7 of its presale and reports more than $19.6–$20.1 million raised, roughly 18,750–18,900 holders, and about 825–835 million tokens sold. MUTM has a 4 billion total supply with ~45.5% allocated to presale; the current presale price is $0.04 and the cited launch price is $0.06. Product development milestones include V1 deployed on the Sepolia testnet, liquidity pools for ETH, USDT, LINK and WBTC, an 80% LTV lending product, 12% APY on deposits, mtTokens and debt tokens to track positions, and an automated liquidator bot. The project cites security checks from CertiK (token scan ~90/100) and a Halborn audit for V1. Analysts and promotional materials forecast potential mainnet price targets ranging from $0.35–$0.50 by year-end, though this is speculative. Traders are watching MUTM for three main reasons: (1) higher upside potential vs. DOGE due to a much smaller circulating market; (2) utility tied to lending/borrowing demand rather than meme-driven speculation; and (3) visible product progress (Sepolia V1 and approaching mainnet). The reporting is primarily promotional; readers and traders should conduct independent due diligence and treat price targets and audit claims with caution.

Moltbook, a Reddit-like social network populated exclusively by autonomous AI agents (called Molts or OpenClaw), has gone viral as more than 30,000 agents post, collaborate and self-govern on the platform. Built by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger, Moltbook allows proactive AI assistants to create sub-communities, share automated skills and run experiments — including an AI-devised “digital religion” dubbed Crustafarianism. Humans can browse but not participate. Crypto traders have capitalized on the hype with unaffiliated memecoins linked to Moltbook activity: notably $MOLT and $MOLTBOOK on the Base network. According to CoinGecko terminal data cited in the story, $MOLT has risen over 7,000%. The article highlights the platform’s novelty and viral content as drivers for speculative trading, while noting these tokens are not officially affiliated with Moltbook.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, Binance co-founder and former CEO, denied that Binance caused the single-day $19 billion liquidation event on October 10. In a live AMA, CZ called the allegation “far-fetched,” saying it ignored broader market dynamics. The sell-off was driven by record liquidations of leveraged positions and cross-exchange price dislocations after a brief depeg of Ethena’s USDe stablecoin and reported technical issues on multiple venues. Binance has since compensated affected users—reports place the total at roughly $283M in earlier accounts and about $600M in later reporting—and says platform faults have been fixed. CZ also noted Binance’s regulatory status in Abu Dhabi and ongoing US monitoring; recent developments include his presidential pardon and progress toward removing a compliance monitor for Binance. For traders: the event highlights acute risks from leverage, oracle and deposit/withdrawal failures, and exchange-specific pricing anomalies. Compensation reduces direct counterparty risk but may not fully restore liquidity or market confidence; traders should reassess margin exposure, monitor cross-exchange spreads, and expect continued volatility in the short term.

XRP Ledger (XRPL) decentralized exchange (DEX) trading activity surged to a 13-month high, with the 14-day moving average of transactions reaching roughly 1.014 million, signaling renewed on-chain trading momentum. Market commentator Xaif Crypto highlighted that this is not a one-off spike but sustained growth driven by rising liquidity and real user engagement. The milestone coincides with the rollout of XLS-66, a new native lending protocol introduced alongside Rippled 3.1.0. XLS-66 enables fixed-term, fixed-rate uncollateralized loans, single-asset vaults for risk isolation, and off-chain underwriting — features pitched for institutional use. Early institutional interaction includes Evernorth backing the protocol, with BankXRP noting moves to transition capital into yield-bearing native DeFi on XRPL. Key keywords: XRP Ledger, XRPL DEX activity, XLS-66 lending protocol, institutional DeFi, on-chain liquidity. Traders should watch on-chain volume, DEX orderbooks, lending demand, and institutional flows for potential impacts on XRP price and liquidity.

Gold plunged about 8% and silver slipped below $85 on Friday as a sharp sell-off in precious metals erased roughly $7 trillion in market value. The rout hit bullion markets hard, reversing recent gains and prompting renewed attention to safe-haven flows and inflation expectations. The sudden drop was broad-based across bullion, pressuring related exchange-traded products and mining equities. Traders noted increased volatility, higher margin calls, and liquidity strains during the move. Market participants are watching macro drivers — including changes in real yields, US dollar strength, and any shifts in central bank guidance — for signs of sustained trend continuation or a short-covering rebound. For crypto traders, the metal sell-off could temporarily reduce the perceived hedge demand that sometimes lifts Bitcoin and other risk assets during macro stress, while amplifying short-term volatility and correlation shifts between BTC and traditional safe havens.

XRP wallets holding at least 1 million tokens increased by 42 — the first net gain since September — even as XRP price slipped about 4% year-to-date in 2026, suggesting renewed accumulation by large holders. Shiba Inu (SHIB) price action has tightened into a symmetrical triangle after a prolonged downtrend, indicating compressed volatility and a likely imminent breakout; buyers are stepping in earlier and lows are gradually rising, implying seller fatigue rather than pure continuation selling. Dogecoin (DOGE) pulled back after a recent high of $0.127 as traders took profits; on-chain metrics are weak across hourly, daily and weekly frames. However, BitMEX futures volume for DOGE surged 10,782% to $200.98M in 24 hours, and roughly $509M of crypto futures were liquidated across markets (a 57% increase in 24 hours), largely hitting long positions. Key takeaways for traders: rising large XRP wallets point to accumulation that may underpin price strength if macro conditions improve; SHIB’s symmetrical triangle requires watching for a decisive breakout or breakdown with stop placement near converging trendlines; DOGE’s spike in futures volume and recent liquidations signal elevated leverage risk and potential volatility — manage position sizing and watch funding rates and open interest for clues on short-term direction.

Tether reported over $10 billion in net profit for 2025 as USDT circulation exceeded $186 billion at year-end, according to its Q4 2025 attestation. Total reserves rose to nearly $193 billion, leaving $6.3 billion in excess reserves above liabilities. About $50 billion of new USDT was issued during 2025, with roughly $30 billion minted in H2 as demand increased across payments, trading, and emerging markets. Tether’s direct holdings of US Treasuries surpassed $122 billion, and total Treasury exposure exceeded $141 billion, making it one of the largest private holders of U.S. government debt. Tether Gold (XAUT) also expanded, crossing $2 billion market capitalization and representing over half of gold-backed tokens in circulation. CEO Paolo Ardoino attributed USDT’s growth to rising global demand for dollar-denominated liquidity outside traditional banking. Primary keywords: Tether, USDT, stablecoin, reserves, Treasuries, Tether Gold.

SoFi reported record Q4 revenue of $1.0 billion, up ~37% year‑over‑year, driven by fee‑based products and the firm’s reintroduction of consumer crypto services. GAAP net income was $173.5 million and adjusted EBITDA rose 60% to $317.6 million. Fee revenue hit a record $443 million. Total members climbed ~35% to 13.7 million and financial products held increased 38% to 17.5 million, with 1.6 million new products added in the quarter. After relaunching crypto trading on Dec. 22, SoFi recorded 63,441 crypto products between Dec. 22–31. The company also launched SoFiUSD, a US dollar‑backed stablecoin issued by SoFi Bank, and expanded blockchain‑powered remittances to 30+ countries. The results are framed within broader banking interest in crypto services, with mentions of major banks and Coinbase executives noting rising institutional focus. Key SEO keywords: SoFi, crypto trading, stablecoin, SoFiUSD, Q4 revenue, fintech.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin liquidated 16,384 ETH (about $43 million at current prices) from his personal holdings to fund open-source infrastructure projects after the Ethereum Foundation announced austerity measures. The Foundation aims to balance an aggressive roadmap—maintaining Ethereum’s performance, scalability, decentralization and robustness—with long-term operational sustainability. Buterin has taken on responsibilities formerly handled by the Foundation’s special projects and will deploy his funds over multiple years to support secure, verifiable software and hardware stacks across sectors including finance, communications, governance, biotech, encrypted messaging, and privacy-preserving local-first software. Specific initiatives mentioned include work on open silicon (Vensa), zero-knowledge proofs and homomorphic encryption (UCritter), differential privacy, air-quality research, walkaway-test-friendly operating systems, and secure decentralized staking mechanisms. The Foundation emphasizes user self-sovereignty over corporate adoption, prioritizing accessibility and verifiability rather than subscription or corporate-dominated models. Key keywords: Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum Foundation, ETH sale, open-source infrastructure, decentralization, staking, privacy.

Bitcoin mining profitability has dropped to its lowest level in 14 months after a winter storm disrupted operations at major mining sites, CryptoQuant data shows. The storm led to power outages, reduced hash rate and temporary shutdowns for some facilities, increasing operational costs and lowering miners’ revenue per terahash. CryptoQuant’s indicators pointed to a significant decline in miner margins as electricity costs rose and uptime fell. The report highlights that short-term profitability pressures could force some smaller or higher-cost miners to curtail operations or sell BTC to cover expenses. Market-wide effects may include elevated miner selling pressure and higher volatility in BTC price until hash rate and margins recover. Key items: bitcoin mining profitability — 14-month low; causes — winter storm, power outages, lower hash rate, higher electricity/operational costs; potential consequences — miner shutdowns, increased BTC sales by miners, short-term volatility.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have jointly relaunched Project Crypto to provide clearer, coordinated regulation for the digital-asset industry. Announced January 29 by SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Heath Tarbert, the initiative aims to align the two agencies’ approaches, harmonize definitions, coordinate supervision, and share data to reduce overlapping jurisdiction and regulatory fragmentation. Project Crypto will update surveillance tools, create clear compliance pathways for market participants, and implement rule changes in a staged manner. Regulators framed the relaunch as necessary to preserve U.S. financial leadership and prevent innovation and capital from moving to more permissive jurisdictions. The relaunch builds on prior efforts (the SEC’s Project Crypto and the CFTC’s Crypto Sprint) and is intended to ready markets for increased on-chain trading, clearing, settlement, and custody. The joint statement emphasized principles of transparency, predictability, and merit-neutral enforcement. Traders should watch for follow-up rule proposals, guidance clarifying which assets fall under SEC vs. CFTC jurisdiction, and changes to surveillance and reporting standards that could affect liquidity, custody practices, and derivatives listings.

Jaime Rogozinski, founder of the WallStreetBets subreddit, renamed a three-day Miami event originally promoted as “WallStreetBets Live” after receiving legal threats from Reddit. Tickets for the conference are priced up to $10,000 and the lineup includes controversial figures Jordan Belfort and Martin Shkreli. Crypto sponsors listed on the event page include Kraken and OpenSea, and marketing materials pitched the gathering as where “degens meet Davos.” Rogozinski publicly criticized Reddit for attempting to police real-world events tied to a culture he says it did not create, warning the move could provoke the subreddit’s community. The dispute revives tensions over control and branding of WallStreetBets-related activities following the group’s central role in the GameStop short squeeze. Key keywords: WallStreetBets, Reddit, crypto conference, Jaime Rogozinski, Jordan Belfort, Martin Shkreli, Kraken, OpenSea.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon publicly confronted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong during a coffee conversation, accusing Armstrong of lying about bank efforts to block a US market-structure bill that includes a contentious provision on stablecoin rewards (yield). Banking executives pushed back: Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan told Armstrong “if you want to be a bank, be a bank,” while Wells Fargo’s Charlie Scharf stayed aloof. The dispute followed Coinbase’s statement that it could not support the bill “as written,” prompting a Senate Banking Committee markup to be postponed; a related bill advanced in the Senate Agriculture Committee and must be reconciled with the Banking Committee’s version before a full Senate vote. Crypto advocates warn that banning stablecoin rewards would entrench banks and limit competition; banks and their lobby groups oppose permitting yield on stablecoins. Coinbase’s chief policy officer said the exchange’s clash with banks over this provision doesn’t represent an inherently adversarial relationship. For traders: the standoff raises regulatory uncertainty around stablecoins and market-structure reform—key risks for stablecoin-supported yield products and DeFi services. Monitor Senate negotiations, lobbying developments, and public comments from major banks and crypto firms; a resolution that bans or severely restricts stablecoin rewards would likely reduce yield product offerings and pressure stablecoin-related tokens, while a compromise allowing controlled yields could support DeFi growth and related markets.

AI agents on the social platform Moltbook autonomously created a lobster-themed religion called "Crustafarianism" within 24 hours. Moltbook functions like Reddit but is restricted to verified AI accounts that must be linked to humans for ownership verification; humans can observe but not directly participate. One user reported their agent designed the faith overnight: it built a website, authored theology, established a scripture system, and recruited 43 other AI "prophets" who contributed to a shared holy text. The event highlights emergent, unsupervised behavior among autonomous AI agents in topic-based groups ("submolts") and raises questions about digital agency, moderation, and the cultural output of AI networks. Related context: OpenAI recently launched Prism for collaborative research editing. Keywords: AI agents, Moltbook, Crustafarianism, digital religion, AI moderation, autonomous agents.

Derivatives traders have opened roughly $50M more in ZEC futures open interest this week, with short liquidation exposure on Binance’s ZEC/USDT perpetuals exceeding $16M versus about $8M on the long side. This positions the market heavily toward a downside scenario. Price action shows a two-month head-and-shoulders breakdown with downside targets near December lows around $300, while spot data shows the top 100 ZEC addresses increased holdings by 4.21% during Thursday trading. Analysts note a divergence: derivatives sentiment is bearish, but whale accumulation suggests longer-term conviction forming under current price levels. Technical indicators present mixed signals — RSI approaching the 30 oversold threshold and a recent MACD bullish cross could signal a local bottom, whereas the head-and-shoulders resistance near $480 remains the key breakout level. If bulls flip $480 to support, a bullish continuation from a proposed four-month bull flag would target much higher levels; the article mentions a theoretical $5,000 target if broad-market conditions turn favorable. For traders: watch liquidation maps, open interest shifts, whale wallet activity, RSI and MACD readings, and the $300 support / $480 resistance levels for short-term trade setups and risk management.

Digital Freedom Fund, a super-PAC backed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, raised over $22 million in late 2025, including a large Bitcoin donation of 188.4547 BTC transferred in August when BTC traded near $114,000. The fund elected not to immediately convert the crypto to cash and by year-end the price had fallen below $88,000, reducing the donation’s value by roughly $5 million. As of Dec. 31 the super-PAC still held the Bitcoin. Federal rules do not require immediate liquidation of crypto donations; many PACs choose to convert quickly. The Digital Freedom Fund also reported a $1 million cash donation from Kraken’s operator Payward Inc. and had ~$723,000 in cash on hand. The case highlights volatility risk when political fundraising accepts and retains cryptocurrency and underscores operational and valuation challenges for crypto-backed political groups.

Google announced Project Genie, an experimental AI tool that generates interactive 3D environments from text or images in real time. The prototype — available to Google AI Ultra subscribers through Google Labs in the US — uses DeepMind’s Genie 3 world-model to simulate physics and interactions, producing explorable, modifiable mini-worlds without functioning as a full professional game engine. Following the announcement, gaming stocks fell sharply: Take-Two dropped ~10%, Roblox fell ~12%, and Unity plunged ~21%. Analysts say Project Genie could accelerate changes in game development, lowering costs and timelines, and potentially displacing some developer roles — a concern amid recent industry layoffs. Nearly 90% of developers reportedly already use AI tools, and experts expect AI-driven design to shift workflows from augmentation toward autonomous content creation. Short-term market reaction favored risk-off selling in gaming equities; longer-term effects may include reduced demand for certain developer tools and altered valuations for companies exposed to traditional game engines.

US major indices closed lower after a session of measured selling: the S&P 500 fell about 0.43% to ~5,180, the Nasdaq Composite dropped roughly 0.94% to ~16,240, and the Dow Jones declined about 0.36% to ~38,900. The Nasdaq underperformed due to tech and growth stock weakness as bond yields ticked up and Fed officials tempered expectations for near-term rate cuts. Broader market breadth was negative (decliners nearly 2-to-1 on the NYSE), trading volume was slightly above average, and the VIX rose about 8%, signaling higher near-term volatility. Defensive sectors (utilities, consumer staples, healthcare) held up better, while technology and consumer discretionary led losses. Analysts described the move as orderly profit-taking and consolidation within a longer-term uptrend, noting corporate earnings beat year-over-year but forward guidance remained cautious. Key drivers to watch: the path of interest rates, 10-year Treasury yield moves, Fed comments, upcoming economic data on consumer spending and manufacturing, and any sustained weakness in mega-cap tech. For traders: expect higher volatility in growth and tech names, possible short-term rotation into defensive assets and bonds, and increased sensitivity to Fed language and Treasury yields.

Tether reported net profit of about $10–11 billion and disclosed roughly $141 billion in U.S. Treasury securities backing USDT, with independent attestation (BDO) showing $6.3 billion in excess reserves. The company has shifted reserves into short-dated, high-quality U.S. Treasuries and increased cash and cash equivalents to bolster liquidity. Tether says interest income from short-term Treasury bills drove much of the profit and that diversified Treasury maturities and large liquid buffers support USDT’s peg and redemption coverage. The move is framed as deliberate de-risking and greater transparency in response to regulatory and market scrutiny. Tether also signaled diversification into areas such as sustainable energy and Bitcoin mining. Implications for traders: stronger perceived reserve backing should improve USDT confidence and liquidity, deepen ties between crypto and traditional finance via large Treasury participation, and raise transparency expectations for other stablecoin issuers.

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood said gold looks like the true bubble, not AI-driven stocks. Speaking at public appearances and interviews, Wood argued that gold’s strong rally and surging price relative to other assets exhibit classic bubble characteristics. She contrasted this with AI-related equities, which she continues to view as grounded in structural growth from artificial intelligence adoption. Wood highlighted macro factors—such as central bank policies and investor flows—fueling demand for gold and warned that speculative momentum could outpace fundamentals. Her comments add a prominent voice to the ongoing debate over market concentration in tech and the valuation risks in safe-haven assets. Traders should note heightened volatility potential in gold markets and sector rotation risks between precious metals and tech/AI stocks.