Category: crypto

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao warns users of a scam using AI-generated fake images of him to deceive on social media. Scammers are impersonating him with images from a Korea BNB Chain event. Zhao advises users to check for tells like clothing colors and resolution glitches to avoid falling for deepfake schemes.

Aave will shut down its Family wallet and retire the Avara brand, consolidating under Aave Labs after governance issues, SEC closure, and MiCA authorization. Existing Family wallet users will have access until 2027, with all products moving to Aave Labs. The SEC ended its investigation without enforcement action.

Franklin Templeton envisions a future where tokenized stocks, bonds, and funds are stored in digital wallets, reducing costs and speeding up collateral and settlement processes. Executives presented this vision at the Ondo Summit, detailing how their Benji platform is tokenizing traditional assets and expanding into various blockchain networks to place billions of dollars on-chain.

MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor sees Bitcoin’s volatility as beneficial for long-term holders, not short-term traders, referring to it as “Satoshi’s gift.” He emphasizes the importance of holding onto Bitcoin and views sharp price swings as a normal feature of the digital asset, not a sign of market failure.

Binance ranked first in January 2026’s proof-of-reserve report with $155.6 billion in assets, leading major exchanges. OKX and Bybit followed in a second tier, while smaller platforms formed a third tier. Reserves were in stablecoins, Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, Dogecoin, XRP, and Solana, emphasizing transparency post-2022 disruptions.

A Taiwanese founder of the dark web drug market Incognito has been sentenced to 30 years in a New York court. The founder had pleaded guilty to enabling illegal drug transactions using cryptocurrency. This case highlights the US government’s crackdown on illicit online platforms.

LiquidChain launched a Layer 3 cross-chain platform connecting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana with high staking rewards. The project aims to be a bridge alternative and plans a token generation event. Payward Inc., the parent company of Kraken, reported increased revenue, while LiquidChain’s trading volume and services also grew.

Ark Invest purchased shares of Bitmine, Bullish, Circle, Block Inc., and Coinbase as Bitcoin and Ether traded below key moving averages. Despite weak sentiment, the long-term theses for these investments remain intact. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan described a bear phase, while Cathie Wood highlighted gold’s rally and disinflation data as potential signals for Bitcoin’s future.

Base restored network stability after a misconfigured transaction propagation change caused congestion, drops, and delays in late January. They rolled back the change to fix the issue but warned of intermittent congestion. Over the next month, Base plans to streamline its transaction pipeline and improve alerting to prevent similar incidents.

Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s hidden crypto investments were exposed in newly released Epstein files from the U.S. Department of Justice. The documents revealed his $3 million investment in Coinbase and links to Bitcoin developer Blockstream. Epstein also backed Blockstream in 2014 but sold his stake due to conflicts of interest.