Renewed attention on U.S.–Iran tensions is injecting fresh uncertainty into already fragile cryptocurrency markets. A U.S. government advisory urging American citizens to leave Iran, first issued in mid-January, has resurfaced online just days before planned nuclear discussions between Washington and Tehran in Oman. While officials have clarified that the warning itself is not new, its reappearance has heightened geopolitical anxiety among global investors. Bitcoin Reacts Like a High-Risk Asset Bitcoin’s recent price action suggests that traders are treating it less like a defensive hedge and more like a high-beta risk asset. After weeks of sharp swings driven by forced liquidations…
Author: Blockto Team
Kalshi has announced expanded monitoring measures across its prediction markets platform as wagering activity spikes ahead of the Super Bowl. The move comes as regulatory scrutiny of event-based trading intensifies in the United States. Independent Oversight Committee to Monitor Market Activity The company has formed an independent surveillance advisory committee tasked with identifying insider trading and potential market manipulation. Kalshi said the group will provide quarterly reports to outside legal counsel and release transparency data on the number and outcomes of investigations into suspicious trades. To enhance detection capabilities, Kalshi has partnered with Solidus Labs, a firm specializing in trading…
Strategy reported a net loss of $12.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, largely driven by a sharp downturn in Bitcoin prices. The company’s stock reacted quickly, closing 17% lower as the cryptocurrency market continued its volatile slide. Bitcoin Price Drop Hits Strategy’s Balance Sheet Bitcoin fell 22% during the fourth quarter, sliding from a peak near $126,000 in October to below $88,500 by year-end. The decline extended into early 2026, with Bitcoin down roughly 30% year to date, trading near $64,500. This places the asset below Strategy’s average purchase price of $76,052 per Bitcoin, leaving the firm down…
Bitcoin slid sharply on Friday, briefly falling to around $60,000 as investor sentiment deteriorated to its weakest level since mid-2022. The drop marked the cryptocurrency’s lowest price since October 2024 and capped its largest single-day decline in more than three years. The sell-off followed a steep fall in market confidence, with fear indicators sinking to levels last seen during the collapse of a major blockchain ecosystem in 2022. Bitcoin shed more than 13% in 24 hours, wiping out over $10,000 from its price before rebounding modestly to trade just above $64,000. Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to a score…
Aster has launched the public testnet for its layer-1 blockchain, marking a key step toward a full mainnet rollout targeted for the first quarter of 2026. The move follows the platform’s 2025 rebrand into a decentralized perpetual futures exchange as demand for onchain derivatives accelerated. According to its updated roadmap, Aster’s layer-1 network is designed to support high-throughput perpetual trading while reducing reliance on general-purpose blockchains. The testnet is now open to all users, allowing traders and developers to explore network performance ahead of the mainnet release. Q1 Roadmap Focuses on Infrastructure and Builders Several features are planned for release…
Bullish recorded a significant fourth-quarter loss even as key indicators pointed to stronger underlying business performance and rising demand for bitcoin derivatives. The exchange reported a net loss of nearly $564 million for Q4, a sharp reversal from the profit posted in the same period last year. The decline followed a broad crypto market downturn that wiped out more than $1.9 trillion in total market value over recent months. Bullish shares reacted with heavy volatility, sliding in early trading before partially recovering later in the session. Adjusted Revenue and Core Activity Hit Record Levels Despite the headline loss, Bullish said…
XRP plunged more than 16% over the past 24 hours, sliding to nearly $1.29 and emerging as the weakest performer among major cryptocurrencies as broader market sentiment deteriorated. The drop came alongside a 7% decline in Bitcoin, triggering risk-off conditions across digital assets. Market data shows roughly $46 million in XRP derivatives positions were liquidated during the move, intensifying selling pressure. The decline accelerated after price broke below key technical support near $1.44, which has now flipped into resistance. As leveraged long positions were forced to close, downside momentum strengthened rapidly. Despite recent positive ecosystem developments, including expanded institutional DeFi…
Bitcoin’s recent drop toward the mid-$60,000 range has intensified bearish sentiment, with onchain data suggesting the current downturn is more severe than the early stages of the 2022 bear market. Analysts warn that weakening demand, tightening liquidity, and negative technical signals could push prices lower in the coming months. At the time of writting $BTC is trading at $66k; According to CryptoQuant , bitcoin has entered a confirmed bear market phase. A key sentiment metric, the Bull Score Index, has fallen to zero its most pessimistic reading. The index stood near 80 when bitcoin peaked above $120,000 in early October but…
A recent $1 million Bitcoin payment completed over the Lightning Network has marked a major milestone for institutional use of Bitcoin’s scaling technology. The transaction demonstrated that Lightning can reliably process seven-figure transfers between regulated entities, challenging the perception that the network is limited to small retail payments. Record Lightning Transaction Sets Benchmark The transfer, completed in under half a second, moved funds between an institutional trading desk and a major cryptocurrency exchange using enterprise-grade Lightning infrastructure. It stands as the largest publicly disclosed single Lightning payment to date, far exceeding earlier reported transactions that rarely crossed the six-figure mark.…
A Nevada state court has declined to immediately halt Coinbase’s newly launched prediction market products, dealing an early setback to state regulators seeking emergency action against the crypto exchange. Nevada Court Rejects Temporary Restraining Order The Nevada Gaming Control Board asked the court for an emergency temporary restraining order to stop Coinbase from offering event-based contracts it claims amount to unlicensed sports betting. The judge denied the request and instead scheduled a hearing for next week, giving Coinbase time to formally respond to the allegations. Coinbase Cites Federal Preemption In its filing, Coinbase said the requested order would go far…