Author: Tristan Lodenberg

A U.S. political candidate has been suspended from the federally regulated prediction market platform Kalshi after placing bets on his own gubernatorial campaign, triggering enforcement action over insider trading concerns. The platform confirmed that the individual wagered approximately $200 on contracts tied to his chances of winning the California governor’s race. According to Kalshi’s enforcement team, the activity violated internal market integrity rules designed to prevent participants with privileged information from influencing or profiting from event based contracts. The account was issued a five-year ban and a $2,000 financial penalty. The matter has also been referred to the Commodity Futures…

Hut 8 reported a net loss of $248 million for full year 2025 reversing net income of $331.4 million recorded in 2024. The decline was largely driven by $220 million in unrealized digital asset losses, highlighting the impact of bitcoin price fluctuations on earnings. Annual revenue rose to $235.1 million from $162.4 million a year earlier. Compute operations contributed $202.3 million, while power generation and managed services added $23.2 million and digital infrastructure brought in $9.6 million. In the fourth quarter, revenue increased to $88.5 million compared to $31.7 million in the prior year period. However, the company posted a…

Dogecoin moved decisively above the $0.1092 resistance level on sharply elevated trading volume, shifting the level into short term support. The token climbed 4.9% from $0.0926 to $0.1050, with breakout volume reaching 749 million, roughly 176% above its recent baseline. The move followed several hours of tight consolidation between $0.090 and $0.0927, where repeated failures at $0.0924 created compression before liquidity expanded. Price briefly tested $0.1056 before settling into a consolidation range around $0.0940–$0.0945. Technical Analysis and Short-Term Outlook Higher lows formed during the pullback phase, signaling constructive momentum as buyers defended the breakout zone. Traders now identify $0.1094 as…

Bitcoin climbed above $68k on Wednesday, gaining more than 5% in 24 hours as bearish positioning across the market began to unwind. The rebound sparked a wider relief rally, lifting major altcoins and crypto-linked equities. Ethereum’s ether jumped roughly 10%, reclaiming the $2,000 level for the first time in a week. Solana, Dogecoin, Cardano and Chainlink each advanced more than 10%, outperforming bitcoin’s gains. The move follows weeks of extreme fear in digital asset markets. Negative perpetual futures funding rates signaled crowded short trades, and over $307 million in leveraged bearish positions were liquidated within 24 hours, accelerating the upside…

Tether has acquired a strategic stake in Whop as the digital marketplace moves to integrate Tether’s Wallet Development Kit (WDK) for stablecoin based creator payouts. Whop supports more than 18.4 million users and facilitates approximately $3 billion in annual payouts across 144 countries. Through the integration, creators will be able to receive payments in USDT and USAT, linking Whop’s marketplace to Tether’s global ecosystem of over 530 million users and more than $180 billion in issued digital dollars. The partnership also aims to expand Whop’s footprint in Latin America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Tether Strengthens Market Position and Global…

A governance dispute within the Aave ecosystem has escalated after two competing reports presented sharply different views on protocol funding, development contributions and accountability standards. The disagreement comes as tokenholders prepare to vote on the “Aave Will Win” framework, a proposal that could allocate up to $42.5 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens to Aave Labs. In exchange, Aave Labs would transition to a DAO funded operating model and direct 100% of revenue from Aave-branded products to the DAO treasury. The proposal also includes ratification of Aave V4 as the protocol’s long-term technical foundation. ACI and Aave Labs Publish…

Strategy (MSTR) has emerged as the most heavily shorted U.S. stock, with bearish positions equaling 14% of its market capitalization, according to recent Goldman Sachs data At the same time, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) ranks fourth with 11% short interest among stocks valued over $25 billion. Despite the high short interest, experts caution that this may not signal pure bearish sentiment toward the stock. Much of the activity appears tied to complex trading strategies, particularly the MSTR-Bitcoin basis trade. This approach involves pairing long positions in bitcoin related ETFs with short positions in Strategy shares to capture price differences while remaining…

Shares of Circle (CRCL) jumped more than 15% in pre market trading after the stablecoin issuer posted stronger-than-expected fourth quarter results. The company reported earnings per share of $0.43, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.35. The New York based firm, best known for issuing the USDC stablecoin, also delivered earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $167 million. That figure represents a surge of more than 412% compared with the same quarter a year earlier. CRCL Stock Price Reaction and Market Outlook Following the earnings release, CRCL shares traded at $71.17 in pre-market activity, nearly 16% above the…

Bitcoin Depot, the largest crypto ATM operator in the United States, has begun requiring identification for every transaction conducted at its kiosks. The company said the rollout started earlier this month and will apply across its nationwide network of more than 9,000 machines. The policy expands on earlier measures introduced in October, when ID verification was mandated only for new users. Under the updated system, all customers must complete identity checks before transactions are approved. The company says continuous verification will help flag suspicious behavior tied to transaction size, location, or user activity in real time. Regulatory Pressure on Crypto…

The crypto market may be structurally mispriced as major financial institutions deepen their push into blockchain based infrastructure, according to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan. He argues that a widening gap has emerged between investor perception and the scale of institutional activity moving onchain. Hougan attributes part of this disconnect to anchoring bias, a behavioral tendency where investors rely on outdated narratives. Events such as the Silk Road scandal and the collapse of Mt. Gox continue to shape sentiment, even as infrastructure rapidly evolves. Tokenization of Assets Gains Momentum Recent developments highlight Wall Street’s growing commitment. Larry Fink of…