Category: Bitcoin News

Binance Shifts $1B SAFU Fund from Stablecoins into Bitcoin

admin

Binance is shifting its flagship user protection vehicle, the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), from stablecoin holdings into Bitcoin over the next 30 days, re‑denominating the fund’s reserves into BTC. In an open letter to the crypto community, the exchange framed the move as an expression of its conviction that Bitcoin (BTC) is the core long‑term asset of the crypto ecosystem rather than just another trading product, and said it will rebalance the fund back up to $1 billion if market volatility drives its value below $800 million.  That…

Bybit Faces Compliance Hurdles With Neobank Push

admin

Bybit’s push to offer neobank-style services is testing how far crypto exchanges can expand into traditional finance (TradFi), highlighting regulatory hurdles and the growing reliance on licensed banking partners. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou announced the exchange’s push into retail banking on Thursday, with a planned launch of its retail banking product, “MyBank,” in February. The move would mark one of the most ambitious attempts yet by a major exchange to offer bank-like services to retail users. As crypto increasingly intersects with TradFi, industry observers and executives warned that Bybit’s neobank…

DOJ Finalizes $400M Helix Forfeiture in Early Bitcoin Darknet Case

admin

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) finalized the forfeiture of over $400 million in cryptocurrency and other assets tied to Helix, an early Bitcoin-era darknet mixing service, according to a statement released Thursday.  The assets were seized from Larry Harmon, the operator of Helix, which processed transactions between 2014 and 2017. The crypto mixer was designed to obscure the source and destination of Bitcoin (BTC) that was linked to darknet markets.  The forfeiture follows a Jan. 21 order by the US District Court for the District of Columbia, formally…

Bitcoin Crashes To Nine-Month Low On Tariffs, Liquidations

admin

Bitcoin has fallen to a nine-month low of $81,000, causing billions in liquidations over the past day as escalating tensions in the Middle East and US President Donald Trump’s fresh threats of tariffs caused traders to sell off. Bitcoin (BTC) fell to a low of $81,058 on Coinbase in early trading on Friday, its lowest point since April, according to TradingView. The cryptocurrency has dropped 35% from its all-time high of $126,000 in October. CoinGlass data shows 270,000 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with total liquidations hitting…

Bitcoin ‘Massive Rotation’ Is On The Rocks: Benjamin Cowen

admin

Bitcoin’s price downtrend may not be as short-lived as many holders anticipate, says crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen. “Bitcoin’s likely going to keep bleeding against the stock market,” Cowen said in a video on Thursday, adding that strong expectations of a “massive rotation” from metals like gold and silver into crypto may be misplaced. The price of gold and silver has recently surged to reach all-time highs of $5,608.33 and $121.64, respectively, according to Trading Economics.  Citi predicts silver won’t slow down Citi predicted on Tuesday that silver could climb to…

Securitize Reports 841% Revenue Surge In SPAC Filing

admin

Tokenization platform Securitize has said its revenues are up over 840% to September 2025 in a new filing to go public that moves ahead with its plan to merge with a black check company backed by Cantor Fitzgerald. Securitize Holdings said in a public registration statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday that its total revenues for the nine months ended September 2025 reached f $55.6 million, an 841% increase from the same period in 2024. For all of 2024, Securitize reported total revenue of $18.8…

Avalanche Tokenization Value Rises to $1.3b in 2025

admin

Blockchain network Avalanche saw rising institutional adoption across tokenized money market funds, loans, and indices in the fourth quarter, driving the value of real-world assets on the layer 1 to a new high, even as its token underperformed the broader market. The total value locked of tokenized real-world assets on Avalanche rose 68.6% over the fourth quarter of 2025 and nearly 950% over the year to more than $1.3 billion, boosted by the $500 million BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) that launched in November, Messari research analyst Youssef…

Optimism Community Approves Proposal to Buyback OP Tokens

admin

The governance backing the Optimism blockchain has approved a proposal to allocate 50% of all Superchain revenue to buy back the network’s token over the next 12 months, starting in February. The proposal was initially submitted by the Optimism Foundation on Jan. 8 as part of a push to expand the utility of the Optimism (OP) token and align it with the success of the Superchain, a network of unified blockchains.  The voting period ended on Thursday, with the Optimism governance community passing the proposal with a 33.27% vote in…

Escape Velocity Raises $62M DePIN Fund Even as Crypto VC Slows

admin

Crypto-focused venture capital firm Escape Velocity has raised nearly $62 million to invest in decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) projects, signaling continued venture interest in the sector despite a broader slowdown in crypto and technology funding. As first reported by Fortune on Thursday, the raise marks Escape Velocity’s second fund dedicated to backing founders across DePIN and other crypto-native sectors. The fund closed in December and drew support from investors including Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, and Micky Malka, founder of Ribbit Capital. Cendana Capital, a venture fund-of-funds that…

Talos Extends Series B to $150M with Robinhood, Sony Backing

admin

Digital asset infrastructure provider Talos raised a $45 million extension to its Series B funding round, valuing the company at about $1.5 billion. The extension included new strategic investors such as Robinhood Markets, Sony Innovation Fund, IMC, QCP and Karatage, alongside returning investors a16z crypto, BNY and Fidelity Investments, according to the company. “We extended our Series B round to accommodate interest from strategic partners,” said Talos CEO Anton Katz. Talos said proceeds will be used to expand product development across its trading, portfolio management, execution, treasury and settlement tools…