Tether has pulled back its fundraising plans after investors raised concerns about a reported $500 billion valuation, the Financial Times reported. The company had earlier considered raising $15–20 billion, but advisers are now discussing a much smaller amount of about $5 billion. CEO Paolo Ardoino said the higher figure was only the maximum Tether was willing to raise. He added that the company, which made around $10 billion last year from USDT reserves, is comfortable not raising any new funds.
Arbitrum DAO has confirmed that its official X account has been compromised. The team warned users not to click on or interact with any posts or links from the hacked account. They are actively working to regain control. Importantly, the Arbitrum protocol and user funds remain completely safe, as the breach only affects the social media account. Users are advised to stay cautious and ignore any suspicious messages until the account is fully recovered.
Aster CEO Leonard has denied recent rumors that insiders engaged in token dumping or that Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” controls the project, calling such claims baseless. He emphasized that Aster operates independently with YZi Labs’ investment locked long-term and follows published tokenomics. The DeFi perpetual exchange has completed 254 million token buybacks and burned 78 million, with automated daily buybacks planned. Future plans include deeper liquidity, a privacy‑focused Layer 1 chain, staking, and slowing token emissions to support long‑term growth.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov has acquired a five-story Victorian mansion in London’s Notting Hill for £22 million (about $30 million), one of the few high-value property deals in the city’s luxury market over the past year. The purchase, completed in November, was roughly £2 million below earlier price guidance amid a slowdown in London’s high-end housing sector caused by higher taxes and reduced incentives for foreign buyers. The mansion offers extensive panoramic views and underscores continued global interest in prime real estate.
French authorities, including the Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit, CyberGEND, and Europol, raided Elon Musk’s X offices in Paris over alleged cybercrimes. The probe targets offenses such as distributing child sexual abuse material, pedophilic deepfakes, grooming minors, and data mishandling. The raid follows a 2025 investigation into Grok-generated non-consensual content. Elon Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino were summoned for questioning in April. The action underscores growing EU pressure on X regarding AI safeguards and content moderation.
HashKey Exchange, Hong Kong’s largest regulated crypto trading platform, will launch the SUI/USD spot trading pair and open over‑the‑counter trading at 16:00 HKT on February 4, 2026. Both the spot and OTC markets will be available only to professional investors, with the OTC marketplace offering real‑time quotes from top liquidity providers. SUI token deposits and withdrawals are already live, letting investors fund accounts ahead of launch. The move expands HashKey’s compliant trading options and supports growing institutional interest in SUI.
Elon Musk’s AI company xAI is hiring crypto specialists to train its AI on trading and digital asset strategies. The roles require expertise in on-chain analysis, DeFi, derivatives, arbitrage, MEV, quantitative methods, and risk management. These remote positions pay $45 to $100 per hour for US applicants outside Wyoming and Illinois and require a master’s, PhD, or equivalent experience. The move has been welcomed by crypto communities as a step toward mainstream adoption, with some joking that Bitcoin is now the currency of AI.
ING Deutschland, one of Germany’s largest retail brokers, has opened up new ways for ordinary investors to buy and sell crypto exchange‑traded products (ETPs) through its standard securities accounts. The bank’s Direct Depot now includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana ETPs, as well as crypto index products, all provided by major issuers such as 21Shares, Bitwise, and VanEck, and traded on regulated markets. These ETPs are physically backed, letting clients gain exposure to digital assets without managing wallets or private keys, while relying on familiar banking infrastructure. ING says this move aims to lower barriers to crypto investing while using familiar banking infrastructure.
Michael Saylor’s Strategy has continued buying Bitcoin steadily, adding 855 BTC in a recent purchase worth about $75.3 million at an average price of around $87,974 per coin. As of February 1, 2026, the company now holds a total of 713,502 Bitcoin. In total, Strategy has invested roughly $54.26 billion in Bitcoin, with an average purchase price of $76,052 per BTC, showing strong long term confidence in Bitcoin’s value.
Unverified claims circulating online are once again linking early crypto figures, old emails, and the long-running XRP story. At the centre of the discussion is an alleged email from July 31, 2014, said to have been sent by tech entrepreneur Austin Hill, which raised concerns about Ripple and Stellar, a project founded by Jed McCaleb, who also co-founded Ripple and XRP.
What the Alleged Email Says
According to online posts, the email was addressed to Joichi Ito and Jeffrey Epstein, with the subject line “Stellar isn’t so Stellar.” In it, Hill allegedly warned that it was harmful for the ecosystem to have investors “backing two horses in the same race,” referring to Ripple and Stellar competing for the same financial backers.
Commentators claim this points to early power struggles in crypto’s formative years, though there is no proof of wrongdoing by any of the parties involved.
Claims Around MIT and Funding
The narrative goes further, alleging that Epstein had financial ties to academic institutions such as MIT’s Media Lab, where blockchain research was conducted. Public records have previously confirmed that Epstein donated money to MIT. However, claims that this funding influenced crypto markets, projects, or regulators remain unproven.
Attempts to Link XRP to the SEC Case
Some online discussions also try to connect these past associations to the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple, filed in 2020, and to former SEC chair Gary Gensler, who previously taught blockchain-related courses at MIT. While allegations of conflicts of interest are being circulated, there is no evidence that the SEC’s case against Ripple was driven by these academic or personal links.
“I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this is just the tip of a giant iceberg. The sad part is, we really are all in this together and this kind of attitude hurts everyone in the space.”
What Is Fact and What Is Not
Experts stress that many of these stories rely heavily on speculation, coincidence, and unverified interpretations rather than confirmed facts. The Ripple vs SEC case has unfolded mainly through court filings and judicial rulings, not leaked emails or historical associations.
As of now, there is no official confirmation that the alleged 2014 email or the relationships being discussed had any influence on XRP, Bitcoin, or regulatory decisions. Analysts caution investors to separate documented facts from online theories, especially during volatile market conditions when such narratives tend to spread quickly.
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FAQs
Could these claims affect investor confidence in Ripple or Stellar?
Speculative claims can temporarily influence sentiment, causing some investors to hesitate. However, long-term confidence typically relies on project fundamentals, regulatory clarity, and market performance rather than historical allegations.
Should investors worry about unverified crypto conspiracies?
Speculative stories can spread fast, especially in volatile markets, but confirmed facts should guide investment decisions.
JasmyChain’s ecosystem grows with the launch of Jasmy Swap, a third-party decentralized exchange protocol. Built on JasmyChain, it uses smart contracts to automatically execute digital asset swaps, serving as a technical proof-of-concept for blockchain-based trading. The launch has sparked positive market response, with JasmyCoin rising 3.64%. Jasmy Swap highlights the ecosystem’s innovation and potential, showing how the chain can support new DeFi applications and increase activity within its blockchain network.
Russian Bitcoin mining giant BitRiver is on the brink of bankruptcy after a court launched insolvency proceedings over unpaid debts of more than 700 million rubles related to equipment and electricity costs. The company has shut down several facilities, faced management departures, and grappled with creditor lawsuits. Adding to its challenges, founder Igor Runets has been charged with tax evasion and placed under house arrest, intensifying the financial and legal pressures on the once‑leading mining firm.
Ripple has officially received its full Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from Luxembourg’s CSSF, marking a major step in its European growth. The approval allows Ripple to offer regulated blockchain-based payment solutions across the EU, supporting businesses in moving to modern, digital-first finance. This comes after recent UK approvals and adds to Ripple’s portfolio of 75+ global licenses, making it one of the most regulated and trusted players in the crypto and digital assets space.
A Nevada state court has issued a two-week temporary restraining order preventing Blockratize, the operator of the prediction market Polymarket, from offering sports and event contracts to residents, saying those activities likely violate Nevada’s gambling laws. The judge agreed with the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s civil complaint that Polymarket is operating without a state gaming license and that the federal Commodity Exchange Act does not give the CFTC exclusive authority over these contracts. If upheld, Polymarket and similar platforms may have to obtain state licenses or stop offering such markets.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says the future of on-chain system design will rely on a two-layer structure. The first layer focuses on open and accountable execution, such as prediction markets, where correct decisions are rewarded, and wrong ones face losses. The second layer handles preferences and judgment, using decentralized, anonymous, and non-token-based voting systems like MACI. This design aims to resist capture, prevent collusion, and reduce the risk of 51% attacks.
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