Welsh Man Loses Legal Battle to Recover 8,000 BTC From Landfill Over Environmental Concerns

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF experienced record-high outflows of $333 million on Jan. 2, with investors likely taking profits at the start of 2025. U.S.-based BTC spot ETFs collectively lost $248 million, with IBIT leading the losses.

In 2024, top executives from companies like Amazon, Meta, and Palantir made significant stock sales, with Coinbase and MicroStrategy executives also among the top sellers. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong sold $636 million in stock, placing eighth in the list of top sellers.

Berman Jerry Nowlin, involved in an NFT "rug pull" case, died by apparent suicide before his sentencing. Nowlin and Devin Alan Rhoden orchestrated the fraudulent sale of Solana NFT collections, leading to a total of almost $400,000 from hundreds of victims.

Ether's leverage ratio has surged to a new high of 0.57, indicating increased risk-taking and market speculation. This level of leverage trading in the futures market surpasses that of Bitcoin, potentially leading to higher price volatility for ether in the future.

In 2024, the Virtuals protocol introduced Aixbt, an AI-powered influencer providing financial advice and market insights on X. Despite its growing popularity and meme coin value surge, distinguishing AI-driven content from human-influenced posts remains challenging.

MicroStrategy, the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, has seen its share price drop by 45% from its November peak, despite multiple smaller Bitcoin purchases. The company's valuation has surpassed its $43 billion Bitcoin holdings, with a market capitalization of $73.2 billion.

Do Kwon, the founder of the Terra crypto ecosystem, pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in a New York court after being extradited from Montenegro. The collapse of Terra in 2022 led to a $40 billion loss for investors, with allegations of securities fraud and money laundering against Kwon.

Over $100 million USDT in assets has been frozen by the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a coalition led by Tether, Tron, and TRM Labs, to combat criminal activity within their networks. The group has worked with law enforcement globally to disrupt cybercriminals using stablecoins for illicit purposes.

AI agents, meme coins, and associated protocols are among the top-performing crypto assets, sparking speculation about AI becoming the latest trend for traders. Some believe it marks the start of a new crypto revolution, while others view it as a potential bubble.

Unity Software shares surged over 8% after Roaring Kitty, known for impacting markets with cryptic posts, shared a GIF referencing the company. The post also boosted a Unity-inspired meme coin on the Solana blockchain by over 200% in 24 hours.