Travis Ford, 35, CEO and co-founder of Wolf Capital, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faces up to five years in prison, with sentencing pending.

According to official news, Alpen Labs, a financial infrastructure on the Bitcoin chain, announced the completion of $8.5 million in strategic financing, led by DBA and Cyber ​​Fund. Ribbit Capital, Castle Island Ventures and Geometry are the largest investors in its seed round of financing, and once again supported Alpen in this round of financing. This round of funds will help it accelerate the development of Bitcoin ZK Rollup "Strata" and release it to the mainnet in 2025. Strata will be launched as an open platform to expand and promote the use of Bitcoin, which will unlock many practical features for Bitcoin: simple self-custody, intuitive and privacy-protecting payments, interoperability, Bitcoin-backed lending and stablecoins, and many other on-chain applications. Strata will be open to the public from next month with the upcoming test network. Earlier news, Alpen Labs completed $10.6 million in financing, led by Ribbit Capital.

According to PANews, Singapore-based crypto investment firm QCP Capital has highlighted concerns over rising inflation and signs of an overheating U.S. economy. Last Friday, non-farm payrolls surged by 256,000, significantly exceeding the forecast of 164,000. Following the release of macroeconomic data last week, any speculation about imminent interest rate cuts dissipated, leading to a sharp decline in the stock market. Additionally, tariffs potentially implemented during the Trump era have sparked further inflation worries. Despite the unfavorable macroeconomic environment and persistent rumors surrounding Silk Road, cryptocurrencies appear to have found stability, with support levels at $91,000 and $3,100 remaining intact. Implied volatility is relatively low and continues to decrease, with only a slight bearish tilt in the front-end market ahead of Trump's inauguration. While the volatility market shows little reaction, cryptocurrencies are not yet out of the woods. The macroeconomic storm looms large, with the Producer Price Index (January 14), Consumer Price Index (January 15), and initial jobless claims (January 16) set to be released, potentially fueling market volatility. As the U.S. economy heats up, this week will serve as a true test for cryptocurrencies to prove their role as a hedge against inflation.

Partnering with blockchain firm Chaincode Consulting, the initiative integrates with the Polygon blockchain. This ensures scalability, environmental sustainability, and a seamless experience for millions of travelers. Let’s discover more about this use case for NFT tickets. A Digital Touch to a Spiritual Journey On January 13th, Chaincode Consulting announced its collaboration with the Indian... source: https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/cryptocurrency-news/indian-railways-nft-tickets-on-polygon-for-mahakumbh/

Shiba Inu launches the WHY Combinator initiative with 36 new tech tools to drive Web3 innovation, expand BONE utility, and attract developers. source: https://coinpaprika.com/news/shiba-inu-unveils-why-combinator-to-boost-web3-growth

Canada has had enough. Justin Trudeau, the outgoing prime minister, is making one thing clear: if President Donald Trump wants a trade war, Canada is ready to bring the heat. source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/canada-fight-back-against-trumps-tariffs/

Bitcoin traders have plenty of BTC price risks to deal with ahead of the US Presidential inauguration. source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/strongest-us-dollar-since-2022-bear-market-5-things-bitcoin-this-week?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

According to statistics, in the 2023-2024 CEX annual transaction volume comparison report, Gate.io's transaction volume growth rate was as high as 244.2%, among which the spot transaction volume entered a stage of explosive growth, ranking third in the global CEX ranking. Previously, Gate.io's platform currency GT hit a record high for many consecutive days, reaching a maximum of US$18.684.

The crypto market is poised for continued growth in 2025, but the upcoming inauguration of Trump will likely introduce significant shifts.The article Crypto outlook: the potential impact of Trump’s inauguration was first published on Crypto Valley Journal. source: https://cryptovalleyjournal.com/hot-topics/news/crypto-outlook-the-potential-impact-of-trumps-inauguration/?utm_campaign=rss_reader&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=feed_source&utm_content=Crypto+outlook%3A+the+potential+impact+of+Trump%E2%80%99s+inauguration

Hackers targeting major crypto accounts on X, including Litecoin and Foresight Ventures, highlight a surge in phishing scams costing users over $500M in 2024. source: https://coinpaprika.com/news/crypto-scams-surge-hackers-target-major-accounts-on-x

The Litecoin development team has pushed back against accusations of unethical practices and criticism targeting its founder, Charlie Lee. The post Litecoin Founder Charlie Lee Faces Major Accusations appeared first on Cryptodnes. source: https://cryptodnes.bg/en/litecoin-founder-charlie-lee-faces-major-accusations/

Projects, Artificial Intelligence, Seize the Opportunity: 9 Early AI Projects Worth Paying Attention to Golden Finance, Selected 9 Early AI Protocols.

The glowing red sky from the fires that has devoured Southern California has taken everything from residents; homes, offices and memories. But a 70-year-old woman has lost more than her home; she had lost all her life savings after discovering that both her crypto wallet and private keys were both stored at home. Since no backup or recovery phrase was created, the woman is now locked out of her crypto assets. The 70-year-old woman's nephew took to social media to describe the family's plight, writing "Most of her savings were in crypto and she lost her wallet and seed phrase, and doesn't have backups. I feel sick. This is all she had." Sparked a conversation on crypto wallet protection This tragic event has highlighted how crucial it is to securely store both the wallet and private key separately. The private key serves as the gateway to a crypto wallet, and without it, there is no way to regain access to the funds. In this instance, the absence of a robust backup system has led to the permanent loss of her savings, highlighting a critical vulnerability that crypto holders must address. While this is a unfortunate event for the family, but it also acts as a precautionary tale for crypto owners to adopt secure storage practices. Experts have recommend keeping seed phrases offline and in multiple secure locations, with many advocating for storage solutions designed to withstand fire or water damage, such as metal backup plates. With the emergence of newer technologies, like seedless wallets and multi-signature systems, it also offers users with a more advanced and reliable way to safeguard their digital assets. Crypto companies also suffered losses from the fire But this 70-year-old woman is not the only person who have lost their valuable digital asset in this fire. Similarly, a few crypto companies in the city have also suffered severe losses after they found themselves in the pathway of the flames. Swan Bitcoin, which has employees based near Santa Monica, and blockchain infrastructure provider BlockDaemon, headquartered in Los Angeles, both reported significant losses, including the destruction of hardware wallets containing valuable cryptocurrency assets after their companies were unfortunately struck by the incoming fire. In the past, we would hardly associate natural disasters with digital assets. But this saga has proved otherwise, and that our digital assets can be vulnerable to fires as well if they are not properly protected. This incident serves as a wake-up call for cryptocurrency holders to reassess their approach to securing digital assets. The loss of funds in this case could have been mitigated with more effective backup strategies or the use of advanced wallet solutions. As natural disasters become increasingly common, crypto users must take proactive steps to protect their holdings against unforeseen events.

Messari has laid off 15% of its full-time staff as part of a restructuring to focus on its core products amid ongoing challenges in the crypto industry. This follows a broader trend of workforce reductions across major tech and crypto firms in response to uncertain market conditions.

Over 7 million OpenSea user emails have been fully exposed after a data leak from the marketplace’s automation vendor in mid-2022, giving scammers new opportunities for phishing. Is your email at risk?

More and more countries are considering Bitcoin as a strategic reserve, which shows that Bitcoin is gradually being seen as one of the most stable and immutable assets in the world.

The second half of AI Agent needs to accumulate strength, and the DeFi platform will definitely make a great contribution.

What valuable information can we capture from technical discussions such as Ethereum’s roadmap, the recent DevCon, and the upcoming Pectra upgrade early next year?

In addition to the market and technical indicators that I have been paying attention to, a subtle clue that affects the trend of the currency circle is the macroeconomic situation. Knowing history means knowing the rise and fall, and reviewing the past will help us judge the future market.

A 47-year-old man, Kurrimela Ramesh Goud, was arrested in India for defrauding investors of over Rs. 95 crores ($11 million) through a fake cryptocurrency platform. Authorities are investigating the large-scale scam and expect more victims to come forward.