Ashwini Roopesh

Iranian officials warn Trump not to cross ‘red line’ over threats to intervene in protests.

Just like Venezuelan interference, U.S President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene in Iran if its government k*lls demonstrators, prompting warnings from senior Iranian officials that any American interference would cross a “red line”.

In a social media post, Trump said that if Iran were to shoot and k*ll protesters, the US would “come to their rescue”. He added “we are locked and loaded, and ready to go”, as usual without explaining what that might mean in actual practice.

Protests in Iran are now in their sixth day, and are the largest since 2022, when the death in police custody of 22 year old Mahsa Amini triggered demonstrations across the country. The current unrest was triggered by an unprecedented decline in the national currency, with the Iranian rial dropping to about 1.4m to the US dollar, further exacerbating an already beleaguered economy. Till now seven people have lost their lives in this protest.

In response to Trump’s threat of intervention, Ali Shamkhani, adviser to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, warned that Iran’s national security was a “red line, not material for adventurist tweets. Any intervening hand nearing Iran security on pretexts will be cut off with a regret-inducing response.”

Another senior Iranian official - “Trump must realize that US intervention in this domestic matter will lead to destabilisation of the whole region and the destruction of American interests. The American people must know that Trump is the one that started this adventure, and they should pay attention to the safety of their soldiers.”
#iran $TRUMP #TRUMP

Flow Pushes $3.9M Recovery Into Phase Two, Exchange Risks Still Present

The Flow Foundation has moved its recovery efforts into a second phase following a $3.9 million exploit that disrupted the network late last month, while also raising fresh concerns about how a centralized exchange handled large token movements tied to the incident.
Flow said it had made significant progress on its remediation plan and had begun phase two of the recovery, which is expected to take several days.

The exploit occurred on Dec. 27, when an attacker took advantage of a vulnerability in Flow’s execution layer to mint and distribute fraudulent tokens, moving roughly $3.9 million in assets across multiple bridges before validators halted the chain.

The 24 hours volume% for the top two coins has crossed the three-digit mark, while for the remaing eight, it has crossed double digits.

Make Aspirin 'Superstitious' Again? US President Donald Trump contradicts White House, reveals shocking truth about bruises and MRI scans.
He said he takes 325 milligrams of aspirin every day, four times the low dose commonly recommended, despite doctors urging him to cut back. The reason, he said, is superstition. He has been on the same regimen for decades and does not want to change it. "I’m a little superstitious. They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart".
He even expressed regret about taking the test at all, saying it gave critics "ammunition" to question his health. "In retrospect, it’s too bad I took it because it gave them a little ammunition.”
He said he has always slept little and still keeps a packed schedule. "I’ve never been a big sleeper," he said, insisting, "Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink".
Well please pray for Crypto Presidnet. #TRUMP $TRUMP

Crypto exchange volume falls to 15-month low in December
December's monthly spot trading volume on all centralized crypto exchanges fell to the lowest wver level since Sep 2024.

All centralized platforms processed around $1.13 trillion in crypto transactions in December. This marks a 32% drop from November's $1.66 trillion and a 49% decrease from October's $2.23 trillion.

Out of the $1.13 trillion total in December, Binance accounted for the largest share with $367.35 billion in trading volume.

Gold, Silver, Palladium and Platinum advanced as trading in 2026 kicked off, building on their best annual performances since 1979.

Bullion rose near $4,394 an ounce, as silver gained more than 2%. While traders have flagged the metals could do well in 2026 on further US interest-rate cuts and dollar weakness, there’s near-term concern that broad index re-balancing may pressure prices. $XAU

Bitcoin closed 2025 as the first negative post-halving year ever.
Institutional dominance and macro factors muted the halving impact in 2025.

Historically, the BTC price has peaked in the year following the halving. This trend has been consistent since 2014, with each subsequent year generating significant positive returns.
Bitcoin closed 2025 with a 6% decline, marking the first year since the halving with a close in the red.
Well all records are meant to be broken and Bitcoin just played it along the way.
For long term investors and #hodler - it may present opportunities for accumulation, while short-term traders - should closely monitor macroeconomic cues.

Turkmenistan legalizes crypto mining and trading under new framework.
This signals a shift in one of the world’s most controlled economies, which has been largely dependent on its gas resources.
However, cryptocurrencies will not be recognized as a means of payment in the Central Asian country.

Hundreds of cryptocurrency wallets are being drained across various EVM chains, according to ZachXBT.
Total losses have reached about $107,000 and are still rising.
The attacker's point of entry has not been identified, leaving the potential for further exploits open. The attacker has also not been publicly identified. The incident comes amid a broader wave of crypto-related exploits. December saw around 26 major crypto exploits, resulting in total losses of approximately $76 million.
Please safeguard your wallets.

Vitalik Buterin stresses real usability and decentralization over winning 'next meta'

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said developers need to focus on building applications that are actually decentralized and usable at scale.
Ethereum made significant progress in 2025 with two major network upgrades Pectra in May and Fusaka in December which boosted scalability and efficiency.

"To achieve this, it needs to be (i) usable, and usable at scale, and (ii) actually decentralized," Buterin wrote. "This needs to happen at both (a) the blockchain layer, including the software we use to run and talk to the blockchain, and (b) the application layer. Fortunately, we have powerful tools on our side — but we need to apply them, and we will.”

Iran moves to accept crypto payments in weapon sales to evade sanctions.

Iran’s Ministry of Defence Export Center said it is prepared to accept crypto payments in military weapons contracts.
Iran has already been utilizing crypto to evade Western sanctions for years, according to findings from the U.S. Treasury.
Last September, the U.S. Treasury Department identified two Iranian nationals who facilitated over $100 million in bitcoin and other digital asset purchases to process the Iranian government's oil sales between 2023 and 2025.

Sanctione are not working with Iran and as well with Russia. Countries know what to do to maintain their interest.

In 2025, about 60 "wrench attacks" incidents were reported in history, and the real data may be much higher.

The physical attack of the asset holder. This number is much higher than in 2024 (about 41) and 2021 (36), when the number of known wrench attacks was high. Although the actual number of wrench attacks is difficult to accurately count, the risk of victims is indeed increasing, or at least the public's awareness of such threats is increasing.
"The real number may be much higher than this. Many cases are only registered as ordinary robbery or burglary, and the elements of crypto assets are ignored; others have never been reported because of the victim's hesitation or doubts about the ability of law enforcement to handle encryption-related crimes."
#WrenchAttack

India’s Reserve Bank: CBDCs Must Replace Stablecoins to Prevent Financial Chaos.
The RBI indicated in the report that the central bank digital currencies maintain the singleness of money and the integrity of the financial system, and therefore, they are the ultimate settlement asset and the source of trust.
The RBI noted that the global stablecoin market has grown sharply, reaching about $300 billion by the end of 2025, with most tokens pegged to the U.S. dollar and dominated by a small number of issuers.

Against this backdrop, the RBI reiterated its preference for sovereign digital money. It said CBDCs can offer faster payments, programmability, and instant settlement, similar to stablecoins, but without weakening country’s monetary sovereignty or financial stability.
Globally, CBDC adoption remains limited, as only a handful of countries have launched live CBDCs, while dozens more are in pilot or research phases, according to international trackers.
Despite ranking number 1 in Global crypto adoption, India is cautiously trying to avoid and acknowledge the value of local currency with respect to other currencies. This isn’t the first time when RBI came against growing crypto landscape.
#India

Japan, South Korea lead Asia's local stablecoin push in 2025.
Asia laid the groundwork for non-USD stablecoins in 2025, as regulators, banks and crypto firms pushed thier own country local-currency stablecoins despite continued dominance of dollar-backed stablecoins.
Japan and South Korea led that shift in 2025, with both countries seeing notable stablecoin developments in the public and private sectors.

While U.S. dollar backed stablecoins such as USDT and USDC continue to dominate onchain liquidity, policymakers, banks & crypto firms across the region spent the year laying the groundwork for a more diversified stablecoin ecosystem, one that would no longer be solely anchored to the dollar.

From Tokyo to Seoul, regulatory initiatives and high profile launches have signaled a strategic shift toward non USD stablecoins, even as the market remains small in scale relative to dollarbacked stablecoins.

"What’s happening in Asia now is that policymakers are encouraging local currency stablecoin issuance to ensure their domestic financial systems aren't left behind as activity moves onchain. These moves are about diversifying options and offering credible alternatives where local currencies are more appropriate. But whether that ultimately shifts liquidity in a meaningful way remains to be seen." - Angela Ang, head of policy and strategic partnerships for APAC at TRM Labs.
Presently both the countries have launched their currency backer stablecoins to support their crypto ecosystem while safeguarding their interests.

‘Too many digits’: Elon Musk says he ‘paid so much in taxes one year that it broke the IRS computer.

Between 2014 and 2018, Musk paid about $455 million in taxes on roughly $1.52 billion in reported income. Yet, according to ProPublica, he paid no federal income tax in 2018, a result of losses, deductions, and the way U.S. tax law treats unrealised gains.

Elon Musk, the world's richest person, pays taxes that vary significantly. His wealth is primarily in company stock, not salary. Large tax bills arise when this 'paper wealth' becomes actual income. For instance, he paid substantial taxes in 2021 after selling Tesla stock. This dynamic reflects modern billionaire finances where tax obligations can be sudden and immense.

"I paid so much in taxes one year that it broke the IRS computer (actually). Too many digits. They had to update the software to get it processed." - Elon

In short, Musk’s quip about “breaking” the IRS reflects a reality of modern billionaire finances: enormous tax bills can appear suddenly, but only when paper wealth turns into real income.

Tether accumulated additional 8,888.8888 Bitcoins in Q4 2025.

Today’s cryptocurrency fear and greed index is 19 (yesterday was 21), further intensifying the market's "extreme fear" state.
Not a good way to start New Year.

A Whale Holding PUMP for Six Months Reportedly Recognizes Loss and Liquidates, with an Unrealized Loss of $1.53 Million
This trader spent 3 million USDC six months ago to buy 7.5 billion $PUMP tokens in a public sale through two wallets. One hour ago, the whale deposited these 7.5 billion PUMP tokens (worth $1.47 million) into Hyperliquid, facing a potential loss of $1.53 million (-51%).

Crypto Will Never be Recognized as Official Currency in Russia, Lawmaker Says

“We must understand that cryptocurrencies will never become money within our country,” he noted. “They can only be used as an investment instrument. If payment is required, it will only be in rubles.”- Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Financial Markets

Turkish cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk has been hit by another hack, resulting in a $48 million loss. Stolen funds were transferred across multiple networks including Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Polygon, before being consolidated into a single address. Previously they were hacked in Aug 2025 which resulted in $54 Million loss.