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Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure On-chain sleuth ZachXBT has revealed the identity of a threat actor who stole over $40 million from the U.S. government’s crypto stash. The White House has confirmed that it is looking into the situation but has not yet said whether its Bitcoin holdings were affected by the theft.  How This Threat Actor Stole Over $40 Million From the U.S. Government Crypto Wallets In an X post, ZachXBT revealed that threat actor John Daghita, also known as Lick, stole over $40 million from the U.S. government’s seizure addresses,…

In brief Forgotten Runiverse is the latest blockchain game to close its doors. The team behind the game cited that financial infeasibility as the reason for shutting off servers. The closure continues a trend that has seen numerous major crypto games fold due to lack of funding or players. Forgotten Runiverse, the fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) on Ethereum scaling network Ronin, is going offline until further notice. The team behind the game—which is part of the Forgotten Runes project—cited financial infeasibility, though maintained that they are not abandoning the project. “Over the past months, we’ve faced a number of…

Bitcoin Is Being Bought, Not UsedFor most of Bitcoin’s history, price and usage told broadly the same story.When price moved higher, more people showed up. More wallets became active. More transactions hit the chain. The relationship was never perfect, but it was stable enough to treat price as a rough signal for adoption.That relationship has now broken.For years, we compared Bitcoin adoption to the growth of the internet, screaming, “We’re still early.” The graph went up and to the right. Since 2021, that is no longer the case for Bitcoin.Bitcoin adoption versus the internet using active addresses as a proxy…

In brief Tether has launched its USAT stablecoin, which is issued by Anchorage Digital. The move places the U.S.-regulated product under OCC oversight. USDT’s reserves don’t currently align with GENIUS Act standards. Tether said Tuesday that its USAT stablecoin is now available for trading and will be issued by Anchorage Digital, providing it with a pathway toward compliance under the GENIUS Act.In a press release, the El Salvador-based firm said the stablecoin—which debuted on several crypto exchanges, including Kraken and Crypto.com—was specifically designed for U.S. markets, with Anchorage’s status as a federally chartered digital asset bank placing the product under…

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.GM!Today’s top news: Crypto majors flat, HYPE and PUMP outperform; BTC at $88k Anthropic CEO warns AGI is coming in 1-2 years in latest essay Coinbase spins up advisory board to address quantum risk BlackRock launches new iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF Tether added significantly more gold than USDT in Q4 ? Anthropic’s CEO Warns AI Is Outrunning Our Ability to Control ItA sobering note from inside the AI frontier…

Bitcoin traders are aggressively positioning for a US government shutdown that could begin Jan. 31 if Congress fails to extend funding that expires Jan. 30.The urgency of the setup is visible in prediction markets, where odds changes have become tradable headlines in their own right.Shutdown contracts on prediction platforms like Polymarket have swung to as high as 80% for a shutdown by Jan. 31. The market has drawn nearly $11 million in bets as of press time.US Government Shutdown Odds (Source: Polymarket)For BTC traders, these rapidly shifting probabilities translate into short-dated hedging demand and sharper moves around incremental legislative updates.Notably,…

In brief Privacy coin Zcash is up 9% in the past 24 hours, hitting $376.90. Sentiment around Zcash on prediction market Myriad is thawing after flipping bearish last week, with 40% now anticipating a pump to $550—up 8% from the start of the week. The Electric Coin Company, which launched the cryptocurrency, saw a mass leadership exodus in recent weeks, with offshoot projects emerging in its wake. Market sentiment for Zcash looks more optimistic today among traders, as users on prediction market Myriad now think there’s a 40% chance the privacy coin will hit $550 before it hits $250—up roughly…

Citrea, a Bitcoin application platform backed by Founders Fund and Galaxy Ventures, announced today the launch of its mainnet, in hopes to unlock lending, trading, and other capital market activity directly on the Bitcoin network. Alongside the mainnet debut, Citrea introduced ctUSD, a U.S. dollar–denominated stablecoin issued by MoonPay and powered by M0.  The stablecoin is fully backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bills and cash and is designed to align with the forthcoming GENIUS Act, positioning it as a compliant settlement layer for Bitcoin-based financial activity. Despite Bitcoin’s roughly $1.3 trillion market capitalization, on-chain data suggests a significant portion of…

In brief The falling price of Bitcoin is at risk of making Bitcoin mining unprofitable in the United States, depending on energy rates. Other countries also face a situation where the cost of mining one Bitcoin is more than that Bitcoin is worth, although some major Bitcoin mining territories—including Paraguay—continue to benefit from relatively cheap energy. Experts say that, without substantial price increases, the next Bitcoin halving could put significant strain on miners. Bitcoin now costs more to mine in the United States than its current market price, according to data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI).The cryptocurrency…