The new accusations against Justin Sun come amid ongoing political and regulatory attention. US lawmakers have criticized the SEC for pausing its prior case against Sun, citing his financial ties to Trump family ventures and suggesting potential influence on enforcement decisions.

Ten Ten, who claims detailed evidence of TRX price manipulation and insider profit-taking, has appealed for regulatory action and public distancing by political figures. Neither Sun nor Binance has commented on the latest claims, while TRON’s token remains largely stable at $0.2843, down 0.5% in 24 hours. Observers warn that substantiated allegations could prompt renewed investigations into TRON’s early trading practices and regulatory oversight.

Justin Sun, founder of Tron, is under renewed scrutiny after a woman claiming to be his former girlfriend accused him of orchestrating large-scale market manipulation during TRX’s early years. Identifying herself as Ten Ten (Zeng Ying), she alleges that Sun directed employees to create multiple Binance accounts using personal identities and phones to inflate TRX prices, before dumping tokens on retail investors.

Ten Ten claims to hold chat records, employee testimony, and other documentation, and has offered to cooperate with the US SEC. While unverified, her allegations echo previous SEC claims that Sun engaged in wash trading, undisclosed promotions, and unregistered sales of TRX and BTT, generating roughly $31 million in alleged illegal proceeds.

Following January’s largest phishing theft, attackers rapidly converted stolen funds into Monero, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, triggering a surge in XMR’s price and renewing concerns about illicit fund obfuscation. Analysts say the incident highlights the limits of hardware security when user-level defenses fail.

Beyond phishing, smart contract vulnerabilities continued to impact DeFi. Truebit lost $26.6 million to an overflow flaw, while Swapnet and other protocols suffered multi-million-dollar breaches. A separate attack on Solana-based Step Finance drained treasury wallets of nearly 262,000 SOL. As February begins, security experts warn that human error remains crypto’s most expensive vulnerability.

The crypto industry suffered more than $400 million in losses in January 2026, driven largely by a sharp rise in sophisticated phishing attacks. Blockchain security firm CertiK reported 40 separate incidents that accounted for roughly $370 million in losses, a figure that climbed further after a late-month exploit.

One social engineering attack dominated the data. On Jan. 16, a single investor lost $284 million after falling victim to a phishing scam impersonating hardware wallet support. The attacker tricked the victim into revealing a recovery seed phrase, enabling the theft of over 1,400 Bitcoin and 2 million Litecoin — accounting for more than 70% of the month’s total losses.

Some scholars argue Elon Musk’s rise resembles less a classic corporate conglomerate and more a modern version of Gilded Age power consolidation. Harvard Business School professor David Yoffie likens Musk to figures like John D. Rockefeller, who used wealth, influence, and loose regulation to shape entire industries.

While Musk’s companies increasingly collaborate — from Tesla batteries powering AI data centers to shared investments in xAI — critics warn that merging them could trigger a “conglomerate discount” and invite regulatory scrutiny. As Musk spends heavily to influence politics and regulation shifts globally, the long-term question is whether public opinion and regulators will ultimately curb his growing power, as they did with earlier industrial titans.

Elon Musk now oversees businesses spanning electric vehicles, rockets, artificial intelligence, social media, telecommunications, brain implants, and infrastructure — a scope that has sparked comparisons to historic industrial titans. As CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, owner of X, and founder of Neuralink and The Boring Company, Musk’s influence increasingly resembles that of a one-person conglomerate.

Rumors that Musk may merge parts of his empire — potentially Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI — have drawn comparisons to Jack Welch’s transformation of General Electric in the 1980s. With Musk’s net worth approaching $800 billion, rivaling GE’s inflation-adjusted peak value, analysts say the line between Musk the individual and Musk the institution is growing increasingly thin.

Bitcoin’s ability to avoid a liquidation cascade during the recent collapse in gold and silver is fueling debate over its market role. The sell-off followed President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair, a move widely seen as signaling tighter monetary policy and support for a stronger U.S. dollar.

Analysts say heavily leveraged bets in precious metals were rapidly unwound, triggering sharp price declines. Bitcoin, which did not participate in the late-stage surge in metals, appeared less exposed to speculative excess. Some observers believe capital exiting gold and silver could rotate into digital assets, while others warn that prolonged liquidity tightening could still pressure Bitcoin in the weeks ahead.

Precious metals markets experienced a historic liquidation over the past 48 hours, wiping out roughly $7 trillion in combined value as gold and silver prices collapsed. Gold fell more than 8%, dropping from around $5,600 an ounce to near $4,700, while silver plunged over 25%, sliding from $121 to roughly $77.

By contrast, Bitcoin declined about 7% but avoided the kind of forced selling seen in metals. Analyst Joe Consorti noted that the losses in gold and silver equaled nearly four times Bitcoin’s entire market capitalization, highlighting the scale of the divergence. Data providers described Bitcoin’s relative stability as unusual during such a broad macro-driven sell-off.

Roughly half of BitMine’s Ethereum holdings are staked, earning yield but locked behind Ethereum’s validator exit queue, which could delay withdrawals for weeks. While this limits the risk of an instant market shock, it also creates prolonged uncertainty as traders anticipate future supply.

Strategically, selling ETH would dismantle BitMine’s core thesis as an “Ethereum supercycle” play, including plans for a U.S.-based validator network launching in 2026. A sale would leave the company cash-heavy but largely disconnected from future ETH upside.

For shareholders and for Tom Lee’s public reputation as a long-term Ethereum bull, liquidation would likely signal capitulation — making it the nuclear option BitMine appears determined to avoid.

Analysts say a full liquidation of BitMine’s Ethereum holdings would likely overwhelm the market. Selling more than 4 million ETH — even gradually — would introduce supply far beyond what typical order books are built to absorb.

Historical examples show that far smaller “whale” liquidations have caused 10–30% price drops within hours. In BitMine’s case, forced selling could push ETH down another 20–40%, according to market depth estimates. Slippage alone could reduce proceeds by billions, meaning BitMine might realize only $5–7 billion from assets currently marked near $10 billion.

As a result, selling is widely viewed as a last-resort option rather than a viable exit strategy.

As Ethereum prices slide to multi-month lows, attention has turned to BitMine Immersion Technologies, the public company chaired by Fundstrat strategist Tom Lee. Once a small crypto-mining hardware firm, BitMine has transformed into the largest known corporate holder of Ethereum, controlling roughly 4.24 million ETH — about 3.5% of total supply.

At current prices near $2,400, BitMine’s ETH treasury is valued around $10 billion, down sharply from an estimated $15–16 billion invested at higher levels. The scale of the unrealized losses has sparked speculation across crypto markets about whether BitMine could be forced to sell — a move analysts warn could severely destabilize Ethereum.

We're at $80,252 watching one of those classic market contradictions that separates disciplined traders from emotional ones. Weekly RSI at 18.7 is screaming "bottom," but the structure is screaming something else entirely. Here's how to think three moves ahead instead of reacting to the noise.

1. THE TECHNICAL REALITY
   • Price rejected violently from $84,599 with a 37.5% upper wick, sellers defended the bearish order block ($97,932-$90,066) with serious intent
   • Trading in PREMIUM zone (Smart Money Concepts) where institutions typically sell, not buy
   • Lower high formation confirms bearish structure is taking control despite "bullish" swing trend label
   • MACD deeply bearish at -5,482, price below EMA20 ($95,230) and EMA50 ($96,374)

2. THE INDICATORS ️

Bearish Signals:
• ADX at 48.1 = strong downtrend conviction (trends with this strength don't just roll over)
• MACD at -5,482 showing deep bearish momentum
• Bearish FVG between $98,888-$96,012 remains unfilled (magnet for any relief rally)
• MFI at 35.6 showing weak money flow

Bullish Signals:
• RSI at 18.7 and Stochastic at 0.5 = extreme weekly oversold readings
• Still above EMA200 at $68,515 on macro view
• Volume at average levels ($987,996) = no panic capitulation yet

The Conflict:
Extreme oversold readings create the possibility of reversal, but structure must confirm first. Right now, structure remains bearish. Strong trends don't reverse just because an indicator hits an extreme, they need structural breaks.

3. THE TRADE SETUP

Scenario A: Continuation Lower (Primary)
• Trigger: Continued rejection from $80,000-$84,000 zone, failure to reclaim $97,932
• Entry: Confirmed rejection at bearish OB with stop above $97,932
• Target 1: $74,457 (7.2% downside) - top of bullish order block, last major defense
• Target 2: $68,587 (15% downside) - high volume node from accumulation zone
• Extended Targets: $65,157 and $61,728 if $74,457 breaks on 4H close

🟢 Scenario B: Structural Reversal (Alternative)
• Trigger: $74,457 tested with volume showing accumulation signs
• Entry: Bounce confirmation from $74,457 support zone
• Stop: Below $70,000
• Invalidation: 4H close above $97,932 (reclaims bearish OB, flips structure bullish)

MY VERDICT
Risk-reward favors waiting. The meta-game here is recognizing that extreme oversold on weekly doesn't mean immediate reversal, it means reversal becomes possible IF structure confirms. Until $74,457 is tested or $97,932 is reclaimed, path of least resistance remains down. Confidence: 72% bearish.

HYPEUSDT.P ended its rally in the 35.0 zone, smoothly changing the market phase from pump to dump. The cryptocurrency market is weak, but after a sharp decline, there may be a local correction

Bitcoin fell again to 81K during the Asian session. A strong rebound or uptrend should not be expected at this time. There is no fundamental support for the crypto market. Any attempts at growth may be perceived as a hunt for liquidity before the fall.
Within the framework of the downward trend and the weak state of cryptocurrencies, HYPEUSDT formed a pump phase and tested the local resistance zone of 35.0. The market was unable to reach the liquidity zone of 36.4. Before continuing its decline, against the backdrop of a general market correction, the coin may test 31.38 - 32.90

Resistance levels: 31.38, 32.9
Support levels: 29.98, 28.4, 25.84

If the market rebounds after the fall, the coin may test the resistance zone of 31.38 - 32.9. Another short squeeze and a close below 29.98 could trigger a continuation of the dump down to the interim bottom...

at least blockchain makes it easy to trace this stuff, but also kinda terrifying how fast money can vanish.

classic memecoin rug pull vibes… 40% in the deployer’s hands is basically asking for trouble.

would love to see some real roi numbers instead of just the hype, but i get why vcs are still throwing money at this.

honestly smart move doing multi-model instead of betting everything on one ai… keeps options open and avoids vendor lock-in.

short squeeze could send it flying temporarily, but until selling pressure actually dies down, this is probably just noise.