🌐 From @cryptogoodreads

Ripple acquires UK approvals to expand payments business

🌐 From @dlnewsinfo

Nasdaq and CME Group Have Partnered to Launch the Nasdaq CME Crypto™ Index.

> Nasdaq and CME Group have deepened their long-standing partnership and reintroduced the Nasdaq Crypto™ Index (NCI™) as the Nasdaq CME Crypto™ Index (NCI™).👇

Source: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/nasdaq-and-cme-group-deepen-partnership-advance-new-era-crypto-investing

🌐 From @shoalresearch

https://x.com/rami_poker/status/2009766699306790924?s=52

🌐 From @cryptogoodreads

The Capitulation of the Buyback Narrative

Buybacks are increasingly failing to support token prices, as structural supply, large unlocks & shifting sentiment overwhelm engineered buy pressure.

> This article provides a breakdown of where buybacks have failed and what the ideal solution is.

x.com/ItsFloe/status/2009686381774413880

Source: https://messari.io/report/enterprise-note-the-capitulation-of-the-buyback-narrative

🌐 From @shoalresearch

This week in crypto: January 3rd, 2026 — January 9th, 2026

Shualpha will always be free, operating as a public good.
If you find value in it and want to show support, it would be much appreciated. ❤️ 0xACc19CA64b9E750E3197FA911fdf0E26D3D8E4B2

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- Use my omni.variational.io referral code: OMNIHMU456E0
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⚠️**IMPORTANT**⚠️
If you're hacked, drained, found a smart contract vulnerability or just need to contact a team of trusted security professionals, use https://xn--r1a.website/seal_911_bot.

🌐 From @Shualpha

News/Updates:

Trump rules out Sam Bankman-Fried pardon in NYT interview
https://cointelegraph.com/news/donald-trump-no-pardon-sam-bankman-fried

Pumpfun overhauls creator fees as token launches hit highest daily count since September
https://www.theblock.co/post/384975/pump-fun-overhauls-creator-fees-token-launches-highest-daily-september

Ripple again rules out IPO, saying balance sheet gives it room to stay private
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/01/07/ripple-again-rules-out-ipo-says-balance-sheet-gives-it-room-to-stay-private

Optimism proposes OP token buybacks using 50% of superchain revenue
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/01/08/optimism-proposes-op-token-buybacks-using-50-of-superchain-revenue

TermMax Advances Institutional DeFi Use with Tokenized Stock Financing Integration
https://decrypt.co/353579/termmax-advances-institutional-defi-use-with-tokenized-stock-financing-integration

BNY Debuts Tokenized Deposits for Institutions and 'Digital Natives'
https://decrypt.co/354136/bny-debuts-tokenized-deposits-institutions-digital-natives

Trump-linked World Liberty Financial-connected firm applies for federal bank charter
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/01/07/trump-linked-world-liberty-financial-applies-for-federal-bank-charter

Ethereum Treasury Firm SharpLink Stakes $170 Million of ETH on Linea
https://decrypt.co/354058/ethereum-treasury-firm-sharplink-gaming-stakes-170-million-eth-linea

Jupiter rolls out native JupUSD stablecoin backed 90% by BlackRock and Ethena's USDtb
https://www.theblock.co/post/384366/jupiter-rolls-out-native-jupusd-stablecoin-backed-90-by-blackrock-and-ethenas-usdtb

XRP ETFs see $40M of outflows after eight-week run of inflows
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/01/08/xrp-etfs-finally-see-outflows-after-record-run-that-beat-bitcoin-and-ether-inflows

NFT Paris & RWA Paris 2026 are cancelled
https://x.com/nft_paris/status/2008162329397961069

Announcing the establishment of the Based Foundation
https://x.com/BasedFnd/status/2007429399130570775

A ruble stablecoin outpaced market leaders last year despite international sanctions
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/01/09/a-ruble-stablecoin-outpaced-market-leaders-last-year-despite-international-sanctions

Binance expands into precious metals with gold, silver futures settled in USDT
https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-gold-silver-perps-usdt-tradfi-settlement-layer

YouTube Rival Rumble Debuts Bitcoin, Tether Wallet for Crypto Creator Tips
https://decrypt.co/353852/youtube-rival-rumble-debuts-bitcoin-tether-wallet-crypto-creator-tips

Tether Gold is introducing Scudo, a new unit of account for Gold Ounce (1/1000)
https://x.com/tethergold/status/2008539498850795551

Truebit token crashes 99.9% after hacker drains $26.6 million in ether
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/01/09/truebit-token-tru-crashes-99-9-after-usd26-6m-exploit-drains-8-535-eth
https://x.com/pashov/status/2009334293798244626

Ledger reveals payments partner leaked customer names, contact information in new data breach
https://www.dlnews.com/articles/web3/ledger-payments-partner-global-e-leaks-customer-data/
The Protocol: Ledger customer data breached from Global-e platform
https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/01/07/the-protocol-ledger-customer-data-breached-from-global-e-platform

Flow details December exploit that led to $3.9M in losses due to counterfeit tokens
https://cointelegraph.com/news/flow-details-december-exploit-3-9m-counterfeit-token-losses

🌐 From @Shualpha

News/Updates (Cont'd):

Ethereum Raises Data Capacity in Latest Scaling Tweak
https://decrypt.co/353816/ethereum-lifts-data-limits-tunes-network-scaling

Nike offloads RTFKT months after investor lawsuit: Report
https://cointelegraph.com/news/nike-quietly-sells-rtfkt-nft-exit

IBM’s crypto partner Dfns integrates Concordium for Web3 compliance
https://cointelegraph.com/news/ibm-partner-dfns-concordium-identity-verified-web3-wallet

Bithumb denies working with lawmaker to target rival Upbit
https://www.dlnews.com/articles/markets/bithumb-worked-with-lawmaker-to-undermine-rival-upbit-report/

Vulnerability found in Babylon staking code could slow block production
https://cointelegraph.com/news/babylon-code-vulnerability-block-production

Conor McGregor calls out Khabib over NFTs, gets shut down by ZachXBT
https://cointelegraph.com/news/conor-mcgregor-khabib-nft-shut-down-zachxbt

After bitter vote, Aave founder pitches bigger future for DeFi lending giant
https://cointelegraph.com/news/aave-founder-strategy-after-governance-vote

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) Announces ETH Holdings Reach 4.144 Million Tokens, and Total Crypto and Total Cash Holdings of $14.2 Billion
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitmine-immersion-technologies-bmnr-announces-eth-holdings-reach-4-144-million-tokens-and-total-crypto-and-total-cash-holdings-of-14-2-billion-302652341.html

🌐 From @Shualpha

AI:

AI giant Anthropic raising $10B at $350B valuation: Report
https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai-giant-anthropic-raising-10b-at-350b-valuation-report

Musk's xAI Raises $20 Billion With Backing From Nvidia and Cisco
https://decrypt.co/353814/musks-xai-20-billion-backing-nvidia-cisco

Nvidia Details New A.I. Chips and Autonomous Car Project With Mercedes
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/technology/nvidia-chips-mercedes.html

Elon Musk: Nvidia’s Self-Driving Tech Is Still Years From Challenging Tesla
https://decrypt.co/353909/elon-musk-nvidias-self-driving-tech-still-years-challenging-tesla

Introducing NousCoder-14b, a competitive olympiad programming model
https://x.com/i/status/2008624474237923495

Grok is undressing anyone, including minors
https://www.theverge.com/news/853191/grok-explicit-bikini-pictures-minors
France to investigate deepfakes of women stripped naked by Grok
https://www.politico.eu/article/france-lawmaker-investigate-deepfakes-women-stripped-naked-grok-x/
X blames users for Grok-generated CSAM; no fixes announced
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01/x-blames-users-for-grok-generated-csam-no-fixes-announced/
India orders Musk’s X to fix Grok over ‘obscene’ AI content
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/02/india-orders-musks-x-to-fix-grok-over-obscene-ai-content/

New York governor Kathy Hochul signs RAISE Act to regulate AI safety
https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/20/new-york-governor-kathy-hochul-signs-raise-act-to-regulate-ai-safety/

Amazon’s AI assistant comes to the web with Alexa.com
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/05/alexa-without-an-echo-amazons-ai-chatbot-comes-to-the-web-and-a-revamped-alexa-app/

Nvidia launches Alpamayo, open AI models that allow autonomous vehicles to ‘think like a human’
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/05/nvidia-launches-alpamayo-open-ai-models-that-allow-autonomous-vehicles-to-think-like-a-human/

Nvidia launches Vera Rubin AI computing platform at CES 2026
https://www.theverge.com/tech/855412/nvidia-launches-vera-rubin-ai-computing-platform-at-ces-2026

Z.AI launches GLM-4.7, new SOTA open-source model for coding
https://www.testingcatalog.com/z-ai-launches-glm-4-7-new-sota-open-source-model-for-coding/

Google, Character.AI Agree to Settle US Lawsuit Over Teen’s Suicide
https://decrypt.co/353927/google-character-ai-settle-us-lawsuit-teens-suicide

MiniMax Releases M2.1: An Enhanced M2 Version with Features like Multi-Coding Language Support, API Integration, and Improved Tools for Structured Coding
https://www.marktechpost.com/2025/12/25/minimax-releases-m2-1-an-enhanced-m2-version-with-features-like-multi-coding-language-support-api-integration-and-improved-tools-for-structured-coding/

Hyundai and Boston Dynamics unveil humanoid robot Atlas at CES
https://apnews.com/article/ces-humanoid-robots-atlas-hyundai-boston-dynamics-8de7b2470c23f5f22441ad1ad7555136

LG says its CLOiD home robot will be folding laundry and making breakfast at CES
https://www.theverge.com/tech/854082/lg-cloid-home-robot-fold-laundry-ces

Meta Buys AI Startup Manus, Adding Millions of Paying Users
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta-buys-ai-startup-manus-adding-millions-of-paying-users-f1dc7ef8
Meta’s $2.5B Manus deal is historic for Asia, but it isn’t Singapore’s win
https://www.asiatechreview.com/p/metas-25b-manus-deal-is-historic

🌐 From @Shualpha

AI (Cont'd):

OpenAI bets big on audio as Silicon Valley declares war on screens
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/01/openai-bets-big-on-audio-as-silicon-valley-declares-war-on-screens/

Claude Code is changing how The Browser Company hires and works
https://x.com/joshm/status/2009705767490990418

Uber reveals the design of its robotaxi at CES 2026
https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-reveals-the-design-of-its-robotaxi-at-ces-2026-230056302.html

AI godfather says Meta’s new 29-year-old AI boss is ‘inexperienced’ and warns of staff exodus
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/05/ai-godfather-calls-meta-ai-boss-alexander-wang-inexperienced-.html

Yann LeCun calls Alexandr Wang ‘inexperienced’ and predicts more Meta AI employee departures
https://www.aol.com/articles/yann-lecun-calls-alexandr-wang-182614948.html

John Carreyrou and other authors bring new lawsuit against six major AI companies
https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/23/john-carreyrou-and-other-authors-bring-new-lawsuit-against-six-major-ai-companies/

Sam Altman is hiring someone to worry about the dangers of AI
https://www.theverge.com/news/850537/sam-altman-openai-head-of-preparedness

Murder-suicide case shows OpenAI selectively hides data after users die
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/12/openai-refuses-to-say-where-chatgpt-logs-go-when-users-die/

🌐 From @Shualpha

Regulation and Legal:

Crypto pig butchering kingpin who lost $15bn in Bitcoin to US gov. arrested in Cambodia
https://www.dlnews.com/articles/people-culture/prince-group-chen-zhi-arrested-in-cambodia-after-doj-seizes-bitcoin/

Senate Agriculture Committee to follow Banking panel in crypto vote next week: report
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/01/07/senate-agriculture-committee-to-follow-banking-panel-in-crypto-vote-next-week-report

Prosecutors appeal acquittal of Mango Markets exploiter Avraham Eisenberg
https://www.dlnews.com/articles/defi/prosecutors-appeal-acquittal-of-mango-markets-exploiter/

India tax authorities warn crypto undermines tax enforcement
https://cointelegraph.com/news/india-crypto-risks-taxes-regulatory-uncertainty

South Korea to flip bitcoin ETF stance as part of broader crypto push
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/01/09/south-korea-to-flip-bitcoin-etf-stance-as-part-of-broader-crypto-push

CFTC issues no-action letter to Bitnomial, clearing way for event contracts
https://cointelegraph.com/news/cftc-issues-no-action-letter-to-bitnomial-clearing-way-for-event-contracts

Prediction markets? Not for politicians, says US congressman
https://www.dlnews.com/articles/regulation/congress-bill-to-ban-government-officials-using-polymarket/

Wyoming rolls out state-backed FRNT stablecoin to the public
https://cointelegraph.com/news/wyoming-stablecoin-frnt-goes-live-to-public

DeFi, ethics disputes remain in Senate crypto bill ahead of Jan. 15 vote
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/01/06/defi-ethics-disputes-remain-in-senate-crypto-bill-ahead-of-jan-15-vote

🌐 From @Shualpha

Raises:

River Announces Strategic Investment from Maelstrom Fund, Founded by Arthur Hayes
https://decrypt.co/353605/river-announces-strategic-investment-from-maelstrom-fund-founded-by-arthur-hayes

Barclays Invests in US Stablecoin Startup Ubyx
https://decrypt.co/353838/barclays-invests-in-us-stablecoin-start-up-ubyx

Babylon Project, a Bitcoin staking infrastructure project, raises $15 led by a16z
https://x.com/babylonlabs_io/status/2008889587813494908

HabitTrade, a trading platform that provides access to U.S. and Hong Kong stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies in a single interface, raises $10.0 million in Series A
https://x.com/HabitTrade/status/2008511993880473937

ZenChain, an EVM-compatible Bitcoin Layer 1 blockchain, raises $8.5 million in round led by Watermelon Capital, DWF Labs, and Genesis Capital
https://x.com/zen_chain/status/2008488045029548410

Boings.ai Raises $30M Seed Round to Power the "Super Individual" Economy on BNB Chain
https://www.theblock.co/press-releases/384323/boings-ai-raises-30m-seed-round-to-power-the-super-individual-economy-on-bnb-chain

🌐 From @Shualpha

Additional Reads (Cont'd)::

Token buybacks:
https://x.com/amirhaleem/status/2007203633532989883
https://x.com/sssionggg/status/2007275334551646302
https://x.com/fejau_inc/status/2008302312402686110
https://x.com/0xGeeGee/status/2008170363314708490
https://x.com/MonetSupply/status/2007501074958299250
https://x.com/0xSoju/status/2007706234477261025
https://x.com/sssionggg/status/2007486294742700405
https://x.com/ceterispar1bus/status/2007460006552023286
https://x.com/Fiskantes/status/2007475164171088362
https://x.com/choffstein/status/2007441889998340218
https://x.com/gametheorizing/status/2007414762766741604

Ray Dalio - 2025
https://x.com/RayDalio/status/2008191202751893770

The State of Crypto Cards and What Comes Next
https://x.com/ahboyash/status/2008162058748268760

Simplifying WOO tokenomics and eliminating overhang (including burning 300m $WOO) have passed
https://snapshot.box/#/s:woofi%F0%9F%92%99woo.eth/proposal/0xa056cb4cd7fc3fa0fbf19a9577df93d63cb3c792e5b0b35afcb2ef88e1ad8c30

Bluntz's one piece portfolio 3x over the last few months
https://x.com/Bluntz_Capital/status/2007616171135430672

ZEC Is Not Money - My Journey into Crypto and the Quest for Sovereignty
https://x.com/PineAnalytics/status/2007142521487405158

The governance proposal to use a portion of the unlocked treasury to incentivize USD1 adoption has passed with 77.75% of the vote in favor
https://x.com/worldlibertyfi/status/2007804911283494915

Are rates of physical violence against crypto users increasing?
https://x.com/hosseeb/status/2007759365432803803

Aerodrome and Uniswap butting heads about revenue comparisons
https://x.com/wagmiAlexander/status/2007111308324528182
https://x.com/haydenzadams/status/2007206627061952773
https://x.com/samkazemian/status/2007259438135337237
https://x.com/DromesLaw/status/2007275442361799014

The Wall Street L1: How Canton Network is Bringing Trillions Onchain
https://x.com/resdegen/status/2007121327140884707

Why Are We Here? Why Did We Raise $15B?
https://x.com/a16z/status/2009614226617233440

AI as Operational Infra for Risk-Aware Execution
https://x.com/chaoslabs/status/2009705038802034769

Introducing Timeline, a new way to see the why behind price movements, not just the how
https://x.com/kiyotaka_ai/status/2009599354152341867

🌐 From @Shualpha

Have a lovely weekend. Enjoy the reads.
Until next time. ☕️

🌐 From @Shualpha

Tether said it has partnered with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to bolster cybercrime prevention in Africa and raise digital asset security awareness. The collaboration will support cybersecurity education and efforts to combat crypto scams and human trafficking-related crimes under UNODC’s Africa 2030 strategy. — link

🌐 From @wublockchainenglish

this was a banger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htFk-WBJbM0

🌐 From @ayyyeandy

https://x.com/TimStone84/status/2009817328394138044?s=20

⁉️⁉️ BLAST farmers:

got around 150usd from this one. i think its likely from blast season. might want to check

🌐 From @CryptoPlaybook

https://claim.brevis.network/

this one abit weird. nothing in my main wallets but saw kate saying to check all wallet and then i found 100 bucks in one obscure wallet. so makes sense to check every wallet that has some history but i was like 1/12 so dont expect too much

dont wanna miss any airdrops:
https://drops.bot/?r=SghcusJ8ln

🌐 From @CryptoPlaybook

According to ValidatorQueue data, the Ethereum Beacon Chain staking entry queue has surged to 1.759 million ETH (~ $5.5 billion), marking the highest level since late August 2023. New stakers now need to wait about 30 days and 13 hours before their validators can be officially activated. Meanwhile, the exit queue has completely cleared to zero. — link

🌐 From @wublockchainenglish

💸💸💸 only in crypto can wake up to 250usd for doing fuckall❤️

speaking of airdrops:

heavily farming polymarket across 10 wallets and also hope for remilia alignment drop🙏🏼

also with some luck remilia should get some alo for megaeth

might be the 2 most important lunches this year


rule still is if you have multiple milady, remilio, schizos please sybil them across multiple wallets. This simple trick made me 10s of 1000s of usd over the last 24 months

🌐 From @CryptoPlaybook

🧐 remilio:

also noteworthy in this regard is that remilio often got almost the same size like milady and almost the same drops. all when currently remilio is trading at 15% of milady value which is also a historical low.

remilio can currently but for 400ish bucks while polymarket easily could drop this much to remilio if they include it. all of this dubious speculation on my end but all those points combined IF milady isnt dead then remilio currently smells like a much stronger buy than milady (even though i think milady is a good buy here as well)

🌐 From @CryptoPlaybook