Blockchain security firm SlowMist has raised the alarm over a new and highly convincing phishing campaign targeting MetaMask users. Unlike earlier scams that relied on obvious fake links or direct wallet drainers, this attack is more subtle. It exploits user trust by copying MetaMask’s two-factor authentication (2FA) flow, making the scam feel like a routine …
The breach underscores the critical need for robust cybersecurity measures and vigilance against phishing attacks in digital transactions.
The post Ledger says third-party breach may have exposed customer names and contacts appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Bitcoin has pushed back above the $92,000 level after spending several days trapped below $90,000, offering a brief sense of relief to a market that has remained under pressure since late 2025. The rebound has helped stabilize short-term sentiment, but confidence remains fragile. Many analysts continue to warn that 2026 could evolve into a broader bear market, citing weak spot demand, fading momentum, and persistent sell-side activity from larger participants. Related Reading: Altcoin Season Setup Advances: CEX Volume Hits Cycle Highs Despite Price Weakness Against this backdrop, macro headlines have re-entered the conversation. An analysis from XWIN Research Japan points to reports of a potential US military intervention in Venezuela, which have revived geopolitical risk concerns across global markets. Historically, such developments tend to increase volatility and push investors toward defensive positioning. However, Bitcoin’s reaction cannot be judged by price alone, particularly in an environment dominated by derivatives and algorithmic flows. On-chain behavior offers a more precise lens. Exchange Netflow data is especially relevant during periods of geopolitical stress, as it reflects whether holders are preparing to sell or choosing to stay sidelined. When fear dominates, exchange inflows typically surge as participants move coins onto platforms. Conversely, muted inflows or continued outflows suggest that investors are not rushing to reduce exposure, even amid unsettling headlines. Exchange Netflows Suggest Caution, Not Panic The analysis places the current geopolitical headlines into a broader historical context. During past military conflicts—most notably Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and more recent flare-ups in the Middle East—Bitcoin often experienced sharp but short-lived price volatility. However, on-chain data told a calmer story. Exchange Netflow, which captures whether coins are being moved onto exchanges to sell or withdrawn for holding, rarely deteriorated in a sustained way during those events. Since 2023, the market has shown a growing ability to absorb localized geopolitical shocks without triggering widespread liquidation behavior. The situation surrounding Venezuela appears consistent with that pattern. While headlines have introduced uncertainty and contributed to short-term price sensitivity, there is no meaningful surge of Bitcoin moving onto exchanges. The absence of elevated inflows suggests that investors are not reacting with panic. Instead, the market seems to be monitoring developments while maintaining existing exposure. Historically, Bitcoin’s more pronounced on-chain reactions have been tied to structural economic threats rather than isolated military actions. Events such as US–China trade tensions, aggressive regulatory shifts, or capital control measures tend to impact global liquidity and investor freedom more directly, leaving clearer footprints in exchange flows. At this stage, the Venezuela narrative has not crossed into that category. Exchange Netflow behavior indicates a market on alert, but not in retreat. Related Reading: Bitcoin Data Shows Aggressive Sellers In Control As BTC Consolidates Below $90K Bitcoin Tests Key Resistance After Relief Rally Bitcoin has staged a notable rebound, reclaiming the $92,000 level after spending several days struggling below $90,000. On the chart, this move stands out as a relief rally following a sharp breakdown from the $105,000–$110,000 region earlier in Q4. However, the broader structure still reflects a market in consolidation rather than a confirmed trend reversal. Price is currently trading below the declining short-term moving average (blue), which has acted as dynamic resistance since the November sell-off. While BTC has managed to reclaim ground above the 200-day moving average (red), this level is still relatively flat, signaling stabilization rather than renewed bullish momentum. The medium-term moving average (green) around the $100,000 area remains a critical barrier that bulls have not yet challenged meaningfully. Related Reading: Ethereum Liquidity Rebuilds On Binance: December Inflows Signal Strategic Repositioning The recent bounce occurred with moderate participation, lacking the expansion typically associated with strong trend continuation. This suggests short covering and tactical buying rather than broad-based demand returning to the market. Structurally, Bitcoin appears to be forming a range between roughly $88,000 and $96,000. Holding above the lower bound would keep the consolidation intact, while a failure back below $88,000 would reopen downside risk toward the mid-$80,000s. For now, the price action reflects relief and stabilization, but confirmation of a sustainable uptrend still requires a decisive reclaim of higher resistance levels. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com
According to SlowMist, attackers are impersonating Metamask, aiming to steal users’ secret recovery phrases.
Starknet, a major Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution, has been down for more than two hours as of January 5, 2026, halting transactions and dApps. The Starknet team confirmed on X that they are investigating the sequencer issues and pushing fixes to restore service quickly. This echoes past outages like the 9-hour September 2, 2025, …
Bitcoin briefly topped $93,000, driving a risk-on tone across markets, but uneven altcoin performance suggest traders remain wary of a near-term pullback.
Binance has launched Brevis (BREV) as the 60th project in its HODLer Airdrop program, rewarding users who held or staked BNB in Simple Earn or On‑Chain Yield products between December 17 and December 20, 2025. Brevis is a scalable computing platform built for blockchain and AI applications, with 15 million BREV (1.5% of total supply) allocated …
Bank of America will enable advisers across Merrill and its private bank to recommend four spot Bitcoin ETFs, expanding beyond client-led access.
Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has declared 2026 the nation’s “digital year” and pledged strong support for integrating cryptocurrencies into the mainstream financial system. Speaking at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, she backed allowing digital assets to trade on stock exchanges and pointed to U.S. crypto ETFs as a model worth emulating. Japan is advancing plans to …
XRP is approaching a decision point across the monthly and daily charts, with renowned crypto analysts The Great Mattsby (Matt Hughes) and Charting Guy (@ChartingGuy) framing the current structure as a volatility-compression setup that could resolve higher if key high-timeframe supports continue to hold. XRP Price Poised For ‘Explosive Move’ Mattsby’s core claim is that XRP has defended its long-term trend support and is now coiling for expansion. “XRP had a perfect bounce off the 20-month MA, while the upper and lower bands continue to contract—setting up for its next explosive move higher,” he wrote, adding: “It’s crazy how many people are bearish right at major high-time-frame support.” On the monthly chart, XRP is shown trading around $2.08629, sitting above the Bollinger basis near 1.89623, with the upper band labeled at $3.57705 and the lower band at $0.21541. The visual takeaway is the squeeze: the band envelope has tightened materially compared with prior periods, a condition Mattsby ties to “explosive” directional follow-through when it resolves. Related Reading: Jake Claver Doubles Down On $100 XRP Target After 2025 Miss The other important input on that panel is the 20-month moving average, which Mattsby highlights as the pivot. His October framing leans on historical rhyme: “XRP is repeating what it did back in 2017. Consolidate sideways for months until it touched the 20month MA. After that, it shot up to finish off the cycle.” In his view, the touch-and-hold dynamic is already in place this cycle, even if it’s “taking a little longer.” With the October 10 liquidation event, XRP pierced the 20-month moving average and has since consolidated above it. If that read holds, the most explicit upside reference on-chart is the monthly Bollinger upper band around $3.57705, a level that would represent a return to the top of the current volatility envelope rather than an open-ended projection. Wyckoff-Style Re-Accumulation Points To $8 Charting Guy’s daily chart overlays a Wyckoff-style roadmap and labels the sequence as a re-accumulation that transitions into markup. The yellow projection assumes XRP is still working through overhead supply, with the ~$2.08 area (marked by the blue horizontal line and aligned with the current print) acting as the immediate gatekeeper. In that framing, $2.08 is not a comfort-zone support level yet; it is a level XRP needs to reclaim decisively and then stay above on retests for the bullish sequence to keep validating. Related Reading: XRP Faces Strong Social Discontent—Is A 50% Bullish Reversal Just Around The Corner? A second constraint on the chart is the descending channel, the “creek” structure that defined the current downtrend. Charting Guy expects that XRP will rally towards the upper trendline resistance, followed by a controlled pullback labeled “test,” where price checks whether demand is real and whether sellers can still force acceptance back into the old range. If that test holds (another short-lived dip below $2.08 is fine), the roadmap then looks for an “LPS” (last point of support): a higher low that signals supply is being absorbed. Only after that does the yellow path call for “JATC” (jump across the creek), the clean breakout through the channel, followed by “SOS” (sign of strength) into the next major horizontal ceiling around ~$3.40. From there, the schematic expects another pause and “LPS” beneath that ~$3.40 zone, before the final markup leg accelerates into the ~$8 region. In short, the chart’s bullish outcome is conditional on sequential level-flips: first $2.08, then the channel, then ~$3.40 and finally $8. Until now, XRP is “following perfectly” the path, as the analyst noted via X. At press time, XRP traded at $2.13. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Analysts warn that renewed institutional demand is stabilizing crypto prices without yet restoring conviction.
Altcoins, led by Ether, XRP and Solana, drove crypto ETP growth in 2025, while Bitcoin fund inflows fell 35%.
Bank of America updated its policy in December 2025, allowing over 15,000 advisors across Merrill, Private Bank, and Merrill Edge to recommend 1% to 4% crypto allocations via spot Bitcoin ETFs like BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC, Bitwise’s BITB, and Grayscale’s Mini Trust starting January 5, 2026. This proactive shift ends prior restrictions requiring client requests, …
When the futures market opened Monday, the screens told a story that felt backward. The U.S. had just captured Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, in a weekend operation that jolted geopolitics and dominated headlines. And yet oil did not spike. It slipped. At the same time, Bitcoin held its ground, then pushed higher. It traded around […]
The post Oil prices just did the unthinkable after the Venezuela raid, and it hands Bitcoin a rare advantage appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Japan wants in on the crypto ETF wave. Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki announced government support for integrating digital assets into the country’s stock and commodity exchanges. She made the statement during her New Year address at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Monday. Katayama called 2026 the “first year of the digital era” and pointed directly …
Bitcoin pushes above $92,000 as stocks tied to crypto, AI mining, and metals rally in pre market trading.
Bitcoin hit $93,000 for the first time in nearly a month on Venezuela volatility, but BTC price forecasts include a sweep of $80,000 lows.
Dominant call positioning is shaping bitcoin’s price dynamics as bitcoin breaks out of its sideways range.
U.S President Donald Trump has issued a strong warning to Colombia following the capture of Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro. His remarks raised fears of possible U.S. military action in Latin America, triggering market uncertainty and putting global assets, including crypto markets, on high alert. Trump Warns Colombia After Maduro Capture According to statements made on …
January’s unlock calendar is heavily concentrated, with four major projects accounting for more than one-third of all tokens set to enter circulation.
The memecoin market went through a brutal reset in 2025, marking one of its sharpest downturns since the sector became a dominant force within crypto speculation. Following the euphoric memecoin mania that peaked and ultimately collapsed in November 2024, selling pressure steadily took control. Liquidity dried up, momentum faded, and most memecoins entered prolonged drawdowns that significantly underperformed the broader market. Related Reading: Bitcoin Data Shows Aggressive Sellers In Control As BTC Consolidates Below $90K As risk appetite weakened, memecoin dominance within the altcoin market continued to erode throughout the year. By December 2025, this dominance fell to a historical low, reflecting widespread capitulation among retail participants and a clear shift away from high-beta speculative assets. Many traders exited positions entirely, reinforcing the narrative that the memecoin cycle had fully played out. However, extreme pessimism often marks important turning points. According to an analysis by Darkfost from CryptoQuant, the current compression in memecoin dominance closely mirrors prior structural lows observed in past cycles. Notably, the last time memecoin dominance reached comparable levels, it occurred shortly before a powerful resurgence in the sector, driven by renewed liquidity, fresh narratives, and aggressive speculative flows. Memecoin Dominance Shows Early Signs of Stabilization Recent on-chain analysis highlights how far the memecoin sector has fallen relative to the broader altcoin market—and why some investors are starting to pay attention again. According to Darkfost’s framework, the key ratio compares the combined market capitalization of major memecoins against that of leading altcoins. At the height of the speculative frenzy in November 2024, this ratio climbed to roughly 0.11, meaning memecoins represented about 11% of total altcoin market value. That level reflected peak enthusiasm, heavy retail participation, and aggressive risk-taking. By December 2025, however, the same ratio had collapsed to around 0.032. In practical terms, memecoins had lost nearly two-thirds of their relative weight within the altcoin universe. This sharp contraction aligns with prolonged underperformance, capital rotation into larger assets, and widespread capitulation after months of declining prices. Importantly, recent price action suggests the bleeding may be slowing. Over the past several days, some of the largest memecoins have posted notable rebounds, hinting at renewed speculative interest. While this move is far too early to confirm a full trend reversal, it does suggest that selling pressure is no longer one-sided. For now, the data points to a tentative stabilization phase rather than a confirmed memecoin season. Still, for high-risk investors, such deeply compressed relative valuations have historically preceded sharp, sentiment-driven rallies—provided risk is managed carefully and expectations remain realistic. Related Reading: Altcoin Season Setup Advances: CEX Volume Hits Cycle Highs Despite Price Weakness Technical Rebound After A Prolonged Downtrend The memecoin market cap chart shows a clear shift in structure after months of sustained weakness. Throughout the second half of 2025, total memecoin capitalization trended decisively lower, forming a sequence of lower highs and lower lows while remaining capped below the 50-day and 100-day moving averages. However, recent price action suggests the first meaningful attempt at stabilization. The market cap has rebounded sharply from the December lows near the $35–38 billion zone and is now trading back above the short-term moving average, reclaiming the $46 billion area. This move is accompanied by a noticeable pickup in volume, indicating renewed participation rather than a purely technical bounce on thin liquidity. Related Reading: Ethereum Liquidity Rebuilds On Binance: December Inflows Signal Strategic Repositioning Despite this improvement, the broader trend remains cautious. The memecoin market cap is still trading below the longer-term moving averages, which continue to slope downward and act as overhead resistance around the $50–55 billion range. This suggests that while downside momentum has slowed, the market has not yet transitioned into a confirmed uptrend. In practical terms, the chart points to a relief rally within a broader bearish structure. For memecoins to regain sustained momentum, the market would need to consolidate above current levels and reclaim higher moving averages. Signaling that speculative capital is returning with conviction rather than opportunism. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com
With a 28% rally over the past four days, Dogecoin (DOGE/USDT) is back at a familiar decision point on higher timeframes, with three analysts leaning toward “pullback-then-continue” rather than a simple fade, so long as a key Fibonacci reclaim holds. Across the 4H, weekly, and monthly charts shared by Matt Hughes (@matthughes13), Byzantine General (@ByzGeneral), and Cantonese Cat (@cantonmeow), the market is framed as strong but now confronting nearby resistance after a sharp move. Is Dogecoin’s Rally A Dead Cat Bounce? Matt Hughes’ core tell is the weekly 0.382 retracement at 0.13847, which his chart highlights as the pivot level bulls needed to regain. He put it plainly: “DOGE regaining the .382 fib at .13847 is bullish for continuation higher. It was just a few days ago when some people were bearish at this major support zone that I pointed out in the post below” He anchored that read to the prior demand area he’d flagged last week: “Risk/reward in the .11-.12 zone for DOGE is incredible here.” The most recent, lower-timeframe view (DOGEUSDT 4H, Binance futures) shows why “dead cat bounce” talk is tempting: price ripped higher, tagged the prior range highs, and then backed off, exactly the kind of sequence that can either turn into a clean retest or an abrupt rollover. Related Reading: Dogecoin Enters Crucial Accumulation Zone — DOGE Price To $0.2? Byzantine General’s take matches that posture. He expects a reset to the $0.14 region, before the rally resumes: “DOGE made a pretty incredible move. After taking out the range highs I think a little pullback makes sense, but it still looks very strong overall.” On the same 4H layout, the move is accompanied by rising derivatives positioning, Velo’s aggregated open interest is shown pushing up to 4.714B, while cross-exchange funding reads positive (Binance 0.01, Bybit 0.0099, OKX 0.0082), consistent with a market leaning long but not obviously depicted as euphoric in these panels. Cantonese Cat’s framing is more tactical: the rally can still “work,” but only if it respects the structure and reacts cleanly at resistance. He wrote: “DOGE maybe hitting resistance here soon Let’s see how it reacts there So far it’s just been a brutal retrace to 0.382, which still makes this a valid handle for the big 4-year cup and handle formation.” Related Reading: Is The Dogecoin Bottom In? 3 Analysts Break Down the Charts After price met that area, he followed up: “Literally right on the money with resistance. Now what? We’ve got a whole month ahead of us. Let’s see how DOGE does it from here on out.” On the 4-hour chart by Hughes, the roadmap is explicit: the 0.382 level sits at 0.13847, with the next marked retracements above at 0.19070 (0.5) and 0.26261 (0.618). The monthly view reinforces that the current zone is a tight band between 0.11778 (0.382) and 0.15428 (0.5), with 0.20210 (0.618) above, useful reference points for where continuation would need to prove itself, step by step, rather than in a single candle. That leaves the “dead cat bounce” question mostly conditional. If DOGE can keep weekly acceptance above 0.13847 and reclaim the nearby monthly 0.15428 area (the same neighborhood as the prior range highs on the 4H), the analysts’ shared bias reads as consolidation-before-extension. If price loses 0.13847 again, the setup starts to look more like a failed reclaim, with the lower marked supports on the charts at 0.11778 and 0.09320 coming back into focus. At press time, DOGE traded at $0.14944. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Japan recently announced plans to reclassify 105 cryptocurrencies to treat them as financial products and apply lower taxes.
A Polymarket trader known as “beachboy4” lost more than $2.07 million in just 35 days, even with a 51% win rate across 53 prediction trades. The losses stemmed from huge average bets of about $400,000, frequent high-priced entries, and no stop‑loss or hedging strategies, causing many losing positions to go to zero. His biggest single …
Shiba Inu (SHIB) has ridden a fresh wave of speculative buying this week, with the token jumping nearly 16% while the broader meme coin sector surged. Related Reading: $18 Million Ethereum Loss Sends Whale Running To Gold According to Santiment, total meme coin valuation rose by about 23% over the period as traders piled back into higher-risk tokens. Trading volumes jumped from $2.16 billion to roughly $8.6 billion, a whopping increase that shows how fast money rotated into this corner of the market. Supply Concentration Raises Eyebrows Reports have disclosed that supply remains highly concentrated among a handful of wallets. The top 10 holders control over 60% of SHIB’s maximum supply, which equals around 1 quadrillion tokens. ???????? Meme coins, the most “speculative” of assets, have proceeded with their post-holiday run. The entire meme market cap is now above $45.3B, growing by +20.8% in just the past week. ???? Notable 7-day gainers include: ???? $PEPE +54% ???? $USELESS +54% ???? $MOG +38% ???? $DOG +36% ????… pic.twitter.com/htdfiXLaLf — Santiment (@santimentfeed) January 4, 2026 Those wallets together hold about 630 trillion SHIB. Based on Santiment’s figures, the official burn wallet alone holds roughly 40% of the total supply, a stake valued at over $3 billion. This kind of concentration can magnify price swings if large holders move coins onto exchanges or sell. Technical Setup Points To A Test Analyst Charting Guy flagged the token’s weekly chart as “looking good” in a January 4 tweet, noting a strong weekly candle that closed up 22%. Based on reports, SHIB started 2026 at $0.000006904 and has since pushed higher. $SHIB weekly looks good pic.twitter.com/YigTTQ3kEW — Charting Guy (@ChartingGuy) January 4, 2026 The meme coin briefly traded above $0.0000093 before a pullback and is currently around $0.000008766. Year-to-date gains sit near 64% and the token was up 2.14% over the past 24 hours and 15.7% over the last week. Charting Guy’s chart shows SHIB approaching the tip of a long-running descending trendline that traces back to a high of $0.0000334 in December 2024. A break above that line would raise the chance of a larger move higher. Meme Coins See Wide Gains Other tokens have also posted big moves. Dogecoin recorded about a 20% rise while Pepe surged roughly 65% over the same span. The group’s sharp gains came as speculative interest accelerated and traders chased short-term returns. Related Reading: A Maduro Bet, A Market Alarm: US Lawmaker Targets Trading Abuses Market Volume And Trader Behavior Santiment’s data highlights that trading activity spiked dramatically, signaling a swift return of hot money to meme coins. The jump from $2.17 billion to $8.7 billion in daily traded value shows more participants are active and willing to take bigger risks. Based on the mix of heavy supply concentration and a crowded technical setup, Shiba Inu’s path could widen in either direction. A decisive breakout above the descending trendline might extend last week’s rally, while heavy selling from large wallets could trigger sharp pullbacks. Featured image from Gemini, chart from TradingView
PwC, one of the world’s Big Four accounting firms, is stepping deeper into crypto after years of staying cautious. In a recent interview, Paul Griggs, PwC’s U.S. senior partner, said the firm has decided to “lean in” toward crypto. He said that the Trump administration has reduced legal uncertainty, especially in areas closely watched by …
Current sentiment around crypto regulation remains cautiously optimistic, with much of the focus centered on the long-awaited crypto market structure bill, commonly referred to as the CLARITY Act. While price movement across the market has stayed limited, industry insiders believe regulation, rather than short-term speculation, will play a key role in shaping crypto’s next phase. …
SlowMist’s Chief Security Officer recently flagged a new phishing scam that targets MetaMask wallet owners by copying official security alert pages to steal mnemonic seed phrases. The scam starts with a forged MetaMask alert and leads users through a fake two‑factor authentication flow that includes a countdown timer and looks urgent and legitimate. Victims are …
Moving alongside Bitcoin, the Ethereum price has actually been able to reclaim $3,000, moving up faster than anticipated over the weekend. This resulted in an over 6% daily increase by Sunday, as sentiment began to move toward the positive again. However, this move has not completely erased the bearish expectations surrounding the cryptocurrency, especially as one crypto analyst points out that the digital asset has now actually entered overbought levels. Ethereum In Dangerous Territory In a TradingView post, crypto analyst SignalProvider highlighted that Ethereum has now entered overbought levels, something that is bearish for the price. As explained by the analyst, using the ETheruem -Hour timeframe, the trend is currently bearish as the 7-period RSI shows that the digital asset is now in oversold levels. Related Reading: XRP Price Mirrors 2017 Sideways Accumulation Trend – Here’s What Happened Last Time This comes as the Ethereum price continues to trade above $3,100, which the analyst calls a solid horizontal structure. However, this structure has not held as strongly as expected, leading to weakness in the market. As a result, the crypto analyst explains that this could result in a price decline. If the decline plays out as expected with the overbought levels, then the first target is $3,028, according to the analyst. This could then serve as a support level that could begin the next uptrend. However, there is a possibility that this does not play out soon, as prices entering overbought levels can take time to play out. ETH Price Is Not Entirely Bearish While the entrance into overbought levels remains a bearish signal for the Ethereum price, another analyst has presented a possible bullish path for the cryptocurrency from here. This lies in the ability of bulls to break out completely from the $3,100 level. Related Reading: Dogecoin Price Could Rally To All-Time Highs If It Breaks This Resistance Level As crypto analyst TheSignalyst explains, the lower bound of the channel has been working to serve as support for the Ethereum price above $3,000. If this channel continues to hold, then the bullish trend remains intact. “From a structure point of view, ETH remains bullish, trading cleanly inside a flat rising channel,” the post read. When the breakout is completed, then the price could rise as high as $3,600, which is the top of the current ascending channel. But TheSignalyst explains that until this breakout happens, Ethereum investors should expect more sideways chop as the price continues to build up. Featured image from Dall.E, chart from TradingView.com
PwC is making a major shift to grow its digital asset business after years of caution, driven by clearer US regulations and new stablecoin laws. PwC US leader Paul Griggs says the GENIUS Act, which sets federal rules for stablecoins, and a more supportive regulatory climate have boosted confidence in crypto and created new opportunities …