Check out U.Today’s selection of the top three news stories over the past day.

69,000 BTC could be sold by U.S. government

The U.S. government has been allowed to liquidate 69,370 Bitcoins seized from the Silk Road marketplace. The claimants (Battle Born Investments Company, First 100 and 1st One Hundred Holdings) sought to pause this enforcement while pursuing a separate lawsuit aimed at revealing the identity of “Individual X,” a hacker who helped to forfeit the Bitcoins stolen from Silk Road to the U.S. government. This hacker was allegedly threatened by Silk Road’s jailed founder, Ross Ulbricht. The claimants wanted to rely on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to disclose the hacker’s identity, but the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in favor of the government. This means that the government can proceed with the liquidation of the confiscated Bitcoin fortune. The liquidation, however, may negatively impact Bitcoin prices, already struggling to gain momentum.

XRP price defends major Bollinger Bands level: Bullish?

The price of XRP faced a significant test yesterday, Jan. 9. After a recent decline of 6.2% at the beginning of the week, the asset found a bottom at the 20-day moving average, which serves as the median in the Bollinger Bands indicator. After briefly closing above this median, XRP experienced a rebound of 4.51%, but this was interrupted by news of the U.S. Department of Justice’s approval to sell seized Bitcoin from the Silk Road; the announcement led to a marketwide sell-off, dragging XRP’s price down again. Despite this, XRP has managed to hold above the median Bollinger Band, maintaining a bullish outlook; however, another retest of this level is possible, which would mean a further decline of 1.48%. If this retest proves successful, it would make reaching the upper Bollinger Band at $2.51 more likely, offering potential for significant gains.

Gensler slams crypto ahead of his exit

Being in the final days of his tenure as chair of the U.S. SEC, Gary Gensler reiterated his concerns about the crypto industry, arguing that it is “rife” with bad actors. During his recent appearance on Bloomberg Television, Gensler noted that the public is well-informed about Bitcoin, which constitutes 80% of the market value. However, he also pointed out that there are about 10,000 to 15,000 ventures lacking fundamental support, stating that they are largely driven by sentiment rather than fundamentals. The chair expressed skepticism about the survival of many of these projects, comparing them to venture capital investments and adding that there is also a fair amount of “pump-and-dump schemes.” Speaking of his upcoming departure, Gensler said that it was “a great privilege” to lead the SEC. Despite the attention he garnered for legal actions in the crypto space, Gensler emphasized that such efforts comprised only about 5% of the SEC’s overall enforcement activities.

Here is a 2-minute breakdown of everything important that happened in crypto today.

For the longest time, everyone thought Bitcoin hitting $100K would break the internet. The problem: it didn’t. Instead, Bitcoin is sitting at around $92K.

The Fear and Greed Index? Sitting at “neutral”.

It’s almost weird how unbothered everyone is. Usually, a drop like this turns Twitter into a support group. But this time? Pure zen.

Maybe we’re finally maturing as a market. Or maybe – and this is where it gets interesting – we’re all missing something obvious.

Because let’s be honest: since when does crypto do “neutral” for this long? Since when do we collectively look at a $92K Bitcoin and just… shrug?

Speaking of things that make you think twice – let’s break down what’s actually happening in crypto today! Here’s your rundown of the latest headlines:

• Trump’s presence isn’t helping Bitcoin stay above $100K – turns out Treasury yields had other plans. But what’s going on? 🤔
• Tim Peterson (the guy who called Bitcoin’s $10K bottom) just shared a massive 2035 prediction while calling Q4 “nothing special.” What’s his exact prediction by the way? 🎯
• 2024 saw fewer crypto attacks but bigger losses than 2023, according to PeckShield. So what’s making these attacks more successful despite fewer attempts? 🔐
• US entities now hold 65% more Bitcoin than offshore players – a complete flip from September 2024. What happened to cause this dramatic shift? 🌐
• Multiple firms including Grayscale and VanEck await U.S. approval decisions for Solana ETFs in 2025, with analysts targeting $400 post-approval. Their reasoning? 📉

Let’s dive in!

Bitcoin’s $100,000 mark isn’t going quite as planned.

Something interesting is happening in the traditional markets that is putting pressure on crypto’s biggest player.

We all know about the excitement around Trump’s presidency boosting Bitcoin… The narrative seemed perfect – until Treasury yields decided to crash everything.

What exactly happened? Read the full story!

Bitcoin price predictions are a dime a dozen, but this one deserves attention. Timothy Peterson, the analyst who nailed Bitcoin’s $10,000 floor, just made a bold call.

His track record is interesting – Peterson authored a paper explaining Bitcoin’s value through network growth back in 2018.

Unlike typical crypto analysts who rely on chart patterns, he uses something called Metcalfe’s Law to understand Bitcoin’s true value.

And now he’s putting his reputation on the line with a specific price target for 2035. The number he’s calling for isn’t just ambitious – it’s transformative.

What makes this prediction particularly intriguing is Peterson’s recent comment about Bitcoin’s current performance. Despite the recent rallies that got everyone excited, he called Q4’s performance “nothing special” – in fact, he ranked it as the second-worst ‘Up’ quarter in the past 10 quarters.

Yet he’s still maintaining his long-term bullish stance. The question is: what does he see in Bitcoin’s network metrics? Read the full story!

Last year’s crypto security report is out, and it’s not good.

PeckShield’s latest data shows hackers and scammers made off with more crypto in 2024 than in 2023 – and the increase isn’t small.

While the total number of attacks actually decreased, the amounts stolen got bigger.

So what’s making these attacks more successful despite fewer attempts? Read the full story!

A fascinating power shift is happening in Bitcoin.

US entities are now dominating Bitcoin holdings – they’re holding 65% more Bitcoin than all offshore players combined.

Back in September 2024, when Bitcoin was trading around $60,000, offshore entities were in control.

By the time Bitcoin crossed $100,000, US players had completely flipped the script.

But here’s what makes this particularly intriguing – this shift happened right before Bitcoin’s recent price correction.

As Bitcoin retreated from its $100K heights, something unexpected started happening with traders’ profit margins. What happened? Read the full story!

The battle for the first U.S. Solana ETF is heating up, and the timeline just got interesting.

Grayscale’s application hits its deadline on January 23, 2025, while others like VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Capital are right behind with their January 25 deadlines.

Solana just dipped below $200, making it more attractive for new investors who prefer owning whole coins rather than fractions of Bitcoin or Ethereum.

But here’s what makes this story fascinating – Brazil already approved its first Solana ETF back in August. This precedent might just tip the scales for U.S. regulators.

Some analysts are eyeing a $400 price target for Solana. The reasoning behind this ambitious prediction? Read the full story!

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