Inside The $187M Deal Between The Trump Family And The UAE’s ‘Spy Sheikh’

The Trump family reportedly received $187 million from an Abu Dhabi royal-backed investment firm four days before Trump’s inauguration and months before the UAE secured access to 500,000 advanced AI chips annually.

Sheikh Tahnoon Invests $500M In WLFI

According to the Wall Street Journal, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser, backed a $500 million investment for 49% of World Liberty Financial (CRYPTO: WLFI) through his firm Aryam Investment 1 on January 16, 2025.

Eric Trump signed the agreement. Trump family entities received $187 million of the first $250 million installment.

Meanwhile, $31 million went to Steve Witkoff’s family entities and another…

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Have Prediction Markets Popped Crypto’s Balloon?

“Anytime crypto markets go bearish, someone frames it as a morality tale about excess crashing into regulation. That’s a tidy argument, but incomplete.”

If you want a permissive channel for betting on uncertainty, crypto hits the spot: All digital, vaguely regulated, truckloads of volatility, and realistic prospects for gains.

Prediction markets are now contesting that role. Their rapid rise has sucked up some of crypto’s speculative energy and made the current bear market worse.

When one trading route narrows, another tends to open. A chunk of crypto’s risk appetite has been diverted elsewhere, down a road with fewer frictions and clearer rules.

Key takeaways
Prediction market volumes… Read more on Benzinga

Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin Gamble Faces Test Thursday As Strategy Reports Q4 Earnings: What Investors Can Expect

Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) is set to report earnings for the fourth quarter of 2025 after the market close on Thursday. Here’s what investors need to know before the announcement.

What Analysts Expect

Analysts estimate the Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) treasury company to report a loss of $18.64 per share, compared to a loss of $3.20 per share in the same quarter of the previous year.

The firm is expected to report a quarterly revenue of $118.92 million, down from $120.70 million.

The MSTR stock has a consensus price target of $480.53 from 12 analysts, with the highest forecast of $705 set by Benchmark in August last year. Based on the three most recent ratings, the average price target…

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Barry Silbert Sees Latest Slump As ‘Gift From Crypto Gods,’ Drops His Top Bets Even As Bitcoin Sinks Under $75,000

Barry Silbert, CEO of cryptocurrency conglomerate Digital Currency Group, described the latest cryptocurrency crash as a god-sent opportunity poised to trigger significant capital inflows back into the sector.

Why Silbert Sees Opportunity Amid Chaos

In an X post, Silbert referred to the market slump as a “gift from the crypto gods,” suggesting that it is clearing out excess leverage and “crap tokens.”

“A massive capital rotation into crypto is about to begin. Time to pick your fighter,” the cryptocurrency mogul projected.

‘Extreme Fear’ Grips Cryptocurrency Market

Silbert’s forecast follows a sharp market drop over the weekend, pushing Bitcoin and Ethereum to their lowest…

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Tom Lee’s BitMine Ethereum Gambit Close To Being ‘Worst Trade Ever,’ Says Ross Gerber As Company Faces Billions In Paper Losses – BitMine Immersion (AMEX:BMNR)

Renowned investor Ross Gerber slammed BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc.‘s (NYSE:BMNR) strategy on Sunday amid massive unrealized losses on its Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) position.

Will BitMine’s Strategy Backfire?

The CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management said the ETH bet by Tom Lee’s company could well turn out to be the “worst trade ever.”

BitMine’s ETH holdings were valued at approximately $8.98 billion, according to data from DropsTab. Having poured $15.65 billion into these investments, the company is staring down unrealized losses of a massive $6.65 billion as of this writing.

Are Treasury Models The Future Or A Flop?

BitMine didn’t immediately return…

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Crypto Billionaire Justin Sun Accused Of Market Manipulation To Inflate Tron Token By ‘Ex-Girlfriend’ – ‘Have A Substantial Amount Of Evidence’ – TRX Gold (AMEX:TRX)

A woman claiming to be Justin Sun’s ex-girlfriend alleged on Sunday that the cryptocurrency billionaire manipulated the market to pump the price of his Tron (CRYPTO: TRX) token.

Serious Allegations Against Tron Founder

Zeng Ying, describing herself as a finance blogger and a “Crypto OG,” said she was in a relationship with Sun back in the early days of Tron, the Layer-1 blockchain he founded in July 2017.

Zeng said Sun used the identities and mobile phones of multiple employees in Beijing to operate several accounts on the Binance (CRYPTO: BNB) exchange. Through this, he conducted “coordinated buying and selling” on the exchange to artificially inflate TRX’s price, she added.

Benzinga

Cathie Wood Notes Bullish Moves In Gold Led Bitcoin Bounces In Last 2 Major Cycles, Calls These Cryptos ‘Good Diversifiers’ – Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) (ARCA:BTC)

Ark Invest founder Cathie Wood pitched cryptocurrencies as “diversifiers” in the current market on Saturday, pointing to historical data showing gold price rallies before Bitcoin’s (CRYPTO: BTC) bull run.

What Do Gold Trends Signal For Bitcoin?

In an X post, Wood noted Bitcoin’s low correlation with gold returns since early 2020, citing research from her firm.

She also highlighted that gold price movements preceded the last two “significant bull moves” in Bitcoin’s price.

Wood Says Cryptos Are ‘Good Diversifiers’The Counter-Argument

As indicated by the graph below, gold preceded Bitcoin’s bull market in the 2020-21 cycle and again in 2024-25. In the current market, the…

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Elizabeth Warren Calls It ‘Corruption’ After $500 Million UAE Investment Reported In Trump Crypto Firm: ‘Congress Needs To Grow A Spine’ – NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Over the weekend, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) accused the Donald Trump administration of “crypto corruption” following a report that a top UAE royal invested $500 million in a Trump-linked cryptocurrency venture.

UAE Royal Reportedly Took Massive Stake In World Liberty

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and a senior royal, backed a $500 million investment in World Liberty Financial, reported the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, citing company documents and people familiar with the matter.

The investment was made through Aryam Investment, a Tahnoon-backed firm that acquired a 49% stake, making it the company’s largest known shareholder, according to…

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Jim Cramer Says Michael Saylor Should ‘Jam-Up’ Bitcoin To $82,000: ‘That Way Some Ill-Advised Folks Will Shout Double Bottom’ – Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR)

Popular market commentator Jim Cramer offered a cheeky take on Bitcoin’s (CRYPTO: BTC) latest crash Sunday, urging Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) founder Michael Saylor to “jam up” the apex cryptocurrency.

Cramer’s Tongue-In-Cheek Remark

In an X post, Cramer proposed that Saylor should wait until about 6:30 pm to observe the S&P futures, and then attempt to push Bitcoin’s price up to $82,500 from $76,500.

“That way some ill-advised folks will shout double bottom and pay no attention to the break below $80.000,” the “Mad Money” host said.

Cramer Targets Defenders

Cramer made a series of posts on Bitcoin’s latest plunge below $76,000, its worst sell-off since early April.

He…

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