Cathie Wood Predicts ‘Goldilocks’ Boom In 2026: 5% GDP With Deflation, Calls Bitcoin ‘Ultimate Diversifier’ For Portfolios

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood is calling for an economic “Goldilocks” scenario in 2026, forecasting real GDP growth surging toward 5%, accompanied by falling inflation—and potentially outright deflation—driven by an AI-led productivity boom.

‘Goldilocks’ Return

In a latest ARK Invest video, Wood argued that the U.S. economy is exiting a three-year “rolling recession” that quietly battered housing and manufacturing.

Citing recent data showing real GDP growth already topping 4% in late 2025, she expects this momentum to accelerate.

Contrary to consensus fears that rapid growth triggers inflation, Wood posits that the current surge is fueled by technology and productivity, which…

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Cynthia Lummis Introduces Bill To Safeguard Crypto Developers From Money Transmitter Rules, Argues Against Penalties ‘Simply Because They Write Code’

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) put forth a bipartisan bill on Monday with the intent to shield blockchain developers from being categorized as money transmitters under federal law.

‘Stop Treating Software Developers Like Banks’

The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act aims to exempt “non-controlling” software developers and infrastructure providers from federal money transfer requirements.

Non-controlling developers are defined as those who develop or maintain blockchain-based ledgers but lack the legal authority to control transactions without third-party approval.

The bill also designated offering hardware or software for customer self-custody…

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US Attack Odds On Iran Exceed 50% On Crypto Prediction Market As Washington Directs Americans To Leave Country Immediately

Bettors on Polymarket now assign over a 50% probability to a U.S. military strike on Iran this month, following a new advisory urging Americans to leave the protest-hit country immediately.

Rising Tensions: US Strike Odds Surge

The odds that the U.S. will strike Iran by Jan. 31 have risen to 54%, up 9 percentage points in the last 24 hours. The probability of such a military action happening by Jan. 23 jumped from 29% to 43%

Roughly $13.7 million has been wagered on this bet. The market resolves to “Yes” if the U.S. initiates a drone, missile or air strike on Iranian territory, including its embassies and consulates. However, missiles or drones that are intercepted won’t count.

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Crypto Market Structure Bill Markup Pushed To January End To Ensure Broad Support, Says Senator John Boozman – Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN)

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) said Monday that the committee has decided to postpone the markup of the cryptocurrency market structure bill from Thursday to the last week of January.

More Time Needed For Bipartisan Consensus?

Boozman said that the delay provides additional time for further discussions and refinement of the bill.

He revealed that the committee had made “meaningful progress” and had “constructive” bipartisan discussions over the weekend. Boozman reiterated his commitment to moving forward with the bipartisan crypto market structure legislation.

“To finalize the remaining details and ensure the broad support this legislation requires,…

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Rumored Venezuelan Bitcoin Fate ‘Remains To Be Seen’: SEC

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins said today that it remains unclear whether the U.S. government will move to seize the widely discussed Bitcoin holdings rumored to be tied to Venezuela, an uncertainty that comes as Washington seeks to bring greater regulatory clarity to digital asset markets.

Atkins told Fox Business the question of pursuing the so‑called Venezuela Bitcoin stash — variously estimated at roughly 600,000 BTC, or about $56 billion to $67 billion at current prices — is “still to be seen” and is being handled by other parts of the administration. 

“I leave that to others to deal with. That’s not my focus,” Atkins said,…

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Iran’s Rial Just Collapsed. Is It Time For Bitcoin?

Iran’s national currency, the rial, has completely collapsed against the U.S. dollar as the country’s economic crisis worsens. The value of one rial is now worth $0.00 right now.

On the open market, one U.S. dollar now trades for roughly 1.4 million rials, a collapse that has erased decades of purchasing power and fueled widespread unrest.

The currency’s plunge isn’t new, but the pace of decline in 2025 and early 2026 has been dramatic. Sanctions remain severe, oil revenues have shrunk, and political instability has driven investors and ordinary Iranians to seek alternatives to the rial and even to the U.S. dollar.

Inflation is soaring. Prices on food, medicine and…

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Bitcoin Holds $91,000 As Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Drift Lower On Quiet Start To The Week

Bitcoin is holding around $91,000 as markets kick off the week with muted price action and broadly neutral sentiment.

CryptocurrencyTickerPriceBitcoin(CRYPTO: BTCEthereum(CRYPTO: ETHSolana(CRYPTO: SOLXRP(CRYPTO: XRPDogecoin(CRYPTO: DOGEShiba Inu(CRYPTO: SHIB5)$91,570.92)$3,104.15)$141.21)$2.06)$0.1380)$0.08478

Notable Statistics:

Coinglass data shows 105,562 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $283.05 million.       

SoSoValue data shows net outflows of $250 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs on Friday. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net outflows of $93.8 million.

In the past 24 hours, top gainers include Story, Monero and MYX Finance.

Notable Developments:

Trader Notes:…

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Bitcoin Price Nears $92,000 As Fed-DOJ Clash

The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — and the bitcoin price is reacting. The investigation is intensifying a months‑long feud between the White House and the U.S. central bank

According to Powell, the DOJ served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas and threatened a criminal indictment tied to his June 2025 testimony about a $2.5 billion plus renovation of Fed office buildings. 

Powell characterized the move as politically motivated, claiming it reflected pressure from the Trump administration to cut interest rates more sharply than the Fed’s data‑dependent stance.

President Donald Trump has…

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Trump-Affiliated World Liberty Launches Lending Platform—A Conflict Of Interest?

World Liberty Financial (CRYPTO: WLFI), backed by President Donald Trump’s family, launched World Liberty Markets, a DeFi lending platform for its USD1 stablecoin worth $3.4 billion, even as critics point to conflicts of interest tied to Trump’s $800 million crypto income in 2025.

USD1 Stablecoin Now Available For Lending And Borrowing

World Liberty Markets allows users to lend and borrow digital assets using USD1 alongside collateral including Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), USDC, USDT, tokenized Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), and the WLFI governance token. The platform is powered by Dolomite protocol.

Users can currently borrow USD1 by paying roughly 0.83% interest or lend it out to earn 0.08%,…

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