Cynthia Lummis ‘Deeply Concerned’ After Report Points Toward $6 Million Bitcoin Sale By Justice Department — But Did It Really Happen?

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) expressed deep concern Monday over reports that the U.S. government is selling Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), despite a directive to preserve such assets for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

Lummis Reacts To Bitcoin Sale Report

Lummis voiced her concerns in response to a report by Bitcoin Magazine, which revealed that the Department of Justice sold the Bitcoin seized from Samourai Wallet developers as part of their plea deal.

Lummis questioned why this was still happening despite President Donald Trump’s executive order from last year requiring that forfeited Bitcoin be held in a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

“We can’t afford to squander these strategic assets while…

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MSTR Stock Spikes Over 6% After Hours As MSCI Drops Plan To Exclude Crypto Treasury Companies Like Strategy From Global Index – Michael Saylor Reacts – Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR)

Global index provider MSCI decided against excluding cryptocurrency treasury firms from its Global Investable Market Indexes on Monday, significantly boosting shares of companies such as Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) in the after-hours session.

MSCI’s Relief For Crypto-Hoarding Companies

The MSCI announced that the current index treatment of digital asset treasury companies identified in the preliminary list, whose digital asset holdings account for 50% or more of their total assets, will remain unchanged “for the time being.”

The decision was made following a consultation process that raised institutional investors’ concerns that these companies “exhibit characteristics…

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Melania Trump Memecoin Surges 7%, Leaves Bitcoin, Dogecoin In The Dust — What’s Driving The Buzz? – Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) (ARCA:BTC)

Official Melania (CRYPTO: MELANIA) coin rallied strongly on Tuesday, defying the weakness in the broader cryptocurrency market.

MELANIA Bucks Market Trends

The official cryptocurrency of First Lady Melania Trump rose as much as 7% over the past 24 hours, with trading volume surging 115% to $12.42 million in this period. The coin has rallied 25% since the beginning of the year.

MELANIA recorded nearly $351,000 in total liquidations in the last 24 hours, with $250,000 attributed to short liquidations, according to Coinglass.

Additionally, the coin’s Long/Short ratio surged to 2.63, indicating bullish bets were more than twice as prevalent as bearish bets.

The uptick contrasted with the…

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Bitcoin, XRP, Dogecoin Fall, While Ethereum Trades Flat: Analyst Says Increase In This Indicator Could Mean A ‘ Very Positive’ Signal For The Market – Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) (ARCA:BTC)

Leading cryptocurrencies halted their rally on Tuesday, even as stocks and precious metals kept climbing.

CryptocurrencyGains +/-Price (Recorded at 8:20 p.m. ET)Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC)-1.69%$92,350.09Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH)               +0.57%$3,247.04XRP (CRYPTO: XRP)                         -5.03%$2.26Solana (CRYPTO: SOL)                         +1.24%$139.66Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE)                         -3.20%$0.1474Crypto Rally Stalls

Bitcoin fell sharply to $91,280 in early-afternoon trading before rebounding to around $93,500 by evening.

Ethereum took a breather, settling around the $3,300 region…

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Senate Republicans Make ‘Closing Offer’ On Crypto Bill

Senate Republicans are reportedly escalating efforts to advance the long-stalled crypto market structure legislation, delivering what they described as a “closing offer” to Democratic negotiators as Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) moves toward a committee markup as soon as next week.

Senate Banking Committee Republicans sent a document Monday night outlining a series of proposed changes to the bill ahead of a bipartisan member meeting Tuesday. 

The document, described as a “closing offer and state of play,” includes more than 30 revisions to Title I, which governs the legal classification of digital assets, as well as two new titles focused on investor…

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MSCI Won’t Exclude Bitcoin Treasury Firms Like Strategy From Global Indexes

In a major development for Bitcoin-focused corporations and the broader digital asset ecosystem, global index provider MSCI has concluded its review of digital asset treasury companies (DATCOs) and decided against excluding them from its flagship indexes.

MSCI said the current treatment of affected companies will remain unchanged for now, meaning DATCOs already included in MSCI indexes will stay included as long as they continue to meet existing eligibility requirements. 

The index provider acknowledged feedback from institutional investors expressing concern that some digital asset treasury companies resemble investment funds, which are typically excluded from its… Read more on BitcoinMagazine

Bitcoin Holds $92,000 As Analysts See Market Bottom

Bitcoin hovered near $92,000 on Tuesday as analysts and traders pointed to improving technical and macro signals suggesting the cryptocurrency may have put its brutal fourth-quarter sell-off behind it.

The price action comes after months of volatility that saw bitcoin fall as much as 35% from its October peak above $126,000, amid forced liquidations and selling pressure from long-term holders. While the asset ended December down for a third consecutive month — a historically rare pattern — several analysts argue the setup now favors a rebound.

“We believe with reasonable confidence that Bitcoin and broader digital asset markets have bottomed,” Bernstein analyst Gautam…

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SOL & ADA Are 2025’s Trades—This Privacy Coin Leads The 2026 Narrative

Zcash (CRYPTO: ZEC) is up 780% year-over-year, with Arthur Hayes betting big on privacy coins becoming 2026’s dominant narrative, all the while established altcoins Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) underperform.

Hayes’ Privacy Bet

The former BitMEX CEO said in his latest essay that his fund, Maelstrom, went heavily long ZEC after accumulating positions in Q3 2025, wagering that privacy will emerge as crypto’s dominant narrative this year.

“This year’s dominant narrative will surround privacy. ZEC will become the privacy beta,” Hayes wrote in his latest essay. 

“To obtain outperformance versus Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), I will sell BTC to fund…

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Trump’s ‘10% Gas Price Rule’ Will Decide Bitcoin’s Fate in 2026, Says Arthur Hayes

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) bull and BitMex co-founder Arthur Hayes says President Trump’s Venezuela move creates a simple trade: if liquidity increases while gas prices stay cheap, Bitcoin moons; if oil spikes, the rally dies.

The 10% Rule That Decides Elections

In his new essay, Hayes explains Trump’s 2026 midterm strategy in simple terms—print massive amounts of money to boost the economy and make voters feel rich, but keep gas prices from spiking so inflation doesn’t alienate them.

The former BitMEX CEO points to the “10% rule” that’s decided past elections: when national average gas prices rise 10% or more in the three months before an election compared to January of that year,…

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