As 2026 gets underway, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) sits in an awkward middle ground.

After pushing to an all-time high above $126,000 in mid-2025, prices have pulled back and stabilized in the high-$80,000s.

That kind of move naturally revives the same question for anyone watching from the sidelines: Is this the opportunity, or is there still more downside ahead?

The honest answer is that there is no single “right” moment.

Bitcoin doesn’t reward precision so much as discipline, patience, and position sizing. The investors who tend to do well aren’t the ones who guess the exact bottom — they’re the ones who enter with a process they can stick to.

Where Bitcoin Is Right Now

Benzinga

Convicted Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein said a prison reform law signed by President Donald Trump led to his early release after serving part of a five-year sentence for one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts on record.

Prison Reform Law Cited In Early Release

Lichtenstein, a Russian-U.S. national who admitted to hacking crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016 and stealing nearly 120,000 bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), said on Thursday he has been released from prison early under the First Step Act, the bipartisan criminal justice reform law signed by Trump in 2018.

In a post on his X, he added that he plans to pursue work in cybersecurity and thanked supporters while saying he intends to prove…

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The past year tested investor confidence, as markets grappled with policy upheaval tied to President Donald Trump‘s “Liberation Day” tariffs and a disruptive government shutdown that kept IPO activity largely frozen.

As the calendar turns to 2026, however, prediction market data points to a shift in sentiment, fueled in part by sustained enthusiasm around artificial intelligence (AI).

While headlines have focused on blockbuster names such as SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic, under-the-radar IPOs are quietly capturing investor attention.

Kalshi, a real-money prediction market where traders bet on future events, shows early indications of which companies could go public before 2027. These…

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“Despite what we hear on the news… the great story of our era is that we are witnessing the greatest improvement in global living standards ever to take place.”

— John Norberg

As years go, 2025 was a pretty good one, I think.

Derek Thompson goes so far as to say it was “an exceptional year for America,” citing, among other things, huge declines in traffic deaths, drug overdoses and suicides, the largest-ever drop in murder rates, and dramatic advances in healthcare.

“This seems to be the first period on record when every major cause of premature death — overdose, auto…

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A quiet crypto promotion is giving some people in the U.S. a surprisingly easy way to pick up $10 worth of Bitcoin or Ethereum — and unlike many sign-up bonuses, this one doesn’t demand ongoing trading, referrals, or long-term commitment.

For eligible first-time users, it’s essentially a short window where opening and verifying a new investment account unlocks free crypto that can be converted to cash almost immediately.

There’s no strategy involved, no hoops to jump through, and no expectation that you keep using the platform afterward. If your goal is simply to grab $10 in crypto and move on, that’s very much on the table here.

How the $10 Free Crypto Offer Actually Works

The promotion…

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