Virginia Lawmakers Advance Bill For A State Bitcoin Fund

Virginia lawmakers are moving forward with a proposal that would place the Commonwealth among a growing number of states exploring direct exposure to bitcoin and other digital assets through public reserves.

Senate Bill 557, patroned by Senator Reeves, would establish the Commonwealth Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve Fund, a special nonreverting fund housed in the state treasury and administered by the Virginia State Treasurer. 

The measure advanced this week after passing the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee in a 13–2 vote.

Under the legislation, Virginia would be authorized to invest state-held funds directly into bitcoin or other qualifying cryptocurrencies,…

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Bitcoin Plunges Below $70,000, But Underwater ETF Buyers Haven’t Sold (Yet) – Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) (ARCA:BTC)

Despite a sharp pullback in crypto prices, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) ETF investors have largely held their positions, signaling stronger conviction than many expected.

‘ETF Buyers Are Just HODLing’

In a post on X on Wednesday, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that even after Bitcoin’s roughly 40% drawdown, about 94% of assets in spot Bitcoin ETFs remain invested.

The comment followed a discussion suggesting that recent selling pressure has come primarily from long-term OG whales rather than ETF holders, who appear to be “just HODLing.”

Jim Bianco of Bianco Research added context, pointing out that the average Bitcoin ETF investor is now roughly 24% underwater, with unrealized…

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‘Crypto As We Know It Is Over’: Why Investors Are Turning Away From Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP

Crypto venture capital firms are struggling to raise new funds, with major firms pivoting away entirely and half of Paradigm’s team departing in two months.

The VC Fundraising Crisis

Commitments to crypto VC funds remain at historic lows and didn’t recover during Bitcoin‘s (CRYPTO: BTC) generational bull run, according to crypto founder Miya.

Miya, who runs crypto hedge fund operations, spoke to numerous VCs—both traditional finance and crypto-focused—in the past month.

Close to nobody was optimistic about raising for another crypto fund. “Crypto as we know it is over,” Miya wrote.

While risk appetite inside venture capital has been off the charts for other sectors over the…

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SDM Executes $1 Million Lightning Network Payment To Kraken

Secure Digital Markets (SDM) has completed a $1 million Bitcoin transaction over the Lightning Network in a pilot settlement with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, marking what the firms say is the largest publicly reported Lightning payment to date.

The transaction, executed on Jan. 28 and valued at $1 million at the time, settled nearly instantly and with minimal fees.

It was facilitated using enterprise Lightning infrastructure from Voltage, a Bitcoin payments and infrastructure provider focused on institutional clients.

Lightning is a second-layer network built on Bitcoin that enables faster and cheaper payments by moving transactions off the base blockchain. 

While it has been…

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Bitcoin Price Crashes To $69,000 As Crypto Panic Spreads

The bitcoin price slid to $69,000 in Asian trading Thursday as a deepening selloff in global markets spilled into crypto markets. The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 9% over the past 24 hours, touching lows at $69,031 before trimming losses. 

Bitcoin price has now wiped out all gains since its previous $69,000 all-time high in 2021. BTC is now down nearly 30% over the past 12 months and about 45% below its October peak, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data.

The move came alongside sharp declines in Asian equities. MSCI’s Asia technology index fell for a fifth time in six sessions, while South Korea’s Kospi dropped about 4% as major AI-linked names faced…

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Bitcoin Crashes Below $70,000 As Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Plunge 8% – Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) (ARCA:BTC)

Bitcoin extended is down over 8% in 24 hours as liquidations stand at $1.03 billion over the past 24 hours.      

Bitcoin ETFs saw $544.9 million in net outflows on Wednesday, while Ethereum ETFs reported $79.5 million in net outflows.

The meme coin sector fell 4.8% over the past 24 hours to a total market capitalization of $35.7 billion.

Trader Commentary:

Crypto trader Jelle said Bitcoin is now entering a major area of interest around its prior all-time highs and a broad consolidation zone spanning roughly $20,000. He expects demand to begin emerging in this region with clearer direction in next month.

Michael van de Poppe warned volatility is unlikely to fade anytime soon. Bitcoin…

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What’s Going On With HIVE Digital Stock Thursday? – HIVE Digital Technologies (NASDAQ:HIVE)

HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:HIVE) announced on Thursday exceptional Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) production results for January 2026, marked by 290% year-over-year hashrate growth.

Bitcoin Produced: 297 BTC, a 191% increase from January 2025.

Average Daily Production: 9.6 BTC/day.

Hashrate: Averaged 22.2 EH/s, peaking at 23.7 EH/s, up 290% from January 2025.

Fleet Efficiency: 17.5 J/TH.

Global Bitcoin Network Share: Sustained above 2% of worldwide Bitcoin hashrate.

The company attributes its performance to its geographically diversified operations, which span nine time zones across three continents. This strategic distribution has enabled HIVE to maintain high uptime and…

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Congressman Ro Khanna Launches Investigation Into $500 Million UAE Investment In Trump Family Crypto Firm World Liberty Financial

California Rep. Ro Khanna announced on Wednesday he has launched an investigation as ranking member of the Select Committee on China into a $500 million investment by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family in World Liberty Financial (CRYPTO: WLFI), a Trump-linked cryptocurrency company.

The probe focuses on a January 2025 deal in which lieutenants to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the U.A.E. national security adviser, secretly signed an agreement to purchase a 49% stake in the firm.

The arrangement would steer $187 million to Trump family entities and $31 million to entities tied to Steve Witkoff‘s family, Trump’s Middle East envoy.

Congressional Democrats Demand Answers

According to the…

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Eric Trump Jibed For Old Ethereum Advocacy As Second-Largest Crypto Sinks Below $2,100

Popular podcaster Ashley DCan revived her social media banter with Eric Trump on Wednesday amid Ethereum’s (CRYPTO: ETH) ongoing decline.

The Back-And-Forth

The feud dates back to June 2025, when Ashley mocked Trump’s advice to buy ETH at $2,900. In the months following that advice, the second-largest cryptocurrency had cratered to $1,472, and Ashley accused Trump for treating retail traders as “exit liquidity.”

However, Trump got his moment in August, when ETH rebounded to $4,800.

“You really ought to get out of this business…,” he told Ashley, feeling vindicated.

But the tide has shifted again as ETH crashed below $2,100, hitting levels not seen since May 2025. Ashley tagged…

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Trump’s Crypto Competition With China Futile, Says Peter Schiff: ‘Chinese Leadership Is Too Smart To Care About Bitcoin’

Economist Peter Schiff questioned on Wednesday President Donald Trump’s push to make the U.S. the “world capital” of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), arguing that Beijing couldn’t care less about the leading cryptocurrency.

China Not Bothered About Bitcoin, Says Schiff

In an X post, Schiff slammed Trump’s oft-repeated argument that the U.S. must dominate cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to stop China from getting ahead.

“But Chinese leadership is too smart to care about Bitcoin,” Schiff said. “While we’re wasting capital and resources, they’re building factories and buying gold.”

China Maintains Anti-Crypto Stance

Trump claimed in November that China was trying to get…

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