Rug Pull: $86.01M Stolen from Crypto in January 2026

February 1st: Per monitoring from HyperInsight (via its Telegram channel @HyperInsight), the "ZEC Largest Short" address (0xd475) partially closed out part of its ETH short position, temporarily reducing its ETH short exposure by 967.68 ETH—valued at roughly $3.11 million. Even after this reduction, the address still holds an ETH short position worth $53.55 million, with an unrealized profit of approximately $18.43 million to date. This address is well-known for amassing a massive short position on ZEC: it began shorting ZEC when the token traded at $184, turning a $21 million loss into a profit.

On Friday, February 1, Tom Lee shared his 2026 market outlook during an appearance on the podcast *The Compound*. Lee remains broadly optimistic about cryptocurrency, arguing that despite short-term pullbacks (including speculative capital shifting into precious metals), the long-term bull market—launched in 2022 as a decade-long cycle—remains in its early stages. He also acknowledges the crypto market is currently in a bearish phase, facing significant short-term pressure. Ether (ETH) could test a bottom around $2,400; today, Ethereum briefly hit a low of $2,200 and is now trading near $2,400. If the ETH/BTC ratio rebounds to its historical high, ETH could reach roughly $12,000. These views align with his public commentary since the start of the year, and Lee has repeatedly predicted 2026 will see a “drop followed by a rally” in the market, with Bitcoin still on track to hit a new all-time high.

February 1 — Donald Trump delivered a keynote address at the Alfalfa Club’s annual black-tie dinner Saturday night, where he reportedly mocked attendees sarcastically during the closed-door event. According to attending sources, Trump told the audience of business leaders and Washington elites that he chose Wash because the latter “looks like he walked out of a movie.” He added that if Wash does not lower interest rates once elected, he will sue him. Later that evening, when asked about the remarks aboard Air Force One, Trump said it was “just a joke” and that no nomination commitment had been received from Wash. “I could do it if I wanted to, but I didn’t,” he noted. (Wall Street Journal)

February 1 – According to Caixin, in less than 24 hours between January 29 and 30, two large-scale robberies targeting cash in Japanese yen occurred in Tokyo, Japan, and Hong Kong, China—cities traditionally viewed as safe. The Tokyo case involved approximately 420 million yen (roughly 19 million Chinese yuan), while the Hong Kong robbery netted around 51 million yen (about 2.29 million Chinese yuan). Within six hours of the incidents, Hong Kong police arrested three robbery suspects who were trying to leave the country at Hong Kong International Airport on robbery charges. Officers also detained two store employees at a crypto exchange shop in Tsim Sha Tsui: a 28-year-old local man and a 29-year-old man from mainland China. The pair is suspected of helping the robbers launder part of the stolen cash. Initial intelligence suggests the linked Japanese companies may have brought yen cash to Hong Kong to exchange for Hong Kong dollars, then used the funds to buy duty-free goods t

On-chain data from February 1st shows an address tied to Bhutan’s sovereign wealth fund Druk Holdings actively sold stETH (staked Ethereum) this morning during Ethereum’s flash crash (around 2:30 AM ET) to avoid liquidation. The transaction timestamp aligns with Ethereum’s short-term low of $2243. The address is estimated to have sold roughly 25,816 ETH in a short window, while simultaneously repaying a USDT loan on the Aave protocol. As of press time, the account’s health factor on Aave stands at 1.10. It holds 78,245.7949 stETH and still owes $137.8 million in USDT loans.

**Thursday, February 1st** Tom Lee told listeners on this week’s *The Compound* podcast that the current crypto bear market stems from the largest deleveraging event in the sector’s history since last October—one even bigger than the FTX collapse. A pricing exploit on a trading platform sparked a chain reaction of automatic liquidations, wiping out over 2 million global accounts, eliminating 1/3 of liquidity providers (LPs), inflicting heavy balance sheet losses on the platform, and leaving the entire ecosystem “hobbled” (per the 46–48 minute mark of the episode). Lee added selling pressure hasn’t fully abated: the 2022 market recovery took 8–12 weeks, but no clear rebound signals have emerged yet.