Grayscale Files Bittensor (TAO) ETF Application with SEC

Iran is weighing accepting cryptocurrency payments for advanced weapon exports—including ballistic missiles and warships—to evade Western sanctions, the Financial Times reported on January 2. Iran’s Ministry of Defense Export Center (Mindex) said it is open to negotiating payments via multiple methods, including digital currencies, barter, and the Iranian rial. The policy was first floated as early as 2025 and is among the first publicly known instances of a nation accepting crypto for weapon exports. A state-owned arms trading entity, Mindex says it has customer ties with 35 countries; its official website features products like missiles, rockets, ammunition, and hovercraft. Amid ongoing U.S., UK, and EU sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, energy exports, and access to the global financial system, Iran is leaning more heavily on crypto and barter trade. Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department disclosed that two Iranian nationals helped process over $100 m

On January 2, 2026—marking the first trading day of the year—spot gold surged $40 intraday, breaking above $4,370 per ounce and climbing 1.18% on the day. (Source: Golden Ten)

On January 2nd, data from Coinbob’s Popular Address Tracker shows the "Meme Army Tank" whale has continued adding to its short position in Lighter (LIT) today. Its current position size is 38,131,960 LIT (roughly $10.17 million), with an average entry price of ~$2.7 and a liquidation price of ~$5. This is the largest LIT short position on the Hyperliquid exchange. Additionally, the address holds short positions in over a dozen other tokens—including HYPE, ASTER, UNI, and ETH—most of which are profitable. It’s also generating funding rate revenue simultaneously.

On January 2nd, per monitoring from HyperInsight (Telegram: @HyperInsight), the address 0xEa6…061EE deposited 8 million USDC as collateral to Hyperliquid over the past 5 hours. It subsequently opened long positions on IP, XPL, STBL, MON, PUMP, GRIFFAIN, VVV, AIXBT, HEMI, MAVIA, and STABLE. As of now, the total unrealized profit across this whale address’s long positions has topped $1.48 million: the IP long is the biggest gainer (nearly $640,000 in unrealized profit), while the VVV long is the largest loser (an unrealized loss of $30,000). Additionally, the address added a 20x-leveraged Bitcoin long position: its size is $8.06 million, entry price is $87,869.50, and it currently holds $6.5 million in unrealized profit.

On January 2, Ari Redbord—Global Head of Policy and Government Affairs at crypto analytics firm TRM Labs—stated that 2025 is on track to be a record year for "wrench attacks," with roughly 60 reported cases targeting cryptocurrency holders. That number far outpaces the prior record set in 2024 (around 41 cases) and 2021 (36 cases). While the true scope of wrench attacks is hard to pin down accurately, the risk to victims is growing—if not, at minimum, public awareness of such threats is rising. "The actual count may be much higher," Redbord added. "Many cases are only logged as simple robberies or burglaries, with the cryptocurrency connection overlooked; others go unreported because victims hesitate or doubt law enforcement’s ability to tackle crypto-related crimes." The term "wrench attacks" refers to a cybersecurity risk rooted in a concept: even the most sophisticated encryption and data security measures can be bypassed through physical coercion—think a threat involving a "f

**Forbes’ 2026 Crypto Outlook: 3 Key Industry Trends** On Jan. 2, Forbes published its 2026 Cryptocurrency Outlook, highlighting three core trends shaping the space: 1. Mutual reinforcement between crypto and AI trading; 2. Deepening institutional adoption; 3. Market cooling won’t slow industry progress. Forbes noted AI and crypto assets are increasingly competing for power resources, investment capital, and market attention—but predicted the two will maintain linkage in areas like trading sentiment, market reactions to interest rate/inflation news, and ability to absorb geopolitical shocks. Despite market volatility and regulatory disputes, institutional digital asset adoption will advance steadily. Large financial firms are no longer making marginal attempts; instead, they’re actively building infrastructure, recruiting specialized talent, and integrating crypto exposure into broader capital market strategies. Asset tokenization, custody solutions, and on-chain settlem