ZachXBT: A Whale Hardware Wallet Fell Victim to a Social Engineering Scam, Losing Over $282 Million, with the Attacker Later Laundering the Funds into Monero, Causing a Price Surge of Over 60%

**Crypto mining firm Riot Blockchain announced Friday (Jan. 17) it has completed a $96 million acquisition by selling roughly 1,080 bitcoins to buy 200 acres of land in Rockdale, Texas.** The company also entered a data center lease and service agreement with semiconductor giant AMD, with an initial plan to deploy 25 megawatts of critical IT capacity. Under the 10-year initial agreement, Riot projects ~$311 million in revenue—with the potential to hit $1 billion if three 5-year renewal options are exercised. Fueled by the news, Riot’s Nasdaq-listed stock (ticker RIOT) jumped 11% in 24 hours to $18.80.

On January 17th, data from Onchain Lens indicates a recently created wallet withdrew 76,661 ZEC (Zcash) from Binance three hours ago. The tokens are valued at roughly $31.65 million.

January 17 — Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz told The Block that a comprehensive regulatory bill for the cryptocurrency industry could be finalized in the coming weeks, noting the legislation doesn’t need to be perfect to move forward. Chaos erupted in negotiations last week just hours before the Senate Banking Committee’s scheduled Thursday hearing on crypto market structure bill revisions and votes. The dispute centered on how stablecoin yields are handled. Banking industry groups have sharply criticized the “GENIUS Act” passed this summer: the bill bans stablecoin issuers from directly paying interest to holders but doesn’t prohibit third-party platforms like Coinbase from offering rewards. Many in the crypto space argue the banking sector is trying to stifle competition, pointing out the stablecoin yield issue was already debated over the summer. “I do think all parties will compromise on this,” Novogratz said in a Friday morning interview with CNBC. “This might not b

Per official sources, Coinbase is set to add Seeker (SKR) and FIGHT (FIGHT) to its listing roadmap on January 17th.

Per official sources, OKX will launch the FUNUSDT perpetual contract on Jan 17, 2026, at 11:00 AM UTC+8 (Beijing Time) across its web platform, mobile app, and API.

As of January 17, per alternative data, the crypto Fear & Greed Index stands at 50—up from 49 yesterday—keeping the market in **Neutral** territory. Note: The index ranges from 0 to 100, with components including: - Volatility (25%) - Market Volume (25%) - Social Media Sentiment (15%) - Market Surveys (15%) - Bitcoin Market Dominance (10%) - Google Trends Analysis (10%)