The CEO of a Cryptocurrency Company in South Korea Was Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Market Manipulation

**A Feb. 4 Reuters survey projects gold will hit a new high in 2026, with geopolitical uncertainties and robust central bank buying remaining top drivers.** A poll of 30 analysts and traders conducted over the past three weeks puts the 2026 median gold price at $4,746.50 per ounce—this marks the highest annual forecast since Reuters launched the survey in 2012, and a sharp rise from the $4,275 estimate in October 2023. Just 12 months ago, the same survey’s average 2026 gold price expectation was only $2,700. Analysts say the factors boosting gold—including geopolitical risks, sustained central bank gold purchases, concerns over Federal Reserve independence, rising U.S. debt, trade uncertainties, and the de-dollarization trend—will continue supporting the metal in 2026. Silver forecasts have also been revised upward: the current 2026 average silver price projection is $79.50 per ounce, up from just $50 in last October’s survey. (Jinse Finance)

February 4th — As the cryptocurrency market continued to pull back, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest once again went against the grain. On Tuesday, ARK purchased approximately $19 million worth of shares in crypto-related public companies, marking its second consecutive day of buying the dip. Disclosures show ARK’s new positions include: $2.41 million in Circle (CRCL), $3.46 million in Bullish (BLSH), $631,000 in Coinbase (COIN), $7.81 million in Robinhood (HOOD), $3.25 million in Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), and $1.8 million in Block (XYZ). These holdings are spread across ARK’s ETFs, including ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF. Shares of the above firms have recently come under pressure amid a broad crypto market downturn, with Bitcoin dropping to a low of $73,100 — a new low since late 2024. The market views ARK’s buying spree as a proactive move following a significant pullback in crypto assets and related stocks.

February 4th data from OnchainLens shows a whale address—silent for 9 months—borrowed 20 million USDT over the past two days to purchase 8,806 ETH at $2,271 each. The whale currently holds 21,094 ETH in total, valued at approximately $47.53 million. Address: 0x5E90387025235d07576f80C76B3E57EC96547ec4

February 4: Per Arkham data, a BlackRock ETHA address transferred 6,648 ETH to Coinbase Prime just an hour ago—valued at roughly $14.83 million.

February 4 — Singapore-based asset management firm Pilgrim Partners Asia has filed a disclosure with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stating it sold 620,000 shares of BNY Mellon’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) in the prior quarter, valued at $16.21 million. The firm still holds $25.49 million in BNY Mellon Bitcoin ETF shares and $10.64 million in Strategy shares.

On February 4, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining firm Cipher Mining announced plans to offer senior secured notes to qualified institutional buyers—subject to market conditions and other factors—to raise a total of $2 billion. Guarantors for the transaction are Cipher Black Pearl and 11786 Wink LLC. Net proceeds from the issuance will cover remaining construction costs for a high-performance computing data center in Wink, Texas, fund a debt service reserve fund, and pay associated fees and expenses.