Circle minted 250 million USDC on the Solana network 6 hours ago

Bitcoin dropped below $88,000 on January 26, posting a 1.47% 24-hour decline, per HTX market data. ### Notes on American English adaptation: 1. **Core info first**: Led with "Bitcoin dropped" (action) instead of opening with date/source, aligning with U.S. news brevity (readers prioritize market moves first). 2. **Casual brevity**: Used "per" (common in U.S. financial briefs) instead of "according to"; "posting" (dynamic verb) replaces "with a" for flow. 3. **Natural phrasing**: "24-hour decline" is more idiomatic than "24-hour decrease" in U.S. market updates; date is concise without extra punctuation. 4. **Clarity**: Kept "$88,000" (no "k" for formal accuracy, though "88k" is acceptable in casual contexts—this version balances precision and readability).

**Chain Detective ZachXBT Exposes Hacker Who Stole $40M+ from U.S. Government Crypto Addresses** On January 26, on-chain detective ZachXBT revealed that hacker John Daghita—alias “Lick”—stole over $40 million from U.S. government-seized crypto addresses, including a single $24.9 million heist. Daghita’s father owns CMDSS, a Virginia-based firm with an active U.S. government IT contract that assists the U.S. Marshals Service in managing and disposing of seized/confiscated crypto assets. ZachXBT speculated Daghita gained access via his father, with the thefts occurring around 2024—most notably a $24.9 million haul in March 2024 from assets the U.S. government seized in the Bitfinex hack. Daghita’s address is linked to over $90 million in on-chain stolen funds, including losses from non-U.S. government victims. Hours after ZachXBT’s expose, CMDSS’s X account, website, and LinkedIn page were all deactivated. The hacker’s identity was uncovered after he recently boasted about

Jan 25th Below is a preview of key macro events and data for the upcoming week: **Tuesday** - U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index (January) - U.S. Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (January) - Earnings releases: Boeing, General Motors **Wednesday** - Bank of Canada interest rate decision + Monetary Policy Report - After-hours earnings: Meta, Microsoft, Tesla **Thursday** - 3:00 AM Beijing Time: U.S. Federal Reserve FOMC interest rate decision - Post-decision press conference: Fed Chair Jerome Powell - After-hours earnings: Apple **Friday** - Japan’s December unemployment rate - U.S. December PPI data **Saturday** - Speech: 2028 FOMC voter & St. Louis Fed President Musa Salih (U.S. economy/monetary policy) *Source: Jin10*

On January 25, it was announced that Microsoft, Tesla, and Meta will release their fourth-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday, January 28, while Apple will report its results post-market on Thursday, January 29. For most of the past three years, the U.S. tech giants dubbed the “Magnificent Seven” have propelled the stock market to new highs. But that momentum reversed late in 2024, as Wall Street began questioning the tens of billions these firms have poured into AI development—and when those investments will finally pay off. The narrative around tech stocks has shifted: now, performance must speak for itself. Next week, the U.S. stock market will turn its focus to earnings from these four giants. Strong results could send funds flooding back into the tech sector.

**CZ Book Updates** - Jan 25: CZ said his new book will hit shelves in late February or early March, with English and Chinese editions launching simultaneously. - Jan 8: He noted the Chinese version of his memoir may be titled *Binance Life*—it has no connection to any meme token or listing. He embraces meme culture, calling the word “sticky” and easy to remember. - As early as March 14, 2025 (note: this date postdates the preceding 2024 entries, likely a typo): CZ mentioned on X he’d written a ~114,000-word book covering his career, the crypto industry, or personal experiences.

On January 25, a16z Crypto released a detailed article titled “Quantum Computing and Blockchain: Aligning Immediacy with Realistic Threats,” noting that views on quantum computing’s threat are sharply polarized—both overoptimism and overworry are misplaced. Currently, publicly documented quantum computing advances are nowhere near enabling practical use of the Shor algorithm to crack RSA/ECDSA encryption, but long-term risks can’t be fully dismissed. Quantum computing presents vastly different threat timeframes for different cryptographic primitives. Encryption could be vulnerable to “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” (HNDL) attacks, requiring an early shift to post-quantum encryption. Signatures, by contrast, aren’t easily targeted by HNDL attacks. Rushing to adopt post-quantum signatures, however, may cause performance hits, immature implementations, and new risks like code bugs—calling for a cautious transition plan.