Aquib Farooq

According to breaking news, US Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors sold $6.3 million worth of Bitcoin seized from Samourai Wallet in violation of a Trump executive order, according to Bitcoin Magazine.

According to a report published by Bitcoin Magazine, the Bitcoins that Samourai Wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill handed over to the DOJ as part of the charges were allegedly liquidated by the US Marshals Service (USMS). This sale is said to violate Executive Order 14233 (EO 14233).

EO 14233 prohibits the sale of Bitcoins seized by the US government through criminal or legal proceedings and mandates that these assets be held under the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). However, according to reports, the Bitcoins seized in the Samourai Wallet case were instead put up for sale instead of being held under this reserve.

According to an previously undisclosed document titled “Asset Liquidation Agreement,” obtained by Bitcoin Magazine, the defendants agreed to transfer Bitcoin worth a total of $6,367,139.69, equivalent to 57.55 BTC at the time, to the USMS. The document was signed by Assistant US Attorney Cecilia Vogel on November 3, 2025.

According to on-chain data, these Bitcoins were sent to an address associated with Coinbase Prime, rather than being held directly in the USMS wallet. The fact that this address has a zero balance strengthens the possibility that the Bitcoins may have already been sold.

According to the legal assessment in the news report, the Bitcoins of the Samourai developers are among the assets seized under 18 U.S. Code § 982(a)(1). However, neither this provision nor any other relevant federal regulations require the seized digital assets to be converted into cash. On the contrary, EO 14233 mandates that such “Government BTC” assets be held without being sold.

The Southern District of New York Federal Prosecutor’s Office (SDNY), which is handling the case, has previously been criticized for taking steps that contradict the federal government’s crypto policy. The article argues that the SDNY’s continuation of the investigation into Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, in addition to the Samourai Wallet case, is an indication of this independent stance.

Despite a directive issued on April 7, 2025, by then-U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, stating that “regulation through prosecution would end,” the SDNY reportedly did not back down in these cases.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, the sale of Bitcoins seized in the Samourai Wallet case contradicts the clear provisions of EO 14233 and reveals that some within the DOJ continue to view Bitcoin as something to be “disposed of” rather than a strategic asset.

*This is not investment advice.
#BTC #TRUMP $BTC

An Ethereum whale is making a bold bet on Bitcoin. The peculiarity of this switch lies in the fact that the whale, an Ethereum OG, referring to an early investor or ETH adopter, held significant amounts of ETH before this time.
According to Lookonchain, an Ethereum OG, which it calls "0x4553," is converting his ETH holdings into Bitcoin.
This Ethereum OG bought 21,000 ETH for $61.4 million at an average price of $2,922 between 2019 and 2023.
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In a shift at 2026's start, the Ethereum whale swapped a substantial part of his Ethereum holdings for wrapped Bitcoin. Lookonchain reported that in recent hours, the ETH whale swapped 14,146 ETH worth $44.3 million for 492 WBTC at a ratio of 0.03479.
The exact reason for the shift remains unknown, but it seems to be due to personal reasons, rather than ETH performance, as the switch coincided with a period of ETH price rally. At the time of writing, ETH was up 1.84% in the last 24 hours to $3,104 and up 5.94% weekly, outpacing Bitcoin in percentage gains.
The whale rotation from ETH to BTC marks the second of such instances in the last 24 hours; on Jan. 2, Lookonchain reported that an unknown whale, who lost $18.8 million on ETH in just two weeks, abandoned ETH and rotated into gold. The whale spent $14.58 million to buy 3,299 XAUT at a unit price of $4,421.
Ethereum sees inflows
The whale's rotation from ETH to Bitcoin remains one of a few instances of such, with the broader scenario remaining one of ETH accumulation.
According to Lookonchain, a whale or institution recently bought 12,166 ETH worth $38.09 million from Coinbase, FalconX and Cumberland.
Another whale bought 5,104 ETH worth $16.09 million. Since Dec. 3, the whale has bought 51,374 ETH worth $159.76 million at an average price of $3,110.
Tom lee's Bitmine staked another 82,560 ETH worth $259 million, with the total staked by the Ethereum treasury firm at 544,064 ETH worth $1.62 billion.
On Jan. 2, spot Ethereum ETFs saw total net inflows of $174 million, with Grayscale's ETHE posting the largest inflow at $53.69 million.
#BTC #ETH #Ripple

Crypto analyst Steph is Crypto points to a setup on the XRP weekly chart that might yield a 71% rise if validated.
Steph is Crypto highlights a triangle setup on the XRP weekly chart, a breakout confirmation of which might yield as much as 71.15% gains, potentially pushing XRP above $3.40.
XRP reversed four straight weeks of drop, posting a green candlestick on the weekly chart. At the time of writing, XRP was up 7.18% in the last 24 hours to $2.02, and 9.17% in seven days.
In a separate tweet, Steph is Crypto highlighted that XRP just completed 393 days of sideways accumulation, which is the same duration seen before the 2017 breakout. Back then, the price chopped, compressed and bored everyone out before expanding aggressively, the analyst said, adding that XRP is showing early breakout behavior.
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XRP reclaims $2
XRP rose above $2 on Friday for the first time since mid-December, extending a strong start to 2026.
XRP saw sharp increases on Friday and Saturday, extending its rebound from the Jan. 1 low of $1.82. XRP rose from $1.86 to $2.05 on Friday, Saturday saw a sharp surge to a high of $2.13 before the price slightly declined.
XRP's price surge is driven by broader optimism in the markets and steady ETF inflows. U.S. spot XRP ETFs saw inflows of $13.59 million on Jan. 2, totaling $1.18 billion since launch.
The price jump also comes following SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw’s departure, which some market participants viewed as clearing the way for a more crypto-friendly policy stance.
Crenshaw, a vocal crypto spot ETF skeptic, had opposed the SEC's decision to drop its appeal in the Ripple case, according to market commentary.
Major resistance is seen at the daily MA 50 at $2.01; a sustained breakout above this key level might open the pathway for bigger gains, with XRP potentially surpassing $3.
#xrp $XRP

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In a New Year congratulation on X, Strategy, the biggest corporate Bitcoin holder led by Michael Saylor, wrote that data strategy has never mattered more and pointed to 2025 as the year enterprises moved from fragmented tools to unified, AI-ready data foundations. Basically, their 2026 pitch came as — simplify, scale and unlock insights.
This message comes as the Bitcoin side of Strategy's business remains enormous on paper with 672,497 BTC on balance, each of which was bought at an average cost per coin of $75,004. As it stands, the unrealized gain right now amounts to 17.04%, and the whole stash is valued at around $59.04 billion.
Data strategy has never mattered more.
In 2025, organizations moved from fragmented tools to unified, AI-ready data foundations. In 2026, we will keep helping enterprises simplify, scale, and unlock insights.
Happy New Year from Strategy! Here is to what is next.
Strategy january 1, 2026
However, the equity is acting as if it wants a different story. A TradingView chart shows MSTR at $151.95 on the day, down 2.35%, after a long comedown from 2025 highs. This serves as a reminder that Bitcoin exposure currently is a crowded trade, especially when the chart stops cooperating.
No Bitcoin for Saylor in 2026?
The numbers behind the facade support the pivot. Market cap is shown at nearly $44 billion, with enterprise value at nearly $57 billion. The firm’s own dashboard puts mNAV at 0.739 (basic), 0.824 (diluted) and 0.967 (EV), which indicates that the market is not paying a premium for the coins right now.
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Therefore, the 2026 message is really understandable: start selling the AI infrastructure again. If enterprise AI spending continues to accelerate, then budgets will be allocated to data foundations and semantic layers, and Strategy is signaling it plans to be there whether Bitcoin is trending or not.
#MichaelSaylor #Ripple #BTC