🚨 TREASURY SECRETARY CALLS OUT CONGRESS FOR INSIDER TRADING — RETURNS UP TO 123%!
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is demanding an end to congressional stock trading — and the numbers show why.
📊 Congressional “Outperformance”: •Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden: Portfolio up 123.8% in 2024 (S&P 500: 24.9%) • Speaker Nancy Pelosi: Portfolio up 70.9% (S&P 500: 24.9%)
Research shows congressional leaders beat peers by ~47% annually after taking power — outperforming many top hedge funds.
🎯 How? Two Advantages:
1. Direct Political Influence — Trading before regulations, investing in firms getting gov contracts. 2. Access to Nonpublic Info — Insider knowledge from home-state or donor companies.
📈 Record Bullish Market Meets Political Scrutiny S&P 500 futures net longs hit 49% — near historic highs. Analysts say regulatory crackdowns often come late in bull cycles — after insiders have captured most gains.
⚖️ Public Support for Ban Is Strong: 77% of Republicans, 73% of Democrats, and 71% of independents want congressional trading banned.
Yet the Restore Trust in Congress Act remains stalled — only 23 of 218 needed signatures gathered.
🔍 The Big Picture: Extreme market positioning + political scrutiny = signs of a maturing cycle. When rules tighten for those closest to the info — the easy money may already have been made.
📉 Bitcoin Exchange Reserves Hit Record Lows — So Why Isn’t BTC Pumping?
🔍 A Classic Bullish Signal That’s Failing
Bitcoin exchange reserves have dropped to an all-time low, a metric historically associated with long-term accumulation and reduced selling pressure.
Yet as 2025 comes to an end, Bitcoin risks closing the year below its opening price, leaving investors asking one key question: Why isn’t scarcity pushing prices higher?
📊 What the Data Shows
According to CryptoQuant, Bitcoin reserves on exchanges have been declining all year, accelerating since September. Currently, only ~2.75 million BTC remain on exchanges — a record low.
Despite this, BTC has fallen sharply from above $126,000 to around $86,500.
💧 Liquidity Is Drying Up
One major issue is weakening liquidity. The Inter-Exchange Flow Pulse (IFP) — which tracks BTC movement between exchanges — has dropped significantly.
When IFP is low:
Trading activity slows Order books thin out Prices become highly sensitive to small trades Instead of supporting price stability, scarcity is making the market fragile.
🏦 Binance’s Outsized Influence
While most exchanges show BTC outflows, Binance has seen notable inflows.
Because Binance is the largest liquidity hub, whale and user behavior there can overpower signals from other platforms. Capital concentration on Binance has muted broader market momentum and weakened accumulation signals elsewhere.
🌍 Macro Pressure Adds to the Pain
Adding to the downside, traders have been de-risking ahead of a potential Bank of Japan rate hike, which could: Reduce global liquidity Disrupt the yen carry trade Increase risk-off behavior across markets 📌 The Big Takeaway Bitcoin exchange reserves may be at historic lows — but liquidity, capital concentration, and macro forces matter just as much.
On-chain data isn’t always a simple bullish or bearish signal.
📉 BITCOIN CRASHES TO $85,000 — HERE'S WHY (& MORE PAIN MAY COME)
Bitcoin just plunged to $85,000**, wiping **$100B+ from crypto in days.
Five forces drove the drop — and they're not done yet.
🇯🇵 1. Bank of Japan Rate Hike Fear Markets are bracing for a BoJ rate hike this week — the first in decades. Why it matters: Japan’s cheap yen fueled global risk trades (stocks, crypto). Higher rates = carry trade unwinds = forced selling. Past BoJ hikes caused BTC drops of 20–30%. History is repeating.
🇺🇸 2. U.S. Policy Uncertainty Fresh inflation & jobs data have traders guessing the Fed’s next move. Bitcoin now trades as a liquidity-sensitive macro asset — not just a hedge. Uncertainty = reduced demand.
💥 3. Heavy Leverage Liquidations Over $200M in long positions were liquidated in hours. Bullish traders got too greedy after the Fed cut — then got wrecked. Liquidations triggered more selling in a vicious cycle.
🌙 4. Thin Weekend Liquidity The crash hit during low-volume weekend trading. Shallow order books meant even modest sell orders magnified the drop.
🏛️ 5. Wintermute’s Massive Selling The giant market maker dumped an estimated $1.5B+ in BTC to rebalance risk & cover losses. Their sales during thin liquidity amplified the crash.
⚠️ What’s Next? If BoJ hikes and global yields rise → more downside. If U.S. data softens and Fed cut hopes return → stabilization possible.
This was a macro-driven reset — not a crypto market failure. But volatility isn’t over.