Bitcoin slid from $100,000 to $91,000, equity markets turned rocky, a US court set a hearing date in the Do Kwon case, and other events of the week.
The cryptocurrency began the week by reclaiming $100,000, but failed to hold the level. On Tuesday it entered a steady decline, dropping to $91,000 by Thursday.
It did not linger there either, recovering to $95,000 by Friday. At the time of writing it trades at $94,900.
Analysts attributed the sharp correction to a broader risk-off move amid worries about stubborn inflation. The approaching inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump on 20 January is adding to the jitters.
Over the past trading week the S&P 500 fell nearly 3% — from $6,000 to $5,825. The Nasdaq 100 slipped from $21,700 to $20,800, down 4%.
Billionaire Robert Kiyosaki declared the start of the “largest stock market crash in history”, which he forecast in his 2013 book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. He said he would keep buying bitcoin and gold with “worthless dollars”.
Community members noted that he has been posting such “prophecies” since 2016. None of the crashes he predicted has fully materialised.
Amid Bitcoin’s pullback, many top-10 assets turned red. Ethereum lost the $3,300 level, down 9.5% on the week.
SOL (-11%), DOGE (-11%), ADA (-9%) and TRX (-9.6%) also fell sharply.
XRP was the lone gainer, rising almost 6% on the week to $2.5.
Total crypto market capitalisation stands at $3.46 trillion; Bitcoin’s dominance is 54.3%.
This week it emerged that the US Department of Justice obtained a federal court’s permission to liquidate 69,370 BTC ($6.59bn at present) confiscated from the Silk Road darknet marketplace.
In October 2024, Battle Born Investment, which claimed rights to the assets via bankruptcy proceedings, lost its case. The group sought to unmask the person known as Individual X, who hacked Silk Road. The authorities seized the coins from that individual.
The department argued for a sale of the cryptocurrency, citing its volatility. A Justice Department representative said that “the government intends to act in accordance with the decision in this case”.
The last time the US moved Silk Road-linked funds was in early December, sending 10,000 BTC to Coinbase Prime. At the time of writing the government in aggregate controls 198,309 BTC worth $18.76bn.
On 9 January Russian media reported that court bailiffs began transferring to the state 1,032.1 BTC ($981m) seized from convicted former investigator Marat Tambiev in a record bribery case.
The funds will be moved from a Ledger Nano X hardware wallet to a government account.
In addition, at the prosecutor’s request Tambiev’s property has been frozen with a view to confiscation, as the legality of its acquisition is unproven. He was also ordered to pay enforcement fees of 15,000 rubles.
After Terra founder Do Kwon was extradited from Montenegro to the US, the court set a hearing date of 26 January 2026. The defendant was given a week to request a change.
Kwon faces eight counts, including multiple forms of securities and commodities fraud using electronic communications. On 2 January 2025 money laundering was added to the list.
The defendant pleaded not guilty; he faces up to 130 years in prison.
According to preliminary court filings, prosecutors need to review “terabytes” of case data, including information on Kwon’s devices, his correspondence, trading history and third-party testimony. Some of the material will also have to be translated from Korean.
The Terra founder has been placed in a New York correctional facility pending a decision.
US authorities brought charges against three Russian nationals involved in running the Blender.io and Sinbad.io cryptocurrency mixers. Roman Ostapenko, Alexander Oleynik and Anton Tarasov are accused of conspiring to launder money and operating an unregistered money-transfer service.
Both platforms were allegedly used by criminals worldwide to launder illicit proceeds.
Ostapenko and Oleynik were arrested on 1 December 2024; Tarasov is wanted. Each faces up to 20 years for conspiracy to launder money and up to five years for each instance of operating a money-transmitting business without a licence.
Blender.io and Sinbad.io have already been added to the US Treasury’s sanctions list. Mixers gained popularity after Tornado Cash was blocked. Nevertheless, at the end of 2024 a court “acquitted” the latter service.
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