Need evidence of the crypto market’s maturation? Look no further than Deribit, the crypto exchange that registered record trading volumes in 2024.

Total trading volume in Deribit’s product suite, which comprises crypto options, perpetual futures, volatility futures, and spot market, rose 95% from $608 billion in 2023 to $1.185 trillion in 2024.

Options alone registered a trading volume of $743 billion, a 99% year-on-year growth, accounting for a giant share of the total exchange activity. Deribit listed BTC options in 2016 and has since cemented its position as the world’s leading crypto options exchange.

“Deribit saw an increase in activity throughout the year, particularly in Q4 as institutional investors demonstrated heightened optimism around the U.S. presidential election, as well as the $100k Bitcoin bull run that followed,” Deribit’s Chief Commercial Officer Luuk Strijers, said in a note shared with CoinDesk.

“The rise in total platform volume and across our offered products indicates that Deribit continues to be the go-to derivatives exchange, particularly as more professional traders enter the space,” Strijers added.

This impressive boom in trading activity on Deribit reflects a maturation of the market, mainly as spot ETFs and options tied to those ETFs went live in the U.S., accelerating institutional participation. It is a sign of a growing shift toward more sophisticated multi-legged trading strategies involving options, futures, and volatility bets.

Crypto influencers face backlash for amplifying a fraudulent U.S. Treasury XRP wallet, revealed to be a scam.

On Jan. 22, several large influencer accounts began posting about a U.S. Treasury XRP (XRP) wallet. The story quickly snowballed as it gained traction on X through reposts. Influencers either promoted the wallet or questioned its credibility. An on-chain analysis conducted through XRPSCAN has now revealed that the wallet is based in the Philippines.

The purported U.S. Treasury wallet, which is connected to major institutions, including Bank of America and JPMorgan, is fraudulent. The wallet address ‘rfHhX6hA54LBqA3j7r7EnCs6qyaRK2Lyfq’ is also KYC verified, which further bolstered people’s belief that it might be a legit source tied to the United States Treasury.

Now, many within the crypto community are voicing their concern. For instance, Zach Rynes, community coordinator of Chainlink, criticized so-called “crypto-influencers” for spreading rampant misinformation in the XRP community. 

He also explained that in 2021, there was a rumor that the Bank of America was executing all internal payments through Ripple. Crypto influencer David Stryzewski, who recently made the false claims about XRP being a Central Bank Digital Currency or CBDC, shared false information on Ripple in a podcast with Former U.S. Senate candidate John E Deaton.

Stryzewski, who is the CEO of Sound Planning Group, also distorted information that Ripple was located in Hong Kong, said Rynes.

Crypto scams on X are on the rise

The proliferation of crypto-related scams has only added to the confusion pervading the industry. There was an 87% spike in daily impersonation accounts in December 2024, according to Scam Sniffer, with numbers rising from an average of 160 in November to more than 300. 

Scam methods are also increasing—from phishing schemes to fake accounts, fraudsters are tampering with duped users on platforms like X.

Recently, Lenovo India and Yahoo News UK were among the big accounts that are having their handles hijacked to promote scam tokens and the losses are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Further sophisticated phishing operations like those mimicking Zoom domains have lifted private keys and wallet credentials, exploiting trust and technical vulnerabilities in blockchain, making it all the more necessary for users to be on their guard.

On Jan. 21, Donald Trump said he had signed a full and unconditional pardon for Ross Ulbricht, who operated the dark web marketplace Silk Road.

“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross,” he stated on his social media platform Truth Social on Jan. 22.

Trump continued to add that “the scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern-day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”

Ross Ulbricht has been freed by President Trump with a full pardon! Thank you for keeping your word to me and others who have been advocating for Ross’ freedom, Mr. President! #freeRoss pic.twitter.com/wOJVFX1DaA

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 22, 2025

Ross Ulbricht Finally Free

The Silk Road founder was serving a life sentence after being convicted of running an underground online marketplace that was used by drug dealers to conduct illicit sales using Bitcoin.

Ulbricht created and operated Silk Road, one of the first modern darknet markets, from 2011 until his arrest in 2013. The site worked on the Tor network and used crypto for transactions, allowing users to buy and sell goods anonymously.

Ulbricht, who used the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts” (DPR), was an ardent libertarian who believed in free market principles and opposed drug prohibition laws.

He was convicted in May 2015 on seven charges, including distributing narcotics, computer hacking, conspiracy, and money laundering. He received two life sentences plus 40 years without the possibility of parole.

“I wanted to empower people to make choices in their lives and have privacy and anonymity,” Ulbricht said at his sentencing hearing.

Supporters have long advocated for clemency, arguing his sentence was disproportionately harsh and that Silk Road reduced violence in the drug trade by moving it online.

Waiting on Crypto EOs

Trump had announced plans to commute Ulbricht’s sentence in May during a speech at the Libertarian National Convention.

“Thanks to President Trump for keeping his word to end Ross’s unjust sentence by granting him a full and unconditional pardon. Prayers have been answered for Ross, Lyn (his mother), and all their family and friends. So happy for them!” commented former Congressman Justin Amash.

The crypto community is still waiting with bated breath for Trump to sign executive orders relating to the industry and pro-crypto regulations. He has been silent on the subject so far.

On Monday, the cryptocurrency market witnessed a significant surge in Chainlink (LINK) prices following a remarkable acquisition by World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the crypto venture associated with President Donald Trump. 

Trump’s World Liberty Financial Propels LINK Price Up 

In a series of rapid transactions completed within just 15 minutes, World Liberty Financial purchased 220,000 LINK tokens, totaling an impressive $5.63 million, according to Chinese reporter Wu Blockchain. 

This strategic move was accompanied by additional acquisitions, including 13,000 Aave (AAVE) tokens valued at $4.41 million and 37.267 million TRON (TRX) tokens worth $8.86 million.

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The buying pressure generated by these transactions contributed to a notable 44% uptrend in LINK’s price over a two-week period, with a more immediate increase of over 11% within just 24 hours. 

But despite this bullish momentum, LINK’s price remains approximately 49% below its all-time high of $52.70, achieved during the 2021 bull run as it is currently hovering little over above the $26 mark.

In a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), WLFI detailed these acquisitions, stating that they were made to commemorate the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States. 

The post highlighted additional purchases, including $47 million in Ethereum (ETH), $47 million in wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), and similar amounts in AAVE, LINK, TRX, and Ethena (ENA).

How Chainlink Could Double In Value

The involvement of the Trump family in the crypto space has sparked excitement among bullish LINK investors, fostering renewed confidence in the token’s prospects. 

Analysts like Michael van de Poppe have weighed in, noting that LINK has recently experienced a standard 30% correction—a pattern seen more than 15 times in previous cycles. Despite this, van de Poppe anticipates an upward price movement for Chainlink toward the $35 mark as market conditions stabilize.

Adding to the positive sentiment, market expert Ali Martinez reported a significant withdrawal of over 770,000 LINK tokens from crypto exchanges on Tuesday, suggesting that investors are increasingly confident in LINK’s potential and a possible continuation of the uptrend observed over the past month.

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Satoshi Flipper also chimed in on LINK’s price action, expressing optimism about the token’s adoption and future performance. He noted the emergence of a falling wedge pattern that could propel LINK toward its all-time high, suggesting that a price doubling from current levels is feasible. 

Flipper emphasized the importance of Chainlink in the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem, arguing that dismissing the potential for further gains before reaching new highs would be a mistake.

Interestingly, Aixbt recently pointed out that LINK’s monthly Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently at 67, approaching the critical 70 level that previously triggered a dramatic 375% price surge. 

This setup mirrors the conditions that drove the price from $3.50 to $20 in an earlier cycle. If history were to repeat itself, such a surge could push LINK toward the $124.80 mark, nearly tripling its current peak.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com

World Liberty Financial Financial (WLFI), the crypto project backed by the family of U.S. President Donald Trump, has made another purchase of Tron’s TRX for its treasury on-chain data shows.

“As a strong advocate for blockchain technology and innovation in cryptocurrencies, I’m excited to see World Liberty Financial integrate TRON as a key part of its growing treasury. TRX’s inclusion as the fourth-largest asset in WLFI’s holdings highlights its trust in the Tron blockchain network,” Justin Sun, founder of Tron, said in a statement to CoinDesk.”

This most recent purchase was to the tune of $2.6 million and adds an additional 10.8 million TRX to the WLFI treasury. The total holdings of TRX now come in at $7.5 million.

“With WLFI leading efforts to bridge traditional finance and crypto and the Trump administration’s pro-crypto stance, the United States will become a major hub for innovation and cryptocurrency adoption,” Sun continued.

CoinDesk reported in mid-January that WFLI intended to purchase TRX and a Tron delegation attended Trump’s inauguration.

WFLI is also holding $182 million in ETH, $48 million in WBTC, $7.2 million in Tether’s USDT, $7 million in AAVE, and $6.7 million in Chainlink’s LINK according to on-chain data with most token buys coming in before the inauguration.

Sources close to the matter say WLFI will continue to increase their TRX holdings.

The price of Worldcoin token WLD surged nearly 20% to reach a high of $2.30, as the biometric crypto project reacted to the latest AI-related developments.

On Jan. 21, CBS News reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is set to announce a new AI initiative backed by private sector heavyweights OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle. The AI infrastructure investment project, reportedly named Stargate, will focus on advancing artificial intelligence in the U.S. and globally.

The news appears to have jolted World (WLD), formerly Worldcoin, token holders, with the cryptocurrency jumping from lows of $1.90 to an intraday high of $2.30. This rally briefly pushed WLD to the top of the rankings for biggest gainers among the top 200 coins by market cap. 

However, the token quickly pared some of these gains and was trading around $2.12 at the time of writing.

World, developed with contributions from Tools for Humanity, is a crypto project co-founded in 2019 by OpenAI’s Sam Altman. The venture capital-backed proof-of-humanity project has previously rallied on news tied to OpenAI. 

According to CBS News, Stargate will see OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle collectively invest an initial $100 billion into the project, with the first major milestone being a state-of-the-art data center in Texas.

The report also stated that Masayoshi Son (SoftBank CEO), Sam Altman (OpenAI CEO), and Larry Ellison (Oracle CEO) are expected to join President Trump at the White House for the official announcement.