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3 Feb 2026, 13:05
Another Huge Win for Ripple and XRP In Luxembourg. Here’s the Latest
Ripple continues to separate itself from much of the crypto industry by prioritizing regulatory clarity over short-term hype. As global regulators tighten oversight and institutions demand compliance-first partners, Ripple has steadily expanded its footprint across jurisdictions that value structured financial governance. This long-term approach has increasingly positioned the company as a serious payments provider rather than a speculative blockchain firm. That strategy reached a major milestone following a report by Watcher.Guru, which confirmed that Luxembourg has granted Ripple full authorization as an Electronic Money Institution within the European Union. The approval represents one of Ripple’s most significant regulatory wins in Europe to date, signaling growing trust from one of the continent’s most respected financial hubs. JUST IN: Luxembourg grants Ripple $XRP full EU Electronic Money Institution license. pic.twitter.com/u9CNX8EanT — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) February 2, 2026 What the EMI License Allows Ripple to Do An Electronic Money Institution license authorizes Ripple to issue electronic money and provide regulated payment services across the European Union, allowing for passporting rules to be applied. This status places Ripple in the same regulatory category as established financial service providers rather than crypto-only entities. With this license, Ripple can expand its payment solutions for banks, fintech firms, and enterprises operating across multiple EU jurisdictions. The approval strengthens Ripple’s ability to deliver a compliant cross-border payment infrastructure while meeting strict regulatory, capital, and operational standards. Luxembourg’s Importance in European Finance Luxembourg holds a strategic position within Europe’s financial system. The country serves as a global hub for banking, asset management, and payment services, attracting institutions that require regulatory certainty and cross-border reach. We are on X, follow us to connect with us :- @TimesTabloid1 — TimesTabloid (@TimesTabloid1) June 15, 2025 Ripple already maintained a regulated presence in Luxembourg before this development. Ripple had previously obtained necessary preliminary approval to operate in Luxembourg, establishing a compliant presence and fostering relationships with local financial stakeholders. The newly granted EMI license builds on that foundation and significantly expands Ripple’s legal and operational capabilities across the EU. Strengthening Ripple’s European Regulatory Strategy The Luxembourg license adds momentum to Ripple’s broader European expansion at a time when the region advances comprehensive digital asset regulation under the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. By securing licensing ahead of full MiCA implementation, the company positions itself as a ready-made infrastructure partner for institutions preparing for regulated blockchain adoption. This approach contrasts sharply with Ripple’s historical regulatory challenges in the United States, highlighting how Europe has become a key growth region for the company’s payments business. What This Means for XRP Going Forward While the license does not directly alter XRP’s market mechanics, it strengthens the ecosystem supporting XRP’s institutional use case. Ripple’s regulated payment rails remain closely tied to XRP’s role as a bridge asset for liquidity and settlement. As Watcher.Guru reported that Luxembourg’s approval reinforces Ripple’s credibility within Europe’s financial system. It also confirms that Ripple’s compliance-first strategy continues to unlock meaningful regulatory wins, positioning both the company and XRP for deeper institutional integration over time. Disclaimer : This content is meant to inform and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author’s personal opinions and do not represent Times Tabloid’s opinion. Readers are urged to do in-depth research before making any investment decisions. Any action taken by the reader is strictly at their own risk. Times Tabloid is not responsible for any financial losses. Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Telegram , and Google News The post Another Huge Win for Ripple and XRP In Luxembourg. Here’s the Latest appeared first on Times Tabloid .
3 Feb 2026, 13:00
Epstein Documents Reveal Early Ties to Coinbase Investment
Documents from the US Department of Justice suggest Epstein explored a potential $3 million Coinbase investment through Blockchain Capital in 2014 and may have later received and partially exited an allocation, though no wrongdoing has been alleged against Coinbase or its founders. Separately, Adam Back publicly denied any direct or indirect financial connection between Epstein and Blockstream, saying a fund linked to Joi Ito briefly held and later divested a minority stake. Epstein Tied to Early Coinbase Deal Recent speculation surrounding the so-called Epstein Files reignited scrutiny over the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein, this time focusing on his alleged early involvement with one of the crypto industry’s most well known companies. According to documents that were released by the US Department of Justice, Epstein discussed a potential $3 million investment in the crypto exchange Coinbase more than a decade ago, at a time when the company was still in its formative years. Press release from the US Department of Justice The documents indicate that Epstein’s interest in Coinbase was routed through Brock Pierce’s venture firm, Blockchain Capital, in 2014. While it is still unclear whether the initial investment was fully executed as originally discussed, the files contain extensive correspondence and internal discussion about the possibility of Epstein participating in the Coinbase funding round. Bitcoin researcher Kyle Torpey shared that the records show repeated references to the deal, even if final confirmation of its completion is not definitive in the earliest stages. One of the more controversial elements revealed in the documents is the suggestion that the proposed investment may have secured Epstein a face-to-face meeting with Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam. A leaked email screenshot referenced “Jeff” in connection with a potential meeting, with Ehrsam reportedly indicating he had a short window available and questioning how important the meeting was to Epstein. The language of the email has fueled speculation that Ehrsam may have been aware of Epstein’s involvement, although no direct acknowledgment or endorsement is shown in the documents themselves. Further correspondence from 2018 suggests that Epstein ultimately did receive a Coinbase allocation. According to the records, he later sold roughly half of that stake back to Blockchain Capital for an estimated $11 million. This revelation added to debates about early crypto funding sources and the backgrounds of some early investors during the industry’s formative period. The new attention is particularly sensitive given Epstein’s criminal history. In 2008, a Florida state court convicted him of procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution. While Coinbase and the individuals named have not been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to these documents, the disclosures still attracted some more questions about due diligence practices in early crypto venture capital. Adam Back Denies Epstein Link to Blockstream Meanwhile, Blockstream CEO and co-founder Adam Back also recently publicly denied any ongoing financial or business relationship between Blockstream and Jeffrey Epstein. In a statement that was posted Sunday on X , Back said that “Blockstream has no direct nor indirect financial connection with Jeffrey Epstein, or his estate.” Back’s comments came after the US Department of Justice released millions of pages of Epstein-related materials under a transparency initiative. The most recent batch of documents were made public on Jan. 30, and includes names of numerous individuals from the technology and finance sectors, though officials explained that appearing in the files does not by itself imply wrongdoing. Among the newly surfaced records is a July 2014 email in which Blockstream co-founder Austin Hill discussed the company’s seed funding round with Epstein and Joi Ito, who was then director of the MIT Media Lab. Back was included in the email chain. In that message, Hill described the round as heavily oversubscribed and referenced increasing an allocation linked to Epstein and Ito, while also expressing interest in meeting face to face again. Other unsealed documents reference travel arrangements that included the names of Back and Hill, with bookings to St. Thomas, an island located near Epstein’s private compound. In one exchange, Hill suggested arranging independent flights after St. Thomas. Back’s public statement did not address the travel-related emails, though Hill later reposted Back’s comments on social media. Adam Back In his explanation, Back said Blockstream was introduced to Ito during its 2014 investor roadshow and later met Epstein, who was presented as a limited partner in Ito’s investment fund. That fund subsequently took a minority stake in Blockstream, but Back said it later divested the shares due to concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Despite this clarification, critics on social media questioned the timing of Back’s response and called for more clarity about the nature of past interactions. The documents also show Epstein expressing views on the crypto sector more broadly. In one 2014 email exchange with venture capitalist Peter Thiel, Epstein discussed differing interpretations of Bitcoin’s purpose and value. Separate records reveal that Epstein even floated proposals for new digital currencies in the Middle East, including a Sharia-compliant digital currency modeled on Bitcoin. Other well known people named in the files include Kevin Warsh, recently nominated by Donald Trump as Federal Reserve chair, and Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor.
3 Feb 2026, 13:00
Pharos launches $10M+ RealFi incubator backed by Draper Dragon and Lightspeed Faction
Pharos Network, a Layer 1 blockchain focused on on-chain financial infrastructure and real-world assets ( RWAs ), has launched Native to Pharos, a builder incubator program, as per the details shared with Finbold on Tuesday, February 3. The program is backed by $10 million in funding and supported by partners, including Hack VC, Draper Dragon, Lightspeed Faction, and Centrifuge. Building a RealFi ecosystem and supporting next-generation builders The incubator is aimed at early-stage projects operating at the intersection of RWAs, decentralized finance ( DeFi ), and blockchain infrastructure. Teams accepted to the program will receive technical mentorship, go-to-market and scaling support, and access to investors and ecosystem partners. Additionally, they will be equipped with AI-driven resources and developer tools intended to simplify integration for builders working on Pharos. “Pharos is committed to building a thriving RealFi ecosystem and empowering builders who share our vision,” said Wish Wu, co-founder and CEO of Pharos. “The Pharos Incubator is designed as a full-spectrum partnership, offering mentorship, technical resources, go-to-market support, fundraising guidance, and access to financial and legal expertise. Our goal is to help teams succeed while fostering collaboration across the broader Pharos community.” The incubator’s first recruitment drive will begin in Hong Kong, where Pharos plans to host initial cohort launch activities. The company will also participate in GWDC, described as Hong Kong’s first large-scale Web3 hackathon, in partnership with Web3Labs and Consensus, as part of its builder outreach. For the inaugural cohort, the company is prioritizing projects aligned with its architecture, including deep parallel execution and a modular, compliance-aware design aimed at real-world asset use cases. It is seeking teams building decentralized perpetual and spot exchanges, yield and vault infrastructure integrating tokenized RWAs, and prediction markets tied to real-world outcomes. The applications for the Native to Pharos program are now open through the Pharos Website . Featued image via Shuttertsock. The post Pharos launches $10M+ RealFi incubator backed by Draper Dragon and Lightspeed Faction appeared first on Finbold .
3 Feb 2026, 12:51
China makes record $92B outlay into power grid in 2025
China’s p ower grid expenditures hit an unprecedented high last year, reflecting Beijing’s proactive measures to minimize transmission issues. This spending comes as the country’s economy and energy system continue to expand and adapt to rising demand and the global energy transition. The news was made public after a report from the China Electricity Council noted that grid investment rose by 639.5 billion yuan, or about $92 billion, indicating a 5% increase in 2025. Analysts say this record investment is not simply cyclical, but a strategic response to evolving demands on China’s power system . Rapid growth in renewable energy capacity, increased electricity consumption from emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, has collectively stressed the existing grid. Contrastingly, reports from reliable sources revealed that investment in new power generation capacity has been insufficient due to a decline in solar deployment, citing official 11-month data. China allocates significant investments in its power grid amid increased AI adoption State Grid Corp. of China and China Southern Power Grid Co., two primary state-owned, monopolistic electric utility giants, have demonstrated sustained spending growth over the past few years. Collectively, their budgets are expected to reach nearly 1 trillion yuan this year and to maintain this growth trajectory through the end of the decade. With this financial commitmen t in place, sources affirm that Beijing will ultimately succeed in its grid expansion efforts. Regarding this plan, reports highlighted that the nation aims to connect over 420 gigawatts of capacity by 2030 as part of the West-to-East power delivery project. Moreover, this finding is expected to support the development of smart mini-grids and distribution networks capable of integrating approximately 900 gigawatts of power from smaller, distributed sources. Currently, China has 45 ultra-high-voltage (UHV) projects in operation. To support the nation’s power supply, policymakers are accelerating infrastructure development to meet the surging power demand driven by AI. Analysts weighed in on this move, noting that it may lead to the approval of an additional seven to nine initiatives this year. Notably, brokerage Galaxy Securities Co., a major Chinese state-owned integrated financial services provider, initially reported this information. So far, this expansion has proven advantageous for local electrical equipment manufacturers throughout the current global supply crisis for critical grid infrastructure. On the other hand, AI data center expansion has driven increased interest in this sector’s stocks. China’s State Grid shifts its focus towards improving the country’s power grid Last month, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported that China’s State Grid, the world’s largest public utility, intends to allocate around 4 trillion yuan (about $574 billion) over the next four years to enhance the nation’s power grid. This figure reflects a 40% growth in fixed-asset investments compared to the preceding five-year period. Notably, the announcement regarding China’s State Grid plans comes at a time when the country China is aggressively scaling its wind and solar capacity to meet its target of peaking carbon emissions before 2030. This investment strategy averages 800 billion yuan annually, exceeding the national grid operator’s record 2025 investment of 650 billion yuan. In a statement, Xinhua announced that the funds will be used to boost China’s power transmission network, which transports electricity from the sparsely populated west to the densely populated east via high-voltage power lines. Meanwhile, sources noted that State Grid seeks to increase inter-provincial and inter-regional electricity transmission capacity by 30% above 2025 levels. In addition, they mentioned that these investments will play a key role in expanding distribution networks in both urban and rural areas and in examining off-grid and microgrid energy generation methods. If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter .
3 Feb 2026, 12:43
Trading expert sets date when Bitcoin will crash to $50,000
Although the latest cryptocurrency market bloodbath appears to have, for the time being, halted and even retraced somewhat with Bitcoin’s ( BTC ) rising 5.64% from its February 2 low near $74,000 to its press time price of $78,173 on February 3, one analyst believes the worst is yet to come. Bitcoin price one-week chart. Source: Finbold Specifically, the popular on-chain expert, Ali Martinez, published an X article on February 3 explaining that a reliable bearish pattern for BTC has once again emerged. Why Bitcoin price is set to crash by April According to the blockchain analyst, whenever Bitcoin falls below its 100-week simple moving average ( SMA ), it fails to recover in the short term and instead plunges further and toward its 200-week SMA. At press time on February 3, BTC’s 100-week SMA stands at $87,500 – approximately $10,000 above the cryptocurrency’s price – and the 200-week SMA is 26.325 below the digital asset’s Tuesday price at $57,600. Considering the historical patterns, Ali Martinez concluded that Bitcoin is now likely aiming at a zone between $50,000 and $56,000 – 36.04% and 28.36% below the press time level of $78,173 – and that BTC will hit the target either in March or, at the latest, in April. Lastly, the analyst provided several historical examples backing both the forecast and the timeline. He identified the 35-day-long 55% drop of 2014, the 28-day 45% drop in late 2018, the one-week 47% COVID-era correction, and the 58%, 49-day crash of 2022 as key examples of the pattern that has once again taken hold in the cryptocurrency market. Crypto analyst predicts a deeper Bitcoin price downturn later in 2026 Notably, Martinez’s latest prediction is consistent with his previous long-term bearish forecast for the world’s premier cryptocurrency for 2026. On January 12, the on-chain analyst noted that Bitcoin has historically taken 1,064 days to make the move from a previous market bottom to the next market top, and then another 364 days – just a day short of a year – to retrace to the next bottom. Considering BTC has been on a decline since hitting its latest all-time high (ATH) near $125,000 in early October 2025, Ali Martinez explained he expects the digital asset to reach the coming cycle low – identified in the range between $38,000 and $50,000 – early in the tenth month of 2026. Featured image via Shutterstock The post Trading expert sets date when Bitcoin will crash to $50,000 appeared first on Finbold .
3 Feb 2026, 12:33
DOJ Files Reveal Epstein’s $3.2M Coinbase Stake in 2014, Fueling LiquidChain’s Booming Presale
Newly unsealed Department of Justice documents have confirmed a bizarre footnote in crypto history: Jeffrey Epstein poured roughly $3.2 million into Coinbase back in 2014. At the time, Bitcoin was trading well below $1,000. It wasn’t just a small punt, either. Records indicate that about half this stake was liquidated in 2018 for nearly $15 million, a windfall that underscores the staggering multiples generated by early infrastructure plays in the digital asset space. Forget the name attached to the capital for a moment. What actually matters here, from a market structure perspective, is where the money went. In 2014, the biggest headache was simply buying Bitcoin; centralized exchanges (CEXs) like Coinbase solved that fiat on-ramp problem. But today? The bottleneck has moved. It’s no longer about buying assets, but actually using them across a fragmented mess of blockchains. As the market digests these legacy gains, sophisticated traders are hunting for the next infrastructure fix: liquidity unification. That search is funneling serious volume toward Layer 3 solutions, with LiquidChain ($LIQUID) emerging as a clear beneficiary. Buy $LIQUID here. Beyond Centralized Gatekeepers: LiquidChain Unifies Fragmented Ecosystems The era defined by that 2014 investment was all about walled gardens, centralized entities holding custody to facilitate trade. While that worked for onboarding, it left us with a disjointed DeFi landscape where liquidity is trapped on isolated islands. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana currently operate as silos, forcing users to navigate risky bridges just to move capital. LiquidChain ($LIQUID) addresses this. The protocol (relatively new to the scene) isn’t trying to compete with these chains. Instead, it acts as the connective tissue between them. LiquidChain operates as a Layer 3 (L3) Cross-Chain Liquidity Layer. It’s not just another bridge transferring tokens; it provides a single execution environment. This unlocks ‘atomic composability’, meaning you can execute a trade touching $BTC, $ETH, and $SOL liquidity simultaneously without ever leaving the interface. For developers, the ‘Deploy-Once Architecture’ is the real hook. Instead of rewriting smart contracts for three different virtual machines (EVM, SVM, and Bitcoin script), teams deploy on LiquidChain once and instantly access users across every connected ecosystem. The implications are massive. Just as Coinbase captured value by simplifying the purchase of Bitcoin, LiquidChain targets the value in simplifying the usage of Bitcoin in DeFi. By abstracting away the headache of cross-chain swaps, the protocol is chasing the institutional volume that currently sits on CEXs simply because on-chain UX is still too clunky. Read the LiquidChain whitepaper . Get your $LIQUID here. Smart Money Rotates Into Layer 3 As LiquidChain Redefines Settlement History suggests the highest ROI usually comes from solving the dominant infrastructure hurdle of the era. In 2014, that was the exchange layer. In 2026? It’s interoperability. The buzz around LiquidChain ($LIQUID) comes down to its approach to verifiable settlement. Rather than trusting third parties, the protocol uses a Cross-Chain VM that cryptographically verifies transactions. It’s a necessary upgrade to reduce the counterparty risk that has plagued bridges for years. The $LIQUID token fuels this entire ecosystem, handling liquidity staking and gas fees. The economic model looks aggressive: it’s designed to soak up value from the volatility of every chain it connects. If Bitcoin activity surges, LiquidChain benefits. If Solana memecoins rally, LiquidChain captures fees from the cross-chain arbitrage. It offers “index-like” exposure to the broader market without forcing investors to pick a specific winning chain. The contrast between legacy CEX investments and modern DeFi infrastructure is sharp. While those DOJ files are a stark reminder of the massive gains made by early gatekeepers, the current presale activity around LiquidChain suggests the next wave of capital is betting on a borderless, unified liquidity layer. Opportunities to back infrastructure protocols before mainnet launch don’t come around often. Check out the LiquidChain presale. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments, particularly in presale stages, carry high risks including volatility and potential loss of principal. Always conduct your own due diligence.
