Invest ideasNews
19 Jan 2026, 17:50
UK regulator accuses Meta of turning a blind eye to illegal gambling ads
Britain’s gambling watchdog says Meta Platforms Inc. is deliberately overlooking illegal gambling advertisements running on Facebook and Instagram. The Gambling Commission has been checking Meta’s public ad library and finding operators without proper licenses who are targeting UK users. Tim Miller, the regulator’s executive director, talked about the issue during a speech at the ICE gaming conference in Barcelona on Monday. Regulator calls the situatio n a window into criminality Miller called the situatio n a window into criminal activity. He said if the commission can find these illegal ads, Meta can too, but the company just chooses not to look for them. Meta hasn’t responded to requests for comment. The company’s own rules say gambling businesses must hold valid licenses to advertise in the markets they want to reach. The UK Gambling Commission is one of many regulators worldwid e st epping up efforts against illegal gambling operations. These unlicensed sites target local customers while dodging local regulations and consumer protections. British authorities have taken down hundreds of thousands of websites linked to unlicensed gambling operations and sent out cease-and-desist orders, but it’s a constant fight. Miller said ads from illegal operators hurt vulnerable people while enriching criminals and fraudsters. Unlicensed gambling sites don’t pay taxes, and their customers face a greater chance of getting cheated. The commission looked for ads containing the phrase “not on Gamstop,” which refers to a British service that helps problem gamblers block themselves from gaming websites. Every licensed operator in the UK must work with Gamstop and block registered users from playing. Meta suggests regulator use AI tools to find violations Miller said Meta told the Gambling Commission it should use artificial intelligence tools to find and report illegal ads. The company promised to remove the ads once notified. Miller said he would be very surprised if Meta, as one of the world’s largest tech companies, couldn’t use its own keyword facility to stop illegal gambling ads. He said it leaves you with the impression they’re quite happy to turn a blind eye and keep taking money from criminals and scammers until someone complains. An earlier investigation from Rest of World found that illegal gambling ads are widespread on Meta in countries where they’re outlawed, including India, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. Claim your free seat in an exclusive crypto trading community - limited to 1,000 members.
19 Jan 2026, 17:35
Bitcoin Price Crashes to Zero on Paradex Exchange as Glitch Fuels Mass Liquidations
The price of Bitcoin plunged to $0 on Paradex's perps exchange, leading to a liquidation cascade that required a chain rollback.
19 Jan 2026, 17:30
Best Crypto to Buy as it Gives 2021 Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) Vibes
For investors looking to get in on the ground floor of the next big crypto move, reminiscent of the wild price action seen in the likes of Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) in 2021, Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is quickly gaining popularity as the best cryptocurrency to buy. Currently in Phase 7 of its presale, Mutuum Finance has seen its presale raise nearly $20 million with over 18,850 unique holders. Shiba Inu & Dogecoin Today The RSI is at around 52.90 for Shiba Inu (SHIB), which is indicative of stability, with price forecasts ranging from modest growth of 25% to targets of around $0.000109 in the longer term. Momentum is neutral, which means any price action is expected to be delayed as the cryptocurrency holds at current levels. Dogecoin (DOGE) is also on the upswing as it builds out of a reversal and a bull flag on the weekly charts, with the reclaim zone at $0.154-$0.157. Breaking through may lead to targets at $0.16-$0.195. While SHIB and DOGE remain in the headlines as they reach new heights in terms of price growth, it is clear that potential for bigger growth lies with Mutuum Finance (MUTM). Already, many investors have turned to MUTM as the best crypto to buy. Adoption and Community Momentum The presale of Mutuum Finance is seeing incredible levels of adoption, rewarding those who get involved in the project during its early stages. Having launched at a remarkably low $0.01, MUTM is currently at $0.04 in Phase 7, a 4x increase, and is expected to list on the market at $0.06. This means a $5,000 investment in Phase 7 will increase to $6,250 in Phase 8, earning a $1,250 return even before the token is listed on the market. At launch, it will have ballooned by $2,500 to hit $7,500. Over 18,830 people have already participated in the presale, earning the project close to $19.85 million. MUTM Liquidity Mining and Risk Management The key to Mutuum Finance’s lending and borrowing platform is its liquidity, which the platform encourages through the provision of MUTM token rewards. For example, a user depositing $5,000 USDC into a P2C lending pool earning 7% APY may earn an additional 5% APY of MUTM tokens. This increases the total APY to 12% APY. Borrowers are also rewarded. For example, a user borrowing $6,000 USDC at 9% APY may earn a rebate of 3% APY on the interest paid in the form of MUTM tokens. To make this work, the project is testing two different ways of rewarding users. One involves rewarding users on a block-by-block basis. This allows users to earn the tokens immediately. The other involves a weekly reward. This helps the project save on gas costs. In total, the project sets aside 10% of the total supply of its tokens for this purpose. Risk management is also an essential part of the design of the MUTM platform, where the Loan-to-Value ratios and liquidation levels are adjusted according to the level of asset volatility. Less volatile assets such as ETH and USDT allow an LTV of up to 75% with a liquidation level of 80%, allowing a user who has a total of 3 ETH or $10,000 to take a loan of up to $7,500 in USDC without having to part ways with his ETH. More volatile assets allow lower LTV ratios, and the automated liquidation system ensures the stability of the system and the safety of the assets of the users. Version 1 of the platform will be tested on the Sepolia Testnet before the mainnet launch of the platform, where it will allow the user to engage with liquidity pools, deposit mtTokens, manage debt tokens, and interact with the liquidator bot. With such workings in place, the MUTM platform has been given the reputation of being the best crypto to buy for an individual seeking a viable way towards the next big crypto. How MUTM Can Potentially Outperform Memecoins Although Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) demonstrate signs of recovery and potential, Mutuum Finance presents an early investor opportunity and a DeFi functionality with high community acceptance. Currently in Phase 7 at $0.04, having secured almost $19.85 million, MUTM is poised to be the next big crypto. For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below: Website: https://mutuum.com/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance
19 Jan 2026, 17:28
Bitcoin crashes to $0 on Paradex in sudden flash event: here’s what happened
A startling glitch on Paradex, a leading decentralized perpetuals exchange on Starknet, caused Bitcoin’s price to briefly plummet to zero, sparking widespread liquidations and prompting an urgent blockchain rollback. The team at Paradex later confirmed the platform was back online. However, the incident highlights the continued vulnerabilities facing decentralised finance infrastructure amid growing adoption of layer-2 solutions. Paradex initiates rollback On Monday, Starknet-based Paradex experienced a critical database migration error that erroneously valued Bitcoin at $0 on its platform. The anomaly led to a cascade of automated liquidations, wiping out thousands of leveraged positions. Liquidations hit as trading algorithms reacted to the impossible price feed. After an alert, the exchange announced a trading halt and a rollback, which the team initiated before the exchange came back online around 12:10 UTC on January 19, 2026. However, the glitch meant all open orders were forcibly canceled, except for take-profit and stop-loss (TPSL) orders, as the team sought to restore integrity. The team noted in an update: Recovery efforts are ongoing. We can confirm that all user funds are SAFU. Due to the complexity of the recovery process, we do not have a confirmed ETA at this time. We will provide further updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience and support. Mass liquidations rock traders The zero-price flash crash triggered massive liquidations across Paradex’s perpetual markets, exposing traders to extreme volatility risks inherent in decentralized venues. Reports indicate thousands of positions were closed involuntarily, amplifying losses during a period of already fragile market sentiment. Starknet’s native STRK token dipped 5% in the aftermath, reflecting broader ecosystem concerns. According to data on CoinMarketCap, STRK price hovered near $0.081 at the time of writing. Elsewhere, Bitcoin’s spot price remained stable globally, trading around recent lows after diving from highs above $97,000. “Since the ETF market was not open at the time, this selling pressure is coming from US whales operating outside of ETFs,” analysts at CryptoQuant wrote on X . BTC hovered below $93k, and analysts at Bitfinex note that while the market structure has improved, sell overhang remains. Macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty is a key factor for bulls. User criticism Social media users on X unleashed sharp criticism following Paradex’s Bitcoin price glitch and chain rollback, branding the platform unreliable and unprofessional. Many labeled it “a joke,” highlighting eroded trust in its DeFi operations. One trader vented: “DEX” and “rollback” can’t be in the same sentence. Another user posted: @paradex downtimes are honestly wild. Repeated outages where you cannot manage positions or touch your money. I doubt serious money will ever trust infrastructure that fails this predictably. Most reactions are skewed heavily negative, with users questioning Starknet’s L2 maturity and Paradex’s governance. Critics argued rollbacks undermine blockchain immutability, fueling demands for refunds and better audits, though some acknowledged quick communication. The post Bitcoin crashes to $0 on Paradex in sudden flash event: here’s what happened appeared first on Invezz
19 Jan 2026, 17:28
Ethereum hit by major address poisoning attack as losses reach $740K
Ethereum is facing another large-scale address poisoning campaign. To date, thefts from private wallets have reached $740K. The Ethereum network is targeted by another address poisoning attack, spreading fake addresses to private wallets. Address poisoning includes fake tokens or dust from real assets, meant to disguise the wallet’s real history. Users who send to the last used address without double-checking will see their funds sent to the exploiter’s wallets. The attacks coincided with a period of low fees for Ethereum, allowing the attackers to make more dust transactions. Address poisoning attacks have also happened during high-fee periods, but the current campaign is among the larger ones. On-chain researcher Andrey Sergeenkov noticed the attack and connected it to Ethereum’s low fees at the moment. Ethereum made spam transactions cheap The Fusaka update made spam transactions truly cheap, with regular ETH transfers under $0.01. As a result, following January 12, Ethereum saw a rapid inflow of new addresses, over three times the usual rate. As usual, the increased transactions were linked to stablecoins, which are one of the common types of tokens. However, Sergeenkov discovered over 67% of those stablecoin transactions were ‘dust’, a small amount of funds that could trace an address, or inject a poisoned address into a wallet’s history. Ethereum wallets flag some tokens, but dust transactions of legitimate stablecoins are not flagged as suspicious. The researcher flagged three originating addresses, which together sent spam transactions to over 1.5M wallets. Ethereum is still under attack from smart contract address As of January 19, one of the flagged smart contracts, 0x301d9bc22d66f7bc49329a9d9eb16d3ecc4a12b4, had sent spam to over 589K wallets. The contract burned around 2.5 ETH in fees in the past 24 hours, and was among the top 10 busiest Ethereum contracts. One of the Ethereum spam contracts was among the top 10 gas burners, with other smaller contracts still actively sending out poisoned transactions. | Source: Ultrasound money The contract ran a fundPoisoner function to spread tokens or ETH to thousands of intermediary addresses. Those addresses then funded user wallets with spam transactions. The latest wave of the attack reached 116 victims and took over $740K. The end results of poisoning attacks are unknown, as the user wallets may vary in their holdings. Recently, one user lost around $510K in a single address poisoning attack. The loss was linked to the recent total theft of the spam attack. The Ethereum team did not intentionally invite spam, but made it possible through its latest upgrade. While Ethereum activity is seen as bullish, some of the added transfers belonged to malicious spam. The current attack may not be over, with new contracts still active. Some of the attack smart contracts were flagged for spreading spam transactions. Another 78,000 wallets were dusted with fractions of stablecoins. The recent research only took into account dust sent through stablecoins. A similar spam attack may still use fake tokens, low-value tokens, or other forms of dust. The best approach is to be aware of the potential risk and avoid copying addresses when sending an Ethereum transaction. If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter .
19 Jan 2026, 17:27
Gold, Silver Smash Records as Trump Sets Feb. 1 Tariffs Over Greenland Standoff
Gold (XAU/USD) printed $4,689.39/oz and silver (XAG/USD) tagged $94.08/oz today, after President Donald Trump tied a new tariff schedule to a Greenland standoff in a Truth Social post on Saturday that set explicit start dates and step-ups. Trump Sets Feb. 1 Tariff Start Date in Greenland Dispute Trump wrote that the U.S. will impose a 10% tariff from Feb. 1, 2026, on “any and all goods” from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, and Finland , then lift the rate to 25% from June 1, 2026 , until “the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” occurs. Eight #European countries targeted by #US President Donald #Trump for a 10% #tariff for opposing American control of Greenland on Sunday warned that his threats “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.” FRANCE 24 takes a closer look. pic.twitter.com/4GnDxkWwA2 — FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) January 19, 2026 “This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,” Trump stated in the post. Price action favored the higher-beta metal: spot silver rose ~4.4% intraday to $93.85/oz after the $94.08/oz print, while spot gold rose ~1.6% to $4,670.01/oz after the $4,689.39/oz high. Cross-asset tape confirmed “risk-off” positioning: European equities traded lower on Jan. 19, 2026, as the tariff timeline hit, with Germany’s DAX falling 1.1% and the CAC 40 in Paris falling 1.3% in early moves cited by AP News . The next macro catalyst sits on the rates channel: the Bank of Japan has scheduled its Monetary Policy Meeting for Jan. 22-23, 2026 , with the Statement on Monetary Policy slated for Jan. 23 and the Summary of Opinions due Feb. 2 . Liquidity note for desks running metal exposure: U.S. markets are closed on Jan. 19, 2026, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day , which historically concentrates price discovery into futures/FX venues and can widen intraday slippage on leveraged metal products. What Markets Are Pricing In Gold’s record print at $4,689/oz matters less than the tariff calendar at Feb. 1 and June 1 because systematic macro books map those dates into USD rate volatility and cross-asset correlation spikes. If the BoJ on Jan. 23 indicates tighter policy while Washington simultaneously escalates trade restrictions, desks should expect convex moves in JPY crosses and mechanically higher demand for collateral-friendly havens, with silver’s $94/oz spike acting as a tell for funds that express the same hedge through higher beta and industrial tightness rather than pure store-of-value exposure. The post Gold, Silver Smash Records as Trump Sets Feb. 1 Tariffs Over Greenland Standoff appeared first on Cryptonews .
