election

According to the Korea Times, South Korea's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb, is still pushing for the re-election of its current CEO, Lee Jae-won, despite facing a series of controversies and regulatory penalties. Previously, on February 6, 2026, Bithumb experienced a serious operational error during a promotional event, resulting in the erroneous distribution of approximately 620,000 BTC, about 15 times the actual amount held by the exchange, to users. This exposed significant flaws in Bithumb's internal verification, asset management, and ledger systems. The error was discovered and controlled within 35 minutes, with the exchange freezing transactions and withdrawals for 695 affected accounts, claiming to have recovered 99.7% of the erroneously issued assets, but the incident still triggered a brief panic in the market.The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the South Korean Financial Services Commission imposed several penalties on Bithumb, including a six-month suspension of some operations, a 36.8 billion won (approximately 24 million USD) fine for anti-money laundering violations, a warning to CEO Lee Jae-won, and a six-month suspension for the reporting officer.CEO Lee Jae-won's term will end this month, and the company plans to hold a regular shareholders' meeting on March 31 to discuss a proposal to extend his term for another two years. Despite the significant failures and regulatory pressure, Bithumb has chosen to push for re-election to maintain operational continuity and stability rather than undergo a management reshuffle. In similar situations in the past, such as when Upbit's CEO transitioned to an advisory role after receiving a warning from the FIU, management often faced greater accountability.

According to a report by Jinshi, the latest NBC poll shows that Trump's support among registered voters has decreased by 3 percentage points from 47% in March 2025 to 44%, with disapproval rising to 54%. The average of Decision Desk HQ polls also shows similar results: 43.1% approval and 54.4% disapproval.Investinglive analyst Adam Button stated that the key for the market lies in the situation of the midterm elections. Trump himself has pointed out this risk, noting that historical patterns show that the party in the White House typically faces setbacks in midterm elections. If the Republican Party loses seats in Congress, it will reshape the legislative landscape regarding tax policy, tariffs, and deregulation, while current stock valuations have to some extent already priced in expectations for these policies.The big question ahead is whether Trump will begin to face internal pressure to quickly end the war. Republicans have certainly acknowledged that they will lose the House of Representatives, and as the Middle Eastern war diminishes some of their voter base, the control of the Senate becomes increasingly uncertain.

Data shows that lobbying groups related to the cryptocurrency industry have invested approximately $271 million to influence the 2026 U.S. elections, mainly for political activities such as advertising. Among them, the super PAC FairShake is one of the main sources of funding, with donors including Coinbase, Ripple, Uniswap Labs, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.The data also indicates that about 40% of the related funds are directed towards Republican candidates, about 3% towards Democratic candidates, and the remainder supports independent candidates. Industry insiders say that as the 2026 U.S. midterm elections approach, lobbying activities in the cryptocurrency industry are expected to continue to increase.

According to Decrypt, the National Anti-Corruption Center of Moldova (CNA) has disclosed a plan to influence the country's parliamentary elections in 2025 using cryptocurrency, involving an amount of $107 million.CNA Director Alexandr Pinzari stated that the plan involved "complex trading operations" through non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets, transferring virtual assets to intermediaries in Moldova, who would then convert them into cash and distribute them to local activists for bribing voters, promoting specific candidates, and mobilizing rally participants. The source of the funds can be traced back to two centralized cryptocurrency platforms in Russia and Kyrgyzstan.Blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs linked the activity to the "Russia-backed foreign influence operation InfoLider" and confirmed that the Kyrgyzstan cryptocurrency exchange TokenSpot is one of the sources of the transactions. TRM Labs had previously identified TokenSpot as a potential front company for the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex, both of which are closely related to the "Kremlin-backed sanctions evasion ecosystem."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has confirmed that he will run in the 2028 U.S. presidential election. Previously disclosed information reveals that he owns at least $1 million in Bitcoin and does not intend to divest this asset. He has also publicly stated that he is a staunch supporter of Bitcoin, believing that decentralization, a capped supply, neutral currency, and other hard assets like gold and silver can stabilize the dollar and prevent currency devaluation.

Cryptocurrency journalist Eleanor Terrett posted on the X platform that another key advocate for cryptocurrency tax reform in the U.S. Senate will not seek re-election.Senators Lummis and Steve Daines have confirmed they will not run for re-election, and Marsha Blackburn will also leave the Senate if elected Governor of Tennessee.

Musk stated on social media that the X platform has added a timeline theme selection feature, allowing users to switch between different content themes based on their interests. He mentioned that if users feel fatigued by political content, they can choose other thematic content. Users can adjust their settings by clicking on the "For You" page.

The Chair of the UK's National Security Council, Matt Western, has called for an urgent temporary ban on political donations in cryptocurrency to prevent foreign interference in UK elections. Matt Western stated that such donations need to be suspended until the risks associated with cryptocurrency donations (including thorough checks on the sources of funds) are addressed.The committee also called for a review of sentencing for electoral offenses, believing that deterrence needs to be strengthened. Western has written to the Cabinet Minister responsible for election finance, Steve Reed, requesting immediate action—previously, the new election bill did not include provisions to restrict cryptocurrency donations.Earlier this year, the Reform UK party became the first to express acceptance of digital currency donations, reportedly receiving its first registrable cryptocurrency donations and establishing a dedicated crypto portal. In his letter, Western expressed concern that, given the deteriorating global security environment, the intent of foreign interference in UK political finance may intensify before the next election.

According to Cointelegraph, data shows that the crypto market has largely retraced the gains made after the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Total3 (the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum) surged over 91% shortly after the election results were announced on November 5, 2024, rising from about $600 billion to $1.16 trillion by December 2024. The market then fell back to around the $900 billion range and briefly rebounded to $1.13 trillion on January 18, 2025.In October 2025, Total3 reached a new stage high of about $1.19 trillion but subsequently faced a significant decline, breaking the structural uptrend. Currently, Total3 is approximately $713 billion, down about 40% from the October 2025 peak, nearing the mid-November 2024 levels, with no clear signs of sustained recovery in the market.In terms of mainstream assets, Bitcoin has seen a maximum drop of over 50% from its peak to its low, dipping to around $60,000 before rebounding to about $68,000; Ethereum has retraced about 60% from its historical high of nearly $5,000 in August 2025. Sentiment indicators are also at low levels. CMC's Fear and Greed Index reports a score of 14, indicating "extreme fear," and on February 5, it briefly fell to 5, one of the lowest levels on record.

According to The Hill, the cryptocurrency industry is ramping up its spending in preparation for the upcoming U.S. midterm elections after achieving several key victories and accumulating significant funds in 2024.The industry's main super PAC network, Fairshake, has over $193 million in cash on hand as of early 2026 and has announced several targets for this election cycle: including supporting Congressman Barry Moore (Republican-Alabama) in the Alabama Senate race, and pushing to oust Congressman Al Green (Democrat-Texas) in the House elections. After making substantial investments in the last U.S. elections and claiming victories in at least two high-profile campaigns, this has secured some early wins for the industry in Congress and significantly elevated the cryptocurrency sector's standing in Washington.The impact of the cryptocurrency industry in 2024 was most pronounced, as it invested tens of millions of dollars in multiple primaries and competitive elections. According to 2024 campaign finance filings, the Fairshake super PAC network, which includes three affiliated groups, spent nearly $180 million in the last cycle.

According to CoinDesk, Citi's analysis indicates that Bitcoin is approaching a key price support level ahead of the U.S. elections.The report states that after several weeks of decline, the price of Bitcoin has fallen below the bank's estimated average entry cost of approximately $81,600 for the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF and is nearing the critical level of about $70,000 prior to last year's election.The report points out that the main new source of demand supporting the market—ETF inflows—has significantly slowed, while the futures market continues to see long positions being liquidated. Analysts note that the cryptocurrency market exhibits volatility similar to that of precious metals but has failed to follow the recent safe-haven rally in gold, highlighting that its price is still primarily influenced by liquidity conditions and risk sentiment rather than safe-haven demand.The report believes that regulatory progress remains a key potential catalyst, but the advancement of the U.S. digital asset market structure bill has been slow and uneven, leading to diminished expectations. The report also mentions macro risks, including concerns about the Federal Reserve's balance sheet contraction, which historically puts pressure on crypto assets by reducing liquidity in the banking system.

According to the official announcement, Gate DEX will launch the Gate DEX Peak Experience Officer selection event from February 3 to March 3. During the event, users can visit Gate DEX, experience various business sectors such as market trends, perpetual contracts, spot trading, Meme (Meme Go, Gate Fun, Trackers), inviting friends, BountyDrop, etc., and submit product feedback forms for a chance to win rewards of up to 200 USDT.Gate DEX is an industry-leading multi-chain crypto platform that connects over 100 public chains, millions of assets, and tens of thousands of DApps in one place, providing a professional-grade DEX experience and the best solutions for every DEX need. BountyDrop is a dedicated earning activity section on the Gate DEX discovery page, where users can complete simple tasks for a chance to win rewards or participate in a lottery to receive airdrop tokens.

According to a report by the Financial Times, cited by Jin Shi, U.S. President Trump and his allies have raised a record $429 million in political donations over the past year, with tech billionaires and businesses seeking policy changes opening their wallets to accumulate funds ahead of the midterm elections. Analysis shows that the single political action committee (PAC) Maga Inc, controlled by Trump's allies, currently holds $304 million in funds—this amount exceeds the reserves of any political action committee in previous midterm election years and is tens of millions of dollars more than the funds available to the Democratic Party's related camps.The largest disclosed single donation to Maga Inc came from the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, with venture capital giants A16Z founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz each donating $3 million to "Maga Inc" last year. OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman donated $12.5 million to the committee last December, with his wife Anna adding another $12.5 million.

According to Cointelegraph, Grow California, co-founded by Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and Bitcoin supporter and venture capitalist Tim Draper, has disclosed that it has received approximately $40 million in donation commitments for an independent expenditure committee and related nonprofit entities to combat California's wealth tax and union power. Chris Larsen is expected to contribute up to $30 million of his own funds over multiple election cycles.Industry observers note that crypto-backed political action committees (PACs) are gearing up for the 2026 U.S. midterm elections to expand the industry's influence. Fairshake disclosed on Wednesday that its cash reserves have reached $193 million, funded by crypto institutions such as Ripple Labs, Andreessen Horowitz, and Coinbase.

According to market news, the cryptocurrency political action committee Fairshake, supported by Coinbase, a16z, and Ripple, announced that it has reserved over $193 million in funding for the midterm elections in November 2026.The funding includes a $25 million donation from Coinbase in 2025, as well as recent donations of $25 million and $24 million from Ripple and a16z, respectively. Fairshake stated that as the midterm elections approach, it will continue to oppose politicians with anti-crypto policies and support leaders who advocate for the crypto industry. The organization played a key role during last year's election season, investing tens of millions of dollars to support pro-crypto candidates.

According to Jinshi reports, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced that the House of Representatives will be dissolved on January 23 and an early election will be held.

As the Ugandan government cut off nationwide internet access during the presidential elections, the encrypted communication app Bitchat became one of the most downloaded apps locally. The Uganda Communications Commission confirmed that the internet shutdown took effect at 6 PM local time on Tuesday and will continue throughout the election period.Reports indicate that Bitchat relies on Bluetooth Mesh networks to enable encrypted communication without the internet, and it has simultaneously topped the download charts on both the Apple App Store and Google Play in Uganda. Meanwhile, several VPN apps also ranked high in downloads, indicating a significant increase in local demand for information access ahead of the elections.The Ugandan government stated that the internet shutdown aims to prevent the spread of false information during the elections, but opponents argue that this move could restrict the flow of election-related information. The executive director of the Uganda Communications Commission had previously stated that there would be no internet shutdown, but ultimately, the measures were implemented. As of early January, it has been disclosed that over 400,000 users in Uganda have downloaded Bitchat.This marks the third consecutive time Uganda has implemented a nationwide internet shutdown during presidential elections. Similar actions occurred during the elections in 2016 and 2021. Reports also mention that Bitchat has been widely used in various countries under conditions of internet restrictions or sudden disasters in recent years, gradually becoming an alternative communication tool in offline environments.

According to official social media news, the Huobi HTX C2C trading zone's selection station recently released its 2025 annual review. Since its launch in April 2025, the selection station has maintained a record of 0 freezes, lasting a total of 6,456 hours to date. The selection station prioritizes fund security, adhering to the concept of proactive protection, successfully intercepting nearly 83 million risk behaviors throughout the year, and effectively preventing potential fund losses of 10.32 million USDT, stopping risks before they occur. The outstanding security measures have driven the growth of trading volume and received widespread acclaim from users. The report shows that the order volume of the selection station saw a maximum increase of 818%, while the trading volume experienced a maximum increase of 380%, with users sharing and forwarding over 60,000 times throughout the year.In 2025, the selection station pioneered by Huobi HTX continuously upgraded the C2C trading experience, and the "0 freeze + 100% compensation" model has set a new benchmark for the industry. The C2C selection station stated that it will continue to fulfill its safety commitment of "0 freeze on withdrawals, 100% compensation" in 2026, providing users with stable, secure, and efficient C2C trading services.