Today in crypto: BitMine Immersion Technologies has staked another 82,560 Ether, a crypto executive stresses that the US CLARITY Act requires time to be done correctly. Meanwhile, hundreds of wallets on Ethereum Virtual Machine blockchains were drained in a broad exploit.
BitMine stakes $259M more ETH, pushing validator entry queue near 1M Ether
BitMine Immersion Technologies has added another 82,560 Ether, worth roughly $259 million, to Ethereum’s staking system, intensifying congestion in the network’s validator entry queue as institutional demand for yield continues to build.
Data from Arkham shows that the Ether (ETH) treasury firm sent multiple large deposits to Ethereum’s BatchDeposit contract within the past few hours. With the new stake, BitMine’s total staked ETH has climbed to 544,064 Ether, valued at approximately $1.62 billion at current prices, according to onchain analyst Lookonchain.
BitMine first started staking ETH on Dec. 26, transferring nearly $219 million worth of ETH to staking-related contracts on the Ethereum network.
In November, BitMine revealed plans to begin staking Ether in the first quarter of 2026 through an internal infrastructure known as the Made-in-America Validator Network (MAVAN). The company said it had selected three institutional staking providers for an initial pilot, deploying a limited amount of ETH to evaluate performance, security and operational reliability before expanding the program.
Coinbase exec defends CLARITY Act delay: 'I completely understand'
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, is moving along the right pathway, despite the crypto industry’s growing impatience, according to a Coinbase executive.
“I completely understand why this is taking longer,” Coinbase Institutional head of strategy John D’Agostino said during an interview on CNBC on Friday.
“It’s the kind of bill that is quite frankly more foundational for the growth of crypto or any real asset class,” he said, emphasizing that it makes sense for the process to take some time.
He said that the CLARITY Act is a lot more complex than the Genius Act, the stablecoin legislation that was passed into US law in July.
'Hundreds' of EVM wallets drained in mysterious attack: ZachXBT
An attacker has drained "hundreds” of crypto wallets on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains, siphoning small sums from each victim in what onchain investigator ZachXBT described as a broad but low-value exploit.
The losses appear limited on a per-wallet basis, with each victim losing less than $2,000, according to ZachXBT. The activity has affected wallets on several EVM-compatible networks, indicating a widespread incident rather than isolated to a single blockchain.
A fraudulent email disguised as legitimate communication from Web3 wallet MetaMask could have been the vehicle for the attack, said cybersecurity researcher Vladimir S., who cited a clue left by another pseudonymous X user.
“This looks like automated, wide-net exploitation,” cybersecurity provider Hackless said, warning users to revoke smart contract approvals and continue monitoring their wallets.
The widespread wallet drain attacker is potentially linked to the Trust Wallet hack that occurred on Christmas, Vladimir S. said, citing another pseudonymous X user.
