GM. Half the world is still in holiday mode, the other half is pretending to work... and crypto is making sure neither group can rest.

Here's what's going down today:

🎄 Crypto's kinda... meh;

🚨 FBI warns about Bitcoin ATM scams;

☃️ Bitcoin's steady growth, outpacing metals + more

🎄 Market cheer today

🎁 A spendable crypto holiday

Ever wished your crypto could actually pay for stuff? Like coffee. Or snacks. Or impulsive online buys you'll defend later.

Same.

Lucky for us, BitMart launched cards that let you spend crypto like regular money - swipe, tap, done.

And there's a new BitDegree Mission that shows you how it works, without frying your brain (and yes, you get rewarded).

🎁 Prize pool: 1,800 Bits + 1,000 USDC.

🗓 Deadline: Feb 2, 2026.

FYI: more Bits = a bigger share of the $20K BitDegree Season 9 Airdrop 👀

So... wanna see how deep the card magic goes? 😏👇

❄️ Memecoin snowfall

Weather's going brrrr, and so are these memecoins 💸

Data as of 09:28 AM EST.

Check out these memecoins and plenty more here.

🚨 FBI warns about Bitcoin ATM scams

You're halfway through your coffee when your phone rings. Unknown number.

The person on the other end sounds calm and official - the tone that makes you think, "Ok, I should probably listen."

They tell you there's a problem with your bank account.

Then comes the odd part:

❌ They don't tell you to log into your bank app.

❌ They don't ask for a credit card.

Instead, they ask you to take cash, head to a nearby convenience store, and feed the money into a machine next to the lottery tickets.

That machine? A Bitcoin ATM.

And that moment is where things start to go wrong.

The FBI issued a warning about a huge rise in scams using these machines.

According to them, Americans have lost $300M+ in 2025 alone through Bitcoin ATM scams. And this number only includes cases that were reported.

Now, the pattern is depressingly consistent. Scammers reach out pretending to be someone you're conditioned to trust: a bank, tech support, a government agency, sometimes even law enforcement.

They introduce a problem and then make it urgent - act now, or it gets worse.

Once panic kicks in, they redirect the solution away from familiar systems and toward crypto.

👉 Why crypto? Once crypto is sent to a scammer's wallet, there's no reversing it.

That finality is the whole point.

Now, for some, it might be tempting to stop the story here and say, "See? Crypto is dangerous." But that's not quite right.

Crypto didn't invent scams. Scammers have always followed the path of least resistance - wherever money moves fast, and oversight is thin.

Bitcoin ATMs just happen to check both boxes.

So, here's the nuance that's important:

👉 Bitcoin ATMs themselves aren't evil.

They exist because some people want access to the digital economy without using banks, apps, or online exchanges.

For immigrants, underbanked communities, or privacy-conscious users, that's genuinely useful.

👉 But they remove friction - and friction is often what protects people.

Banks have fraud departments. Credit cards have dispute processes.

Crypto transactions don't.

That's a feature when you want independence... and a vulnerability when someone tricks you.

👉 This is why scammers love them.

Cash + crypto + panic = money that disappears permanently.

What's especially troubling is who gets hit hardest. The FBI notes that older adults are disproportionately targeted - people who may be less familiar with crypto but very familiar with trusting official-sounding instructions.

Step back, and this story becomes less about scams and more about where crypto is in its life cycle.

The tech has matured faster than public understanding. And whenever that gap exists, bad actors move in first.

So here's the takeaway, and it circles back to that coffee-break phone call.

Any system that moves money instantly puts more responsibility on the person pressing the button.

And the moment someone tries to rush that decision - especially using crypto - that urgency isn't a feature. It's the warning label.

If you slow the moment down, ask one extra question, or walk away from the machine altogether, the scam collapses.

And that pause might be the most valuable protection you have.

☃️ Frosty news drops

💸 Need to move money to Italy without overthinking fees, speeds, or hidden surprises? We put together a simple guide to help you figure it out.

🐢 Bitwise's Matt Hougan says Bitcoin's probably gonna grow slowly but surely over the next 10 years. Don't expect those big, dramatic spikes we've seen before.

🥇 Since 2015, Bitcoin's shot up 27,701%, totally leaving silver (405%) and gold (283%) in the dust. If you picked Bitcoin instead of metals, that was a massive W.

🇮🇷 People in Tehran protested when the rial tanked to its record low against the US dollar, blaming the central bank for shrinking their savings. Situations like this make Bitcoin look pretty appealing as a backup.

🕵️‍♂️ South Korea's Kim Byung-kee is under fire 'cause his son was job hunting at Bithumb while he was handling crypto-related issues in parliament. People are raising eyebrows about a possible conflict of interest.

🎅 Santa-approved memes