Greetings! It’s January 6, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Unregulated Crypto Is an Invitation for Criminals, pulling back the curtain on Nicolás Maduro’s ‘Latin Lady Macbeth’ wife Cilia Flores, MacKenzie Scott Sends Millions to Terror-Tied Nonprofit Network, how a socialist cell in the US mobilized pro-Maduro foot soldiers within 12 hours, and much more…

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🎯 FEATURED STORY

Unregulated Crypto Is an Invitation for Criminals. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain products have brought efficiencies and advances to payments systems, but it would be a mistake to tout such benefits while glossing over crypto’s dark side. Wall Street Journal

🔥 TOP STORIES

Pulling back the curtain on Nicolás Maduro’s ‘Latin Lady Macbeth’ wife Cilia Flores — a ‘fundamental figure in corruption’ New York Post

MacKenzie Scott Sends Millions to Terror-Tied Nonprofit Network Free Beacon

Second front: How a socialist cell in the US mobilized pro-Maduro foot soldiers within 12 hours Fox News

US is making plans to intercept Venezuela-linked oil tanker that Russia has claimed jurisdiction over CNN

Someone made a huge profit predicting Maduro's capture. Here's what happened. Axios

The Burn and the Choke: Why Semiconductor Controls Will Outlast China’s Rare Earth Weapon War on the Rocks

Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan infrastructure averaged 2.6M a day in 2025 Reuters

Crypto Wallet Maker Ledger Confirms Data Breach on Global-e Platform Decrypt

Elite Portuguese investigative unit to probe Spacey movie producer with ties to alleged crypto scammer ICIJ

‘Prime targets’: The punters ‘washing’ tens of millions and the bosses in the firing line Sydney Morning Herald

Trump to freeze billions in childcare funding in five states Axios

AI Deepfakes Are Impersonating Pastors to Try to Scam Their Congregations Wired

🇻🇪 VENEZUELA

Turkey’s extensive ties with Venezuela bolstered Maduro’s regime despite sanctions and criminal activity Long War Journal

Justice Dept. Drops Claim That Venezuela’s ‘Cartel de los Soles’ Is an Actual Group New York Times

U.S. could gain massive bitcoin stash if Venezuela's $60 billion reserve rumors are true CoinDesk

Why Sanctions, Not Reserves, Will Decide Venezuela’s Oil Future Forbes

Federal Council freezes any assets held in Switzerland by Nicolás Maduro Swiss Federal Administration

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Russia has used its only icebreaker to bypass US sanctions on liquefied gas exports Bloomberg

More issuers turn to Dubai listings as yuan bonds gain traction in the Middle East SCMP

Dutch court to hear arguments on Nexperia investigation on January 14 Reuters

China continued hunt for corrupt ‘tigers’ snares State Council veteran SCMP

Sanctioned Chen Zhi’s Hong Kong firms rocked by resignations and frozen assets SCMP

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

2025 was a terrible year for the ‘Four Families’ accused of running global cyber scam operations CNN

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ends reelection bid amid welfare fraud scandal CNN

Founder of Indonesian ride-hailing app Gojek stands trial over procurement of school laptops AP

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott orders child care fraud probe after Minnesota scandal raises national alarms CBS

Judge spares Tennessee lawmaker prison time in corruption case where Trump pardoned ex-speaker, aide AP

S.F. accused a nonprofit of corruption and lost. Now the city is appealing. San Francisco Chronicle

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein credits Trump for early release from prison TechCrunch

Did DOJ Prosecutors Violate Trump’s Executive Order by Selling the Forfeited Samourai Wallet Bitcoin? Bitcoin Magazine

Stablecoin Banking Startup Kontigo to Repay Customers After Hack Bloomberg

US broadband provider Brightspeed investigates breach claims BleepingComputer

Luminar claims founder Austin Russell is dodging a subpoena in the bankruptcy case TechCrunch

The nation’s strictest privacy law just took effect, to data brokers’ chagrin Ars Technica

🚚 TRAFFICKING

Inside the glamorous life of Daniel Kinahan, Europe's top cocaine kingpin Daily Mail

2,000 federal agents deploying to Minneapolis in immigration crackdown, fraud probe CBS

How demand for elite falcons in the Middle East is driving illegal trade of British birds Guardian

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