Headlines
▌OpenAI is in talks to raise $40 billion in new funding
According to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, ChatGPT maker OpenAI is in early talks with investors to raise $40 billion in a new funding round. The new funding would value the artificial intelligence (AI) giant at $340 billion.
This could be a good sign for crypto-related to AI, as OpenAI's valuation has nearly doubled after the rise of rival DeepSeek, which has helped the industry shed some of its bubble, which will bring some confidence to the industry.
▌CME Group plans to launch Bitcoin Friday Futures Options (BFF) on February 24
According to TheBlock, the world's largest financial derivatives exchange operator, the CME Group, announced today that it plans to launch Bitcoin Friday Futures Options (BFF) on February 24, pending regulatory approval. BFF will be the first cash-settled cryptocurrency options offered by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, with expiration dates on each business day from Monday to Friday. These contracts are smaller in size (only 1/50th of a BTC per contract) and expire daily, providing market participants with a capital-efficient tool to effectively adjust their Bitcoin exposure, suitable for both institutional investors and active retail traders.
Market
As of the time of writing, according to Coingecko data:
BTC's latest trading price is $104,909, with a daily change of +0.9%;
ETH's latest trading price is $3,266.61, with a daily change of +4.5%;
BNB's latest trading price is $678.59, with a daily change of +1.0%;
SOL's latest trading price is $238.73, with a daily change of +3.3%;
DOGE's latest trading price is $0.3316, with a daily change of +1.4%;
XPR's latest trading price is $3.11, with a daily change of +1.0%.
Policy
▌Trump: Plans to impose 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico starting February 1
On January 30, local time, US President Trump said he plans to fulfill his promise to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada starting February 1, and will decide on the evening of January 30 whether to include oil in the list of goods subject to tariffs.
On January 20, Trump told the media when signing a series of executive orders in the Oval Office that day that he was considering imposing a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada, and the tariff action could be implemented starting February 2023. (CCTV News)
▌US SEC approves Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF to list on NYSE Arca
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the NYSE Arca's proposed rule change to allow the listing and trading of shares of the Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF. Under the proposal, the Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF will hold physical Bitcoin and physical Ethereum in proportion to their market capitalizations.
▌Market news: PumpFun faces class action lawsuit, accused of violating US securities law
According to market news, PumpFun is facing a class action lawsuit, with the plaintiffs alleging that the platform has violated US securities law and claiming that all tokens created through its "Meme Factory" are securities.
▌Tether responds to EU regulation, exchanges plan to delist USDT
According to Cointelegraph, Tether is concerned about exchanges delisting USDT due to the EU's MiCA regulation. Crypto.com has confirmed that it will start delisting USDT and nine other tokens from its European platform on January 31, after Coinbase had already removed USDT by December 2024 for compliance reasons. Tether criticized this move as hasty and lacking clear basis, warning that sudden delisting could increase market instability and impact European crypto users. MiCA requires non-compliant stablecoins to be fully restricted by the end of Q1 2025, but exchanges can provide limited selling options before March 31. Additionally, Tether announced it will relocate its headquarters to El Salvador, supporting the country's Bitcoin policies and decentralized finance development.
Blockchain Applications
▌EigenLayer: Seeking AI agent use cases to be built on AVS
EigenLayer posted on X platform, announcing a $20,000 bounty to support restaking and protecting Actively Validated Services (AVS), aggregating Ethereum's trust network into projects like oracles and Rollups. EigenLayer also announced it is seeking innovative AI agent use cases to be built as or on EigenLayer AVS.
Cryptocurrencies
▌Mizuho Securities: Expects MSTR's BTC holdings to reach 783,000 by end of 2027, with BTC price reaching $166,000
According to TheBlock, Mizuho Securities believes Bitcoin's price has another 30% upside in the next three years, which is why the firm has rated MicroStrategy's stock as outperform. Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev points out that Bitcoin's adoption is increasingly widespread globally, and the political environment under former US President Donald Trump is more favorable.
Assuming the adoption rate continues on the same trajectory as before 2027, it means Bitcoin's price will rise 25-30% annually. By the end of 2027, MSTR's Bitcoin holdings are expected to reach 783,000, with Bitcoin's market price rising to $166,000, meaning MSTR's holdings will be worth $130 billion.
▌Crypto companies to influence 2026 US elections through PACs
According to reports, a political action committee (PAC) holds over $116 million in funds to influence the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections.
Fairshake spokesperson Josh Vlasto said: "We will continue to ramp up our efforts. As the midterms approach, we are prepared to continue supporting candidates who are committed to driving innovation, creating jobs, and crafting thoughtful, responsible regulations, and opposing those who play politics and obstruct voter support for crypto."
▌Coinbase applies to list Solana and Hedera futures on its derivatives trading platform
Coinbase Derivatives, a Coinbase subsidiary, has filed regulatory documents this past Thursday, planning to launch new futures contracts for Solana (SOL) and Hedera (HBAR) on or after February 18. These contracts will be cash-settled and settled monthly.
▌Cardano founder livestreams burning $80 million worth of $Charles tokens
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson livestreamed the burning of all 900 billion airdropped unofficial $Charles tokens to his Lace paper wallet, worth around $80 million, to disassociate himself from the token.
Previously, Hoskinson had publicly shared his Lace paper wallet address, claiming it was to "demonstrate Lace's security, that even if I publicly share the QR code address, it won't be stolen." However, an anonymous developer had then created the Meme token $Charles and sent 900 billion of it to Hoskinson's wallet.
Important Economic Dynamics
▌CICC: The Fed needs to pause rate cuts before it can continue cutting
The FOMC meeting in January decided to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.25%-4.5%, in line with market expectations. Can the Fed continue to cut rates later? CICC research report believes that there is no need to conclude that the Fed cannot cut rates later. From the reflexive effect of interest rates, the more unexpected the rate cut, the more helpful it is for the rate cut, just like last September, the more worried about the recession, the less likely it is to actually fall into recession. Therefore, the current view that the Fed cannot cut rates is the same problem as the view in September that the Fed needs to cut rates sharply in a row.
Jinse Encyclopedia
Chain abstraction in the Bit blockchain provides a single interface that allows users and developers to interact with multiple Blocks without having to manage the complexity of each individual chain. Chain abstraction solutions are still under development, with many companies working to solve this problem. Currently, this is not an exact science, but multi-chain solutions may allow users to seamlessly use Web3 from a single account.
Disclaimer: Jinse Finance, as a Bit information platform, the content of the articles published is for information reference only and not as actual investment advice. Everyone should establish the correct investment concept and must increase risk awareness.
