Strive Asset Management, led by Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk's partner in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), plans to launch an ETF for bonds of companies that have adopted the Bitcoin standard.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has reached 65 — its lowest level since October 15.

Banks, observing how Tether started earning billions of dollars, are now actively entering the stablecoin market and launching their own stablecoins for payments and other services — Bloomberg

Tether earned $2.5 billion in Q3 2024 and reported record profits of $7.7 billion for the first nine months of 2024.

In 2023, Tether earned more than BlackRock ($6.2 billion vs. $5.5 billion). Tether has 100 employees, while BlackRock employs 20,000.

Venture investments in crypto projects in 2024 amounted to $13.6 billion, and by 2025, they may grow to $18 billion. Blockchain startups received 4.9% of the total venture funding, which reached $279 billion.

The industry is gradually recovering after $10.1 billion in 2023 but remains far from the 2021 record of $32.4 billion.

Coinbase’s Product Director Conor Grogan claimed to have discovered over 400 bitcoins (worth more than $47 million) spread across dozens of wallets, which allegedly belong to Ross Ulbricht — the founder of the darknet platform Silk Road, who was pardoned today by Donald Trump.

In 2013, Silk Road was shut down by U.S. law enforcement agencies. Ulbricht was arrested and charged with drug trafficking, money laundering, and creating a criminal organization. In February 2015, he was sentenced to two life terms plus an additional 40 years in prison.

According to Grogan, the bitcoins he discovered were not confiscated by law enforcement when Silk Road was shut down and have remained untouched throughout Ulbricht’s entire prison term or longer.

At the time of Silk Road’s closure in October 2013, bitcoin was trading at approximately $120–130. This means that the value of the remaining bitcoins has increased nearly 1,000-fold to date.

Grogan noted that it is unclear whether Ulbricht still has access to these wallets. For now, all the coins remain untouched.

Reuters: The ECB views the digital euro as a response to Trump’s stablecoin strategy

The European Central Bank (ECB) stated that plans for creating a digital euro have gained momentum following Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital national currency (CBDC), Reuters reports.

On January 23, Trump signed an order supporting dollar-backed stablecoins to "promote their development worldwide." According to ECB board member Piero Cipollone, this creates new challenges for banks and makes the digital euro a necessity.

"This U.S. strategy reduces the role of banks: they lose fees, clients… That’s why we need a digital euro," Cipollone said at a conference in Frankfurt.

The ECB is currently only experimenting with the digital euro. A final decision on its launch will be made only after the approval of the necessary legislation.

CZ believes that "all governments should track all their expenses on the blockchain, an immutable public ledger."

"Unpopular opinion: Altseason isn’t happening!" writes technical analyst Ali Martinez.

According to his observations, there are currently 36.4 million different altcoins on the market. For comparison, during the 2017–2018 bull run, there were about 3,000 "alternative coins," and in 2013–2014, fewer than 500.

"With such a massive supply, the market has changed significantly," the expert concluded.

China's DeepSeek Neural Network Shakes the Markets

A Chinese company utilized idle GPUs to train an AI model using a unique parameter optimization technology. The result: $10 million spent to create a powerful open-source model. In comparison, OpenAI has spent nearly $17 billion.

DeepSeek requires almost 30 times fewer resources for generating responses compared to OpenAI and operates autonomously on smartphones, disrupting the GPU market.

As a result, tech giants are losing investor trust as the ROI in AI now seems doubtful. Companies like Nvidia risk losing up to $2 trillion earned during the AI bubble.

Most of DeepSeek's functionality is freely available to everyone: chat.deepseek.com.

Czech Central Bank Chief Considers Investing Billions of Euros in Bitcoin

The head of the Czech National Bank (ČNB), Aleš Michl, announced that he will present a proposal to the board of directors to allocate up to 5% of the bank’s reserves into Bitcoin, according to the Financial Times. If approved, ČNB would become the first Western central bank to invest in cryptocurrency.

Michl views Bitcoin as a diversification tool, despite its volatility, and highlights the growing institutional interest following the launch of Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. He also pointed out the influence of crypto companies on the Trump administration.

"For diversifying our assets, Bitcoin seems like a good solution," he stated, adding that other central banks may follow this approach in the next five years.

ČNB manages €140 billion in reserves, with 22% already allocated to stocks. According to the bank’s calculations, if 5% of these reserves had been invested in Bitcoin over the last decade, the average annual return would have increased by 3.5 percentage points. However, Michl acknowledges that the investment could either be highly profitable or completely devalue.

Trump's crypto reserve plans could encourage other central banks worldwide to start buying BTC, according to Standard Chartered.

Trump Family’s Crypto Project Buys Blockchain Tokens on Condition of Selling Its Own

▪️The crypto platform World Liberty Financial (WLF), linked to Donald Trump’s family, is offering blockchain projects token swap deals, Blockworks reports.

▪️According to the publication, WLF representatives propose that projects purchase WLFI (the platform’s yet-to-be-launched token) for at least $10 million with a 10% premium—meaning that for $10 million, projects receive $11 million worth of WLFI. In return, World Liberty Financial promises to buy the project's native tokens for the same amount but does not disclose whether the purchase will be an OTC deal or a market buy.

▪️The deal does not involve vesting, meaning all WLFI tokens are immediately credited to the project’s balance. However, Blockworks sources say priority is given to those willing to invest $15 million or more.

▪️WLF’s publicly known wallet holds $355 million in crypto assets, including ETH, WBTC, USDC, TRX, LINK, AAVE, ENA, MOVE, and ONDO.

▪️The WLF website states that 24 billion WLFI tokens have already been sold at $0.05 per token, generating $1.2 billion in revenue. Among publicly known buyers is Tron founder Justin Sun, who announced a $75 million WLFI purchase.

▪️In World Liberty Financial’s official documents, Donald Trump is listed as the project’s "Chief Human Rights Advocate." His sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are named "Web3 Ambassadors," while Barron Trump holds the title of "DeFi Visionary."

FOX: A bill to regulate the stablecoin market has been introduced in the U.S. Senate!

✔️ Key points:

▪️Defines stablecoins as digital assets pegged to the U.S. dollar.
▪️Establishes licensing and reserve requirements for issuers.
▪️Federal Reserve regulations apply to issuers valued over $10B, while state regulations apply to issuers below $10B.
▪️Aims to promote financial inclusion, enable efficient transactions, and strengthen the dollar's position.
▪️The bill will be discussed today at David Sacks’ press conference

Tornado Cash Developer Alexey Pertsev to Be Released Under House Arrest

▪️Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev announced that he will be released from prison on February 7 and placed under house arrest with an electronic bracelet. The Dutch court decided to suspend his pretrial detention.

▪️"This is not real freedom, but it's better than prison," Pertsev wrote on X, adding that he will now be able to work on his appeal and continue fighting for justice.

▪️Pertsev was arrested in August 2022 shortly after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash. In 2024, he was sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison for allegedly laundering $1.2 billion through the mixer he developed. This marks the first case where a software developer was convicted for how third parties used their code.

▪️Pertsev has received strong support from the crypto community, with his supporters arguing that he only wrote the Tornado Cash code and had no involvement in criminal activities linked to the mixer’s use.

Following the news, the TORN token surged nearly 40%.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Sets a New Record

▪️Bitcoin mining difficulty has increased by 5.6%, reaching a new all-time high of 114.7T (trillion). This means miners now need to perform an average of 114.7 trillion calculations to find a solution and mine a block, earning a reward of 3.125 BTC.

▪️The increase in difficulty is linked to the rise in the network's computing power. On February 4, Bitcoin’s hashrate also hit a record high, indicating high activity among major mining pools.

▪️At the same time, the Hash Ribbon indicator recorded a decline in activity among some miners. This indicator is based on two moving averages of the hashrate—30-day (green line) and 60-day (blue line). When the short-term average falls below the long-term average, it signals that some miners are shutting down equipment due to declining profitability.

▪️Historically, periods of reduced miner activity have coincided with local Bitcoin price lows. After these periods ended, price growth typically followed. For example, in October 2024, a similar signal preceded a 50% increase in BTC price.

▪️Glassnode analysts note that the current Hash Ribbon signal may indicate the formation of a local Bitcoin price bottom, which traditionally precedes a recovery. This is explained by the exit of less efficient miners from the market, reducing selling pressure and allowing the price to stabilize and begin rising.