Moonbirds launches Nesting 2.0 and releases the game Bird Game One.
Moonbirds announced the official launch of Nesting 2.0 on the X platform. Moonbirds, Mythics, and Oddities NFT holders can earn BIRB tokens through a new design mechanism aimed at aligning holders with the long-term growth of the ecosystem. Users who deposit NFTs into the nesting protocol will receive corresponding soulbound NFTs, and the NFTs will no longer remain on the market during the nesting period. For the next 24 months, nested NFTs can claim 1/24 of their allocated amount on the 28th of each month. If only part of the month was nested before the claim date on the 28th, the corresponding amount will be claimed proportionally. All NFTs nested within the first 7 days will be considered as...
According to Decrypt, the free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game *Forgotten Runiverse*, built on the Ethereum scaling network Ronin, has announced it will shut down its servers, becoming the latest crypto game to cease operations. The development team stated that while they had worked hard to overcome challenges, maintaining the game's operation was no longer financially feasible, hence the decision to close the live service in its current state. All account data will be preserved, but the game will be inaccessible. The team stated they have not abandoned the project and are evaluating potential future paths. The game originated from the Ethereum NFT project *Forgotten Runes Wizard's Cult*, launched globally last year, and received investment from Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and others, with plans to release on Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms.
A whale holding long positions in HYPE has already made a profit exceeding $12 million.
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, as the price of HYPE rose above $32, a whale holding a long position in HYPE (5x leverage) has seen its floating profit exceed $12 million. This whale opened long positions in both HYPE (5x leverage) and SOL (20x leverage) approximately 15-16 days ago, and its floating loss on SOL is $1.2 million.
Spot gold breaks through $5,200 for the first time
According to Jinshi News, spot gold has hit a new high, breaking through $5,200 per ounce for the first time, with a cumulative increase of over $880, or 20%, in the first month of the new year.
Tether holds approximately 140 tons of gold, worth about $23 billion.
According to Bloomberg, stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings SA has become one of the largest players in the global gold market, holding approximately 140 tons of gold, worth about $23 billion, and is believed to be the largest known holder of physical gold outside of banks and nations. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino revealed that the company is continuously purchasing gold at a rate of 1 to 2 tons per week, aiming to establish a long-term, stable physical gold reserve in a former Swiss nuclear bunker. He emphasized that this move is akin to acting as "one of the world's largest gold central banks," and predicted that geopolitical rivals would launch gold-pegged alternative currencies to the US dollar, for which Tether has already prepared its gold token, XAUT. Tether has purchased over 70 tons of gold by 2025, exceeding the scale of almost all single central banks except the Polish central bank, and surpassing many large gold ETFs. In addition to direct holdings, Tether has hired a former senior gold trader from HSBC and plans to establish a gold trading platform to compete with banks such as JPMorgan Chase. The company is also acquiring stakes in several mid-sized Canadian gold mining concessionaires. Previous reports indicated that Tether increased its gold reserves by approximately 27 tons in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Bitwise: The crypto industry faces a critical crossroads as the Clarity Act stalls in Congress.
According to CoinDesk, Bitwise warned that the market may be at a critical crossroads as the Claritical Act stalls in Congress. Bitwise points out that the bill aims to solidify the current regulatory environment supporting crypto into permanent law. However, due to opposition from within the industry (such as the Coinbase CEO), its probability of passage has plummeted from 80% in early January to around 50%. If the bill ultimately fails, the industry will enter a difficult "performance realization period." In this scenario, the crypto industry must become indispensable to the US economy within approximately three years through technologies such as stablecoins and asset tokenization, thereby forcing regulatory concessions. This is similar to the path taken by Uber and Airbnb. If successful, favorable regulations will follow; if unsuccessful, future political shifts in Washington could have disastrous consequences. Bitwise analyzed two market paths: if the feasible bill passes, the market will rebound sharply due to the clear prospects; if the bill fails, the market will enter a "wait-and-see" state, with price increases limited by regulatory concerns and linked to evidence of practical application, resulting in a "slow rise." Wall Street brokerage Benchmark also believes that the failure of legislation will delay rather than kill the maturation of the crypto market, but will limit the potential of the US market. Investors will prefer Bitcoin, entities with strong balance sheets and cash flow infrastructure, rather than regulatory-sensitive exchanges, DeFi and altcoins.
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, Huang Licheng (@machibigbrother) deposited another 225,000 USDC into Hyperliquid, increasing his ETH (25x leverage) long position and opening a new HYPE (10x leverage) long position, with a current total holding value of $20.8 million.
PayPal Survey: Large Enterprises Lead the Popularity of Cryptocurrency Payments
According to The Block, a PayPal merchant survey reveals that cryptocurrency payment adoption is being led by large enterprises, with nearly 85% of respondents expecting it to become widespread within the next five years. The survey, conducted in late October 2025, found that approximately 40% of surveyed merchants already accept cryptocurrency payments. These merchants reported that cryptocurrency payments account for "more than a quarter" of their total sales, with about three-quarters reporting an increase in cryptocurrency sales over the past year. Among large enterprises with annual revenue exceeding $500 million, the adoption rate is as high as 50%, significantly higher than that of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The survey also indicates that nearly 90% of merchants said they would be willing to try crypto payments if the experience were as convenient as traditional card payments and the setup process as simple as accepting credit cards. PayPal's head of crypto stated that the data shows crypto payments are moving from the experimental stage to everyday business applications, driven by customer demand for faster and more flexible payment methods.
According to The Block, despite a recent surge in token issuance on the Base network due to Zora and its "content token" mechanism, the number of active addresses on the network is at its lowest level in 18 months, and trading volume is also declining. This discrepancy highlights a "vanity metric" problem on the network. Zora's mechanism allows creators to issue tokens with near-zero cost and extremely low friction, leading to a flood of low-value tokens that, while inflating issuance statistics, fail to generate sustained user engagement or actual economic activity. The token $thenickshirley, issued by content creator Nick Shirley last December, is a prime example. Despite his video exposing daycare fraud garnering over 100 million views and attracting attention from figures including Elon Musk and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, the token's market capitalization briefly surged to $15 million before plummeting to around $75,000, with a 24-hour trading volume of only about $45,000. It is estimated that Shirley himself earned approximately $40,000 to $65,000 in royalties from token trading but did not engage in any ongoing community building or content planning around the token. Analysis points out that such "content tokens" have no fundamental value proposition and are essentially "speculation on speculative behavior".
SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal cited by Jinshi, SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI.
According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, the "smart money" account that profited $98.18 million from ETH trading has sold for the first time since establishing its position on January 12th. Three hours prior, it deposited 10,000 stETH (worth $30.12 million) into Wintertermute and subsequently received 30.03 million USDC, suggesting it may have already completed its sale. It had recently accumulated 70,013 ETH at an average cost of approximately $2,907.69. This sale yielded a profit of $1.039 million, leaving the remaining 60,013 ETH with a floating profit of $7.243 million. This brings its total ETH trading profit to $99.22 million.
Trend Research borrowed 80 million USDT from Aave and transferred it to Binance.
According to on-chain analyst Ember, after ETH rebounded again and stood above $3,000, Trend Research borrowed 80 million USDT from Aave and transferred them to Binance in the last two hours this morning.
According to The Block, Gemini's NFT trading platform, Nifty Gateway, has announced new details on how it will preserve users' NFTs after ceasing operations. The company has pledged to permanently host token metadata and media even after the platform shuts down. Specific plans include migrating most NFT metadata to the decentralized storage network Arweave; for some NFTs minted in 2021 or earlier that are technically impossible to migrate, their metadata will continue to be hosted by the company indefinitely. Furthermore, the platform has extended the window for users to withdraw their NFTs to April 23, providing a total of 90 days. The company stated that it is developing a bulk withdrawal tool to help users holding large amounts of NFTs complete asset transfers before the deadline. Nifty Gateway was acquired by Gemini in 2019 and rose to prominence during the 2021 NFT boom, but subsequently struggled due to a decline in overall market trading volume, and entered a withdrawal-only mode earlier this year.
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, as the market rebounded, the "whale that shorted after the 1011 flash crash" has again increased its long position in ETH (5x leverage). The current position is: 212,726 ETH (worth $643 million), 511,612.85 SOL (worth $66 million), and 572.71 BTC (worth $51.09 million). The whale still faces a floating loss of $29.79 million and has paid over $8 million in funding costs.
Moonbirds unveils BIRB token economic model: 65% allocated to community distribution.
NFT project Moonbirds announced its BIRB token economic model, allocating 65% of the total supply to the community. The specific allocation is as follows: 27% for holder rewards, 12% for ecosystem partner expansion, 10% for value chain incentives, 8% for liquidity, 8% for innovation, 10% for the team, and 25% for investors and advisors. This model aims to build a closer community and drive the project's growth from scratch by incentivizing holders, expanding partnerships, rewarding community contributions, and ensuring market liquidity. The tokens allocated to the team and investors will serve as long-term incentives and strategic resources. Previously, Moonbirds announced that the BIRB token would launch on the Solana blockchain on January 28th.
In his latest article, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes offers an in-depth analysis of the recent global market "anomalies" triggered by the depreciation of the yen and the decline in Japanese government bond prices. He believes this foreshadows a possible joint action by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury to directly intervene in the yen and Japanese government bond markets through "money printing," injecting new liquidity into the global fiat currency system. Hayes specifically outlines a possible intervention path: the New York Fed creates dollar reserves, instructing primary dealers such as JPMorgan Chase to sell dollars and buy yen in the foreign exchange market to support the exchange rate, and potentially invest the obtained yen in Japanese government bonds to suppress their yields. This operation will cause the "foreign currency-denominated assets" item on the Fed's balance sheet to expand, essentially meaning the Fed is absorbing the yen exchange rate and Japanese government bond interest rate risks through money printing. He analyzes the motivation and consequences of this move: aiming to stabilize the yen and suppress Japanese government bond yields to prevent Japanese investors from massively selling off US Treasury bonds and returning them to the domestic market, avoiding a runaway rise in US Treasury yields, while simultaneously enhancing the competitiveness of US exports. This process will increase global dollar liquidity and may simultaneously push up the euro and renminbi exchange rates. Hayes points out that this "non-QE" balance sheet expansion will ultimately provide upward momentum for risk assets, including Bitcoin. Regarding trading strategy, he states that a rapid strengthening of the yen against the dollar is usually a signal of risk asset reduction. Bitcoin fell due to the yen's strength, and he will not increase his risk exposure until it is confirmed that the Federal Reserve is intervening in the yen and Japanese government bond markets by expanding its balance sheet. He has closed his positions in leveraged Bitcoin-related assets such as Strategy and Metaplanet, and says he will re-enter the market if his judgment is correct. While waiting, his fund Maelstrom continues to increase its holdings of Zcash, while maintaining its positions in other high-quality DeFi tokens. He states that if the Federal Reserve does indeed expand its balance sheet to intervene in the foreign exchange and bond markets, it will increase its holdings of DeFi assets such as ENA, ETHFI, PENDLE, and LDO.
BTC breaks through $89,000, up 1.15% on the day.
According to OKX market data, BTC has just broken through $89,000 and is currently trading at $89,053.80 per coin, up 1.15% on the day.
CME's crypto derivatives trading volume reached nearly $3 trillion in notional principal in 2025.
CME Group released a report stating that its cryptocurrency futures and options traded nearly $3 trillion in notional principal in 2025, with average daily trading volume increasing to 280,000 contracts (approximately $12 billion) and average daily open interest reaching 313,000 contracts (approximately $26 billion). Q4 trading volume increased by 92% year-over-year, open interest doubled, and the number of Large OI Holders reached a new high of 1,039. Bitcoin and Ethereum futures continued to contribute to liquidity, with products such as Micro Contracts and MET setting new trading records. In the spot-quoted futures market, QBTC saw a single-day trading volume of 128,000 contracts on December 30th, surpassing 1 million contracts for the month; Spot-Quoted futures, including QBTC, QETH, QSOL, and QXRP, totaled 131,000 contracts traded that day, supporting CME's continued expansion of new products such as the Volatility Index and TAS in 2026.
According to CoinDesk, Galaxy Digital led a $7 million funding round for Tenbin Labs, aimed at building tokenized gold and foreign exchange markets. The project focuses on bringing traditional financial assets onto the blockchain, expanding the practical application of crypto assets in global markets.
Coinbase includes TRIA and ZAMA in its IPO roadmap
Coinbase Markets has announced that it will add Tria (TRIA) and Zama (ZAMA) to its listing roadmap.
ZK-powered Bitcoin Layer 2 network Citrea mainnet launches and issues stablecoin.
According to The Block, Citrea, a Bitcoin Layer 2 project backed by Founders Fund and Galaxy, has officially launched its mainnet and introduced its native stablecoin, ctUSD, powered by M0 infrastructure. Citrea uses zkEVM to process transactions and incorporates zero-knowledge proofs into the Bitcoin mainnet, supporting financial applications such as BTC-collateralized lending and structured products, with the goal of building a native Bitcoin financial market.
Crypto payment network Mesh raises $75 million in Series C funding, led by Dragonfly Capital.
According to PR Newswire, crypto payment network Mesh announced the completion of a $75 million Series C funding round, valuing the company at $1 billion post-money. The round was led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from Paradigm, Moderne Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, SBI Investment, and Liberty City Ventures. The company has now raised over $200 million in total funding. This latest round of funding will be used to accelerate expansion in Latin America, Asia, and Europe, and to drive product development. Mesh positions itself as an asset-agnostic unified payment network, already covering over 900 million users. It supports payments using any asset, including Bitcoin and Solana, while merchants settle instantly in stablecoins such as USDC and PYUSD, or their local fiat currencies. Part of this funding round was also settled in stablecoins.
Data: Tether's profits will reach $15 billion in 2025.
According to Fortune, Tether is projected to generate approximately $15 billion in profits by 2025, with assets totaling $187 billion, encompassing US Treasury bonds, Bitcoin, and gold. CEO Paolo Ardoino points out that stablecoins are entering the mainstream financial landscape, driven by clearer compliance regulations under the GENIUS Act. USDT, leveraging its first-mover advantage, is widely used in emerging markets, and Tether is also investing heavily in areas such as satellites and data centers, seeking to disrupt traditional finance and infrastructure.
Tether launches a new stablecoin, USA₮, targeting the US market.
Tether has officially launched its USD-denominated stablecoin, USA₮, issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, NA. This product operates under the newly passed GENIUS Act federal stablecoin framework in the United States. USA₮ is custodied and held in reserve by Cantor Fitzgerald and is issued to US institutions and platforms, initially including Bybit, Crypto.com, Kraken, OKX, and Moonpay. Tether stated that the globally circulating USD₮ will continue to comply with GENIUS Act requirements, while USA₮ is specifically designed for the highly regulated US environment and issued through a federally regulated bank. Tether Operations also emphasized that USA₮ is not a legal tender and is not insured by government agencies such as the FDIC or SIPC.
1INCH liquidity is a concern; a single sell-off triggered a 13% drop in market capitalization.
According to Yu Jin, although 1INCH has a circulating market capitalization of $180 million, its liquidity is extremely poor. A single sell-off of less than $2 million has caused the price to drop by more than 13%. The 24-hour trading volume of the Binance 1INCH/USDT pair is only $1.5 million, of which about 77% is provided by arbitrage bots, and the actual trading volume is only $340,000, reflecting the current weak liquidity in the altcoin market.
Binance will list Zama (ZAMA), the fifth Prime Sale Pre-TGE project.
According to Binance Chinese, Binance Wallet will launch the fifth Prime Sale Pre-TGE project, Zama (ZAMA), from 16:00 to 18:00 (UTC+8) on January 29, 2026, which is only open to eligible users who hold Alpha Points.
According to an announcement from the Ethereum Foundation, the EF Ecosystem Support Program disbursed over $7.38 million in funding in the fourth quarter of 2025, covering multiple areas including ZK technology, consensus mechanisms, community education, development tools and protocol research, supporting dozens of projects and individuals including @axiom_xyz, @ChainSafeth, @Nethermind, and @WalletConnect, and continuously promoting the development of the Ethereum ecosystem.
American Bitcoin increased its holdings by 416 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 5843 BTC.
According to Solid Intel, American Bitcoin, backed by the Trump family, recently increased its holdings by 416 bitcoins, bringing its total holdings to 5,843 BTC.
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Capital Markets Authority of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to enhance cross-border regulatory cooperation on matters related to digital assets. This landmark MOU is the first agreement signed between the SFC and an overseas regulatory body on regulatory cooperation regarding regulated digital asset entities. The MOU establishes a framework for enhanced regulatory cooperation, including mutual consultation and information exchange on the regulation of cross-border regulated digital asset entities, fully demonstrating the SFC's commitment to promoting international cooperation in accordance with its ASPIRe roadmap.
A dormant Ethereum whale transferred 135,000 ETH to Gemini this week.
According to CoinDesk, an Ethereum whale that had been dormant for nine years recently transferred all 135,284 ETH it held to the Gemini exchange, worth approximately $397 million at current prices. This wallet purchased ETH in 2017 at around $90 per ETH, and currently has a paper profit of approximately $385 million.
