Important news from last night and this morning (January 11-January 12)

Vitalik: I hope the open-source mechanism of the X algorithm will be verifiable and reproducible.

Regarding Musk's statement that he will open-source a new X platform algorithm within seven days, a process that will be repeated every four weeks, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin commented: "If implemented properly, this is a good move. I hope this mechanism is verifiable and reproducible. While it won't solve all the problems, it effectively addresses the long-standing demands for algorithmic transparency from myself and many members of the public. Furthermore, I actually think four weeks might be a bit too optimistic, as it means the algorithm needs frequent updates to prevent loopholes. The algorithm does need to be verifiable and reproducible so that users who feel they have been blocked, downgraded, etc., can view the algorithm's execution code and understand why their posts are not being viewed."

Pump.fun launches creator fee-sharing feature

Pump.fun announced the launch of a creator fee-sharing feature on its X platform, allowing fees to be distributed across up to 10 wallets; creators can now transfer token ownership and revoke update permissions. More updates are coming soon.

Spot silver hits record high

According to Jinshi News, spot silver broke through the high point of two weeks ago, setting a new historical high, and is currently trading at $83.9 per ounce.

Stablecoin payment company PhotonPay has raised tens of millions of dollars in Series B funding, led by IDG Capital.

According to Crowdfund Insider, stablecoin payment infrastructure provider PhotonPay announced the completion of a tens of millions of US dollars Series B funding round. The round was led by IDG Capital, with participation from Hillhouse Investment, Enlight Capital, Lightspeed Faction, and Shoplazza. Blacksheep Technology served as the exclusive financial advisor. The company did not disclose its valuation. The new funds will be used to accelerate the expansion of its stablecoin financial payment channels, recruit key talent, and expand its global regulatory compliance footprint, focusing on the US and several emerging markets. Founded in 2015, PhotonPay currently has 11 centers worldwide and over 300 employees. The company claims its annualized payment processing volume based on its "stablecoin-native" clearing and settlement infrastructure exceeds $30 billion. It has partnered with financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase, Circle, Standard Chartered Bank, DBS Bank, and Mastercard, and plans to strengthen its account issuance, acquiring, and foreign exchange services capabilities. Starting in 2026, PhotonPay also plans to launch enterprise value-added services, including yield-generating treasury products for idle funds and flexible credit instruments.

Powell responds to criminal investigation: Subpoena is a "political pretext," vows to withstand pressure from Trump.

According to Jinshi News, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the U.S. Department of Justice threatened on Friday to file criminal charges against him for his Senate testimony last June, which concerned years of renovations to a building. A grand jury subpoena was served last Friday. The new threat is unrelated to his testimony or the renovation projects; it's merely a pretext. The broader question is whether the Fed will continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic data, or will be swayed by political pressure and intimidation. The Fed will not fear political pressure or favor any political position in fulfilling its duties, and will continue to do so. While deeply respecting the rule of law, this action is unprecedented and should be examined within the context of the ongoing pressure exerted on the Fed by the current administration.

Spot gold breaks above $4,600 for the first time.

According to Jinshi News, spot gold has broken through the $4,600 mark for the first time, with a cumulative increase of $280 in the first month of the new year.

Michael Saylor: The best performing assets over the past decade are NVDA, MSTR, and BTC

Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of Strategy, stated in an article on the X platform that the best-performing assets over the past decade have been: digital intelligence (Nvidia, NVDA), digital credit (Strategy, MSTR), and digital capital (Bitcoin, BTC).

A major whale transferred another 26,000 ETH to an exchange to complete its liquidation, realizing a profit of $269 million.

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin, a "whale" who held 101,000 ETH for 5 years at an average cost of only $660 transferred his last 26,000 ETH ($80.88 million) to the Bitstamp exchange 4 hours ago, completing his liquidation. He accumulated 101,000 ETH 5 years ago at an average price of $660 and recently liquidated them at an average price of $3,313, realizing a profit of $269 million (4 times).

US media: Powell under investigation, pointing directly to the Federal Reserve building renovation project.

According to Jinshi, citing The New York Times, informed officials revealed that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia has launched a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell regarding the Fed headquarters renovation project and whether Powell made false statements to Congress regarding the project's size. The investigation, which includes an analysis of Powell's public statements and a review of related spending records, was approved last November. The investigation was approved by the office's head, Jeanne Piro, a longtime Trump ally. It is unclear whether Piro has convened a grand jury or issued subpoenas. However, according to an official, prosecutors in her office have repeatedly contacted Powell's staff, requesting documents related to the renovation project. Trump has long criticized Powell for refusing to cut interest rates as he has demanded, threatening to fire him and vowing to sue over the $2.5 billion Fed renovation project, claiming Mr. Powell is "incompetent."

Bitmine has staked another 109,504 ETH, worth over $340 million.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, Bitmine has staked an additional 109,504 ETH (worth $340.49 million). To date, they have staked a total of 1,190,016 ETH, with a total value of $3.7 billion.

Bloomberg analysts: The SEC may process Morgan Stanley's BTC ETF application as early as March 23.

In response to the question of "how long will it take for the U.S. SEC to process Morgan Stanley's BTC ETF application", Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said: "It will take at least 75 days from the date of application submission. So it will be around March 23."

Coinbase intensifies pressure on the US Congress, with stablecoin reward terms becoming a key point of contention in crypto legislation.

According to Bloomberg, Coinbase is increasing pressure on U.S. lawmakers to retain its ability to reward customers holding stablecoins. The company believes this business would be at risk if the restrictions under discussion are included in the major cryptocurrency bill announced on Monday. Sources familiar with the matter say that if the bill includes anything beyond strengthening rewards disclosure requirements, Coinbase may reconsider its support for the Digital Asset Market Structure Act, which will be considered by at least one Senate committee on Thursday. Industry insiders reveal that the proposed solution is to restrict the ability to offer rewards to regulated financial institutions, a move supported by some in the banking industry who believe that yield-bearing stablecoin accounts would siphon deposits from traditional banks. Coinbase has applied for a national trust license, hoping to use this to offer rewards under the rules. However, cryptocurrency-native companies are pushing to retain platform-based rewards models, even without a trust license, and warn that broader restrictions would disrupt the competitive landscape. The specific wording of the bill is still unclear, but it will add provisions related to rewards, an issue that has weakened bipartisan support for the market structure bill and could delay its passage. Sources familiar with the matter indicate that a potential compromise is to allow only licensed financial institutions to offer rewards for stablecoin balances. Recently, five crypto companies received conditional approval from the U.S. OCC to become national trust banks. Given these recent approvals, a market structure bill allowing licensed trust companies to offer returns might appease some crypto companies. If restrictions are implemented, industry insiders believe it will trigger a "whack-a-mole" game, with crypto companies seeking alternative ways to reward users.

Michael Saylor has released another Bitcoin Tracker update; he may disclose his accumulating data next week.

Strategy founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor posted Bitcoin Tracker information again on the X platform, writing "₿ig Orange". Based on past patterns, Strategy always discloses information about increasing its Bitcoin holdings the day after the relevant news is released.

Brother Machi's Ethereum long position is showing a loss again, currently holding 10,800 ETH.

According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi, Machi Dage's Ethereum long position has suffered another unrealized loss of $287,000. Compared to the unrealized profit at the high point of ETH on January 7, 2009, the loss has now exceeded $2 million. He currently holds a 25x leveraged long position of 10,800 ETH, worth $33.62 million, with an average opening price of $3,138.43.

Ethereum Foundation executive: Zero-knowledge technology is becoming a core direction of Ethereum's mid-term roadmap.

According to CoinDesk, Hsiao-Wei Wang, co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, stated in an interview that Ethereum is steadily moving towards a future where zero-knowledge cryptography is a core part of the network. She described zero-knowledge technology as part of Ethereum's mid-term roadmap, noting numerous breakthroughs in the field over the past one to two years. While recent upgrades still focus on improving the execution and blob space of Layer 2 networks, incorporating zero-knowledge as a protocol-level feature is becoming increasingly feasible. Introducing zero-knowledge directly into the Ethereum core can significantly reduce the amount of work required to secure the network, making it easier to scale without sacrificing decentralization or reliability. Hsiao-Wei Wang emphasized that even as the network evolves, resilience, censorship resistance, and neutrality remain at the heart of Ethereum.

Data: Tokens such as Trump, CONX, and ARB will see significant unlocking next week, with Trump unlocking value estimated at approximately $271 million.

According to Token Unlocks data, tokens such as Trump, CONX, and ARB will see large-scale unlocks next week. Specifically: Official Trump (TRUMP) will unlock approximately 50 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 18th, representing 11.95% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $271 million; Connex (CONX) will unlock approximately 1.32 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 15th, representing 1.59% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $20.4 million; Arbitrum (ARB) will unlock approximately 92.65 million tokens at 9:00 PM Beijing time on January 16th, representing 1.86% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $19.2 million; and Cheelee (CHEEL) will unlock approximately 20.81 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 13th, representing 2.78% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $11.6 million. deBridge (DBR) will unlock approximately 618 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 17th, representing 14.81% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $11.6 million; Starknet (STRK) will unlock approximately 127 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 15th, representing 4.83% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $10.4 million; Sei (SEI) will unlock approximately 55.56 million tokens at 8:00 PM Beijing time on January 15th, representing 1.05% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $6.7 million; ZKsync (ZK) will unlock approximately 173 million tokens at 4:00 PM Beijing time on January 17th, representing 3.16% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $5.9 million.

Trump claims he has never felt happy until he makes America great again.

According to a report by the Global Times cited by Jinshi, Trump met with oil industry executives in the East Room of the White House to discuss future US control over Venezuela's energy industry. During the meeting, he wore a miniature "Trump" brooch below the miniature American flag badge he traditionally wore on his suit lapel. When a reporter asked about the origin of the accessory, Trump replied, "Someone gave me this. You know what it is? It's called 'Happy Trump'." The brooch features an exaggeratedly enlarged image of Trump with an open mouth, exhibiting a distinctly cartoonish style. Many netizens immediately pointed out its resemblance to a bobblehead version of Trump. Trump did not reveal the identity of the giver. "I'm never happy, never satisfied," Trump said, pulling down his suit lapel and looking down at the brooch, then looking up at the reporter with a mocking smile. "I'll never be satisfied until I make America great again. But I have to tell you, we're pretty close. That's called 'Happy Trump'."

Wall Street Journal: Venezuela's oil exports heavily utilize USDT; Tether emphasizes strict adherence to international sanctions.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Maduro played a role in Tether becoming the world's leading stablecoin because it is a crucial tool for Venezuela's state-owned oil company (Petróleos de Venezuela, PdVSA) to circumvent sanctions. Tether is used as the settlement currency for oil transactions and provides an economic lifeline for Venezuelans suffering from the depreciation of their bolivar. A Tether spokesperson responded that the company complies with all applicable U.S. and international sanctions regulations and works closely with U.S. authorities, including the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and regularly assists law enforcement in freezing addresses associated with illegal activities or sanctions violations upon legitimate request.

TRADOOR experienced a large withdrawal, with $2.1 million worth of tokens being distributed to 10 new wallets.

According to onchainschool, about three hours ago, $2.1 million worth of TRADOOR tokens were withdrawn from the cryptocurrency exchange Bitget. These tokens were then distributed to 10 newly created wallets, and further withdrawals may occur later.

Brother Maji closed all his ZEC long positions with 10x leverage in less than an hour, but still holds long positions in ETH and HYPE.

According to on-chain data monitoring, Huang Licheng, known as "Brother Machi," closed all his ZEC long positions with 10x leverage in less than an hour, making a profit of approximately $2,544. He currently holds a 25x leveraged Ethereum long position with 10,900 ETH and a floating loss of $353,523; and a 10x leveraged HYPE long position with 9,888.88 HYPE and a floating loss of $180.

CZ responds to "supercycle" comments: A single tweet has limited influence and cannot predict the future.

In response to his previous tweet that "a supercycle is coming," CZ reiterated on the X platform: "One tweet can't change anything. I can't predict the future either. Let's keep building up."