Morning News | Escape Velocity completes $62 million fundraising; Coinbase integrates Jupiter on-chain; Hong Kong's first gold ETF listed on the Stock Exchange
Overview of Important Market Events on January 29整理：ChainCatcher
Important News:
- The Federal Reserve keeps the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.5%-3.75%, pausing rate cuts
- Hong Kong's first gold ETF officially listed on the Stock Exchange, rising nearly 9%
- MegaETH will launch on the public mainnet on February 9
- Kweichow Moutai denies "participating in SpaceX's Series A financing"
- ALT5 Sigma's board approves significant buyback and WLFI token increase plan
- Venture capital firm Escape Velocity completes $62 million fundraising, focusing on DePIN and crypto project investments
- Coinbase announces integration of Jupiter into its on-chain platform, allowing users to trade Solana native tokens directly
What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours?
UK Financial Services Regulatory Committee launches stablecoin regulatory investigation
According to ChainCatcher, the UK House of Lords Financial Services Regulatory Committee has announced the launch of an investigation into the growth of stablecoins and proposed regulations, now publicly soliciting relevant opinions and evidence.
The investigation will focus on the development of the global stablecoin market, the future trends of pound-denominated stablecoins, the potential impact of stablecoins on the UK economy and financial services, and the applicability of the proposed regulatory framework by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Committee Chair Baroness Noakes DBE stated that the purpose of this investigation is to assess the opportunities and risks brought by the growth of stablecoins and to explore whether the regulatory framework proposed by the Bank of England and FCA can effectively respond to these changes. Experts and interested parties in the relevant fields are welcome to submit their opinions.
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by Fortune, venture capital firm Escape Velocity has completed its second round of fundraising, raising a total of $62 million, primarily to support DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure) and broader crypto projects.
The fund attracted notable investors including Marc Andreessen and Ribbit Capital founder Micky Malka, with the largest contributor, Cendana, contributing $15 million. Escape Velocity co-founder Mahesh Ramakrishnan stated that despite the current market downturn in the DePIN sector, he believes decentralized physical infrastructure will see breakthroughs. The company has previously invested in DePIN projects like Daylight and Glow in the solar energy sector and plans to continue seeking high-quality projects beyond market hype.
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by CoinDesk, Robinhood participated in the Series B funding extension of crypto trading platform Talos, which is valued at approximately $1.5 billion. This round raised a total of $45 million, with new strategic investors including Sony Innovation Fund, IMC, QCP, and Karatage, along with returning investors like a16z crypto, BNY, and Fidelity Investments.
Robinhood's Senior Vice President and General Manager of Crypto, Johann Kerbrat, stated that Talos's flexibility and rapid adaptability will help Robinhood deepen liquidity and provide more advanced features for crypto clients.
ALT5 Sigma's board approves significant buyback and WLFI token increase plan
According to ChainCatcher, ALT5 Sigma Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTS) announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan of up to $100 million, intending to repurchase up to 50 million shares when trading below net asset value (NAV), accounting for approximately 40% of the issued shares. The company stated that this move aims to take advantage of valuation discounts and unlock shareholder value. Additionally, the board approved continued purchases of WLFI tokens in the secondary market.
ALT5 currently holds approximately 7.3 billion WLFI tokens, valued at around $1.5 billion, and is optimistic about the rapid growth of the World Liberty Financial ecosystem and its stablecoin USD1. To initiate the related plan, ALT5 has reached a $15 million loan agreement with World Liberty Financial and indicated that it may further leverage its strong balance sheet of over $1.6 billion for financing in the future. CEO Tony Isaac stated that this buyback and token strategy demonstrates management's strong confidence in the company's long-term value and strategic direction.
US SEC: Tokenized stocks are still subject to securities law regulation
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by DL News, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released new guidance, clearly stating that tokenized securities (including tokenized stocks) do not escape current securities law regulation due to changes in technological form. Whether securities are issued or registered on-chain or off-chain, federal securities laws regarding registration, disclosure, reporting, and anti-fraud still apply.
The SEC emphasized that the essence of a security takes precedence over its technological form, and tokenization is merely a change in the method of issuance and record-keeping, which does not alter its legal attributes. This statement provides clearer compliance expectations for issuers and asset management institutions and is expected to encourage more traditional financial institutions to attempt securities tokenization. The guidance also categorizes tokenized securities into two types: those directly supported and issued by the original issuer and those issued and supported by third-party institutions.
Even if tokens issued by third parties do not grant holders equity, voting rights, or information rights, as long as they involve securities attributes, they must still comply with securities laws. However, the SEC has not yet provided a clear regulatory path for secondary market trading of tokenized securities. Currently, some tokenized stocks have already been launched outside the U.S., such as Robinhood, which has launched over 2,000 U.S. stock tokens in Europe under the MiCA framework.
Industry insiders believe that this guidance helps reduce compliance uncertainty, but large-scale implementation in the U.S. market still relies on legislative progress such as the Clarity Act, which has recently been delayed again due to industry disagreements.
US SEC Chair: Now is the right time to allow cryptocurrencies into 401k retirement accounts
According to ChainCatcher, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins stated, "Now is the right time to allow cryptocurrencies into 401k retirement accounts."
Kweichow Moutai denies "participating in SpaceX's Series A financing"
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by the Shanghai Securities News, rumors in the market today claimed that "Kweichow Moutai confirmed participation in SpaceX's Series A financing." In response, a reporter from the Shanghai Securities News sought verification from Kweichow Moutai, which stated that the news was "false information."
As of the market close on January 29, Kweichow Moutai's stock price was reported at 1437.72 yuan per share, an increase of 8.61%, with a total market capitalization exceeding 1.8 trillion yuan.
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by The Kobeissi Letter, Coinbase announced that it has directly integrated the Jupiter exchange into its on-chain trading platform, meaning that millions of Solana-based tokens can now be traded on Coinbase for the first time through Jupiter.
Coinbase no longer needs to slowly and manually list tokens on its centralized order book as before, but instead utilizes on-chain technology to allow users instant access to Solana native assets.
Through this integration, users can trade tokens using their existing Coinbase balances and payment methods via self-custody wallets.
NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Amazon are negotiating to invest up to $60 billion in OpenAI
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by The Information, NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Amazon are negotiating to invest up to $60 billion in OpenAI. Microsoft plans to invest less than $10 billion in OpenAI, Amazon plans to invest over $10 billion, and NVIDIA plans to invest up to $30 billion. Before this round of financing, OpenAI's valuation could reach $730 billion.
Tesla Q4 earnings report: Bitcoin holdings unchanged, but a paper loss of $239 million due to price drop
According to ChainCatcher, Tesla's fourth-quarter earnings report shows that its Bitcoin holdings remain at 11,509 coins, with no changes. However, due to the drop in Bitcoin prices from about $114,000 to $88,000 in the fourth quarter of last year, Tesla recorded a post-tax impairment loss of approximately $239 million in its earnings report. Based on Bitcoin's current price of about $89,000, the value of the Bitcoin held by the company is approximately $1 billion.
Tesla first disclosed its holding of 43,200 Bitcoins in February 2021, valued at about $1.7 billion at that time. Subsequently, it sold about 75% of its holdings near the bottom of the bear market in 2022, and its holdings have remained relatively stable since that sale.
In the fourth-quarter earnings report, Tesla's revenue of $24.9 billion was slightly below the expected $25.1 billion, but the adjusted earnings per share of $0.50 exceeded the market expectation of $0.45. In after-hours trading, Tesla's stock price rose by 3.4%.
According to ChainCatcher, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin revealed that he made $70,000 last year on the prediction market platform Polymarket, using a strategy of betting against "crazy predictions." Buterin stated, "I look for markets that are in crazy mode and bet that the crazy things won't happen." He placed bets with approximately $440,000 in capital, achieving an annualized return rate of about 16%.
Vitalik cited examples of markets betting that Trump would win the Nobel Peace Prize or that the dollar would collapse as good targets for his reverse bets. This is not the first time he has publicly discussed profit from prediction markets; during the 2020 U.S. election, he also earned $58,000 using a similar strategy.
According to ChainCatcher, U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono, Elizabeth Warren, Richard Durbin, and others sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on January 28, questioning his decision to dissolve the Department of Justice (DOJ) National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) in April 2025.
The senators pointed out that although Todd Blanche claimed that the DOJ should not act as a digital asset regulator, he personally held cryptocurrency valued between $158,000 and $470,000 at the time of making that decision, which constitutes a clear conflict of interest and may violate federal laws regarding personal financial interests affecting public decision-making. The senators previously described the shutdown of the department as a "serious mistake," believing it would facilitate criminal activities such as sanction evasion, drug trafficking, and fraud.
The letter cited data showing that illegal cryptocurrency activities surged by 162% in 2025, primarily driven by a significant increase in cryptocurrency received by sanctioned entities, and that money laundering networks have become the "dominant force" in the digital asset space. The senators believe that Todd Blanche's actions may violate the provisions of federal law 18 U.S.C. § 208(a) regarding personal financial interests influencing public decision-making. Currently, Todd Blanche has been listed as a subject of complaint by the DOJ's Office of Inspector General.
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by CoinDesk, Meta and Microsoft released their fourth-quarter results and outlook for 2026, with both companies making AI investment a core part of their growth strategy this year and in the future. Bitcoin mining companies that have transitioned to AI infrastructure may benefit.
Meta expects its capital expenditures in 2026 to be between $115 billion and $135 billion, exceeding the market's general expectation of $110 billion. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that Microsoft's AI business has surpassed some of its core businesses.
Reports indicate that several mining companies have shifted their data centers to host AI and cloud computing machines. Among them, Iren (formerly Iris Energy) has signed a multi-year cloud services contract with Microsoft, while Cipher Mining (CIFR) has signed an agreement with Amazon to provide 300 megawatts of power capacity for AWS. Additionally, companies like Hut 8 (HUT) are also accelerating their transformation.
As a result, Iren's stock price rose 4.9% on Wednesday, with a cumulative increase of 47% since 2026, while Cipher Mining has increased by 17% this year.
Hong Kong's first gold ETF officially listed on the Stock Exchange, rising nearly 9%
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by Hong Kong Radio, Hong Kong's first gold ETF, the Hang Seng Gold ETF, was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today, with an early report of 17.39 HKD, rising nearly 9%.
It is reported that the ETF will have tokenized non-listed class fund units, with HSBC acting as the tokenization agent. Initially, it plans to use Ethereum as the main blockchain, and may adopt other public blockchains with equivalent security resilience and distributed ledger technology in the future. Fund unit holders can subscribe or redeem tokenized fund units in token form through qualified distributors.
Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, attended the listing ceremony and stated that a cooperation agreement has been signed with the Shanghai Gold Exchange this week. Global gold demand increased by 44% year-on-year in the third quarter of last year, reaching a record $146 billion, with gold ETF holdings increasing by 222 tons to over 3,800 tons.
Data: Gold's market value increase in the past 24 hours is close to Bitcoin's current total market value
According to ChainCatcher, data from 8marketcap shows that in the past 24 hours, gold's total market value has increased by approximately 4.37%, with a market value increase of about $1.64 trillion; while Bitcoin's current total market value is approximately $1.74 trillion. The data indicates that gold's daily market value increase is nearing Bitcoin's current total market value.
MegaETH will launch on the public mainnet on February 9
According to ChainCatcher, the Layer2 network MegaETH announced that it will launch its public mainnet on February 9.
The Federal Reserve keeps the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.5%-3.75%, pausing rate cuts
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by Jin10, the Federal Reserve maintained the benchmark interest rate at 3.5%-3.75% in its first interest rate decision of 2026, pausing the consecutive three rate cuts since last September, in line with market expectations.
Meme Popularity Rankings
According to meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN, as of January 30, 09:00,
The top five popular ETH tokens in the past 24 hours are: SHIB, LINK, PEPE, UNI, ONDO
The top five popular Solana tokens in the past 24 hours are: arc, TROLL, PENGUIN, USELESS, 67
The top five popular Base tokens in the past 24 hours are: PEPE, BASED, SKYA, B3, NATO
What are some noteworthy articles to read in the past 24 hours?
Cathie Wood's remarks spark a rare reputational crisis for Binance and CZ
Nearly four months later, the impact of the 1011 incident continues to ferment, even bringing an unprecedented reputational crisis for Binance and its founder Zhao Changpeng.
In recent days, the crypto-related timeline on social platform X has been filled with numerous criticisms and attacks on Zhao Changpeng, with many KOLs labeling him as a "fraudster," generally perceived as experiencing a "collapse of persona" and "backlash from traffic."
The incident was triggered by "Cathie Wood" Cathie Wood's remarks on a television program on the 26th of this month, where she pointed out that the recent high pullback of Bitcoin was influenced by the $28 billion deleveraging event caused by Binance's software failure on October 10. She analyzed that the current market selling pressure has basically ended, and as institutional investors focus on the "four-year cycle" turning point, Bitcoin is expected to consolidate in the range of $80,000 to $90,000 before ending its downward trend and resuming upward momentum.
On January 29, in its first interest rate decision of 2026, the Federal Reserve kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50%-3.75%, pausing the consecutive three rate cuts since last September, in line with market expectations. The policy statement indicated that there are still divisions among participants, with Governor Milan and Governor Waller dissenting from this interest rate decision, supporting a 25 basis point rate cut.
Executives discuss investment strategies: Why do founders want to sell to Coinbase to exit?
Coinbase's Chief Business Officer Shan Aggarwal interprets the acquisition of Echo, with this episode's podcast inviting Coinbase's Chief Business Officer Shan Aggarwal to discuss the acquisition of Echo. This episode delves into Coinbase's strategy of on-chain capital market transformation, Echo's role in compliant on-chain financing, integration of the acquisition team, tokenized stocks, prediction markets, and Coinbase's grand goal of becoming a comprehensive financial platform.
Is working in Web3 no longer appealing?
According to Coincub's 2025 Web3 Employment Report, over 66,000 new Web3-related positions were added in 2025, a 47% increase from the previous year, but the number of active positions remains far below the peak in 2022. Especially since the third quarter of last year, personnel turnover has accelerated, resembling a concentrated wave of resignations.
However, the reality is that many people are not leaving voluntarily, but rather due to projects or related business lines being difficult to sustain.
Click to learn about the positions ChainCatcher is hiring for
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